chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Prosecutors offer no motive for SUV driver accused of striking woman and her daughter, then circling

Prosecutors offer no motive for SUV driver accused of striking woman and her daughter, then circling back and hitting mother again, killing her

The bystander was able to pull the daughter clear , but the mother was struck again and dragged down the @ @ @ @ @ the scene .
The SUV driver sped off , crashing into barricades as he eluded @ @ @ @ @ arrested later in the night when he went to police and claimed the Explorer had @ @ @

Paige Fry, Rosemary Sobol, Megan Crepeau


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Cello teacher in Crystal Lake convicted of attempted sexual assault of student

The victim in this case was a student of Kang ’ s from age 9 to 18 , and is @ @ @ @ @ forward to police last year , after the other charges were filed against Kang in @ @ @ @ @

A cello instructor in Crystal Lake has been found guilty by a jury of 10 counts of attempted criminal sexual assault against a former teenage student, McHenry County prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Kenneth Kang also was acquitted of 10 counts of the more serious charge of criminal sexual assault, court records show.
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Kang, 70, of Palatine, who previously taught at the Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake for the McHenry County Music Center, also stands accused in another court case of sexually abusing four other people, court records show.
The victim in this case was a student of Kang’s from age 9 to 18, and is now 20. She came forward to police last year, after the other charges were filed against Kang in 2018, prosecutors said.
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The student testified that Kang stuck his hand down her pants during weekly music lessons on 10 occasions in late 2015, when the girl was 14, prosecutors said.
Defense attorneys Adam Sheppard and Daniel Hofmann questioned the student’s credibility, saying that she later wrote Kang a letter thanking him for his instruction.
“He’s proud of his career, and was disturbed by the allegations,” Sheppard said.
The McHenry County Music Center described Kang on its website as having been principal celloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in South Korea and the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.
After the jury reached its verdict Tuesday, Judge Robert Wilbrandt revoked Kang’s bond and ordered him held in McHenry County Jail.
Kang faces either probation or three to seven years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 30, Sheppard said.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Chicago police launch new website of videos and photographs from downtown looting to spur tips

Police say they have already made more than 100 arrests since hundreds of people swept through downtown Sunday night and @ @ @ @ @ stores and confronting police .
The vandalism came hours after officers shot and wounded a @ @ @ @ @ neighborhood — a connection police have made but which has been disputed by some community @ @ @ @

Damaged windows at the Zara store following early morning looting in downtown Chicago on Aug. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Police Department has created a website of videos and photographs from this week’s looting, saying they hope people will help identify some of the hundreds of people who vandalized stores along the Mag Mile and elsewhere in the city.
Police say they have already made more than 100 arrests since hundreds of people swept through downtown Sunday night and early Monday, breaking into stores and confronting police. The vandalism came hours after officers shot and wounded a 20-year-old man in the Englewood neighborhood — a connection police have made but which has been disputed by some community residents and activists.
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In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan showed reporters one of the videos posted to the new site: A group of people going live on social media while trying to break into an ATM.
Deenihan pointed out that one person’s face is clearly visible in the video and said, “Obviously you should be able to identify that suspect.”
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“We really need everyone’s help to identify these offenders so we can arrest and charge them,” Deenihan said. “Camera footage is only valuable when our officers and detectives can identify the individuals caught on camera committing the crime.
“We need help to get them off the street and before a judge,” he added.
The department does not plan to offer any reward for information, but Deenihan urged people to “do the right thing.”
The department will continue to update the site as detectives work with businesses to gather additional footage.
The website also contains the names, mug shots and charges of those already arrested.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Man convicted in infamous 1994 Aurora murder of a college student ordered to return to prison after

Man convicted in infamous 1994 Aurora murder of a college student ordered to return to prison after sentencing error led to his early release

Kane County Circuit Court Judge D.J .
Tegeler ruled Joyner was , in fact , given nearly twice as much @ @ @ @ @ been given for time served in jail between his 1994 arrest and his 1998 sentencing @ @ @ @ @ than the 3,002 days of credit Joyner was given — or more than eight years @ @ @ @ @ 1,502 days , and ordered him back to prison to serve the remainder of his @ @

A man convicted in a high-profile 1994 Aurora murder has been ordered to return to prison weeks into his parole, after prosecutors said he was released too early because of a sentencing error.
Bonzell Joyner, 45, was taken back into custody following a court hearing Wednesday. He had been released on parole July 22, fewer than 30 years into a 60-year prison sentence for murder.
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Prosecutors had contended he received too much credit for time served in jail before his sentencing, and they said he was released four years too early.
Kane County Circuit Court Judge D.J. Tegeler ruled Joyner was, in fact, given nearly twice as much credit as he should have been given for time served in jail between his 1994 arrest and his 1998 sentencing. Tegeler found that rather than the 3,002 days of credit Joyner was given — or more than eight years — he should have received 1,502 days, and ordered him back to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.
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Joyner, wearing a black shirt, glasses and a black face mask, said little during the hearing, speaking only to tell Tegeler, in response to a question, that he was employed.
He sat quietly as the judge announced his ruling to the courtroom, then looked back at a handful of family and supporters sitting on benches behind him. Additional supporters waited outside the courtroom, unable to enter because of COVID-19 occupancy restrictions.
Joyner was convicted of firing the bullet that killed Armando Mendez, a 19-year-old college student whose murder is among those credited with sparking sweeping change in Aurora, a city that some say by the mid-1990s had become numb to bloody gang violence.
Nine men were convicted of varying crimes in Mendez’s killing. Joyner is the last remaining in prison.
He had been ruled eligible for the death penalty but was ultimately sentenced in 1998 to life in prison. Two years later, the 2nd District Appellate Court modified his sentence to 60 years.
Mendez’s sister, Elsa Mendez-Ruiz, said the Wednesday ruling seemed a bit of justice to offset the frustration of Joyner’s life sentence being reduced.
She relayed messages from her mother, who she said was thankful and said it helps to see the justice she has desired carried out. Mendez-Ruiz’s father said the ruling doesn’t take away the pain and sadness of his son’s loss, but knowing Joyner is serving the time left on his sentence helps, she said.
“It won’t make up for him not being in prison for life, but it was a little bit more of justice that we can have,” Mendez-Ruiz said.
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Mendez-Ruiz is thankful to prosecutors and the judge, but hopes there will not be another error in Joyner’s sentence.
“It is incredibly painful for us, the family, and truly another injustice on top of the crime committed on my brother,” she said. “It is egregious the system does not have checks and balances to prevent this from happening. I can’t stress enough the pain caused when this error gave Joyner in the least bit a taste of undeserved freedom. My brother is gone for good - without deserving it.”
On Oct. 27, 1994, Mendez’s old Cadillac ran out of gas as he drove home after working a night shift at a Naperville Cracker Barrel. As he walked back to his car from a service station on East New York Street, blocks from his house, he was approached by a group of teens and young men and mistaken for a rival gang member. They beat him and, eventually, one pulled out a gun and shot him.
Mendez, a recent Aurora Central Catholic graduate, was studying at the College of DuPage. He hoped to one day be an architect.
Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon has said prosecutors discovered the error in Joyner’s sentencing more than four years ago — and more than 15 years after Joyner was sentenced — and had been working through the court process to correct it when Joyner was released.
Wednesday, prosecutors with the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said that Joyner was never entitled to 3,002 days of credit, and asked Tegeler to correct the mistake.
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“The defendant should not be given credit for time before the offense even occurred,” the prosecutor said.
Joyner’s attorney, a Kane County public defender, told the judge prosecutors’ arguments amounted to an attempt to add additional time onto the sentence the court issued. Revisiting Joyner’s sentence goes against legal principles, she said.
“He served the sentence he was given,” she said. “He is entitled to an end to this.”
She argued the circuit court shouldn’t have jurisdiction to hear the sentencing issue, and Joyner’s sentencing as it stood was final.
Tegeler said the hearing Wednesday amounted to the first time Joyner’s credit for time served had ever been litigated in front of a judge. Credit would not have been an issue when Joyner was first sentenced, because it was a life sentence without the possibility of parole, he said. Later, the appellate court did not address the issue of credit.
Tegeler said he did not think a trial judge would purposely violate the law, and acknowledged the Illinois Department of Corrections also plays a role in determining credit.
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Still, the amount of credit Joyner initially received was an error, he said.
“3,002 days was an error,” he said. “(It) was erroneous and violated the law, quite frankly.”
sfreishtat@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Lightfoot announces review of Chicago monuments as part of ‘a racial healing and historical reckonin

Lightfoot announces review of Chicago monuments as part of ‘a racial healing and historical reckoning project’

This 32-foot-tall coral granite structure with four drinking water basins was intended to provide free , ice-cooled water beginning on @ @ @ @ @ a national holiday for the 400th anniversary of Columbus ’ arrival in America and also @ @ @ @ @ World ’ s Fair dedication — but the 7-foot-tall bronze statue of the explorer had @ @ @ @ @ .
Though some materials to complete the fountain were also still in transit , “ @ @ @ @ @ so that it might be said that water had been drawn during the World ’ @ @ @ @ @ the Tribune reported .

The Christopher Columbus statue is transported after being removed in Grant Park in the early hours of July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Nearly three weeks after ordering the removal of Christopher Columbus statues in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday announced the formation of a committee to review the city’s monuments as part of “a racial healing and historical reckoning project.”
The Lightfoot administration also said it will commission “a series of temporary public artworks that focus on a broader range of topics around COVID-19, inequality and racial reconciliation.”
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The panel’s co-chairs will be Mark Kelly, who heads the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; Bonnie McDonald, president and CEO of Landmarks Illinois; and Jennifer Scott, director and chief curator of Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.
In making the announcement, Lightfoot referred obliquely to her middle-of-the-night removal of the Columbus statues in Grant Park and Little Italy, a move she has insisted was temporary and based on public safety concerns. She later ordered the removal of a smaller Columbus statue in South Chicago.
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A Chicago police officer stands in front of the Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park on July 23, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“This effort is not just about a single statue or mural, but how we create a platform to channel our city’s dynamic civic energy to purposefully reflect our values as Chicagoans and uplift the stories of our city’s residents, particularly when it comes to the permanent memorialization of our history and shared heritage,” Lightfoot said in a news release.
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Even before the unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, cities around the country were grappling with controversies over monuments that celebrate Columbus, Confederate leaders and other historical figures. Some have been marked with graffiti. Others have been pulled down.
Activists have urged that public art do a better job of representing a broad spectrum of American life, something Lightfoot said the Chicago effort will accomplish.
Empty space remains after the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed by the city for public safety at Arrigo Park on July 24, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
It “will provide a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history, confront the ways in which that history has and has not been memorialized, and develop a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s true and complete history,” she said.
The city’s effort will have four main goals: cataloging monuments and public art on city property and the property of related agencies like the Chicago Park District; filling out the advisory committee that will “determine which pieces warrant attention or action”; recommending new monuments or public art; and creating a dialogue about Chicago’s past.
The goal is for the panel, which will have about 20 members, to complete its report by the end of this year, following an artist-led community engagement process.
Kelly, the chief of the city’s cultural affairs department, said the advisory committee will assess whether minority groups are seriously underrepresented in Chicago’s public sculptures.
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But in the news release, he suggested that they are underrepresented, saying the committee looks forward to commissioning “new memorials and monuments that equitably acknowledge Chicago’s shared history.”
Indeed, “The Chicago Public Art Guide,” a 96-page survey by the cultural affairs department that was last updated in 2014, shows more artwork celebrating mythical women than real women.
The mythical women include a 1954 bronze bas-relief by Milton Horn, “Chicago Rising From the Lake,” that’s mounted along the Riverwalk under the Columbus Drive Bridge. Its female figure, the guide says, “represents Chicago, emerging reborn from the bottom of Lake Michigan following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.”
There are few female and minority counterparts to the bronze statue of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ 1897 “General John Logan Memorial” in Grant Park.
During the 1968 Democratic National Convention, anti-war demonstrators climbed atop the statue, which portrays the Civil War general on horseback and holding aloft an enemy banner he’s seized in battle.
Women and minorities aren’t altogether absent from the city’s public art. Many appear among the large-scale, digital faces of sculptor Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. In addition, a statue of the prizewinning poet Gwendolyn Brooks was unveiled on the South Side in 2018. And the Harold Washington Library Center contains multiple artistic tributes to Chicago’s first Black mayor.
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Still, the representation issue is “certainly something that needs to be discussed. It seems like this is a good time to do this,” Tim Samuelson, the city’s official cultural historian, said in a recent interview.
Other cities have used temporary sculptures to explore the issue of expanding representation.
Before 2017, for example, Philadelphia’s roughly 1,500 pieces of public art and monuments did virtually nothing to recognize people of color and real women (as opposed to mythological figures). Then two arts organizations, Mural Arts Philadelphia and Monument Lab, mounted a temporary citywide exhibition of 10 works by local and internationally known artists that shook things up.
Artist Hank Willis Thomas offered a giant Afro pick that tapered to a Black power fist at the end of its handle. Titled “All Power to All People,” the 800-pound, aluminum-and-steel sculpture was provocatively placed near a bronze statue of Frank Rizzo, a former Philadelphia mayor and police commissioner who for many Philadelphians was a symbol of police brutality directed at African Americans and other people of color.
In late July, activists forcibly attempted to remove the prominent statue of Columbus in Grant Park, leading to violent clashes between police and protesters. Lightfoot accused a group of individuals who wielded black umbrellas as they pelted police with projectiles of inciting anarchy.
Nearly a week later, Lightfoot took down Columbus statues in Grant Park and Little Italy. Lightfoot later removed the lesser-known statue in the South Chicago neighborhood.
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Columbus has been condemned by activists around the country who point to the Italian explorer’s mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492.
Many Italian Americans prize the statues of the explorer as an expression of their mainstream American identity.
The Columbus statue in Grant Park was dedicated nearly 87 years ago to considerable fanfare. Thousands of people turned out for the dedication, on Italian Day during Chicago’s second World’s Fair, A Century of Progress, according to Tribune archives and the Chicago Park District.
But its creation was nonetheless controversial.
In 1932, Illinois’ State Board of Art, in reviewing sculptor Carlo Brioschi’s models, announced, “This statue is so bad it should not be put on public display.” Several days later, however, board members admitted it was the pedestal they objected to — not the statue. The piece, a gift of Italian Americans living in Chicago and Cook County, was dedicated on Aug. 3, 1933.
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The monument was again singled out in 1963 when a Tribune reader complained to the paper that a likeness of Benito Mussolini, former Italian prime minister and leader of the country’s National Fascist Party, was one of four bas-reliefs included in the statue’s base. Amerigo Brioschi, the sculptor’s son, told the Tribune the relief was only an allegorical figure representing the Roman symbol for strength and unity.
The 9-foot-tall bronze Columbus statue at Arrigo Park was created for and displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Following that World’s Fair, the statue was placed in a niche above the entrance to the Columbus Memorial Building at State and Washington streets. That’s where it stood until the structure was demolished in 1959.
It spent much of the 1960s stored flat on its back in a yard outside the Joseph Lumber Co. on the city’s Northwest Side.
The statue in South Chicago was a gift from hotelier John. B. Drake, whose sons would later build and operate the Blackstone and Drake hotels. Drake was one of many philanthropists to gift the city with public works of art in advance of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.
This 32-foot-tall coral granite structure with four drinking water basins was intended to provide free, ice-cooled water beginning on Oct. 21, 1892 — a national holiday for the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in America and also the day of the 1893 World’s Fair dedication — but the 7-foot-tall bronze statue of the explorer had not yet arrived from Italy. Though some materials to complete the fountain were also still in transit, “the work has been rushed so that it might be said that water had been drawn during the World’s Fair dedication,” the Tribune reported.
The statue was originally in a different location downtown, but its South Chicago location was chosen in 1908 for the fountain against the wishes of members of the Catholic fraternity Knights of Columbus, which preferred the statue stay in the city’s center. Without delay, however, it was taken piece by piece to its new home in horse-drawn wagons
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Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, said he was asked to be on the committee. He said his perspective, generally, is that statues should remain up, though he said he doesn’t understand why people support Confederate monuments.
But, Sposato added, he doesn’t believe that critics of monuments involving people such as George Washington and Columbus will be satisfied by what the committee decides. Sposato, who is a prominent Italian American alderman, gave Lightfoot cover by endorsing her plan to temporarily remove the statues.
“I just want people to be reasonable,” Sposato said.
Carlos Tortolero, president of the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, applauded the decision to review Chicago’s monuments.
“It is not rewriting history. It’s telling history correctly for the first time,” he said.
Tortolero added that he’d like to see more Latino representation in city monuments and school names, but also for other groups and more women.
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“I often tell people, the first cowboy wasn’t John Wayne, it was Juan Wayne,” he said.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
krumore@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--UIC faculty union files labor complaints over COVID-19 protocols, says it’s ‘being ignored’ by campu

UIC faculty union files labor complaints over COVID-19 protocols, says it’s ‘being ignored’ by campus leaders

In the most recent complaint , UIC United Faculty said a program awarding an extra $ 2,500 to instructors with @ @ @ @ @ fall was “ unilaterally ” rolled out without the proper negotiations , according to a @ @ @ @ @ to the Tribune .

People walk on campus, Oct. 8, 2018, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The faculty union at the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus has filed two labor complaints against the school, alleging it’s been shut out of discussions about how to adjust workloads, class formats and conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the most recent complaint, UIC United Faculty said a program awarding an extra $2,500 to instructors with large, online classes this fall was “unilaterally” rolled out without the proper negotiations, according to a copy of the filing provided to the Tribune.
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Under the compensation program, the university set aside about $1 million for instructors who needed to convert lecture courses with more than 70 students into asynchronous online classes, according to the complaint. About 400 faculty members qualified for the incentive.
The complaints were filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and accuse administrators of engaging in unfair labor practices, such as failing to bargain over changes to the work environment.
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UIC spokeswoman Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez said the university is bargaining with UICUF in good faith and that representatives have met with the union at least nine times to discuss their concerns.
“Overall, we have resolved the vast majority of the union’s concerns and will continue to work through the remaining issues,” McGinnis Gonzalez said Wednesday by email.
But Charitianne Williams, communications chair for UICUF, presented a different picture.
Williams, a senior lecturer in English, said she doesn’t expect the labor board to weigh in before students return to campus for classes on Aug. 24 but hopes the recent filings will spur administrators to work better with faculty.
“We’re being ignored by the administration,” Williams said. “And besides this compensation problem, we have a real issue with the health and safety plan for reopening campus, and that is actually the No.-1 priority.”
UIC is offering online and in-person classes this fall and plans to open its residence halls with increased sanitation and safety measures.
The union’s most recent labor complaint, Williams said, centers on the compensation program because UICUF didn’t agree to its terms, even as payments began.
Instead, the union had advocated for other forms of relief to help instructors shift classes online, such as additional professional development opportunities.
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“The money really isn’t the issue,” Williams said. “This work takes time and preparation, and we really were trying to bargain for time and preparation for our members.”
Specifically, Williams said, some instructors want to have their course loads reduced so they can continue research and writing tasks while also learning new technology for remote learning.
The payments have also been haphazard, Williams said. Some faculty members who don’t qualify for the incentive reported receiving the money while others who are eligible still haven’t, according to Williams.
A separate complaint filed with the board in June alleged a number of instances in which UIC “engaged in bad faith bargaining” or failed to bargain when it “made unilateral changes to faculty working conditions.”
Some of the protocols cited in the June complaint include UIC’s development of the return to campus plan, altering the sabbatical leave policy and changing travel procedures.
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Column: Women have the power to steer this election. Can Kamala Harris drive them to the Democratic

Column: Women have the power to steer this election. Can Kamala Harris drive them to the Democratic side?

Trump supporters will be working as hard as they can to ensure that the mighty coalition of women never gets @ @ @ @ @ when it does , they will spend the next three months doing everything in their @ @ @ @ @ .

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens as Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden introduces her as his running mate at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 12, 2020. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)
Most women are probably thrilled by the prospect of a female vice president. If you are a Black woman or an Indian American woman, you are beaming with pride.
None of us actually needed Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to validate our worth as smart, capable and productive members of society by choosing a woman of color as his running mate.
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But we are pretty darn glad that he did.
Sen. Kamala Harris is the first Black woman to capture the vice presidential spot on a major party’s ticket. While her name will be on the ballot, she represents every woman in America, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation.
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She is a myriad of all of us.
Our heads have collectively hit the glass ceiling so many times that we barely feel the pain anymore. We came close to cracking it with Hillary Clinton. Now we’ve got another shot.
At a time when our nation is more polarized than most of us have experienced in our lifetime, Harris will have the arduous yet essential job of seeing to it that every woman feels as though she has a stake in her success.
In the 2016 election, women comprised 55% of the electorate, according to Pew Research Center. In the 2018 midterm elections, women made up 53% of the electorate as they have in the previous five midterms.
Women have the power to steer an election. Republicans know that if we choose to coalesce around Biden and Harris, Donald Trump and Mike Pence don’t stand a chance.
Trump supporters will be working as hard as they can to ensure that the mighty coalition of women never gets off the ground. And when it does, they will spend the next three months doing everything in their power to tear it down.
Harris will bear the brunt of the attacks, but the rest of us will be targeted too.
Race profiteers will insist that African Americans have no legitimate claim to Harris, whose mother was born in India and whose father came from Jamaica. They will tell white women that someone of a mixed heritage has nothing in common with them.
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Trump began the assault weeks ago. The day after Biden announced Harris as his pick, Trump doubled down with a tweet:
“The ‘suburban housewife’ will be voting for me. They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood. Biden would reinstall it, in a bigger form, with Corey Booker in charge!”
Trump’s recent tweets to “suburban housewives” are desperate appeals to white women he believes harbor racist attitudes toward Black men regarding crime and toward African Americans, in general, on the issue of housing.
He is taking cues from the same playbook former Alabama Gov. George Wallace used in his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1968. It shows just how out of touch Trump is in a world that is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse.
Trump insults the intelligence of the majority of white women by suggesting that they see all Black men as predators ready to devour them like vultures. And he presumes that most white women are so self-absorbed that they prefer to live in lily-white neighborhoods rather than share a street with families who are different.
Unfortunately, there are women who are submerged in those antiquated attitudes. In order to win reelection, Trump must retain them on his team.
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It’s in Trump’s best interest that women relegate ourselves into enemy camps by focusing on the things that make us different rather than uniting around the issues in which we share a common interest.
Distractors will try to convince us that the interests of Black women, white women, Latino women, Asian women and Native American women are too diverse to share a single goal.
They will whisper into the ears of Black women, suggesting that white women have never had their back. They will remind them that America always has treated Black women as though they were inferior in everything that matters, from economics to social status to sexuality.
They will warn white women that Black, Latino, Asian and Native American women are coming after their jobs, and they should be wary of aligning with those groups because eventually, diversity will push white women out.
They will try to stir up feelings of jealousy and privilege, telling white women that they deserved to have another white woman on the ticket this time, rather than someone whose roots aren’t nearly as deep in this country as theirs.
But Trump’s playbook is tired and worn out. Women have seen every page of it, and we are prepared to challenge it line by line.
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This time around, we are more united and determined too. We have seen what happens when we lose our focus. We won’t be divided again by petty disagreements that gave Trump an opening to squeeze through.
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But we still have to worry about that 47% of white women who voted for Trump four years ago. They could end up deconstructing our coalition. If we can’t figure out how to bring these women into the fold, we must recruit enough new voters to triple our force so that we can outnumber them at the polls.
There is nothing Harris or any woman can do to force conservative women to get behind issues on which we don’t see eye to eye. The most we can do is make sure Trump’s playbook is open in full view so every woman can see exactly who he is.
Harris will be our torchbearer this time. Her experienced command of politics will force Trump’s and Pence’s ineptitude into full display. That’s one of her greatest contributions to the Biden-Harris ticket.
The rest is up to us, and we cannot lose sight of our power.
Women are the gatekeepers to the White House. No one can get through the door unless we choose to let them in.
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dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Three men accused in plots to threaten, harass victims in R. Kelly racketeering case in New York

The third man , Williams , allegedly set fire to an SUV in June that was parked outside a Florida @ @ @ @ @ in Kelly ’ s case was staying , according to the charges .
An adult @ @ @ @ @ at the time reported hearing an explosion and seeing someone running from the scene “ @ @ @ @ @ lit on fire , ” the complaint alleged .

A courtroom sketch shows defense attorneys Ashley Cohen, from left, and Jennifer Bonjean with singer R. Kelly at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. (Cheryl Cook / Chicago Tribune)
Three men have been charged in federal court in New York with attempting to intimidate, harass or pay off alleged victims in the racketeering case against singer R. Kelly, adding yet another twist to a legal drama that began almost two decades ago.
Richard Arline Jr., of Dolton, Donnell Russell, of Chicago, and Michael Williams, of Valdosta, Georgia, were each charged in separate criminal complaints and will appear in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn at a later date.
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According to the charges, Arline, 31, a longtime friend of Kelly’s, was captured on an FBI wiretap discussing a scheme in which one victim involved in the case would receive compensation — including a proposed payment of $500,000 — to keep her from cooperating with the government.
Arline, who claimed to be communicating directly with Kelly while the singer’s been locked up at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, later told an unnamed associate that the victim was “tryin’ to get money” but that Kelly was likely done paying off witnesses — unless Arline could convince him otherwise.
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“She thinkin’ Rob gonna pay her to be quiet,” Arline said in the June call, according to the complaint. “That (expletive) ain’t finna happen. ... Like, if I had a way to talk to Rob, being next to him, and telling him what’s going on, without nobody listening, no feds, nobody, he gonna pay her ass off.”
Arline was arrested Tuesday in Dolton and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young Kim, who released him on bond, according to court records.
Another complaint accused Russell, 45, of threatening to reveal sexually explicit photographs of a different victim and “publicly reveal her sexual history” if she didn’t drop a pending lawsuit against Kelly.
In November 2018, Russell, a self-proclaimed manager of Kelly’s mailed a letter to the victim’s lawyer in New York. The letter included nude photos of the victim and a note that said the photos were cropped “for the sake of not exposing her extremities to the world, yet!!!,” the complaint alleged.
The third man, Williams, allegedly set fire to an SUV in June that was parked outside a Florida residence where an alleged victim in Kelly’s case was staying, according to the charges. An adult who was in the home at the time reported hearing an explosion and seeing someone running from the scene “whose arm appeared to be lit on fire,” the complaint alleged.
Three weeks later, Williams used his Google account to conduct internet searches for “witness intimidation” and “case law for tampering with a witness,” the charges stated.
He also had recently visited sites titled “How Do Fertilizer Bombs Work?” and “Why fertilizer can be an explosive mixture,” the complaint alleged.
Williams was arrested Tuesday in Pompano Beach, Florida, court records show.
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“The men charged today allegedly have shown that there is no line they will not cross to help Kelly avoid the consequences of his alleged crimes — even if it means revictimizing his accusers,” Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Peter Fitzhugh said in a statement.
Kelly’s lead attorney, Steven Greenberg, tweeted a statement Wednesday saying Kelly “had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts.”
“He hasn’t attempted to intimidate anyone, or encouraged anyone else to do so,” Greenberg wrote. “No involvement whatsoever.”
Kelly, 53, who has been held without bond since his arrest on the federal charges last July, is charged with racketeering conspiracy in New York alleging he identified underage girls attending his concerts and groomed them for later sexual abuse.
Kelly is also charged in a federal indictment in Chicago with conspiring with two former employees — longtime manager Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown — to rig his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by paying off witnesses and victims to change their stories. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


Corrections and clarifications

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· A column Wednesday by Dahleen Glanton incorrectly referred to the police shooting of George Floyd. It should have referred to the police killing of George Floyd.
· A photo caption on the cover of Wednesday’s Arts & Entertainment section misstated the day Joe Segal died. Segal died Monday.
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chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Four more tornadoes confirmed, for total of 10 in northern Illinois during Monday’s storms

The latest tornadoes to be added to the list were an Enhanced Fujita-0 tornado in Park Forest , a brief @ @ @ @ @ side of Ottawa in LaSalle County and an EF-0 tornado near and through Grant Park @ @ @ @ @ County .

Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The National Weather Service on Wednesday said the agency confirmed five more tornadoes spawned by a derecho storm system Monday, bringing the total number of tornadoes during the destructive storms to 11.
The weather service had confirmed six tornadoes on Tuesday, but Wednesday, forecasters said there were five others during the storm, which left hundreds of thousands without power across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.
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Chicago alone has logged more than 7,000 requests to 311 for downed trees and related emergencies since Sunday, according to city data. By Wednesday afternoon, almost 175,000 Commonwealth Edison customers remained without power.
The latest tornadoes to be added to the list were an Enhanced Fujita-0 tornado in Park Forest, a brief EF-1 tornado on the north side of Ottawa in LaSalle County and an EF-0 tornado near and through Grant Park, Illinois, in Kankakee County.
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Wednesday morning, the weather service confirmed a tornado near Marengo, said Brian Leatherwood, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Chicago office. It struck about 3:05 p.m. Monday and had peak wind speeds of 95 mph, officials said.
It moved in a line south of Marengo and moved west to east, almost directly in a path to hit Union, but the tornado dissipated before it approached the small far northwest suburban town.
In addition to one that tore through Lincolnwood and Rogers Park, the weather service on Tuesday also confirmed tornadoes in Spring Grove, Marengo, Wheaton and Lombard, as well as two near Rockford.
The brief Wheaton tornado touched ground just east of the Wheaton Public Library, 225 N. Cross St., and moved east across the Wheaton College campus, downing a steeple on the College Church in Wheaton.
The weather service said the Marengo-area tornado mostly damaged trees and one single-family home.
More than 200 homes were in some way damaged by winds in Lombard, where a tornado moved through..
None of the tornadoes were confirmed to have caused any injuries. The tornadoes in chronological order include:
Southwest Rockford: Winnebago county; 2:37 p.m.; rating, EF-0; peak winds, 75 mph; length, 1.5 miles; width, 50 yards. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Pierpoint Avenue and Montague Road and continued northeast into the southwest side of Rockford. The tornado ended near the intersection of Ferguson and Loomis streets, damaging trees in its path.
Winnebago county; 2:37 p.m.; rating, EF-0; peak winds, 75 mph; length, 1.5 miles; width, 50 yards. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Pierpoint Avenue and Montague Road and continued northeast into the southwest side of Rockford. The tornado ended near the intersection of Ferguson and Loomis streets, damaging trees in its path. Rockford to Caledonia : Winnebago county; 2:47 p.m.; rating: EF-1; peak winds, 100 mph; length, 9.2 miles; width, 300 yards. The tornado was part of the same supercell that produced the first tornado. The tornado formed near Guilford Road just north of Rockford College before heading northeast, crossing I-90/39 and lifting near Caledonia Road. Significant tree damage occurred in a small area immediately east of Rock Valley College.
: Winnebago county; 2:47 p.m.; rating: EF-1; peak winds, 100 mph; length, 9.2 miles; width, 300 yards. The tornado was part of the same supercell that produced the first tornado. The tornado formed near Guilford Road just north of Rockford College before heading northeast, crossing I-90/39 and lifting near Caledonia Road. Significant tree damage occurred in a small area immediately east of Rock Valley College. Ottawa: LaSalle County; 2:59 p.m.; rating EF-1; peak winds, 100 mph; length, .75 miles; width, 150 yards. Affected the north side of Ottawa.
LaSalle County; 2:59 p.m.; rating EF-1; peak winds, 100 mph; length, .75 miles; width, 150 yards. Affected the north side of Ottawa. Southeast Marengo : DeKalb/ McHenry county; 3:05 p.m.; rating; EF-1; peak winds, 95 mph; length, 5.7 miles; width, 200 yards. It formed on Harmony Road directly southwest of Interstate 90 near the DeKalb and McHenry county line. It moved northeast and “heavily damaged,” a home before lifting near Coral and Dunham roads. There also was tree damage immediately northeast of I-90.
: DeKalb/ McHenry county; 3:05 p.m.; rating; EF-1; peak winds, 95 mph; length, 5.7 miles; width, 200 yards. It formed on Harmony Road directly southwest of Interstate 90 near the DeKalb and McHenry county line. It moved northeast and “heavily damaged,” a home before lifting near Coral and Dunham roads. There also was tree damage immediately northeast of I-90. Yorkville: Kendall County; 3:15 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 105 mph; length, 14.5 miles; width, 250 yards. It formed on the far south side of Yorkville near Walsh Drive, then progressed east-southeastward along State Route 126 toward Schlapp Road before continuing southeast into neighborhoods south of Renwick Road and ending just before I-55. The “most significant damage” was caused east of Schlapp Road along Wheeler Road, where “trees were mangled, a farm building was destroyed with debris deposited in a nearby field and a large grain bin was bent inward.”
Kendall County; 3:15 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 105 mph; length, 14.5 miles; width, 250 yards. It formed on the far south side of Yorkville near Walsh Drive, then progressed east-southeastward along State Route 126 toward Schlapp Road before continuing southeast into neighborhoods south of Renwick Road and ending just before I-55. The “most significant damage” was caused east of Schlapp Road along Wheeler Road, where “trees were mangled, a farm building was destroyed with debris deposited in a nearby field and a large grain bin was bent inward.” Wheaton : DuPage county; 3:35 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 90 mph; length. 0.3 miles; width, 200 yards. A tornado very briefly touched down near Seminary Avenue and Scott Street before moving northeast. There was minor tree damage along the tornado’s path before it lifted near College Avenue and Howard Street.
: DuPage county; 3:35 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 90 mph; length. 0.3 miles; width, 200 yards. A tornado very briefly touched down near Seminary Avenue and Scott Street before moving northeast. There was minor tree damage along the tornado’s path before it lifted near College Avenue and Howard Street. Lombard/ Villa Park : DuPage county; 3:39 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 95 mph; length, 2.1 miles; width, 200 yards. The same storm that produced the brief Wheaton tornado caused more damage immediately east of Interstate 355, just east of Lilacia Park. This tornado also continued in a northeasterly direction, uprooting trees. Homes were damaged, including a few with substantial roof damage. The worst damage occurred near the Lombard Common. The tornado lifted just northeast of the Jefferson Middle School.
: DuPage county; 3:39 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 95 mph; length, 2.1 miles; width, 200 yards. The same storm that produced the brief Wheaton tornado caused more damage immediately east of Interstate 355, just east of Lilacia Park. This tornado also continued in a northeasterly direction, uprooting trees. Homes were damaged, including a few with substantial roof damage. The worst damage occurred near the Lombard Common. The tornado lifted just northeast of the Jefferson Middle School. Spring Grove to Camp Lake, Wis. : Lake County; 3:41 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 90 mph; length, 3.75 miles; width, 150 yards. This tornado started in northwest Lake county and continued through Camp Lake, Wisconsin. Trees were damaged along the path and structures were damaged in northwest Lake county.
: Lake County; 3:41 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 90 mph; length, 3.75 miles; width, 150 yards. This tornado started in northwest Lake county and continued through Camp Lake, Wisconsin. Trees were damaged along the path and structures were damaged in northwest Lake county. Park Forest : Cook County; 3:57 p.m.; rating EF-0; peak winds, 85 mph; length 2 miles; width 350 yards. The tornado began close to the border between Will and Cook counties and moved east to the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve.
: Cook County; 3:57 p.m.; rating EF-0; peak winds, 85 mph; length 2 miles; width 350 yards. The tornado began close to the border between Will and Cook counties and moved east to the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve. Rogers Park : Cook County; 3:59 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 110 mph; length, 3 miles; width, 300 yards. This tornado initially touched down south of the intersection of Crawford and Touhy avenues in Lincolnwood. It continued east before moving offshore near the Jarvis and Fargo beaches. The most intense damage occurred within approximately one mile of the lakefront, as well as near and within Phillip Rogers Park.
: Cook County; 3:59 p.m.; rating, EF-1; peak winds, 110 mph; length, 3 miles; width, 300 yards. This tornado initially touched down south of the intersection of Crawford and Touhy avenues in Lincolnwood. It continued east before moving offshore near the Jarvis and Fargo beaches. The most intense damage occurred within approximately one mile of the lakefront, as well as near and within Phillip Rogers Park. Grant Park, Illinois: Kankakee County; 4:04 p.m.; rating, EF-0; peak winds, 80 mph; length, 1.5 miles; width, 250 yards. Traveled from west of Grant Park to east edge of village.
Tornadoes are confirmed using a combination of radar, trained weather spotter reports, and photos and videos submitted to the agency, which are used to corroborate what meteorologists are seeing on radar.
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But the weather service also sends its meteorologists out to examine locations where a tornado is believed to have occurred, Leatherwood said.
“It’s most certainly a team effort to try to determine exactly what happened,” Leatherwood said.
Four meteorologists were dispatched to various locations Tuesday to determine the validity of reports. Other contributors include academics who study meteorology and who help out by going into the field and reporting back their findings.
“The Chicago office (of emergency management) had a helicopter in the air looking for the paths the tornadoes took,” he said.
For more weather stories check the Tribune’s weather page.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the location of Yorkville. It is in Kendall County.
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kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
@312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Dining with heaters, blankets and plastic domes? With more than 5,000 Illinois restaurants predicted

Dining with heaters, blankets and plastic domes? With more than 5,000 Illinois restaurants predicted to close, extending patio season may be crucial

“ We have about six weeks , ” Toia said Wednesday during a virtual speech to the City Club of @ @ @ @ @ to start thinking outside the box right now .
… Because we could be in @ @ @ @ @ months and we want to be ahead of the curve .
”

Corey Drake and Veronica Coria sit in the outdoor dining area at The Loyalist on June 25, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
As the end of Chicago’s patio season approaches, restaurant leaders are urging local officials to take a cue from Northern European cities and Colorado ski towns to encourage outdoor seating even as the weather turns cold.
Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said the trade group has been having conversations with the city and state about extending street closures and using tents, heaters, blankets and plastic domes to give restaurants more seating capacity as COVID-19 restrictions continue.
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“We have about six weeks,” Toia said Wednesday during a virtual speech to the City Club of Chicago. “We need to start thinking outside the box right now. … Because we could be in this for the next six months and we want to be ahead of the curve.”
Restaurants were devastated by the mandatory closure of dining rooms for more than three months, and about 5,000 Illinois eating and drinking establishments are expected to close permanently as a result, said Toia, based on estimates from the National Restaurant Association that put closures at 20% to 25%.
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They continue to suffer amid occupancy restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In Chicago, indoor dining is permitted at no more than 25% capacity. Outside of the city, state social distancing rules requiring 6 feet between tables typically means restaurants can’t be more than half full.
Employees of Tastemade Chicago, a global entertainment company, celebrate at the City Winery domes along the Riverwalk on April 6, 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Outdoor dining has been a saving grace for restaurants with the space for it, and the city has reduced sidewalk fees, streamlined the process for getting an outdoor seating permit and blocked off some streets to allow tables to be set up there.
When the weather no longer cooperates, “we could really be in trouble,” Toia said. He urged local officials to take a page from Toronto, Paris and Colorado ski towns to make outdoor dining feasible into winter.
The restaurant industry, which was Illinois’ largest private-sector employer pre-pandemic with nearly 600,000 workers, continues to suffer amid the restrictions and continued consumer wariness of spending much time in public.
Though dining rooms were permitted to reopen in June, sales at restaurants remain 50% to 80% lower than last year, and 86% of restaurants say they don’t expect to turn a profit by the end of the year, Toia said.
“Building consumer confidence back up is definitely a challenge,” Toia said.
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Rising cases of COVID-19 in Illinois are not helping reopening efforts. The safety of employees and customers must be the priority to avoid a tightening of restrictions or a second round of closures, Toia said.
While there are some bad actors, 99% of restaurants comply with rules around face masks and social distancing, Toia said. He stood alongside Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the announcement last week that businesses will be fined if they don’t enforce the state’s mandatory mask rules, a policy decried by some other business interest groups.
Patrons partake in some food and wine at the City Winery domes set up on the Riverwalk in 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“We can’t afford to go backwards right now,” Toia said.
[ ‘We’re not looking for a bailout’ say top American chefs — but it might be what the restaurant industry needs to survive ]
The Illinois Restaurant Association has called for another round of forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program after the first allocated just 8% of funds to the restaurant industry. The group also backs a federal bill to create a $120 billion relief fund that would provide grants to independent bars and restaurants that have been hurt by the pandemic.
“We need a bailout from Washington, D.C., like they’ve done in the past for the airline industry, they’ve done for the banking industry, they’ve done for the auto industry,” Toia said.
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aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Did the storm knock down trees near you? Tell us about it.

The Aug. 10 derecho brought seven tornadoes to northern Illinois , as well as intense winds and rain .
Trees @ @ @ @ @ .

The Aug. 10 derecho brought seven tornadoes to northern Illinois, as well as intense winds and rain. Trees throughout the area were damaged.
Chicago alone has logged more than 7,000 311 requests for downed trees and related emergencies since Sunday, according to city data.
Fill out the following survey to tell us about what happened in your neighborhood.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Hundreds of thousands in Iowa still without power after 112 mph winds near Cedar Rapids: ‘It feels l

Hundreds of thousands in Iowa still without power after 112 mph winds near Cedar Rapids: ‘It feels like we got kicked in the teeth’

Mediacom said Wednesday that it has restored internet service to about half of the 340,000 customers that were offline a @ @ @ @ @ Illinois and Indiana .
But many others may be without service until their power is @ @ @ @ @ could still take days .

Downed trees and a utility pole in front of the home of Tim and Patricia Terres in Walcott, Iowa, on Aug. 10, 2020, near Davenport. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad City Times)
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The impact of a wind storm that tore through the Midwest continued to grow Wednesday, as widespread power outages kept businesses closed, limited communication, spoiled food and caused long lines at gas stations.
The rare storm, known as a derecho, hit Monday, devastating parts of the power grid, flattening valuable cornfields and killing at least two people. It produced winds of up to 112 mph near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and toppled trees, snapped poles, downed power lines and tore off roofs from eastern Nebraska to Indiana.
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“It feels like we got kicked in the teeth pretty good,” said Dale Todd, a member of Cedar Rapids’ city council. “Recovery will be methodical, and slow. But right now, everybody is working to ensure the critical services are restored.”
Todd said the city's response has been complicated by the challenge of communicating with people who have no power, which means they have limited access to internet, TV and phone service.
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Across the city of 133,000 people, residents emptied their refrigerators and freezers as their food spoiled, waited at gas stations for an hour or longer to fill up their cars and gas cans, and worked to clear up fallen trees.
Cedar Rapids spokesman Greg Buelow said several patients reported to hospitals with chainsaw injuries acquired while removing tree debris. Scores of others who are on oxygen tanks and need nebulizer treatments have gone to hospitals for help, he said.
In addition, firefighters responded to two fires Wednesday morning that were started by power generators that were too close to homes, he said.
Crews throughout the region have been working around the clock to restore electricity, but they’ve been hindered by downed trees blocking roads or on top of power lines. Those trees must be removed before power can be restored.
The derecho produced seven tornadoes in the Chicago metropolitan area, including an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds that hit the Rogers Park neighborhood on the city’s north side before moving onto Lake Michigan as a waterspout, the National Weather Service said.
That storm left damage along a 3-mile-long path and was the first tornado of at least EF-1 strength to strike Chicago since May 1983, the weather service said.
Another EF-1 tornado knocked over the iconic white steeple atop College Church in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton. A crew used a crane to remove the steeple Tuesday and on Wednesday workers started repairs to the 1935 church building’s roof.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The weather service also confirmed two tornadoes in southern Wisconsin and two in northern Indiana, including an EF-1 that swept the rural community of Wakarusa, about 25 miles southeast of South Bend.
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Alliant Energy said about 176,000 of its customers are without power, and half of those are in the Cedar Rapids area. MidAmerican Energy said about 139,000 of its Iowa and Illinois customers remain without power, half them in the Des Moines area.
As of late Wednesday morning, ComEd reported that about 200,000 of its Chicago-area customers remained without power. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported about 18,500 of its Indiana customers were still in the dark.
Mediacom said Wednesday that it has restored internet service to about half of the 340,000 customers that were offline a day earlier in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. But many others may be without service until their power is restored, a process that could still take days.
Some fuel terminals were also knocked offline and many gas stations have been closed due to power outages. Meanwhile, demand for gas to fuel generators, chainsaws and vehicles has spiked, leading to long lines at stores that sell gas.
The storm caused extensive crop damage in the nation's No. 1 corn-producing state as it tore across Iowa's center from west to east.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said Tuesday that about 10 million acres of Iowa’s nearly 31 million acres of agricultural land sustained damage. About 24 million acres of that is typically planted primarily with corn and soybeans.
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In addition, tens of millions of bushels of grain that were stored at co-ops and on farms were damaged or destroyed when bins blew away.
The only known death in Iowa was a 63-year-old bicyclist who was hit by one of several large trees that fell on a bike path outside Cedar Rapids. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the storm killed a 73-year-old woman who was found clutching a young boy in her storm-battered mobile home.
Many businesses, including banks, restaurants and a major corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids, remained closed Wednesday due to power outages.
The Cedar Rapids school district said it was considering pushing back this month's start date after over 20 of its buildings suffered roof and other structural damage.
State Sen. Liz Mathis said she took cover in the basement of her suburban Cedar Rapids home Monday as the storm battered her neighborhood for 45 minutes. She said pictures fell off the wall, water seeped in through windows and she worried the glass would blow in and injure her.
Mathis said the devastation is widespread across her district, and the “tree damage is unreal.” A local utility official told Mathis on Wednesday that it could be a week before everyone has power restored.
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“The cities are going to look much different without the trees and it’s going to take a while to recover from this,” she said.
Dave Pitt in Des Moines and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--DePaul University shifts ‘vast majority’ of classes online, closes residence halls to most students

“ We do not believe that currently there is a reasonable way to open the campus to the full extent @ @ @ @ @ continue to effectively manage the potential health risks to the university and local community , @ @ @ @ @ emails to students , faculty and staff .
The university hopes to welcome more students @ @ @ @ @ winter term if health conditions allow , the emails said .

DePaul University is the latest school to retreat from earlier fall plans and will teach mostly online classes. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
DePaul University will move the “vast majority” of its fall classes online and limit its residential halls to students with exceptional circumstances in response to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, the university announced Wednesday.
“We do not believe that currently there is a reasonable way to open the campus to the full extent we originally had planned and continue to effectively manage the potential health risks to the university and local community,” DePaul administrators wrote in emails to students, faculty and staff. The university hopes to welcome more students back to campus in the winter term if health conditions allow, the emails said.
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The change is a marked retreat from the university’s reopening plan to “deliver as many classes as possible safely on campus this fall” that was announced mid-May. Classes will now be delivered via remote formats with “few exceptions for pedagogical reasons.” Students enrolled for on-campus classes will receive information “soon” about whether their courses will remain in-person, the email to students said.
Faculty members will hear from their department about any changes to course formats, and staff will contact their managers about in-person requirements, said the email to faculty and staff.
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To reduce campus density, housing in university residential halls will not be available for most students who’d planned to live there. All students no longer living on campus for the fall will be automatically refunded for housing and dining charges.
It remains to be seen whether students will come back to Chicago to live in off-campus housing despite the new announcement.
Residential halls will be open for students “whose situations make it extremely difficult or impossible for them to live or study from home,” said an email to all residential students. Those could include students with safety concerns in their current housing or are dependent on university resources like dining and technology as well as some international students and athletes.
Students who still have in-person courses scheduled after class formats are updated “in a few days” could also be considered.
Students who live on campus this fall will be placed in single rooms but charged the double room rate of $3,367 per quarter. Pricing for meal plans are yet to be determined, the email said.
DePaul will also cancel the student activity fee and the athletics fee. The student U-Pass granting unlimited access to CTA buses and trains will be optional.
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Campus will be “a bit more open than it was in spring quarter,” administrators said in their emails. Most DePaul buildings will be accessible, including faculty offices, library services and some computer labs.
Two town halls, one for students and parents as well as another for faculty and staff, are being planned for next week.
The change comes after administrators said at the end of July they were reconsidering initial reopening plans for a partially in-person fall semester.
There are currently 297 newly confirmed cases daily and a 5% positivity rate of coronavirus in Chicago based on a seven-day rolling average.
Loyola University Chicago recently announced it would not reopen its dormitories this fall, reversing an earlier plan.
chao@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker provides update on COVID-19 in Illinois

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker is expected to provide a coronavirus update at 2:30 p.m. CDT .
Get the latest @ @ @ @ @ .

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chicagotribune--2020-08-12--10 sites where anyone can get a coronavirus test: Search our map for one near you

The state ’ s information on testing sites changes frequently .
This map will be updated every few days .
@ @ @ @ @ are not on the state ’ s list .
Some have asked not to be @ @ @ @ @ added at a later date .

Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois.
The state’s information on testing sites changes frequently. This map will be updated periodically. More from the Illinois Department of Public Health here.
There are many sites that are not on the state’s list. Some have asked not to be named. Others may be added at a later date.
Sites as of Dec. 1


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Highland man faces drunken driving charges after hitting 3 Indiana State Trooper cars: police

Troopers tried to get it to stop as Alvarado continued in reverse , police said .
He started driving forward @ @ @ @ @ northbound lane .
Troopers had to physically block him from going into traffic and hitting @ @ @ @ @ .

A 39-year-old Highland man faces multiple charges including drunken driving after hitting three state police cars on Interstate 65 late Tuesday, according to a release. No injuries were reported.
Paul D. Alvarado was arrested late Tuesday, Indiana State Police said. Lake Superior Court online records do not yet show charges.
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State troopers were called around 10:20 p.m., after reports a black Dodge Charger was driving the wrong way northbound on I-65, near Gary’s 15th Avenue exit.
Closer to the I-80/94 interchange, they found Alvarado driving in reverse on the left shoulder, police said. The truck scraped against the concrete barrier wall, while its tires deflated, a release said.
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Troopers tried to get it to stop as Alvarado continued in reverse, police said. He started driving forward the wrong way in the northbound lane. Troopers had to physically block him from going into traffic and hitting cars head-on, they said.
Alvarado hit one state trooper car, before he turned around, heading north in I-65′s northbound lane, the release said. He turned around again, before being boxed in by state troopers, they said. Two other trooper cars were also hit by the truck.
When arrested, a trooper smelled alcohol and found a loaded .40 caliber handgun he was sitting on while driving, police said. Alvarado was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart to be evaluated and given a chemical intoxication test. He tested three times over the legal limit, according to the release.
He was later taken to the Lake County Jail.
Alvarado faces charges including resisting law enforcement, a level 6 felony; possession of a handgun with no license, leaving the scene, reckless driving, three counts of operating while intoxicated, all misdemeanors, and wrong way driving, an infraction.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Chicago-area high school athletes help out downtown small business owner, after second looting in tw

Chicago-area high school athletes help out downtown small business owner, after second looting in two months

Adel Elbiadi , 81 , has owned Tut ’ s Convenience Store , 503 N. LaSalle Drive for 10 years @ @ @ @ @ reopen business May 29 , after closing in March due to COVID-19 , when his @ @ @ @ @ unrest downtown .
Athletes from the PepsiCo Showdown and Buddy ’ s Helpers organization learned @ @ @ @ @ and showed up the following week to clean up the store .

Al Elbiadi, owner of Tut's Convenience store, kicks a soccer ball with, Zurizeidy Bucio, 17, left, and other high school students near his shop in the 500 block of North LaSalle Street on Aug. 12, 2020. They later presented him a check and toured his small shop. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-area high school athletes surprised a River North small business owner Wednesday morning to offer support after his shop was looted for a second time this summer.
Adel Elbiadi, 81, has owned Tut’s Convenience Store, 503 N. LaSalle Drive for 10 years. Elbiadi was preparing to reopen business May 29, after closing in March due to COVID-19, when his shop was destroyed during civil unrest downtown. Athletes from the PepsiCo Showdown and Buddy’s Helpers organization learned of Elbiadi’s story and showed up the following week to clean up the store.
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When the students heard Tut’s Convenience Store had been looted again this weekend, they worked to come up with ways to help.
Elbiadi was completely shaken after his store was robbed early Monday. And while damages were less significant then what he saw in May, his main window was broken and security cameras destroyed. Wednesday morning students surprised Elbiadi with a check for $1,000 to help repair those damages.
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“I am so happy,” Elbiadi said after students presented him with the gift. He plans to use the money for “a lot of things,” from replacing stolen products to repairing doors and windows.
Adel Elbiadi, owner of Tut's Convenience store, talks about the looting of his store to a group of high school students on Aug. 12, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
A handful of students from city and suburban schools showed up to Tut’s Convenience Store on Wednesday, many kicking a soccer ball around on the sidewalk with Elbiadi.
It has been a challenging summer for Zori Bucio, a rising senior at Sarah E. Goode Stem Academy on the South Side, but she was grateful to have this opportunity to make a positive impact.
“We are standing here today, to not just lend a helping hand but to remind people to work together,” Bucio said.
More than 100 people were arrested following looting in the downtown area early Monday morning. Police Superintendent David Brown said social media posts encouraged the downtown looting following a Sunday afternoon police shooting of 20-year-old Latrell Allen in the Englewood neighborhood.
ssherry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics