chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Trump commutes 20-year sentence of former Chicago-area nursing home mogul convicted in massive Medic

Trump commutes 20-year sentence of former Chicago-area nursing home mogul convicted in massive Medicaid fraud

His indictment alleged Esformes and a handful of Miami co-conspirators bilked the federal programs for 14 years by cycling some @ @ @ @ @ , where many received unnecessary or even harmful treatments .
Drug addicts were allegedly lured @ @ @ @ @ of narcotics , and prosecutors say some received OxyContin and fentanyl without a physician ’ @ @ @ @ @ to stay .

In this Aug. 7, 2015, file photo, Philip Esformes arrives at the 15th Annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, in Los Angeles. (Rob Latour/Invision/AP)
Chicago-area nursing home mogul Philip Esformes was once called the “king” of Medicaid fraud, accused of cycling elderly, destitute and drug-addicted patients through his network of facilities and billing millions of dollars to government programs, often for services never rendered, according to federal prosecutors.
In sentencing Esformes to 20 years in prison last year, a federal judge in Miami called the length and scope of his criminal conduct “unmatched in our community, if not the country” and an “epic” violation of trust.
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Now, Esformes, 52, is a free man, released from a Florida prison on Tuesday after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, granting clemency to 20 people in all. The group included former Republican members of Congress; military contractors convicted of killing civilians in Iraq; and Chicagoan George Papadopoulos, a campaign aide who pleaded guilty to making false statements in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Esformes was arrested in 2016 at his Miami estate and charged with a massive $1.3 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme that at the time was billed by the U.S. Justice Department as the largest single criminal health care fraud case ever brought.
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In announcing the president’s decision, the White House said the clemency was supported by former Attorneys General Edwin Meese and Michael Mukasey, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.
A statement by press secretary Kayleigh McEnany alluded to Esformes’ pending appeal of his conviction, which alleged massive overreach by overzealous prosecutors who used illegally gathered evidence at trial that violated the attorney-client privilege. The statement also noted that Esformes “has been devoted to prayer and repentance” while in prison and is in declining health.
His attorney, Howard Srebnick, did not comment directly on the president’s order, but said in a statement that the comments from the White House demonstrate “that the president was deeply disturbed by the prosecutors’ invasion of the attorney-client privilege.”
The Chicago Tribune began chronicling Esformes’ rise to nursing home mogul more than a decade ago, when he, along with his father and business partner controlled a network of more than two dozen health care facilities that stretched from Chicago to Miami.
At one point, the flashy, Ferrari-driving Esformes owned millions of dollars in real estate, crisscrossing the country on private jets to spend time at his luxury condominium on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and mansions in Miami and Los Angeles.
But allegations of fraud and neglect piled up in Chicago and Miami. A 2010 whistleblower lawsuit alleged that the giant pharmaceutical firm Omnicare Inc. paid millions in kickbacks to secure long-term contracts with Esformes’ facilities, the Tribune reported.
The Tribune also found that families had filed 20 wrongful death lawsuits over a four-year period against seven of Esformes’ facilities in Miami-Dade County, including one case where a patient was allegedly attacked by a fellow resident, then sent to another Esformes-owned facility, where he suffered a catastrophic fall and died of a brain injury.
His indictment alleged Esformes and a handful of Miami co-conspirators bilked the federal programs for 14 years by cycling some 14,000 patients through various facilities, where many received unnecessary or even harmful treatments. Drug addicts were allegedly lured to the facilities with promises of narcotics, and prosecutors say some received OxyContin and fentanyl without a physician’s order to entice them to stay.
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He housed elderly patients alongside younger adults who suffered from mental illness and drug addiction — sometimes with fatal results, prosecutors alleged. In Esformes’ Oceanside Extended Care Center in Miami Beach, “an elderly patient was attacked and beaten to death by a younger mental health patient who never should have been at (a nursing facility) in the first place,” prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentencing memorandum.
As part of the kickbacks exchanged between Esformes and corrupt medical professionals, “high-end escorts” were flown to Orlando and chauffeured in limousines for liaisons with Esformes at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, according to prosecutors.
Esformes, meanwhile, drove a $1.6 million Ferrari Aperta and published a blog with fitness tips for busy executives, prosecutors said. He even used some $300,000 in stolen proceeds to bribe the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania to admit Esformes’ son to the school, according to one count of the indictment.
That coach, Jerome Allen, pleaded guilty to money laundering and testified against Esformes at the Miami trial.
A jury convicted Esformes of paying bribes, money laundering, and other crimes, but was unable to reach a verdict on the main count of conspiring to defraud the Medicare program for the elderly and indigent. His appeal is pending before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Florida, records show.
At his sentencing hearing in January 2019, Esformes wept and pleaded for mercy, saying “there is no one to blame but myself.” While preparing his defense, Esformes told the judge, he had listened repeatedly to wiretapped conversations that revealed him arranging bribes and was “disgusted” by what he heard.
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“The Phil Esformes you heard was reckless ... an arrogant man,” he said, crying as he pounded the lectern with his fist.
Prosecutors had requested 30 years behind bars. But U.S. District Judge Robert Scola Jr. said he was taking into account Esformes’ history of helping people in need.
Attorneys for Esformes had described him as a selfless philanthropist who had donated more than $15 million to synagogues, schools and needy individuals, often anonymously.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Watch live: Pritzker gives update on COVID-19

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will provide an update on the state ’ s response to COVID-19 in a briefing @ @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Beloved swim coach falls to COVID-19

Beloved swim coach falls to COVID-19

As the coronavirus began to menace the region in March , most Chicago-area residents took refuge inside their houses to follow the governor ’ s stay-at-home order .
Tribune photographers , as they always do , stayed on the job .
Risking their personal safety and relying upon unparalleled creativity to follow public health guidelines , they documented a year unlike any in a century .
They stepped into intensive care units where COVID-19 patients were taking their last breaths , captured the calls for social justice sparked by police killings of unarmed Black men and conveyed the anxiety over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work showed how these extraordinary events influenced our lives .
We hope the work has been fair , a broad-yet-intimate reflection of the diversity of the Chicago area .
We hope our annual Pictures of Year edition serves as a visual reminder of a rapidly changing year .
When life moves so fast , we often forget , and these images reflect the range of emotions we just lived through .
It also a platform for acknowledging the talent and dedication of Tribune photographers , and all photojournalists , in a year we @ @ @ @ @


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--5 Chicago restaurants and bars cited and 2 parties shut down for coronavirus violations after weeken

5 Chicago restaurants and bars cited and 2 parties shut down for coronavirus violations after weekend sweep

The first party citation was a response to a complaint at 409 W. Huron St. A task force made up @ @ @ @ @ the Department of Buildings arrived at the location at 12:20 a.m. Sunday and found 66 @ @ @ @ @ who were not social distancing or masking .
The establishment was also charging $ 100 @ @ @ @ @ alcohol and had a DJ as entertainment .
The establishment was cited for violating COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ , and it was closed for hazardous and dangerous conditions by the Department of Buildings @

Six Chicago businesses, including five restaurants and bars, with notable names such as Wood and Labriola, were cited by Chicago’s Department of Business and Consumer Protection for violating COVID-19 safety guidelines last weekend. In addition, two illegal parties, both with more than 50 guests, were shut down by the department.
The first party citation was a response to a complaint at 409 W. Huron St. A task force made up of police, firefighters and the Department of Buildings arrived at the location at 12:20 a.m. Sunday and found 66 people on the fourth floor who were not social distancing or masking. The establishment was also charging $100 at the door, serving alcohol and had a DJ as entertainment. The establishment was cited for violating COVID-19 rules and for unlicensed activity, and it was closed for hazardous and dangerous conditions by the Department of Buildings.
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Another party was found early Sunday at a residential apartment at 107 W. Hubbard St. where 83 people were found not social distancing or masking. Guests were also charged an entrance fee and there also was a DJ. The person who was leasing the apartment was cited by both BACP, for violating COVID-19 rules and for unlicensed activity, and the Department of Buildings, for hazardous and dangerous conditions.
Six businesses were investigated and issued citations between Dec. 17 and Dec. 20. Typically businesses found in violation of COVID-19 regulations receive two citations, with a potential fine up to $10,500, and closure, should the business repeatedly break the rules. Hearings have not yet been set to determine any possible fines.
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Wood (3335 N. Halsted St.) was cited Dec. 18 for allowing indoor dining.
Firewater Saloon (6689 N. Oliphant Ave.) was cited Dec. 18 for allowing indoor dining.
Ted’s Place (5813 W. Madison St.) was cited Dec. 18 for allowing indoor drinking.
New China Buffet (3246 W. Addison Ave.) was cited Dec. 19 for allowing indoor dining.
Labriola Chicago (535 N. Michigan Ave.) was cited Dec. 19 for allowing indoor dining.
Creative Kids Zone (2317 E. 71st St.) was cited Dec. 19 for holding an indoor event with 30 people.
During the pandemic, BACP has issued 370 citations and conducted 7,441 COVID-19 investigations.
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gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Arctic blast to hit Chicago, driving away warmth but possibly bringing dusting of snow for Christmas

South to southwest winds of 20 to 30 mph were expected Wednesday morning , with some gusts of up to @ @ @ @ @ up to 55 mph gusts in the afternoon , according to the weather service .
@ @ @ @ @ the west in the evening , with winds of 20 to 25 and gusts of @ @ @

A gusty and unseasonably warm Wednesday in Chicago will give way to below-normal, bone chilling cold for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, along with the possibility of light snow for the holiday, according to forecasters.
After highs Wednesday hit the mid-50s in some areas with periods of rain, temperatures were expected to plunge 40 degrees in some areas, to between 10 and 20 degrees, overnight into Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
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Wednesday’s fall-like warmth was bringing with it the possibility of wind gusts of 50 mph ahead of an Arctic cold front. A wind advisory was in effect starting at 9 a.m. until 4 a.m. Thursday for all of northern and central Illinois and northern Indiana, as well as eastern Iowa.
[ Christmas weather in Chicago: The warmest and coldest since 1871 ]
South to southwest winds of 20 to 30 mph were expected Wednesday morning, with some gusts of up to 45 mph, building to up to 55 mph gusts in the afternoon, according to the weather service. The wind will shift to the west in the evening, with winds of 20 to 25 and gusts of 45 mph.
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Temperatures, which will be about 20 degrees above normal but won’t approach the record high of 62 set in 1982, will begin to drop around sunset, reaching the mid-teens overnight and staying there most of the day Christmas Eve, before dropping even further overnight into Christmas.
[6:30 AM 12/23] With all the active weather going on, here's a quick rundown of what to expect through the rest of the week. Flurries or intermittent light snow showers will be possible across the region Thursday and into Friday morning. #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/UAMHbiiLSG — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) December 23, 2020
“A powerful Arctic front will bring the unseasonably mild weather to an abrupt end, with plummeting temperatures and continued strong and gusty winds through tonight behind the front,” according to the weather service.
Although wind chills were expected to dip below zero, temperatures aren’t expected to hit anywhere near the record cold low temperature of 25 below zero for Christmas Eve or 17 below for Christmas. And the cold could bring with it a little snow for Christmas, according to the weather service.
[ Will Chicago see a white Christmas this year? Here’s what 149 years of weather data predict for Dec. 25. ]
“The coldest conditions will be felt early Friday, when subzero wind chills are forecast area wide,” according to the weather service. “Just about any time on Thursday through early Friday, there could be flurries or light snow showers, and can’t rule out a coating of snow in some locations by Christmas morning.”
There’s also expected to be significant lake-effect snow in northwest Indiana, especially in Porter County.
Temperatures were expected to recover to a milder high in the 30s by Saturday.
For more details and the latest forecast, check the Tribune’s weather page.


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Chicago man, 50, dies from gunshot in Hammond apartment

According to a release from Hammond Lt. Steve Kellogg , public information officer , at approximately 6 p.m. , police @ @ @ @ @ complex in the 6900 block of Hohman Avenue in reference to a shooting .

Hammond Police are investigating the shooting death of a Chicago man Tuesday evening at a Hohman Avenue apartment.
According to a release from Hammond Lt. Steve Kellogg, public information officer, at approximately 6 p.m., police were sent to an apartment complex in the 6900 block of Hohman Avenue in reference to a shooting.
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Officers arrived and located a Black man inside of one of the apartments who appeared to be deceased, the release said.
The Lake County coroner’s office identified the man as Clifford Holmes, 50, of the 11800 block of South Morgan Street, Chicago.
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Holmes sustained a gunshot wound to his leg, the release said. The Hammond Fire Department and coroner’s office confirmed the death at the scene.
Two people present at the scene were brought in as part of the investigation, the release said.
Police are trying to piece together the events that led to the shooting and the investigation is ongoing, the release said.
If anyone has information about this incident they are asked to call Hammond Police Detective Sgt. Joe Munoz at 219-852-2995.


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Column: Chicagoans of the Year in architecture: The team that helped revive old Cook County Hospital

“ The thing that surprised me was hearing from actual doctors , practicing today , who are shocked and so @ @ @ @ @ been brought back to life , ” he said in a telephone interview .
“ @ @ @ @ @ had brought back a piece of Chicago history .
”

The exterior of the former Cook County Hospital in Chicago on May 21, 2020. The hospital, originally completed in 1916, has been converted into a Hyatt House hotel and an extended-stay Hyatt House, food hall and a medical office. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The rebirth of old Cook County Hospital, which once had a near-death experience, would have been worth celebrating in any year. But it took on special meaning in 2020, as doctors, nurses and other health care workers battled the deadly coronavirus.
Beautifully remade as a mixed-use building with two Hyatt hotels, a food hall, a day care center and medical offices, the beloved Beaux-Arts landmark at 1835 W. Harrison Street began a new chapter in its storied life even as it continued to symbolize the highest ideals of public health.
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The Tribune recognizes the leaders of the redesign — Brian Lee and Adam Semel of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Jackie Koo of KOO Architecture — as Chicagoans of the Year in architecture.
Their efforts weren’t just attractive to the eye. They stirred strong feelings.
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Lee, a design partner whose award-winning projects include the Chinatown public library and a public library-public housing development in Little Italy, thought that few of the doctors who trained at the legendary hospital were still around.
Architects Adam Semel, managing partner, right, and Brian Lee, design partner, left, with the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Jackie Koo, founder of KOO Architecture, stand together in one of the surgical theaters at the old Cook County Hospital on Dec. 5, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Not so.
“The thing that surprised me was hearing from actual doctors, practicing today, who are shocked and so grateful that the building had been brought back to life,” he said in a telephone interview. “They were grateful that we had brought back a piece of Chicago history.”
Koo, designer of The Wit hotel on State Street and the forthcoming Sable hotel at Navy Pier, heard reactions that reached beyond the medical community.
“That was really one of the most rewarding things: the reaction from every person that I’ve met saying they have a connection with that hospital. ‘My mom was treated there.’ Or, ‘I was born there.’”
The renovation, she said, “spoke to their stories.”
Completed in 1916, with a grand neoclassical facade that suggested its civic purpose, the hospital had a renowned medical history, including the world’s first blood bank.
It served as the inspiration for the TV medical drama “ER” and became known as Chicago’s “Ellis Island” because of its devotion to caring for indigent African Americans and Hispanics who had migrated to the city.
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But in 2003, then-Cook County Board President John Stroger aimed to demolish the old hospital after a new one named for him opened to the south. Protests from historic preservationists and the political muscle of the Cook County Board of Commissioners averted that outcome.
In 2016, county officials selected the Civic Health Development Group to remake the hospital and surrounding land in the Illinois Medical District.
The team, led by Murphy Development Group, includes Walsh Investors, MB Real Estate, the Plenary Group and Granite Cos. They, too, deserve great credit for transforming a building that had degenerated into a vacant hulk.
Mold, moss, trees and ferns grew inside. Squatters covered walls with graffiti. On their first visit inside, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects wore Hazmat suits, fearing they would encounter harmful chemicals left over from the hospital. Few were found, they said.
Working with Northbrook-based Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, the architects carefully restored the old hospital’s classical facade, including its three-story Ionic columns and faces of lions and cherubs.
Inside, they teamed up with Koo to reanimate key historic features, like the two-story main lobby and its stylish staircase of gray Tennessee marble.
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New windows and light wells brightened the ultralong corridors of the 550-foot-long building. Former skylit operating rooms were turned into guest rooms.
Open since August, the food hall — named “Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall” in honor of renowned Chicago surgeon John B. Murphy, great-uncle of John T. Murphy, head of the Murphy Development Group — offers a wide range of options instead of dull hospital food.
In the long run, the project’s benefits are likey to extend beyond its borders.
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“By restoring this building first, you unlock the whole neighborhood,” said Semel, a managing partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He anticipates that the rejuvenated hospital will extend the energy of the Fulton Market district and the area around the United Center to the now-dull medical district.
Reviving the old hospital carries extra significance for the Skidmore firm because much of its current work is overseas, in countries like China.
“It was so easy to get on a plane and pursue these opportunities around the world. People wanted us to do iconic signature buildings,” Lee said. “We discovered that we were doing less work in the city that we were located in. It causes you to ask the question: What impact do you really have in a town that really treasures architecture?”
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Now we know: A treasure rejuvenated.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Four arrested, three guns recovered after BMW carjacked south of Grant Park

Three guns were recovered from the car , police said , adding that two of the suspects were taken to @ @ @ @ @ Park “ for what appeared to be shortness of breath .
”

Four people were arrested early Wednesday after officers spotted them in a BMW that had been stolen hours earlier just south of Grant Park, according to Chicago police.
The four ran from the car when it was stopped near Augusta Boulevard and Lamon Avenue about 2:30 a.m. but were quickly taken into custody, police said.
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Three guns were recovered from the car, police said, adding that two of the suspects were taken to West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park “for what appeared to be shortness of breath.”
The BMW had been stolen from the 1200 block of Indiana Avenue about 11:30 p.m. Police released no other details of the carjacking.
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Police said charges were pending.


chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Dec. 22 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

When you ’ re making your assessment , don ’ t fall into the trap of only attending to the @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ The question people need to be asking is : How does @ @ @ @ @ if I don ’ t get the vaccine ?
How does that compare to my @ @ @ @ @ away from coronavirus ?
That number is so far from zero , that risk is @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re in the Black community .
We know that being a Black person @ @ @ @ @ your risk is higher than a white person of contracting and dying from COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ about that .
”

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Preliminary numbers show this is the deadliest year in U.S. history, mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reported Tuesday morning. The United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019.
On Tuesday, Illinois public health officials announced 116 additional fatalities, bringing the statewide death toll to 15,414 since the start of the pandemic. The state also announced 6,239 new and probable cases of COVID-19, a day after logging its lowest number of cases — 4,699 — in nearly two months. The total number of known infections in Illinois was 911,308 since March.
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Meanwhile, Chicago Public Schools estimates it will see $800 million of the $900 billion stimulus package Congress approved Monday. District leaders said that means they’ll be able to fully fund the $8.4 billion budget for the current school year, which assumed at least $343 million in additional federal funds. CPS previously got $206 million in federal coronavirus aid.
Also on Tuesday, Chicago’s top health official said the city plans to open its first mass vaccination sites next week to help inoculate more health care workers against the coronavirus. Vaccinations will be available by appointment only starting next week exclusively for health care workers in Chicago, city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. Further details will be coming later.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:40 p.m.: Trump assails $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, suggests he may not sign it
President Donald Trump is assailing the bipartisan $900 billion pandemic relief package that Congress just passed and is suggesting that he may not sign it.
Trump complained in a video that he tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill delivered too much money to foreign countries, but not enough to Americans.
The bill provides for a $600 payment to most Americans, but Trump said he is asking Congress to amend the bill and “increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.”
The relief package was part of a hard-fought compromise bill that includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems, an increase in food stamp benefits and about $4 billion to help other nations provide a COVID-19 vaccine for their people.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:55 p.m.: US negotiating for millions more vaccine doses from Pfizer
The U.S. government is negotiating with Pfizer to acquire tens of millions of additional vaccine doses in exchange for helping the pharmaceutical giant gain better access to manufacturing supplies.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the deal is under discussion but has not been finalized. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to describe ongoing deliberations.
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Pfizer’s vaccine was the first to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration and initial shipments went to states last week. It has now been joined by a vaccine from Moderna, which was developed in closer cooperation with scientists from the National Institutes of Health.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:48 p.m.: Concordia University Chicago cuts 51 faculty and staff, closes 15 academic programs after ‘prioritization’ review
Concordia University Chicago is letting go of 51 faculty and staff members and closing 15 academic programs due to budget concerns that have been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic and a reassessment of its priorities.
The university, affiliated with The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, is offering retirement or severance packages to employees who were laid off, departed voluntarily or had their positions eliminated, said school spokesman Eric Matanyi. That’s about 7% of total employees prior to the reduction in force, he said.
The 15 programs slated for closure include graphic arts, theater, chemistry, women’s and gender studies and business communication, according to an email sent to students. Current students enrolled in the programs will be able to complete their degrees at Concordia, which might involve the use of adjunct faculty or partnerships with nearby universities, but new students won’t be able to enroll.
Concordia-Chicago, which describes itself as “a Christ-centered Lutheran university,” serves more than 6,000 students at its campus in suburban River Forest. It’s one of eight institutions in the national Concordia University System.
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Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
5:37 p.m.: Hundreds of families receive groceries for Christmas dinner as Chicago area faces largest hunger crisis in four decades
As a mariachi played melodies for the crowd, hundreds of families lined up Tuesday to get groceries for their Christmas dinner in Little Village, one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19.
There were mothers with their children by their side. Grandmothers pushing shopping carts talked about what they will be making for dinner on Christmas Eve. After getting his groceries, a father took his son over to near the mariachi to take a photograph.
“There’s a sense of community after so long and despite all the pain this community has been through,” said Pastor Matt DeMateo, executive director of New Life Centers of Chicagoland.
DeMateo has helped to lead the efforts to distribute food to Black and Latino families in the area who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, as a food pantry run by the church now feeds 60 times as many families a week as it did before the pandemic.
New Life’s experience isn’t unique, according to a new report by the Greater Chicago Food Depository released Tuesday showing that Cook County faces the greatest hunger crisis in the organization’s 41-year history. Food pantries in the Chicago area are seeing on average of 50% more people seeking help this year over last and many tripling the number of people they serve or, like New Life, expanding many times over.
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Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa
4:45 p.m.: Chicago makes plans for first mass vaccination sites as health care workers outside hospitals are slated for shots
Chicago plans to open its first mass vaccination sites next week to help inoculate more health care workers against the coronavirus, the city’s top health official said Tuesday.
Vaccinations will be available by appointment only starting next week exclusively for health care workers in Chicago, city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. Further details will be coming later.
Like in the rest of Illinois and the country, Chicago’s first wave of immunizations with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine focused on hospital staff members. But as shipments of a second vaccine from Moderna begin to arrive, the city will be expanding to include workers in outpatient facilities, Arwady said.
“That would be doctors’ offices and COVID testing sites that are at higher risk for COVID,” she said. “We’re looking at which sites are doing a lot of COVID testing, where are we seeing a lot of positive tests, where do we see a lot of deaths?”
Arwady previewed the plan for the city’s first mass vaccination sites at a news conference at the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop with Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams.
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Read more here. —Dan Petrella
4:25 p.m.: Restaurants grateful for new round of aid but still fighting for additional relief
On Monday night, after Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief bill, just for a second, restaurants could breathe again.
It’s been a tough year for restaurants and bars, which have had to pivot repeatedly over the course of the pandemic, altering their businesses models to accommodate ever-changing safety guidelines while shouldering their growing debt. The first wave of Paycheck Protection Program loans in July offered assistance to some but was widely criticized for its lack of oversight and inconsistent application.
Restaurant and bar advocacy groups continually pushed for more federal assistance as the pandemic raged on, saying that the loans were not a long-term solution. All the while, businesses continued to shutter permanently, unable to hold on as profits dried up.
Although the $900 billion relief bill includes elements that will benefit restaurants, such as a second round of PPP, it still is not as much as the $120 billion Restaurants Act, which the Illinois Restaurants Association and others like it have been pushing for since the beginning of the pandemic. Restaurants need much, much more to survive, an IRA spokesperson said Monday.
“It is a step in the right direction with provisions that will provide much-needed support to our industry,” according to an IRA news release. “The IRA continues to fight for additional targeted relief for the entire restaurant and hospitality industry at the federal, state, and local levels.”
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Read more here. —Grace Wong
4:05 p.m.: Durbin says Illinois shouldn’t count on Washington for future pandemic aid to deal with state’s budget deficit
Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Tuesday touted the benefits a combined pandemic and omnibus spending bill will have for Illinois while also warning Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers not to count on federal funds to help balance a budget filled with deficits fueled in part by a loss of tax revenues caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
In a call with reporters, the state’s senior senator noted the bill included funding for specific programs to help Illinois and Chicago, such as increased mass transit aid, support for airlines, restaurants and entertainment venues, as well as Great Lakes restoration and a first-time grant for federal health officials to study gun violence.
But even with a new administration under former Vice President Joe Biden and the potential of a Democratic-led Senate, pending runoff elections in Georgia, Durbin said the fight for state and local pandemic relief would still run up against Republicans who claim it amounts to a bailout for mismanaged states.
“I wouldn’t make any assumption that money is coming from Washington for the help of the state. They have to prepare their budget on the possibility there’ll be no assistance,” Durbin said.
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
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4 p.m.: CPS to receive $800 million in federal pandemic aid
Chicago Public Schools estimates it will see $800 million of the $900 billion stimulus package Congress approved Monday.
District leaders said that means they’ll be able to fully fund the $8.4 billion budget for the current school year, which assumed at least $343 million in additional federal funds. CPS previously got $206 million in federal coronavirus aid.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to leaders in Washington — and especially our Chicago delegation — who have prioritized the needs of public school students throughout the country,” CPS chief Janice Jackson said in a prepared statement. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, schools in Chicago and beyond have grappled with immense, unprecedented challenges that have made every aspect of supporting our students more complicated and costly. ...Black and Brown families in Chicago need the option to send their children to school this academic year, and this funding relief is essential to the safe and supportive learning environments needed to mitigate learning loss and prevent long-term harm.”
CPS expects to funnel about $80 million of the new money to private and parochial schools, as required by federal law. District officials said they would have harder numbers after the state releases grant applications.
CPS budget documents note that a reassessment of Chicago properties based on the economic fallout of the pandemic, along with the potential slowdown of new construction, could threaten the district’s property tax base. CPS officials on Tuesday said they expect the pandemic to affect its revenue stream for several years.
“While financial expectations are fluid, the district conservatively expects to see an approximately $300 million financial impact in FY22 compared to expectations prior to the pandemic,” according to a statement provided by CPS.
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That includes lower-than-expected property tax revenues, state funding and teacher pension contributions. The federal aid will help offset those losses, Jackson said.
“While we know so many in our city, state and country still need so much more at this time, these resources will allow us to make all necessary investments for our students this year and ensure essential investments can continue into next year despite anticipated revenue challenges ahead,” Jackson said.
—Hannah Leone
3:35 p.m.: ‘This saves an entire industry’: Concert venues, theaters, museums find sweet relief in prospect of $15 billion in new federal aid
Chicago entertainment venues from music clubs to theaters to museums may be in for significant and, some say, life-saving economic aid in the new federal pandemic relief bill, a year-end Hail Mary that many in the industries had despaired of receiving.
“It’s very, very promising,” said Robert Gomez, owner of the music clubs Subterranean and Beat Kitchen and co-chair of the Chicago Independent Venue League, which led the local fight for aid. “It looks like what we need, instead of being shuttered and really worried about reopening. If it happens, it just changes our entire mentality towards the future.”
“We’re optimistic,” said John Russick, senior vice president of the Chicago History Museum, via e-mail. “We have high hopes that there will be support for the museum and Chicago arts and culture organizations in general through this new federal program.”
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Music Box Theatre general manager Ryan Oestreich said the federal arts relief package can be “huge for movie theaters like ours. It can help us recover from just how bad 2020 was and to maintain some level of agency as we face 2021.”
But “I don’t want to get too optimistic,” he cautioned. “There’s a ton of people going after this money, from indie concert venues to live theaters to the hundreds of independent movie theaters across the country.”
The “Grants for Shuttered Venue Operators” program, wrapped into the year-end budget bill and already passed by the U.S. House and Senate and awaiting the president’s expected signature, designates $15 billion toward an entertainment industry that has been almost wholly closed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in mid-March.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson and Michael Phillips
3:10 p.m. Biden addresses $900B COVID relief bill, holiday pandemic precautions
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday.
He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and those with deployed family members during the holiday season.
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“Our hearts are always with you — keep the faith,” he said in a year-end address from Wilmington, Delaware.
Noting the ways that the pandemic has altered his own holiday celebrations, which typically include up to two dozen relatives, Biden said, “not this year.”
“This season of reflection carries a much deeper meaning than it usually does,” Biden said, encouraging Americans to continue to take precautions to try to stem the spread of the virus, which has now killed more than 320,000 people in the United States. “Jill and I send our prayers, as I’m sure all of you do, to all that are facing this dark winter.”
The day before, Biden got vaccinated on live television as part of an effort to reassure people that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.
“I look forward to the second shot, and I have absolute confidence in the vaccine,” Biden said. “But we’re in short supply.”
On the $900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress on Monday, Biden called the bill a “down payment” on a broader relief bill he plans to introduce when he takes office in January.
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“Like all compromises, this is far from perfect,” Biden said. “Congress did their job this week, and I can and I must ask them to do it again next year.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:28 p.m.: Should Americans be concerned about the highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus circulating in England?
British officials recently have expressed alarm about a highly contagious coronavirus mutation circulating in England. According to University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Allison Bartlett, who specializes in the medical management of acute and chronic infectious diseases, it is important that Americans be aware that this variant has been detected. But because scientists actively have been looking for potential variants throughout the pandemic, news of mutations lets us know that the process is working.”
This variant has multiple mutations, several of which are in the spike protein, which is important for attaching to host (human) cells and which is the target for the currently available vaccines,” she said. “There are many parameters that influence transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The structure of the virus is one important parameter, but the behavior and environment of the population is critical as well. Mask use, physical distancing, ventilation, hand-washing all impact the risk of transmission, and will remain effective and essential components of controlling the pandemic.”
Bartlett says the mutation news does not have an impact on vaccination plans in the United States because there is no evidence to suggest that the spike protein in the variant is distinct enough that the current vaccines will not be effective.”
The virus (as with all viruses) is constantly mutating. Many mutations lead to dead ends; some lead to virus that can be spread from person to person,” Bartlett added. “Our hope is that when millions of people are vaccinated, there will be less virus circulating in the community and, therefore, fewer opportunities for mutations to develop. However, if a mutant virus develops that is not susceptible to the vaccine-derived immune response, that strain could spread from person to person if people have let down their guard and are not masking, physically distancing, etc.”
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Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
2:20 p.m.: How can the medical field ease COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in communities of color?
While the pandemic has affected all of our lives, it has disproportionately affected Black and brown communities. Over one-third of Black adults in a June survey said they knew someone firsthand who’d died after contracting COVID-19. And yet, in a recent poll, fewer than half of Black Americans said they would take the coronavirus vaccine. Drs. Brandi Jackson and Brittani James discussed COVID-19 and the Black community in a Chicago Tribune Facebook Live. James, a family practitioner with the University of Illinois health system and assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, offered some suggestions on how to alleviate vaccine concerns for those in the Black community:”
Think of the people who will be trusted by the Black community, who are already trusted by the Black community,” she said. “I’m talking about Black church leaders. We turn to local community centers, we turn to local activists, nonprofits. Those are the people and the institutions, really, that the Black community trusts. So, any intervention that is serious about getting their buy-in, you have to go through these authorities in the local community, Black and brown communities, to spread that message (to take the vaccine). From everything that I can evaluate, this is safe, not just for white people, for all people.”
Jackson, director of Integrative Behavioral Health at Howard Brown Health Center and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Rush University Medical College, agreed and suggested that Black and brown communities read the vaccine research and data, and then make an informed decision.”
When you’re making your assessment, don’t fall into the trap of only attending to the potential side effects,” she said. “The question people need to be asking is: How does that compare to what happens if I don’t get the vaccine? How does that compare to my risk of contracting and passing away from coronavirus? That number is so far from zero, that risk is not negligible, particularly if you’re in the Black community. We know that being a Black person in America right now, your risk is higher than a white person of contracting and dying from COVID-19. So, you should think about that.”
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
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1:35 p.m.: Dr. Deborah Birx, White House COVID coordinator, says she will retire
Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, said Tuesday she plans to retire, but is willing to first help President-elect Joe Biden’s team with its coronavirus response as needed.
Birx, in an interview with the news site Newsy, did not give a specific timetable on her plans.
“I will be helpful in any role that people think I can be helpful in, and then I will retire,” Birx told the news outlet.
Birx and White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Her comments came just days after The Associated Press reported that she traveled out of state for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was urging Americans to forgo holiday travel.
Read more here. —Associated Press
12:08 p.m.: 6,239 new and probable cases of COVID-19 and 116 additional deaths reported Tuesday
Illinois public health officials Tuesday announced 6,239 new and probable cases of COVID-19, a day after logging its lowest number of cases — 4,699 — in nearly two months. The total number of known infections in Illinois was 911,308 since March.
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The state also announced 116 additional fatalities, bringing the statewide death toll to 15,414 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 84,764 tests reported and the statewide positivity rate for the past seven days was 9%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:27 a.m.: COVID-19 Q&A: Should people be concerned about the highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus circulating in England?
British officials recently have expressed alarm about a highly contagious coronavirus mutation circulating in England. According to University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Allison Bartlett, who specializes in the medical management of acute and chronic infectious diseases, it is important that Americans be aware that this variant has been detected. But because scientists actively have been looking for potential variants throughout the pandemic, news of mutations lets us know that the process is working.
“This variant has multiple mutations, several of which are in the spike protein, which is important for attaching to host (human) cells and which is the target for the currently available vaccines,” she said. “There are many parameters that influence transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The structure of the virus is one important parameter, but the behavior and environment of the population is critical as well. Mask use, physical distancing, ventilation, hand-washing all impact the risk of transmission, and will remain effective and essential components of controlling the pandemic.”
Bartlett says the mutation news does not have an impact on vaccination plans in the United States because there is no evidence to suggest that the spike protein in the variant is distinct enough that the current vaccines will not be effective.
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Read more coronavirus questions and answers here. —Alison Bowen, Christen A. Johnson, Darcel Rockett
11:15 a.m.: R. Kelly tentatively set to go on trial in Chicago in September after months of COVID-19 delays
After months of delays due to COVID-19 concerns, a federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday set a September trial date for indicted singer R. Kelly but said it’s “not set in stone” given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said during a brief status hearing that jury selection will tentatively begin Sept. 13 for Kelly and his co-defendants, who are charged with trying to rig Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by paying off witnesses and victims to change their stories.
Read more here. —Jason Meisner
10:50 a.m.: After canceling 2020 vacations, travelers are eager to hit the road, but will it be to Europe — or Michigan?
Travel-starved consumers want to get back to their jet-setting ways in 2021, and the COVID-19 vaccine has some feeling more optimistic. Airlines and tour operators are trying to reassure customers with more flexibility and outdoor, crowd-free destinations, but many travelers are still hesitant to make plans.
Online searches for flights, which had been about 25% below last year’s levels, began growing quickly in November amid positive news about the COVID-19 vaccine, according to travel data firm and booking app Hopper.
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But there’s a difference between browsing and booking.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
9:24 a.m.: As a pandemic diversion, Shedd penguin Wellington lit up the web this year
On the first weekend after Shedd Aquarium was forced to close by the new coronavirus that was endangering the country, the penguin handlers had an idea.
Taking advantage of the building’s quiet halls, the empty spaces where normally tourists would congregate in front of fish displays, they brought the rockhopper penguin Wellington to the Amazon Rising exhibit, full of South American aquatic life.
Wellington, the rockhopper penguin, who turned 33 years old on Dec. 20, poses in his habitat at the Shedd Aquarium. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Wellington looked up. He looked left, then right, and then back at handler Michelle Natasowski, who was recording the scene on her phone. Then he walked over to one of the big tanks in front of him and seemed especially taken by the red-bellied piranhas and black-barred silver dollars passing by.
In those 27 seconds, a star was born.
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That short, simple Wellington video has been the greatest viral sensation Shedd has had, more so even than the 2014-15 buzz over the rescued baby sea otter Luna. As of this writing Twitter users have watched the video more than 3.7 million times.
In that and the subsequent series known as “Penguin Field Trips,” he and his fellow Shedd rockhopper and Magellanic penguins kept homebound humans entertained throughout this pandemic year merely by displaying their natural curiosity in settings ranging from Shedd exhibits to other museums to Chicago’s Soldier Field.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
9:20 a.m.: After 28 days and 10 games called off, has DePaul’s long-awaited basketball tipoff arrived?
The Blue Demons have been living the basketball version of “Groundhog Day.”
Five more games have been axed or postponed after a pointless trip to Iowa State. Now, after missing the first 10 scheduled games since Nov. 25, DePaul is eager to finally compete this season when it plays Western Illinois on Wednesday at Wintrust Arena.
Fingers crossed. Knock on wood. Hope and pray. No jinxes.
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Big East brethren Villanova and Xavier have each played eight games and Creighton has played nine so far. DePaul remains painfully undefeated: 0-0.
Read more here. —Shannon Ryan
7:15 a.m.: Cook County workers holding one-day strike Tuesday
Cook County health technicians and maintenance workers, as well as Cook County clerk’s and sheriff’s office employees, were holding a one-day strike to ask for extra pay for those working with COVID-19 patients and the right for workers who can to work remotely, among other demands.
SEIU Local 73 also is objecting to the county’s use of workers from outside Illinois to supplement county employees, calling them strikebreakers.
Jaunita Ervin, who works at Stroger Hospital, in a news conference streamed on Facebook Live from outside Stroger Hospital, said that she has six family members at home, several of them already with illnesses that could make them vulnerable to the coronavirus.
“We come to work every day, put our lives on the line,” Ervin said.
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“We would like (county officials) to remove the strikebreakers out of our hospital and allow us to make this money ourselves,” she said.
The county and the union have been negotiating since September, according to the union. —Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging again in Illinois prisons, as inmates and advocates call for more action
At at least 59 incarcerated people have died since March after becoming infected with the new coronavirus in Illinois’ custody — a death toll that has nearly doubled since November, state data through Dec. 21 shows. One staff member — a 64-year-old nurse near retirement — also died.
Advocates for prisoners’ rights say the state’s delays in broadening staff testing, releasing thousands of medically vulnerable or other nonviolent prisoners and better enforcing a staff mask mandate have led to widespread infections and more deaths.
The latest surge has far exceeded any previous peaks inside the Illinois Department of Corrections since the start of the pandemic.
To put the numbers in perspective, there were fewer than 700 known infections of inmates and staff across IDOC from March to early August, when the latest surge began. Since then, the total number of infections has risen by more than 9,000 cases, state data shows. In total, nearly 10,000 inmates and staff have tested positive.
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“This is absolutely a failure by the state,” said Jennifer Soble, executive director of the Illinois Prison Project. “There is no question that COVID was going to make it into the prisons. The tragedy is the number of people who have become sick and died. That tragedy was preventable.”
Read more here. —Christy Gutowski
5:55 a.m.: Normal waives 2021 liquor license fee renewals
Town Council members in Normal in central Illinois on Monday waived 2021 liquor license fee renewals for certain businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Normal Town Council approved by a vote of 6-1 an ordinance waiving certain liquor license renewals for bars and restaurants.
“The intent of this is to relieve the struggles of the businesses in the community have had,” said Mayor Chris Koos. “This is a way we thought we could help small businesses.’
Under the plan, operators of brewpubs, hotels, taprooms, stadiums, movie theaters will not have to pay renewal fees.
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License renewals were also waived for other beer only-on premises consumption; all liquor on premises consumption; outdoor premises for existing on-premises licensees; limited hours on premises consumption; and college/universities, were waived.
If a business is found in violation of state or local COVID-19 regulations, businesses would have to pay the amount of the license renewal within 30 days. —The Pantagraph, via Tribune Content Agency
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chicagotribune--2020-12-23--Maskless young conservatives chant ‘four more years’ with Pence at West Palm Beach conference that f

Maskless young conservatives chant ‘four more years’ with Pence at West Palm Beach conference that flouts COVID-19 rules

Students will return home as COVID-19 surges from coast to coast .
The situation is even more dire in other @ @ @ @ @ Tennessee ’ s Republican Gov .
Bill Lee signed an executive order limiting public gatherings @ @ @ @ @ officials there warned the state ’ s health care system was reaching a breaking point @

With the COVID-19 pandemic worsening nationwide, thousands of mostly unmasked young conservatives chanted “stop the steal” at the Palm Beach County Convention Center Tuesday and flouted guidelines intended to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
The gathering of 2,000 people in West Palm Beach came as public health experts urged Americans to avoid traveling for the holidays. Despite those warnings, young conservatives from all over the country flocked to West Palm Beach to attend Turning Point USA’s four-day Student Action Summit.
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The conference wrapped up Tuesday with a speech from Vice President Mike Pence.
At one point during the summit, young women from a corporate sponsor, Bang Energy, blasted money out of a cannon into a cheering crowd of high school and college students as Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” blared from speakers.
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Looks like there is a money cannon at TPUSA’s winter conference??
pic.twitter.com/OY2XopjjNx — Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) December 20, 2020
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner said local elected leaders were powerless to interfere with the event at the county-owned convention center because they turned over daily operations to Spectra Venue Management, a management company.
“There are contractual obligations that give the management company the right to utilize the convention center and enter into contracts as long as done in a safe and prudent manner,” he said.
No fines were issued in connection with the Turning Point USA events, the county’s appointed administrator Verdenia Baker said.
A Friday night gala at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club kicked off the summit, which featured discussions and speeches that ran from Saturday through Tuesday at the nearby Palm Beach County Convention Center.
Social media posts showed young conservatives mingling without masks at the Friday night gala at Trump’s oceanfront estate in Palm Beach. The gathering — an apparent violation of Palm Beach County’s mask mandate — made headlines in The Washington Post.
Turning Point’s roster of speakers included a who’s who of the Republican Party. The conference’s program listed Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, Sen. Rand Paul and other notable conservatives.
The summit culminated with remarks from Pence, who leads the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force.
Pence urged the crowd at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to “keep fighting until every last legal vote is counted” for Trump.
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“Fight for what we started,” he said. “The president and I are counting on you. We need your voice. We need your energy.”
Liz Sensel waits in line to see Vice President Mike Pence speak at the Student Action Summit of the Turning Point USA convention on Tuesday in West Palm Beach. Thousands of attendees, mostly not wearing masks, packed into the Palm Beach Convention Center to hear him speak. (Joe Cavaretta / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Meanwhile, the Dec. 13 White House COVID-19 Task Force report advised that Florida is in the red zone for COVID-19 transmission. The report recommended Florida officials “warn about any gathering during the December holidays.”
Only a few people wore masks inside the convention hall Tuesday. Markings encouraging social distancing went ignored. The crowd stood shoulder to shoulder and shouted at each other over the music.
[ RELATED: South Florida parties on — No mask, no distancing, no problem inside bars and clubs ]
Students will return home as COVID-19 surges from coast to coast. The situation is even more dire in other states. For example, Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people as health officials there warned the state’s health care system was reaching a breaking point.
Despite those dire pleas, attendees said they weren’t concerned about catching or spreading the virus.
Stephanie Baez, a 27-year-old college student from Southern California, said she thinks the pandemic’s death toll — more than 300,000 in the U.S. — is inflated.
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[ RELATED: White House coronavirus report contradicts DeSantis, urges ban on inside gatherings away from home ]
Nicole Pavin, a 46-year-old mother from Raleigh, N.C., took her children to the conference. She said she thinks mask requirements are trampling on her freedom.
Parvin’s 17-year-old daughter, Danya Parvin, said organizers told her at one point she needed to put on her mask because of Health Department checks. No such public warning was issued during the final event of the day with Pence.
A Health Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the event. Dave Anderson, the convention center’s general manager, also did not respond to a list of questions from the South Florida Sun Sentinel about steps the convention center took to ensure compliance.
The mask mandate requires facial covering be worn “in any business or establishment.” Masks can be removed while eating and drinking but only for a short period.
Gov. Ron DeSantis — a top Trump supporter — prohibited local governments from collecting fines from individuals who violate mask mandates. But the order doesn’t address fines levied against businesses for noncompliance.
[ RELATED: As COVID-19 starts to spike, DeSantis' orders limit South Florida leaders from taking action to curb virus ]
The convention center can accommodate up to 8,000 people, so the Turning Point event filled only a quarter of the center’s capacity, Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said.
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“They agreed to follow all CDC guidelines,” he said. “If they are not adhering to it, I would assume they are in some kind of issue with their contract.”
At one point on Saturday night, officials blocked several hundred students from entering the convention center, CBS 12 reported.
Palm Beach County officials blamed Turning Point USA for overselling tickets. Turning Point USA denied that. The group did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday from the Sun Sentinel.
Turning Point USA was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, a regular Fox News contributor. The group has members from 2,000 college campuses in all 50 states.
President-elect Joe Biden is set to take the oath of office in less than a month, but the convention hall sounded like a raucous campaign event on Tuesday.
“Four more years. Four more years,” the crowd chanted multiple times during Pence’s speech.
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Skyler Swisher can be reached at sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher.
Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com Follow on Twitter @ reporterkell.


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--Daywatch: Reopening uncertainty for CPS parents, ‘king’ of Medicaid fraud freed by Trump and more pe

Daywatch: Reopening uncertainty for CPS parents, ‘king’ of Medicaid fraud freed by Trump and more people staying home for holidays

A woman who says Chicago police officers pulled her from a car by her hair and placed a knee on @ @ @ @ @ Mall has filed a federal lawsuit against the city , claiming her civil rights were @ @ @ @ @ from people who participated in protests in the city this past summer .

Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, Illinois officials announced 6,762 new cases of COVID-19 and 135 additional fatalities. The new numbers came as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that more than 100,000 people in Illinois received the COVID-19 vaccine in the first week of the mass vaccination effort.
Meanwhile, six Chicago businesses, including five restaurants and bars, were cited for violating COVID-19 safety guidelines last weekend. In addition, two illegal parties, both with more than 50 guests, were shut down.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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Blanca Sandoval-Perez, parent to a third grader and an Local School Councils member at Clinton Elementary, voted in favor of a resolution opposing the Chicago Public Schools reopening plan. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
A growing number of Local School Councils, from West Ridge to Logan Square to West Englewood, oppose Chicago Public Schools’ plan to start bringing young learners and children in special education “cluster” programs back to school buildings in the new year.
In this Aug. 7, 2015, file photo, Philip Esformes arrives at the 15th Annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, in Los Angeles. (Rob Latour/Invision/AP)
Chicago-area nursing home mogul Philip Esformes was once called the “king” of Medicaid fraud. Now, Esformes is a free man, released from a Florida prison on Tuesday after President Trump commuted his 20-year sentence.
Trump on Wednesday pardoned more than two dozen people, including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Jared Kushner’s father, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit longtime associates and supporters.
Mia Wright, center, with her cousin Tnika Tate, right, and Wright's mother, Kim Woods, on June 3, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
A woman who says Chicago police officers pulled her from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck at the Brickyard Mall has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming her civil rights were violated and citing similar complaints from people who participated in protests in the city this past summer.
Read the lawsuit filed against Chicago, police officers in Brickyard Mall arrest
Diana Franco, left, and Epi Diaz greet a customer as New Life Centers of Chicagoland holds its holiday food distribution in Little Village in Chicago, Dec. 22, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
A new report by the Greater Chicago Food Depository shows Cook County faces the greatest hunger crisis in the organization’s 41-year history. Food pantries in the Chicago area are seeing an average of 50% more people seeking help this year. One food pantry run by a Little Village church now feeds 60 times as many families a week as before the pandemic.
Laura and Jose Sierra pack their dog Leo before their flight to New York from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Dec. 23, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
With health officials repeatedly warning against family gatherings during the end-of-year holidays, experts say the number of Americans traveling will be the smallest since 2002 and will end an 11-year streak of consecutive growth. But there are still enough people to clog the airports.


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--Chicago mariachis sing farewell to fellow players at their wakes and funerals, a ritual to honor one

Chicago mariachis sing farewell to fellow players at their wakes and funerals, a ritual to honor one another through a craft that united them

“ It is the craft that unites us because we shared the same passion .
We like to say that @ @ @ @ @ mariachi guild , ’ regardless of what instrument we play , where , or how @ @ @ @ @ sing when we ’ re happy and when we ’ re hurting , ” Leon @ @

Enrique Leon plays guitarron and sings Dec. 4, 2020, during the funeral service for his friend and fellow musician Florentino Chavez at Martinez Funeral Home in Chicago. Leon is the leader of Mariachi Mexico Vivo. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
For decades, Florentino Chavez played the guitar in different mariachi bands in the Chicago area, cheering up thousands during celebrations and comforting many more following a heartbreak or a loss.
On Dec. 4, fellow members of the group Mariachi Mexico Vivo played and sang his favorite song one last time.
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This time, they comforted each other and his family as they sang farewell to Chavez, whose body lay in a casket dressed in a black mariachi suit with his sombrero by his side.
He died suddenly from a stroke, making him the 10th compañero Enrique Leon has had to sing goodbye to in 2020.
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The ritual of having the mariachi community come together to play at the funeral or wake of a musician who has died has become a common practice, and it is a sign of respect and camaraderie, said Leon, leader of Mariachi Mexico Vivo.
More than six of his fellow musicians have died of COVID-19 complications, and the rest, like Chavez, had other health problems, he added.
“It’s been a sad year, to say the least,” said Leon, who said mariachi has helped keep him and many other families strong. In past years, he said, one or two fellow musicians would die, “never so many” as in 2020.
Mariachi player Florentino Chavez. He was 76. (Enrique Leon)
Nearly 30 musicians from the Chicago area, some who knew Chavez well and others just acquaintances, showed up to pay their respects at his wake and services, all while following COVID-19 safety guidelines.
“We like to listen to mariachi when we’re happy, but we also listen to it when we’re hurting because it helps to comfort us,” he said.
At some funeral services and wakes before the pandemic, up to 100 musicians from different mariachi groups would attend from all over Chicago and surrounding areas to sing for a fellow mariachi.
“It is the craft that unites us because we shared the same passion. We like to say that we belong to ‘the mariachi guild,’ regardless of what instrument we play, where, or how old we are; we sing when we’re happy and when we’re hurting,” Leon said.
Librado Romero, one of the mariachi guests, views Chavez as one of the pioneers of the mariachi scene in Chicago, and though he only knew him for a short period of time, said that “we owe him respect for opening the door and connecting so many of us.”
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Chavez, who was 76 moved to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico, nearly four decades ago and was never able to return.
But he brought his love for music, specifically the guitar, with him, Leon said.
Leon said that Chavez was one of his first friends after Leon arrived in Pilsen 20 years ago. They were neighbors.
He introduced him to other people in Chicago in the music industry, and if a mariachi ensemble was missing a guitar player for a gig, he would connect them to Leon. Sometimes they played together at restaurants or bars, charging around $30 per song.
“That’s how the whole mariachi community is. We help each other because there aren’t many of us,” he said.
Leon said the mariachi community represented at the wake communicates through a Facebook group that has 130 to 150 members.
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In a video message, Arturo Gallegos sang a song for Chavez while he played the accordion. He said he couldn’t attend the funeral because of concerns about COVID-19, but said he appreciated “Tino,” as friends called him.
“We’re like a big family,” Romero said.
Although the origin of the mariachi ensemble goes back hundreds of years, it is popularly known that the modern band originated in Jalisco, Mexico, and began to expand after the 1930s.
Now, a mariachi group includes people who play violins, trumpets, a guitar, a round-backed guitar called the vihuela, a deep-noted guitar called the guitarron, which serves as the bass for the ensemble, and a Mexican folk harp.
Leon plays the guitar and the guitarron. He began Mexico Vivo, in 2005 and in 2018, formally invited Chavez to be a part of it.
“He was a good and happy man,” Leon said about Chavez.
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Despite being surrounded by music, he lived a lonely life. Most of his family lived in Mexico and over the years he became distant from them.
When Leon learned of Chavez’s sudden death on Nov. 29 after getting a call from the owner of the property where Chavez lived, he had to find his family to let them know.
Leon said he had spoken to Chavez just the day before.
“I asked him how he was feeling and he sounded cheerful, as always” Leon said. There were no gigs in place and since the newest COVID-19 restrictions, they weren’t going out to play at restaurants, so he called to just check in.
“I was not ready to get that phone call later that night.”
Leon was able to connect with some of Chavez’s children in Mexico and nephews in the Chicago area, who all came together to help plan and pay for the funeral services, said Jesus Rodriguez, a great-nephew of Chavez.
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Rodriguez said the family was grateful for the gesture from the mariachis: “It was beautiful.”
“Though my uncle was a loner, he was still loved,” Rodriguez said.
His remains were taken back to Jalisco, known as La Tierra del mariachi, or the land of the mariachi, where he played the guitar for the first time.


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--Column: Santa Claus is real: A columnist’s case for St. Nick

So it falls to adults to hear the question , to acknowledge it and to share what we know .
@ @ @ @ @ it ’ s as individual as fingerprints .
And what each child chooses to do @ @ @ @ @ wholly and completely , unique .
There isn ’ t a right or wrong way @ @ @

Vega Night, 3, looks out the front window of his family's home as he waits for the arrival of Dreezy Claus, aka Chicago's Black Santa, on Dec. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Andre Russell has been doing a mix of visits this year, though most of them are virtual. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Let us, on the eve of Christmas, consider Santa Claus.
Let us consider happiness. And joy. Vivid dreams, and dreams made real.
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Let us take a moment or two to meditate on St. Nick.
________
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Columns are opinion content that reflect the views of the writers.
________
I do it each year. It feels warm, like visiting an old friend. Or paying respect to an elder, someone I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude.
The question that invariably bubbles up this time of year, in the minds and hushed voices of children of a certain age, is reasonable: Is Santa Claus real?
He can, to be sure, seem too fantastic to be true, with the reindeer and the gifts and the round-the-globe spreading of cheer. Skepticism from even the youngest of pragmatists is to be expected.
So it falls to adults to hear the question, to acknowledge it and to share what we know. The answer always differs — it’s as individual as fingerprints. And what each child chooses to do with that answer is, wholly and completely, unique. There isn’t a right or wrong way to feel.
But I will share with you, and any young, questioning minds around you, my answer, as a journalist and purveyor of news and facts: Yes, Santa Claus is real.
I believe that as much now as I ever did as a child. I believe it based on nearly 50 years of Christmastime experience, and on an education — first as a chemical engineer, then as a journalist — that taught me to consider evidence and draw concrete conclusions.
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Evidence of Santa Claus is not firsthand, of course, as those who wish to remain unseen are often impossible to spot. But in the absence of television interviews or an Instagram account filled with #AnotherPlateOfCookies selfies, we move to secondary evidence.
What do we feel as Christmas morning approaches? Excitement. Anticipation. A sense of wonder.
What things do we share in the lead-up to this day? Fun. Laughter. Hope.
What does this holiday drive us to consider? Helping others. Reaching out. Sharing.
Those are not small things. They don’t come about because Christmas is any other day. They come about in abundance because Christmas is a day rooted deeply in faith and belief, largely spiritual but most certainly in some part whimsical.
That’s the part of Santa Claus. The whimsy. The quirky things that happen — an unexpected meeting with a long-ago friend on the street, a gift you never expected, an act of kindness out of the blue.
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The parents struggling to get by who still find ways to fill the stockings. The kindness of strangers who bring trees and gifts to light up barren rooms.
Sleepless Christmas Eves. Pulse-racing flights down stairs on Christmas morning.
These are all reasons to believe. These moments are why the legend of Santa Claus never fades. We who celebrate Christmas are told as tiny tots that St. Nicholas arrives as leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
Our feelings and hopes and the fluttering in our insides are interwoven in his narrative, so it binds us to this time of year. And that’s true for any of us who celebrate Christmas, young or old or in between.
Christmas without Santa Claus would be ahistoric, a ship of dreams with no wind in its sails. Simply put, it wouldn’t make sense. There would be a void, and Christmas is no day for voids.
So I believe. I step outside each Christmas Eve, as I’ve done since I was a white-Christmas-deprived boy in Florida, and I look up at the stars for a sleigh-like streak of light or the far-off jingle of a bell.
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I have yet to see or hear anything. But as long as my legs can carry me, I won’t stop looking and listening. And I won’t stop believing.
Because the things that bind us, our hearts and our minds and the very best parts of our natures, matter. They exist so we can believe in things we cannot see, things that are pure and good and, in this case, remarkably skilled at entering homes unnoticed.
To anyone doubting Santa Claus this year, please take heart.
When I make a mistake in a column, when I misstate a fact, the newspaper runs a correction. The truth matters.
There will be no correction run for this column. For Santa Claus is as real as Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. May your day be one of peace and boundless, ageless whimsy.
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(There’s still time to join the third annual Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive and make a donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository under either the RexStinks or RexRocks team name. Either way, you help feed people struggling to make ends meet. Just go to: https://www.myfooddrive.org/#InsultRex.)
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--New year, new reopening plan — and continued uncertainty for CPS parents

“ I understand that there is such a diverse group of schools in our city that a school like Mount @ @ @ @ @ to open than some of the other schools , ” Klauke said .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ CTU for wanting all of the schools to be considered , but I do feel @ @ @ @ @ for these kids to get back , but it ’ s time for them to @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s going to be positive and not worse than what they ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Blanca Sandoval-Perez was still figuring out how to get her father-in-law’s body back to Mexico when she logged in to Clinton Elementary’s December Local School Council meeting.
With his death during the coronavirus pandemic on her mind, Sandoval-Perez gave her full support to a resolution opposing Chicago Public Schools’ reopening plan.
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After learning her father-in-law was positive for COVID-19, the whole family got tested. Sandoval-Perez’s oldest son and husband were both positive, though they had no symptoms, she said. She thought about what could have happened if her third grade daughter had been infected but asymptomatic, and had gone to school.
“I don’t think it’s fair for the teachers to have to choose between having to work and their lives,” Sandoval-Perez said. “I thought that if we support them in this way, we are saying, ‘We are with you.’”
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A growing number of Local School Councils, from West Ridge to Logan Square to West Englewood, have passed similar resolutions in recent weeks, opposing the plan to start bringing young learners and children in special education “cluster” programs back to school buildings in the new year.
More than 77,000 students have opted to return to classrooms in person, roughly 1 of every 3 who were eligible. With an unsettled labor dispute, however, winter break finds parents — and educators — still wondering what to expect.
While the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board this month denied the Chicago Teachers Union’s request to pursue legal action that would stop the plan, the board also found the case warranted a hearing on factual disputes that affected its decision. A hearing with an administrative law judge is scheduled for late January, but the union is trying to get it moved up before the reopening date for the first group of schools.
“I’m not convinced it’s going to open,” said Michelle Klauke, whose fourth- and fifth-grade children hope to return to Mount Greenwood Elementary in February. The family’s decision may change if their teachers have to instruct students online and in person at the same time, and Klauke said she’d rather continue remote learning than endure another teachers strike, though she supported the 11-day action last year.
“It’s hard for the kids to not know what’s going on,” she said. “During the strike my kids toward the end of it were really anxious about, ‘When are we going to go back to school?’ ... I think it’s hard for kids to watch adults bicker back and forth.”
When the school district and teachers union are giving conflicting messages, Klauke said, she doesn’t necessarily believe one side over the other.
“I don’t know that I trust either one of them,” she said. “I trust our principal. I trust that she’s going to give us honest information.”
In Clearing, Daisy Gamboa is also tired of conflict between CPS and CTU. She feels unable to count on her eighth grade son returning in person, as he has signed up to do.
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“It is so stressful just seeing them fight and being on pins and needles and seeing if CTU is going to strike,” Gamboa said. “Where is that going to leave my son, with no education at all? He is so far behind now. The fighting and the resistance during the pandemic, I wish I would see more unity, more cooperating.”
Some lessons are best learned by doing, and incorporating pandemic safety in the classroom could help with the community spread that is so rampant in Gamboa’s Southwest Side neighborhood, she said.
“I see how it’s affecting my community and I see that my community is not really educated on how to keep safe, and for the most part, my community gets their education from schools,” Gamboa said. “We are getting it from our teachers, from school buildings. My community is not getting that education. If schools were open, they’d be teaching how to stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands, wear your mask.”
Gamboa said the rhetoric between union and school district leaders puts parents in a difficult position.
“There are inequities in my community and it’s very disheartening to see CTU use my community as leverage for whatever bargaining they are trying to do,” she said. “CTU does not speak for me, my son or my family, and they don’t speak for a lot of parents in my community.”
It worries Lauren Kullman, a drama teacher at Nightingale Elementary in Gage Park who sees about 500 kids each week, when her students appear on camera with coronavirus symptoms.
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“They want teachers like me to travel between pods,” she said. “I know that would put me at a higher risk.”
Chicago Public Schools teachers Lauren and Sean Kullman walk with their children, Duke, 5, and Addie, 2, in the Albany Park neighborhood on Dec. 23, 2020. Lauren Kullman is not planning to send her kindergartner back to school and is against the CPS reopening plan. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Kullman, who is immunocompromised, said she is still waiting to find out if she’s been approved for remote-work accommodations. She is not counting on it, after hearing from teachers with other conditions who have been denied, and knows there is a risk of losing her job for not showing up to work.
“The stress of not knowing that even up to this point, it is anxiety-filling to be honest, but I have made the personal decision that I will not be going into the buildings as they are now,” Kullman said. “The plan that is being told to us and told to the public, it’s a cut-and-paste patchwork plan that does not ensure safety. ... The wording in their reopening plan is sketchy at best.”
She struggles to imagine how simultaneous teaching would go for theater classes but believes she has figured out a way to make it work remotely, with students producing a recorded holiday poem. “I finally have something really good going with my students online,” she said. “We are learning.”
Kullman and her husband, who teaches at Southside Occupational Academy, are having their kindergartner continue remote learning and have a 3-year-old at home. She doesn’t know what teachers required to report in person are supposed to do if they don’t want their children to go back.
Her husband did get approved to work remotely, so at least he will have a job, she said. Southside, which has transitional programs for students with disabilities who are between the ages of 16 and 22, is slated for a hybrid reopening. Its Local School Council is among those that have passed resolutions against doing so.
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Sandoval-Perez said she hopes her LSC’s actions encourage decisions that allow the school to stay remote.
Blanca Sandoval-Perez, parent to a third grader and an Local School Councils member at Clinton Elementary, voted in favor of a resolution opposing the Chicago Public Schools reopening plan. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
“This is not a decision that we are trying to do to be selfish, this is a decision that we took thinking about all of our families, all of the kids, and that it’s not fair for teachers,” she said. “From CPS’ politics ... it seems they want to show their power, that they can do it, and they just want to do it, they are not really thinking how many people they can affect.”
During Brentano Math & Science Academy’s council meeting Monday, teacher member Nicole Sandoval read aloud a resolution that ultimately passed.
“For nine months we have sacrificed, changing our lives to protect each other,” she read. “We brought computers to our children. Together, we rebuilt our school online. We are tired, but vaccines are coming. It is almost the end. Now you have directed us to reopen our building in January, gathering 202 children and 68 staff in the darkest month of this pandemic. ... We are told our families want this, but we know 66% asked to stay online, including 69% of families of color.”
When CPS offered eligible families citywide the choice to return to schools, white students opted in at the highest rate, 67%, followed by 55% for multiracial students, 34% for Black students, 33% for Asian students and 31% for Latino students. Students with special education plans opted in at a lower than average rate, 36%, as did economically disadvantaged students, 32%.
A parent on the Brentano council, Ben Dieterich, said in deciding to stick with remote learning, his family factored in allowing teachers to focus their attention in the classroom on students who need it most. There’s probably a lot the council doesn’t know about the reasons why nearly a third of families chose in-person learning, but that choice indicates something is not working for them or there is something else they need, he said.
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“It feels like we need to recognize the needs of those families who chose to return, figure out what’s missing and if there are other ways to address that and to meet those needs, and I am worried how the resolution may be read by those families who indicated that they need to return to school, because they are a part of our community too,” Dieterich said. “Not knowing what their individual needs are, it’s really difficult to discount that decision that they made to return. At the same time, I also want to recognize that our teachers have concerns for their own safety.”
Klauke said she thinks highly of their principal and is confident in the school’s ability to enforce health and safety rules but realizes that requires a lot from staff.
“I understand that there is such a diverse group of schools in our city that a school like Mount Greenwood is maybe more ready to open than some of the other schools,” Klauke said. “I don’t disagree with CTU for wanting all of the schools to be considered, but I do feel like it’s time for these kids to get back, but it’s time for them to get back in a manner that’s going to be positive and not worse than what they’ve already been through this year.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--‘That’s it?’ Moderna vaccine debuts at Lovell Health Care Center in North Chicago

This time , though , Bailey was the patient , not the physician .
He rolled up a sleeve Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ first people at the North Chicago facility to receive the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ dose , and did so with a deft touch .
Bailey looked away while the @ @ @ @ @ arm and then came out a few moments later .

Navy Lt. Liesl Eichenmuller gets a COVID-19 vaccination Wednesday from nurse Mailyn Villarin at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. The North Chicago veterans hospital received its first supply of the Moderna vaccine and started giving it to staff members. (Brian OMahoney / Lake County News-Sun)
Dr. Kent Bailey sat in the small hospital exam room in his scrubs, mask and cap, looking ready to head into the ER at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center where he is the director of emergency services.
This time, though, Bailey was the patient, not the physician. He rolled up a sleeve Wednesday morning as one of the first people at the North Chicago facility to receive the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19. Nurse Michelle Franklin administered the dose, and did so with a deft touch. Bailey looked away while the needle went into his upper arm and then came out a few moments later.
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“Are you sure you did it?” he asked. “That’s it?”
That was it, for now — the veteran’s administration hospital’s start in the process as millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines that are being distributed around a coronavirus-ravaged America.
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Dr. Robert Buckley of the Lovell Federal Health Care Center talks to a reporter Wednesday as the first supply of the Moderna vaccine is delivered to staff members. (Brian O'Mahoney/News-Sun) (Brian OMahoney / Lake County News-Sun)
The Captain James A. Lovell FHCC, which serves both VA patients and active military families and dependents, is one of 133 VA centers across the United States that are receiving limited amounts of the Moderna vaccine. The treatment was recently approved by the FDA for distribution, and the Lovell center received 1,600 doses, which were being distributed to staff and patients.
Dan Nash, an Air Force veteran and a resident of the Lovell Community Living Center, was the first person at the facility to be vaccinated. Nash, 54, is awaiting a transplant, which the center said makes it imperative that he remain free of infections.
“I feel so honored and privileged to be the first,” said Nash, who piloted an F-15 during the Bosnian-Serbian War. “It’s amazing what the pharmaceutical companies have been able to do in record time.”
The Center’s director, Dr. Robert Buckley, spoke of the importance of protecting the front line health care providers, especially over the next several months as winter sets in, and health experts forecast a rising death toll.
Nurse Myleen Apigo was one of the first to get a COVID-19 vaccination at the Lovell Federal Health Care Center Wednesday morning. The center has received its first supply of the Moderna vaccine and started giving it to staff members. (Brian O'Mahoney/News-Sun) (Brian OMahoney / Lake County News-Sun)
“It’s going to be a battle,” Buckley said.
Mylene Apigo, a Lovell intensive care unit nurse, got her first dose of the vaccine a few minutes after Dr. Bailey. They, and everyone who gets the Moderna vaccine, will need a second shot in 28 days so the vaccine reaches maximum effectiveness. In the meantime, they will continue to follow mask, social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols.
Apigo said she did have some initial trepidation about getting a new vaccine. But after seeing the effects of COVID-19 both at work and among members of her family who have battled coronavirus, it became as easy decision to choose to get the vaccine.
“I was scared at first — that’s just human nature,” Apigo said. “It’s all right now.”
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FHCC officials said the center will reach out to eligible patients to schedule vaccinations as more of the vaccine becomes available.


chicagotribune--2020-12-25--National Guardsman who works as Chicago police officer thankful to be headed home from Afghanistan f

National Guardsman who works as Chicago police officer thankful to be headed home from Afghanistan for Christmas, even amid pandemic

Still , this Christmas feels special , he said .
After his last two deployments , he returned well before @ @ @ @ @ he returns on Christmas Eve .
There may not be anyone allowed inside the airport @ @ @ @ @ there was no coming home ceremony at the armory either .

After a seven-month deployment in war-torn Afghanistan that included the constant threat of danger and a bout with COVID-19, returning Illinois National Guard Maj. Scott Liebhaber doesn’t mind if Christmas back home in Chicago comes with some pandemic-related strings attached.
Even if his family’s annual Christmas Day trip to Holy Name Cathedral for Mass is canceled due to renewed pandemic closures and restrictions. But Liebhaber — a recent recipient of the Bronze Star for meritorious service during his deployment and a veteran Chicago police officer — has some other fail-safe activities to save the season.
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First, some much-needed relaxation time with his wife, Jaqueline. Then maybe a long, scenic tour down windy Lake Shore Drive.
His first meal back? An Italian beef combo from Johnnie’s Beef on North Avenue. “I’ve been craving that since I left,” Liebhaber, 38, said in a telephone call from Fort Bliss in Texas a day before his scheduled return.
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Kathy Kuzur, left, takes a picture as Amelia Kelly kisses her boyfriend, Illinois Army National Guardsmen 1st Lt. Kurt Kuzur, as he arrives at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Dec. 24, 2020, after the final leg of his journey home from deployment in Afghanistan. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Liebhaber is his unit’s first executive officer to return home, joined by fellow guardsmen from Champaign, Frankfort, Tinley Park and Collinsville. At least one other soldier will join him for a return flight at O’Hare International Airport on Christmas Eve.
The soldiers were part of a team that advised and aided combat missions with the Polish military in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
It’s not unusual for combat and loss to make a soldier’s heart grow fonder for home, but it’s been an especially trying year for Liebhaber’s team. Still, the group returns intact from Afghanistan, a country ravaged by deadly Taliban attacks and a high count of COVID-19 cases.
Having tested positive for COVID-19 while deployed in the country, Liebhaber believes safety rules and restrictions are a small price to pay to return to normal conditions at home. And the soldiers are returning to much the same situation surrounding the pandemic as when they shipped out.
“When we left in May, it was pretty much at the height of COVID,” Liebhaber said. “We were all hoping that by the time we came back, COVID would be controlled and finished, but obviously that didn’t happen.
“We’re kind of coming back how we left it. Everything was pretty much closed when we left. ... We’re coming back and everything is pretty much closed down again.”
Still, this Christmas feels special, he said. After his last two deployments, he returned well before Christmas, but this year he returns on Christmas Eve. There may not be anyone allowed inside the airport to greet him, and there was no coming home ceremony at the armory either.
“Everybody’s happy to be back and be back in the normal world. However normal it is,” Liebhaber said. “It’s definitely more normal than over there.”
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During this last deployment, Liebhaber’s team helped oversee an update of the Polish armored vehicle fleet, among other duties. The Illinois National Guard has long had a warm relationship with the Polish military, having worked side by side for decades, according to officials.
“There’s good camaraderie among the soldiers, and diplomatically, it just builds up trust” between the nations, said Lt. Col. Brad Leighton, a spokesman for the Illinois National Guard.
As for Liebhaber, he’s looking forward to some leisure time before he returns to working for the Chicago Police Department and further National Guard service. “A drive down Lake Shore would be good enough for me, just to see the city of Chicago and the beautiful Lake Michigan.”
It’s just good to be home, he said.
“Even though we’re coming back to ... uncertainty with COVID kind of getting out of control right now, it’s still nice to come back to the greatest country in the world,” Liebhaber said. “It’s always a pleasure.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--Man, 19, shot to death in East Garfield Park

The man was shot in the torso about 3:10 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Ohio Street , police @ @ @ @ @ unresponsive .
He was transported to Stroger Hospital , where he was pronounced dead .

A 19-year-old man was shot multiple times and killed Thursday afternoon in East Garfield Park, according to police.
The man was shot in the torso about 3:10 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Ohio Street, police said. Officers found him unresponsive. He was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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No arrests were made. Police are investigating.
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-12-24--Chicago Park District adds esports to its recreational program

1535 W. Jackson Blvd.
, Chicago : $ 1,199,000 | Listed : Sept. 26 , 2020 This updated row house @ @ @ @ @ School has four bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms .
Five fireplaces , 12-foot-high ceilings and five @ @ @ @ @ , while the chef-level kitchen touts heated floors and has been featured in O Magazine @ @ @ @ @ Chicago PD.
” The primary bedroom suite is outfitted with a new bathroom , custom @ @ @ @ @ home ’ s award-winning garden .
Outside , the home has a Trex deck , @ @ @ @ @ garage with attic space .
Agent : Linda Levin of Jameson Sotheby ’ s International @ @ @ @ @ photos are “ virtually staged , ” meaning they have been digitally altered to represent @ @ @ @ @ .
To feature your luxury listing of $ 800,000 or more in Chicago Tribune ’ @ @ @ @ @ listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate @ chicagotribune.com .
Join our Chicago Dream Homes @ @ @ @ @ listings and real estate news .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Veteran esports promoter Kevin Fair monitors the video game tournament from his home studio in Chicago on Dec. 22, 2020. He is helping the Chicago Park District to organize its first esports tournament for city kids. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Park District hosted its inaugural esports tournament, giving 64 teens, playing remotely on their own consoles, the chance to be declared city champion in the video game “NBA 2K21.”