chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Daywatch: Chicago could get vaccines this month, support for Madigan further erodes and meet our Hol

Daywatch: Chicago could get vaccines this month, support for Madigan further erodes and meet our Holiday Cookie Contest winners

The plan is contingent on federal approval of the first set of vaccines later this month , and residents likely @ @ @ @ @ form of activity restriction well into next year , Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday .
@ @ @ @ @ return to a pre-COVID-19 way a life could start before Christmas , when Chicago would @ @ @ @ @ of vaccines if they are approved , Arwady said .

Good morning, Chicago. On Tuesday, Illinois officials announced 12,542 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 125 additional fatalities, a significant jump after several days of lower numbers.
Meanwhile, as the holiday season begins, most people tend to give a bulk of their donations between now and the end of the year. But these days often bring higher chances of charity fraud, especially while in the midst of a pandemic. Learn more about these holiday scams and how to avoid them here.
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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 | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady gives an update about the COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic news at City Hall, Dec. 1, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In the most promising update yet on plans for an eventual return to normalcy, Chicago officials said Tuesday they expect to begin rolling out coronavirus vaccines for health care workers later this month and could provide them to lower-risk residents in the spring and children by summer.
The plan is contingent on federal approval of the first set of vaccines later this month, and residents likely will still be under some form of activity restriction well into next year, Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday. But the countdown to a return to a pre-COVID-19 way a life could start before Christmas, when Chicago would begin deploying its first batch of vaccines if they are approved, Arwady said.
Eight more states, including Ohio, will be under Chicago’s most severe category for its travel quarantine order, city officials announced Tuesday.
The Tribune is getting your COVID-19 questions answered by University of Chicago’s Dr. Emily Landon with a virtual event today at 12:30 p.m. Watch live on our Facebook page here.
Speaker Michael Madigan stands over lawmakers on the House floor before Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first budget address, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Feb. 20, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chances of remaining in power were dealt another serious blow Tuesday when a member of his Democratic leadership team said she will not support him for another term leading the chamber.
State Rep. Kathleen Willis of Addison, the majority conference chairperson, joins 18 rank-and-file Democrats in publicly opposing another term for the nation’s longest-serving state House speaker. Madigan, who’s been tied to a federal bribery investigation, is now facing opposition from more than one-quarter of his members.
Legislation at the heart of the bribery scandal that has ensnared Madigan as well as former ComEd executives enhanced the utility’s bottom line but failed to produce promised benefits for consumers, according to a report released Tuesday.
A ribbon hangs on the White House for World AIDS Day 2020, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The Justice Department is investigating whether there was a secret scheme to lobby White House officials for a pardon as well as a related plot to offer a hefty political contribution in exchange for clemency, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. A Justice Department official said Tuesday night that no government official was or is a subject or target of the investigation.
Trump has discussed with advisers pardons for his 3 eldest children, Jared Kushner and Rudy Giuliani
Disputing President Trump’s persistent, baseless claims, Attorney General William Barr declared Tuesday the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.
A worker prepares COVID-19 test kits before the opening of the new testing center at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park of DuPage County in Nov. 23, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
As many as one in five Americans traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday, and all of them should be tested for COVID-19, according to top U.S. health officials. That has some Chicago-area testing centers expecting larger crowds this week.
So how can you navigate an already stressed system — and get the most convenient, affordable and reliable COVID test possible? Heather Keirnan, a nurse and vice president of operations for Northwestern Medicine Immediate Care, guides us through the process.
State COVID-19 testing sites where anyone can get a test: Search our map for one near you
This year's top three winners in our annual cookie contest. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune; Shannon Kinsella/food styling)
During this very dark year, we found light in the kitchen. Yet we questioned: With COVID-19 lockdowns, civil unrest and a contentious election, should a cookie contest even go on?
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After many conversations, we decided it would, while still concerned that no one would come. You did — and the winners of the Chicago Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest 2020 baked through the darkness with the strength and joy that may carry us through the winter and whatever’s to come.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Glimmers of hope: Gold coin, gold bar dropped in Salvation Army kettles in season of rising need and

Glimmers of hope: Gold coin, gold bar dropped in Salvation Army kettles in season of rising need and dwindling donations

“ We ’ re going to need to raise much more than our goal in order to meet the needs @ @ @ @ @ on us this year , ” he said .
“ We ’ re seeing more @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve seen in the past and the faces are changing .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ never had to ask for help before who are coming through the door .
People @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ve always been the ones who are donating and never receiving help .
@ @ @ @ @ by it , they ’ re definitely not used to being on this end of @ @ @

The Salvation Army got a few glimmers of hope this past weekend as it faces unprecedented need and dwindling donations.
A gold coin and a gold bar were anonymously donated at separate red kettles Saturday, according to Salvation Army spokeswoman Katie Heinz Pfingsten. A $50 American Gold Eagle coin was donated at a Jewel in Bartlett and the gold bar was dropped in a kettle outside a Jewel in Mundelein. Each is valued at $1,800 to $1,900.
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Lt. Scott Smith, with the Salvation Army’s Tri-City Corps, said the gifts offer some reassurance that things may not be as dire this year as first thought.
“It 100% gives me hope. Every year, every Salvation Army corps is going, ‘I hope we can make our goal this year,’ ” he said. “But the reality this year is, I hope we can make our goal and then some, and that God will continue to provide what we need in order to help the people that we’re helping.”
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The Salvation Army said this gold coin — valued at between $1,800 and $1,900 — was anonymously deposited in a Salvation Army Red Kettle outside a Jewel-Osco store on Stearns Road in Bartlett. (Salvation Army/HANDOUT)
His corps will get the proceeds from the coin since donations serve the communities where they’re made. “The gold coin is huge,” he said. “That’s more money than would come in on multiple kettles on a regular day.”
Nearly three-quarters of the Salvation Army’s annual budget typically is made up of donations from the winter Red Kettle drive. So far, the money collected in the kettles is down 50% for the year in the Metropolitan Division, which runs from Rockford to Lake County, Indiana, according to Heinz Pfingsten.
“In the Metropolitan Division, 70% of the Salvation Army’s funds for the entire year are raised during the Christmas season,” she said. “The money donated in the Red Kettles funds food, emergency assistance, shelter and programs year-round at our 28 corps community centers.”
Tri-City, the area Smith has overseen since last summer, includes Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles and has a goal of $195,000 during the Red Kettle drive. Smith worries it’s a goal that won’t be met because the pandemic has decimated so many industries and the Salvation Army is seeing countless families in need for the first time in their lives.
“We’re going to need to raise much more than our goal in order to meet the needs of the extra people counting on us this year,” he said. “We’re seeing more cases, more guests than we’ve seen in the past and the faces are changing. It’s people who’ve never had to ask for help before who are coming through the door. People who’ve told us they’ve always been the ones who are donating and never receiving help. They’re extremely humbled by it, they’re definitely not used to being on this end of things.”
Smith believes the coronavirus has made people less likely to shop in person — and less likely to pass a kettle or want to handle cash or stand near a stranger to make a donation. There also are fewer kettle sites because there have been fewer volunteers this year.
“People are nervous and the numbers of volunteers are much smaller as people are afraid to be in contact with others,” he said. “Generally, volunteers are people who tend to have more time on their hands, such as retirees, and of course, they’re aware that their age puts them at heightened risk.”
Digital donations are helping to make up the gap, Smith said. The ability to pay by scanning a QR code was introduced last year and refined for this season. Visitors who don’t carry cash can point their phone toward the code to pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or by credit card.
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“It gives me hope for humanity in general that during this time — when so many people are hurting, even those that are giving to our kettles or our organization are hurting in some way — that people are invested in us being able to help people as we have for well over 100 years,” Smith said.
“It’s moving that people have faith that if they take whatever amount that they can afford to give, that the Salvation Army is going to do the most good with it.”
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Column: Trump and his ‘rigged election’ liars are going to get someone killed

“ It has all gone too far .
All of it .
Joe diGenova ( one of Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ Krebs , a patriot who ran ( the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ) , @ @ @ @ @ 20-something tech from Gwinnett County today has death threats and a noose put out saying @ @ @ @ @ treason because he was transferring a report on batches … to a county computer so @ @ @ @ @

Gabriel Sterling, voting systems manager for the Georgia secretary of state's office, answers questions during a news conference on Nov. 6, 2020, in Atlanta. (Jessica McGowan / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and his bad-at-everything, bewilderingly bonkers bandwagon of “rigged election!” liars are going to get somebody killed, quite possibly a Republican.
Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Gabriel Sterling, a respected Georgia election official who also happens to be a lifelong Republican.
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At a Tuesday news conference, Sterling directly and angrily addressed Trump and his baseless claims of election fraud and said: “Mr. President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. ... Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed. And it’s not right.”
Sterling continued, and I encourage you to pay attention to every word, because he’s saying what every Republican in the U.S. House and Senate should be saying:
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“It has all gone too far. All of it. Joe diGenova (one of Trump’s attorneys) asked for Chris Krebs, a patriot who ran (the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), to be shot. A 20-something tech from Gwinnett County today has death threats and a noose put out saying he should be hung for treason because he was transferring a report on batches … to a county computer so he could read it.
“It has to stop. Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language. Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up, and if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.
“My boss, Secretary (Brad) Raffensperger, his address is out there. They have people doing caravans in front of his house, they’ve had people come onto their property. Tricia, his wife of 40 years, is getting sexualized threats through her cellphone. It has to stop.
“This is elections, this is the backbone of democracy, and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this. ... I can’t begin to explain the level of anger I have right now over this. Every American, every Georgian, Republican and Democrat alike, should have that same level of anger.”
Sterling and I would likely disagree on many if not most political issues. He said during his news conference he still supports the two Republican Senate candidates facing runoffs in Georgia — Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler — but he implored them to stand up against Trump and Co.’s unhinged rhetoric.
Because it is unhinged, deeply. Republican officials in swing states across the country require security details because of the volume of death threats coming their way from Trump supporters lapping this conspiracy up.
Cries of “Treason!” and calls for martial law are coming from Trump loyalists at Fox News and right-wing radio squawkers, and that manipulative nonsense filters down to people submerged in the alternate reality Trump has created.
If you don’t think it’s dangerous, take a quick trip through the social media site Parler, which has become a safe space for Trump supporters whose calls for violence get them banned from Twitter and Facebook.
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You’ll find posts like: “Would love to see a few thousand traitors hanged/beheaded/heads on a pike/firing squad is too merciful for these bastards.”
And this: “‘We the People’ are fed up, blood will flow!”
And this: “I hope we have a giant civil war. We can kill the Rinos first, then kill the communists.” (It should be RINO, which stands for “Republican In Name Only.”)
As Sterling said, this has to stop. Trump’s lawyers have yet to show an ounce of evidence to back up their claims about massive voter fraud. They’re being defeated in courtroom after courtroom after courtroom.
On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr, a Trump-backing zealot, said the Justice Department has found no evidence of widespread voter fraud “that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
And how did the Trump die-hards respond? Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs said: “For the attorney general of the United States to make that statement he is either a liar or a fool or both. He may be, perhaps, compromised. He may be simply unprincipled, or he may be personally distraught or ill.”
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Compromised? Ill? Dobbs is so deep in the far-right fever swamps he’s inhaling algae.
Anyone presently buying the hot garbage Trump and his cabal of Machiavellian misfits are selling has mentally parachuted from the plane of reality.
All the more reason we need more Republicans like Sterling to stand up and call for reason and decency to prevail. The Republican Party let itself get hijacked by Trump, and that New York narcissist will now happily salve the wounds to his ego by crushing the Grand Old Party to dust.
In the process, if this talk of grand conspiracies and sedition and robbed elections continues, somebody’s going to get killed.
And the fact that I’m having to quote Sterling, the voting system implementation manager in Georgia’s secretary of state’s office, rather than a Republican U.S. senator or congressperson is pathetic.
I’ll repeat Sterling’s words: “… you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this.”
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This is dangerous, destructive nonsense. And it’s growing more dangerous by the day.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Column: A viral COVID-19 photo shows the best of humanity in the worst of times

We have no idea how prosperous his life has been , or whether he lives paycheck to paycheck .
We @ @ @ @ @ he is a good man , who stands up for his principles .
We can @ @ @ @ @ he is loved , or how much he has done to help others .

Dr. Joseph Varon comforts a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit on Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. (Go Nakamura/Getty)
You might have seen the photograph of a doctor in Houston cradling an elderly man hospitalized with COVID-19. It has been passed along repeatedly on social media.
The picture, taken on Thanksgiving Day, has come to symbolize the worst of the abnormal world that has been forced upon us amid a virus that threatens our lives, our economic livelihood and our future.
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Juxtapose that with the photograph released Monday by the city of Chicago of a weekend party in the basement at 1612 W. Division St. in Wicker Park attended by about 300 people who weren’t wearing masks or adhering to social distancing rules.
Both are symbols of our current reality, though it is hard to understand how they could exist in the same universe.
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The picture of the doctor and the elderly man offers a glimpse of what is in store if we move too quickly. It signifies that the pandemic fatigue many are experiencing in this second wave of the virus is the equivalent of a minor inconvenience.
The photo released by Getty Images captured the poignant moment during a shoot documenting the strain of COVID-19 on doctors and nurses at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. But it could have been any city, any town or any hospital where doctors and nurses are filling the role of comforter in addition to their medical duties.
This virus has been harsh — unbearably so, some say. We are sick of it and all its limitations. We are ready to move on. But we cannot — at least not for a while longer.
Most of us are doing everything we should to keep ourselves, as well as others, safe. Some individuals and businesses, however, are selfishly defying the rules. Many restaurants and other establishments are suffering irreparable harm. But on this matter, they do not deserve our pity.
Those who hosted the party in Wicker Park were ruthlessly negligent. Those who attended were self-indulgent fools. The same is true for the more than 600 people who attended a party on Nov. 5 at the Chicago Sports Complex at 2600 W. 35th St. Shame on both venues for allowing it.
When this episode has passed, we will look back unforgivingly at those who helped to prolong the agony of the pandemic by refusing to follow the rules. For a few hours of profit and fun, their carelessness placed all of us at risk.
We will be eternally grateful, however, that people like Dr. Joseph Varon were around to take care of the mess left in their wake.
It is difficult to look at the image of Varon cradling the old man in his arms without feeling overwhelming sadness. We don’t know who the patient is, but we do know that he is someone’s husband and possibly someone’s father and grandfather.
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In the elderly man’s darkest moments, all he wanted was to be with them.
His white hair tells us that he has lived a long life. His agony seems to signal that he is not ready to go. He has more to live for, things that are yet undone.
We have no idea how prosperous his life has been, or whether he lives paycheck to paycheck. We don’t know if he is a good man, who stands up for his principles. We can’t say how much he is loved, or how much he has done to help others.
None of it matters. During that delicate time, he was all alone — except for a stranger wearing a blue protective robe looking down at him from behind goggles and a plastic face shield.
The old man couldn’t look into Varon’s eyes and see the compassion the doctor obviously felt. In this sad and desperate moment, he could not feel the comfort of a human’s touch, only the rubbery friction of latex gloves pressed upon his back.
The elderly man was lonely. But at least, he was not alone.
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In an interview with CNN, Varon said the patient had gotten out of his bed in the COVID-19 unit and was trying to leave the room. When Varon entered, he was crying.
“I get close to him and I tell him, ‘Why are you crying?’ and the man says, ‘I want to be with my wife,’” the doctor said. “So, I just grab him, I hold him.”
Eventually, the man felt better and stopped crying, Varon said. But, he added, the patient would not be able to see his wife until he tested negative and is discharged.
Thanksgiving was Varon’s 256th straight day of working nonstop at the hospital. Doctors and nurses across America are doing the same as the virus pushes hospitals to the brink. As of Tuesday, 98,961 patients — a record-high — were hospitalized across the country, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Dedicated workers like Varon have taken it upon themselves to ensure that every patient who needs a hug gets one. When they have done all they could, they see to it that no one dies alone.
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Medical professionals are used to seeing people suffer. But it does not mean they ever get used to it.
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If you have watched someone die, particularly a loved one, you might understand how that moment clings to you years after they have gone. It becomes a part of your soul, and it charts the person you become from that moment on.
The pandemic has changed the way we live, but the virus itself remains the greatest threat. It can suck the life out of its victims, breaking the hearts of those left behind.
It is hard to imagine how anyone can be so blind to the impact. Yet, the city of Chicago has cited more than 330 businesses for violations since March. The Wicker Park venue and the Chicago Sports Complex are among those facing possible $10,000 fines.
Life is more precious than a few hours of dancing to loud music or selling a few orders of pancakes, hot tamales or craft beer. If anyone doubts what’s important, pull up the photo of a doctor cradling an old man on Thanksgiving.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Saying goodbye, from a distance: Mourners craft new and innovative funeral practices to honor the de

Saying goodbye, from a distance: Mourners craft new and innovative funeral practices to honor the dead during pandemic

The modified version used by a Jewish burial society in Boston includes the prayer : We ask your forgiveness for @ @ @ @ @ you during this tahara , most of all for the ways in which we have @ @ @ @ @ preparation of your body for its final journey .
... During this time of plague @ @ @ @ @ , the changes we make are an affirmation of the life you have lived and @ @ @ @ @ care for you now .

Norma Rodriquez hugs a visitor at the wake for her father, Ruben Beltrán, at Symonds-Madison Funeral Home on Nov. 13, 2020, in Elgin. Beltrán, 68, died of COVID-19 and pneumonia in late October. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Hours before the grandfather died on a COVID-19 hospital floor, his closest kin entered the room two at a time, all covered in protective gowns, gloves, masks and face shields .
Barely breathing, the family patriarch pointed to each of his loved ones, then to his heart, and raised a fist in the air.
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This was not how relatives had envisioned their last moments with 68-year-old Rubén Beltrán of northwest suburban Hanover Park, one of more than 12,000 lives lost to the new virus in Illinois and 1.4 million worldwide.
“But it was a blessing that we were able to say goodbye,” said granddaughter Amairani Jarvis, who planned Beltrán’s funeral in November. “Because I know a lot of people are dying alone right now, and they’re not allowed to say goodbyes to their loved ones.”
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Just as the pandemic has altered so many aspects of life, it has also disrupted the experience of death and grieving. In response, mourners are creating new and innovative ways to honor the dying and departed while keeping within the bounds of pandemic protocols.
Many of these adaptations draw on cultural customs and ancient religious rites, said Roy Grinker, an anthropology professor at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who is co-leading a yearlong study on changes in funeral practices during the pandemic.
“There’s an extraordinary resilience and creativity of people to figure out how to do what they need to do in order to mourn, in order to grieve,” Grinker said.
A Muslim funeral director in Australia began giving out smaller bottles of perfume used during the ritual shrouding of a body, because the smell was such a powerful connection to the dead. She explained how family members would traditionally wash and shroud their loved one, but when this practice was interrupted by the pandemic, next-of-kin expressed difficulty coming to terms with the loss, sometimes wondering if their parent or spouse or sibling had even died. The familiar fragrance helped the grieving process.
“They could then use that as a very sensory way of remembering their loved one,” the funeral director said during a virtual roundtable discussion on the impact of COVID-19 regulations on death and dying.
In upstate New York, a funeral director commemorated the life of a beloved football coach by sending whistles to mourners, a tactile and aural reminder of the deceased. At a funeral in Oklahoma, clear masks enabled mourners who were deaf to read lips and see facial expressions.
In another case the anthropologists studied, around 100 people attended a funeral but only 10 were permitted at the gravesite; the other 90 friends and family members stayed out of the cemetery but climbed a fence lining the perimeter, to view and be a part of the moment the coffin was lowered into the ground, Grinker recounted.
Loss and healing rely in so many ways on the five senses. The sight of a body at an open-casket funeral. The scent of flowers at a memorial. The taste of certain foods while sitting shiva, in the tradition of Jewish mourning. The comforting melody of dirges and chanting. An embrace in shared grief.
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There is a near-universal need for communal mourning, which becomes increasingly difficult with physical distance requirements, said Grinker, who was born and raised in Chicago.
“Whatever religion, whatever tradition we’re talking about, one of the common threads is the difficulty of not being able to be with others in large groups, to touch each other and to stimulate each other’s emotional release,” he said.
For the study, called Rituals in the Making, researchers are interviewing clergy, funeral directors and mourners; the project was funded by the National Science Foundation and is expected to be complete in May.
“We’re doing these things in different ways than we did before,” he said. “We are still trying to manage this important transition in social life, where we need to not only deal with our own emotional concerns but also have to carry out the cultural practices of transitioning somebody from the world of the living to the world of the dead.”
Disconnect from death
The Beltrán family gathered for the visitation on Nov. 13 at Symonds-Madison Funeral Home in Elgin. Everyone donned black masks bearing the inscription “forever in our heart” in gold letters.
The message professed their eternal love for the deceased. The material served as a tangible defense against the virus that Beltrán had battled for a month, before his lungs collapsed and he could no longer breathe on his own.
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The colors matched the black and gold urn holding his cremated remains. A Spanish version of the mask, “siempre en nuestro corazón,” was sent to Beltrán’s relatives in Mexico, along with a small packet of his ashes to be scattered near the home where he was born and raised.
“We gave him a pretty good farewell,” Jarvis said. “We sent him to Mexico, gave him a celebration here. We did it to the best of our ability.”
Daniel Symonds, a second-generation funeral director who arranged Beltrán’s services, fears for the emotional burden of those left behind when they aren’t able to grieve in a typical manner.
He recounts a group of siblings who lost a brother early in the pandemic. Another sibling was high-risk for contracting the virus, so they decided to pay for a memorial and have the body cremated, but wait to hold services until they could gather safely.
That memorial still hasn’t happened. Symonds worries that this family and others in a similar state of limbo won’t be able to process their loss or begin healing. .
“When you can’t see them, you can’t say goodbye to them, that causes guilt, anger sadness, frustration, depression,” he said. “We are a communal society. That’s something we need to get through the pain.”
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Narratives on social media sites offer a glimpse at some of the heartache of survivors who feel a disconnection from death.
A Texas woman on the website Reddit recalled how her 93-year-old mother-in-law died of COVID-19 without any loved ones by her hospital bedside.
“My mother-in-law created a huge family, she dedicated her life to all these offspring and remembered everyone’s birthdays and loved catching up on family news good and bad,” the comment said. “And she was there alone — probably the first time in her life she’d been alone. … This is not what she deserved.”
A New York rabbi posted on Twitter in April about presiding over the burial of 95-year-old Holocaust survivor. The rabbi explained that under normal circumstances, members of Jewish burial societies would have come to perform tahara, a ritual cleansing of the body.
“It is the most dedicated and conscious act, to perform these rites,” the rabbi said. “Not this day. Tahara is not happening. It’s not safe. Typically the body is watched until burial. Guarded by members of the community. Her son called me heartbroken. … No guard. Her body, like ours is to be alone.”
Since then, various Jewish burial societies have created virtual components of the ritual or modifications designed to minimize exposure, like misting the body instead of washing, and integrating strict rules for infection control as well as use of personal protective equipment.
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The modified version used by a Jewish burial society in Boston includes the prayer: We ask your forgiveness for any distress we may cause you during this tahara, most of all for the ways in which we have had to modify the ritual preparation of your body for its final journey. ... During this time of plague that besets and endangers all, the changes we make are an affirmation of the life you have lived and the lives of those who care for you now.
Present, at a distance
There’s a certain closure in viewing a final resting place.
Until Jarvis saw her grandfather’s ashes lowered into the ground, she didn’t quite believe he was gone.
Beltrán, a cancer survivor, had been in and out of the hospital for years even before he contracted COVID-19. Until the interment, Jarvis kept thinking her grandfather was just hospitalized like before and would be coming home again soon.
Days before services, the arrangements had to be revamped due to rapidly evolving limits on gatherings amid a surge of COVID-19 cases. Only 10 relatives were permitted at the gravesite, a difficult mandate for the large, tight-knit clan. Beltrán was survived by his wife of 48 years, six children, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“My family was upset,” Jarvis said. “But we all understood what the regulations were. We all understood why. We had just gone through that with my grandfather. It started with COVID. COVID took his life.”
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Like other large gatherings, funerals without social distancing precautions have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in Chicago as well as other cities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and media reports.
To be safer, some funerals have begun integrating cars into the service, a modern twist to preserve ancient customs or accommodate big crowds.
A funeral director in Washington state recalled a March burial for a grandmother who just arrived months ago from Ukraine; the family longed for an open-casket service, a cultural tradition, so the funeral home arranged for an open coffin viewing in its van at a site a near the cemetery, encircled by the cars of loved ones to maintain some privacy.
“It wasn’t what they wanted — it wasn’t what they ever would have envisioned — but it was something,” the funeral director said.
A funeral home in Texas recently built a drive-in funeral theater, where services on a large outdoor screen are viewed by relatives and friends from their parked cars.
“This also allows the family to feel the love and support they need at a time of loss and grief,” the funeral home’s website said. “The service concludes with three honks representing comfort, support and love as they drive away.”
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A large part of the George Washington University study examines how traditional death rituals are being transformed into virtual practices, from “Zoom funerals” to video-recorded memorials to livestreamed visitations.
Results have been mixed. Some mourners said glitches and Wi-Fi outages compromised the occasion; there were instances where the grieving reported clicking on a link that took them to the wrong funeral or memorial, Grinker said.
In other cases, virtual rituals were surprisingly gratifying — even rivaling traditional in-person rites and practices.
Screens helped Grinker, the anthropologist, navigate his own grief earlier in the pandemic after his 95-year-old mother died of natural causes in Chicago. The family held a virtual memorial, the first time Grinker’s 93-year-old father ever spoke to anyone using a computer.
The online gathering allowed more people across the country to mourn together, he said, expanding his father’s opportunity to celebrate his mother’s life.
“It was actually quite emotionally powerful for him in a way I think it perhaps wouldn’t have been if people had been able to visit at the house,” Grinker said. “It’s about creating social bonds. These are times when we reaffirm our relationships. And if we can’t do that, it makes us feel all the more isolated.”
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As for Jarvis, she described feelings of guilt that she was among the 10 relatives standing at the gravesite, potentially taking the place of another relative during that pivotal moment of interment.
To help include everyone, she created a Facebook page with photos and a livestream of Beltrán’s funeral. Relatives across the country and in Mexico were able to pray along with the funeral Mass and see the gravesite immediately, an experience the family wouldn’t have thought to create if it weren’t for the pandemic.
“We were able to make people present, while still keeping distance,” she said.
eleventis@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-03--In Illinois, more than one-third of PPP funds, meant for small businesses, went to larger companies

In Illinois, more than one-third of PPP funds, meant for small businesses, went to larger companies that got loans of $1M or more. Search the SBA list.

One wrinkle in the forgiveness process is a ruling last month by the IRS that businesses can not take common @ @ @ @ @ payroll and rent if they are paid for with proceeds from PPP loans rather than @ @ @

When the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program launched in April, it was supposed to help small businesses survive a few months of disruption until the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
Eight months later, the pandemic persists, small businesses are still hurting and the biggest beneficiaries of the forgivable PPP loans include publicly traded companies and larger enterprises that are far closer to Wall Street than Main Street.
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More than one-third of the nearly $23 billion Illinois businesses and nonprofits received through the federal program went to less than 2% of participants, according to data released late Tuesday by the Small Business Administration.
Nearly 4,000 businesses in Illinois received loans of $1 million or more, adding up to $8.67 billion, or 38% of the total. In Illinois, the SBA approved more than 221,000 loans, according to the agency.
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The SBA released the data under a court order in a federal lawsuit filed by news organizations, making public the names and loan amounts for millions of recipients of the forgivable federal loans.
Patrons enjoy lunch July 31, 2019, in the outdoor area of a Potbelly location in Chicago's Loop. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The SBA previously released the names of more than 650,000 businesses nationwide that received PPP loans between $150,000 and $10 million — the maximum allowed under the program — but did not disclose the exact loan amounts for larger borrowers or the identities of those who received smaller amounts.
The PPP offered businesses with fewer than 500 employees forgivable loans of up to $10 million, if at least 60% of the money went toward payroll. The program wrapped up Aug. 8 after approving more than 5.2 million loans totaling $525 billion.
Part of a broader coronavirus relief package, the program came under fire after banks allegedly prioritized larger clients ahead of smaller businesses. The new data shows that while the majority of Illinois borrowers got smaller loans — about 88% were for less than $150,000 — the lion’s share of the funds went to the largest borrowers.
There were 36 businesses in Illinois that received the maximum $10 million, including the publicly traded Chicago-based restaurant chain Potbelly, which returned its first $10 million loan in April under public pressure, but then reapplied in August as demand and scrutiny waned.
Other $10 million loan recipients include Alpha Baking in Chicago, MVP Workforce in Deerfield, the American Academy of Pediatrics in Itasca and Illinois Bone & Joint Institute in Des Plaines.
The list of larger recipients includes a number of high-profile Chicago-area companies such as Jellyvision Lab in Chicago, which received $8.5 million in April to support 51 jobs. Mario Tricoci Hair Salon in Palatine got a $9.9 million PPP loan in April for 500 jobs.
Oberweis Dairy in North Aurora received $5.7 million in April to support 500 jobs, according to the SBA data. Jim Oberweis, a Republican state senator who recently lost a close race to incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood in the west and north suburban 14th Congressional District, is chairman of the family-owned dairy.
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Oberweis raised about $3 million for the congressional campaign, including $1.7 million in personal loans.
The new list includes the names and addresses of nearly 194,000 Illinois small businesses, sole proprietorships and nonprofits that received PPP loans of less than $150,000.
Kelly Miller, right, gives back change to a customer at a Chicago Potbelly sandwich shop at 200 S. Michigan Ave. in October 2013. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
The recipients range from Encore Space Solutions, an East Dundee garage remodeler that obtained a $149,999 loan in April, to a dozen recipients who received $100 or less, according to the SBA data.
In between, the smaller PPP loan recipients include a plethora of restaurants, lawyers, dentists, auto repair shops and hair stylists, among other diverse businesses.
In November, a Washington federal judge ordered the SBA to publish detailed information for all borrowers — including those who obtained loans under $150,000 — following a lawsuit brought by news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act.
“The weighty public interest in disclosure easily overcomes the far narrower privacy interest of borrowers who collectively received billions of taxpayer dollars in loans,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in his Nov. 5 order.
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The new disclosures provide greater transparency for a program that has been beset by allegations of inequity and fraud since its inception.
The initial $349 billion in PPP funding ran out in less than two weeks amid concerns that smaller businesses were shut out. Congress authorized another $310 billion, but demand fell off, leaving $130 billion on the table when the program ended Aug. 8.
Concerns remain, however, that underserved small businesses did not have adequate access to the program.
The House subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis released a report in October that concluded the program favored larger, wealthier companies and “failed to prioritize small businesses in underserved markets, including minority and women-owned businesses.”
Emilia DiMenco, president and CEO of the nonprofit Women’s Business Development Center in Chicago, said there needed to be more targeted outreach to underserved communities to help facilitate the loans.
“The traditional banks didn’t have sufficient relationships with those communities,” DiMenco said. “And those communities didn’t have relationships with those banks.”
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A retired commercial banker, DiMenco said the documentation process was intimidating for many underserved small business owners, who might have been better served by a direct grant. The women’s business center itself obtained a $569,357 PPP loan in April to support 35 employees.
“We had absolutely no problems,” DiMenco said.
In September, the House subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis found that billions of dollars in PPP loans may have been diverted to “fraud, waste and abuse” through lack of oversight from the SBA and the Treasury.
The Justice Department has charged 88 people for alleged PPP loan fraud totaling more than $250 million nationwide, including a number of cases with Chicago connections. Among the more high profile, former Chicago Bears wide receiver Josh Bellamy was one of 11 people arrested in September and charged in a Florida federal court for allegedly seeking more than $24 million in fraudulent loans.
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There have been two PPP fraud cases filed in Chicago federal court. In August, Elgin restaurateur Melissa Turasky was indicted on charges that she obtained a loan of more than $175,000 for a restaurant that had already closed. Evanston business owner Rahul Shah was charged in June, accused of falsifying information on his $441,000 loan application for technology company N2N Holdings.
Bill Phelan, co-founder and senior vice president of PayNet, a Skokie-based company that tracks small business commercial lending for the credit industry, projects that about 5% of PPP loans, or roughly $26 billion, may ultimately prove fraudulent.
PayNet compared its large proprietary database of small business loans against the data previously published by the SBA, looking for discrepancies such as multiple businesses at one address, and mismatches with designated industry, number of employees and annual revenue.
Analyzing the new data will enable PayNet to get a more accurate projection of potential fraud, Phelan said. One area of focus will be loans that came in just under $150,000, a potential cutoff Congress has been considering for blanket forgiveness.
“There’s a whole bunch of loans that are just a few dollars below the $150,000 threshold,” Phelan said. “That’s kind of curious.”
While the loans are guaranteed by the SBA, borrowers must apply through their lenders to have the full amount forgiven. In October, the SBA released a simpler forgiveness application for loans of $50,000 or less, which encompasses about 71% of Illinois borrowers, SBA spokeswoman Andrea Roebker said.
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The SBA began approving loan forgiveness applications in early October. As of Nov. 22, the SBA made more than $38 billion of payments to lenders toward more than 367,000 loans. That means about 7% of PPP loans have been forgiven.
JPMorgan Chase was the largest PPP lender by loan value, issuing more than 280,000 loans worth more than $32 billion, the bank said. In Illinois, JPMorgan Chase processed 23,100 loans totaling $2.4 billion. Jeffrey Kunkel, Chicago market manager of Chase Business Banking, said in an email Tuesday all borrowers will receive an email invitation to request forgiveness by mid-December.
One wrinkle in the forgiveness process is a ruling last month by the IRS that businesses cannot take common deductions for expenses such as payroll and rent if they are paid for with proceeds from PPP loans rather than normal income.
Once the PPP loan is forgiven, it becomes a tax-free grant, eliminating any expense deductions associated with the income, the IRS said.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--The Spin: Illinois marks highest coronavirus daily death count since the pandemic started | Did Mayo

The Spin: Illinois marks highest coronavirus daily death count since the pandemic started | Did Mayor Lori Lightfoot have a bet on CTU strike? | Trump teases 2024 bid for a second term

“ ( White ’ s ) shoes will be near impossible to fill , but if I run , I @ @ @ @ @ try and continue his legacy of caring and principled leadership , ” Giannoulias wrote .
@ @ @ @ @ shown us anything , it ’ s that democracy is under siege and Secretaries of @ @ @ @ @ on the front lines , ensuring that everyone can participate freely and fairly in elections @ @

Illinois earlier today reported its single highest death count from COVID-19 since the pandemic began — 238 coronavirus deaths, which also marks the highest number of single-day fatalities from the disease since May.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration responded to questions about whether she was involved in a wager over how long the 2019 Chicago Teachers Union strike might last. Her spokeswoman said she did not, but an email obtained by the Tribune lays out a wager that included scotch and cigars.
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President Donald Trump, meanwhile, teased a White House holiday reception crowd with a 2024 presidential run, The Associated Press is reporting.
Welcome to The Spin.
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A new COVID-19 testing site opens Nov. 24, 2020, at Midway Airport. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s Dan Petrella reports: “Illinois public health officials reported 238 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began.
“The previous high was 191 deaths reported on May 13, during the height of the pandemic’s first wave. The Illinois Department of Public Health initially reported 192 deaths that day, but later revised that number.
“In all, the state has recorded 12,639 COVID-19 deaths since March. Illinois has averaged 116 fatalities per day over the past week, near the record high of 118 set in the spring and matched a week ago.”
Read the rest here.
* From the Daily Southtown’s Pat Disabato: IHSA confirms winter sports will not begin until 2021: ‘I just think they’re kicking the can down the road.’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot stands with Chicago Public Schools leaders at a news conference about contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union on Oct. 7, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt: “Two days before the Chicago Teachers Union officially went on strike in 2019, one of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top aides sent her a note about what he called ‘The Bet.’
“In the email, Lightfoot senior adviser and legal counsel Michael Frisch laid out a wager and its stakes.
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“‘The Bet: 3 cigars and a bottle of scotch of the winner’s choosing. Under: Strike ends before next Weds. Over: Strike extends past Weds,’ Frisch wrote in the email, which had ‘confirming our agreement’ in the subject line.
“Referencing Lightfoot’s chief of staff, Maurice Classen, who was also on the email, Frisch wrote, ‘Frisch and Maurice have the Under, MLL has the Over. Now no one can back out ...’ using an acronym for Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“Neither Lightfoot nor Classen responded to the email, according to what Lightfoot’s office released. A Lightfoot spokeswoman said the mayor ‘does not have any recollection of the email in question’ but took the CTU strike ‘very seriously’ and ‘of course never participated in any bet nor would she.’” There’s more to the story here.
* From the Tribune’s John Byrne: City releases summary of possible Chicago casino operators’ responses.
* Firings of two officers in Laquan McDonald case upheld in Cook County court. Read Jeremy Gorner’s story here.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White in his Chicago office at the Thompson Center. (Phil Greer / Chicago Tribune)
With the possibility that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White might not seek reelection in 2022, multiple potential successors already are mulling a bid for the seat he’s held since the last century.
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White said when he was running for his current record sixth term in office that he wouldn’t run again. Of course, he’s said that before, only to later change is mind.
Chicago Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said he is scheduled to meet with White — his longtime political mentor — next week to talk about potentially running to replace him, he told The Spin on Wednesday. Burnett said his final decision will come down to White’s blessing.
“The only way that I would do something like that is if Mr. White asked me to run,” Burnett said. “Mr. White is like my father. … It’s a loyalty thing.”
This isn’t the first time Burnett has tailored his thinking to White, the longest-serving statewide elected official. During the Democratic presidential primary, the alderman waited until White endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden to make the same move.
Former state Treasurer and former Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias also might toss his hat in the ring. He sent a statement on Wednesday that both praised White’s leadership and nodded to the role officials like him played in safeguarding the unusual November election.
“(White’s) shoes will be near impossible to fill, but if I run, I would work very hard to try and continue his legacy of caring and principled leadership,” Giannoulias wrote. “If this election has shown us anything, it’s that democracy is under siege and Secretaries of State across the country are on the front lines, ensuring that everyone can participate freely and fairly in elections.”
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Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough also might be a contender in the race, the Sun-Times reported Tuesday. (Alice Yin)
* How did your neighbors vote for president, Senate and the graduated-rate income tax amendment? Search our city and suburban map to find out.
Lobbyist Mike McClain, center, appears outside Speaker Michael Madigan's office at the state Capitol in Springfield on May 25, 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Jason Meisner: “A confidant of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pleaded not guilty along with three others Wednesday to charges they orchestrated an elaborate bribery scheme with Commonwealth Edison to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
“A 50-page indictment returned last month charged retired lobbyist Michael McClain, 73, of Downstate Quincy; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 62, of Barrington; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, 71, of Chicago; and Jay Doherty, 67, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
“The most serious of the charges carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“All four appeared for an arraignment Wednesday via videoconference before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber — the first court hearing since the bombshell charges were announced Nov. 25.
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“Due to the ongoing pandemic, none of the defendants or lawyers was required to appear in person at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.” Click here for the rest of the story.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The Associated Press reports: “President Donald Trump teased running again for president in 2024 as he hosted a holiday reception at the White House.
“‘It’s been an amazing four years,’ Trump told the crowd, which included many Republican National Committee members. ‘We’re trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.’
“The video of Trump’s appearance Tuesday was streamed live on Facebook by one attendee, Pam Pollard, who is national committeewoman for the Oklahoma GOP. It showed dozens of people crammed into the broad Cross Hall of the White House state floor, standing closely together. Many seen in the video were not wearing masks.
“The Trumps began hosting holiday receptions this week, intent on celebrating a final season before Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. According to social media postings reviewed by The Associated Press, the events have featured large crowds of often maskless attendees gathered indoors — violating the very public health guidance the U.S. government has pressed the nation to follow this holiday season as cases of COVID-19 skyrocket across the country.
“White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday defended the Trumps’ decision to host the parties. She noted that the guest lists are smaller than past years, hand sanitizer is made available to guests and social distancing is encouraged.” More here.
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* Joe Biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party as he finalizes his choice for secretary of defense.
* Can Trump preemptively pardon his allies or himself? Here is what you need to know.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Host Lisa Donovan is on vacation this week. If you have a tip, email her at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Illinois reports 238 COVID-19 deaths, the most in a single day since the pandemic began

But the governor said Wednesday that the state subsequently learned that the doses , which could arrive between Dec. 13 @ @ @ @ @ grants authorization next week , could be made available to the full 109,000 people .
@ @ @ @ @ enough additional vaccines to administer the second dose to those people within the required time @ @ @ @ @

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials reported 238 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began.
The previous high was 191 deaths reported on May 13, during the height of the pandemic’s first wave. The Illinois Department of Public Health initially reported 192 deaths that day, but later revised that number.
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In all, the state has recorded 12,639 COVID-19 deaths since March. Illinois has averaged 116 fatalities per day over the past week, near the record high of 118 set in the spring and matched a week ago.
The state health department said some of the numbers released Wednesday reflect a lag in reporting from the long holiday weekend.
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But Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that a delay in reporting, which is typical after weekends, doesn’t change the magnitude of the loss or the severity of the pandemic.
“We’ll continue to watch these numbers closely in the coming days to have a better picture of our trajectory, but a life lost reported late after a holiday is still a life lost,” Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus news briefing.
Officials also reported 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of known cases to 748,603 statewide.
In contrast to the grim news of record deaths, Pritzker sounded a positive note when discussing how widely available a vaccine could be in Illinois within the next two to three weeks.
On Tuesday, Pritzker said the 109,000 doses the state expects to receive of a Pfizer vaccine, pending emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, would only be enough to immunize half that many people because two doses are required.
But the governor said Wednesday that the state subsequently learned that the doses, which could arrive between Dec. 13 and 19 if the FDA grants authorization next week, could be made available to the full 109,000 people. The state expects to receive enough additional vaccines to administer the second dose to those people within the required time frame, he said.
[ How can you get a quick and affordable test for the coronavirus? Experts answer your questions about COVID-19. ]
The state’s vaccine distribution plan prioritizes front-line health care workers and those especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Officials have said it will be many months before the immunization is widely available to the public.
Pritzker and health officials have noted some signs of improvement in recent days following huge surges in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the start of October. But they’ve also warned that the state could be experiencing a lull before a “surge upon a surge” brought on by people who ignored public health guidance on gatherings over Thanksgiving.
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Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said she couldn’t provide a projection for how many deaths the state will record by the end of the year because she remains hopeful that the restrictions Pritzker has put in place and increased compliance from the public would alter the trajectory.
“I really want emphasize how much people have the power of life and death in their hands, in their masks, in their ability to say no to large gatherings and their ability to say no to venues that would promote the spread of the virus,” Ezike said.
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area ]
Illinois has averaged 9,019 cases per day over the past week, a 25% drop from the average of 11,242 a week earlier. But the lower case count could largely be a function of fewer test results being reported in recent days. The rolling seven-day average for daily tests was 85,007 as of Wednesday, down from an average of 106,473 tests per day a week earlier.
The case positivity rate — the share of cases out of total tests — hit a seven-day average of 10.6% for the week ending Tuesday, matching what it was a week earlier. The rate had dipped as low as an average of 10.1% for three straight days at the end of last week.
As of Tuesday night, 5,764 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, down from a peak of 6,175 on Nov. 20 but still well above the spring peak of 5,037 on April 28.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Naperville rejects mask mandate

Naperville rejects mask mandate

While this movie made Macauley Culkin a star , the red-brick Colonial his character protects is an unforgettable backdrop .
@ @ @ @ @ due to the film ’ s 30th anniversary , holiday nostalgia or just pandemic-induced boredom @ @ @ @ @ movie have been popping up online and on social media .
Real Estate News & @ @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 9,757 new COVID-19 cases and 238 additional deaths reported Wednesd

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 9,757 new COVID-19 cases and 238 additional deaths reported Wednesday, the highest daily death toll since start of pandemic

“ A person ’ s pattern of alcohol consumption can have an impact on health , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ suggest limiting drinks to up to one drink per day for women or two drinks @ @ @ @ @ Having one drink per day is not the same as having seven drinks all at @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s best to spread them out as recommended in the guidelines .
@

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials reported 238 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began.
The previous high was 192 deaths reported on May 13, during the height of the pandemic’s first wave. In all, the state has recorded 12,639 deaths since March. Illinois has averaged 116 fatalities per day over the past week, near the record high of 118 set in the spring and matched a week ago.
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Officials also reported 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of known cases to 748,603 statewide.
In contrast to the grim news of record deaths, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sounded a positive note Wednesday when discussing how widely available a vaccine could be in Illinois within the next two to three weeks. The governor’s comments came a day after Chicago officials said they expect to begin rolling out coronavirus vaccines for health care workers later this month and could provide them to lower-risk residents in the spring and children by summer.
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Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:05 p.m.: Number of COVID-19 patients in US hospitals hits record high of nearly 100,000
U.S. hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and new graduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye-popping salaries in a desperate bid to ease staffing shortages.
With the virus surging from coast to coast, the number of patients in the hospital with the virus has more than doubled over the past month to a record high of nearly 100,000, pushing medical centers and health care workers to the breaking point. Nurses are increasingly burned out and getting sick on the job, and the stress on the nation’s medical system prompted a dire warning from the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The reality is December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they are going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation,” Dr. Robert Redfield said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5 p.m.: IHSA confirms winter sports will not begin until 2021
The Illinois High School Association announced Wednesday that low-risk winter sports, including boys and girls bowling, boys swimming and girls gymnastics, will not start before January 2021.
Where that leaves boys and girls basketball, deemed high-risk sports by the Illinois Department of Public Health, is a mystery.
What is known? Those seasons won’t be starting anytime soon.
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“I just think they’re kicking the can down the road,” Brother Rice coach Bobby Frasor said. “You look at what’s happening in the NFL and college football and basketball with games being canceled.
“They’re doing testing and still having these issues. Maybe the (COVID-19) numbers will start going down.”
Read more here. —Pat Disabato, Daily Southtown
4:05 p.m.: Hospitals will distribute some of the first vaccines to their frontline workers, although shots probably won’t be mandatory
With a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines potentially arriving in Chicago this month, many area hospitals are finalizing plans for which workers will get them first and how they’ll be stored and distributed.
Most hospitals will prioritize vaccines for front line workers that deal directly with patients. At least a handful of Chicago-area hospital systems said Wednesday the vaccine won’t be mandatory for employees, for now — even though many require employees to get flu shots each year.
Unlike the flu shot, if a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, it will be approved under an emergency use authorization, which is when the FDA allows products that have not gone through the regular approval process to be used in emergencies.
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“We don’t really feel like we can make it mandatory while it’s under EUA (emergency use authorization),” said Dr. Michael Kelleher, who leads Amita Health’s COVID-19 vaccine steering committee. “Once it’s approved by the FDA, we will probably make it mandatory, but I think we need to wait and see what happens with that.”
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
3:40 p.m.: COVID-19 Q&A: Readers’ questions answered on Facebook Live with UChicago Medicine’s Dr. Emily Landon
Illinois on Wednesday had the highest number of coronavirus-related fatalities in a single day since the pandemic began in March. The Chicago Tribune’s Darcel Rockett spoke with the University of Chicago’s infectious diseases expert Dr. Emily Landon, who answered reader questions Wednesday on Facebook Live.
The coronavirus has touched all of our lives — from impacting our health to how we do our jobs, continue our education, interact with the outside world and maintain our relationships.
Landon touched on many COVID-19-related topics, including how cold weather might impact the virus, vaccine side effects, transmission and in-home treatment. To watch the COVID-19 Q&A Facebook Live, click here.
If you have COVID-19-related questions, please submit them to us at chicagotribune.com/ask, or check our continuously updated Q&A.
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—Chicago Tribune staff
3:15 p.m.: Answers to readers’ questions about COVID-19
Does alcohol have an impact on your immune system? What’s the fastest, most affordable way to get a COVID-19 test. These are the latest questions readers have asked that we’ve put to health and science experts. Have your own pandemic question? Send it to the Tribune here.
Should you give up alcohol during the pandemic?
The full impact of COVID-19 on alcohol use is not yet known, but rates of alcohol usage have been rising during the pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol compromises the body’s immune system and increases the risk of adverse health outcomes. The organization suggests people minimize their alcohol consumption — particularly during the pandemic.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has issued communications warning people to avoid excessive drinking. According to NIAAA Director George Koob, people who choose to consume alcohol should follow the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
“A person’s pattern of alcohol consumption can have an impact on health,” he said. “The current 2015-2020 guidelines suggest limiting drinks to up to one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men. Having one drink per day is not the same as having seven drinks all at once in a single day. It’s best to spread them out as recommended in the guidelines.”
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What’s the fastest, most affordable way to get a COVID-19 test?
Health officials say that if you traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday, you should be tested for COVID-19.
Start with your primary care doctor; many doctors offer in-office testing. If you don’t have a doctor who does testing, then rapid testing, in-home testing or drive-thru testing are options. If an option is not affordable enough or closed to you due to restrictions, try crowdsourcing information to get up-to-date information about local testing sites, appointment availability, cost and wait times.
Looking for a rapid test with same-day results? Those tests are best for people who actually have COVID-19 symptoms, said Heather Keirnan, a nurse and vice president of operations for Northwestern Medicine Immediate Care. If you don’t have symptoms, the PCR test, which can detect very small amounts of the coronavirus, is a better choice, she said.
Northwestern and other local hospitals and state drive-up testing sites offers PCR tests. Northwestern offers drive-up testing for those with Northwestern doctors’ referrals in Wheaton, Aurora, St. Charles, Bartlett, Glenview, Vernon Hills, Sycamore, McHenry and Huntley, and both drive-up and walk-up testing at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago.
For free tests, your options include state drive-up sites in Arlington Heights, Harwood Heights and South Holland. Tests are free for those without insurance; if you have insurance, bring your information, and the state will submit a claim.
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The city of Chicago and Cook County also offer free testing.
For those who care more about convenience than cost, private clinics offer shorter waits. Many require upfront payments of $175 to $300. If you want to submit a claim to your insurance company, check the rules for coverage. Your insurer may require that you are referred for testing by a doctor.
Read the full Q&A blog here. —Chicago Tribune staff
2:33 p.m.: Should pregnant women get a COVID-19 vaccine? What about women considering pregnancy? Guidance is hard to find because trials exclude pregnancy.
Hospital workers are under an immense amount of stress this year. But help might be on the way soon as a federal advisory committee recommended Tuesday that they be first in line for vaccines.
But what if they are pregnant?
Like all pregnant women, health care workers will be operating without much data, as pregnant women have been excluded from clinical trials so far.
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Read more here. —Alison Bowen
2:25 p.m.: Top Democrats swing behind bipartisan coronavirus aid bill in hopes of breaking monthslong logjam
Democratic leaders swung behind a bipartisan COVID-19 relief effort Wednesday, cutting their demands for a $2 trillion-plus measure by more than half in hopes of breaking a monthslong logjam and delivering much-sought aid as a coda to a tempestuous congressional session.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer made the announcement in a joint statement. It was aimed at budging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who so far has been unwilling to abandon a $550 million Senate GOP plan that has failed twice this fall.
The Democrats embraced a $908 billion approach from moderate Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins among others. It would establish a $300 per week jobless benefit, send $160 billion to help state and local governments, boost schools and universities, revive popular “paycheck protection” subsidies for businesses, and bail out transit systems and airlines.
“In the spirit of compromise we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by Senators yesterday should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations,” Pelosi and Schumer said. They said they would try to build upon the approach, which has support in the House from a bipartisan “problem solvers” coalition.
The new plan includes a liability shield for businesses and other organizations that have reopened their doors during the pandemic. It’s the first time Pelosi and Schumer have shown a willingness to consider the idea.
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McConnell had dismissed the bipartisan offer on Tuesday, instead aiming to rally Republicans around the $550 billion GOP proposal.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:21 p.m.: People wary of COVID-19 are avoiding the ER, and that has doctors worried. Here’s what Chicago-area hospitals are doing to keep patients safe.
Chicago-area hospitals continue to see a decline in emergency room visits as wary Illinoisans delay care out of concerns of contracting the coronavirus, and that has doctors worried.
Emergency department visits nationwide declined by 42% from March 29 through April 25 compared with the same period a year prior, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several Chicago-area hospitals say visits are still down, or only just starting to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Doctors say they are worried about the potential risks patients face by not seeking emergency care for serious illnesses like asthma, heart attacks and strokes, which could be more challenging to address if left untreated.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
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12:05 p.m.: Illinois reports 238 COVID-19 deaths, the most in a single day since the pandemic began
Illinois public health officials reported 238 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began.
The previous high was 192 deaths reported on May 13, during the height of the pandemic’s first wave. In all, the state has recorded 12,639 deaths since March. Illinois has averaged 116 fatalities per day over the past week, near the record high of 118 set in the spring and matched a week ago.
Officials also reported 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of known cases to 748,603 statewide.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
11:36 p.m.: In Illinois, more than one-third of PPP funds, meant for small businesses, went to larger companies that got $1 million or more. Search the list.
More than one-third of the funds Illinois businesses and nonprofits received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program went to less than 2% of participants, according to data released late Tuesday by the Small Business Administration.
Nearly 4,000 businesses in Illinois received loans of $1 million or more, adding up to $8.67 billion, or 38% of the total. In Illinois, the SBA approved more than 221,000 loans worth nearly $23 billion, according to the newly published data.
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The agency released the data under a court order in a federal lawsuit filed by news organizations, making public the names and loan amounts for millions of recipients of the forgivable federal loans.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
9:31 a.m.: Naperville rejects mask mandate in split council vote
The Naperville City Council affirmed that everyone who is medically able should wear a protective face covering in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but stopped short of mandating masks.
After hearing to two hours of comments Tuesday from nearly 150 people, many of whom oppose wearing masks or governmental interference in their decision to cover their face, the council opted to take a positive approach than a punitive one.
The council initially voted 5-4 against an ordinance requiring people to mask up in Naperville anytime a 6-foot distance cannot be maintained.
[ Mask mandate debate sets record for public comments at Naperville council meeting — here’s what some residents had to say ]
Mayor Steve Chirico and council members Kevin Coyne, Patty Gustin, Paul Hinterlong and John Krummen opposed the mandate; council members Judy Brodhead, Patrick Kelly, Theresa Sullivan and Benny White voted in favor of it.
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After the measure failed, the council voted 8-1 on a resolution to continue and increase the city’s public awareness campaign promoting mask usage.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker, Naperville Sun
6 a.m.: Mourners craft new and innovative funeral practices to honor the dead during pandemic
Just as the pandemic has altered so many aspects of life, it has also disrupted the experience of death and grieving. In response, mourners are creating new and innovative ways to honor the dying and departed while keeping within the bounds of pandemic protocols.
Many of these adaptations draw on cultural customs and ancient religious rites, said Roy Grinker, an anthropology professor at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who is co-leading a yearlong study on changes in funeral practices during the pandemic.
“There’s an extraordinary resilience and creativity of people to figure out how to do what they need to do in order to mourn, in order to grieve,” Grinker said.
There is a near-universal need for communal mourning, which becomes increasingly difficult with physical distance requirements, said Grinker, who was born and raised in Chicago.
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“Whatever religion, whatever tradition we’re talking about, one of the common threads is the difficulty of not being able to be with others in large groups, to touch each other and to stimulate each other’s emotional release,” he said.
For the study, called Rituals in the Making, researchers are interviewing clergy, funeral directors and mourners; the project was funded by the National Science Foundation and is expected to be complete in May.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
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chicagotribune--2020-12-02--IHSA confirms winter sports will not begin until 2021: ‘I just think they’re kicking the can down th

IHSA confirms winter sports will not begin until 2021: ‘I just think they’re kicking the can down the road.’

“ To be around each other and get things going a little bit will boost their spirits , ” Houston @ @ @ @ @ point , I ’ d be happy with that .
Any chance I get to @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ll take it .
Anything is better than nothing .
”

Hillcrest's Mar’Keise Irving (2) drives around Morgan Park’s Adam Miller in the Class 3A Thornridge Sectional semifinal in Dolton on Tuesday, March 11, 2020. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
The Illinois High School Association announced Wednesday that low-risk winter sports, including boys and girls bowling, boys swimming and girls gymnastics, will not start before January 2021.
Where that leaves boys and girls basketball, deemed high-risk sports by the Illinois Department of Public Health, is a mystery.
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What is known? Those seasons won’t be starting anytime soon.
“I just think they’re kicking the can down the road,” Brother Rice coach Bobby Frasor said. “You look at what’s happening in the NFL and college football and basketball with games being canceled.
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“They’re doing testing and still having these issues. Maybe the (COVID-19) numbers will start going down.”
The state reported 9,757 new cases Wednesday and 238 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The IHSA said it hopes to reestablish contact days in January for all sports, including those in the spring and summer seasons. The IHSA also is considering moving badminton from spring to winter.
The introduction of the contact days, however, will be based on mitigations from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the IDPH.
Further guidance on contact days will be established at a future board meeting. The IHSA’s next board meeting is Dec. 14.
Hillcrest boys basketball coach Don Houston believes contact days will be a boost to his players’ mental health.
“To be around each other and get things going a little bit will boost their spirits,” Houston said. “At this point, I’d be happy with that. Any chance I get to work with my kids, I’ll take it. Anything is better than nothing.”
The winter season was scheduled to take place from Nov. 16 to Feb. 13, followed by the spring season from Feb. 15 to May 1 and the summer season from April 19 to June 26.
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Those dates, however, are not set in stone.
The IHSA’s board of directors reiterated it is “committed to creating as much opportunity as possible for all sports that remain to be played this school year and intend to evaluate the equity of each season as a potential resumption date in January begins to materialize.
“The board appreciates the flexibility displayed by our schools throughout the pandemic, and although they recognize the challenges each modification creates, they continue to ask that schools be adaptable in the new year. The board continues to evaluate season start and ending dates depending on when the winter season resumes.”
Waubonsie Valley’s Ben Schwieger (3) drives to the basket against Naperville North’s Grant Johnson during a game in Naperville on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. (Mike Mantucca / Naperville Sun)
Since early March, the pandemic has forced the cancellation or postponement of many high school sports. Here’s a timeline of developments:
On March 12, the IHSA pulled the plug on the boys basketball season, leaving Class 3A and 4A without sectional champions.
On April 21, the IHSA canceled state tournaments for all spring sports and activities.
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On July 3, the IDPH approved the IHSA’s Phase 4 to Return To Play guidelines, clearing the way for contact days to begin July 6.
On July 29, the IHSA postponed football, girls volleyball and boys soccer seasons to the spring. Boys and girls cross country, boy and girls golf, girls tennis and girls swimming ended up competing in the fall.
On Oct. 27, the IDPH moved basketball from medium risk to high risk, with Pritzker announcing the basketball season was put on “hold.”
On Oct. 28, the IHSA’s board of directors voted to move forward with the basketball season as scheduled from Nov. 16 to Feb. 13. The IHSA also announced wrestling would be moved to the summer season.
On Oct. 29, without consulting the IHSA, Pritzker announced basketball would be moved to the spring season.
On Nov. 17, the IHSA announced the winter sports season would be on a temporary pause.
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On Nov. 19, the IHSA announced the winter sports season would remain in limbo.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Merrillville man, 22, dead after standoff in Hobart: police

Later that evening , the woman said she followed the man into the bedroom , where he hit her in @ @ @ @ @ and broke her cell phone .
She told police she then tried to leave the @ @ @ @ @ but because he didn ’ t trust her , he refused and continued to hit @ @ @ @ @ gun at her and threatening to kill her if she left him , Gonzales said @

A hostage situation in which a man confined his former girlfriend and himself in a bedroom for two days ended late Monday afternoon when the man died by suicide, police said.
Hobart Police spokesman Capt. James Gonzales said in a release Wednesday that officers were sent around 5:40 p.m. Nov. 30 to the vicinity of the 3900 block of Missouri Street for a woman who was being held against her will. They initially spoke to the homeowner, who was a block away from the home, because she told them the man holding the woman in their home would kill the woman and himself if he knew the police were involved, Gonzales said.
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Hobart officers, along with the Northwest Regional SWAT Team, surrounded the house and sounded the SWAT’S armored vehicle siren, Gonzales said. The woman then left the house and started walking toward police when three or four gunshots rang out from inside; she turned around to go back inside but ran from the house when she heard one or two more shots, he said.
Negotiators tried to contact the man for approximately two hours before entering the house and finding him dead of a gunshot wound to the head, Gonzales said.
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The victim later told police that she’d left been staying at the Missouri Street house with her friend because she’d left the man – with whom she had a child -- after several instances of abuse for which he’d been charged and put on a home monitor, Gonzales said. The man contacted her Nov. 28, and said he was going to bring her some food, but when he arrived, he was armed and headed for a back bedroom, refusing to leave.
Later that evening, the woman said she followed the man into the bedroom, where he hit her in the head with the gun and broke her cell phone. She told police she then tried to leave the house the next day, but because he didn’t trust her, he refused and continued to hit her, also pointing the gun at her and threatening to kill her if she left him, Gonzales said.
The victim was able to contact the homeowner Monday and told them to call the police because of the abuse, Gonzales said.
The man, identified as Zachary Zampini, 22, of Merrillville, had several domestic calls against him in Merrillville was well as an open domestic battery and criminal confinement case Nov. 5 for which he was put on an ankle monitor and had cut it off, Gonzales said. The escape charges, however, had yet to be filed, he said.
Gonzales reiterated that the Hobart Police Department has a Victim’s Advocate on staff to help people in violent situations get the help they need.
“It can’t be emphasized enough: If you suspect someone is being abused, contact 9-1-1 immediately so we can attempt to provide resources early on and try to prevent incidents like this occurring,” he said in the release.
If you know someone or if you are involved in an abusive relationship please reach out to Andrea Graciano @ agraciano@cityofhobart.org or call 219-942-1124, Ext. 1069, or Samantha Bull @ sbull@cityofhobart.org or call 219-942-1125, Ext. 1061.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Investing in structures for outdoor dining

Bien Trucha is just one of many restaurants across the state that is struggling during the coronavirus pandemic and could @ @ @ @ @ have invested thousands of dollars into sanitation , protective equipment , air purification systems , @ @ @ @ @ like domes and tents .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 8 Server Chloe Climenhaga disinfects a pod tent after diners departed Dec. 2, 2020, at Bien Trucha restaurant in Geneva. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Bien Trucha is just one of many restaurants across the state that is struggling during the coronavirus pandemic and could use assistance. Many restaurants have invested thousands of dollars into sanitation, protective equipment, air purification systems, plexiglass and outdoor structures, like domes and tents.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--$1 million grant to establish Chicago center named for first African American Catholic priest

Chicago Catholics soon will be able to learn more about Tolton ’ s life and benefit from his demonstration of @ @ @ @ @ proven in a person ’ s life to be named a venerable through the creation @ @ @ @ @ , a program that will benefit local churches , Bishop Joseph Perry said .
Its @ @ @ @ @ a vehicle through which congregations will ... reimagine what it means to be African American @ @ @ @ @ century , ” according to an archdiocesan spokesperson .

The Venerable Augustus Tolton died in 1897, but thanks to a $1 million grant announced in his name Wednesday, the nation’s first Black Catholic priest could nurture and strengthen the vitality of Catholic congregations in Chicago for generations to come.
Tolton, who was born into slavery in Missouri and escaped to Illinois with his family during the Civil War, made such important strides in his 43 years that in 2010, Cardinal Francis George announced Tolton’s cause for sainthood. It is a lengthy process, but one that in just nine years has resulted in his recognition as venerable, two steps from the final declaration of sainthood in the Catholic Church.
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Chicago Catholics soon will be able to learn more about Tolton’s life and benefit from his demonstration of the virtues that must be proven in a person’s life to be named a venerable through the creation of the Tolton Spirituality Center, a program that will benefit local churches, Bishop Joseph Perry said. Its aim is to create “a vehicle through which congregations will ... reimagine what it means to be African American and Catholic in the 21st century,” according to an archdiocesan spokesperson.
Augustus Tolton was the the nation’s first Black Catholic priest. (Tolton Collection-Brenner Library-Quincy University)
An annual grant of $200,000 will be provided by the Lilly Endowment Inc. for five years for staffing, programming and other related costs associated with creating and maintaining the center, Perry said. It is separate from the canonization cause and was submitted by local lay Catholics from St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 5472 S. Kimbark Ave., and St. Ambrose Church, 1012 E. 47th St.
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“They thought they would take a chance and apply to see if a program for our churches here in Chicago, based on the ministry of the first African American priest, Father Augustus Tolton, might be something they would be interested in,” Perry said by phone Wednesday.
“It was one of those things that you cross your fingers with because when you ask foundations for money, you may be approved or not approved,” he said.
He said the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative, a national effort to strengthen Christian congregations and help people solidify their relationships with God and one another, received more than 850 grant petitions from around the country. Its core goal is “to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States,” according to a joint news release from the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Lilly Endowment.
“And surprisingly ... we got the news that they wanted to fund this project,” Perry said. “Now things are underway, and we hope to get it off and running by spring.”
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish is one of 92 organizations nationwide receiving a grant from the Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., according to the news release. In 2019, the Lilly Endowment launched the Thriving Congregations Initiative to “enhance the vitality of Christian congregations.”
Although the local award will create the Tolton Spirituality Center, the center won’t be a physical space, Perry said.
The center will operate as a clearinghouse, “established for the collection, classification, education and distribution of information that will aid the participating congregations to thrive and experience healthy growth and advancement,” the spokesperson said.
“The plan is to develop and deliver educational programs on topics of interest to the African American Catholic community in Chicago, including relevant social and cultural trends, principles of faith-based community organizing, and especially Tolton’s spirituality,” according to the archdiocesan spokesperson.
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Grants also were awarded to groups from a variety of denominations and traditions, including Baptist, Episcopal, evangelical, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Orthodox Christian and nondenominational churches, according to a news release. A number of those selected specifically serve communities of color, including Black, Hispanic and Asian American communities, it said.
The Lilly Endowment said the grants were born out of the need to help ministries find ways to stay afloat and remain relevant in a shifting world that has seen a recent erosion of the prominence of the local congregation.
“These grants will help congregations assess their ministries and draw on practices in their theological traditions to address new challenges and better nurture the spiritual vitality of the people they serve,” Christopher Coble, the Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion, said in the news release.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Designer puppies, private jets and a Jamaican villa: Chicago rappers charged in Massachusetts with e

Designer puppies, private jets and a Jamaican villa: Chicago rappers charged in Massachusetts with elaborate fraud scheme

“ These are red flags for the opportunity to flee , ” Dow said .
“ ( Strong ) says @ @ @ @ @ that , and his parents are willing to take him in .
But who is @ @ @ @ @ middle of the night , when the gravity of the charges sinks in , and @ @ @ @ @ evidence , he will not decide to flee ?
”

G Herbo performs to a large crowd on the first day of Lollapalooza at Grant Park on Aug. 2, 2018. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago drill rapper G Herbo grew up on the Southeast Side in an area dubbed “Terror Town,” a far cry from the world of private jets, tropical villas and designer puppies.
His youth, as described in his blunt lyrics, was spent dodging bullets and hanging out on the violent streets near 79th Street and Essex Avenue. But as his star rose with collaborations with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Chief Keef and money rolled in, Herbo, whose real name is Herbert Wright III, said he started to realize it was time to move on from his past and embrace his newfound fame.
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“Honestly I’m just trying to capitalize and build other people up,” Wright told the Tribune in an interview last year. “I’m a firm believer that life is what you make it. ... I been broke so many times. I was supposed to be dead. I was supposed to be in jail. But I’m still here.”
Now Wright, 25, finds himself with new difficulties. He has been named in a federal fraud case brought in Massachusetts alleging he, his music promoter and other members of his crew used stolen identifications to charge more than a million dollars’ worth of exotic services over a four-year period.
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Among the ill-gotten gains were trips on private jets, limousine rides, exotic car rentals, a vacation at a villa in Jamaica and even two designer puppies purchased for Wright from a dealer in Michigan in 2017, according to the indictment, filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, in September and made public Wednesday.
Also charged in the alleged scheme were Antonio “T-Glo” Strong, Wright’s promoter and manager; South Side rapper Joseph “Jo Rodeo” Williams; and alleged co-conspirators Steven Hayes Jr., Demario Sorrells and Terrence Bender, all of Chicago.
Wright surrendered to federal authorities in California on Thursday, according to prosecutors.
The 14-count indictment charges all defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identify theft. Strong is also charged with wire fraud, court records show. The most serious charges carry up to 20 years in prison.
An arraignment for all six defendants was scheduled for Monday in Springfield.
G Herbo performs on the first day of Lollapalooza in Grant Park on Aug. 2, 2018. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Strong was arrested by federal authorities in Chicago on Sept. 25, the records show, and appeared for a removal hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, who ordered him brought to Massachusetts in the custody of the U.S. Marshals to face the charges there.
In his ruling, Dow wrote that Strong was “alleged to be the ringleader of a $1.5 million fraud” that includes use of “aliases and other people’s identities.”
“These are red flags for the opportunity to flee,” Dow said. “(Strong) says that he would not do that, and his parents are willing to take him in. But who is to say that in the middle of the night, when the gravity of the charges sinks in, and maybe the weight of the evidence, he will not decide to flee?”
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Williams, meanwhile, turned himself in to authorities in Chicago on Nov. 24. U.S. District Judge Beth Jantz granted his request for bond so he could travel on his own to Boston, court records show.
Sorrells and Hayes were arrested in Chicago on Nov. 19 and released on bond. Bender surrendered in Atlanta on Wednesday and was released on bond, according to prosecutors.
Reached by telephone, Wright’s attorney, James Lawson, had no comment Wednesday. Lawyers for the other defendants were not yet listed in the court docket.
G Herbo’s management company, Machine Entertainment Group, issued a statement after the charges were made public saying he “maintains his innocence and looks forward to establishing his innocence in court.”
The indictment comes as Wright’s fame continues to skyrocket. Earlier this week, G Herbo was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 musicians list. He posted the news to his 6 million Instagram followers on Monday with the caption, “NEVER PAID ATTENTION 2 ACCOLADES...CAN”T START NOW ... & I CAN’T STOP NOW!!”
Wright also recently performed his hit “PTSD” with Chance the Rapper on the “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
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According to the indictment, the scheme centered on the defendants’ use of stolen credit card information and personal identities obtained either from the “dark web” or other sources.
The defendants then texted or used social media to share the stolen information on the fly, at times even as merchants were in the process of charging the goods or services. They referred to the stolen information in coded messages as “cards,” “moves” or “joints,” according to the charges.
In November 2017, Strong, using the name “Darren Geiger” and identifying himself as Wright’s manager, called an unidentified pet company in Michigan to order “two designer puppies” for Wright using a stolen credit card, according to the charges.
The pet company appeared to be suspicious and asked for Wright to confirm the order by messaging it directly from his Instagram account, the indictment alleged. Strong allegedly sent a text to Wright saying, “Hurry just message that b---- hello.”
The indictment alleged Wright did what he was told. The company representative messaged Wright back on Instagram, asking, “You are getting 2 puppies correct?” Wright then confirmed the order, according to the charges.
Bender later used the same stolen credit information to arrange for a car service to pick up the puppies in Michigan and bring them to Chicago, the indictment alleged.
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The crew also used stolen credit cards to charge a week’s stay at a villa in Jamaica in July 2017 — at Wright’s request, according to the indictment. Another trip to Sunny Isles, Florida, a year before was also charged illegally, along with a personal chef and private security team.
In March 2017, Strong used the alias “Richard O’Malley” to book a private jet for Wright and an entourage of eight others from Chicago to Miami, where Sorrells and an unnamed co-conspirator had used a different stolen identity to rent luxury cars for the crew, including a Bentley CGTC and Maybach S600, according to the indictment.
The charges alleged Wright and his crew also illegally charged trips to Miami, Texas, New York, New Jersey and California, where they booked hotel rooms and paid for meals and other services using stolen identities.
The most recent allegation of fraud occurred on Sept. 4, when a co-conspirator used fake information to pay for a set of rooms at a downtown Chicago hotel, where Strong and others stayed, according to the charges.
In addition to the federal case, Strong is also facing pending fraud charges brought in Georgia in 2019, records show.
Wright, meanwhile, has a criminal record in Chicago that includes a 2018 traffic stop where he was allegedly observed by police placing a handgun loaded with 31 armor-piercing bullets into the seat pocket in front of him, court records show.
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Wright was charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, but in August 2019 prosecutors dropped that count as Wright pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge and was given two years of probation, records show.
Chicago Tribune’s Megan Crepeau contributed.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com