chicagotribune--2020-09-25--The Dreadhead Cowboy asks for help days after animal cruelty arrest: ‘Lori come help me. I can’t do

The Dreadhead Cowboy asks for help days after animal cruelty arrest: ‘Lori come help me. I can’t do it alone’

“ Yes , I ’ d do it again , ” said Hollingworth , 33 .
“ I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve got a background .
I ’ m not perfect .
I would rather @ @ @ @ @ like ( this ) .
That is something worth going to jail for.
” Hollingsworth @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t mean no harm on my horse , at all .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ ) animal-loving person .
My focus is Kids Lives Matter .
And If a person @ @ @ @ @ that , I don ’ t know what to call you .
”

Adam Hollingsworth, the Dreadhead Cowboy, speaks during a press conference on Sept. 24, 2020, in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago. Hollingsworth faces a felony aggravated animal cruelty charge, along with misdemeanor counts of trespassing and reckless conduct, after he was arrested for riding one of his horses on the Dan Ryan Expressway during a "Kids Lives Matter" protest. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
If Adam Hollingsworth — the so-called Dreadhead Cowboy — had to do it all over again, he said he would still gladly make the unauthorized gallop on the Dan Ryan Expressway to spotlight violence against children in Chicago this year.
The urban horseman enjoyed local celebrity as an activist and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s census ambassador before being charged with felony animal cruelty following his ride earlier this week. But on Thursday, he pleaded for help from the mayor’s office and Chicago’s pantheon of famous and socially conscious rappers to make the criminal case go away.
Advertisement
Hollingsworth quickly went viral Monday as he livestreamed his horseback ride on the expressway during the afternoon rush hour. “I shut down the Dan Ryan, Kids' Lives Matter,” he streamed on Facebook Live. But the excitement of the moment quickly melted away at the end of the ride when the animal collapsed, critically injured, and Hollingsworth was arrested. In addition to the felony, he faces misdemeanor counts of trespassing and reckless conduct.
Adam Hollingsworth rides his horse down the local lanes of Dan Ryan Expressway with motorcycles and motorists to support Kids Lives Matter on Sept. 21, 2020. (Todd Panagopoulos / Chicago Tribune)
Speaking with reporters in Woodlawn on Thursday for the first time since he bailed out of Cook County custody on $25,000 bond, Hollingsworth said he would never harm any of his five beloved horses.
Advertisement
“Yes, I’d do it again,” said Hollingworth, 33. “I’ve been to jail. I’ve got a background. I’m not perfect. I would rather go to jail for something like (this). That is something worth going to jail for.” Hollingsworth added: “And I didn’t mean no harm on my horse, at all. I’m a horse- (and) animal-loving person. My focus is Kids Lives Matter. And If a person can’t agree with that, I don’t know what to call you.”
Surrounded by supporters on a vacant lot on East 63rd Street that he said he hoped to one day purchase and erect a horse stable on, Hollingsworth said he still had not learned of the fate of NuNu, his brown and white horse that authorities said may need to be euthanized.
The animal was dehydrated, exhausted and injured when it collapsed on the asphalt roadway near 95th Street following a 7.5-mile ride. Authorities said the horse was transported to an animal rescue shelter for medical evaluation.
“I’ve been looking for my horse. They haven’t told me anything about my horse,” Hollingsworth said, adding that he was looking for a private lawyer. He also cast doubt on authorities' claims regarding his animal’s condition, saying it was an attempt to sabotage his image.
“Look at my history when it comes to my work. If you look up the Dreadhead Cowboy, you’ll see all the things I’ve done for the community. My focus is on the Kids Lives Matter,” he said.
At his bail hearing, Hollingworth’s court-appointed attorney called him passionate about horseback riding, adding there was no indication he was trying to harm his horse.
Adam Hollingsworth, center, exits Cook County Jail in Chicago after posting bail on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
With a police vehicle and supporters riding on motorcycles alongside him, Hollingsworth’s stunt provided the pandemic-weary city with a brief distraction similar to the Chance the Snapper and coyote sightings.
But since his arrest and court appearance, Hollingsworth said he’s received online jeers and death threats related to the belief that he abused his horse.
Advertisement
Hollingsworth has said the ride was meant to shut down the Dan Ryan and bring attention to violence against children during a year where dozens of children 17 and younger have been fatally shot on city streets.
Before a judge earlier this week, prosecutors alleged that Hollingsworth kicked and whipped the horse to force the animal on a 7.5-mile trip down the expressway. By the time it collapsed on the pavement near 95th Street, it was in critical condition, prosecutors said.
The animal was extremely dehydrated, its heart rate had doubled, it had cuts to its front legs, and its eyes were “dilated to the point where they looked like cartoon eyes,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said. “If medical attention was not rendered immediately, the animal would have succumbed to injuries sustained.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 22 The Dreadhead Cowboy, aka Adam Hollingsworth, stands on his horse Prince on June 23, 2020, in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Hollingsworth became a curious online sensation as a Black cowboy showing up randomly at South Side and lakefront locations on horseback. He has tried to use his growing celebrity to promote awareness about gun violence against children, as well as horseback riding in largely Black neighborhoods of Chicago. A young man who got caught up with the law as a teenager, Hollingsworth said learning to ride and owning his own horse changed his life.
Before ending his news conference, Hollingworth called upon Chicago rappers such as Common, Chance the Rapper and Kanye West to support him. He also called upon Lightfoot to help with his legal problems.
“When she called upon me, I was there for her,” Hollingworth said. “What I did Monday was my stress signal. Lori come help me. I can’t do it alone.”
Advertisement
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-09-26--Read Speaker Madigan’s letter to the special committee investigating his conduct in alleged ComEd br

Read Speaker Madigan’s letter to the special committee investigating his conduct in alleged ComEd bribery scheme

In a letter , Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan declined an invitation to testify before a special committee investigating his @ @ @ @ @ Edison ’ s alleged “ yearslong bribery scheme.
” Read the speaker ’ s letter @ @

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-09-26--Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan declines to testify before special committee investigating hi

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan declines to testify before special committee investigating his conduct in alleged ComEd bribery scheme

While Madigan said he is not invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination , the speaker said he “ can @ @ @ @ @ any action that may in any way interfere with a federal investigation or potential prosecutions @ @

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has declined an invitation to testify before a special committee investigating his conduct in connection with Commonwealth Edison’s alleged “yearslong bribery scheme” aimed at currying favor with the powerful Democrat.
The six-member special committee was formed last month at the request of House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and is charged with determining whether Madigan engaged in “conduct unbecoming to a legislator" and should face potential discipline.
Advertisement
ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine and cooperate with investigators after federal prosecutors alleged in July that the utility offered jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies in the hopes of winning support for favorable legislation.
Madigan has not been charged and has denied wrongdoing.
Advertisement
In a Friday letter to the three Democrats and three Republicans on the special committee, Madigan dismissed Durkin’s petition as “a politically motivated stunt motivated by a transparent political agenda using his government office and government resources to earn free media for himself and his political candidates.”
Durkin in a statement called on House Democrats and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to demand answers about Madigan’s involvement.
“Speaker Madigan continues to take the path that his own House rules apply to all except him,” Durkin said.
While Madigan said he is not invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, the speaker said he “cannot in good conscience take any action that may in any way interfere with a federal investigation or potential prosecutions.”
U.S. Attorney John Lausch told lawmakers on the panel that he does not object to their inquiry but laid out ground rules to avoid interfering with the ongoing criminal investigation, including instructions to avoid asking witnesses about grand jury proceedings or any discussions they’ve had with federal authorities.
Madigan’s letter comes a day after Durkin informed the special committee that ComEd plans to testify at a Tuesday hearing.
The utility will be represented by David Glockner, executive vice president for compliance and audit for ComEd parent Exelon, company spokesman Paul Elsberg said.
Advertisement
State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, the Hillside Democrat who chairs the special committee, said that as of 5 p.m. Friday he’d received “no formal indication of any witnesses planning to testify,” including ComEd. Welch said the committee would still hold its scheduled Tuesday hearing.
In addition to the speaker and ComEd, Republicans on the committee have requested voluntary testimony from longtime Madigan confidant and former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain, as well as other former executives and lobbyists with the utility and its parent company.
McClain declined to appear through his attorney, as did former top ComEd and Exelon executive Anne Pramaggiore, former 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski and former City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty. The Tribune previously has reported that federal agents have sought information about their interactions with Madigan.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
The House committee could subpoena witnesses, but that would require one Democrat to vote with the Republicans to compel testimony. One Democrat also would have to side with Republicans for the special committee to approve a charge against Madigan.
Despite his refusal to face questioning by the committee “at this time,” Madigan told members that any attempt by ComEd to influence him by hiring people he recommended “was never made known to me.”
Advertisement
“If it had been, it would have been profoundly unwelcome," Madigan said in the letter.
"To the extent that ComEd or Exelon believed that they could influence my conduct as a legislator by deciding to hire someone I may have recommended, someone who worked for me, or someone who did political work for me, they were incredibly mistaken,” he said.
Madigan also defended his practice of recommending people who have worked in his government and political organizations for jobs, something he’s faced scrutiny over in the past.
“Helping people find jobs is not a crime. … To the contrary, I believe that it is part of my duties as a community and political leader to help good people find work — from potential executives to college interns, and more,” he said. “What an employer chooses to do with that recommendation rests solely with their discretion.”
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-26--Youth hockey in Illinois has been frozen by COVID-19 restrictions.

People gathered throughout the city to protest after a Kentucky grand jury decided not to charge any Louisville police officers @ @ @ @ @ Taylor ’ s killing .


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Federal investigators seek to question 3 CPS employees; Board of Ed pays for lawyers to represent th

Federal investigators seek to question 3 CPS employees; Board of Ed pays for lawyers to represent them

“ Chicago Public Schools is not present , involved in , and has not provided any information in the interview @ @ @ @ @ were not themselves under investigation and the interviews related to matters that the employees may @ @ @ @ @ their employment by the district , the district offered to retain legal counsel to act @ @ @ @ @ assist them in the interviews .
”

Chicago Public Schools is paying two outside law firms to represent three employees whom federal authorities have asked to interview.
The Chicago Board of Education this week approved a request to pay the firm McGuireWoods $30,000 “to represent three individuals who have received interview requests from the U.S. Attorney’s Office” for the Northern District of Illinois, according to Board of Education documents.
Advertisement
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office informed the district that these employees are not under investigation for their conduct but may have information or evidence that would be helpful to an investigation,” according to a statement released by CPS spokeswoman Emily Bolton.
Citing “ongoing legal proceedings," district spokespeople declined to provide the names of those who have been asked for an interview. They also did not say when or if the interviews had already taken place, but said the district is using two firms, McGuireWoods and The Law Offices of Clarence Butler, to provide legal counsel to the three.
Advertisement
“The law firms represent the interests of the individuals, not the district, and do not report back to Chicago Public Schools,” the CPS statement said. “Counsel independent of CPS is provided so that there is no conflict of interest in the representation of the employees.”
The Chicago Public Schools office at 42 W. Madison St. on Sept. 21, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
CPS officials did not provide more information about any agreement with The Law Offices of Clarence Butler.
“The interviews are arranged directly between the employees and the U.S. Attorney’s Office," according to the statement, which continued:
“Chicago Public Schools is not present, involved in, and has not provided any information in the interview process. Because the employees were not themselves under investigation and the interviews related to matters that the employees may have witnessed in connection with their employment by the district, the district offered to retain legal counsel to act as their personal representative to assist them in the interviews.”
Last month, a former top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson pleaded guilty to a federal charge of lying to the FBI about whether he passed secret bid information about a $1 billion custodial contract to an operative for one of the bidders.
There has been no indication whether that case is connected to the interview requests. On Friday, CPS officials said the U.S. attorney’s office “did not inform the district about the nature or subject matter of their investigation.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--US congressman Mike Quigley joins effort to halt deportation of French bulldogs found abandoned in O

US congressman Mike Quigley joins effort to halt deportation of French bulldogs found abandoned in O’Hare warehouse

When questioned why the sick dogs were required to be shipped back to Jordan , Hubbard said , `` Dogs @ @ @ @ @ United States must be vaccinated against rabies at 12 weeks of age or older and @ @ @ @ @ initial vaccination before entering the country .
Dogs coming from countries and political units with @ @ @ @ @ need a valid rabies vaccination certificate.
``

Two of the 15 French bulldog puppies that were rescued from a warehouse at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport are seen in quarantine in Chicago Oct. 2, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
With 15 French bulldogs that were rescued from a cargo warehouse at O’Hare International Airport last month facing a Monday deportation back to the Middle East, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley on Friday said he is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt its plan to ship the recovering dogs back on a 13-hour flight to Jordan.
Advertisement
"We need cooperation from the Jordanian government but we also need a better system when it does happen,'' said Quigley, who was adamant that people should adopt only from shelters.
A total of 20 dogs were discovered by an employee, who tipped off the Chicago Police Department, at the airport cargo warehouse in late August, prompting officers to investigate an animal abuse incident, a police spokeswoman said this week.
Advertisement
Officers found 16 French bulldogs in small cages, covered in feces and urine, without water or food, and one dog was deceased, she said.
Fifteen French bulldogs, one of which is pictured here, are being treated by Chicago veterinarians this week after they were rescued from a cargo warehouse at O’Hare International Airport. (Chicago French Bulldog Rescue/Chicago French Bulldog Rescue)
“The investigation revealed that these animals have received little, if any care since arriving in Chicago on Aug. 28, and would need rescue at this time,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the rescue organization caring for the pups said the animals found languishing in the warehouse also included four large-breed dogs, two of which are being cared for by Chicago Animal Care and Control, and two that are unaccounted for.
The airline that shipped the dogs was issued two citations, one with 17 counts of animal neglect and a second for animal neglect that may have contributed to the death of a male canine.
While police declined to name the airline, a spokesman with the CDC said in a statement Friday that it was Royal Jordanian Air.
“This dog was part of a shipment of 20 dogs that had been denied entry to the U.S. on Aug. 28, 2020, due to fraudulent paperwork,” CDC spokesman Marcus Hubbard said, adding that the "dogs had been evaluated to be significantly younger than the ages listed on their rabies vaccination certificates.”
The deceased dog was tested at a Chicago facility for rabies and was negative, Hubbard said, “and the remaining dogs were transported to local kennel facilities for assessment, care, and continued monitoring.”
When questioned why the sick dogs were required to be shipped back to Jordan, Hubbard said, "Dogs that are imported into the United States must be vaccinated against rabies at 12 weeks of age or older and must wait 28 days after initial vaccination before entering the country. Dogs coming from countries and political units with a high risk of rabies need a valid rabies vaccination certificate. "
Advertisement
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires dogs be housed in accordance with Animal Welfare Act standards,” Hubbard said, adding: “CDC reiterated these requirements to the airline on Aug. 28; however, the airline failed to transport the dogs from the airport warehouse to an appropriate animal care facility, such as a kennel or veterinary clinic, until Aug. 30.”
Fifteen French Bulldogs, one of which is pictured here, are being treated by Chicago veterinarians this week after they were rescued from a cargo warehouse at O’Hare International Airport. (Chicago French Bulldog Rescue/Chicago French Bulldog Rescue)
A spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture said in an email, “the dogs were being held under CDC authority not USDA authority.”
Officials at Royal Jordanian Air were not immediately available.
But Mary Scheffke, a representative with Chicago French Bulldog Rescue, which has been providing the dogs with shelter and care, said they were likely sent to Chicago from an individual from Jordan working with a puppy mill.
“CDC is the only agency our lawyer has (corresponded) with. And they are demanding (the dogs) are flown back, not the seller in Jordan,” Scheffke said.
“There is no guarantee someone will be at the airport in Jordan to pick them up, and that doesn’t seem to be a concern from the CDC-they just want them on a flight out of Chicago,” Scheffke added.
Advertisement
Quigley said he suggested to the CDC that rather than shipping the dogs back to Jordan on Monday, they should consider allowing the animals to continue to be sheltered and treated by the Chicago veterinarians, or sent to a special quarantine facility adjacent to Kennedy International Airport in New York.
“I love dogs more than you can imagine ... and I also get the risk and the health concerns," Quigley said. "But once these dogs have landed, even if we didn’t create the problem we shouldn’t make it a lot worse by sending them back.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--President Trump selects Chicago federal appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bade

President Trump selects Chicago federal appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Supreme Court, sources say

“ He was who he was , '' Barrett said in her 2019 Notre Dame interview .
`` He was @ @ @ @ @ He was a family man .
He took a lot of criticism from many quarters @ @ @ @ @ had and the choices that he made , and , you know , his Catholicism @ @ @ @ @ he had the strength to be who he was .
”

Three years ago, University of Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett was plucked from relative obscurity by President Donald Trump to serve as a federal appellate judge on the Chicago-based 7th Circuit.
Now, Barrett has been thrust into an even more searing national spotlight as Trump on Saturday formally nominated the South Bend judge to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Advertisement
President Donald Trump, left, introduces 7th U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden at the White House Sept. 26, 2020 in Washington. With 38 days until the election, Trump tapped Barrett to be his third Supreme Court nominee in four years and to replace Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
“It is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the Supreme Court. She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution,” Trump said in making the Barrett announcement in the Rose Garden, where she was joined by her husband and seven children.
“The stakes for our country are incredibly high. Rulings that the Supreme Court will issue in the coming years will decide the survival of our Second Amendment, our religious liberty, our public safety and so much more,” Trump said. “To maintain security, liberty and prosperity, we must preserve our priceless heritage of a nation of laws and there is no one better to do that than Amy Coney Barrett.”
Advertisement
Acknowledging what she called a “rather overwhelming occasion,” Barrett told Trump she was “deeply honored by the confidence you have placed in me.”
“I have no illusions that the road ahead of me will be easy, either for the short term or the long haul,” she said. “I never imagined that I would find myself in this position. But now that I am, I assure you that I will meet the challenge with both humility and courage.”
If Barrett is confirmed by the Senate, Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will further an already massive conservative ideological restructuring of the federal judiciary that could last for decades. Barrett becomes Trump’s third nominee for the Supreme Court during his term, following confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. She would give the court a 6-3 conservative supermajority.
The effects could be far-ranging, most immediately on a case scheduled for November that could decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, to cases dealing with abortion and LGTBQ rights, gun control and employer-employee relations.
The nomination also has immediate political ramifications. Trump picked Barrett just 38 days before the Nov. 3 election — a move that could energize his conservative base while providing more incentive for Democrats to back former Vice President Joe Biden for the presidency. Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, sits on the Judiciary Committee.
Less than an hour before Trump made the announcement, his campaign used the nomination in a fundraising pitch. “It’s only a matter of time before the Radical Democrats start OBSTRUCTING our nominee, and it’s going to take all hands on deck if we’re going to FIGHT BACK against their unprecedented smear tactics," the email read.
Barrett’s conservatism also could become a major political issue for suburban women, a critical demographic that Trump and Republicans have seen slipping away. It’s a group that tends to be more socially moderate and one that has made the nation’s suburbs more of a political battleground as it trends Democratic.
Biden noted Barrett had critiqued the high court’s 2012 decision upholding the Affordable Care Act and said Senate Republicans should wait.
Advertisement
“The American people know the U.S. Supreme Court decisions affect their everyday lives. The United States Constitution was designed to give the voters one chance to have their voice heard on who serves on the court. That moment is now and their voice should be heard,” Biden said in a statement after the announcement. "The Senate should not act on this vacancy until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett is nominated to the U.S.Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
In selecting Barrett — a devout Roman Catholic who is a favorite of social conservatives — Trump stayed true to his word to nominate a woman to replace Ginsburg, albeit one from the opposite end of the political spectrum.
The nomination came a day after Ginsburg, an icon for women and civil rights, became the first woman and first person of Jewish faith to lie in state in the nation’s Capitol building. Trump and Barrett each reflected on her legacy.
If confirmed by the Republican-majority U.S. Senate, Barrett would be the fifth woman in history to join the nation’s high court, and the first since Elena Kagan, who was nominated by President Obama a decade ago.
Though Barrett has continued to live in Indiana while serving on the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, her appointment is the first with direct Chicago connections since John Paul Stevens in 1975.
Barrett, who turned 48 in January, would be the youngest jurist on the Supreme Court and could shape the country’s legal direction for decades to come.
Advertisement
Her selection to replace Ginsburg just weeks before a presidential election has set off political fighting between Republicans who control the Senate and the Democratic minority and is expected to lead to a fiercely contested confirmation hearing. McConnell has promised to hold a vote as soon as possible, though he has stopped short of saying it will definitely happen before voters go to the polls on Nov. 3.
Trump thanked Republican senators for a commitment to providing “a fair and timely hearing” and predicted she would easily be confirmed.
“Her qualifications are unsurpassed and her record is beyond reproach. This should be a straightforward and prompt confirmation. It should be very easy. Good luck. It’s going to be very quick. I’m sure it will be extremely noncontroversial,” said Trump, before nodding to the controversial hearings surrounding Kavanaugh. “We said that last time, didn’t we?”
Barrett said she looked forward to meeting with senators in the days ahead.
“The president has nominated me to serve on the United States Supreme Court and that institution belongs to all of us,” she said.
“If confirmed, I would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle and certainly not for my own sake. I would assume this role to serve you. I would discharge the judicial oath which requires me to administer justice without respect to persons, do equal rights to the poor and rich, and faithfully and impartially discharge my duties under the United States Constitution,” she said.
Advertisement
Democrats have protested the Republicans' rush to replace Ginsburg, saying voters should speak first and the winner of the White House should fill the vacancy. Democrats also noted that Senate Republicans blocked Obama’s 2016 nominee, Merrick Garland, citing the election year, but won’t do the same on Trump’s pick.
President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade with Judge Amy Coney Barrett after a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court at the White House on Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon / AP)
Illinois' two Democratic senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, voted against Barrett’s nomination to the appellate bench three years ago. On Saturday, Duckworth said she would vote against her nomination to the nation’s highest court.
“I voted against confirming Amy Coney Barrett to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit because she failed to demonstrate the capability or willingness to serve as an impartial, fair and independent jurist,” Duckworth said in a statement. “Judge Barrett was not fit to be a circuit judge in 2017 and she is the wrong choice for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court today. Once again, she will not have my support.”
Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and a member of the Judiciary Committee, was asked on CNN prior to Trump’s announcement if Barrett was qualified to sit on the nation’s highest court. He replied: “I don’t know the answer to that.”
Criticizing Republicans as hypocrites for trying to fast-track Barrett’s nomination before the election in contrast to blocking Garland’s nomination, Durbin said Trump’s refusal to say he would abide by the outcome of the presidential election and the president’s desire to have a justice seated in case of a disputed result were concerns.
“When you look at those statements, they are nothing short of amazing, startling, for a president to say that. I want to know what Amy Coney Barrett has to say about that. Is she ready to be on the court? I need some answers,” Illinois' senior senator said.
Advertisement
CNN reported a tentative schedule of Barrett meeting with McConnell on Tuesday and hearings set to begin the week of Oct. 12.
Barrett’s conservative bent and religious upbringing are sure to be hotly scrutinized, as they were three years ago during her confirmation hearing for the 7th Circuit when Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California told Barrett she was concerned that “the dogma lives loudly within you.”
At the time, Barrett had no record of judicial rulings for senators to dig into. Now she brings to the national spotlight more than 100 written opinions and dissents authored over the past 2½ years offering insight into how she sees the law related to hot-button issues such as gun control, immigration and abortion.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Barrett enjoys the widespread and often passionate support of colleagues stretching back to her days as a clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia 20 years ago.
Fellow clerks nicknamed Barrett “The Conenator” — a play on her maiden name and reputation for destroying flimsy legal arguments.
But being a judge, let alone a Supreme Court justice, was not necessarily her first career choice. In an interview last year at an alumni function at Notre Dame Law School, Barrett said she’d relished her role as law professor and was still on a steep “learning curve” as a jurist.
Advertisement
“The judge thing was really out of the blue — I mean that wasn’t something that I, I’m still surprised that I’m not just a 100% full-time faculty member,” Barrett said.
Barrett’s husband, Jesse, is a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. They have seven children ranging in age from 8 to 19, including two whom the couple adopted from poverty-stricken Haiti and a young son born with developmental disabilities.
As the eldest of 29 grandchildren, Barrett, whose father also is a lawyer, has long placed an emphasis on family.
“What greater thing can you do than raise children?” she said during a 2019 interview at Notre Dame. “That’s where you can have your greatest impact on the world.”
Barrett attended an all-girls Catholic school in New Orleans before studying English and French at a liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. She earned her law degree in 1997 from Notre Dame, where she saw the law as a way to use her passion for reading and writing to serve a higher purpose.
“I liked the way that law would enable me to do the reading and writing that I loved, but also be involved in real-world things and have a role in shaping the world,” Barrett said.
Advertisement
Like Scalia, her former boss and mentor, Barrett has a conservative bent and considers herself a public meaning originalist who strictly applies the intent of the authors of the Constitution or other governing laws at the time they were written.
Barrett’s originalist mindset was on display in 2018 when she cited centuries-old laws in Britain and elsewhere in a dissent over a 7th Circuit appeal involving a Wisconsin man convicted of being a felon in possession of a handgun.
While Barrett’s colleagues ruled that Wisconsin’s law barring felons from having firearms was constitutional, Barrett wrote that since the plaintiff had been convicted of a white collar crime, he was not inherently dangerous.
“Founding-era legislatures did not strip felons of the right to bear arms simply because of their status as felons,” Barrett wrote in her dissent, which said the Wisconsin law should be declared unconstitutional. “In 1791 — and for well more than a century afterward — legislatures disqualified categories of people from the right to bear arms only when they judged that doing so was necessary to protect the public safety.”
Barrett has often spoken about the influence Scalia had on her approach to the law as well as how he handled himself in the face of criticism.
“He was who he was,” Barrett said in 2019 at Notre Dame. “He was a man of faith. He was a family man. He took a lot of criticism from many quarters for the values that he had and the choices that he made, and, you know, his Catholicism and his faith, and he had the strength to be who he was.”
Advertisement
She also has written in the past about originalism as applied to the legality of the Affordable Care Act, which is due to be argued before the Supreme Court in November.
In a law review article written shortly before she joined the 7th Circuit, Barrett criticized Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. for his ruling that sustained the legislation, saying he had “pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”
“Deference to a democratic majority should not supersede a judge’s duty to apply clear text,” Barrett wrote in the 2017 article.
Of all the topics Barrett will be grilled on in her confirmation hearing, it’s the abortion issue that could prove to be the most polarizing, especially given she would potentially replace Ginsburg, a champion of women’s rights.
When Barrett was on the shortlist to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018, opponents pointed to her scholarly articles and Catholic faith as suggesting she is a religious extremist who could be willing to overturn precedent and end legal abortion established by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
Critics focused in part on Barrett’s affiliation with People of Praise, a charismatic faith group that has been portrayed as oppressive and misogynistic — a charge the group rejects. Supporters and former colleagues, however, described an exacting legal thinker committed to separating her faith from her interpretation of the Constitution and law.
Advertisement
Her nearly three-year stint on the bench in Chicago has included at least one abortion-related case.
A 2018 ruling by a 7th Circuit panel declared unconstitutional an Indiana law requiring the burial of fetal remains after an abortion or miscarriage, which prohibited clinics from treating the remains as waste.
Barrett joined three conservative judges in asking for the ruling to be tossed and for the full court to rehear the case. They eventually issued a joint dissent that suggested they thought the Indiana law was constitutional.
Barrett became a star among conservatives in fall 2017 after her Catholic faith took center stage during her confirmation hearing to the appellate bench.
During the hearing, Barrett repeatedly said her faith would not intrude on her legal reasoning.
“I see no conflict between having a sincerely held faith and duties as a judge,” she testified. “I would never impose my own personal convictions upon the law.”
Advertisement
Barrett declined to discuss her personal views on abortion, same-sex marriage and other hot-button topics, but she was questioned on her scholarly writings. Those include a 2013 law review article in which she wrote that the stare decisis doctrine — which holds that past rulings govern future decisions — is “not a hard-and-fast rule in the court’s constitutional cases.”
The Senate panel also zeroed in on a 1998 paper in which Barrett, then a law student, explored when Catholic judges in death penalty cases might have to recuse themselves if they thought their moral beliefs kept them from doing their duty.
Barrett emphasized she was not the lead author — that was one of her professors, John Garvey, now president of the Catholic University of America. Barrett also said that with 20 years of legal experience, she likely would have written the article differently, though she stood by its core principle — that a judge cannot twist the law to match a personal belief.
Durbin said Saturday he remained concerned about her past writings on stare decisis and on religion and jurisprudence.
“That is what you want to hear: that whatever your religious belief whether you have one or not, it’s not going to influence your opinion. What you asked me is it still a concern. Of course,” he said on CNN.
rpearson@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--The Spin: Trump to tap Barrett for Supreme Court: reports | President’s anti-lynching law proposal c

The Spin: Trump to tap Barrett for Supreme Court: reports | President’s anti-lynching law proposal comes months after U.S. Rep. Rush’s measure stalls | ‘Dreadhead Cowboy’ to Lightfoot, ‘Lori come help me.’

“ We ought to live up to that standard , and this president hasn ’ t in any way , @ @ @ @ @ lived up to the standards of previous presidents , even the ones I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ , ” the governor said at an unrelated news conference .
“ This man does @ @ @ @ @ standing up for our basic institutions in this nation , and he should not be @ @ @ @ @ ” ( Dan Petrella )

CNN and the New York Times are reporting it’s a done deal: President Donald Trump will nominate Amy Coney Barrett, an federal appeals court judge a conservative federal judge assigned to the Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump’s scheduled to make a formal announcement at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Chicago time) tomorrow. If recent tradition dictates, the president’s announcement would take place at the White House with the nominee on hand to make the requisite this-is-the-honor-of-my-life speech.
Advertisement
Meantime, President Trump was on the campaign trail in Atlanta today courting black voters with a multi-pronged “Platinum Plan” that includes securing more lending for African American business owners, National Public Radio is reporting, while also calling for making lynching a national hate crime and designating the KKK and Antifa terrorist organizations and calling for making lynching a national hate crime, according to Fox News.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, introduced the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act months ago, which would have designated such attacks as federal hate crimes. It passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
Advertisement
The Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports: “A day after a top Democratic ally warned of an across-the-board income tax increase if voters reject a proposed tax amendment, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sought to blame Illinois Republicans should such a tax hike take place.”
And Adam Hollingsworth, AKA the Dreadhead Cowboy, says he helped Mayor Lori Lightfoot in getting the word out about the U.S. Census. Last night, he said he needs her help after galloping into a load of legal problems; earlier this week he rode his horse onto the Dan Ryan expressway to draw attention to children dying from Chicago gun violence.
“When she called upon me, I was there for her,” Hollingsworth said. “What I did Monday was my stress signal. Lori come help me. I can’t do it alone.”
Welcome to The Spin.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune)
The New York Times’ Peter Baker reports: "President Donald Trump has selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the favorite candidate of conservatives, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and will try to force Senate confirmation before Election Day in a move that would significantly alter the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court for years.
"Trump plans to announce Saturday that she is his choice, according to people close to the process who asked not to be identified disclosing the decision in advance. The president met with Barrett at the White House this week and came away impressed with a jurist that leading conservatives told him would be a female Antonin Scalia, referring to the justice who died in 2016 and for whom Barrett clerked.
“As they often do, aides cautioned that Trump sometimes upends his own plans. But he is not known to have interviewed any other candidates for the post.” Read the full story here. Read the CNN report here.
Refresher course: Tribune reporter Jason Meisner examined Barrett’s record in Chicago, a likely focus if Trump nominates her to replace Ginsburg. You can read the updated story he’s written along with Rick Pearson here.
Advertisement
Durbin, other Democrats grow more vocal: ‘Rush is on’ by Trump, GOP to install new Supreme Court justice to kill Affordable Care Act: As President Trump prepares to announce his Supreme Court nominee — his third, if installed — Democrats including Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are grumbling louder that the motive is ending the Affordable Care Act.
Also known as Obamacare, Trump has long vowed to dismantle the health care law and come up with his own plan. Now he’s pushing — with Republican leaders' blessing — to quickly nominate and confirm a new justice by the Nov. 3 election. A week later, the nation’s highest court will hear a case that could decide the ACA’s fate. Democrats want to wait to see who wins the November election.
“We know why the rush is on," Durbin, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that will vet and hold hearings on the nomination, said. "It is because of the case of California v. Texas and the need to have someone on the bench who decides, as the President wishes, to take away the health insurance coverage of 20 million Americans — including 600,000 in my home state of Illinois.”
While Democrats say the appointment should wait until after the election, Trump and leaders in the Republican-controlled Senate, the chamber that must confirm the nomination, don’t see a need to wait. They say that the vacancy occurred on their watch and it’s their selection to make.
Data point: Trump’s announcement will come roughly 40 days shy of the Nov. 3 election. The average time between nomination and a Senate vote confirming the appointment is 69 days, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Yesterday, the president signed an executive order that protects people with preexisting medical conditions from insurance discrimination, something already guaranteed by the health care law his administration is looking to repeal.
Advertisement
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker discusses fairness in the conditional adult-use cannabis dispensary licensing process during a press conference at the James R. Thompson Center, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Republicans are fuming over Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s warning yesterday that a 20 % across-the-board income tax would on the table if voters say no to a ballot question asking whether voters want to switch from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated tax-rate system based on income, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said Friday that Stratton’s warning was a “planned” move “to get into the heads of people who are uncertain, people who are scared about what the future’s going to be, particularly in a time of pandemic,” Pearson notes.
Pritzker pushed back today, putting the blame at Republicans' feet if the scenario plays out the way Stratton suggested.
Pearson adds: “The political fallout from Stratton’s remarks underscored the high stakes of the Nov. 3 ballot question asking Illinois voters whether the state constitution should be changed to switch from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated tax-rate system based on income.” Read the rest of his story here.
Pritzker on the presidential politics: Responding to Trump’s recent public reluctance to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in November, Pritzker, a frequent critic, today said Trump “is a president who doesn’t even understand the fundamental institutions of democracy.”
Advertisement
Pritzker noted that every president since George Washington has willingly handed over the reins of power to his successor.
“We ought to live up to that standard, and this president hasn’t in any way, shape or form as president lived up to the standards of previous presidents, even the ones I’ve disagreed with wholeheartedly on policy,” the governor said at an unrelated news conference. “This man does not understand the importance of standing up for our basic institutions in this nation, and he should not be president after … Jan. 20.” (Dan Petrella)
Controversy swirling around powerful Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan isn’t stopping the campaign donations from rolling in: State election board records wealthy Newsweb Corp. owner, philanthropist and Democratic Party donor Fred Eychaner donated a whopping $400,000 to the Friends of Michael Madigan campaign fund.
And the “Friends” campaign fund gave a stunning $2 million to another Madigan-controlled campaign account – the Democratic Party of Illinois, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.
Willie Wilson, running for U.S. Senate, announces round of endorsements from west, southwest suburban mayors. They include Cicero Town President Larry Domimick, Stickney Mayor Jeff Walik, Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez and Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero. Wilson, a millionaire businessman who’s made unsuccessful bids for everything from Chicago mayor to president, faces popular Democratic incumbent Dick Durbin and Mark Curran, the former Lake County sheriff.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, stands with Senate President Don Harmon while Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first State of the State speech before a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate at the State Capitol in Springfield Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Dan Petrella: “Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has declined an invitation to testify before a special committee investigating his conduct in connection with Commonwealth Edison’s alleged ‘yearslong bribery scheme’ aimed at currying favor with the powerful Democrat."
Advertisement
The six-member special committee was formed last month at the request of House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and is charged with determining whether Madigan engaged in “conduct unbecoming to a legislator” and should face potential discipline.
In a letter to the committee, Madigan dismissed Durkin’s petition as a “politically motivated stunt” and declined to testity; he’s not been accused of any wrondgoing. The hearings begin Tuesday, with Commonwealth Edison executives set to testify. Read the rest of the story here.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot greets Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, as she tours the temporary McCormick Place alternate care facility in April. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s John Byrne writes: "Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and labor leaders whose members could bear the brunt of layoffs or furloughs as the city tries to close a yawning 2021 budget deficit called on Illinois' congressional delegation this week to work toward passage of a federal aid package that could forestall the deepest cuts.
“It’s not likely the letter they sent to legislators from Illinois will have much impact on the partisan Washington, D.C., impasse over aid to cities and other units of government hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Read the full story here.
Facing legal woes over riding horse on Dan Ryan Expressway, “Dreadhead Cowboy” says he needs an assist from the mayor: ‘Lori come help me. I can’t do it alone’ — Lightfoot’s office didn’t comment on it today. The Tribune’s Will Lee has the story here.
Mayor, City Council violated open meetings act early in the pandemic: Illinois attorney general: “Under state law, government bodies aren’t generally allowed to meet without giving the public notice and access. Chicago mayors historically have maneuvered around this rule by briefing small groups of aldermen rather than bringing all 50 members of City Council together," the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt writes. “But in the early days of the pandemic, Lightfoot held a series of large private meetings with aldermen. In May, journalism nonprofit ProPublica Illinois filed a complaint with the attorney general alleging that the meetings violated state law.” Read the rest of Pratt’s story here and ProPublica Illinois reporter Mick Dumke’s piece here.
Advertisement
Top Lightfoot adviser to marry Chicago alderman, raising ethical concerns from city staff: The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and John Byrne have that story here.
A federal judge in California late yesterday extended the census deadline another month to Oct. 31, but how that affects local operations is unclear as the U.S. Census Bureau already started pulling up stakes here weeks ago as the end-of-September cutoff date loomed.
Some workers say they’ve had their hours cut here or have been asked to travel to other cities. The latest data shows the Chicago region employed around 3,000 fewer people the week of Sept. 6-12 compared with the previous week, the Tribune’s Sophie Sherry writes.
Elected leaders from the governor to the mayor have been pushing to ramp participation in Illinois: A drop in population could cost the state as many as two seats in Congress and cost the city billions in federal aid over the next decade. Read the full story here.
3 ethics board exits later, Cook County commissioners unveil first draft of ethics code reforms — The Tribune’s Alice Yin writes: “After a nine-month lag in the Cook County ethics board’s plan to revise the ethics ordinance — as well as three member exits — the Board of Commissioners on Thursday unveiled a bundle of proposed reforms that mostly won the approval of two ousted ethics board chairs. Read the full story here.
Reminder: David Grossman who quit the board in protest along with ousted members Margaret Daley and Juliet Sorensen all made campaign contributions to Lori Lightfoot’s mayoral campaign vs. Preckwinkle in 2019.
Advertisement
A rendering shows how North Lake Shore Drive might appear at Foster Avenue. The Illinois and Chicago departments of Transportation are directing a study of several alternatives. (Chicago Department of Transportation)
From the Tribune’s Katie Surma: "Plans to (overhaul) seven miles of North Lake Shore Drive between Grand and Hollywood avenues are moving ahead, and members of the public will have an opportunity to weigh in on what future changes will look like.
“After two years of studying engineering, environmental and socioeconomic impacts, officials have narrowed down options for the roughly $3 billion project to five alternatives. While funding has not been secured, the study, now in the public comment phase, is required for federal funding eligibility, according to Nathan Roseberry, the assistant chief highway engineer at the Chicago Department of Transportation. The Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation are directing the study.” Read the full story, which details the five options, here.
Plans for Chicago to Rockford passenger rail service gain traction: Read the Rockford Register Star piece here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Man shot during domestic incident at North Riverside Mall, officials say

This is the third shooting in the last few months at the mall .
In June , a man in @ @ @ @ @ the mall .
And in late May , another man was fatally shot at the @ @

A man was shot Friday afternoon at North Riverside Park Mall in the western suburb, officials said.
Around 3:20 p.m., a domestic-related incident took place in the mall, officials said. An argument then ensued between two men, which escalated into a “targeted” shooting, according to a statement from town Mayor Hubert Hermanek.
Advertisement
One male suffered two gunshot wounds in his lower body and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center. He is “alert and conscious,” Hermanek said in a statement.
Two suspects were stopped by North Riverside police and are in custody, officials said.
Advertisement
The North Riverside Park Mall has been closed for the remainder of Friday. The mall said on social media that it will reopen Saturday for normal business hours.
“Today, we had an isolated crime occur at the mall,” a Twitter statement from the mall said. “Thanks to the police and our security team’s quick response, the suspect has been identified and is in police custody.”
For the safety of our customers, the mall will be closed for the remainder of the day.
We will reopen tomorrow during normal business hours 11am-7pm. pic.twitter.com/21C1K8uW8H — North Riverside Park Mall (@NRPMall) September 25, 2020
This is the third shooting in the last few months at the mall. In June, a man in his 20s was shot inside the mall. And in late May, another man was fatally shot at the mall.
jaanderson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 2,514 new known COVID-19 cases and 25 additional deaths reported; L

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 2,514 new known COVID-19 cases and 25 additional deaths reported; Lightfoot, labor leaders call for congressional help on Chicago’s revenue hole

Nature preschools were increasing before the pandemic , more than doubling in the last three years , according to a @ @ @ @ @ Alliance , a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education .
The report @ @ @ @ @ country have nature-based education at their core , meaning a significant amount of time is @ @ @ @ @ among the states with the most programs — topping 20 .
California and Washington , @ @ @ @ @ , lead the list .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and labor leaders whose members could bear the brunt of layoffs or furloughs as the city tries to close a yawning 2021 budget deficit called on Illinois' Congressional delegation this week to work toward passage of a federal aid package that could forestall the deepest cuts.
It’s not likely the letter they sent to legislators from Illinois will have much impact on the partisan Washington D.C. impasse over aid to cities and other units of government hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Illinois public health officials reported Friday they had logged 2,514 newly diagnosed cases and 25 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 283,885 known cases and 8,563 deaths.
However, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has warned that Region 1 in northern Illinois, which includes the Rockford and Dixon areas, has seen positivity rates rise to 7.5%, near the 8% threshold that would bring additional restrictions on public gatherings.
Advertisement
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:40 p.m. (update): After ‘notable decrease in parties’ and a drop in COVID-19 cases, NIU will resume in-person classes
Northern Illinois University in DeKalb will restart in-person courses Monday after a two-week shift to remote learning saw a drop in COVID-19 cases among students and showed that no infections stemmed from the classroom.
NIU President Lisa Freeman announced the resumption in an email message to students and faculty Friday. Freeman said the break allowed NIU to identify exposed students through surveillance testing and immediately quarantine them.
“Outside of this now-isolated population, our overall positivity rate has gone down,” Freeman wrote. “We also have seen a notable decrease in parties and social gatherings. These results show us that the vast majority of you are taking this situation seriously, and I am grateful.”
NIU switched to remote learning on Sept. 11 and asked undergraduates living nearby and campus residents to limit in-person and social interactions.
More than 70 students tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 8, but the case count has dropped to single digits on most days since then, according to the school’s dashboard.
NIU joins other universities that have reinstated face-to-face instruction after seeing infections spike on campus and taking preventative action.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
Advertisement
3:14 p.m.: Wisconsin’s COVID-19 cases go up again, near all-time high
Wisconsin’s newly reported COVID-19 cases grew again Friday, just shy of the highest daily total since the pandemic broke out.
The state Department of Health Services reported 2,504 new cases, short of the record set exactly one week ago of 2,533 new cases. On Thursday, there were 2,392 new cases.
In total, Wisconsin has had nearly 111,000 people test positive and 1,274 deaths.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:37 p.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot, labor leaders call for congressional help on Chicago’s coronavirus revenue hole
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and labor leaders whose members could bear the brunt of layoffs or furloughs as the city tries to close a yawning 2021 budget deficit called on Illinois' Congressional delegation this week to work toward passage of a federal aid package that could forestall the deepest cuts.
It’s not likely the letter they sent to legislators from Illinois will have much impact on the partisan Washington D.C. impasse over aid to cities and other units of government hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advertisement
But it illustrates how Lightfoot and union heads are trying to show they’re working together before the mayor introduces a budget proposal next month that she has warned could include significant payroll cuts in many front line city departments to help close a shortfall for next year she estimates at $1.2 billion.
While laying out that financial hole last month, Lightfoot said a federal revenue deal is the best way to avoid cuts that would impact city services.
Read more here. —John Byrne
1:35 p.m.: Buffalo Grove to allow Halloween trick-or-treating with safety suggestions
Buffalo Grove trustees agreed to accept staff recommendations to not ban trick-or-treating in the village on Halloween, but instead offer alternatives and suggestions to improve safety during the annual candy gathering in the time of coronavirus.
“The board agreed with that approach,” Assistant Village Manager Jennifer Maltas told Pioneer Press in an interview following Monday’s combination virtual and in-person meeting.
Regarding trick-or-treating, Maltas said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has categorized the traditional door-to-door candy collection as a high-risk activity — in light of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic — and she said the Illinois Department of Public Health is expected to finalize its guidelines in the coming days.
Advertisement
Village officials may tweak their recommendations after reviewing that information, she said.
Read more here. —Graydon Megan
12:12 p.m.: 2,514 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional deaths reported
Illinois public health officials reported Friday they had logged 2,514 newly diagnosed cases and 25 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 283,885 known cases and 8,563 deaths.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:42 a.m.: 20 Valparaiso, Indiana, football players quarantined after positive COVID-19 case; games against Crown Point, Merrillville canceled
Valparaiso High School has announced that both junior varsity and varsity football teams will suspend practice and competition until Oct. 5, effectively canceling games against Crown Point and Merrillville.
In a statement sent to football parents, Head Coach Bill Marshall and Athletic Director Stacy Adams said school officials received word of a positive COVID-19 case at the high school.
Advertisement
In collaboration with the Porter County Health Department, those in direct contact with the individual who tested positive were identified, notified and instructed to quarantine for 14 days.
Read more here. —Hannah Reed, Post-Tribune
10:59 a.m.: Coronavirus cases are on the rise in the US heartland, where anti-mask sentiment runs high
It began with devastation in the New York City area, followed by a summertime crisis in the Sun Belt. Now the coronavirus is striking cities with much smaller populations in the heartland, often in conservative corners of America where anti-mask sentiment runs high.
The spread has created new problems at hospitals, schools and colleges in the Midwest and West.
Wisconsin is averaging more than 2,000 new cases a day over the last week, compared with 675 three weeks earlier. Hospitalizations in the state are at the highest level since the outbreak took hold in the U.S. in March.
Utah has seen its average daily case count more than double from three weeks earlier. Oklahoma and Missouri are regularly recording 1,000 new cases a day, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch opponent of mask rules, tested positive for the virus this week. And South Dakota, Idaho and Iowa are seeing sky-high rates of tests coming back positive.
Advertisement
The U.S. is averaging more than 40,000 new confirmed cases a day. While that number is dramatically lower than the peak of nearly 70,000 over the summer, the numbers are worrisome nonetheless. The nation’s death toll eclipsed 200,000 this week, the highest in the world.
Read more here. —Associated Press
9:09 a.m.: Neiman Marcus is notifying employees of a new round of staff cuts
Neiman Marcus is exiting its bankruptcy with a smaller workforce.
Significant staff cuts at both its Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores have started this week. The company didn’t say how many people are permanently losing jobs.
“We plan to separate from selling and non-selling associates,” the Dallas-based luxury retailer said in emailed statement. “These are difficult decisions we must make at this time and we are so grateful for our dedicated stores associates.”
Read more here. —The Dallas Morning News
Advertisement
7:11 a.m.: What will it take to make diners feel safe indoors? Nearly 60% feel uneasy eating inside, so restaurants try sterilizing UV wands, tabletop air purifiers as winter looms.
The host greeting diners at Formento’s, an Italian restaurant in the West Town neighborhood, now offers guests something new alongside the menu and wine list: a portable air purifier for their table.
The tabletop devices are among a series of air quality upgrades the restaurant introduced this month to assure customers they can breathe easy dining inside.
Diners can also expect to see bussers using ultraviolet wands to sterilize glassware and utensils, and little air-sucking robots in various corners of the restaurant that use heat to kill microorganisms. Unseen are new air filters installed in the HVAC system meant to trap virus particles.
The changes were costly for a restaurant that continues to lose money due to COVID-19.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
5 a.m.: With the pandemic, parents and educators embrace outdoor preschools. Many hope the move will be permanent.
On a hazy September afternoon near a willow tree, a boy with a bright red backpack spotted something slimy on the ground.
Advertisement
“Hello, all the mushrooms,” he said, gently tapping the fungus, trying not to crush any as his small feet moved through the grass.
A teacher asked why they might be growing in that spot. The boy thought for a moment. “Because it’s shady and wet!”
That was just one lesson for the group of kids at the Chicago Botanic Garden Nature Preschool, a program that’s part of the growing field of nature-based early childhood education.
Nature preschools were increasing before the pandemic, more than doubling in the last three years, according to a report from the Natural Start Alliance, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education. The report estimates 585 schools across the country have nature-based education at their core, meaning a significant amount of time is spent outside. Illinois is among the states with the most programs — topping 20. California and Washington, with about 50 programs each, lead the list.
Read more here. —Morgan Greene


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Bubble wrap, seat belt used in slaying of woman found in Gresham lot, authorities say

Police were called to a vacant lot in the 1500 block of West 79th Street about 12:55 a.m. and found @ @ @ @ @ vehicle with a seat belt and the bubble wrap bundled around her head and neck @ @ @ @ @ Rusanov , a spokesman for Chicago police .

A 45-year-old woman who was found with bubble wrap and a seat belt wrapped around her head early Friday on the South Side suffered multiple injuries in an assault, officials said.
Police were called to a vacant lot in the 1500 block of West 79th Street about 12:55 a.m. and found the still-unidentified woman inside a vehicle with a seat belt and the bubble wrap bundled around her head and neck, according to Officer Steve Rusanov, a spokesman for Chicago police.
Advertisement
She was pronounced dead at 1:37 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy Friday determined she died of multiple injuries from an assault, according to the medical examiner’s office, which ruled her death a homicide.
Advertisement
Area Two detectives are investigating but no arrests have been made.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Column: Uncivil War: A poem about Donald Trump

This is the latest in my series of occasional TrumPoems chronicling the presidency of Donald Trump , based , as @ @ @ @ @ words and acts .

The American flag flies at half-mast in honor of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Cecil Airport on Sept. 24 in Jacksonville, Florida. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
This is the latest in my series of occasional TrumPoems chronicling the presidency of Donald Trump, based, as always, on his own words and acts.
UNCIVIL WAR
Advertisement
Well, whoopee! RBG is gone
And now I’ve got my shot
Advertisement
I’ll pack the nation’s highest court
To further my great plot
.
My plot’s to keep my power
Folks, you’ll never push me out
Not even if I lose the vote —
I’ve seeded too much doubt.
.
Advertisement
I’ve warned you all of ballot fraud
Said voting’s a big scam
And now I’ll ram this court vote through
With help from Lindsey Graham.
.
The voters say they’d much prefer
Advertisement
I wait to fill Ruth’s seat
The Democrats are hoping
Come November I’ll be beat
.
But that is why old Ginsburg’s death
Is such a timely gift —
Advertisement
I get to choose a justice!
That should help with my big grift.
.
The pundits and the Democrats
Are warning revolution
They claim that I am waging war
Advertisement
Upon the Constitution.
.
They talk of “peaceful transfer”
And an “orderly transition”
Well, that I cannot guarantee
Cause I’ve got just one mission
Advertisement
.
To win, to win, to win again!
The White House it is mine!
And that is why I’ve got to get
The court back up to nine.
.
Advertisement
Those whiny libs should quiet down
And spare me their abuse
Oh, how I envy leaders
Like that guy in Belarus.
.
Hang on, gotta retweet this Biden video …
Advertisement
.
And as for Bader Ginsburg —
I have wished her RIP
Although she called me “faker”
And was very mean to me.
.
Advertisement
Her death provides distraction
From the nation’s COVID dread
That flu kills almost no one!
Huh? Two hundred thousand dead?
.
You can’t believe the numbers
Advertisement
And you can’t trust Sleepy Joe
Subtract the blue state victims
And the stats are very low.
.
Bob Woodward claims I knew the risks?
His book is gonna bomb
Advertisement
And me, I’m just like Churchill
Here to keep my country calm.
.
A vaccine’s coming very soon!
Don’t tell me that’s absurd
It’s coming soon because I need
Advertisement
To win November third.
.
Hold on, I dropped the remote …
.
I’m battling evil forces
Mary Trump has filed a suit
Advertisement
And Meghan Markle dissed me
I’m no fan and she’s a snoot.
.
Some say I’m Putin’s puppet
“Useful idiot’s” the term
But nothing that my critics say
Advertisement
Will ever make me squirm.
.
I live by my own wishes
And I make up my own rules
Some say I’ve changed what’s normal
That’s what rulers do, you fools!
Advertisement
.
I’ve numbed you with confusion
Made you weary with my lies
And dizzy from my double talk —
That’s how I’ll win the prize!
.
Advertisement
A psychopath, a narcissist?
Your insults are such bores
And here’s the most tremendous thing:
My sickness is now yours.
.
I’m flexing all my power
Advertisement
From the West Coast to New York
Those places are anarchic
I’ll withhold their federal pork.
.
Bill Barr is still my buddy
He keeps Justice on my side!
Advertisement
The yes men in my party
Don’t dare wound my fragile pride
.
And soon I’ll be debating
With old Biden — he’s so vile
Perhaps you saw that video?
Advertisement
The man’s a pedophile!
.
He’s old and he’s demented
And he’s probably on drugs
He’ll wreck our peaceful suburbs
As he kowtows to the thugs.
Advertisement
.
Wink. Wink.
.
Election Day is drawing near
Just five more weeks to go
And really there is just one thing
Advertisement
The country needs to know
.
No matter what the vote is
Whether Biden takes the lead
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
I’ve sown so much uncertainty
I won’t have to concede.
Advertisement
.
And if my people take up arms
To fight for my great cause?
That’s A-OK with me, my friends
Their war sounds like applause.


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says billboards honoring Breonna Taylor are not political

Taylor was fatally shot by an officer during an exchange of gunfire with her boyfriend in her apartment in March @ @ @ @ @ against an officer was for firing shots into an adjoining apartment .
Lightfoot on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ “ a gross miscarriage of justice .
”

People march north on Michigan Avenue in memory of Breonna Taylor on Sept. 23, 2020, in Chicago. Taylor was fatally shot by Louisville (Kentucky) police in March. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is using electronic billboards on city property to honor Breonna Taylor following protests in Chicago this week in response to her fatal shooting by police in Louisville, saying the campaign on signs alongside local expressways is not politically motivated despite some aldermanic criticism.
The slogan “#SayHerName," which many Taylor supporters have used to try to keep attention on her case, started appearing on digital billboards in Chicago after a grand jury in Kentucky opted this week not to indict any Louisville police officers in her death.
Advertisement
Taylor was fatally shot by an officer during an exchange of gunfire with her boyfriend in her apartment in March. The only indictment returned against an officer was for firing shots into an adjoining apartment. Lightfoot on Wednesday called the grand jury decision “a gross miscarriage of justice.”
In a statement, the mayor’s office likened the Taylor messages to public service announcements the city posts on the digital billboards.
Advertisement
“This week, the city’s social media channels and electronic billboards are honoring the life of Breonna Taylor and countless other victims of systemic injustice with the display #SayHerName,” the statement reads in part. “During a time of healing for Chicago’s residents, we are not going to dignify comments calling this effort ‘political.’ ”
But Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, said the message honoring Taylor is controversial. “I’m very disappointed," Sposato said. “I think this is a political statement, and we’re politicizing the tragic death of a young woman. We should be trying to heal as a city, rather than fanning the flames.”
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Doubt about police in Chicago manifests itself on racial lines in monitor’s survey, legal challenges

Doubt about police in Chicago manifests itself on racial lines in monitor’s survey, legal challenges over street stops

“ I was under the impression that police are just doing their job , they usually have a split second @ @ @ @ @ '' Lindsey , now 23 , said in an interview with the Tribune .
`` @ @ @ @ @ of people were over-exaggerating the stops .
( But ) in that moment , right @ @ @ @ @ was like , ‘ it ’ s not an exaggeration .
This really does happen @ @ @ @ @ to me .
’ ”

Many Black Americans' distrust for police, both in Chicago and around the country, has been highlighted repeatedly in 2020, most recently this week with outrage over the controversial result of an investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Chicago had its own watershed moment on policing and racism with the 2014 shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white officer later convicted of second-degree murder, touching off efforts for sweeping reform. But a recent community survey on policing here that is part of that effort points to a continuing, wide racial divide between how Black and white residents view cops, including a persistent issue: the street stop.
Advertisement
That Black residents are targeted for stops by Chicago police at a higher rate than white residents has been detailed in federal lawsuits by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, the Justice Department and even a police task force chaired by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
But the problem remains and continues to have an impact on how Black Chicagoans’ view the police, according to the survey, which was conducted by the independent monitor who is overseeing the federally court-mandated reform of the Chicago Police Department.
Advertisement
While nearly 80% of white residents surveyed said police make them feel safer, less than half the Black residents who took part felt the same. Just a third of young Black men surveyed felt that way.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
Overall, the survey, which included Black, white and Hispanic residents, showed a shared lack of confidence in the department, with only about half of all respondents saying Chicago police officers are trustworthy.
“At this moment in history, when communities across the nation are demanding changes to policing, the findings of this survey give us additional insight into police-community relations in Chicago,” wrote Maggie Hickey, the monitor, in a filing to the court. “The overarching implication of these survey results is that the CPD has serious work ahead to gain the trust and confidence of Chicagoans.”
Survey results
The monitor’s survey included interviews with 1,000 residents between November 2019 and February 2020 — notably before the May 31 slaying of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.
The survey found that Hispanic Chicagoans overall closely tracked with the opinions of white residents, but they were more negative on specific questions about police ability to solve crime, community cooperation and fear of retaliation from officers for filing a complaint.
A key takeaway, however, is that Black Chicagoans have the most negative experiences with police, especially for the specific younger demographic the monitor focused on — young Black men between the ages of 18 and 25:
- While 77% of white Chicago residents and 67% of Hispanic residents think police make their neighborhoods safe, only 47% of Black residents feel the same. That figure fell to 34% among a group of young Black men who were surveyed separately in a pool of 346 respondents.
- 37% of young Black men and 15% of Black Chicagoans overall reported being stopped by Chicago police while walking on the street during the past year, compared with 4% for white Chicagoans and 2% for Hispanics.
Advertisement
- For stops in cars, young Black men again reported the highest rates at 52%, followed by 34% for Black Chicagoans, 19% for Hispanics and 9% of white residents surveyed.
- More young Black men, 19%, reported Chicago police pointing a gun at them, compared with 2% for all those surveyed.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
“Black Chicagoans report experiencing and perceiving the CPD much more negatively than other Chicagoans do,” the survey report reads. “White Chicagoans consistently rated the CPD most positively, tend to trust CPD officers, report being treated well by the CPD, and generally indicate higher satisfaction with the CPD overall.”
A higher number of street stops just for Black residents can have far-reaching impact, experts said, especially for young Black men.
“It impacts their civic participation," said Paul Butler, a professor of law at Georgetown University and former federal prosecutor. "A number of studies have found negative encounters with police and the criminal justice system make people less likely to participate in civil society. … It has long-term detrimental effect on democracy.”
Butler, who wrote the book “Chokehold: Policing Black Men," said the traffic stop data was the “most revealing” data point in the report.
Advertisement
For his criminal procedure class at Georgetown, Butler arranges for interested students to have a ride-along with a police officer to observe traffic stops, including how common a minor traffic violation is.
The point is to show that while many people violate traffic laws, not everyone gets stopped.
“Traffic stops are discretionary and often pretextual, meaning the cops don’t care you changed lanes without signaling,” Butler said. “They just want to stop someone. … Study after study has found that police use this power to target young Black men in cars."
‘This really does happen’
Rashawn Lindsey is one of several plaintiffs in one federal lawsuit filed against the city of Chicago and the department on behalf of Black Chicago men who allege they were victims of unconstitutional stops.
Rashawn Lindsey, 23, stands where he was stopped by police when he was 18 years old as he was walking down the 6600 block of South Carpenter Street in Chicago. Lindsey's attorney says there was no justification for the stop, and Lindsey is part of a civil suit against the city for excessive stops in the Black community. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
He was walking down a street in Englewood when he was stopped in April 2015, according to his lawsuit.
Lindsey, an 18-year-old high school student at the time, had heard plenty of stories from family and friends about harassing stops by the police. But Lindsey said he also believed that police had a tough job and deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Advertisement
“I was under the impression that police are just doing their job, they usually have a split second to make their decision," Lindsey, now 23, said in an interview with the Tribune. "I felt like a lot of people were over-exaggerating the stops. (But) in that moment, right after that moment, I was like, ‘it’s not an exaggeration. This really does happen. The way it happened to me.’”
Lindsey said he was walking home with his cousin and a friend when an unmarked Chicago police vehicle rolled up from behind back in 2015. He was wearing headphones and didn’t immediately understand what was happening until his cousin called out from behind for him to stop.
“I turned around, and there’s Tasers on me,” Lindsey recalled seeing before hearing the officer say, "'Hands up or we Tase you.'”
Rashawn Lindsey, 23, describes what happened when he stopped by police when he was 18 years old as he was walking down the 6600 block of South Carpenter Street in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Lindsey said he, his cousin and their friend were handcuffed together and placed against the hood of the police squad while officers searched them.
They were not arrested, but before allowing the three to leave, Lindsey said police asked for their names. Lindsey’s attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said the stop was documented by the department in a contact card, which is filled out by officers when they make a street stop but not an arrest.
The cards have been controversial. While officers are supposed to document the specific facts that justify the stop, a major review by the ACLU of Illinois showed not only that Black residents were stopped more often but that officers failed to articulate a reason.
Advertisement
Before Lindsey and his friends left, Lindsey said he heard one of the officers remark, “I guess you’re one of the good ones."
“We were all like, ‘what the hell?’,” Lindsey said. "I didn’t feel safe and I just wanted to go home.”
But the stop has also had more lasting impressions on Lindsey.
“My perspective on police kind of flipped when I got stopped,” he said.
He said he now doesn’t want to have anything to do with police, and he sees police officers and the entire criminal justice system as “intertwined.” He stays home more and takes Ubers to avoid walking around and when he is out, and he is vigilant about where police are.
”I notice every police officer that rolls past me," he said. “If they are sitting somewhere, I notice them all.”
Advertisement
Lindsey, who likes playing computer games, is working on getting a technology certification that would allow him to apply for IT jobs. “My dream job is to (design) games at home,” he said.
‘Transformational reform’ won’t happen overnight
The community survey conducted by Hickey and her team is the first to be done under the court-mandated reform. It will be used to assess police performance and repeated every other year, providing a baseline to see whether the department improves its relationships with residents.
For anyone following policing in Chicago, the survey findings may not be surprising.
The city has already entered into an agreement with the ACLU to better track and document all investigatory street stops and protective pat-downs, a process that was overseen by a retired federal judge until Hickey assumed oversight of that legal action as well.
Meanwhile, the department has started to work toward implementing sweeping changes laid out in the consent decree, which was entered into after the Department of Justice found in 2017 that Chicago police had engaged in widespread civil rights abuses.
But Romanucci argued that what this year has shown is what happens after years of over-policing in Black communities.
Advertisement
Chicago was among the cities to see widespread protests over the death of Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as looting during civil unrest. The survey was released the week of racially charged events in Kenosha, where police shot a Black man in the back during an arrest attempt caught on video, sparking violence.
This week Chicago and cities across America saw marches over the end of the investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor, which saw no police officers directly charged in her fatal shooting in her home during the execution of a “no-knock” warrant.
Romanucci said part of the reason for Lindsey’s lawsuit is to apply pressure for change.
“Stop-and-frisk is part of the systemic marginalization of Black people that also includes redlining, food desserts," he said. “These are random stops to harass and destroy trust.”
When asked by the Tribune about the findings of the survey, the CPD issued a statement, saying the report reflects how the “transformational reform and trust that we are working towards cannot be achieved overnight.”
The statement also noted recent department efforts to establish trust in city neighborhoods, including having police recruits tour them with a youth organization and partnering with other city departments on weekly cleanup efforts in some areas.
Advertisement
“We remain diligent in our efforts to build a more transparent, accountable and professional police force,” the statement continued.


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--After ‘notable decrease in parties’ and a drop in COVID-19 cases, Northern Illinois University will

After ‘notable decrease in parties’ and a drop in COVID-19 cases, Northern Illinois University will resume in-person classes

“ Outside of this now-isolated population , our overall positivity rate has gone down , ” Freeman wrote .
“ @ @ @ @ @ notable decrease in parties and social gatherings .
These results show us that the vast @ @ @ @ @ this situation seriously , and I am grateful .
”

Northern Illinois University in DeKalb will restart in-person courses Monday after a two-week shift to remote learning saw a drop in COVID-19 cases among students and showed that no infections stemmed from the classroom.
NIU President Lisa Freeman announced the resumption in an email message to students and faculty Friday. Freeman said the break allowed NIU to identify exposed students through surveillance testing and immediately quarantine them.
Advertisement
“Outside of this now-isolated population, our overall positivity rate has gone down,” Freeman wrote. “We also have seen a notable decrease in parties and social gatherings. These results show us that the vast majority of you are taking this situation seriously, and I am grateful.”
NIU switched to remote learning on Sept. 11 and asked undergraduates living nearby and campus residents to limit in-person and social interactions.
Advertisement
Northern Illinois University took a two-week break from in-person classes and has since seen a drop in new COVID-19 cases. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
More than 70 students tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 8, but the case count has dropped to single digits on most days since then, according to the school’s dashboard.
NIU joins other universities that have reinstated face-to-face instruction after seeing infections spike on campus and taking preventive action.
On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned the northwest region of the state, which includes NIU, could face a clampdown as the nine-county area’s positivity rate grew to 7.5%. Freeman said parties at the university are banned and social gatherings must be capped at 10 people. Everyone interacting must wear masks and maintain physical distance.
NIU’s website says it’s offering “a mix of fully online, face-to-face and hybrid courses” this fall.
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Pritzker tries to blame Republicans after ally suggests big tax hike coming if voters reject tax ame

Pritzker tries to blame Republicans after ally suggests big tax hike coming if voters reject tax amendment

“ What are the Republicans proposing here ?
Nothing new .
Just heading in the same old direction , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ re the ones who are going to end up imposing an enormous tax increase @ @ @ @ @ education which ultimately is going to cost you , if you own a home or @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re going to pay a higher rental rate or pay a higher rate @ @ @ @ @ their inaction and they have no solutions to come up with .
”

A day after a top Democratic ally warned of an across-the-board income tax increase if voters reject a proposed tax amendment, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sought to blame Illinois Republicans should such a tax hike take place.
But House Republicans called Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s Thursday remarks about a 20% tax increase “on all Illinois residents” a “scare tactic” designed to intimidate voters just as vote-by-mail ballots are being sent to homes and some early-voting sites opened in the suburbs.
Advertisement
[ Lt. Gov. Stratton warns of 20% across-the-board income tax hike if Illinois voters reject graduated-rate constitutional amendment ]
The political fallout from Stratton’s remarks underscored the high stakes of the Nov. 3 ballot question asking Illinois voters whether the state constitution should be changed to switch from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated tax-rate system based on income.
Appearing at an unrelated news conference Friday, Pritzker attempted to cast Stratton’s remarks more comprehensively than what she actually said while also trying to downplay her words as nothing new.
Advertisement
[ Fair tax or tax hike? Emotional arguments project hope and fear as voters set to decide what could be Illinois’ biggest taxation shift in decades ]
The first-term governor noted that shortly after taking office last year, he warned that failure to adopt the amendment would lead to either an increase in the state’s current 4.95% flat income tax rate to at least 5.95% — a roughly 20% increase — or 15% across-the-board spending cuts.
But Stratton never mentioned cuts as an alternative in her remarks Thursday at a virtual rally for the Vote Yes for Fairness group that Pritzker has heavily backed with campaign contributions.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton speaks before Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs a bill into law in June 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
A 1-percentage-point increase in the state’s current personal income tax rate would generate about $4 billion, more than the estimated $3.4 billion that the state would receive if voters approve the switch to a graduated-rate system.
Pritzker and supporters contend a rate schedule that would take effect if the amendment is adopted will mean that those who earn $250,000 or less will pay at least the same or less tax than under the current flat tax. That’s 97% of Illinoisans. Backers argue that the current flat tax places an unfair burden on those with lower incomes because they pay the same rate as the wealthy.
[ Illinois income tax calculator: How would Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax affect you? ]
But opponents, led by Republicans and business allies, argue the proposal will make it easier for lawmakers to cherry-pick people by income for future tax hikes, hurting business owners, jobs and adding to an exodus of taxpayers.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said Friday that Stratton’s warning was a “planned” move “to get into the heads of people who are uncertain, people who are scared about what the future’s going to be, particularly in a time of pandemic.”
Durkin called Stratton’s comments “intimidation” and “a clear sign of desperation” that the proposed amendment is failing with the election “around the corner.”
“Here’s (Pritzker’s) message in no uncertain words: ‘If you do not pass my tax hike amendment, we will annihilate you with a 20% tax increase across the board when we return to session,'” Durkin said.
Advertisement
Republican Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon said Stratton was offering a “false choice to Illinois voters between one tax hike or another tax hike,” without offering the prospect of “meaningful reforms, spending reductions or efficiencies.”
[ Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax: Here’s what you need to know ]
But Pritzker maintained it was Republicans “that are proposing annihilating the working class and the middle class in Illinois because they have no solutions.” The Democrat castigated his predecessor, one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, for failing to offer ways to fix Illinois' budget imbalance while presiding over eight credit downgrades in his four years.
Should opponents be successful in defeating the proposed amendments Republicans are leaving the public with "the idea that you’re going to raise taxes on the middle class, working class, or that you’re going to cut education, public safety, health care, services that people really rely upon,” he said.
“What are the Republicans proposing here? Nothing new. Just heading in the same old direction,” Pritzker said. “They’re the ones who are going to end up imposing an enormous tax increase or a massive cut in education which ultimately is going to cost you, if you own a home or you rent a home, you’re going to pay a higher rental rate or pay a higher rate of property taxes because of their inaction and they have no solutions to come up with.”
Republicans have contended that Pritzker has failed to share where he has asked state agency officials to trim costs even before the dramatic effects on state revenues due to pandemic restrictions.
The state faces a $5 billion budget deficit, and more federal money is in question due to partisan fighting between House Democrats and Senate Republicans. As such, Durkin called the prospect of help from Washington “hypothetical money” and that, “as of right now, we’re not expecting a penny more from them.”
Advertisement
But Pritzker said state officials already were looking at potential budget cuts before the pandemic, and now those need to be revised. The governor said he believed “there is the possibility that there will be an agreement” on federal aid to states.
“We’re hopeful, but we’re sort of hoping for the best, planning for the worst,” he said.
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Top Lightfoot adviser on intergovernmental affairs to marry Chicago alderman, raising ethical concer

Top Lightfoot adviser on intergovernmental affairs to marry Chicago alderman, raising ethical concerns from city staff

Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin said he isn ’ t allowed to confirm whether he ’ s even @ @ @ @ @ employees and officials are only prohibited from supervising a spouse .
News of the wedding @ @ @ @ @ members of Lightfoot ’ s administration , who told the Tribune they were worried about @ @ @ @ @ conflict raised by the relationship .

A top legislative adviser to Mayor Lori Lightfoot is marrying first-term Chicago Ald. Jim Gardiner, raising concerns from some of the mayor’s staff about the ethical implications of the relationship, sources told the Tribune.
Ald. Jim Gardiner, 45th, attends a City Council meeting in Chicago on May 29, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Lightfoot’s senior adviser for legislative counsel and government affairs, Samantha Fields, has been dating Gardiner for months and they plan to get married in October, sources said. Politico first reported news of the wedding plans.
Advertisement
In a statement, the mayor’s office congratulated Fields on her engagement and said she will immediately take a new role as senior adviser, “helping to guide the administration’s strategy on budget, cannabis, labor, state policy and special projects, among other policy matters.”
“She will no longer have a direct role working with City Council issues,” the mayor’s office said.
Advertisement
The mayor’s office also said it has “worked closely with the Board of Ethics to ensure ethical conduct in both her previous and current roles and have been informed that there is no conflict of interest in Sam continuing in her current role.”
Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin said he isn’t allowed to confirm whether he’s even given advice but said city employees and officials are only prohibited from supervising a spouse. News of the wedding plans raised concerns for some members of Lightfoot’s administration, who told the Tribune they were worried about the appearance of a potential conflict raised by the relationship.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Gardiner did not return a message seeking comment. Fields did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
A holdover from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, Fields helped manage the relationship between Lightfoot and the City Council.
Lightfoot is promoting Manuel “Manny” Perez, the current deputy director of intergovernmental affairs, to Fields’ job. Perez previously worked for U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and managed Lightfoot’s runoff campaign.
“The mayor has great confidence in Manny, and the mayor and his colleagues look forward to his continued leadership in shepherding its policy in City Council, Springfield and D.C.,” the mayor’s office said.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-25--Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities: 29,517 confirmed cases and 4,642 deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois .
The @ @ @ @ @ at 850 long-term care facilities in 77 counties .
Of those , 518 facilities have @ @ @ @ @ , defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days .
In all @ @ @ @ @ be tied to long-term care facilities , with 4,642 deaths , as of Sep. 25 @

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois. The data shows outbreaks have occurred at long-term care facilities in 94 counties. Of those, 1,003 facilities have an “active” outbreak, defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days. In all, 71,103 confirmed cases can be tied to long-term care facilities, with 9,263 deaths, as of Jan. 22.