chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Order a picnic from these 31 restaurants near Chicago parks for the ultimate COVID-era hang

( 2 minutes to Holstein Park ) Chef ’ s Special Cocktail Bar will help you bring American Chinese food @ @ @ @ @ .
The restaurant has customizable party packs that will feed groups of three to four @ @ @ @ @ or six to eight people ( $ 150 ) .
Pick from three items from @ @ @ @ @ pork and shrimp egg rolls or crab rangoons ; one from the starchy mains section @ @ @ @ @ fried rice ; and two from the entrees section , like sweet-and-sour tofu , chicken @ @ @ @ @ beef with cellophane noodles .
All party packs come with almond cookies , white rice @ @ @ @ @ , and you can add on cocktails for an additional price .
2165 N. Western @ @ @ @ @

Avli Taverna has a picnic basket with watermelon salad and pork and chicken skewers for your next outdoor gathering. (Caren Leonard / HANDOUT)
During a summer laced with anxiety, socially distanced picnics in the park have become my favorite pandemic pastime. With my mask on and tiny cooler in tow, attending these small gatherings has been a much-needed respite from the isolation I’ve felt in pursuit of keeping myself and others safe from a virus that has killed hundreds of thousands worldwide.
Picnicking allows you to see friends and family safely, with more than 6 feet of distance between you and others. You’re outside, which means worries about being in a closed space with questionable ventilation no longer exists — instead, you’re somewhere breezy and open. You avoid putting restaurant workers at risk, should you be asymptomatic, and you get to sit in the sun during the few blessed months of warmth Chicago gets each year. (Yes, winter is just around the corner).
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One inconvenience of these responsible functions, however, is planning for drinks and food. On top of bringing a blanket, hand sanitizer, sunscreen and bug spray, you have to make sure your consumables stay the right temperature and are paired with the correct utensils and napkins. Potato salad is not meant to be eaten with your hands.
Thankfully, this is where restaurants have been stepping up. The following are some places within a 10-minute walking distance of Chicago parks and green spaces where you can pick up temperature-stable food or drinks to spruce up your meet-up. I recommend ordering online for pickup to eliminate waiting. Just remember to BYOMask, and that drinking alcohol in the public way (parks, beaches, streets, playgrounds) is not allowed — so plan accordingly.
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You’ll find this list arranged by neighborhood and by proximity to green spaces.
Andersonville
(7 minutes to Rosehill Cemetery) Pick up a wine, cheese and charcuterie box or a picnic basket with cheese, charcuterie, French bread, deviled eggs, chile-coated chickpeas, chocolate chunk cookies and a bottle of watermelon rosé sangria ($50) from Uvae Kitchen and Wine Bar before heading to one of the most peaceful green spaces in the city. 5553 N. Clark St., 773-654-1432, uvaechicago.com
Pick up a wine, cheese and charcuterie from Uvae Kitchen and Wine Bar. (Uvae Kitchen and Wine Bar / HANDOUT/Lindsey Anderson photo)
Bucktown
(2 minutes to Holstein Park) Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar will help you bring American Chinese food to your next outdoor soiree. The restaurant has customizable party packs that will feed groups of three to four people ($80) or six to eight people ($150). Pick from three items from the appetizer section, like pork and shrimp egg rolls or crab rangoons; one from the starchy mains section, like lo mein or fried rice; and two from the entrees section, like sweet-and-sour tofu, chicken, shrimp, or Mongolian beef with cellophane noodles. All party packs come with almond cookies, white rice, dipping sauces and utensils, and you can add on cocktails for an additional price. 2165 N. Western Ave., 773-666-5143, chefsspecialbar.com
Downtown
(Less than a minute to the Riverwalk) Travelle at The Langham has a to-go menu with small plates like burrata with raspberry and peaches, a lobster roll, butter chicken, key-lime tart or banana-cream pudding. Desserts come with ice packs so they stay cold, and the restaurant also has to-go cocktails. If you’re really looking to lean into those picnic vibes, you can buy a basket for an additional $60. 330 N. Wabash Ave., 312-923-7705, langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/chicago/dining/travelle-kitchen-bar
(Less than a minute to Millennium Park) Farmer’s Fridge has multiple vending machine locations all around the city with salads, bowls and snacks in recyclable plastic jars that you can throw into a bag without worrying about spillage. Be sure to save them to reuse for your next gathering. You can order from your phone to reserve specific items and pay ahead of time. 30 N. Michigan Ave., plus dozens more locations. farmersfridge.com
Farmer's Fridge has portable salads, snacks and sandwiches for your next picnic. (Farmers Fridge / HANDOUT)
(2 minutes to Lakeshore Park) The Lunchbox is the new, smaller, grab-and-go version of The Lunchroom at SPACE 519. It’s stocked with sandwiches, salads, entrees, pastries, coffee and wine. For $15, you can get a sandwich, salad and a cookie or drink. 200 E. Chestnut St., 312-571-1519, space519thelunchroom.com
The Lunchbox offers grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, entrees, pastries, coffee and wine. (The Lunchbox / HANDOUT)
(2 minutes to Millennium Park, 5 minutes to Riverwalk, 9 minutes to Lake Shore East Park) About Last Knife offers a two-person customizable picnic package ($75). Choose from a cheese and charcuterie plate, beef jerky, a corned-beef sandwich, veggie wrap, dessert for two, plus beer, Champagne or a cocktail to go. 168 N. Michigan Ave., 312-392-2440, alkchicago.com
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(4 minutes to Riverwalk) Korean-inspired Miki’s Park has picnic baskets for carnivores and vegetarians. Each basket feeds five people. The Bang Bang Basket has five Seoul sliders with gochujang, sweet glaze and pickles on a butter bun or five Korean red hots with gochujang aioli and pickled slaw. This meat-lovers basket also has K-pop chicken, a popcorn chicken with a spicy powder and sweet and sticky sauce, fries, pickled cucumbers and kimchi. The Buddha Basket has 10 of Omma’s dumplings with a chile-soy dipping sauce, and a RAD salad with pickled watermelon radish, greens, carrots, kimchi cucumbers, purple cabbage and tangy dressing. It also has a veggie bap, made with fried rice and kimchi cucumbers, pickled cabbage, egg and gochujang, plus fries and additional pickled cucumbers and kimchi. 109 W. Hubbard St., 312-526-3511, mikispark.com
(5 minutes to Seneca Park, 7 minutes to Lake Shore Park, 10 minutes to Riverwalk) For the “bougiest” affair that doesn’t require you to plan a menu, pick up a picnic basket from Peninsula. For $120, you can get a selection of hard cheeses, local artisan charcuterie, country pate, a salad of new potatoes and crispy pancetta, a crusty baguette, fresh scones with preserves and clotted cream and Midwestern stone fruits. While this package is meant for two people, you can beef it up to feed more by adding additional items, such as smoked-salmon tea sandwiches, strawberry and arugula salad or a number of miniature sweets, like Meyer lemon cake. Email diningpch@peninsula.com 24 hours in advance. 108 E. Superior St., 312-337-2888, peninsula.com/en/chicago
(7 minutes to Riverwalk) For an Italian-inspired picnic, complete with a basket, order ahead on Tock from RPM Italian. The basket includes provolone-stuffed peppers, salad, prosciutto and ricotta toast, chicken Parmesan sandwich, cavatelli pasta salad and chocolate-chip-oat cookies. 52 W. Illinois St., 312-222-1888, rpmrestaurants.com/rpm-italian-chicago
(9 minutes to Seneca Park or Washington Park, 10 minutes to the Riverwalk) Pick up avocado flatbread with preserved lemon; guacamole; ceviche rojo with shrimp and guajillo-lime aguachile; or a soft shell crab sandwich on a brioche bun with saffron aioli and sesame seed dressing from Tzuco before heading to your picnic. 720 N. State St., 312-374-8995, tzuco.com
(9 minutes to lakefront or Seward Park, or 3 minutes to Churchill Park) Almost everything at The Goddess and Grocer is a good fit for a picnic, featuring wraps, sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, brownies and more. You can also get the Goddess Clucket Bucket ($39.95), which comes with eight pieces of fried chicken, two sides, chile-infused maple honey and brownies. To-go cocktails are also available. 1127 N. State St., 901 N. Larrabee St., 1649 N. Damen Ave., 312-265-1888, goddessandgrocer.com
The Goddess and Grocer has picnic staples like fruits and salads, and you can get a bucket of chicken to share. (Victoria Kent / HANDOUT/Victoria Kent photo)
Humboldt Park
(7 minutes to Smith Park) Pick up burgers, dumplings and caviar from Heritage Restaurant & Caviar Bar through Tock. You can even add caviar to the chicharron with pimento cheese. 2700 W. Chicago Ave., 773-661-9577, heritage-chicago.com
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Hyde Park
(8 minutes to lakefront, 19 minutes to Promontory Point) Pick up Southern dishes at Virtue before heading to the lakefront. Choose from a gem lettuce salad with bacon-and-ranch dressing, cauliflower with cashew dukkah spice and rice, an herb-crusted salmon with hominy and sweet-corn maque choux, or if you’re really feeling hungry, a roasted half-chicken with squash, Creole sauce and maple seasoning. 1462 E. 53rd St., 773-947-8831, virtuerestaurant.com
Pick up a gem lettuce salad with bacon-and-ranch dressing from Virtue. (Gary Adcock / HANDOUT/Gary Adcock photo)
Lincoln Park
(Less than a minute to Lincoln Park) Mundano has a picnic kit ($36) that includes fresh focaccia with pepita hummus; a snack mix of salumi, Chicago chorizo, Marcona almonds and marinated olives; escabeche with pickled carrots, onions and jalapenos; aged gouda and two daily pastries. Order through Toast. 1935 N. Lincoln Park West, 773-312-7040, mundanorestaurant.com
(Less than a minute to Lincoln Park) Order a picnic spread from the original Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, R.J. Grunts. Choose from burgers, wraps, fried-chicken sandwiches and milkshakes. 2056 N. Lincoln Park West, 773-929-5363, rjgruntschicago.com
R.J. Grunts has burgers, wraps, milkshakes and sandwiches, like this Buffalo-style chicken sandwich. (Cameron Tanko / HANDOUT/ Cameron Tanko photo)
(Less than a minute to Lincoln Park) Pick up appetizers, custom sandwich platters, salads and mini desserts from Mon Ami Gabi for a French-inspired picnic. 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, 773-348-8886, monamigabi.com/chicago
(4 minutes to Wrightwood Park, 7 minutes to Jonquil Park) If you have a group of three to five people, Avli Taverna has a picnic basket ($50) that will feed everyone. The basket includes watermelon salad, Greek salad, tzatziki and pita, four chicken skewers, four pork skewers, Greek fries and traditional Greek cookies. Add a bottle of red or white wine for an additional $10. 1335 W Wrightwood Ave., 312-643-5656, avli.us
(8 minutes to Lincoln Park, 2 minutes to the Riverwalk) 5411 Empanadas is serving up portable delights all around the city, and two locations are within walking distance of a park or the river. A perfect match. 2850 N. Clark St., 175 N. Franklin St., 5411empandas.com
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Logan Square
(Less than a minute to Logan Square Park) Lula Cafe’s picnic basket ($54) serves two people and is filled with smoked-trout spread, vegetable crudite, sourdough crackers, rhubarb jam, two artisanal cheeses, Klug Farm berries, Butternut Farms cucumbers, marinated olives and malted-chocolate-chip cookies. Order on Tock, call ahead or stop by the walk-up window. And if you forget a blanket, you can get one from Lula for $15. 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd., 773-489-9554, lulacafe.com
Lula Cafe’s picnic basket is filled with smoked-trout spread, vegetable crudite, sourdough crackers, rhubarb jam, cheese and more. (Kyle Kissel / HANDOUT/ Kyle Kissel photo)
(Less than a minute to boulevard parks, 5 minutes from Palmer Square Park) Fried chicken is appropriate for every occasion, and Parson’s Chicken and Fish’s proximity to green spaces seals the deal. Pick up fried chicken, grilled chicken, sandwiches, hush puppies, salad or mac-and-cheese. And yes, Parson’s has its slushies to go. 2952 W. Armitage Ave., 773-384-3333, parsonschickenandfish.com
(3 minutes to Logan Square Park) You can get the whole menu at Longman & Eagle to go, just steps away from Logan Square Park or one of the neighborhood’s sprawling boulevards. Grab some smoked-whitefish toast, Slagel double-beef smash burgers or fried-chicken sandwiches, and drinks like bloody marys or root-beer slushies. On Mondays, the restaurant also has a special rotating sundae ($5) with proceeds going to Black Lives Matter Chicago. 2657 N. Kedzie Ave., 773-276-7110, longmanandeagle.com
(7 minutes to Palmer Square Park) Pick up salad, nachos, tacos, bowls or burritos from Lonesome Rose, which has its entire menu available for pickup, including drinks to go. Order on Toast. 2101 N. California Ave., 773-770-3413, lonesomerose.com
(8 minutes to Palmer Square Park) Order picnic supplies from Bungalow by Middle Brow via Toast. Choose from pizza, grilled-shishito-cheese dip, house-smoked gravlax, curried-egg salad, beet hummus, berries and sardines. 2840 W. Armitage Ave., 773-687-9076, middlebrowbeer.com
Old Town
(6 minutes to Lincoln Park) Vegan picnickers aren’t left out of the 80 Proof take-out menu, which has new vegan treats, such as the Nashville boneless cauliflower, the gringo burrito made with Beyond chorizo, and the banh mi mushroom sandwich with crispy oyster mushrooms. 1500 N. Wells St., 773-966-0404, 80proofchi.com
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Pilsen
(7 minutes to Dvorak Park) Paulette’s Public Market has packaged charcuterie and cheese, pastries from local bakeries, snack mixes, drinks, salads and sandwiches for your next park hang. 1221 W. 18th St., 312-588-9320, pauletteschicago.com
Paulette’s Public Market has packaged charcuterie and cheese, salads and sandwiches, such as this one with roast pork loin, dijon and Swiss cheese. (Sandy Noto / HANDOUT/Sandy Noto photo)
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(Less than a minute to Winnemac Park) Side Project Coffee is not only serving coffee and teas, but also baked goods from Phlour, Gurnee Donuts and other local bakers. 5139 N. Damen Ave., sideprojectcoffee.com
(2 minutes to Lakeview School Park, 8 minutes to Warner Garden Park) Tucked inside Longroom, The Biscuit Man’s fried-chicken sandwich deal gets you two fried-chicken biscuit sandwiches, two drinks and two chocolate-chip cookies for $24.99, and the biscuit package gets you buttermilk biscuits with strawberry jam for $19.99. If you order in person, you’ll have to wait about 15 minutes, so order online to skip the wait. 1612 Irving Park Road, 773-665-8210, biscuitmanchicago.com
West Loop/West Town
(5 minutes to Union Park) Smyth has a two-person picnic package ($74) inspired by Paris, with items like whitefish rillettes, beet tartare, deviled eggs and more. Order through Tock. 177 N. Ada St., 773-913-3773, smythandtheloyalist.com
(9 minutes to Eckhart Park) Pop by the takeout window at Funkenhausen on your way to the park for temperature-stable dishes, such as the Haus salad, sturgeon pastrami and chocolate-chip cookies. Add on a Funken Freezer pop, made with tequila, cucumber, lime and basil, for the walk over. 1709 W. Chicago Ave., 312-929-4727, funkenhausen.com
Wicker Park
(Less than a minute to Wicker Park, 8 minutes to Churchill Park) One of the easiest temperature-stable foods is tacos, and honky-tonk-inspired Big Star has a large selection of classic varieties, including al pastor, barbacoa, papas con rajas and pescado. Pick up a side of chips and guac or nachos to go with it. There are also bottled margaritas available to go but you’ll need to bring your own ice. 1531 N. Damen Ave., 773-235-4039, bigstarchicago.com
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Big Star has a large selection of tacos, such as al pastor. (Edouard Pierre / HANDOUT/Edouard Pierre photo)
(4 minutes to Wicker Park, 7 minutes to Churchill Park) Chop Shop offers packages for a four-person picnic or a two-person picnic. The four-person picnic ($70) features one bottle of house wine; four 6-inch deli sandwiches, such as the CS Italian, Sandy, prosciutto, porchetta or veggie; two deli sides, like potato salad, pasta salad or coleslaw; and four bags of chips in cheddar, barbecue or salt-and-vinegar flavors. The two-person picnic ($35) offers no wine, but does include two 12-inch deli sandwiches, two bags of chips, one deli side and two cans of San Pellegrino. You can also add a charcuterie board for $30 that includes a branded wooden board. 2033 W. North Ave., 773-537-4440, chopshopchi.com
Chop Shop has picnic packages with sandwiches, chips and drinks. (Bella Fillipi / HANDOUT/Bella Fillipi photo)
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Column: If the NRA goes away, who will frighten gullible Americans into wasting money?

LaPierre and his NRA colleagues have been triggering spasms of paranoia through large swaths of the country for years , @ @ @ @ @ that if you don ’ t own a gun , someone will kill you , @ @ @ @ @ a gun , someone will take that gun from you , so you better have @ @ @ @ @ first one , a third gun to protect the second , a fourth to protect @ @ @ @ @ … The logical outcome of that thinking is that you will only be safe if @ @ @ @ @ , which is fine with the NRA and something they probably enjoyed chatting about on @ @ @ @

Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president and CEO, at the NRA's annual meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 26, 2019. (SAUL LOEB/Getty)
The National Rifle Association is facing an existential threat from the attorney general of New York, potentially jeopardizing the group’s ability to scare gullible people into giving it money.
This is bad news for any American who cares about seeing other Americans irrationally scared into handing cash over to a group that will use that money to pay for flights on private jets and vacations that give them a break from fearmongering.
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On Thursday, the presumably tyrannical attorney general, Letitia James, sued the NRA and sought to have the group dissolved following an 18-month investigation that found NRA executives used millions of dollars “from NRA reserves for personal use, including trips for them and their families to the Bahamas, private jets, expensive meals, and other private travel.”
The lawsuit claims that NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre “spent millions of dollars of the NRA’s charitable assets for private plane trips for himself and his family, including trips for his family when he was not present.”
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Per the lawsuit: “In the last five years, LaPierre and his family have visited the Bahamas by private air charter on at least eight occasions, at a cost of more than $500,000 to the NRA. On many of those trips, LaPierre and his family were gifted the use of a 107-foot yacht owned by an NRA vendor.”
Now listen, when you’re running a massive organization that has to constantly find ways to say the best response to school shootings and church slaughters is to buy more guns, you need a little 107-foot yacht time to unwind. That’s just the cost of doing business.
But what matters here is not what LaPierre and others at the NRA did with the money they got by frightening Americans into believing former President Barack Obama was going to eat their children.
What matters is this: If the New York lawsuit successfully does away with the NRA, who will Americans rely on to keep a subset of the population so swollen with fear of impending Marxism that money pops out of their pockets?
LaPierre and his NRA colleagues have been triggering spasms of paranoia through large swaths of the country for years, successfully driving home the idea that if you don’t own a gun, someone will kill you, and if you do own a gun, someone will take that gun from you, so you better have another gun to protect the first one, a third gun to protect the second, a fourth to protect the third, etc. … The logical outcome of that thinking is that you will only be safe if you own ALL the guns, which is fine with the NRA and something they probably enjoyed chatting about on the 107-foot yacht.
Without these expert gun peddlers, some of our fellow citizens might hold on to their money and do something ridiculous, like invest in a college fund for their children or donate it to a non-gun-related charity.
Consider the skill with which LaPierre and Co. have ginned up fear.
In 2013, LaPierre told supporters: “We, the American people, clearly see the daunting forces we will undoubtedly face: terrorists, crime, drug gangs, the possibility of Euro-style debt riots, civil unrest or natural disaster.”
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Who can forget the Euro-style debt riots of ’13. Thank God I had a gun in my waistband, one in the car, five in the living room and another 17 hidden in strategic locations in the backyard, including one strapped to a squirrel.
Throughout Obama’s presidency, the NRA promised that Obama would take everyone’s guns, melt them down and turn them into bars that could be used to block church doorways during Satan’s return to earth. (Or something to that effect.)
In 2017, LaPierre said: “Right now, we face a gathering of forces that are willing to use violence against us. Think about it. The leftist movement in this country right now is enraged. Among them and behind them are some of the most radical political elements there are. Anarchists, Marxists, communists and the whole rest of the left-wing socialist brigade. For the first time, we also face an enemy utterly dedicated to destroy not just our country, but also Western civilization.”
None of that happened, of course, but a ton of people bought a ton of guns and LaPierre’s family members didn’t have to fly commercial. So everything was fine, except for America’s gun violence epidemic and all the people who got shot.
But now you’ve got some attorney general from New York saying the NRA should go away, seemingly unconcerned about how LaPierre and other executives will get the money they need to travel extensively and buy high-priced water to wash the blood from their hands.
Granted, the lawsuit threatening the NRA’s existence claims LaPierre, the ultimate tough guy with a gun, used NRA money to buy an armored car and a safe house for his family and spent “several million dollars each year” for personal and home security.
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And yes, the attorney general’s investigation found that “LaPierre received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from another NRA vendor in the form of complimentary safaris in Africa and other world-wide locations for himself and his spouse.”
But somebody has to separate those fear-addicted Americans from their money, right?
I suppose if the NRA has to go, I could step in and start concocting stories to scare the tuna salad out of paranoid people.
Let’s give it a try.
Just send money. Lots of it.
I’ve got my eye on a 107-foot yacht in the Bahamas.
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Mayor Lori Lightfoot tested negative for COVID-19, won’t self-quarantine after attending news confer

Mayor Lori Lightfoot tested negative for COVID-19, won’t self-quarantine after attending news conference with Chicago alderman who has COVID-19

“ In coordination with the Chicago Department of Public Health , we are reaching out to all those who interacted @ @ @ @ @ guidance on how they can get tested and any other health and safety measures they @ @ @ @ @ , ” the mayor ’ s office said .
“ We will also be conducting @ @ @ @ @ press conference space and the additional spaces where the Alderman interacted in the building .
@

Chicago Ald. Michael Scott Jr. at a new conference as Mayor Lori Lightfoot looks on at City Hall on Aug. 5, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has tested negative for COVID-19 and will not be self-quarantining, her office announced Thursday a day after she attended a news conference with a Chicago alderman who found out he had contracted the disease.
Lightfoot announced her test results hours after West Side Ald. Michael Scott disclosed he had tested positive for COVID-19.
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“She will continue to follow the guidance of the Department of Public Health over the course of the standard 14-day incubation period. She will not be quarantining given that she was not in close proximity with the alderman for an extended period of time, per CDPH and CDC guidelines on quarantining,” a statement from Lightfoot’s office read. “All participants were wearing masks and practicing proper social distancing for the duration of yesterday’s press conference.”
Scott, who’s Lightfoot’s education committee chairman on the City Council, said he was tested last week during a community event and received the results on Thursday. According to Lightfoot’s statement, Scott was “asymptomatic and following the necessary health protocols.”
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“In coordination with the Chicago Department of Public Health, we are reaching out to all those who interacted with Alderman Scott to provide guidance on how they can get tested and any other health and safety measures they should take at this time,” the mayor’s office said. “We will also be conducting a deep clean of the press conference space and the additional spaces where the alderman interacted in the building.”
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Scott was at City Hall with Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady when they announced Wednesday that CPS would start the upcoming academic year with remote learning in the fall.
“I am home now, currently with no symptoms,” Scott said. “I am following all the necessary health protocols in accordance with the Chicago Department of Public Health. As a public official, it is my responsibility to share this news because I have a public facing life.”
A CPS spokesman noted that the news conference participants all wore masks and maintained social distancing, adding that Jackson was “not in close proximity with Ald. Scott for an extended period of time, and based on public health guidance quarantine is not recommended in this instance.” A city spokesman also said Arwady had tested negative for COVID-19.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Friday that he had reached out to Scott and wished him well.
When asked about whether Lightfoot should self-quarantine or take more precautions, Pritzker said, “She has a doctor. I’m not going to make advice here about that. Look, I just want people to do the right thing and, you know, keep everybody around them safe and healthy. And, of course, I want the mayor to be safe and healthy. So, whatever the best advice is that she’s been given I know she will follow.”
Earlier Thursday, Lightfoot abruptly canceled an afternoon news conference without explanation.
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Scott marks the second Chicago alderman known to have contracted COVID-19. Veteran Far South Side Ald. Carrie Austin announced last month she had tested positive for the disease and was “progressing toward full recovery.”
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--15-year-old boy shot near former Ickes Homes on Near South Side

He was on the sidewalk in the 2700 block of South State Street shortly after 7:15 p.m. when a red @ @ @ @ @ inside fired shots , Chicago police said .

A 15-year-old boy was in good condition at a hospital after someone shot him in the leg Thursday night, according to police.
He was on the sidewalk in the 2700 block of South State Street shortly after 7:15 p.m. when a red vehicle drove up and someone inside fired shots, Chicago police said.
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The boy suffered a graze wound to the thigh and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.
No one was in custody, and Area 3 detectives were investigating.


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Oversight board demotes Milwaukee police chief after tear gas used at protests, Bucks player arrest

The chief ’ s attorney , Franklyn Gimbel , says Morales ’ relationship with the commission has been deteriorating since @ @ @ @ @ s demand to fire an officer involved in the arrest of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling @ @ @ @ @ Most recently the commission criticized Morales for authorizing tear gas to disperse protesters .
The @ @ @ @ @ over how the department has policed Black communities .

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales poses at the Milwaukee Police Administration in Milwaukee in 2018. An oversight board is considering firing Morales after he ordered officers to use tear gas to break up protests over George Floyd’s death. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel )
MADISON, Wis. — An oversight board demoted Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales on Thursday after questioning how he handled multiple incidents, including ordering officers to fire tear gas and pepper spray at protesters demonstrating over George Floyd’s death.
The city’s Fire and Police Commission unanimously voted Thursday evening to demote Morales to captain after three-and-a-half years on the job.
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The chief’s attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, says Morales’ relationship with the commission has been deteriorating since he refused the chairman’s demand to fire an officer involved in the arrest of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown in January 2018. Most recently the commission criticized Morales for authorizing tear gas to disperse protesters. The board has also raised questions over how the department has policed Black communities.
Morales joined the Milwaukee department in 1993 and was appointed chief in February 2018.
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“His conduct is unbecoming, filled with ethical lapses and flawed decisions, making it inconsistent with someone who has the privilege of leading the Milwaukee Police Department,” Commissioner Raymond Robakowski said.
The board named Assistant Police Chief Michael J. Brunson Sr. as acting chief.
The decision comes as Wisconsin’s largest police department grapples with a surge in gun violence and plans security for a scaled-down Democratic National Convention.
A number of police chiefs across the country have left their jobs as pressure mounts to rethink American policing following Floyd’s death, including Erika Shields in Atlanta, Jami Resch in Portland, Oregon, and William Smith in Richmond, Virginia.
Milwaukee's mayor has urged the commission to slow down, but Morales' attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, said the odds appeared to be stacked against the chief.
“I’m unaware of him having any supporters (on the commission),” Gimbel, said. “There seems like a cumulative sense that they want to dump the guy.”
Gimbel declined comment to The Associated Press after the meeting.
Morales is Latino and the majority of the commissioners are Black. His relationship with the board has deteriorated since it named him to the post in February 2018, particularly over questions about how the department has policed Black communities.
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Gimbel said problems began when officers arrested Brown for parking illegally in January 2018. Officers swarmed the Bucks guard and used a stun gun on him when he didn’t remove his hands from his pockets. The commission’s chairman, Steven DeVougas, who is Black, told Morales to fire one of the officers involved but Morales refused, the attorney said.
“From there it got stressful,” Gimbel said. “DeVougas viewed him as not being a team player.”
In February, the Milwaukee Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers, filed an ethics complaint against DeVougas alleging he accompanied a real estate developer during an interview with police who suspected the developer of sexual assault. DeVougas practices real estate law for the developer's business. The police association argued DeVougas' presence during the interview was a misuse of his position as commission chairman. A city ethics board is investigating.
Fast forward to May and June, when Milwaukee police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters demonstrating over Floyd’s death. Floyd, who was Black, died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly eight minutes.
The decision to use tear gas and pepper spray drew criticism from Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett. The commission in July banned the police department from using tear gas, prompting a number of departments from across the state slated to help with convention security to rescind their support.
The commission on July 20 ordered Morales to produce reams of records related to multiple incidents, including the decision to tear gas and pepper spray protesters, Brown’s arrest and the June arrest of a Black activist on suspicion of burglary. The panel also demanded Morales draft community policing standards, develop a discipline matrix to clarify how officers are disciplined and draft a policy requiring officers to wear face masks during the pandemic.
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“We are in the midst of an urgent overdue reckoning on race and policing in this country,” the commission said in a statement Monday. “Only with transparency, accountability and truth will we move on as a society. This discussion may make some uncomfortable, and may bluntly scare others.”
None of the commissioners, including DeVougas, returned messages Thursday.
The commission gave Morales a week to respond to some of the requests and threatened to discipline or fire him if he didn't comply. Gimbel has said those expectations are ridiculous; he noted the commission gave Morales' predecessor, Ed Flynn, 50 days to respond to a similar request for information on the department's pursuit policy.
The police department Wednesday blasted the orders as vague, invalid and possibly illegal. The department noted the orders weren’t approved during an open meeting and the requests seek information from still-open criminal and internal investigations.
The orders also could violate a 2018 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union over stop-and-frisk policies because the department would have to release confidential information it has been sharing with a consultant group monitoring compliance with the settlement, the department said.
“The (orders) attempt to paint a picture that MPD has been non-compliant or outright insubordinate with the FPC,” the department said in a statement. “The manner in which business is being conducted at the FPC causes alarm.”
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Barrett, the mayor, dove into the fray on Wednesday, sending a letter to the commission calling for an “orderly review” of the orders and the commission to remove DeVougas as chairman since he’s under investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Illinois Chamber of Commerce study forecasts job cuts to women and minorities, shrinking economy wit

Illinois Chamber of Commerce study forecasts job cuts to women and minorities, shrinking economy with graduated  income tax. Advocates say not so fast.

Under tax rates approved by lawmakers if the proposed amendment is ratified by voters on the November ballot , an @ @ @ @ @ taxpayers would pay at least the same if not less state income tax than they @ @ @ @ @ plan , people with incomes of up to $ 250,000 would pay 4.95 % or @ @

A study funded by the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce forecasts that if voters approve a new graduated income tax rate structure on Nov. 3, the state’s already pandemic-damaged economy will shrink, more people will leave the state, consumer costs will increase and jobs, particularly those held by women and minorities, will be lost.
But advocates of the proposed state constitutional amendment pointed to a variety of previous studies that contradict many of the findings of the analysis done for the chamber, which said the study’s authors were given “complete independence.”
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The chamber, an opponent of the proposal to replace the state’s mandated flat-rate tax with a graduated-rate tax based on income, presented the “key findings” of the analysis conducted through the Berkeley Strategy Group, a nationally recognized consultancy group to businesses, but released little research of how the findings were reached.
The findings noted that the economic impact of switching to a proposed graduated-rate tax are different now due to the effects of the coronavirus disease than when Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed his signature agenda item.
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“Consequently, rather than eliminate jobs from a relatively strong economy that might have been capable of quickly replacing them, the proposed graduated income tax will now result in job losses that will further weaken an already weak economy,” said the authors, who included economics professor Ariel Belasen of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Under tax rates approved by lawmakers if the proposed amendment is ratified by voters on the November ballot, an estimated 97% of individual taxpayers would pay at least the same if not less state income tax than they do now. Under the plan, people with incomes of up to $250,000 would pay 4.95% or less.
Pritzker had forecast the new tax structure would raise $1.4 billion in the last half of the current budget year, which began July 1, and would raise $3.4 billion for a full fiscal year. Those figures came before the state’s economy was basically shutdown in March under stay-at-home orders Pritzker issued in March and have since been gradually lightened.
The chamber’s study forecast a $1.8 billion reduction in the income of Illinois residents. It also predicted that increased business taxes would be passed along to consumers, and the loss of jobs in the hospital, restaurant, and individual and family services categories. It said the job losses would disproportionately affect women and minorities who make up more workers in those categories.
The study forecast out-migration from Illinois among residents seeking to escape the tax burden, leading to a reduction of spending of 0.8%. It also said for many tax filers in lower-income brackets, the tax relief offered “might be less than a single-family meal at a fast food restaurant.”
“This independent study concludes what many of us already knew: This is the worst possible time for a $3.4 billion tax hike on Illinois families and businesses,” said Todd Maisch, the state chamber’s president.
But Quentin Fulks, chairman of the amendment advocacy group Vote Yes for Fairness, questioned the independence of the study as well as its findings.
“It’s not surprising that a study the Illinois Chamber of Commerce paid for in their efforts to protect our broken tax system is trying to mislead voters on the impact of the Fair Tax,” Fulks said.
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“The fact is our current tax system is fundamentally unfair, forcing essential workers like our nurses and grocery store clerks to pay the same tax rate as millionaires and billionaires. The Fair Tax will set things right,” said Fulks, whose group has received $56.5 million in funding from the wealthy governor.
The advocacy group cited studies showing limited correlation between state tax rates and out-migration of wealthy taxpayers; that states with graduated income tax rates are more likely to cut future taxes than raise rates; and that high rate tax states have seen higher economic growth than states with no income tax levy.
The chamber’s study came as the AARP’s national organization reported putting $450,000 in the state organization’s campaign fund, Yes to a Financially Responsible Illinois, in support of the proposed amendment.
rap30@aol.com
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chicagotribune--2020-08-08--Kanye West unlikely to appear on Illinois presidential ballot after paperwork review

Friday ’ s preliminary findings go to a hearing examiner , who is assigned to make a recommendation on whether @ @ @ @ @ ballot .
That recommendation is expected in about 10 days .
Then , the Illinois @ @ @ @ @ on the recommendation , potentially at its Aug. 21 meeting .

Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance on July 19, 2020, in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Lauren Petracca/The Post And Courier)
A preliminary check of Kanye West’s paperwork to get on the Illinois presidential ballot indicates the rap artist may fall far short of the required number of signatures to appear before home-state voters on Nov. 3.
To make the ballot, West had to file 2,500 valid signatures from Illinois voters. He submitted 3,218 signatures, but a state elections board review Friday found that 60% of them, or 1,928, were invalid.
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West’s lawyers can try to restore the disputed signatures by providing evidence and arguments. That’s likely to be a difficult task, however.
The Chicago-raised rapper and businessman’s late bid for the White House is viewed as an attempt to take Black votes away from Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Forbes reported that West acknowledged as much in an interview published Thursday.
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News outlets have reported that West appears to be getting help from Republican operatives, some allied with President Donald Trump, to get on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate in some states.
Earlier this week, Trump said he likes ”Kanye very much,” but “I’m not involved.”
West’s presidential bid surfaced as he promoted the release of a new album last month named after his late mother, Donda.
In Illinois, the process to determine whether he appears on the ballot could be done within two weeks.
Friday’s preliminary findings go to a hearing examiner, who is assigned to make a recommendation on whether West should stay on the ballot. That recommendation is expected in about 10 days. Then, the Illinois State Board of Elections votes on the recommendation, potentially at its Aug. 21 meeting.
The signature verifications, which are known as binder checks, historically have carried much weight on a hearing examiner’s recommendation on whether someone is qualified to make the ballot.
Ed Mullen, one of the lawyers challenging West’s nominating petitions, said Friday’s determination means West “is virtually certain to be kicked off the ballot” in Illinois.
A separate challenge to West’s appearance on the Illinois ballot centers on the candidate not filing a running mate or a list of electors for the Electoral College, both of which are required in this state.
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Due to the pandemic, the signature threshold independent and new party candidates need to meet to be eligible for the ballot was significantly lower than it would otherwise be — 2,500 signatures of registered voters in Illinois instead of the previous 25,000.


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: For first time in more than 2 months, over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: For first time in more than 2 months, over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases reported; Gov. Pritzker announces new emergency rules for mask requirements

For the first time in more than two months , the statewide count of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed 2,000 in Illinois .
Public health officials said Friday 2,084 new cases were logged during the last 24-hour period , and another 21 people with COVID-19 had died .
The last time the newly confirmed case number surpassed 2,000 was May 24 , when the state reported 2,508 cases .
Officials also placed 13 of the state ’ s 102 counties at coronavirus “ warning level.
” Meanwhile , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker on Friday announced his administration is filing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enforce mask requirements that include the possibility of fines up to $ 2,500 .
Businesses that don ’ t comply will be given a written notice warning .
If they don ’ t voluntarily comply , businesses will then be given an order for patrons to leave the property “ as needed to comply with public health guidance and reduce risks , ” Pritzker ’ s office said .
If businesses still do not comply , they can receive a class A misdemeanor , subject to a fine of $ 75 to $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delayed the release of its plan for remote learning in the fall , days after the district announced it would start the new school year virtually rather than with the hybrid reopening model it first proposed .
“ We believe an improved remote learning model that engages students for the full school day is the right way to begin the new school year based on both the evolving public health situation and feedback from our families , ” CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said in the email .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work with school leaders and labor partners to ensure the plan we finalize for the new school year is thorough and thoughtful , and we will be sharing those guidelines as soon as they are ready.
” 6:27 p.m. : While CPS pivots to remote learning , Catholic schools in Chicago and suburbs stand by plans to reopen fully as teachers and parents fret Even as city and state officials struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 and warned in recent days about the upward direction of infection numbers , the Archdiocese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools later this month .
The decision has upset some parents , who are worried and dissatisfied with remote learning alternatives for those who opt out , and some teachers , one of whom is leaving the job rather than return to the classroom .
The Chicago Archdiocesan school system — which educates more than 70,000 students in Cook and Lake counties , a fraction of the size of CPS spread out over a much larger geographic area —announced reopening plans in early July , calling for a full return to in-person learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The dioceses of Joliet and Rockford have unveiled similar plans .
5:45 p.m. ( update ) : Cubs-Cardinals series in St. Louis will be postponed after another positive COVID-19 test Another positive COVID-19 test from a Cardinals player led to the postponement of the first series between the longtime rivals .
Friday ’ s game was postponed to “ allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process , ” the league said in a statement .
The Cubs were preparing to fly home to Chicago for four off days before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cleveland .
In the days and hours before she gave up on in-school learning at Chicago Public Schools this fall , Mayor Lori Lightfoot was getting squeezed from the outside and the inside .
Her political nemeses in the Chicago Teachers Union repeatedly accused Lightfoot of putting students and teachers at risk , even as the rumblings about an impending strike vote grew louder .
Within her administration , CPS CEO Dr. Janice Jackson desperately was trying to maintain some kind of face-to-face instruction .
Thousands of disadvantaged Chicago children count on schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , encouragement , structure , meals and “ a lot of other things some people take for granted , ” Jackson said as the district opted out of having students in classrooms to start the new academic year .
Meanwhile , the city ’ s coronavirus point person planted her flag publicly on the idea that the hybrid model with kids going in to school two days per week could work despite rising case counts .
Public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady told reporters that “ with the appropriate procedures in place , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of spread is significant ” inside schools if the virus is under control .
And Lightfoot herself was eager to show Chicago could reopen the right way even as other big cities across the U.S. struggled not to get overwhelmed by the disease .
In the end , with many school districts locally and nationally opting to keep their students at home , Lightfoot said she was “ guided by the science ” and shelved until at least November the hybrid model that would have sent kids to school two days per week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Marion federal prison during COVID-19 surge despite restrictive conditions , say inmates and family members A second coronavirus-related death following a weekend surge of positive COVID-19 cases at the Marion federal prison has inmates with medical conditions worried about their health in a prison that is not allowing them to distance , family members and inmates told the Tribune .
The Bureau of Prisons , which was reporting 72 positive cases July 31 at Marion in southern Illinois , reported 133 positive cases Monday .
On Tuesday , the number went down to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and then to 84 , including four prison employees , on Friday .
The number of positives reported fluctuates based on new cases being added and resolved cases being removed , federal prisons spokesperson Emery Nelson said in an email .
Federal officials announced Monday that one inmate at Marion had died after testing positive for the coronavirus .
Late Wednesday , the mother of a second prisoner who had been hospitalized because of COVID-19 told the Tribune he had died .
After the man was listed in the Bureau of Prisons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials confirmed late Thursday the man , Taiwan Davis , had died after testing positive for the coronavirus .
Experts who have been studying rates of COVID-19 in prisons say the infection rate , death rate and growth rate are significantly higher in prison than in the general population .
Between April and June , the mean daily case growth rate was 8.3 % in prisons .
In the general population , it was less than half that , according to one study .
The age-adjusted rate for COVID-19-related deaths was three times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Three inmates the Tribune communicated with complained this week about other decisions the prison administration has made in recent weeks , such as banning the use of phones and email , using isolation rooms for inmates needing to quarantine , and , for several days , keeping those who tested positive all together in a recreation room .
Thursday , phones were turned back on , according to inmates .
And although low-security inmates typically are able to go outside for most of the day , the prison administration has stopped allowing this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everybody is now that we have ( COVID-19 in the prison ) , once you get it again , it ’ s going to get worse , ” if someone has it and then develops symptoms a second time , said an inmate .
4:07 p.m. : Cook County to provide $ 20 million in CARES Act money to rental aid for suburban households , but Preckwinkle stresses additional federal funds needed Cook County government will give out $ 20 million in federal CARES Act funds to suburban residents struggling to pay rent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday while emphasizing the need for a slow-moving Congress to advance a second stimulus package .
Households earning under 80 % of the area median income , about $ 72,000 for a family of four , can apply for grants that will cover overdue or future rent , Rich Monocchio , executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County , said at a news conference in Oak Park .
Up to $ 4,500 is available per household to pay between one to three months of rent .
” When this pandemic ravaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experienced hardship , we knew that we had to do more , ” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said .
“ The need remains critical and urgent.
” Because officials anticipate the demand will exceed their available funds , applicants will be randomly chosen before awards go out to landlords , Monocchio said .
One-quarter of the $ 20 million will go to places bearing the brunt of the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic .
Monocchio estimates the maximum number of households benefiting from the program will be about 7,000 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ during a period like this , the county would have a program that helps the most vulnerable renters stay in their homes and weather out this pandemic , ” Monocchio said .
A last-ditch effort by Democrats to revive collapsing Capitol Hill talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money ended in disappointment on Friday , making it increasingly likely that Washington gridlock will mean more hardship for millions of people who are losing enhanced jobless benefits and further damage for an economy pummeled by the still-raging coronavirus .
“ It was a disappointing meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schumer , saying the White House had rejected an offer by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to curb Democratic demands by about $ 1 trillion .
He urged the White House to “ negotiate with Democrats and meet us in the middle .
Don ’ t say it ’ s your way or no way.
” With the collapse of the talks , he said President Donald Trump was now likely to issue executive orders on home evictions and on student loan debt .
2:05 p.m. : The Paycheck Protection Program ends Saturday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a Round Two ’ Companies still struggling with sharply reduced revenue are wondering if Congress will give them a second chance at the Paycheck Protection Program , which ends Saturday after giving out 5.1 million loans worth $ 523 billion .
While the program that began April 3 has gotten mixed reviews , business owners still need help as the virus continues to spread and hamstring the economy .
The Illinois Department of Public Health placed 13 of the state ’ s 102 counties at coronavirus “ warning level ” on Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signal a resurgence of highly contagious COVID-19 .
Some of the 13 counties were on the department ’ s warning list a week earlier , while others were new additions .
Other counties that were on the list last week , when 11 counties were warned , were taken off the list .
Those counties are Jo Daviess , Sangamon , Gallatin , Johnson , Randolph and White .
According to the state Department of Public Health , cases and outbreaks in these areas have been traced to businesses , long-term care facilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The state is monitoring a range of metrics to determine whether there ’ s a coronavirus resurgence in a given community , including deaths , hospital admissions , new cases per 100,000 people , weekly test positivity and ICU availability .
12:28 p.m. : Tonight ’ s Cubs-Cardinals game in St. Louis is postponed after another positive COVID-19 test for the Cardinals Another positive COVID-19 test from the Cardinals clubhouse led to the postponement , MLB announced .
The game was postponed to “ allow for additional testing and to complete the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in a statement .
12:04 p.m. : 2,084 new known COVID-19 cases reported , the highest number in more than two months For the first time in more than two months , the statewide count of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed 2,000 in Illinois .
Public health officials said Friday 2,084 new cases of coronavirus were logged during the last 24-hour period , and another 21 people with COVID-19 had died .
The new daily tally brings the statewide count of known cases to 190,508 .
There have been 7,613 deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic began earlier this year .
The state reported nearly 2,000 cases on Thursday , when there were 1,953 cases , as the state continues to see consistently higher case numbers than it did through much of June and early July .
The seven-day statewide average positivity rate is 4.1 % .
The rate was 2.5 % on July 7 .
The state remains in the fourth phase of Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s reopening plan , but Pritzker has repeatedly warned that in regions where there is a resurgence in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of public health metrics , stricter rules meant to slow the spread could be reimposed .
The U.S .
Postal Service says it lost $ 2.2 billion in the three months that ended in June as the beleaguered agency — hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic — piles up financial losses that officials warn could top $ 20 billion over two years .
“ Our financial position is dire , stemming from substantial declines in mail volume , a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new postmaster general , said Friday in his first public remarks since taking the job in June .
9:43 a.m. : Gov .
Pritzker issues rule to penalize businesses that don ’ t enforce mask requirements with fines up to $ 2,500 Gov .
J.B. Pritzker , declaring Illinois is at a “ make or break ” moment in fighting the coronavirus pandemic , issued new emergency rules to require businesses and schools to enforce his mandatory face mask rules or face the prospect of being fined .
Businesses that don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given a written notice warning .
If they don ’ t voluntarily comply , businesses will then be given an order for patrons to leave the property “ as needed to comply with public health guidance and reduce risks , ” Pritzker ’ s office said .
8:47 a.m. : Drug and alcohol use has spiked during pandemic , prompting Chicago ’ s recovery community to find new ways to reach out The pandemic has proven to be a difficult time for addicts .
With persisting unemployment rates and surging reports of anxiety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opioid use have skyrocketed among users who have found themselves stuck inside day after day .
But support is still available .
Over the past few months , recovery groups and treatment centers throughout the Chicago area have learned to adapt their services to the shifting restrictions of the pandemic .
” Over the past few months , our Help Center has worked with hundreds of small business owners to assist them in recovering from interruption caused by the pandemic , and the need is still great , ” Freeman-Wilson said .
Funding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in areas with greater than 25 % Black residency , and qualified applicants would be required to “ participate in non-grant counseling services to access short-term needs , ” the release said .
Chicago was one of six National Urban League affiliates to receive $ 100,000 from Ford for the program .
Ford created the initiative to “ provide a stabilizing influence ” for communities hard hit by COVID-19.
” Small businesses are a cornerstone of the African American community and play a vital role in their economic success , ” Pamela Alexander @ @ @ @ @ @ @ development , said in the release .
“ The impact of the COVID pandemic has created economic uncertainty that necessitates immediate action .
Our long-term partnership with the National Urban League allows us to quickly mobilize an initiative such as the Emergency Capital Access Program to get immediate assistance to those businesses in need.
” 6:30 a.m. : Gov .
Pritzker to announce new COVID-19 guidelines Gov .
J.B. Pritkzer and “ industry leaders ” were scheduled to announce new guidelines Friday morning “ to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Details of the new policies were expected to be released at a morning news conference .
After the Chicago Park District announced this week that restaurants and concessions east of Lake Shore Drive are now allowed to reopen , some were scheduled to start service again Friday .
Beachside establishments must adhere to the same COVID-19 safety guidelines that pertain to other businesses and restaurants in the city .
The Park District is working with each concession on its health and safety plans and owners can open as early as this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early as Thursday , according to the Park District .
6:15 a.m. : Preckwinkle to announce new coronavirus-related rental assistance program Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was set to announce Friday a new rental assistance program for people who live suburban Cook County who are “ experiencing financial insecurity ” because of the COVID-19 pandemic , according to Preckwinkle ’ s office .
Preckwinkle and other county elected officials were scheduled to join county housing and economic development officials at an announcement late Friday morning in Oak Park regarding the program .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they know what ’ s coming ’ : How parents can navigate back-to-school anxiety , whether students are in class or learning remotely The decision of how children will learn this fall is stressful for parents , who have been under enormous stress already — with many trying to work and simultaneously help teach children at home in the spring , and reckoning with an extended period of COVID-19 restrictions .
Now , they must anticipate what school will look like in the fall .
5 a.m. : Internet slowing down as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s how to speed it up .
Nothing kills work-from-home motivation like slow internet .
It ’ s an issue some in the Chicago area are facing for the first time as the COVID-19 pandemic sent them out of the office and into remote workspaces at home .
With the recent announcement of all-remote learning for students in Chicago Public Schools this fall , and many other districts opting for some degree of e-learning , a torrent of video calls and downloads from multiple family members could test the mettle of even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families with limited income , it can seem like high-speed internet is out of reach financially .
For Chicagoans looking for ways to improve their connection or get their homes hooked up for the first time , here ’ s some advice .
Here are five things that happened Thursday related to COVID-19 :

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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)
For the first time in more than two months, the statewide count of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed 2,000 in Illinois.
Public health officials said Friday 2,084 new cases were logged during the last 24-hour period, and another 21 people with COVID-19 had died. The last time the newly confirmed case number surpassed 2,000 was May 24, when the state reported 2,508 cases. Officials also placed 13 of the state’s 102 counties at coronavirus “warning level.”
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Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday announced his administration is filing new emergency rules to require businesses to enforce mask requirements that include the possibility of fines up to $2,500.
Businesses that don’t comply will be given a written notice warning. If they don’t voluntarily comply, businesses will then be given an order for patrons to leave the property “as needed to comply with public health guidance and reduce risks,” Pritzker’s office said. If businesses still do not comply, they can receive a class A misdemeanor, subject to a fine of $75 to $2,500.
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[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: A daily update on key metrics in your area ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ Illinois coronavirus graphs: The latest on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:37 p.m.: CPS delays release of remote learning plan but CEO promises more live instruction and accountability
Chicago Public Schools on Friday delayed the release of its plan for remote learning in the fall, days after the district announced it would start the new school year virtually rather than with the hybrid reopening model it first proposed.
The district now plans to issue its final reopening framework “in the days ahead,” according to an email to families Friday.
“We believe an improved remote learning model that engages students for the full school day is the right way to begin the new school year based on both the evolving public health situation and feedback from our families,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said in the email. “... We are taking additional time to work with school leaders and labor partners to ensure the plan we finalize for the new school year is thorough and thoughtful, and we will be sharing those guidelines as soon as they are ready.”
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
6:27 p.m.: While CPS pivots to remote learning, Catholic schools in Chicago and suburbs stand by plans to reopen fully as teachers and parents fret
While Chicago Public Schools has pivoted to a remote learning start for fall, area Catholic schools are moving ahead with plans for a full return to in-person classes five days a week.
Even as city and state officials struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 and warned in recent days about the upward direction of infection numbers, the Archdiocese of Chicago reiterated its plans to reopen schools later this month. The decision has upset some parents, who are worried and dissatisfied with remote learning alternatives for those who opt out, and some teachers, one of whom is leaving the job rather than return to the classroom.
The Chicago Archdiocesan school system — which educates more than 70,000 students in Cook and Lake counties, a fraction of the size of CPS spread out over a much larger geographic area —announced reopening plans in early July, calling for a full return to in-person learning, paired with proper safety measures. The dioceses of Joliet and Rockford have unveiled similar plans.
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Read more here. —Sophie Sherry
5:45 p.m. (update): Cubs-Cardinals series in St. Louis will be postponed after another positive COVID-19 test
The Chicago Cubs’ three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium will be postponed, sources said.
Another positive COVID-19 test from a Cardinals player led to the postponement of the first series between the longtime rivals. Friday’s game was postponed to “allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process,” the league said in a statement.
The Cubs were preparing to fly home to Chicago for four off days before their next scheduled game on Tuesday in Cleveland.
Read more here. —Paul Sullivan
4:55 p.m.: Inside Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago Public Schools’ fall pivot
In the days and hours before she gave up on in-school learning at Chicago Public Schools this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was getting squeezed from the outside and the inside.
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Coronavirus cases continued their seemingly implacable rise despite her constant entreaties to residents to wear masks and follow social distancing rules.
Her political nemeses in the Chicago Teachers Union repeatedly accused Lightfoot of putting students and teachers at risk, even as the rumblings about an impending strike vote grew louder.
Within her administration, CPS CEO Dr. Janice Jackson desperately was trying to maintain some kind of face-to-face instruction. Thousands of disadvantaged Chicago children count on schools for education, but also for safety, encouragement, structure, meals and “a lot of other things some people take for granted,” Jackson said as the district opted out of having students in classrooms to start the new academic year.
Meanwhile, the city’s coronavirus point person planted her flag publicly on the idea that the hybrid model with kids going in to school two days per week could work despite rising case counts. Public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady told reporters that “with the appropriate procedures in place, I honestly do not think the risk of spread is significant” inside schools if the virus is under control.
And Lightfoot herself was eager to show Chicago could reopen the right way even as other big cities across the U.S. struggled not to get overwhelmed by the disease.
In the end, with many school districts locally and nationally opting to keep their students at home, Lightfoot said she was “guided by the science” and shelved until at least November the hybrid model that would have sent kids to school two days per week.
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Read more here. —John Byrne and Gregory Pratt
4:23 p.m.: 2 dead at Marion federal prison during COVID-19 surge despite restrictive conditions, say inmates and family members
A second coronavirus-related death following a weekend surge of positive COVID-19 cases at the Marion federal prison has inmates with medical conditions worried about their health in a prison that is not allowing them to distance, family members and inmates told the Tribune.
The Bureau of Prisons, which was reporting 72 positive cases July 31 at Marion in southern Illinois, reported 133 positive cases Monday. On Tuesday, the number went down to 88, with 49 inmates reported recovered, and then to 84, including four prison employees, on Friday. The number of positives reported fluctuates based on new cases being added and resolved cases being removed, federal prisons spokesperson Emery Nelson said in an email.
Federal officials announced Monday that one inmate at Marion had died after testing positive for the coronavirus. Late Wednesday, the mother of a second prisoner who had been hospitalized because of COVID-19 told the Tribune he had died. After the man was listed in the Bureau of Prisons inmate directory as having died Wednesday, officials confirmed late Thursday the man, Taiwan Davis, had died after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Experts who have been studying rates of COVID-19 in prisons say the infection rate, death rate and growth rate are significantly higher in prison than in the general population. Between April and June, the mean daily case growth rate was 8.3% in prisons. In the general population, it was less than half that, according to one study. The age-adjusted rate for COVID-19-related deaths was three times the rate in the general population.
Three inmates the Tribune communicated with complained this week about other decisions the prison administration has made in recent weeks, such as banning the use of phones and email, using isolation rooms for inmates needing to quarantine, and, for several days, keeping those who tested positive all together in a recreation room. Thursday, phones were turned back on, according to inmates.
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And although low-security inmates typically are able to go outside for most of the day, the prison administration has stopped allowing this for weeks.
“What really worries everybody is now that we have (COVID-19 in the prison), once you get it again, it’s going to get worse,” if someone has it and then develops symptoms a second time, said an inmate.
Read more here. —Nausheen Husain
4:07 p.m.: Cook County to provide $20 million in CARES Act money to rental aid for suburban households, but Preckwinkle stresses additional federal funds needed
Cook County government will give out $20 million in federal CARES Act funds to suburban residents struggling to pay rent during the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Friday while emphasizing the need for a slow-moving Congress to advance a second stimulus package.
Households earning under 80% of the area median income, about $72,000 for a family of four, can apply for grants that will cover overdue or future rent, Rich Monocchio, executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County, said at a news conference in Oak Park. Up to $4,500 is available per household to pay between one to three months of rent.
”When this pandemic ravaged Cook County and so many working families experienced hardship, we knew that we had to do more,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “The need remains critical and urgent.”
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Suburban residents can apply at www.cookcountyil.gov/recovery from Aug. 10 to 18. The program is only available to suburban Cook County residents.
Because officials anticipate the demand will exceed their available funds, applicants will be randomly chosen before awards go out to landlords, Monocchio said.
One-quarter of the $20 million will go to places bearing the brunt of the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic. Monocchio estimates the maximum number of households benefiting from the program will be about 7,000.
”It only stands to reason that during a period like this, the county would have a program that helps the most vulnerable renters stay in their homes and weather out this pandemic,” Monocchio said.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
Updated 3:45 p.m.: Last-ditch coronavirus relief talks collapse in Washington, no new aid for jobless
A last-ditch effort by Democrats to revive collapsing Capitol Hill talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money ended in disappointment on Friday, making it increasingly likely that Washington gridlock will mean more hardship for millions of people who are losing enhanced jobless benefits and further damage for an economy pummeled by the still-raging coronavirus.
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“It was a disappointing meeting,” declared top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, saying the White House had rejected an offer by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to curb Democratic demands by about $1 trillion. He urged the White House to “negotiate with Democrats and meet us in the middle. Don’t say it’s your way or no way.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “Unfortunately we did not make any progress today.”
With the collapse of the talks, he said President Donald Trump was now likely to issue executive orders on home evictions and on student loan debt.
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:05 p.m.: The Paycheck Protection Program ends Saturday, and many small businesses are ‘looking for a Round Two’
Small businesses are in limbo again as the coronavirus outbreak rages and the government’s $659 billion relief program draws to a close.
Companies still struggling with sharply reduced revenue are wondering if Congress will give them a second chance at the Paycheck Protection Program, which ends Saturday after giving out 5.1 million loans worth $523 billion. While the program that began April 3 has gotten mixed reviews, business owners still need help as the virus continues to spread and hamstring the economy.
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“They’ve exhausted their funds and are looking for a Round Two,” says Molly Day, a spokeswoman for the National Small Business Association, an advocacy group.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:12 p.m.: 13 Illinois counties now at COVID-19 ‘warning level’
The Illinois Department of Public Health placed 13 of the state’s 102 counties at coronavirus “warning level” on Friday, meaning at least two key metrics signal a resurgence of highly contagious COVID-19.
Some of the 13 counties were on the department’s warning list a week earlier, while others were new additions.
Cass, Jackson, Perry, Saline and St. Clair counties all made the warning list for two weeks in a row.
In addition, Coles, Grundy, Iroquois, Monroe, Tazewell, Union, Williamson and Winnebago are considered at warning level.
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Other counties that were on the list last week, when 11 counties were warned, were taken off the list. Those counties are Jo Daviess, Sangamon, Gallatin, Johnson, Randolph and White.
According to the state Department of Public Health, cases and outbreaks in these areas have been traced to businesses, long-term care facilities, large social gatherings and out-of-state travel.
The state is monitoring a range of metrics to determine whether there’s a coronavirus resurgence in a given community, including deaths, hospital admissions, new cases per 100,000 people, weekly test positivity and ICU availability.
—Jamie Munks
12:28 p.m.: Tonight’s Cubs-Cardinals game in St. Louis is postponed after another positive COVID-19 test for the Cardinals
The opener of the Chicago Cubs’ three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium Friday has been postponed.
Another positive COVID-19 test from the Cardinals clubhouse led to the postponement, MLB announced. The game was postponed to “allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process,” the league said in a statement.
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Read more here. —Paul Sullivan
12:04 p.m.: 2,084 new known COVID-19 cases reported, the highest number in more than two months
For the first time in more than two months, the statewide count of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed 2,000 in Illinois.
Public health officials said Friday 2,084 new cases of coronavirus were logged during the last 24-hour period, and another 21 people with COVID-19 had died.
The last time the newly confirmed case number surpassed 2,000 was May 24, when the state reported 2,508 cases during a 24-hour period.
The new daily tally brings the statewide count of known cases to 190,508. There have been 7,613 deaths of people with COVID-19 in Illinois since the pandemic began earlier this year.
The state reported nearly 2,000 cases on Thursday, when there were 1,953 cases, as the state continues to see consistently higher case numbers than it did through much of June and early July. The seven-day statewide average positivity rate is 4.1%. The rate was 2.5% on July 7.
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The state remains in the fourth phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan, but Pritzker has repeatedly warned that in regions where there is a resurgence in COVID-19, as evidenced by a range of public health metrics, stricter rules meant to slow the spread could be reimposed.
—Jamie Munks
11:29 a.m.: Postal Service loses $2.2 billion in 3 months as coronavirus woes persist
The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $2.2 billion in the three months that ended in June as the beleaguered agency — hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic — piles up financial losses that officials warn could top $20 billion over two years.
“Our financial position is dire, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues,’' Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general, said Friday in his first public remarks since taking the job in June.
“Without dramatic change, there is no end in sight,’' DeJoy told the postal board of governors at a meeting Friday.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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9:43 a.m.: Gov. Pritzker issues rule to penalize businesses that don’t enforce mask requirements with fines up to $2,500
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, declaring Illinois is at a “make or break” moment in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, issued new emergency rules to require businesses and schools to enforce his mandatory face mask rules or face the prospect of being fined.
Pritzker said individuals are not subject to penalties for not complying with the mask mandate.
Businesses that don’t comply with the mask mandate will be given a written notice warning. If they don’t voluntarily comply, businesses will then be given an order for patrons to leave the property “as needed to comply with public health guidance and reduce risks,” Pritzker’s office said.
If businesses still do not comply, they can receive a class A misdemeanor, subject to a fine of $75 to $2,500.
Pritzker issued a mask mandate May 1 for most people in most public settings, but enforcement has been an issue.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks and Rick Pearson
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8:47 a.m.: Drug and alcohol use has spiked during pandemic, prompting Chicago’s recovery community to find new ways to reach out
The pandemic has proven to be a difficult time for addicts. With persisting unemployment rates and surging reports of anxiety and depression nationwide, alcohol consumption and opioid use have skyrocketed among users who have found themselves stuck inside day after day.
But support is still available. Over the past few months, recovery groups and treatment centers throughout the Chicago area have learned to adapt their services to the shifting restrictions of the pandemic.
Katie Minarcik, a manager at the Chicago service office of Alcoholics Anonymous, said about 100 socially distanced in-person AA meetings have gradually returned to the Cook County area.
The vast majority of members from their more than 2,900 weekly meetings, though, have adjusted to convening virtually by Zoom or phone call.
Read more here. —Verity Sturm
8:37 a.m.: Chicago Urban League to hand out $100,000 to Black-owned businesses after Ford Fund grant
The Chicago Urban League plans to provide $100,000 to Black small business owners through the Emergency Capital Access Program, a new initiative that plans to help companies through small grants, technical assistance and advisory services.
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The program, announced Thursday, was launched in partnership with Ford Motor Company’s Ford Fund, which planned to provide grants of about $2,000 to $5,000 to about 20 Black-owned small businesses, according to a news release. Company owners can apply to the program through the league’s COVID-19 Community Help Center website beginning Aug. 17.
Chicago Urban League President and CEO Karen Freeman-Wilson said in the release the new initiative will “help us make a difference for more local, Black-owned businesses and the communities they serve.”
”Over the past few months, our Help Center has worked with hundreds of small business owners to assist them in recovering from interruption caused by the pandemic, and the need is still great,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Funding priority would be given to businesses located in areas with greater than 25% Black residency, and qualified applicants would be required to “participate in non-grant counseling services to access short-term needs,” the release said.
Chicago was one of six National Urban League affiliates to receive $100,000 from Ford for the program. Ford created the initiative to “provide a stabilizing influence” for communities hard hit by COVID-19.”
Small businesses are a cornerstone of the African American community and play a vital role in their economic success,” Pamela Alexander, Ford’s director of community development, said in the release. “The impact of the COVID pandemic has created economic uncertainty that necessitates immediate action. Our long-term partnership with the National Urban League allows us to quickly mobilize an initiative such as the Emergency Capital Access Program to get immediate assistance to those businesses in need.”
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—Kelli Smith
6:30 a.m.: Gov. Pritzker to announce new COVID-19 guidelines
Gov. J.B. Pritkzer and “industry leaders” were scheduled to announce new guidelines Friday morning “to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” according to the governor’s office.
Details of the new policies were expected to be released at a morning news conference.
Check back for updates.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6:15 a.m.: Some lakefront restaurants reopening Friday
After the Chicago Park District announced this week that restaurants and concessions east of Lake Shore Drive are now allowed to reopen, some were scheduled to start service again Friday.
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Beachside establishments must adhere to the same COVID-19 safety guidelines that pertain to other businesses and restaurants in the city. The Park District is working with each concession on its health and safety plans and owners can open as early as this week, with some allowed to open as early as Thursday, according to the Park District.
Chicago beaches are still closed.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6:15 a.m.: Preckwinkle to announce new coronavirus-related rental assistance program
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was set to announce Friday a new rental assistance program for people who live suburban Cook County who are “experiencing financial insecurity” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Preckwinkle’s office.
Preckwinkle and other county elected officials were scheduled to join county housing and economic development officials at an announcement late Friday morning in Oak Park regarding the program.
Check back for updates.
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—Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: ‘Kids do best when they know what’s coming’: How parents can navigate back-to-school anxiety, whether students are in class or learning remotely
The decision of how children will learn this fall is stressful for parents, who have been under enormous stress already — with many trying to work and simultaneously help teach children at home in the spring, and reckoning with an extended period of COVID-19 restrictions.
Now, they must anticipate what school will look like in the fall.
Read more here. —Alison Bowen
5 a.m.: Internet slowing down as mom works, kids learn? Here’s how to speed it up.
Nothing kills work-from-home motivation like slow internet. It’s an issue some in the Chicago area are facing for the first time as the COVID-19 pandemic sent them out of the office and into remote workspaces at home.
With the recent announcement of all-remote learning for students in Chicago Public Schools this fall, and many other districts opting for some degree of e-learning, a torrent of video calls and downloads from multiple family members could test the mettle of even the hardiest internet connections. And for families with limited income, it can seem like high-speed internet is out of reach financially.
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For Chicagoans looking for ways to improve their connection or get their homes hooked up for the first time, here’s some advice.
Read more here. —Milan Polk
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five things that happened Thursday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Chicago Public Schools delays release of remote learning plan but CEO promises more live instruction

Chicago Public Schools delays release of remote learning plan but CEO promises more live instruction and accountability

“ We believe an improved remote learning model that engages students for the full school day is the right way @ @ @ @ @ year based on both the evolving public health situation and feedback from our families , @ @ @ @ @ and Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said in the email .
“ ... We are @ @ @ @ @ with school leaders and labor partners to ensure the plan we finalize for the new @ @ @ @ @ thoughtful , and we will be sharing those guidelines as soon as they are ready @ @

Chicago Public Schools on Friday delayed the release of its plan for remote learning in the fall, days after the district announced it would start the new school year virtually rather than with the hybrid reopening model it first proposed.
The district now plans to issue its final reopening framework “in the days ahead,” according to an email to families Friday.
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“We believe an improved remote learning model that engages students for the full school day is the right way to begin the new school year based on both the evolving public health situation and feedback from our families,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said in the email. “... We are taking additional time to work with school leaders and labor partners to ensure the plan we finalize for the new school year is thorough and thoughtful, and we will be sharing those guidelines as soon as they are ready.”
Chicago Teachers Union leaders are demanding the district include members as equal partners in improving on how remote learning went in the spring. After the news that CPS would not be releasing its plan Friday, CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates tweeted about the tentative agreement on distance learning negotiated between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the United Teachers Los Angeles.
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”I don’t know how (CPS) can release anything without a *negotiated* deal? I mean educators get VOICE in how this works,” Davis Gates tweeted.
During a meeting of Hancock College Prep’s Local School Council Thursday evening, Principal Vanessa Puentes said thinking about a hybrid model “really derailed us” from remote planning.
Most of the focus had been on creating pods, she explained, referring to the earlier plan to rotate students into schools in assigned groups. Now that CPS is switching to remote, she said, “we are back to the drawing board.”
“We had to plan for an entirely different opening and now we are going in a different direction,” Puentes said.
Among other changes, Jackson has promised more live instruction and accountability, seeking to address concerns about the quality and reliability of remote instruction since Illinois schools closed in March as it became clear the coronavirus pandemic was growing.
More live teaching rather than online programs is a top priority for parents, who also want a focus on academic recovery in the fall, according to a report by Kids First Chicago released Thursday. More than 160 parents participated in 16 focus groups during July, reflecting on the spring and coming up with recommendations for what’s next.
They desired more opportunities for students to interact and connect with one another and with educators to help with social and emotional well-being. Parents of students in special education programs were especially concerned about the disruption to critical services and suggested revisiting each student’s plan in light of new school models.
For themselves, participating parents wanted more technological training and consistent communication from their children’s teachers.
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“It’s important that we head into the new school year with clear and consistent expectations for staff, an understanding of how remote learning will impact out-of-school-time clubs and activities, and further guidance on other supports for students and staff,” McDade and Jackson said in their letter.
Their goal is still to get a computer or tablet and high-speed internet access to every child who needs it, including a pledge to provide free internet to 100,000 students through a public-private partnership called Chicago Connected.
Northwest Side Ald. Gilbert Villegas of the 36th Ward, Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader, said he’s worried the city isn’t doing enough to get internet to as many children as possible, as quickly as possible.
Villegas said he talked to school district and Lightfoot administration officials about widely distributing solar-powered routers that could quickly and inexpensively provide service, but hasn’t gotten any feedback on the idea.
“We were all caught off guard in March, understandably. Nobody could have foreseen it,” Villegas said. “But what are we doing now? There are ways to help families get internet so remote learning works better, but we have to get moving.”
Tribune reporter John Byrne contributed.
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hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--While CPS pivots to remote learning, Catholic schools in Chicago and suburbs stand by plans to reope

While CPS pivots to remote learning, Catholic schools in Chicago and suburbs stand by plans to reopen fully as teachers and parents fret

Even as city and state officials struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 and warned in recent days about the @ @ @ @ @ , the Archdiocese of Chicago reiterated its plans to reopen schools later this month .
@ @ @ @ @ parents , who are worried and dissatisfied with remote learning alternatives for those who opt @ @ @ @ @ , one of whom is leaving the job rather than return to the classroom .

Maintenance workers Jack Trojan, left, and Joe Levander measure out the placement for tiger-paw social distancing markers outside the kindergarten entrance at St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge. Only three of more than 600 students have opted out of a full return to class, the principal said. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
While Chicago Public Schools has pivoted to a remote learning start for fall, area Catholic schools are moving ahead with plans for a full return to in-person classes five days a week.
Even as city and state officials struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 and warned in recent days about the upward direction of infection numbers, the Archdiocese of Chicago reiterated its plans to reopen schools later this month. The decision has upset some parents, who are worried and dissatisfied with remote learning alternatives for those who opt out, and some teachers, one of whom is leaving the job rather than return to the classroom.
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The Chicago Archdiocesan school system — which educates more than 70,000 students in Cook and Lake counties, a fraction of the size of CPS spread out over a much larger geographic area —announced reopening plans in early July, calling for a full return to in-person learning, paired with proper safety measures. The dioceses of Joliet and Rockford have unveiled similar plans.
A bicyclist passes in front of Park Ridge's St. Paul of the Cross Church, whose school will welcome back more than 600 students this fall. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The archdiocese’s chief human resource officer, Justin Lombardo, said the reopening plan is still in line with public health guidance, noting that the Catholic school system differs greatly from that of CPS.
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The Chicago Department of Public Health “has come out to us and told us that they support our plan for reopening, based on the current situation, and that we’re doing what we need to do to reopen safely,” Lombardo told the Tribune on Wednesday. “We understand that if the public guidance changes ... we’re ready to pivot on that. But I think the important thing is to recognize school systems are different.”
Archdiocesan officials say they will make e-learning available for any family that is not comfortable returning to schools but provided few explicit details of what that would look like.
For teachers on the other hand who express concern about the safety of in-person instruction, Lombardo said the archdiocese, “will make every effort to find ways for them to continue contributing to the education of the children in the Catholic schools.”
With the start of the new school year weeks away, buildings are undergoing deep cleaning, while administrators stock up on PPE and supplies necessary to perform daily wellness checks.
At St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge, maintenance staff spent Wednesday afternoon installing social distancing markers outside building entrances. Principal Erika Mickelburgh has worked with the parents and teachers at St. Paul to produce a 35-page reopening plan, in line with the archdiocese’s guidelines. As she sat in her office Wednesday, boxes of infrared thermometers and child-sized face masks lined the back wall.
Maintenance workers Jack Trojan, left, and Joe Levander measure out the placement for tiger-paw social distancing markers outside the kindergarten entrance at St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Students will return to St. Paul’s the last week of August, divided into groups that will have designated building entrances and staggered arrival times. Mickelburgh notes that the Park Ridge school is fortunate to have such a large campus, with ample outdoor space to hold elective classes as well as Mass.
But one suburban teacher, who requested anonymity because of concerns about job security, said not all schools in the Catholic system have the space to make this plan viable. The teacher said co-workers are struggling to bring classrooms up to standards of the archdiocese and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though the school’s plan is very detailed, the teacher expressed skepticism that it could be successfully followed.
“And it feels like we’re so focused on the safety details that at this point we can’t even be focused on learning,” the teacher said.
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The educator said input from the teaching staff has not been considered at any point in the planning process, even though it is their lives on the line.
“We as a collective are dedicated to what we do, and we truly believe in the mission of educating the next generation of the church,” the teacher said. “I would appreciate some consideration and some loyalty to me as a teacher.”
Custodian Juan Franco strips and waxes floors at St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge in preparation of the school's reopening later this month. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
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Some parents are facing similar tough choices, as they say it is now clear to them the archdiocese does not plan to change course before this fall. One North Shore parent, who asked to remain anonymous because of their connection to their school, said even as the situation with the pandemic has evolved, the archdiocese’s plan has remained the same.
“They are sticking to their guns, but that seems to be unrealistic,” the parent said. “A lot has happened since July.”
Previously, some parents raised concerns about plans floated at some Catholic schools to use outside providers for remote learning. Archdiocese officials said this week they are still finalizing plans for those who opt out of classroom instruction.
Among the alternatives under consideration are “prepackaged” lessons from an unspecified outside educational company or a remote curriculum developed by the archdiocese.
At St. Paul, only three children have opted for remote learning out of about 600 students, Mickelburgh said.
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The parent is holding out hope for some sort of remote program offered through the archdiocese but is growing increasingly worried as summer comes to an end, saying: “You start to get scared and start to almost feel like you have no option but to send your child back.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-07--Watch live: President Trump holds news conference after coronavirus relief talks collapse

President Trump is expected to hold a news conference at 6 p.m. CDT after talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money @ @ @ @ @ the latest updates here .

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