chicagotribune--2020-09-12--4 dead, 13 wounded in overnight shootings, including an attack that wounded 6 at a gathering in the

4 dead, 13 wounded in overnight shootings, including an attack that wounded 6 at a gathering in the Austin neighborhood

Shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday , a group of people were at a party in the 100 block of North @ @ @ @ @ Austin neighborhood when an argument broke out , and someone pulled out a weapon and @ @ @ @ @ were hit , and someone in the group returned fire , striking the gunman , @ @ @

Four people were dead and at least 13 were wounded in separate shootings overnight, including a fatal shooting at a party early Saturday morning in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, Chicago police said.
Shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, a group of people were at a party in the 100 block of North Pine Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood when an argument broke out, and someone pulled out a weapon and fired shots. Five people were hit, and someone in the group returned fire, striking the gunman, police said.
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Police said a woman, 47, suffered wounds to the face and chest, and was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Another victim, a 35-year-old man, was shot in the chest and arm, also was pronounced dead at Stroger.
Two other people, including a 38-year-old man who was shot in the back and a 32-year-old woman who suffered a wound to the lower right leg, were both in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital and Stroger Hospital, police said.
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A fifth victim who suffered wounds to the thigh was in good condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The alleged gunman was in critical condition at Stroger Hospital after being shot in the abdomen.
Police said a weapon was recovered at the scene.
Shortly before 3:30 a.m., a 36-year-old man was found fatally wounded in River West neighborhood in the 700 block of North Morgan Street. The victim was found unresponsive and lying on the ground, and was taken in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Shortly after midnight Saturday, a 34-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the back of the head in the 6200 block of South Seeley Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood. He was pronounced dead a short time later at the scene, police said.
In other shootings overnight:


chicagotribune--2020-09-12--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Sept. 11 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

As tumultuous as the last six months have been , what happens in the next six — from the presidential @ @ @ @ @ of a coronavirus vaccine — could do even more to determine whether downtown reaffirms its @ @ @ @ @ of a region of nearly 9.5 million people , the largest metro area in the @ @

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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)
DuPage County is on Illinois' latest list of counties that have reached a “warning level” for a resurgence of COVID-19. The ever-changing weekly list this week covered 30 counties the state said had reached two or more bench marks that indicate the virus is spreading there.
The warning list came as the state announced 2,145 newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus and 32 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 257,788 and the statewide death toll to 8,273 since the start of the pandemic.
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Meanwhile, attendance for the first day of Chicago Public Schools' remote fall quarter this week varied from a low below 42% to a high of 100% at each of more than 500 district-run schools.
Citywide, 84.2% of students at district schools attended a remote learning class on Tuesday, increasing to 88.5% on Wednesday and 90.2% on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
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And in the suburbs, the Oak Park Department of Public Health has reported at least 24 Oak Park and River Forest High School students tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 15 and Sept. 9.
In a letter released Thursday, superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams said she had “deep concern” about the report, saying a number of the cases can be traced to a recent large social gathering.
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:05 p.m.: The first COVID-19 patients in Illinois faced stigma, bigotry. But experts say their contributions to science taught the US much about the virus.
She was known as Patient 1.
The Chicago woman in her 60s had traveled on Christmas Day to Wuhan, China, where she cared for her elderly father who had fallen ill to a mysterious, undiagnosed respiratory sickness.
After returning to Chicago in mid-January, her own symptoms emerged: fever, cough and fatigue, followed by nausea and dizziness.
While hospitalized for pneumonia, she became the first patient in Illinois and the second in the nation to test positive for the novel coronavirus, a new and little-understood illness that would soon burgeon into an international pandemic, sickening millions and altering all aspects of daily life across the globe.
Her husband, who had not gone to China, also tested positive days later, marking the first documented case of person-to-person transmission in the United States.
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What medical experts learned from that local couple — through lengthy interviews, rigorous coronavirus testing and analysis of so many of their specimens — helped shape much of the nation’s earliest knowledge of the virus, which would later be called COVID-19.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
5:20 p.m.: Cook County health department announces plans to spend up to $5.4M fighting COVID-19 in most-affected areas
The Cook County Department of Public Health announced Friday it is planning to spend up to $5.4 million to educate people about contact tracing, provide services to quarantined and isolated suburban county residents and facilitate setting up more COVID-19 testing sites.
The department is issuing a request for proposals to community-based organizations to do that work in areas most affected by COVID-19. Proposals submitted will be scored by the non-profit Hektoen Institute of Medicine, a health service and research organization that administers grant awards for underserved people.
Contact tracing, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker repeatedly has said is crucial to reopening the economy, involves reaching out to people who contract the coronavirus and urge them to isolate and provide the names of people with whom they had close, prolonged encounters in previous days. They then reach out to the contacts and urge them to get tested and go into quarantine, so they can’t spread the disease.
The main aim of the proposed county program is to “develop trust in these communities so they will pick up the phone when we call,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin, one of the department’s two chiefs. She said folks contacted should know tracers are there “to protect them and their families and their communities.”
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Read more here. —Hal Dardick
4:25 p.m.: Dr. Anthony Fauci says life won’t return to normal until deep into 2021
Buckle up for a long ride ahead.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Friday that normal times won’t replace America’s long coronavirus nightmare until deep into 2021, explaining that it will take months to widely administer a vaccine.
The 79-year-old immunologist said he continues to expect a vaccine to be available by the beginning of 2021.
“But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021,” Fauci told MSNBC. “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
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1:38 p.m.: DuPage among 30 counties on Illinois' latest coronavirus warning list
DuPage County is on Illinois' latest list of counties that have reached a “warning level” for a resurgence of COVID-19.
The ever-changing weekly list this week covered 30 counties the state said had reached two or more bench marks that indicate the virus is spreading there.
The warning list came as the state announced 2,145 newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus and 32 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday.
Speaking Friday morning at an unrelated news conference in Chicago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted that the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks comes as Illinois and the U.S. are grappling with “yet another tragedy” — a pandemic that has killed more than 190,000 Americans, including 8,273 in Illinois. Nearly 3,000 died in the 9/11 attacks.
“I believe the lessons of community and of resilience that echoed through the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 ought to guide us today as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pritzker said.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
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12:12 p.m.: CPS first-day attendance down from last year as remote learning begins; some schools see fewer than 50% of students participate
Attendance for the first day of Chicago Public Schools' remote fall quarter varied from a low below 42% to a high of 100% at each of more than 500 district-run schools.
Citywide, 84.2% of students at district schools attended a remote learning class on Tuesday, increasing to 88.5% on Wednesday and 90.2% on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
The day-one numbers are 10 percentage points lower than the first day of school last year, before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the move to remote learning and 94.2% of students were marked in attendance. Between the three prior school years, first-day attendance ranged from 93.9% to 94.7%.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
12:07 p.m.: 2,145 new known cases and 32 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials Friday announced 2,145 new known cases of COVID-19 and 32 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 257,788 and the statewide death toll to 8,273 since the start of the pandemic.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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11:04 a.m.: Coronavirus updates: Daily US deaths decline, but trend may reverse in fall
The number of daily U.S. deaths from the coronavirus is declining again after peaking in early August, but scientists warn that a new bout with the disease this fall could claim more lives.
The arrival of cooler weather and the likelihood of more indoor gatherings will add to the importance of everyday safety precautions, experts say.
“We have to change the way we live until we have a vaccine,” said Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. In other words: Wear a mask. Stay home. Wash your hands.
The U.S. has seen two distinct peaks in daily deaths. The nation’s summertime surge crested at about half the size of the first deadly wave in April.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10:58 a.m.: They’re still working. They’re still healthy. But they’re still scared. What the past six months have been like for essential workers.
When the streets emptied of people six months ago, a new class of heroes emerged.
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They were the drivers, grocery clerks, janitors and others who braved the early unease of the pandemic to show up for work, exempt from the state’s stay-at-home order because they were deemed too important.
The Tribune profiled five essential workers in March just as the state’s shutdown set in. Six months later, all remain at their jobs, with perspectives to share about experiencing the pandemic outside the safety of their homes.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
10:46 a.m.: Schools that are mostly Black, Latino favor starting online, according to new study
Districts where the vast majority of students are white are more than three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for some in-person learning, according to an analysis conducted by The Associated Press and Chalkbeat.
While that stark divide often reflects the preferences of parents, it’s one that could further exacerbate inequities in education.
In every state, the AP and Chalkbeat surveyed the largest school districts in each of four categories set by the National Center for Education Statistics: urban, suburban, town and rural.
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Read more here. —Associated Press and Chalkbeat
8:59 a.m.: 24 Oak Park and River Forest High School students test positive for COVID-19, officials say
The Oak Park Department of Public Health has reported at least 24 Oak Park and River Forest High School students tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 15 and Sept. 9.
In a letter released Thursday, superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams said she had “deep concern” about the report, saying a number of the cases can be traced to a recent large social gathering.
“We have received information from both parents and students that a large indoor gathering of students recently was held at a local home, where mask-wearing and social-distancing were not observed,” Pruitt-Adams said. “A significant number of positive cases are believed to have resulted from the event.”
Read more here. —Steve Schering
8:58 a.m.: Will airlines get more aid? Time is running out, unions warn. 40,000 workers face furloughs or layoffs.
A couple of hundred flight attendants and pilots rallied this week on Capitol Hill and tweeted at lawmakers, asking them for $25 billion in additional federal funds to prevent airline furloughs next month.
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More than half of Congress is on record as supporting the request by airlines and their unions, and President Donald Trump says he wants to help an industry that has been devastated by the pandemic.
Any chance that Washington will give airlines more money soon hinges on Congress and the White House approving a comprehensive coronavirus relief package — there won’t be a plan that only helps airlines.
Read more here. —Associated Press
8:44 a.m.: Will County chambers try, unsuccessfully, to get restaurant restrictions eased
Despite efforts by area chambers of commerce, restaurants and bars in Will County will remain under restrictions barring any indoor service until the area’s COVID-19 positivity rates improve.
Mitigations for the state’s Region 7, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, were announced Aug. 25 when the region’s positivity rate was 8.4%.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted Thursday the region’s positivity rates appear to be on a downward trend. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website, the latest information recorded shows Region 7 with a positivity rate of 7.5% on Monday. On Sept. 1, the recorded positivity rate was 8.1%, according to the public health website.
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Read more here. —Alicia Fabbre
7 a.m.: Pritzker to announce jobs programs in Chicago
Following up on an announcement made Thursday in Rockford, Illinois Gov. J.B. was scheduled Friday “to join local leaders to announce investments to expand job opportunities in Chicago for those who have become unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a news release.
Pritzker was expected to announce the programs at Cara Chicago on the West Side late Friday morning.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Disinformation scams are becoming more aggressive as Election Day nears
One of the most widespread challenges facing modern elections is false information. In Illinois, officials say misinformation and disinformation schemes are getting more aggressive.
“As we get closer to Election Day, I think we’re going to have more and more misinformation schemes,” said Marisel Hernandez, chairwoman of the Chicago Board of Elections. “But we’re determined to be ahead of the curve and be out there letting voters know what is correct and what isn’t.”
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With many more people planning to vote by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune has fact-checked reported scams circulating in Illinois.
Read more here. —Kelli Smith
5 a.m.: Chicago-area renters are still being pushed out of their homes with threats of lockouts and notices on doors, despite COVID-19 eviction moratorium
Before the pandemic, Jaime Espinoza, 28, was making ends meet with DJ and security jobs. Working under the moniker DJ WrcksIt for eight years, the Hillside resident went from clearing almost $50,000 in 2019 to, this year, hosting $5 open mic showcases in Melrose Park to cover his $850 monthly rent, car payment and groceries.
After informing his landlord that he would have trouble paying rent in April, Espinoza started receiving notices on his door saying he had days to come current. When the landlord told him they would change the locks, he asked his family for money to keep him afloat. But he still owes thousands of dollars in back rent.
Changing the locks would be an illegal lockout, and the state’s moratorium on evictions means Espinoza can’t be forced from his home until the crisis spurred by the coronavirus has passed.
But his experience is all too familiar for some Illinois renters, who find themselves in housing limbo as they struggle to pay rent due to the financial constraints brought on by COVID-19. And despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest extension on the statewide eviction moratorium (currently set to expire Sept. 19) and a federal halt on some evictions through 2020, some people continue to receive warnings of evictions that can seem like the real thing.
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Read more here. —Darcel Rockett and Hannah Herrera Greenspan
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories from Wednesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Column: ‘It’s like we’ve been living in a pandemic all along.’  COVID-19 and recent looting add to s

Column: ‘It’s like we’ve been living in a pandemic all along.’  COVID-19 and recent looting add to setbacks for long-neglected North Lawndale.

If you have seen the boarded-up buildings on the Magnificent Mile , imagine it doubled .
Then picture vacant lots @ @ @ @ @ buildings .
But it was not the looting or the prolonged pandemic shutdown that caused @ @ @ @ @ the devastation in North Lawndale is the result of decades of government neglect .

A man walks past a shuttered A & M Food & Deli in the 1100 block of South Independence Boulevard in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago on Sept. 6, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Most mornings, you can find 85-year-old Bobby Woods having breakfast at his regular table at the New Pine Valley Restaurant in North Lawndale.
Though the small Black-owned diner moved across the street a few years ago, little has changed since Woods started going there in the 1960s — except that a fried egg sandwich and a cup of coffee used to cost $2.25. Now it’s $3.
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The restaurant thrived as the community around it crumbled.
Before the 1968 riots pushed North Lawndale into irreparable decline, the 16th Street corridor was the Black business mecca of the West Side. The diner is one of only a handful of the original Black-owned establishments remaining.
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“We used to be able to get everything we wanted here,” Woods said. “We never had to leave the neighborhood. Now there’s hardly anything left.”
Winford Cowart, left, talks with his friend Bobby Woods at the New Pine Valley Restaurant in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Longtime residents like Woods, a retired Cook County sheriff’s deputy and former precinct captain, have seen North Lawndale at its best — and its worst. They have waited a half-century for a revitalization that they are not sure will ever come.
Now the COVID-19 pandemic and recent looting have caused another setback, and once again the chronically neglected neighborhood has been jolted at the core.
It’s not the newly boarded-up buildings and shuttered businesses that have hit North Lawndale residents hardest. They are used to adversity, having lived for decades in a commercial desert with few options for shopping, entertainment or meeting their basic needs.
This time, the economic ruin was paired with a tenacious virus that roared through struggling African American neighborhoods such as North Lawndale like a freight train, threatening the lives of everyone who came into its path.
The intersection at 16th Street and Pulaski Road in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The neighborhood has long been neglected. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
In this neighborhood of 34,000 people, COVID-19 hit particularly hard. The three ZIP codes that fall within North Lawndale and parts of South Lawndale — 60608, 60623 and 60624 — represent only 7% of Chicago’s population. Yet the area has charted 11% of the coronavirus cases and 9% of the deaths, according to recent data compiled by Sinai Urban Health Institute.
Like other illnesses that disproportionally affect African Americans, COVID-19 is fueled by poverty and long-standing health disparities that make poor populations more susceptible to the virus than their white counterparts in more affluent areas.
Before the pandemic, North Lawndale was at the bottom of nearly every economic indicator. The poverty rate was 48%, nearly double that of Chicago as a whole, according to 2018 census data, the most recent available. Unemployment was about 18%, also nearly double the city’s rate.
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So when COVID-19 came knocking, the doors of North Lawndale flung open.
Beset with preexisting conditions such as food insecurity, violence and inadequate housing, North Lawndale was ill equipped to fend off the virus’s assault. But at the height of it, many in the community came together to do what they could.
Businesses in the 1600 block of South Pulaski Road in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on Sept. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Professional Black men handed out masks from a barbershop on 16th Street. A community outreach group distributed food and diapers. Another group provided money to help out-of-work residents pay overdue rent.
And when the looting was over, teenagers, violence interrupters and other residents gathered at Lawndale Plaza to clean up broken glass and debris from the only major grocery store in the area, a beauty supply store, an auto parts store and the movie theater that closed two years ago.
“It’s like we’ve been living in a pandemic all along,” said Debra Wesley, president of Sinai Community Institute, the health and human services arm of Sinai Health System.
“When there are high racial health disparities going on and you ask people to quarantine themselves and they are staying in homes with multiple people, how do they do that? There are lots of challenges,” she said.
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“When you need to stock up on toilet paper and you live in a food desert and don’t have resources, what are you supposed to do?”
An empty lot exposes the backs of homes in the 3600 block of West Roosevelt Road on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
To understand the devastation of the last six months, take a drive along West Roosevelt Road. The 3½-mile stretch paints a vivid picture of a deprived neighborhood struggling against the odds to return to normalcy.
If you have seen the boarded-up buildings on the Magnificent Mile, imagine it doubled. Then picture vacant lots, decaying homes and abandoned buildings. But it was not the looting or the prolonged pandemic shutdown that caused it all. Much of the devastation in North Lawndale is the result of decades of government neglect.
It is not the fault of the residents. The city abandoned this neighborhood a long time ago. Even in the best of times for the rest of Chicago, North Lawndale was suffering. The hardworking people who live there deserve better.
When the social unrest occurred in the aftermath of the George Floyd police killing, North Lawndale wasn’t hit nearly as hard as other neighborhoods because there wasn’t much there to loot. But the community was not immune to the fallout.
A shopper puts on a face mask before entering Leamington Foods in the 3200 block of West Roosevelt Road on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Leamington Foods, the full-service grocery store, has reopened behind a wall of plywood. But many of the small corner stores have not. The relationship between Blacks and the Middle Eastern store owners has long been tense, but many residents shop there anyway because they have nowhere else to go.
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Even with the higher prices and lower-quality foods, the stores are a lifeline for residents who don’t have cars to drive across the border to Cicero. Now they fear that some of the corner stores won’t come back at all.
There is good reason to be afraid.
The riots that broke out on the West Side after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination transformed North Lawndale from a thriving epicenter of African American life to a barren wasteland.
Residents watched the exodus of the mostly Jewish-owned businesses after rioters destroyed their property along Roosevelt Road. And the community’s dream of prosperity left with them.
Over the course of a few days, Jeraldine Bowen, 93, saw the landscape of her vibrant neighborhood turn into an expansive stretch of burned-out buildings that eventually became vacant lots.
Burned-out buildings in the 4000 block of West Roosevelt Road after the rioting that followed the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. (Jack Mulcahy / Chicago Tribune)
Bowen, who worked as a presser at a neighborhood dry cleaner, said she doesn’t understand the recent looting any more than she understood the riots 52 years ago.
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“It’s stupid to destroy where you’re living,” said Bowen, who now lives in Austin. "I said to myself at the time, ‘They’re not rioting because of King getting killed. They don’t even know what the man stood for. He never would have approved of this type of behavior.’
“That’s the same way I look at it now. You looted the stores and cleaned everything out … and you don’t have one penny to build anything back.”
She was right in 1968. And the same is true today.
Large clothing and furniture stores, supermarket chains and banks were gradually replaced with wig shops, discount cellphone stores and nail salons, owned mostly by people who have no stake in the community.
A stroller is left behind at a bus stop in the 3700 block of West Roosevelt Road on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Those businesses were targeted during the recent looting, while the few Black-owned establishments mostly were spared.
Rioters avoided Black-owned businesses in 1968, too, but they suffered just the same. The economic base of the community was gone, and everyone paid the price.
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That’s true today as well.
Businesses that could spark revitalization in North Lawndale remain reluctant to go into a struggling low-income community. Many small business owners who would like to invest can’t get commercial bank loans or other financial backing.
But there have been attempts to revitalize. In 1998, the development of Homan Square began at the former Sears headquarters site. The buildings had been vacant since the retailer moved to the Loop in 1973, taking jobs away from the community and sending North Lawndale into deeper decline.
Customers come and go at the New Pine Valley Restaurant in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on Sept. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Mixed-income housing was built in Homan Square. Office space was available. Retail stores opened nearby. A Dominick’s grocery store opened in Lawndale Plaza and a Starbucks came. Cineplex Odeon Corp. invested millions in a multiplex movie theater, the first on the West Side in decades.
The Great Recession brought things to a halt in 2008. The Starbucks eventually closed. The movie theater is just a huge empty building now. When Dominick’s left Chicago in 2014, Leamington Foods moved into the space, but residents said it is not the same.
Hopes of a rebirth faded again.
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Prior to the pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced plans to combat poverty in the city with an unprecedented $750 million investment in North Lawndale and nine other chronically neglected neighborhoods on the South and West sides.
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But many residents are wary of political promises. They know that when the city begins to rebuild from the pandemic and looting, North Lawndale could end up last in line as it always has.
Lightfoot hasn’t gained the trust that Harold Washington, the first African American mayor, had from the Black community. But even after years of disappointment, many North Lawndale residents remain hopeful that renewal is on the horizon.
“We’re not going to get another Harold Washington. If he’d had a chance, the West Side would have been popping,” said Woods.
“(Lightfoot) might live up to her word, I don’t know. I’m willing to give her a chance like we gave everybody else a chance.”
Still, most North Lawndale residents have learned that it’s best to pay attention with their eyes, not their ears.
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dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Closed doors, virtual services and lawsuits: Here’s how the pandemic has affected religion in Chicag

Closed doors, virtual services and lawsuits: Here’s how the pandemic has affected religion in Chicagoland

“ Even with all the restrictions , it ’ s starting to gain a new sense of sacredness in what @ @ @ @ @ do because we know that face mask is a reminder that your life is sacred @ @ @ @ @ is sacred , I keep my face mask on in order to worship God who @ @ @ @ @

Wearing masks, two people attend Mass at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
One recent Sunday morning, the Rev. Manuel Dorantes stood at the altar of St. Mary of the Lake, looking out into the pews. He couldn’t see faces, only eyeballs, face masks and a mostly empty sanctuary.
But before the service began, someone from the parish’s hospitality and reopening committee made an announcement:
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“To ensure the safety of everyone participating in today’s liturgy, please keep your mask or facial covering on … refrain from physical contact during the sign of peace, refrain from holding hands with individuals not in your party during the Lord’s Prayer, and receive communion with open hands.”
For at least the near future, this is the new normal for in-person worship — social distancing, face masks and sanitizing.
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The Rev. Manuel Dorantes leads mass at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
It has been a frenetic six months for houses of worship, who’ve had to adapt to an evolving reality since the coronavirus forced most in-person services to come to a screeching halt.
The Archdiocese of Chicago shuttering its doors more fully than even in the 1918-19 Spanish flu epidemic has put a financial strain on parishes that were already vulnerable and a larger organization that relies heavily on the collection plate to sustain operations.
And while most churches adhered to statewide stay-at-home orders, some local churches spurned lockdown orders and continued with in-person services, while challenging Gov. J.B. Pritzker in court.
At the onset of the pandemic, the archdiocese realized the financial risk and began working to stabilize revenue and boost electronic contributions, the archdiocese’s chief operating officer told the Tribune in March.
Pews at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church are blocked off to limit seating and encourage social distancing during services on Sept. 6, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The archdiocese has since decided to accelerate its Renew My Church process, trimming one year off its six-year plan, in part because of the financial blow the church has taken in recent months.
The archdiocese’s Renew My Church plan, which ultimately strives for spiritual renewal, is a comprehensive restructuring plan that has resulted in the closure or merger of dozens of parishes in response to changing times and declining membership.
“Financially speaking … we’re worse off than we were before COVID,” said the Rev. Jason Malave, Cardinal Blase Cupich’s liaison on the archdiocese Renew My Church team.
The Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America established a support fund to assist congregations in need during the pandemic, Bishop Yehiel Curry said.
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To date, the church has offered financial support to roughly 25% of its 185 congregations, which span four counties in northeastern Illinois, Curry said.
In total, the metropolitan synod has given $338,000 to its churches, including more than $50,000 distributed to help churches purchase personal protective equipment.
Forcing church doors to close during the tightest shutdown orders did not come without strife.
Religious services were deemed “essential” in the governor’s second stay-at-home order, but some churches scoffed at in-person gathering limits.
There was a legal dispute between some faith leaders and city and state officials over church closures during the state’s lockdown orders, which some religious leaders believed violated their constitutional rights. A handful of Illinois churches sued Pritzker and continued holding services, with three Chicago churches being cited by the city.
A marker to encourage social distancing on the floor at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on Sept. 6 in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Many larger religious institutions like the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago quickly formed COVID-19 task forces or established guidelines that would enable churches to reopen.
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“That was the big scramble for us in the early days,” Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Bishop Jeffrey Lee said. “We developed a set of detailed guidelines on how to navigate the new reality.”
Still, the pandemic has ushered in a new era of worship, one that now caters to an online audience and emphasizes electronic giving. And as churches, synagoguesand mosques gradually reopen for in-person services, faith leaders say they will continue using the virtual tools implemented during the pandemic.
“When this COVID crisis is over and done, a lot of what we’ve learned and experimented with during these past six months is going to remain a part of what we do forever,” said Rabbi Seth Limmer of the Chicago Sinai Congregation.
People social distance and wear masks during Mass at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on Sept. 6, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The Rev. Dr. Fulton Porter III, of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, said his biggest challenge initially was getting older parishioners on board with technology so they could stay connected. The pandemic expedited that process.
Porter’s church has even gained four new members while conducting only virtual services, which he says is significant for a smaller African American Episcopal church.
“I am excited about the possibilities of what’s next and what’s in store for the way we do church.”
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Some religious leaders worry that the changes in churchgoing habits during the shutdown will persist, with fewer people returning to in-person worship even after the pandemic has passed. But a national survey over the summer by the Pew Research Center found that twice as many, 10%, expect to attend church more regularly after the pandemic than expect to attend less often, and 85% don’t expect to change their habits.
Whether the pandemic will have a long-term impact on worship attendance is unclear at this time, said Nancy Ammerman, professor emeritus of the sociology of religion at Boston University.
“Right now, all indications seem to be that things will probably more or less eventually return to normal with not a lot of overall loss,” she said.
And Dorantes, whose Buena Park church serves both English- and Spanish-speaking people, said he’s seen a significant increase in the number of parishioners who attend daily Mass.
“Even with all the restrictions, it’s starting to gain a new sense of sacredness in what we’re trying to do because we know that face mask is a reminder that your life is sacred. And because your life is sacred, I keep my face mask on in order to worship God who unites us all.”


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Orland Park looks to revoke Sky Zone business license after Saturday night fight

Officers shut down Saturday ’ s gathering and everyone in attendance , including minors , proceeded to the parking lot @ @ @ @ @ for rides home , according to the village statement .
Because of the large number @ @ @ @ @ police requested assistance from neighboring agencies to ensure that all of the minors were picked @ @ @

Orland Park police say a fight inside of Sky Zone near Orland Square mall Saturday night spilled outside after officers shut down a lock-in being held there, and now the village is moving to revoke the entertainment venue’s business license.
Police described the incident in the parking lot as “small disruptions,” though a heavy police presence from Orland Park and neighboring towns was used to restore peace.
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But in a statement Sunday, Orland Park officials said the large gathering of minors far exceeded the maximum occupancy permitted for the facility and “presented a clear and present danger to the health, safety and welfare of those present.”
Sky Zone, at 66 Orland Square, is an indoor trampoline park opened in 2016 along with Gizmos Fun Factory in an outlot at Orland Square mall. The facility can be rented out to private groups, and lock-in usually describes an overnight event.
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Officers shut down Saturday’s gathering and everyone in attendance, including minors, proceeded to the parking lot and were directed to arrange for rides home, according to the village statement. Because of the large number of participants, Orland Park police requested assistance from neighboring agencies to ensure that all of the minors were picked up safely.
The business was cited for numerous violations including two for reckless conduct and one for a fire code occupancy violation, village officials said.
“Last night’s event at Sky Zone is very concerning, especially considering the threat posed to the children,” Mayor Keith Pekau was quoted as saying in Sunday’s statement.
“Intentional and willful acts that jeopardize public health, safety and welfare, and that are in clear violation of the Village Code and other laws have no place in our community," Pekau said. “The Village has started the procedure necessary to begin the process of revoking Sky Zone’s business license.”
The statement also cautioned that several reports regarding the event disseminated on social media feeds and blogs Saturday night included misinformation including a coupling of the incident with others occurring in other municipalities.


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,462 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 additional deaths reported on

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,462 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 additional deaths reported on Sunday

“ But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021 , ” @ @ @ @ @ If you ’ re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to @ @ @ @ @ going to be well into 2021 , maybe even towards the end of 2021 .
@

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 1,462 new known cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 261,371 and the statewide death toll to 8,309.
On Friday, the state reported that DuPage County is on Illinois' latest list of counties that have reached a “warning level” for a resurgence of COVID-19. The ever-changing weekly list this week covered 30 counties the state said had reached two or more bench marks that indicate the virus is spreading there.
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Meanwhile, attendance for the first day of Chicago Public Schools' remote fall quarter this week varied from a low below 42% to a high of 100% at each of more than 500 district-run schools.
Citywide, 84.2% of students at district schools attended a remote learning class on Tuesday, increasing to 88.5% on Wednesday and 90.2% on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
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And in vaccine news, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the U.K., Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume.
Though it would not disclose information about the patient’s illness for reasons of participant confidentiality, an AstraZeneca spokesman said earlier this week that a woman had developed severe neurological symptoms that prompted the pause in testing.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
Coronavirus vaccine-makers keep safety details quiet, alarming scientists
The morning after the world learned that a closely watched clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine had been halted last week over safety concerns, the company’s chief executive disclosed that a person given the vaccine had experienced serious neurological symptoms.
But the remarks were not public. Instead, the chief executive, Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, spoke at a closed meeting organized by J.P. Morgan, the investment bank.
AstraZeneca said Saturday that an outside panel had cleared its trial in Britain to begin again, but the company still has not given any details about the patient’s medical condition, nor has it released a transcript of Soriot’s remarks to investors, which were reported by the news outlet STAT and later confirmed by an analyst for J.P. Morgan.
Another front-runner in the vaccine race, Pfizer, made a similarly terse announcement Saturday: The company is proposing to expand its clinical trial to include thousands more participants, but it gave few other details about its plan, including how it would determine the effectiveness of the vaccine in its larger study.
It is standard for drug companies to withhold details of clinical trials until after they are completed, tenaciously guarding their intellectual property and competitive edge. But these are extraordinary times, and now there is a growing outcry among independent scientists and public health experts who are pushing the companies to be far more open with the public in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 193,000 people in the United States.
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Read more here. —The New York Times
1,462 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 1,462 new known cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 261,371 and the statewide death toll to 8,309 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 46,890 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.7%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
As President Trump played down COVID-19 threat in public, health experts' alarm was growing
Public health officials were already warning Americans about the need to prepare for the coronavirus threat in early February when President Donald Trump called it “deadly stuff” in a private conversation that has only now has come to light.
At the time, the virus was mostly a problem in China, with just 11 cases confirmed in the United States.
There was uncertainty about how the U.S. ultimately would be affected, and top U.S. officials would deliver some mixed messages along the way. But their overall thrust was to take the thing seriously.
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“We’re preparing as if this is a pandemic,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Feb. 5. “This is just good commonsense public health.”
Trump, however, had a louder megaphone than his health experts, and in public he was playing down the threat. Three days after delivering his “deadly” assessment in a private call with journalist Bob Woodward, he told a New Hampshire rally on Feb. 10, “It’s going to be fine.”
Trump’s acknowledgment in Woodward’s new book “Rage” that he was minimizing the severity of the virus in public to avoid causing panic has triggered waves of criticism that he wasn’t leveling with the American people.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Closed doors, virtual services and lawsuits: Here’s how the pandemic has affected religion in Chicagoland
One recent Sunday morning, the Rev. Manuel Dorantes stood at the altar of St. Mary of the Lake, looking out into the pews. He couldn’t see faces, only eyeballs, face masks and a mostly empty sanctuary.
But before the service began, someone from the parish’s hospitality and reopening committee made an announcement:
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“To ensure the safety of everyone participating in today’s liturgy, please keep your mask or facial covering on … refrain from physical contact during the sign of peace, refrain from holding hands with individuals not in your party during the Lord’s Prayer, and receive communion with open hands.”
For at least the near future, this is the new normal for in-person worship — social distancing, face masks and sanitizing.
Read more here. —Javonte Anderson
Saturday
2,121 new known cases and 22 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials Saturday announced 2,121 new known cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 259,909 and the statewide death toll to 8,295 since the start of the pandemic.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Six months into the pandemic, downtown Chicago is a humbled giant. Can it get back on its feet?
Six months after the COVID-19 pandemic first shook Chicago, the city’s once-mighty downtown — with its towering skyscrapers, glamorous shops and glittering public spaces — is a humbled giant, taking only tentative steps toward recovery.
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Depressed by two waves of looting that stunned Chicago, foot traffic on and around the Magnificent Mile shopping district was less than half what it usually is. Occupancy rates for downtown apartments are the lowest they’ve been in 18 years.
As tumultuous as the last six months have been, what happens in the next six — from the presidential election to the possible development of a coronavirus vaccine — could do even more to determine whether downtown reaffirms its role as the undisputed hub of a region of nearly 9.5 million people, the largest metro area in the Midwest.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin, Ryan Ori and Lauren Zumbach
Number of COVID-19 infections rising in the Dakotas, bringing impassioned debates about personal freedom versus masks
Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic.
The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota, as the city council considered requiring face coverings in businesses. The city was forced to move its meeting to a local arena to accommodate intense interest, with many citizens speaking against it, before the mask requirement ultimately passed.
Amid the brute force of the pandemic, health experts warn that the infections must be contained before care systems are overwhelmed. North Dakota and South Dakota lead the country in new cases per capita over the last two weeks, ranking first and second respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
AstraZeneca and Oxford University to resume coronavirus vaccine trial that was paused due to a reported side effect in a participant
Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the U.K.
In a statement, the university said in large trials such as this “it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety.”
It said that globally some 18,000 people have received the vaccine as part of the trial.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Friday
The first COVID-19 patients in Illinois faced stigma, bigotry. But experts say their contributions to science taught the US much about the virus.
She was known as Patient 1.
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The Chicago woman in her 60s had traveled on Christmas Day to Wuhan, China, where she cared for her elderly father who had fallen ill to a mysterious, undiagnosed respiratory sickness.
After returning to Chicago in mid-January, her own symptoms emerged: fever, cough and fatigue, followed by nausea and dizziness.
While hospitalized for pneumonia, she became the first patient in Illinois and the second in the nation to test positive for the novel coronavirus, a new and little-understood illness that would soon burgeon into an international pandemic, sickening millions and altering all aspects of daily life across the globe.
Her husband, who had not gone to China, also tested positive days later, marking the first documented case of person-to-person transmission in the United States.
What medical experts learned from that local couple — through lengthy interviews, rigorous coronavirus testing and analysis of so many of their specimens — helped shape much of the nation’s earliest knowledge of the virus, which would later be called COVID-19.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
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Dr. Anthony Fauci says life won’t return to normal until deep into 2021
The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday that normal times won’t replace America’s long coronavirus nightmare until deep into 2021, explaining that it will take months to widely administer a vaccine.
The 79-year-old immunologist said he continues to expect a vaccine to be available by the beginning of 2021.
“But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021,” Fauci told MSNBC. “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021.”
Read more here. —The Los Angeles Times


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Fifth person charged in connection to February Park Manor store robbery that left shopkeeper dead

In court Sunday , authorities said video outside the store allegedly captured a masked Venerable while the robbery was being @ @ @ @ @ at a nearby liquor store 11 minutes after the shooting captured a clear image of @ @ @ @ @ Venerable , who was wearing the same clothing as that seen at the robbery scene @ @ @ @ @ s Attorney James Murphy .

A Far South Side man was charged in connection with a February takeover robbery at a South Side convenience store that left its owner dead.
Al F. Venerable, 36, was the fifth and final suspect charged in connection to the Feb. 7 shooting at the Michigan Dollar Plus in the Park Manor neighborhood.
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A judge on Sunday ordered Venerable, of the West Pullman neighborhood, held on $2 million bond, with house arrest if he’s able to raise the money.
Al F. Venerable, 36, is charged with first-degree murder. (Chicago Police Department)
Four others, all members of the same family, including three teenagers, were previously charged in the death of the shop’s owner, Mohammed “Omar” Maali, 33.
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The shooting occurred during a robbery in which Maali was held at gunpoint while Venerable and three teens allegedly stuffed store merchandise in black garbage bags and ran the items to a Jeep registered to the wife of one of the suspects, prosecutors said.
Maali, a concealed carry holder, fired on the group of robbers with two handguns, wounding two of them, authorities said. Prosecutors had previously said one of the suspects, Sammy Trice, allegedly fired the shot that killed Maali.
In court Sunday, authorities said video outside the store allegedly captured a masked Venerable while the robbery was being committed. And high-quality surveillance at a nearby liquor store 11 minutes after the shooting captured a clear image of one of the teens and Venerable, who was wearing the same clothing as that seen at the robbery scene, said Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy.
“No it don’t! The detective showed it to me at the police station,” Venerable said before his court-appointed attorney Patrick Ryan yelled for him not to speak during the hearing broadcast on YouTube.
“(The surveillance video) is very clear. I’ve seen it,” Murphy responded.
Weeks after the shooting, Venerable was arrested during a traffic stop where a .380 handgun was seized. Tests on the gun later matched it with a shell casing left at the scene of shooting. Prosecutors said Venerable identified himself in the video stills taken from the liquor store but didn’t indicate that he made any further admissions.
Venerable will return to court on Oct. 1.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities: 28,198 confirmed cases and 4,515 deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois .
The @ @ @ @ @ at 851 long-term care facilities in 76 counties .
Of those , 524 facilities have @ @ @ @ @ , defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days .
In all @ @ @ @ @ be tied to long-term care facilities , with 4,515 deaths , as of Sep. 11 @

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


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

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

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Shots hit West Rogers Park firehouse where person had sought refuge

The shots were fired around 6:30 a.m. and shattered a window and hit the overhead door of the firehouse at @ @ @ @ @ home to Battalion 9 and Engine 71 , according to Fire Chief Juan Hernandez .
@ @ @ @ @ a person sought refuge at the firehouse and was allowed inside , the chief said @

Shots struck a West Rogers Park firehouse where a person who may have been fleeing a gunman sought refuge Sunday morning, authorities said.
The shots were fired around 6:30 a.m. and shattered a window and hit the overhead door of the firehouse at 6239 N. California Ave., home to Battalion 9 and Engine 71, according to Fire Chief Juan Hernandez. It happened around the time a person sought refuge at the firehouse and was allowed inside, the chief said.
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A 27-year-old woman later drove herself to Stroger Hospital with a graze wound to the head, saying the gunman opened fire on California Avenue as she was driving by, according to Chicago police.
Shots also struck other buildings in the normally quiet stretch of apartment buildings, strip malls and other small businesses, officials said.
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The fire chief said he was concerned at the brazenness and recklessness of the person pulling the trigger.
“It’s very disturbing. Whoever did this didn’t care about life, whether it was firefighters or civilians or anyone else,” Hernandez said.
No arrests had been made.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Man killed, another critically wounded in East Side shooting. ‘I knew it was getting closer, but I n

Man killed, another critically wounded in East Side shooting. ‘I knew it was getting closer, but I never thought I would see it on this block.’

Garcia , 21 , said he has lived on the block for about five years but was born and raised @ @ @ @ @ The shooting was the first he has seen on his block , and his first @ @ @ @ @ way .
It ’ s a lot of families over here .
... To be @ @ @ @ @ like , ‘ Whoa , wait a minute .
’ ”

Detectives work the scene of a shooting Sept. 12, 2020, in the 10600 block of South Mackinaw Avenue in the East Side neighborhood. (Paige Fry/Chicago Tribune)
Sergio Garcia Jr. was inside his East Side home Saturday night, playing a Madden video game, when he heard gunfire on his normally quiet block.
Walking outside, he saw paramedics take out a stretcher as a young women drove up, crying as she talked to officers.
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“What’s going on? What’s going on?” Garcia heard her say.
The woman left with the ambulance. Garcia said he had never seen the woman before and didn’t know the people who lived in the house where police were now walking around.
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Chicago police say two men were shot in front of the house in the 10600 block of South Mackinaw Avenue around 11:05 p.m. A ShotSpotter detector picked up the gunfire. Police said the motive of the shooting was not known.
One of the men, Juan Gomez Torrez, 43, was shot in the head and chest and was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:28 p.m. He lived on the block where the shooting occurred, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The other man, 39, was shot several times and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
Officers spotted a man walking away from the scene after the shooting and took him in for questioning.
Garcia, 21, said he has lived on the block for about five years but was born and raised on the East Side. The shooting was the first he has seen on his block, and his first thought was, “No way. It’s a lot of families over here. ... To be so close you’re like, ‘Whoa, wait a minute.’”
A few other neighbors also came outside to see what had happened, he said.
“As far as the East Side goes, people are afraid to come over here at night because of gang activity,” he said. "It’s kind of quiet over here (on this block), but there’s gang activity pretty consistently (in the neighborhood) so it’s not unexpected for something to happen, but a homicide ... it kind of takes you back.
“I get scared — don’t get me wrong,” Garcia said. “But it’s just like it’s bound to cross your path.”
Officers strung up yellow crime scene tape across the one-way street. Detectives looked around the home’s front steps, which were surrounded by a metal gate. Inside were bikes and a lawn mower. Several evidence markers were placed on the road.
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As the officers worked, a dark-colored sedan rushed to the scene around 2:30 a.m. with an SUV trailing behind. Officers began yelling and the SUV sped off. The man inside the sedan said the SUV had rammed his car twice and he drove toward the officers, scared someone in the SUV might fire.
One detective read out the license plate of the SUV over the air. “He was ramming a vehicle ... possibly armed,” she radioed. After the SUV was gone, she told another officer what she had been thinking: “Oh, don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot.”
Bill, 50, a neighbor who did not want his last name used, said he and his mother moved into his great-grandmother’s house when he was a freshman in high school. He, too, said the shooting was the first he has known on his block, a mixed working-class neighborhood.
Most of the people who live there are families or retirees, he said. Kids often ride their bikes up and down the street. Usually, when shootings or violence happen in the area, it’s at a nearby park.
In recent years, the violence seemed to creep closer, he said. Then on July 29, 2018, just a block over, 28-year-old Jeovani Martinez was shot and killed in the 10600 block of South Green Bay Avenue.
“This has always been a little island where it’s been peaceful,” he said. “I knew it was getting closer, but I never thought I would see it on this block.”
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 14 new deaths, 1,462 new confirmed cases and 46,890 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 14 new deaths, 1,462 new confirmed cases and 46,890 new test results

Illinois announced 1,462 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Sunday for a total of 261,371 .
The state also announced 14 @ @ @ @ @ of 8,309 and 46,890 new test results for a total of 4.74 million .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--1 killed, 4 injured when speeding car goes airborne on Interstate 294 in Willow Springs

A black Chevrolet Impala was traveling south at a high rate of speed just before 12:15 p.m. when the driver @ @ @ @ @ red Volkswagen Jetta in the lane to the right , state police said .
The @ @ @ @ @ and flipped over into the northbound lanes , where it hit a red Ford F-150 @

A person was killed and four others were injured when a speeding car crashed into another car, went airborne and hit two others on Interstate 294 in Willow Springs on Saturday afternoon, according to the Illinois State Police.
A black Chevrolet Impala was traveling south at a high rate of speed just before 12:15 p.m. when the driver lost control and sideswiped a red Volkswagen Jetta in the lane to the right, state police said. The Impala struck the concrete median and flipped over into the northbound lanes, where it hit a red Ford F-150.
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A car behind the truck swerved and the Impala hit a black Honda SUV head-on, killing the passenger and critically injuring the driver, state police said
The driver of the Impala was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Two others were transported with minor injuries.


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--3 killed, 4 injured in two South Austin shootings half a mile apart

The second shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. in the 500 block of North Pine Avenue , police said .
@ @ @ @ @ found Danielle Pearson , 33 , with a gunshot wound to the head .
She @ @ @ @ @ p.m. at the scene .
She lived on the block where the shooting took place @ @ @ @ @ examiner ’ s office .

Three people were killed and four others were injured in two shootings in the South Austin neighborhood that occurred a half-mile apart on Saturday, according to Chicago police.
The first shooting happened in the 100 block of North Pine Avenue just after 2 a.m. when an argument broke out among a group and a man took out a handgun and started shooting. He shot five people and was also hit by gunfire.
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Lunyea Wilson, 47, was shot in the face and chest and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 3:04 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Michael Mickey, 35, was shot in the chest and arm and also taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:09 a.m., police and the medical examiner’s office said.
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Another man, 38, was shot in the back and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. A 32-year-old woman was shot in the lower right leg and taken to Stroger in good condition. Another man, age unknown, was shot in the right thigh and taken to Loyola University Medical Center in good condition.
The gunman was shot in the abdomen and taken to Stroger in critical condition, police said. It’s unclear how he was shot.
A weapon was recovered at the scene, police said.
The second shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. in the 500 block of North Pine Avenue, police said. On the sidewalk, officers found Danielle Pearson, 33, with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at 11:18 p.m. at the scene. She lived on the block where the shooting took place, according to the medical examiner’s office.
There were no witnesses to her shooting, police said. No arrests have been made.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Chicago’s Mexican Independence Day Parade was canceled by the pandemic, so thousands celebrated with

Chicago’s Mexican Independence Day Parade was canceled by the pandemic, so thousands celebrated with caravans through neighborhoods and downtown

The Little Village Chamber of Commerce decided to cancel this year ’ s parade “ for the safety of our @ @ @ @ @ chamber ’ s post on Facebook about the cancellation , several people said they would @ @ @ @ @ own parade .
While Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16 , the parade had been @ @ @ @ @ with the Fiestas Patrias Festival .

After Little Village's Mexican Independence Day Parade was canceled due to the pandemic, Mexicans in Chicago went downtown in vehicles to show their national pride on Sept. 12, 2020. Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16.
The pandemic may have canceled the annual Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village on Saturday, but thousands of people still celebrated the day with caravans of cars through neighborhood streets and downtown into the night.
In Little Village, people lit fireworks and street vendors sold merchandise. Passengers sat on open car windowsills and waved small flags. Shortly after 9 p.m., people started to drive toward the downtown area. Caravans as long as 20 to 30 cars were spotted on Roosevelt Road, another on Michigan Avenue.
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The Little Village Chamber of Commerce decided to cancel this year’s parade “for the safety of our community residents.” In the chamber’s post on Facebook about the cancellation, several people said they would go downtown and have their own parade. While Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16, the parade had been scheduled for Sunday, along with the Fiestas Patrias Festival.
The day is a national holiday in Mexico and celebrates the anniversary of the country’s independence from Spain. Sometimes confused with Cinco de Mayo, Sept. 16 marks the moment when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest, publicly demanded independence. After a speech in the Mexican town of Dolores, Hidalgo took up the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a Roman Catholic image of the Virgin Mary.
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[ Paradegoers celebrate 50th anniversary of Mexican Independence Parade: ‘We’re seeing little kids learning our culture today, and that matters.’ ]
As more people headed downtown Saturday evening, Chicago police started closing off stretches of main roads, including Michigan Avenue from Randolph Street to the bridge at Wacker Drive.
The downtown bridges were not raised, which had been a strategy used by the city this summer to control crowds. Officers did set up physical barriers or parked a police car in front of the northbound entrance to several bridges.
“Closures were in effect to keep traffic moving,” said Officer Ronald Westbrooks, a police spokesman. “There were no incidents or things of that nature. We do not have further information, and are not aware of any further closures.”
People drove around for hours, honking and revving their engines. Others played music from their cars. Some parked and walked around. By midnight, traffic on northbound Lake Shore Drive was at a slow crawl as people headed toward downtown.
Last year, people also came downtown to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and Chicago police closed the intersection of Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive, near Trump Tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave., bringing traffic to a standstill.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Lockport police ask residents to look for hidden weapons following Friday’s shooting incident

The post asks residents to contact either the Lockport Police Department or the Will County sheriff ’ s office if @ @ @ @ @ Police are asking residents not to touch or move any weapon they may find and @ @ @ @ @ the weapon until police arrive .

Residents of a Lockport subdivision are being asked to be on the lookout for any weapons that may have been stashed in their neighborhood following a high-speed chase Friday.
Police recovered three weapons in the Willow Walk subdivision following Friday’s incident. An AK-47 style pistol loaded with 7.62 rounds was recovered Friday and two more weapons were recovered Saturday after a resident in the subdivision discovered one of the weapons in their garbage can.
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Will County sheriff deputies show an AK-47 style pistol loaded with 7.62 rounds that was recovered Friday night in Lockport Township. (Will County sheriff's office)
Will County Sheriff’s deputies Friday responded to the 2100 block of Arthur Avenue for a report of shots fired. When police arrived, witnesses said they saw occupants in three vehicles shooting at each other. Witnesses described the vehicles as a black Dodge Durango, a small black SUV and a silver sedan.
After locating the Durango, a police chase began with the driver of the Durango traveling in excess of 100 mph through residential areas, according to a news release from the Will County sheriff’s office. The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed at Interstate 355 and 163rd Street in Lockport, according to the release.
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Four men were taken into custody following the incident. Two are being held on bond and will appear in court Tuesday, according to jail records.
Jessie D. Tucker, 24, Joliet, and Nevin L. McMurtry, 18, Romeoville, remained Sunday in the Will County Adult Detention Center. Tucker faces charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding, and reckless driving. Both men are charged with possession of a controlled substance.
The men, who appeared in bond court Saturday, are scheduled to appear again before a judge on Tuesday.
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The other two men taken into custody Friday have since been released, according to sheriff Deputy Chief Dan Jungles. The case remains under investigation.
Late Saturday afternoon, a Lockport resident found a firearm in a garbage can and contacted the Lockport police, Jungles said. After reviewing home surveillance videos, investigators noticed individuals connected to Friday’s incident roaming the neighborhood. Investigators then checked those areas and found a third weapon in another garbage can, Jungles said.
Though the weapon located Friday is believed to be connected to the two men in custody, Jungles said the two weapons located Saturday appear to be weapons from other individuals involved in Friday’s incident.
The Lockport Police Department is asking subdivision residents to remain on the lookout.
“We are requesting residents of the Willow Walk neighborhood to search your property and garbage containers for any additional guns that might have been disposed of by said offenders,” the department shared on its Facebook page.
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The post asks residents to contact either the Lockport Police Department or the Will County sheriff’s office if they locate a weapon. Police are asking residents not to touch or move any weapon they may find and to keep an eye on the weapon until police arrive.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--New details emerge in killings of prominent Oak Park attorney couple found stabbed to death in their

New details emerge in killings of prominent Oak Park attorney couple found stabbed to death in their home

On April 13 , the family members , who do not live in the area , asked Jones and Johnson @ @ @ @ @ who does live in the area , to visit their home in the 500 block @ @ @ @ @ a well-being check , the report said .
The godson found the front door closed @ @ @ @ @ he went inside at about 7:30 p.m .

Attorney Leslie Ann Jones, left, and her husband, fellow attorney Thomas Johnson, were found dead inside their Oak Park home on April 13. The case remains unsolved. (Don Sorsa)
Months after a husband and wife were found dead inside their Oak Park home, new details have become known about the slayings. Both spouses were prominent Chicago-area attorneys.
Autopsy reports recently released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office shed light on how the bodies were discovered and the extent of the stabbings. The killings have not yet been solved.
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According to a police report included in the file, family members of Thomas E. Johnson, 69, and Leslie Ann Jones, 67, wanted to check on them after not hearing from the couple for about four days.
On April 13, the family members, who do not live in the area, asked Jones and Johnson’s 20-year-old godson, who does live in the area, to visit their home in the 500 block of Fair Oaks Avenue for a well-being check, the report said. The godson found the front door closed, but unlocked, and he went inside at about 7:30 p.m.
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Just inside the front door, the godson discovered Jones' body lying on the stairs, while Johnson was found in an upstairs bedroom lying on a bed, the report said.
Friends and neighbors gather in the 500 block of Fair Oaks Avenue in Oak Park for a vigil for Thomas E. Johnson and Leslie Ann Jones on April 15. The couple was found dead two days earlier after a wellbeing check at their home. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The godson called Oak Park police, and paramedics rushed to the home. A doctor from Loyola University Medical Center pronounced the couple dead at 7:47 p.m.
An Oak Park police detective wrote that night in the documents that he had “limited information” regarding Jones and Johnson because forensic technicians were still processing the scene and speaking with family members when the report was filed.
The detective did report the home did not appear to be ransacked, and said Johnson’s wallet was found on the bedroom floor with its contents scattered.
First responders also located the couple’s dog alive in the home, and paw prints from the dog and footprints from a person were “visible in the residence,” the report said.
The report states Johnson was stabbed multiple times in the head, neck and shoulder area, while Jones was stabbed multiple times in the head, chest, shoulder and arms. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death for both as “multiple sharp force injuries,” ruling both deaths homicides.
The couple were both graduates of Harvard Law School, and were partners in the downtown law firm of Johnson, Jones, Snelling, Gilbert & Davis. Jones, who also had degrees from Yale, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, specialized in health care, civil rights and real estate law, while Johnson worked on issues of social justice and corporate accountability, litigating cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Johnson was particularly well-known for his work as a hearing officer for the Chicago Police Board. Last year, he oversaw the hearings for four officers accused of covering up the investigation into the 2014 Laquan McDonald shooting. He presided over the hearing of an officer who shot and killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier during a confrontation with LeGrier in 2016.
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Johnson also used to watch over young people from single-parent homes who were part of wrestling and baseball programs in the Chicago area.
Jones was also known for her charitable efforts, particularly with the Oak Park Area Arts Council and Hephzibah Children’s Association.
This report may be updated if additional information becomes available.
Chicago Tribune reporter Madeline Buckley contributed to this story.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--With deadline looming, Chicago is badly lagging in census response, especially in communities of col

With deadline looming, Chicago is badly lagging in census response, especially in communities of color

The census data will be used to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid each year for the @ @ @ @ @ the lowest rates in Chicago are in areas that have struggled with poverty and a @ @ @ @ @ of the Yards , West Englewood , Little Village and North Lawndale .

Guadalupe Laguna and her four children check out free items at a 2020 census community giveaway day hosted by Metropolitan Family Services on Chicago's Northwest Side on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
With the census deadline looming, responses in the city of Chicago are still substantially behind the rest of the state, particularly in communities of color that stand to be hit the hardest by the consequences of an undercount.
While the state’s response rate stands at 70%, slightly higher than the national average, the city’s rate remains just under 59%, with some neighborhoods around 30%.
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The census data will be used to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid each year for the next decade. Some of the lowest rates in Chicago are in areas that have struggled with poverty and a lack of resources: Back of the Yards, West Englewood, Little Village and North Lawndale.
“The potential negative impact is just really widening some of those inequities across the region,” warned Erin Aleman, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which recently completed a study of response rates.
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Census response representative Peggy Bibbs collects responses from citizens at a 2020 census community giveaway day hosted by Metropolitan Family Services on Chicago's Northwest Side on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“The disparities that currently exist have the potential to worsen if there are less resources available based on undercounts,” she said.
Across the region, CMAP found that Hispanic communities are registering the biggest drop in participation from 2010, with average declines of more than seven percentage points.
Aleman cited the CARES Act, which provides COVID-19 relief, as a prime example of what a census undercount could mean. CMAP’s study estimated Illinois would have lost $235.5 million in COVID-19 aid if its population had been just 5% lower.
She noted that communities with low response rates have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
When it released its study, CMAP also circulated a “social media tool kit” to help organizations boost the count in their communities in the final weeks.
The usual deadline for the census is in July, but it was initially extended to Oct. 31 because of the pandemic. That was later changed to Sept. 30, but a coalition of civil rights organizations and local governments is suing the Census Bureau, demanding an extension.
Last Saturday, a federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order preventing the agency from winding down operations until a hearing on Sept. 17.
Ellisa Johnson, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau in Chicago, said her office is “pulling out all the stops,” making sure workers are deployed to areas of high foot traffic and into communities with low response rates.
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Johnson said the bureau will be primarily focused on its “mobile questionnaire assistance” program, which places census workers outside common areas like grocery stores or CTA platforms where people can fill out the census on the spot.
“It’s a once in every 10-year opportunity for your voice to be heard... and once that window closes … the opportunity to be counted is over,” Johnson said. “It is simply not too late.”
Community organizations, meanwhile, are making their own plans for a final push but say their efforts are being complicated by fear and distrust.
Jesus Martinez, the census organizer for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, said he has been conducting outreach work in the community for months and found existing barriers have only been exasperated by the pandemic.
“We are working within communities that have been neglected,” Martinez said. “These are communities that have been traditionally undercounted, and it is a result of having a federal government that terrorizes them, that makes the immigrant community feel that they’re not welcome here.”
Given the economic conditions, the census is an afterthought for many families that are preoccupied with survival right now, he said.
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Over the summer, Martinez worked with other community organizations to ensure census workers were present at events like neighborhood food distributions. And this month, Martinez and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council are planning community events across the South and West side to draw people out and educate them on the census.
Although there is no citizenship question on the census forms, initial efforts to include one have had long-lasting effects on outreach efforts. Martinez said much of his work has centered around combating misinformation and reassuring people the census is safe.
Maria Fitzsimmons, census director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, echoed Martinez’s concerns that the federal government has made immigrant communities “hard to count.”
“It’s a manufactured crisis of confidence in this really important part of the constitution,” Fitzsimmons said. "In the middle of a pandemic and economic uncertainty, people have fears about evictions, people have fears about sending their kids to school.
“The federal government is supposed to be a source of stability in our lives, it’s not supposed to add to the chaos,” she added. “And that’s what it’s doing, either out of incompetence or as a strategy to influence representation and resource sharing.”
In addition to federal funding, the census also is used to determine congressional representation. Illinois is already expected to lose at least one seat due to population loss. An undercount could potentially add to that.
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If the September deadline holds, both Martinez and Fitzsimmons said it will be a challenge to connect with all the households who have yet to respond.
“At the end of the day, every single person in Illinois, no matter their status and no matter how they feel about immigration … we’re going to end up with fewer people advocating for the needs of people in Illinois in Congress.”


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Newly released video shows police shooting in Chicago music school. A year later, teen caught in lin

Newly released video shows police shooting in Chicago music school. A year later, teen caught in line of fire still struggles to play guitar.

“ This young man was given a gift , ” said Timothy Cavanagh , the family ’ s attorney who @ @ @ @ @ video images from inside the school on that November day .
“ To have that @ @ @ @ @ s had nothing to do with this — he didn ’ t do anything wrong @ @ @ @ @ own — it ’ s just heartbreaking .
”

Rylan Wilder remembers how to press down on the guitar strings, but the 16-year-old’s left hand can’t keep up.
It’s been nearly a year since a Des Plaines police officer, chasing a bank robbery suspect, fired a rifle round through Rylan’s arm as the teen was running for cover inside a music school.
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“This young man was given a gift,” said Timothy Cavanagh, the family’s attorney who this week released the first video images from inside the school on that November day. “To have that ripped away where he’s had nothing to do with this — he didn’t do anything wrong, no fault of his own — it’s just heartbreaking.”
In the security camera footage, Rylan is seen tidying up a room full of keyboards when flashing police lights fill the windows of UpBeat Music and Arts on the Northwest Side. The suspect bursts through the front door and rushes past Rylan.
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An officer runs through the door and yells, “Drop it,” as Rylan tries to get out of his way. The officer fires a semi-automatic rifle with Rylan still between him and the suspect. Rylan escapes from the room through a side door as the officer keeps firing, killing the suspect, Christopher Willis. The officer fires about a dozen rounds.
An image from surveillance video shows the moment a Des Plaines police officer, left, opens fire with an AR-15 rifle at a robbery suspect, not shown, and strikes 15-year-old Rylan Wilder, right, in the arm and abdomen inside UpBeat Music and Arts, in Chicago on Nov. 19, 2019. (MediaPros 24/7)
Willis and a second man had robbed a Bank of America branch in Des Plaines hours earlier on Nov. 19. Afterward, Willis carjacked a couple and led officers on a high-speed chase on the Kennedy Expressway that ended at the music school in the 4300 block of West Irving Park Road shortly before 7 p.m., Chicago police have said.
Willis shot a Chicago police officer before running into the school, where Rylan was interning. He was a sophomore at Lane Tech College Prep, and lead guitarist and singer for the rock band Monarchy Over Monday.
Since then, Rylan had about 14 surgeries and is still in pain as he works through physical therapy. But the teen remains optimistic.
“He’s a pretty amazing young man,” Cavanagh said. “No doubt he’s had some very, very tough times, but he’s resilient and he’s hopeful. And he’s worked incredibly, incredibly hard.”
In releasing the video, Cavanagh said the family has questions about the actions of the officer.
“They want some answers to why Des Plaines was in the city of Chicago and this pursuit, they want to know why this officer was using an AR-15 — a personal weapon, a weapon of war,” Cavanagh said. “This is not a normal weapon. This ripped his arm apart.”
Rylan Wilder, lead guitarist and singer for the rock band Monarchy Over Monday. (Jared Callaway Photography)
Rylan’s family later filed a lawsuit against Willis' alleged accomplice, Maurice Murphy. In an amended complaint filed in August, the lawsuit names the officer who shot Rylan and the city of Des Plaines.
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Cavanagh said he obtained a copy of Des Plaines police’s pursuit policy that states: “If two units from the other agency are actively involved in the pursuit, the officers will not engage in the pursuit unless directed to do so by a supervisor.”
Cavanagh said his reading of the policy means the suburban police officer should never have entered the school.
Des Plaines police Chief William Kushner did not respond to questions about the pursuit policy or about the officer carrying his own rifle, but said a third-party investigation found the officer complied with the department’s policies.
He did not respond to a question about who conducted the independent review. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office declined to comment Friday, citing an ongoing investigation.
“While it is certainly a tragedy that Mr. Wilder was injured during the commission of this violent crime spree, the DPPD’s officer’s actions were necessary, proper and likely saved lives,” Kushner wrote in a statement. “It is unfortunate that Christopher Willis, an armed bank robber, put Mr. Wilder and several other innocent bystanders in harm’s way.”
Kushner added that his department “empathizes with Mr. Wilder, his family and friends and wishes him a full recovery with the hopes that he and his family can soon put this incident behind them.”
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But Cavanagh said those sentiments are not enough.
“We’ll engage in the discovery in the case and get our own answers,” Cavanagh said. “That’s a self-serving (statement). Of course the police are going to say their actions were warranted. We’ve seen hundreds of situations where they claim their actions were warranted and you dig deep and you find out that’s just not the case.”


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--More than 800 nurses at University of Illinois Hospital go on strike; hospital put on ambulance bypa

More than 800 nurses at University of Illinois Hospital go on strike; hospital put on ambulance bypass

Earlier this year , more than 700 nurses at Amita Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet went on strike for @ @ @ @ @ staffing levels and issues related to pay and benefits .
Last year , about 2,200 @ @ @ @ @ Chicago Medical Center went on a one-day strike , which was followed by a four-day @ @

University of Illinois Hospital nurses picket and march in front of the hospital's ER on Taylor St. Sept. 12, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
More than 800 nurses at the University of Illinois Hospital and its clinics went on strike Saturday morning after failing to reach a contract with the hospital.
The nurses, who are part the Illinois Nurses Association, were in negotiations with the hospital through the summer, and their three-year contract expired Monday.
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The strike was supposed to include about 1,300 nurses, but a Cook County judge ruled Friday that 525 nurses who work in critical care units couldn’t participate because it would endanger patients' safety. The University of Illinois Board of Trustees had sued to keep many of the nurses from striking.
The union has said the strike could last seven days. No further negotiating sessions were scheduled for this weekend, as of Saturday.
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University of Illinois Hospital nurses picket and march in support of a labor contract in the hospital district on Taylor St. Sept. 12, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The hospital was working with an agency to onboard more than 600 nurses and other health care workers amid the strike, Michael Zenn, CEO of University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics, said in a statement Saturday.
The hospital went on ambulance bypass, meaning ambulances were being asked to take new patients elsewhere. The hospital was not taking patient transfers from other hospitals, canceled elective procedures and surgeries, and was working with area hospitals in case it needed to transfer patients, he said.
A main sticking point in negotiations has been nurse-to-patient ratios. The union wants the hospital to set limits on the numbers of patients assigned to nurses, but the hospital has said it prefers a model that aligns patients' needs with nurses' skills.
The University of Illinois Hospital sits on the city’s West Side, serving many low-income patients, and has 462 beds.
In recent years, there have been a number of nurses strikes in the Chicago area and across the country, with staffing often a main issue of contention.
Earlier this year, more than 700 nurses at Amita Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet went on strike for more than two weeks over staffing levels and issues related to pay and benefits. Last year, about 2,200 nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center went on a one-day strike, which was followed by a four-day lockout.