chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Illinois marijuana license finalists file lawsuit over second-chance applications

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is SB IL , led by CEO Victoria Williams and Chief Operating Officer Ahmad @ @ @ @ @ multiracial group of owners .
Joudeh said he is the owner of a chain of @ @ @ @ @ area and has family members involved in the cannabis industry outside the state .
He @ @ @ @ @ a partner with Starbuds in Denver , which describes itself as one of the world @ @ @ @ @ .

Investors who won a chance for a license to sell recreational marijuana in Illinois have filed a lawsuit asserting it’s illegal to give other applicants a second chance.
The legal action sets up a potential court battle over when to hold a lottery to award 75 new retail licenses.
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Three finalists filed a petition asking the Illinois Supreme Court to order that the licenses be awarded without recent changes to the application process they say were made because of “political expediency.”
Last month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new procedures that would allow applicants to correct any deficiencies in their applications and get rescored for a second chance at qualifying for the license lottery.
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The lawsuit was filed Monday, as the Tribune first reported, by SB IL, Vertical Management and GRI Holdings IL, all limited liability corporations that received perfect scores on their applications.
They were among 21 businesses that qualified in September for the license lottery. They are suing Pritzker and officials from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which oversees the licensing of cannabis dispensaries.
Pritzker changed the application process after applicants complained of inconsistent scoring and handling of applications. The governor allowed applicants to be notified of any deficiencies in their applications and given 10 days to correct any problems.
Thomas Wells, left, and David Scott of Vertical Management on Oct. 4, 2020, in Bellwood. Vertical Management, who won a chance for a license to sell recreational marijuana in Illinois, has filed a lawsuit along with two other groups, asserting it’s illegal to give other applicants a second chance for a license. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Those applications are to be scored again to see who else might qualify for the lottery.
David Scott, owner of People Cab Co. and People Loan Club in Bellwood, said his group Vertical Management earned its score and deserves a shot at the lottery without potentially hundreds of more contestants.
In any competition, he said, players must follow the rules. Even if a referee makes a bad call in a basketball game, he said, once the game is over, there are no do-overs.
Winning applicants also took exception to the characterization that they are not legitimate social equity applicants because some have politically connected or wealthy white co-owners, or are already involved in the cannabis industry.
GRI’s investment group, for instance, includes restaurant owner Phil Stefani.
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The law did not include preferences for any racial group, out of concern that would be discriminatory. But all of the finalists were given a preference as social equity applicants, meaning most lived in designated poorer areas with many marijuana arrests and convictions, or had low-level marijuana convictions themselves or in their family — which state officials said in effect favored minority applicants.
Of the 21 applicants, state officials said, 13 are majority owned and controlled by people of color and 17 have at least one owner who is a person of color.
Scott said his group has five African Americans out of eight owners. “If you want minorities involved, you got 'em,” Scott said.
Pritzker has called the state’s legalization “the most equity-centric” approach in the nation, saying it would transform the state and create opportunity in communities that were hardest hit by the war on drugs.
By law, the licenses were to be awarded May 1. But citing delays because of the coronavirus pandemic, and later to set rules establishing the lottery, Pritzker postponed the licensing by executive order.
Many investors, both winners and losers, say they’ve been hurt by the wait, spending tens of thousands of dollars on rent to hold properties for potential use while not knowing if they will get a license.
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Plans to award new licenses for craft growers, infusers and transportation workers have also been delayed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, businesses that previously were operating medical marijuana dispensaries were allowed to open new recreational stores on their old sites, as well as on new second sites. Since licensed cannabis sales became legal Jan. 1, those businesses collectively have been setting records for sales almost every month, reaching almost $68 million in October.
Attorney John Fitzgerald, of the firm Tabet DiVito & Rothstein which filed the lawsuit, said the changes run contrary to the law that legalized pot in the state.
Specifically, the changes created a supplemental deficiency notice and a chance to ask for a rescoring, neither of which are in the law, Fitzgerald said.
Berwyn Thompkins, from left, Chavonne Hedrick and Victoria Williams, of SB IL, on Oct. 4, 2020, in Bellwood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Deficiencies were meant to notify applicants of an omission before their applications were scored, he said, not give them a chance to correct mistakes after they were scored.
There are two ways to fix the process, Fitzgerald said. If any of the 937 applicants believe they were the victims of faulty scoring or a missing deficiency notice, they can file suit and ask the courts to correct it.
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Beyond that, he said, it’s up to lawmakers to change the law going forward, not for the governor to change the law after the fact. Eventually, up to 500 new licenses are to be awarded in future rounds.
“The act can be amended,” he said. “It can’t be ignored or violated.”
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is SB IL, led by CEO Victoria Williams and Chief Operating Officer Ahmad Joudeh, part of a multiracial group of owners. Joudeh said he is the owner of a chain of T-Mobile shops in the Chicago area and has family members involved in the cannabis industry outside the state. He noted that SB IL is a partner with Starbuds in Denver, which describes itself as one of the world’s largest cannabis retailers.
Joudeh said some applicants may have legitimate complaints about the scoring process, but that shouldn’t be solved by letting them revise their applications. He likened it to finishing a classroom test, then changing the answers. “It’s just not fair,” he said.
Williams, who said she was born and raised in Englewood and lives in Morgan Park, said she and her partner Berwyn Thompkins got into the cannabis business in 2015 by providing consulting services in Nevada. She is the founder of Aurora Cannabis Consultants, which she said wrote a manual and held training sessions in for people to break into the industry.
“The people who got perfect scores are there for a reason,” Thompkins said. “We just want what the law laid out to occur.”
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Before Pritzker revised the process, dozens of applicants who did not make the cut for the lottery filed a federal lawsuit demanding changes. They complained that they were not notified of any deficiencies, or that identical exhibits were scored differently for different companies or in different regions of the state.
They dropped the lawsuit after Pritzker gave them a second chance.
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The suit was filed by Jon Loevy, a civil rights attorney who is co-owner of Justice Grown in downstate Edgewood, which holds one of only 21 licenses to grow cannabis in Illinois. He said the latest legal action has no merit.
“There is no legal basis for this lawsuit," he wrote. "From a legal perspective, the state has not taken anything away from these litigants.”
The governor has not announced a timeline for rescoring applicants.
Charity Greene, a spokeswoman for the governor, wrote Monday that "the administration remains committed to launching the Illinois adult-use cannabis industry in a fair, equitable manner that provides a path for Illinoisans from all backgrounds to benefit from legalization, including diversifying the industry and criminal justice reform, and investing proceeds to rebuild communities most harmed by the failed war on drugs.”
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Last week, Chris Slaby, a spokesman for the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, wrote that the "supplemental deficiency notice process will be consistent with the (Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act) and the department’s authority to establish a fair process for the awarding of cannabis licenses.”
Under Supreme Court Rule 381, the state has seven days to respond after notification of the petition.
rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential rac

Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential race’s final weeks

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election , both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Starting in September , Biden abandoned his monthslong @ @ @ @ @ in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at @ @ @

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election, both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have ramped up their campaign travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Starting in September, Biden abandoned his monthslong virtual campaign from his basement in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at some events.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Here’s a look at the campaign trail stops made by Trump, Biden and running mates since Sept. 1.
Campaign trail tracker
Tap or click on a dot to see details of the stop.
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chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Sources: Man found dead outside Bridgeport police station suspect in relative’s slaying on Far South

Sources: Man found dead outside Bridgeport police station suspect in relative’s slaying on Far South Side

Little more than an hour earlier , about 1:20 p.m. , a 25-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his @ @ @ @ @ of South Union Avenue — about seven miles away from where the apparent suicide eventually @ @ @ @ @ to Roseland Community Hospital , where he was pronounced dead , police said .

A 49-year-old man who Chicago police say fatally shot himself Monday afternoon in the parking lot of the Bridgeport police station was suspected in the shooting death of another man earlier in the day, according to law enforcement sources.
The 49-year-old shot himself in the head inside a parked vehicle in a handicapped spot in the visitors lot of the Deering District station, 3120 S. Halsted St., one of the sources said.
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Around 2:45 p.m., he had threatened suicide, before eventually shooting and killing himself, according to police.
Police pore over a vehicle in the parking lot of the Deering District station on Halsted Street in Chicago after a reported shooting incident there on Oct. 5, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Little more than an hour earlier, about 1:20 p.m., a man in his 20s suffered a gunshot wound to his head in the 11800 block of South Union Avenue — about 11 miles away from where the apparent suicide eventually occurred — and was taken to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
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One of the sources said investigators suspect the younger man was fatally shot by the 49-year-old before he turned the gun on himself at the police station. Initial reports Monday indicated the two men were related, but a police spokesman on Tuesday said they were not.
They are scheduled for autopsies Tuesday at the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Police cordoned off traffic outside the police station along Halsted from 31st Street to 33rd Street.


chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Bail denied to South Shore man tied to 2 shootings, including one on Red Line platform

The second victim , who didn ’ t know Raymond , had a brief exchange with him before Raymond pulled @ @ @ @ @ victim in the upper left abdomen , authorities said .
Both Raymond and the victim @ @ @ @ @ southbound train and exited at the 69th Street stop , prosecutors said .

A judge on Monday denied bail to a prior gun offender accused of shooting two people in a span of 20 days last month.
In the first shooting, authorities said Jack Raymond, 45 was quarreling with a friend about 1:15 p.m. Sept. 4 on the street in the 7100 block of South Euclid Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood, when he pulled out a handgun and opened fire.
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Twenty days later, Chicago Transit Authority video captured Raymond, shooting a 25-year-old passenger on a Red Line train platform in the Englewood neighborhood, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Raymond, of South Shore is facing two charges of aggravated battery for discharging a firearm in the two shootings, police said.
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Jack Raymond, 45, of the South Shore neighborhood, was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Friday after police identified him as the suspect who shot a man Sept. 24 on the 63rd Street train platform in the Englewood neighborhood, police said. - Original Credit: Chicago police booking photo (Chicago police photo / HANDOUT)
Circuit Judge John F. Lyke Jr. approved a petition denying Raymond bail, citing video evidence linking the defendant to both shooting scenes and because both shootings occurred in public and could have injured bystanders. The judge also cited a 2007 felony gun conviction and 13 prior missed court appearances, calling him a flight risk.
During the bail hearing broadcast on Youtube, prosecutors said surveillance from a nearby business captured Raymond shooting his friend in the right thigh and walking away with a gun in his hand.
The victim, a 28-year-old woman, according to police, gave authorities Raymond’s name and physical description, and positively identified him and the gunman that same day, prosecutors said.
In an odd twist, the victim in the Sept. 4 shooting was with Raymond when he shot the second victim on the train platform at the 63rd Street station around about 8:15 p.m.
The second victim, who didn’t know Raymond, had a brief exchange with him before Raymond pulled a handgun and wounded the victim in the upper left abdomen, authorities said. Both Raymond and the victim fled the scene on a southbound train and exited at the 69th Street stop, prosecutors said.
Investigators were able to track Raymond by his Ventra card and arrested him Friday afternoon at the Red Line Wilson stop.
Raymond is expected to return to court Friday.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,853 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 additional deaths reported Mo

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,853 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 additional deaths reported Monday

The Illinois Virtual Instructional Coach and Building Mentor Program is being funded with a $ 6.5 million grant from the @ @ @ @ @ The program will give the new teachers an online instructional coach to give them support @ @ @ @ @ mentor to help them connect with their school community and an online library of resources @ @ @ @ @ .
The program also will help connect teachers with other first-year teachers and give them @ @ @ @ @ one-on-one and small group virtual coaching sessions , ” according to the release .

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 public health officials reported Monday they had logged 1,853 newly diagnosed cases and 14 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 303,394 known cases and 8,805 deaths.
The state surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases Saturday, public health officials reported.
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Meanwhile, President Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he has been receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans — and then he entered the White House without a protective mask
Also on Monday, the CDC said that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense.
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Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:05 p.m.: Nearly one-third of COVID patients in Chicago-area study had an altered mental state
Nearly a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function — ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness — in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in a U.S. hospital system.
And patients with altered mental function had significantly worse medical outcomes, according to the study, published Monday in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. The study looked at the records of the first 509 coronavirus patients hospitalized, from March 5 to April 6, at 10 hospitals in the Northwestern Medicine health system in the Chicago area.
These patients stayed three times as long in the hospital as patients without altered mental function.
After they were discharged, only 32% of the patients with altered mental function were able to handle routine daily activities like cooking and paying bills, said Dr. Igor Koralnik, senior author of the study and chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine. In contrast, 89% of patients without altered mental function were able to manage such activities without assistance.
Patients with altered mental function — the medical term is encephalopathy — were also nearly seven times as likely to die as those who did not have that type of problem.
Read more here. —The New York Times
4:40 p.m.: St. Viator Catholic school moves to all-remote after ‘several’ positive COVID-19 cases over weekend
St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights is shifting from all-onsite learning to all-remote following an uptick in positive novel coronavirus cases in recent days, school officials said Monday.
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School officials told Pioneer Press Monday that the decision was made after several positive COVID-19 test results “among those in the school” Saturday and Sunday.
Officials declined to say whether those testing positive were students or staff, or to provide additional information.
“While we had experienced only a few isolated instances since returning to school on August 24, in the past few days the number of reports exceeded what we feel allows us to provide a safe environment for our faculty, staff and students,” school President Brian Liedlich said in a statement.
Read more here. —Graydon Megan
4:15 p.m.: CDC now says coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air in updated guidance
The top U.S. public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense.
However, several experts faulted the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. They said the virus can spread more easily than the CDC seems to be indicating, and suggested that the public should wear masks even in prolonged outdoor gatherings when they are more than 6 feet apart.
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The virus “is traveling through the air and there is no bright line. You’re not safe beyond 6 feet. You can’t take your mask off at 6 feet,” said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
For months, the CDC has said that the virus spreads mainly through small airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Most CDC guidance about social distancing is built around that idea, saying that 6 feet is a safe buffer between people who are not wearing masks.
In interviews, CDC officials have also acknowledged growing evidence that the virus can sometimes spread on even smaller particles called aerosols that spread over a wider area.
In the update posted on its website, the agency again acknowledged recent research showing people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after an infected person left an area. CDC officials called those “limited, uncommon circumstances.”
In those cases, spread occurred in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces where people were doing activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise, CDC officials said.
People can protect themselves by staying at least 6 feet away from others, wearing a mask, washing their hands, cleaning touched surfaces and staying home when sick.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
3 p.m.: Facing $1.2 billion shortfall, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot schedules Oct. 21 budget address
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will unveil her 2021 budget and explain how she intends to fill a $1.2 billion deficit on Oct. 21, according to her administration.
Lightfoot initially planned to give her budget speech on Oct. 14, but pushing it back gives her more time to prepare her spending plan.
Citing the “catastrophic collapse of our local and national economy” because of COVID-19 and damage to local businesses from civil unrest, Lightfoot in August laid out a $1.2 billion shortfall for what she called Chicago’s “pandemic budget” in 2021.
She has since declined to provide specifics about how the city will close its yawning deficit, saying officials were working on plans and awaiting feedback from residents.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
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1:01 p.m.: Brian Kelly pledges Notre Dame football ‘will be even more vigilant’ after a COVID-19 outbreak involving 39 players
In normal times, coaches warn players about excessive celebrations to avoid a 15-yard penalty.
Now? The penalty could be more serious — getting sick, missing games and imperiling teammates.
That was the reality check Monday provided by coach Brian Kelly, who is grateful Notre Dame will return to the field Saturday night against Florida State. A COVID-19 outbreak involving 39 players (25 testing positive and 14 quarantined due to contact tracing) prompted the Irish to suspend all team activities from Sept. 22-29 and postpone the game at Wake Forest.
“Nothing has been normal the last couple of weeks,” Kelly said.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
12:11 p.m.: Why Morton Arboretum decided to make its ‘Illumination’ holiday lights experience drive-thru this year
It isn’t immediately obvious why Morton Arboretum would make “Illumination,” its holiday lights experience, drive-thru for the first time this year.
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CDC guidelines suggest that outdoor, socially distanced activities are relatively safe in the COVID-19 pandemic. And the three other big end-of-year bulb displays — at Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield Zoo and Chicago Botanic Garden — are all sticking with the boots-on-the-ground model.
But the Lisle tree park’s decision to have people stay in their cars this year, when “Illumination” debuts Nov. 20, boils down to two things: a hedge against the uncertainty of a winter season with the virus still coursing through American communities, and perhaps getting worse thanks to folks being forced indoors; and a simple matter of giving the people what they said they want.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
12:07 p.m.: 1,853 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths reported
Illinois public health officials reported Monday they had logged 1,853 newly diagnosed cases and 14 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 303,394 known cases and 8,805 deaths.
—Chicago Tribune staff
9:51 a.m.: You’re worried about a pandemic, the election and a safe Halloween. Are you ready to start holiday shopping?
Generations of families have kicked off the holiday season in Chicago with a trip to Macy’s —formerly Marshall Field’s — store on State Street, peeking at animated window displays before visiting the 45-foot-tall, 3,000-pound decorated tree at the center of the Walnut Room restaurant.
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The coronavirus pandemic won’t stop a tradition that began 113 years ago: The Walnut Room, closed since March, opens Nov. 7. But where diners used to stand in a rope line to wait for a table, this year, they will need to plan ahead.
Macy’s is requiring reservations and will start taking bookings on OpenTable this week. To limit crowds, only groups having a meal will be able to visit the tree.
Consumers have a lot on their plates as they deal with a global health crisis, job losses, pay cuts, a contentious presidential election and whether their kids can safely celebrate Halloween. Retailers face those same worries as they grapple with the all-important question for the fourth quarter: How to get people in a holiday spending mood?
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
9 a.m.: Goose Island shifting first Bourbon County release to United Center drive-thru event due to COVID-19
Like Chicago’s basketball and hockey teams, the city’s oldest brewery will call the United Center home, albeit temporarily, as COVID-19 forces Goose Island to release the first of its 2020 Bourbon County beers in a multi-day drive-thru operation at the West Side arena.
Instead of the brewery’s usual in-person beer release called Proprietor’s Day, Goose Island will stage a tweaked version called Proprietor’s Days across weekends in November, during which beer drinkers will be able to pick up several of the brewery’s barrel-aged stouts without getting out of their vehicles.
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Read more here. —Josh Noel
7:11 a.m.: Free ride over for Metra UP commuters as ticket verification begins at Ogilvie station
The free ride may be over for Chicago commuters on Metra’s three Union Pacific lines with the installation of manned ticket verification booths at the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
Beginning Monday, commuters on the UP North, Northwest and West Metra lines will have to show a valid ticket or their Ventra app when boarding or disembarking at the Chicago station. Union Pacific employees will verify fares behind new Plexiglas booths on the train platforms.
“We feel this is the safest way to help with fair collection, but also protect our employees and the commuters,” said Kristen South, a Union Pacific spokeswoman.
Metra and Union Pacific have been at odds over fare collection since June, when UP refused to allow conductors into the aisles to punch tickets on its three Metra lines, citing coronavirus safety concerns. That essentially created a no fare policy, which has been costing the commuter rail system $1 million a month in lost ticket revenue, Metra said.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
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7:10 a.m.: State board of education and teachers unions team up to mentor, instruct new teachers during COVID-19 pandemic
New teachers hired during the coronavirus pandemic will be paired with mentors and online instructional coaches “to help guide them through this most unique first year of teaching” under a partnership between the state Board of Education and Illinois teachers unions, according to a news release.
Every year, about 4,000 new public school teachers are hired in Illinois, and many were unable to complete their usual student teaching this spring because of the pandemic-forced shift to online learning, according to the release.
The Illinois Virtual Instructional Coach and Building Mentor Program is being funded with a $6.5 million grant from the federal coronavirus relief bill. The program will give the new teachers an online instructional coach to give them support for online teaching, a mentor to help them connect with their school community and an online library of resources, according to the release. The program also will help connect teachers with other first-year teachers and give them “support and feedback through one-on-one and small group virtual coaching sessions,” according to the release.
—Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: Older people will soon receive health coverage in Illinois regardless of immigration status under first-in-nation program: ‘It’s a relief’
When Ananias Ocampo, 76, learned that in December he’ll finally have access to health care coverage even though he lacks legal immigration status, he smiled and managed to get up from the chair next to his ice cream cart despite his trembling and extreme knee pain because of arthritis.
He could not believe it.
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“Enserio, no lo puedo creer, que alivio!” cried out Ocampo while selling ice cream on the corner of 18th and Paulina streets, as he has done every day during the summer despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is at a high risk of contracting the virus because of his advanced age and health conditions, including diabetes. But because of his immigration status, Ocampo does not qualify for Medicare, Social Security, or any sort of federal assistance, despite paying taxes for decades.
But in December, Ocampo will be one of hundreds of older immigrants eligible for Medicaid-like coverage in Illinois for low-income immigrants age 65 and older regardless of their immigration status. Initially, between 400 and 2,000 people are expected to sign up for the program, which was part of the state budget passed this spring.
Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa
5 a.m.: In the final days of the census, outreach workers struggle with apathy and distrust
Working at food pantries in Chicago this summer, 17-year-old Lizbeth Vidal walked up and down lines of families, trying to get them counted for the 2020 census.
It was not an easy job, even though many of the people she approached came from some of the neediest neighborhoods in Chicago and stood to lose the most if not counted for a census that will determine billions of dollars in federal resources for the next 10 years.
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One day, she stood next to a family of 13 as they waited at a pantry, chatting with them all the way to the end when they finally agreed to complete a census questionnaire. She is constantly telling people how filling out the form will make their parks, libraries and schools better for their children.
“A lot of us are learning from home and … that money is going to be helpful for us,” Vidal told residents near her home in West Englewood. “I know not everyone has computers. ... That’s the way we get computers, books.”
Still, response rates remain low in many areas across the South and West sides, with some neighborhoods reporting rates around 30%. The same areas have poverty rates of 30% and 40%, according to data gathered by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“The reason people are hard to count is because they don’t trust the system,” said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, who has been involved in census efforts on the West Side. “People don’t believe they should participate because our communities suffer, and they believe they are never going to spend the money on our neighborhoods anyways.”
The pandemic put up new barriers. The original deadline of July 31 was extended to Oct. 31 because it was harder to reach homes or gather people for events. The Trump administration abruptly moved up the deadline to Sept. 30, but a federal judge has ruled the deadline should remain the end of this month to guarantee an accurate count.
Read more here. —Sophie Sherry and Jessica Villagomez
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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 four things that happened over the weekend related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Trump leaves hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 — and then returns to White House with

Trump leaves hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 — and then returns to White House without a mask

Trump ’ s experience with the disease has been dramatically different from most Americans , who do not have access @ @ @ @ @ monitoring and care .
While most must cope with their symptoms — and fear of @ @ @ @ @ a turn for the worse — at home and alone , Trump has been staying @ @ @ @ @ one of the nation ’ s best hospitals and has been given experimental drugs not @ @ @ @ @ .
He returns to the White House where there is a team of doctors on @ @ @ @ @

ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and AAMER MADHANI

BETHESDA, Md. — President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans — and then he entered the White House without a protective mask.
Trump’s message alarmed infectious disease experts and suggested the president’s own illness had not caused him to rethink his often-cavalier attitude toward the disease, which has also infected the first lady and several White House aides, including new cases revealed on Monday.
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Landing at the White House on Marine One, Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask and declared, “I feel good.” He gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter from the portico terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.
President Trump returns to the White House.
Full video here: https://t.co/1nsreXhkot pic.twitter.com/ktp39Byu6p — CSPAN (@cspan) October 5, 2020
The president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where his doctor, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley, said earlier Monday that the president remains contagious and would not be fully “out of the woods” for another week but that Trump had met or exceeded standards for discharge from the hospital. Trump is expected to continue his recovery at the White House, where the reach of the outbreak that has infected the highest levels of the U.S. government is still being uncovered.
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Still, just a month before the election and anxious to project strength, Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital, “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!!” And in case anyone missed his don’t-worry message earlier, he rushed out a new video from the White House.
“Don’t be afraid of it,” Trump said of the virus. “You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines.” His remarks were strong, but he was taking deeper breaths than usual as he delivered them.
Trump’s nonchalant message about not fearing the virus comes as his own administration has encouraged Americans to be very careful and take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease as cases continue to spike across the country. For more than eight months, Trump’s efforts to play down the threat of the virus in hopes of propping up the economy ahead of the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.
“We have to be realistic in this: COVID is a complete threat to the American population,” Dr. David Nace of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said of Trump’s comment.
“Most of the people aren’t so lucky as the president,” with an in-house medical unit and access to experimental treatments, added Nace, an expert on infections in older adults.
“It’s an unconscionable message,” agreed Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “I would go so far as to say that it may precipitate or worsen spread.”
[ Since President Trump’s COVID diagnosis, numerous associates have tested positive, but the White House has not investigated how the outbreak unfolded ]
Likewise, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who spent more than 90 minutes on the debate stage with Trump last week, said during an NBC town hall Monday night that he was glad Trump seemed to be recovering well, “but there’s a lot to be concerned about -- 210,000 people have died. I hope no one walks away with the message that it’s not a problem.”
Biden, who tested negative for the virus on Sunday, said in an interview with WPLG Local 10 News in Miami: “I saw a tweet he did, they showed me, he said ‘Don’t let COVID control your life.’” Tell that to all the “families that lost someone.”
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 12 President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller stands in the Oval Office of the White House during a law enforcement briefing on the MS-13 gang, July 15, 2020, in Washington. Miller has tested positive for COVID-19. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
There was pushback from a prominent Trump political supporter as well.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that Trump had “let his guard down” in his effort to show that the country was moving beyond the virus and had created “confusion” about how to stay safe.
Dr. Conley said that because of Trump’s unusual level of treatment so early after discovery of his illness he was in “uncharted territory.” But the doctor also was upbeat at an afternoon briefing and said the president could resume his normal schedule once “there is no evidence of live virus still present.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 can be contagious for as many — and should isolate for at least — 10 days.
[ CDC now says coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air in updated guidance ]
Trump’s arrival back at the White House raised new questions about how the administration was going to protect other officials from a disease that remains rampant in the president’s body. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had tested positive for the virus Monday morning and was entering quarantine.
There were also lingering questions about potential long term effects to the president — and even when he first came down with the virus
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Conley repeatedly declined to share results of medical scans of Trump’s lungs, saying he was not at liberty to discuss the information because Trump did not waive doctor-patient confidentiality on the subject. COVID-19 has been known to cause significant damage to the lungs of some patients. Conley also declined to share the date of Trump’s most recent negative test for the virus — a critical point for contact tracing and understanding where Trump was in the course of the disease.
Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, talks with reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Evan Vucci/AP)
Only a day earlier, Trump suggested he had finally grasped the true nature of the virus, saying in a video, “I get it.” But then on Sunday afternoon, he ventured out of the hospital while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade — an outing that disregarded precautions meant to contain the virus.
At the hospital, doctors revealed that his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the very sick.
Trump’s experience with the disease has been dramatically different from most Americans, who do not have access to the same kind of monitoring and care. While most must cope with their symptoms — and fear of whether they’ll take a turn for the worse — at home and alone, Trump has been staying in the presidential suite of one of the nation’s best hospitals and has been given experimental drugs not readily available to the public. He returns to the White House where there is a team of doctors on call with 24-hour monitoring.
Trump was leaving the hospital after receiving a fourth dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir Monday evening, Conley said. He will receive the fifth and final dose Tuesday at the White House.
[ Nearly one-third of COVID patients in Chicago-area study had an altered mental state — ranging from confusion to coma-like unresponsiveness ]
Vice President Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail moments after Trump announced he would soon leave the hospital. The vice president boarded Air Force Two to fly to Salt Lake City, where he is to face off against Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
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Trump, in his new video, defended his decision to repeatedly flout his own administration’s guidelines to slow the spread of the virus, including by holding rallies with thousands of largely maskless supporters.
Apparently referring to any potential danger to himself rather than others, he said, “I stood out front. I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did.” He added, “And I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger. But that’s OK. And now I’m better. And maybe I’m immune, I don’t know.”
Even before Trump’s motorcade outing on Sunday, some Secret Service agents had expressed concern about the lackadaisical attitude toward masks and social distancing inside the White House, but there isn’t much they can do, according to agents and officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
Trump’s aggressive course of treatment included the steroid dexamethasone and the single dose he was given Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help the immune system fight the virus. Trump on Friday also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients. The drugs work in different ways — the antibodies help the immune system rid the body of virus, and remdesivir curbs the virus' ability to multiply.
Miller and Colvin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard and Jonathan Lemire in Washington, and Bill Barrow in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--City trucks deployed during unrest

City trucks deployed during unrest

President Donald Trump had a busy schedule during the week the coronavirus hit home .
Trump revealed early Oct. 2 @ @ @ @ @ and the first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus , throwing the @ @ @ @ @ and escalating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000 @ @ @ @ @ .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10 Streets and Sanitation vehicles are deployed to deter possible unrest on North Avenue and Wells Street in the Old Town neighborhood on Sept. 25, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago has spent at least $222 million on overtime for Chicago government workers through August of this year, a budget-busting figure as the city faces historic shortfalls.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Suburban woman dies after crash during motorcycle safety training course at Harper College

“ On behalf of the entire Harper College community , I want to extend my sincerest condolences to her family @ @ @ @ @ Proctor , president of Harper College , said in a statement .
“ Our thoughts @ @ @ @ @ during this difficult time .
”

A 66-year-old DuPage County woman has died from injuries she suffered in a crash while participating in a motorcycle safety training course at Harper College in Palatine this weekend, a college spokeswoman said.
The woman died Saturday after she was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash around 1 p.m. in a parking lot of the campus on Algonquin Road in Palatine, Kimberly Pohl, a Harper spokeswoman, said in a statement.
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The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the woman as Carol Counelis, of Winfield.
Following the crash, she was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, where she died around 2 p.m., Pohl said.
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At the time of the fatal crash, Counelis was taking a motorcycle safety training class at Harper offered on behalf of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Cycle Rider Safety Training Program, Pohl said.
The class underway when the crash occurred was the three-wheel basic rider course, which provides approximately 20 hours of classroom and on-motorcycle instruction, Pohl said.
Students enrolled in the course were midway through day two of the three-day class when the fatal accident occurred, Pohl said.
“On behalf of the entire Harper College community, I want to extend my sincerest condolences to her family and friends,” Avis Proctor, president of Harper College, said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.”
Pohl said the student killed in the crash hit a curb and was ejected from the motorcycle. She was wearing a helmet, which is one of the program requirements, Pohl said.
The investigation into the crash, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Harper College police with assistance from the Palatine Police Department.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--The Spin: Trump to exit hospital; Durbin, Duckworth slam his Sunday motorcade | Lightfoot phoning vo

The Spin: Trump to exit hospital; Durbin, Duckworth slam his Sunday motorcade | Lightfoot phoning voters for Biden-Harris | Mayor to deliver budget address Oct. 21

Other news : In the final days of the census , Chicago-area outreach workers struggle against apathy and distrust : @ @ @ @ @ hard to count is because they don ’ t trust the system , ” said @ @ @ @ @ , who has been involved in census efforts on the West Side of Chicago .
@ @ @ @ @ believe they should participate because our communities suffer , and they believe they are never @ @ @ @ @ on our neighborhoods anyways.
” Yet the push continues with federal funding at stake for @ @ @ @ @ at risk of losing as many as two seats in Congress if the records show @ @ @ @ @ more dramatically than expected .
The Tribune ’ s Sophie Sherry and Jessica Villagomez have @ @ @ @ @

U.S. President Donald Trump wears a protective face mask in a motorcade outside Walter Reed Medical Center during his treatment for COVID-19 on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)
President Donald Trump announced he’ll exit Walter Reed hospital this evening, just days after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and as conflicting messages about his health have emerged from his hospital team and the White House.
Meantime, Illinois U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin are among the chorus of Democrats saying the Republican president’s brief venture outside the hospital yesterday, while being treated for COVID-19, to drive by cheering supporters via motorcade underscores the notion that he doesn’t take the virus seriously.
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden continues to do in-person campaigning, while Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is giving him a little virtual help. Biden will participate in an hourlong town hall meeting, hosted by NBC at 7 tonight.
Lightfoot is hosting a virtual phone banking session today on behalf of Biden and running mate, Kamala Harris, according to the mayor’s political team. It’s part of a weekly virtual series known as “Mayor Monday” where Democratic city leaders across the nation get on the horn but enlist their supporters to join in talking up not only the Biden-Harris ticket but also local Democrats down-ballot.
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The mayor will offer some opening remarks to volunteers and then make some calls herself.
The battle of the billionaires continues over the proposed constitutional amendment to shift the state from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated tax with rates that increase with income. Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based Citadel hedge fund and investment firm, put up an additional $26.7 million — for a total of $46.75 million to date — to defeat the measure. A signature proposal of billionaire Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s first-term agenda, the Hyatt hotel heir has kicked in $56.5 of his own money. That money is being dumped into pro-con advertising swamping the airwaves.
Welcome to The Spin.
Illinois Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin on April 6, 2017. (Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune)
The latest from The Associated Press: "President Donald Trump said Monday he’s leaving the military hospital where he has been receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19, saying that despite his illness the nation should not be afraid of the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.
“Trump’s doctor, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley, said the president would not be fully out of the woods for another week, but he said Trump had “met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria.” Trump is expected to continue his recovery at the White House, where the scale of the outbreak that has infected the highest levels of the U.S. government is still being uncovered.” Read more here.
Illinois’ two senators, both frequent Trump critics, were holding their noses after, the AP notes, Trump briefly ventured out of the hospital while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade — an outing that disregarded precautions meant to contain the virus. Durbin took to Twitter: “After downplaying the virus for months, the President is in the hospital & 210,000+ Americans have died from #COVID19. Pres. Trump’s decision to go for a drive around Walter Reed shows he’s still not taking this virus seriously. We need science & leadership, not political stunts.”
Duckworth, also on social media, wrote: “Why is a man with #COVID19 meeting with ANYONE rn? Why force @SecretService into a small space to do it? This isn’t leadership—it’s irresponsible & it could have deadly consequences. How many more lives does he need to put at risk before he takes this virus seriously?”
Why is a man with #COVID19 meeting with ANYONE rn? ⁰⁰Why force @SecretService into a small space to do it? ⁰⁰This isn't leadership—it's irresponsible & it could have deadly consequences. ⁰⁰How many more lives does he need to put at risk before he takes this virus seriously? https://t.co/ZcQAsc3iDf — Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 5, 2020
After downplaying the virus for months, the President is in the hospital & 210,000+ Americans have died from #COVID19. Pres. Trump’s decision to go for a drive around Walter Reed shows he's still not taking this virus seriously. We need science & leadership, not political stunts. pic.twitter.com/j6DGLy3neM — Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) October 5, 2020
Pope Francis’s new encyclical feels like a papal warning, in part, about the U.S. election: The Washington Post writes, “For Americans, certain passages will likely read as a warning against Trump-style politics. Those sentiments come as little surprise to anybody who has listened to the pope’s remarks over the years — with frequent denunciations of populism and wall-building — but the paper argues in more details about how the style can exacerbate divisions and lead to other societal breakdowns.” Read the full story here.
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More beltway news: Facing a conservative turn, Supreme Court opens new term with a remembrance of ‘a dear friend and a treasured colleague’ — Read The Associated Press story here.
COVID-19 in Illinois: by the numbers.
The free ride is over for Metra UP commuters: Ticket verification is beginning at Ogilvie station, the Tribune’s Robert Channick writes. He notes, “Metra and Union Pacific have been at odds over fare collection since June, when UP refused to allow conductors into the aisles to punch tickets on its three Metra lines, citing coronavirus safety concerns. That essentially created a no fare policy, which has been costing the commuter rail system $1 million a month in lost ticket revenue, Metra said.” Read the full story here.
Auto industry rebounding, but it’s slim pickings at Chicago-area new car dealerships: The Tribune’s Robert Channick has the details here.
You’re worried about a pandemic, the election and a safe Halloween. Are you ready to start holiday shopping? The Tribune’s Lauren Zumbach has the details here.
Other news: In the final days of the census, Chicago-area outreach workers struggle against apathy and distrust: “The reason people are hard to count is because they don’t trust the system,” said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, who has been involved in census efforts on the West Side of Chicago. “People don’t believe they should participate because our communities suffer, and they believe they are never going to spend the money on our neighborhoods anyways.” Yet the push continues with federal funding at stake for the next decade and Illinois at risk of losing as many as two seats in Congress if the records show the head count has shrunk more dramatically than expected. The Tribune’s Sophie Sherry and Jessica Villagomez have the full story here.
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Early voters cast ballots Oct. 1, 2020, at the Loop Super Site in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Battle of billionaires on tax amendment: “Griffin and Pritzker are the main funding sources of the campaigns for and against the proposal asking voters to change the state’s constitution to replace Illinois’ current flat-rate income tax with a graduated-rate tax,” the Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes.
In a statement after his latest donation, Griffin said if the proposal is adopted by voters on the Nov. 3 ballot, it would mean “the continued exodus of families and businesses, loss of jobs and inevitably higher taxes on everyone.”
Quentin Fulks, who chairs the pro-amendment Vote Yes for Fairness group and worked on Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign, contended “Griffin is growing increasingly desperate to ensure he can keep the special deal he gets under our current tax system that allows him to pay the same tax rate as our essential workers.”
GOP-aligned group files lawsuit challenging ballot language on Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax amendment: The Tribune’s Rick Pearson has the detail here.
Fact-check: Will large and small Illinois businesses pay more under the graduated tax plan? TV ads suggest the proposed graduated income tax measure on the ballot would hit small businesses, already hurting amid the pandemic, in the pocket. The Better Government Association dug in to ferret out the details, finding: “Corporations will see an increase in their flat-rate income tax under the plan that takes effect if the amendment is approved. But only a wealthy subset of small businesses, which generally pass their profits to shareholders, would be affected — and data suggests that portion would be small.” Read the BGA’s Kiannah Sepeda-Miller’s full take here.
Casten, Ives say they’ve each raised $1 million-plus in 3rd quarter of year: Today, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s campaign announced he’s raised over $1.14 million in the third quarter, while Republican challenger Jeanne Ives’ campaign says she raised more than $1 million in the race for the west and northwest suburban 6th Congressional District seat.
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In the coming days, Casten and other congressional candidates are expected to file fundraising documents with the Federal Election Commission and we’ll get a clearer picture of the campaigns’ financial standing going in to the final month before the election.
While Ives’ spokeswoman said they only know how much money had been raised, Casten has had a distinct fundraising lead; his team said the candidate has raised $5.2 million, with nearly $2 million cash on hand right now, during the 2020 cycle. More on that here.
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More than 225,000 registered voters in DuPage and Will counties have applied to vote by mail as of Sept. 11, 2020, according to officials from the two counties. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)
Illinois in general and Chicago specifically is seeing a record-shattering number of voters in Chicago and across the state requesting mail-in ballots, my Tribune colleague Dan Petrella wrote over the weekend.
One of them is 102-year-old Bea Lumpkin who lives in the Hyde Park-Kenwood area. Take a look at this picture, tweeted out by the Chicago Teacher’s Union last week after Lumpkin mailed in her completed ballot. (A relative, she tells The Spin, made the protective covering with the aid of a vaccuum cleaner fan and other material.)
Lumpkin said as soon as she received the ballot, she quickly filled it out and took it to the mailbox “because I don’t want to take any chances.”
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“It’s 100 years since the 19th Amendment came to be and now that right to vote is being questioned. So I think you need to vote like your life depends on it - because it does," she told The Spin in a phone interview.
Asked whether she was alarmed by President Trump saying mail-in voting would result in “massive fraud,” she said “no” and later said that she was on team Biden-Harris. Plus, she has a plan: “Well, by voting by mail this early (I can make sure) I get (emailed) confirmation (from the Chicago election board) that my ballot did reach the right people,” Lumpkin said. “It’s the safest way. If for any reason it doesn’t get there in the mail, then I will vote early” at the polls.
That’s how she’d been doing it in recent years; her polling place is across from the nearby YMCA where she was exercising regularly until the pandemic hit. “It was really convenient,” said the one-time high school and later college instructor. Her career including Washington High School on the Southeast Side as well as Malcolm X College. Her grandson is now a CPS science teacher.
Secure drop boxes, extra sorting machines and a decade of experience: Here’s why Illinois election officials say voting by mail is safe: The Tribune’s Dan Petrella takes a deep dive here.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces Chicago's first ever community based Contract Tracing Corps and Resource Coordination Hub, during a press conference at the Greater Western Community Development Project in Chicago, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
The mayor had initially set Oct. 14 to deliver her 2021 budget address but is pushing that back a week. It gives her finance team more time to plan. Read Gregory Pratt’s Tribune story here.
Chicago aldermen advance new members for Northwest Side home equity board: The Tribune’s John Byrne has the details here.
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Also - Gun club wins controversial tax break from Cook County Board: My Tribune colleague Alice Yin has the full story here.
Workers tend to plants in growing room at Cresco Labs in Joliet on Dec. 17, 2019. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s Robert McCoppin writes: “Investors who won a chance for a license to sell recreational marijuana in Illinois have filed a lawsuit asserting it’s illegal to give other applicants a second chance.
“The petition calls on the Illinois Supreme Court to order that the licenses be awarded without recent changes to the application process they say were made because of ‘political expediency.’” Read the rest of the story here.
Illinois put 75 licenses to operate recreational marijuana dispensaries up for grabs earlier this year, with more than 700 groups submitting 4,000 applications. Last month, lawmakers and applicants who lost out were up in arms when the state said 21 of those groups would proceed to the final phase: a lottery to award the licenses.
They argued — and even even filed a federal lawsuit later withdrawn — that the state’s process defeated the stated goals of diversifying the largely white-owned industry. Pritzker subsequently changed the application process.
Paletero Ananias Ocampo, 76, sells ice cream at 18th Street near Paulina in Chicago on Sept. 25, 2020. Ananias Ocampo suffers from severe arthritis, diabetes and osteoarthritis. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
The Tribune’s Laura Rodriguez Presa writes that in December 'hundreds of older immigrants (will be) eligible for Medicaid-like coverage in Illinois for low-income immigrants age 65 and older regardless of their immigration status." The program is part of the state budget passed this spring.
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“Illinois is the first state to fully fund this type of health coverage program for noncitizen immigrant older people, according to Hayley Burgess of the National Immigration Law Center,” Rodriguez Presa writes.
“The program was championed by the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus, in response to data showing uninsured older people who got COVID-19 could risk more severe coronavirus complications, incurring more expensive medical bills the state would end up paying, said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago,” she notes.
Costs: The expansion is expected to cost the state $5 million, said Evan Fazio, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. But that’s a small amount compared to the tax contributions of the group covered, advocates say. Read the rest of the story here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


Corrections and clarifications

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Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards .
Everyone in @ @ @ @ @ live up to this code of conduct .
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· A story on Page 1 Monday about medical coverage for immigrants misstated the amount of time the state program for immigrants will pay retroactively for medical bills; it is for bills incurred in the past year.
· A “Kids & Money” column by Steve Rosen published Sept. 28 gave the wrong deadline for submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, for the new aid cycle. The deadline is June 30, 2022.
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The Tribune regrets the errors.
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
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chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Illinois recreational marijuana sales hit record of nearly $68 million in September

Nearly $ 18 million , or about a fourth of the sales , went to out-of-state residents , according to @ @ @ @ @ Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation , which licenses marijuana dispensaries in the state @

The recreational weed business keeps growing in Illinois, with the state’s adult use cannabis dispensaries generating nearly $68 million in sales during September.
The new sales record, reported Monday by the state, tops August sales by nearly $4 million. It includes more than 1.4 million items sold, also a record since Illinois legalized recreational marijuana sales in January.
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Nearly $18 million, or about a fourth of the sales, went to out-of-state residents, according to the monthly report by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which licenses marijuana dispensaries in the state.
When Illinois legalized recreational marijuana in January, it allowed the 55 existing medical cannabis dispensaries to begin adult use cannabis sales at a second location. Recreational sales have nearly doubled since then, despite the economic disruption of the pandemic.
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There are 67 licensed recreational dispensaries in Illinois, according to the state.
A planned lottery to award 75 new recreational licenses is on hold after more than 70 unsuccessful marijuana dispensary applicants filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging the process unfairly excluded the minority applicants it had sought to include.
The state initially selected 21 of 700 applicants to participate in the lottery.
The lawsuit was dropped last month after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a second chance to qualify for the license lottery.
On Monday, three of the 21 finalists filed a petition asking the Illinois Supreme Court to order that the licenses be awarded without giving the unsuccessful applicants a second chance to qualify.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--St. Viator High School moves to all-remote after ‘several’ positive COVID-19 cases over weekend

“ While we had experienced only a few isolated instances since returning to school on August 24 , in the @ @ @ @ @ of reports exceeded what we feel allows us to provide a safe environment for our @ @ @ @ @ , ” school President Brian Liedlich said in a statement .

St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights is shifting from all-onsite learning to all-remote following an uptick in positive novel coronavirus cases in recent days, school officials said Monday.
School officials told Pioneer Press Monday that the decision was made after several positive COVID-19 test results “among those in the school” Saturday and Sunday.
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Officials declined to say whether those testing positive were students or staff, or to provide additional information.
“While we had experienced only a few isolated instances since returning to school on August 24, in the past few days the number of reports exceeded what we feel allows us to provide a safe environment for our faculty, staff and students,” school President Brian Liedlich said in a statement.
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St. Viator is a private Catholic high school with a total enrollment of 836, according to school spokesman Jim Mitchell.
St. Viator officials said Monday students will stay in remote learning mode for two weeks, with a plan to return to in-person learning Oct. 19, though “conditions will dictate that decision.”
Parents and students of the village’s public school districts have been outspoken in demanding that Township High School District 214 and Arlington Heights School District 25 shift immediately from all-remote learning to a hybrid mode that includes in-person schooling.
The parents and students had cited St. Viator and Loyola Academy in Wilmette as successful examples of schools returning to in-person learning. Loyola Academy closed for two weeks earlier in the school year after several students tested positive for COVID-19.
The District 214 school board has a meeting scheduled for Thursday where the issue of offering hybrid learning may be discussed.
Graydon Megan is a freelancer.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Roy Pratt, 8-term Gary council member, dead at 82

Hughes said Pratt was the first one on the city council to mention the idea of casino gambling for the @ @ @ @ @ former councilman came back with the idea after a trip to casinos in Tunica , @ @ @ @ @ economic development they inspired as a way to breathe new life into the city .
@ @ @ @ @ former State Sen. Earline Rogers , who championed the idea at the state level and @ @ @ @ @ s gaming license .

Roy Pratt was remembered as a consummate statesman who fought vigorously for what he believed. (Gary Common Council / HANDOUT)
Former City Councilman Roy Pratt, who served more than three decades on the Gary Common Council, died Thursday. He was 82.
Pratt, who is survived by his wife, Beverly, and their children, first joined the council in 1983 and served eight consecutive terms ending in 2015, when he opted to retire and not seek reelection. Current State Rep. Ragen Hatcher was elected to his seat.
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Pratt, a Democrat, was remembered as a consummate statesman who fought vigorously for what he believed.
Chuck Hughes, president and CEO of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, said while he served with Pratt for 16 years on the council, he first got to know him as an athlete and then coach. Hughes said Pratt was a three-sport star athlete at Gary Roosevelt High School, who attended Indiana University on a football scholarship. He went on to teach physical education and coach at various high schools in the area.
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Hughes said Pratt was the first one on the city council to mention the idea of casino gambling for the city. He said the former councilman came back with the idea after a trip to casinos in Tunica, Mississippi, and saw the economic development they inspired as a way to breathe new life into the city. The baton was passed to former State Sen. Earline Rogers, who championed the idea at the state level and helped secure the city’s gaming license.
He described Pratt as a measured politician who helped him learn how to accept the defeats as well as the victories.
“One of my first controversial votes, It did not go the way I wanted it to go. He told me, ‘Every win is not a win, every loss is not a loss.’ Those were very powerful words spoken at that time,” Hughes said
Mayor Jerome Prince said he, too, worked with Pratt while he served as a city councilman. Prince said he had a good relationship with Pratt and a lot of respect for him.
“In addition to his large presence, he had a large personality. He stuck to his convictions. What I appreciated most about him, from a personal level, he was one of the first persons who actively stressed the importance of separating politics and government,” Prince said.
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Current Common Council Members Ronald Brewer and Mary Brown said Pratt offered his help and knowledge to them when they were first elected to the council.
“Roy was a great person to sit under coming on to the council. Roy taught me a lot on the council. He definitely reached out to give me any possible advice he could,” Brewer said.
“He helped me so much. When I came to the council I was new. He was just so knowledgeable. I depended on him a lot for information,” Brown said.
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Vanessa Williams, office manager for the Gary Common Council, served as Pratt’s personal assistant for 28 years, service she describes as “truly an honor.”
“Roy Pratt was the absolute best boss ever,” Williams said. She recalled her former boss as a mentor and friend who was always comical and who made every workday pleasurable.
“Most importantly, he was a true civil servant who loved the city and citizens of Gary, particularly the elderly and young people. He would always inspire a child by addressing them as ‘mayor’ or ‘president’,” Williams said.
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Former Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she knew Pratt for a large part of her adult life, not only as a member of the council but as a teacher and coach. He served the last term of his tenure on the city council during Freeman-Wilson’s first term.
“I knew him to be not only a beloved teacher and coach in the Gary school corporation, but also a champion of this community as a long-standing member of the Gary Common Council,” she said.
Derek Taylor, polemarch for the Gary Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., said Pratt was a member for close to 70 years and served as a role model for achievement and community service espoused by the organization.
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“We were so proud to have him as a brother,” Taylor said.
Visitation will take place from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, with family hour and Kappa Alpha Psi Ceremony from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Genesis Convention Center, 1 Genesis Center Plaza, Gary. Funeral services take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John the Baptist Church, 2457 Massachusetts St., in Gary. Visitation is one hour prior to the service. Interment is at Evergreen Memorial Park in Hobart. Divinity Funeral Home in East Chicago is handling arrangements.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Chicago man on probation faces multiple weapons charges after being arrested in Clarendon Hills

A notification Sunday on the Clarendon Hills website stated that two of three men had been arrested ; however , @ @ @ @ @ , as of Monday afternoon .
There was no information available Monday about whether the @ @ @ @ @ , as the investigation continued .

Kobe Mayers (DuPage County State's Attorney)
Clarendon Hills police responding Sunday morning to a call from a resident of suspicious persons led to multiple criminal charges for a 20-year-old Chicago man.
Kobe Mayers, of the 7500 block of South Calumet Avenue, has been charged with one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, both felonies. Mayers also was charged with resisting a police officer, a misdemeanor.
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Mayers appeared in Bond Court Monday, where Judge Brian Telander set bond at $200,000, with 10% to apply.
Mayers, who is on probation in Cook County for unlawful use of a weapon, was found in possession of a loaded pistol with a 30-round extended magazine, according to information from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Paul Dalen, the Clarendon Hills police chief.
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Dalen said officers responded about 7:40 a.m. Sunday near Holmes and Harris Avenues, where they reportedly saw three men, one of which was later identified as Mayer, in the area.
As officers approached, the men fled the scene on foot and one threw a loaded 9 mm pistol, with an extended 30-round magazine, at the officers, according to information from the State’s Attorney’s office. Mayers was taken into custody following a brief chase.
“I’m very glad that one of our residents made the decision to call us when they saw people walking around houses,” Dalen said. “This type of vigilance enabled responding Clarendon Hills officers, with the assistance of Willowbrook officers, to place these individuals into custody.” Dalen said officers from Oakbrook, Hinsdale, Willowbrook and Westmont police Departments also responded quickly and assisted.
A notification Sunday on the Clarendon Hills website stated that two of three men had been arrested; however, only Mayers had been charged, as of Monday afternoon. There was no information available Monday about whether the third suspect had been apprehended, as the investigation continued.
Mayers' next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 4, in front of Judge Telander. If convicted, he faces a penalty of between two to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--GOP-aligned group files lawsuit challenging ballot language on Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax

GOP-aligned group files lawsuit challenging ballot language on Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax amendment

The amendment itself is silent on how varying tax rates would be applied , but a state law that would @ @ @ @ @ amendment is adopted by voters would impose higher tax rates on higher incomes and lower @ @ @ @ @ Supporters say the rate schedule would mean 97 % of Illinoisans , those making $ @ @ @ @ @ pay at least the same or less in income taxes .

The Illinois Policy Institute, a GOP-aligned group opposed to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax plan, filed a lawsuit suit Monday contending the explanation of the proposed state constitutional amendment sent to voters was “misleading” and needs court-ordered clarification.
The Pritzker-backed Vote Yes for Fairness group backing the proposed amendment called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said it was simply an attempt to gain attention to efforts to defeat the item that sits atop the Nov. 3 ballot.
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The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, contends language contained in a pamphlet on the proposed amendment that was sent to voters by the secretary of state’s office was misleading in a way aimed at persuading voters to approve the plan. It also contends the ballot language that explains the amendment to voters was inaccurate.
The amendment would change the state’s mandated flat-rate income tax to a graduated-rate tax with rates that increase along with income.
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“Like the ballot explanation, the arguments in favor include several misleading statements including, among others, a misleading statement that, upon information and belief, will induce retirees into voting to impose on themselves a tax on retirement income,” the lawsuit, filed by the group along with three retirees, contends.
“The misleading statements in the ballot explanation and pamphlet are particularly dangerous to retirees and conceal the threat of taxes on retirement income,” the suit said.
Despite the lawsuit’s contention, the amendment does not affect the state’s prohibition against imposing income taxes on retirement income in Illinois.
An argument in favor of the amendment distributed by the state notes that “this amendment does not tax retirement income.” But the lawsuit alleges that statement suggests the voting in favor of the amendment “means that the General Assembly will not impose a tax on retirement income.”
The lawsuit also alleges the explanation of the amendment is misleading when it says the proposal “gives the state the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle- or lower-income levels.” Instead, the suit says, the amendment “merely gives the state authority to impose different tax rates on those with different income levels.”
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The amendment itself is silent on how varying tax rates would be applied, but a state law that would take effect if the proposed amendment is adopted by voters would impose higher tax rates on higher incomes and lower rates on lower incomes. Supporters say the rate schedule would mean 97% of Illinoisans, those making $250,000 or less, would pay at least the same or less in income taxes.
While the lawsuit was filed Monday, much of the language it is challenging was approved by lawmakers in May. The lawsuit seeks a judge’s order to issue a “corrective notice” to voters.
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Quentin Fulks, who chairs the Vote Yes for Fairness, said the lawsuit was “just the latest attempt by an organization bankrolled by the wealthiest people in the state to ensure the burden remains on middle- and working-class families while millionaires and billionaires avoid paying their fair share.”
“When the facts aren’t on your side, you’re forced to rely on blatant stunts and outright lies and that’s exactly what we’re seeing from the Illinois Policy Institute today,” Fulks said in a statement.
Fulks noted the Illinois Policy Institute was a major supporter of one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, whom Pritzker defeated in 2018, after Rauner oversaw “Illinois' two-year budget impasse and eight credit downgrades.”
Fulks said the policy group’s members “can continue to waste their time with frivolous lawsuits” while his organization will remain “focused on educating voters on how the Fair Tax will help them, their families and their communities.
rpearson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Hammond man charged with murder outside Gary bar

Blackmon was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of his injuries , according to the Lake County Coroner @ @ @ @ @ slaying will be investigated by Gary ’ s homicide division .
The shooting by police @ @ @ @ @ Lake County Sheriff ’ s Department , Gary Police spokeswoman Dawn Westerfield said .

A Hammond man was recently charged in a deadly shooting outside a Gary bar last month before trading shots with police, charges show.
Frederick Craft, 31, faces charges of murder and attempted murder, according to Lake Superior Court charges filed Sept. 28.
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Gary officers were already at the Loft Bar, 752 Broadway, on Sept. 27 near 2:30 a.m. for “traffic control” and “keeping the peace” during closing time when they heard shots fired from a vacant lot just north of the bar, charges state.
An officer saw a suspect, later identified as Craft, shooting into a crowd in the vacant lot. Craft continued to fire at Kevin Blackmon, 28, of Gary as he fell to the ground, documents allege.
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Craft, wearing body armor, turned and exchanged fire with the officers. He was shot in the leg before he stumbled, falling near another officer and was arrested, police said.
He was taken to Methodist for treatment, but has since been released and is now in custody, according to the Gary Fraternal Order of Police.
No officers were injured in the exchange of gunfire, authorities said.
Blackmon was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of his injuries, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. His slaying will be investigated by Gary’s homicide division. The shooting by police will be investigated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Gary Police spokeswoman Dawn Westerfield said.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Khristopher Adams of the Metro Homicide Unit at 219-755-3855.
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The Chicago Tribune contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Facing $1.2 billion shortfall, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot schedules Oct. 21 budget address

Filling the historic deficit likely will require personnel cuts and could lead to layoffs , and the mayor promised to @ @ @ @ @ consider a computer lease tax as other potential measures .
Lightfoot has said that “ @ @ @ @ @ table , ” though property taxes and job cuts are at the back of her @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will unveil her 2021 budget and explain how she intends to fill a $1.2 billion deficit on Oct. 21, according to her administration.
Lightfoot initially planned to give her budget speech on Oct. 14, but pushing it back gives her more time to prepare her spending plan.
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Citing the “catastrophic collapse of our local and national economy” because of COVID-19 and damage to local businesses from civil unrest, Lightfoot in August laid out a $1.2 billion shortfall for what she called Chicago’s “pandemic budget” in 2021.
She has since declined to provide specifics about how the city will close its yawning deficit, saying officials were working on plans and awaiting feedback from residents.
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Filling the historic deficit likely will require personnel cuts and could lead to layoffs, and the mayor promised to use a TIF surplus and consider a computer lease tax as other potential measures. Lightfoot has said that “all options are on the table,” though property taxes and job cuts are at the back of her list.
The ongoing coronavirus crisis also has also spiked the 2020 budget shortfall to nearly $800 million, Lightfoot said. She said that deficit would be filled using relief funds and other unspecified aid from the federal government, in addition to debt refinancing, and borrowing.
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Chicago’s total budget last year was about $11.65 billion.
After announcing in a televised prime-time August 2019 speech that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel left office with an $838 million deficit for 2020, Lightfoot said that she dealt with it by making structural changes such as cutting government costs through so-called zero-based budgeting and eliminating vacant positions.
The mayor also turned to several one-time fixes to close the gap rather than calling for large-scale revenue increases such as property tax hikes that would have hit broad swaths of Chicagoans and been politically difficult for the mayor.
Many aldermen were happy there was no big property tax jump for 2020, and passed her package 39-11. But some of them wondered privately why she didn’t leverage her popularity coming off her election win to ram through a hike then rather than waiting until later in her term.
It will be much harder to point to her predecessor if she turns to property taxes this time, though she would certainly point to the unprecedented nature of the virus to justify such a move.
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gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Chicago aldermen advance new members for Northwest Side home equity board

The idea was that members who joined and got a property appraisal and then lived in the homes for five @ @ @ @ @ assured they would at least get the appraised value of their houses when they sold @ @ @ @ @ cut checks for shortfalls .
African American city officials tried to stop the creation of @ @ @ @ @ were an attempt to prevent integration in Chicago ’ s predominantly white outer edges .

Chicago aldermen on Monday advanced a group of appointees to a Northwest Side taxpayer-funded commission that guarantees home sale prices for members in several bungalow belt neighborhoods, a program that was created decades ago to try to stem white flight.
Some aldermen questioned the policies of the Northwest Home Equity Assurance Program, which has collected more than $10 million in small property tax payments from all homeowners within its boundaries since the late 1980s, but has handed out just a few payments in that time to residents whose houses didn’t sell for a set minimum price.
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“People pay into this program via their tax bill, and it has $9.5 million, $10 million sitting in an account,” said Northwest Side Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, who has for years criticized the agency for not doing more with its reserves. “And it has staff. And what we need to do is to make sure it’s actually working for the people.”
VIllegas said the Northwest Home Equity Assurance Program is doing a much better job than it was a few years ago, and voted in favor of the appointment of two new members and reappointment of two others to its board in Monday’s Finance Committee meeting.
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But he also called for hearings on how the agency is run, and for officials to look at ways to possibly distribute the taxpayer money it has been building up for years in the form of home equity loans to members.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, listens during a 2019 City Council meeting. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
And Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, said appointments to the board should be made only after residents and the local aldermen whose wards include the home equity district are notified about vacancies.
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Created via referendum in 1988 in a controversial bid to stabilize the housing market in a big swath of the Northwest Side, the home equity program covers about 48,000 homes in parts of the Jefferson Park, Old Irving Park, Dunning, Montclare, Galewood, Portage Park, Belmont Central, Belmont Heights and Belmont Cragin neighborhoods. Two similar programs were started around the same time on the Southwest Side.
The idea was that members who joined and got a property appraisal and then lived in the homes for five years or longer could be assured they would at least get the appraised value of their houses when they sold them because the program would cut checks for shortfalls. African American city officials tried to stop the creation of the districts, saying they were an attempt to prevent integration in Chicago’s predominantly white outer edges.
Then-Northwest Side Ald. William J.P. Banks ushered an ordinance creating them through the City Council in 1988, but then-Mayor Eugene Sawyer vetoed it.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan then helped get the programs approved in the legislature, bypassing City Hall. Richard M. Daley was elected mayor in 1989, and he supported the creation of the Southwest Side and Northwest Side home equity districts after voters in those neighborhoods overwhelmingly had backed them in ballot referendums.
In the decades since, the Northwest Side home equity fund has continued to collect money via the additional tax levied on all homeowners in the boundaries. The program’s reserves now total $9.57 million in two accounts, according to agency records.
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Initially, the program levied $1 million per year. But as reserves rose, commissioners cut it to $125,000 annually. Most homeowners now pay between $1.50 and $3 a year.
The full City Council will consider the appointments Wednesday.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--21-year-old man fatally shot on Edens Expressway on Northwest Side

The man shot was driving by himself , authorities said .
He was taken to an area hospital , where @ @ @ @ @ according to state police .
Authorities did not say what type of vehicle he was @ @ @ @ @ he was taken .

A man was fatally shot on the Edens Expressway early Monday on the city’s Northwest Side and Illinois State Police troopers are investigating.
Authorities were called to Interstate 94 north at Elston Avenue in the North Mayfair neighborhood about 12:20 a.m. for a report of a shooting on the expressway, according to an emailed statement from Trooper Elizabeth Clausing.
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A 21-year-old man from Chicago was pronounced dead following the attack, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office public database.
Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office, said the man’s family had not been notified of his death as of Monday morning.
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The man shot was driving by himself, authorities said. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to state police. Authorities did not say what type of vehicle he was in or to which hospital he was taken.
“Preliminary reports indicate the shots were fired from an unknown vehicle, also traveling in the area near Elston Avenue on Interstate 94 northbound,” Clausing said.
Photos and video from the scene from WGN-TV showed a tan SUV or crossover vehicle stopped in the right lane of the expressway as police investigated, as well as shell casings on the expressway. A witness at the scene told WGN that he heard five gunshots.
All lanes of I-94 north were closed near Elston and northbound traffic was diverted to Interstate 90 west or to Montrose Avenue, Clausing said. All lanes of the Edens reopened about 3:20 a.m., she said.
“The events surrounding the shooting remain under investigation,” Clausing said.
Anyone who saw the shooting or who has information about it is asked to contact the State Police at 847-294-4400, and they can do so anonymously.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Aurora man found guilty of sexually assaulting child

Drane faces a sentence of between six and 60 years in prison and will be sentenced on Jan. 8 , @ @ @ @ @ a prison term , Drane will also have to register for life as a sexual @ @

An Aurora man was found guilty by a Kane County jury of sexually assaulting a child, officials said.
Jammal J. Drane, 34, of the 800 block of North Lake Street, was found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a class X felony, Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office officials said in a news release.
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Jammal J. Drane (Kane County States Attorneys O / HANDOUT)
Prosecutors said during court hearings that between January and October 2017, Drane sexually assaulted a child he knew who was younger than 13 years old.
Drane faces a sentence of between six and 60 years in prison and will be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2021. In addition to a prison term, Drane will also have to register for life as a sexual offender.
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Drane remains in custody at the Kane County jail, where he has been held since his arrest in May 2018 in lieu of $800,000 bail.
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-05--Late freeze shortens fall harvest for Indiana apple orchards

While less than 1 % of the nation ’ s apples are grown in Indiana , the niche allows farmers @ @ @ @ @ , Hirst said .
That ’ s a “ huge advantage ” for the state @ @ @ @ @ he continued , but it also means orchards “ have to get very creative , @ @ @ @ @ , even though they may not have as many apples on the trees .
”

Apples hang from at tree at Anderson Orchard, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, Mooresville, Ind. During what would normally be primetime for Midwest apple-picking, orchards around Indiana are running out of apples early this season following a late spring freeze that obliterated much of the state’s crop. (Casey Smith/AP)
Indianapolis — During what would normally be primetime for Midwest apple-picking, orchards around Indiana are running out of apples early this season following a late spring freeze that obliterated much of the state’s crop.
Statewide temperature drops in late April and early May wreaked havoc on the budding, flowering apple trees unable to withstand the cold. The sub-freezing snaps — which led to severe fruit damage and significant crop loss — impacted roughly 70% of the apple crop, said Peter Hirst, a tree fruit specialist at Purdue University.
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“It’s the worst we’ve seen in quite some time, in decades in Indiana,” Hirst said. “This is really rare for us to have damage as severe as what we’ve seen this year.”
Damage was widespread across Indiana’s orchards, but growers say cold-related damage in neighboring Michigan — the country’s third-largest apple-producing state — was likely limited to crops in the southwest, with Red Delicious and Jonagold apples affected most.
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Spring frosts in New York’s Hudson Valley and parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia are also expected to reduce the bloom on several apple varieties this year, although the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the nation’s 2020 apple crop to be just 3% less than in 2019 and 2% less than the five-year average.
While less than 1% of the nation’s apples are grown in Indiana, the niche allows farmers to sell directly to consumers, Hirst said. That’s a “huge advantage” for the state’s apple industry, he continued, but it also means orchards “have to get very creative, still offering that family experience, even though they may not have as many apples on the trees.”
At Jacobs' Family Orchard in New Castle, Indiana, more than 90% of the crop was lost at the 35-acre farm, said co-owner Stephanie Jacobs. To make up for the low yields, apples are being outsourced so orchard staff can continue to make cider, caramel apples and other seasonal goods.
“Our apple numbers are way lower than normal — we had almost none,” she said. “We prepare for this kind of thing, but we’re really having to improvise right now.”
Tuttle Orchards, in Greenfield, Indiana, saw a similar shortage, with only 5% of the farm’s crop salvageable after the freeze. Apples were picked off the trees by mid-September, leading the orchard to end its pick-your-own-apple season more than a month earlier than usual and shift focus to its pumpkin patch.
In the days after the May 9 freeze, hundreds of apples shriveled up, browned and began falling off trees, said Erin Sterling, co-owner of Anderson Orchard in Mooresville, Indiana, one of the state’s largest at 150 acres.
Originally estimating they’d lost nearly all of their apple crop, Sterling said the central Indiana orchard’s hilly terrain — which keeps some trees higher-elevated and less-affected by cold temperatures — might be why a quarter of their fruit survived.
“It was prime time when the freeze hit. We were in bloom, we had lots of little apples that just weren’t hearty and they just weren’t ready for those temperatures. I cried and cried,” she said, “We still lost most of the crop, but we have some, and some is better than none.”
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Anderson’s self-picking season usually lasts through mid- to late-October, Sterling continued. But fewer apples, combined with large crowds at the orchard shortly after Labor Day, left many of the trees picked over by mid-September.
“We ran out fast this year,” Sterling said. “We’re just grateful so many people have been coming out.”
Southern Indiana’s Engelbrecht’s Orchard has also recorded waves of visitors, despite concerns that COVID-19 would keep families from the orchard. Mostly spared from late freeze conditions, the orchard just north of Evansville has attracted patrons from around Indiana and across state lines, said co-owner Kristi Schulz.
“We really are having a pretty good apple season — we’ve been very fortunate this year with actually having crops,” Schulz said, noting nearly normal crop yields and minimal frost rings on some of the fruit. “We somehow dodged a big weather bullet in our little southwestern Indiana area for whatever reason. We’re very, very thankful.”
Apple sales, too, have increased. Schulz said the orchard has seen an influx of families coming earlier in the season to pick apples, and many take home more than in previous years.
“Most people will come out and pick up a couple of pounds — maybe 20 tops, which is a lot for most families,” she said. “But this year, we just have people picking multiple bushels, like 50 to 60 pounds. The virus hasn’t stopped them from picking fruit — in fact, it might have made them want even more.”
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While COVID-19 has had a minimal impact on orchard visitation in Indiana, the pandemic has exacerbated labor and farmhand issues for commercial apple orchards across the country, said Jim Bair, president of the U.S. Apple Association. With many schools not serving lunches and sandwich and deli shops closed due to the virus, too, uncertainties also remain about futures on apple sales.
“Spring freezes are a reminder that Mother Nature isn’t always nice, and it seems like every year, apple growers in different parts of the country are having to deal with them,” Bair said. “But there’s no question that the coronavirus is going to have some long-term impacts in the apple industry. It’s been a few months of turmoil and chaos, but we’re all doing our best to work through the challenges.”
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Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.