chicagotribune--2020-06-18--Chicago says 606 to reopen Monday, as billionaire Ken Griffin gives $5 million to help repair damage

Chicago says 606 to reopen Monday, as billionaire Ken Griffin gives $5 million to help repair damaged Lakefront Trail

“ We will not allow that to be the narrative of Chicago , ” Lightfoot said .
“ But that @ @ @ @ @ you being smart , being careful , wearing masks when you ’ re out in @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re adhering to social distancing and continuing to do the hand hygiene requirements @ @ @ @ @ huge difference .
”

Work continues along the lakefront near 51st Street and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave $12 million in 2016 to create separate paths for pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the busy Lakefront Trail, is giving another almost $5 million to help repair storm and water damage along the route. coronavirus, COVID-19 (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave $12 million in 2016 to create separate paths for pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the busy Lakefront Trail, is giving another almost $5 million to help repair storm and water damage along the route, the city announced Thursday.
The trail is set to reopen to the public Monday after it was closed in late March to guard against crowding during the coronavirus pandemic. The city also plans to announce the Monday reopening of The 606 Bloomingdale Trail, another popular public bike and pedestrian path on the Northwest Side closed due to the pandemic.
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Griffin, founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, is giving $4.75 million, according to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. The contribution will go toward repairs and building protection measures from future storms, and will strengthen key sections of the shoreline, particularly on the South Side, according to the mayor’s office.
The mayor announced the gift at a news conference Thursday.
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“I look forward to witnessing the true and lasting effort this donation will allow us to make and restoring a pivotal piece of our great city,” Lightfoot said in a statement.
Damage along the lakefront near 51st Street and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago on June 18, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The 18-mile pathway runs from Edgewater to the South Shore neighborhood, and some locals have already been using the trail regularly.
The plan for both the Lakefront Trail and 606, which will both be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, requires users to stay in constant motion. The city said compliance is “critical” to prevent congregating and make sure users are practicing social distancing.
Officials will minimize access to the trail by restricting entrance points. Users must wear face masks, and the Chicago Park District plans to use both signs and “social distancing ambassadors” to educate the public on safe use of the trail and manage traffic flow, the city said.
At a news conference, Lightfoot said that ultimately, it’s up to residents to ensure the city maintains its progress in curbing the coronavirus, she said.
“We will not allow that to be the narrative of Chicago,” Lightfoot said. “But that really depends upon each of you being smart, being careful, wearing masks when you’re out in public, making sure that you’re adhering to social distancing and continuing to do the hand hygiene requirements that we know make a huge difference.”
Chicago Harbors also will open Monday for the 2020 boating season, along with South Shore and Sydney R. Marovitz golf courses.
Lightfoot declined to say when Chicago beaches would reopen. She said city officials are concerned about the beaches due to the risk of people congregating and they won’t reopen until they know they can do it safely.
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The city, working with the Chicago Park District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is also paying $6 million for protective efforts along the Lakefront Trail to prevent further damage, according to the mayor’s office.
Additional reporting by Greg Pratt.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-18--Watch live: Mayor Lori Lightfoot to discuss openings of Lakefront, 606 trails

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to announce Ken Griffin ’ s donation to repair the Lakefront Trail and the @ @ @ @ @ .
Read more here .

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chicagotribune--2020-06-18--SUV hit by gunfire on Stevenson Expressway, no injuries reported

The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m .
The SUV , carrying three people , was hit by at least one @ @ @ @ @ casings were found .

An SUV was hit by gunfire on the Stevenson Expressway near Throop Street shortly after midnight Thursday, but no injuries were reported, according to the Illinois State Police.
Troopers shut down the outbound Stevenson between the Dan Ryan Expressway and Damen Avenue to investigate. All lanes were reopened by 6:30 a.m.
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The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m. The SUV, carrying three people, was hit by at least one bullet but authorities said several casings were found.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-06-18--Man shot while driving on Lake Shore Drive, flags down cops in South Loop

Hours earlier , a car was hit by gunfire on the Stevenson Expressway near Throop Street but no one was @ @ @ @ @ say whether the two shootings were related .

An SUV involved in a shooting on Lake Shore Drive remains parked on the 100 block of North State Street in Chicago on the morning of June 18, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
A man was shot while driving south on Lake Shore Drive early Thursday, then drove into the South Loop and flagged down a Chicago police car for help, authorities said.
The man, 20, told officers a black SUV approached him about 4 a.m. and his window shattered and he was hit in the left arm by a bullet, according to Chicago police.
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He drove away and waved down officers in the 100 block of North State Street, police said. The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition.
Hours earlier, a car was hit by gunfire on the Stevenson Expressway near Throop Street but no one was injured. Authorities did not say whether the two shootings were related.
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No one was in custody.


chicagotribune--2020-06-18--Field Museum scientist and ‘inspiration’ Lynika Strozier, 35, dies from coronavirus

Strozier was born in Birmingham , Ala. , in 1984 and moved with her mother to Chicago when she was @ @ @ @ @ to a 2012 story about Strozier in the Tribune , she went to live with @ @ @ @ @ she was 6 because of her mother ’ s drug addiction , and when she @ @ @ @ @ learning disabilities so profound that “ when she read aloud , it was in such @ @ @ @ @ sometimes sounded like she was gasping for breath .
”

Field Museum lab researcher Lynika Strozier spoke at the Field in Chicago in 2018 as part of the museum's 125th anniversary and launch of a capital campaign. (Kyle Flubacker / Field Museum)
Lynika Strozier was an accomplished woman of science in Chicago — a researcher in the DNA lab at the Field Museum with master’s degrees from two Chicago universities. She was exacting in her lab work, but more than that, there was hardly a person at the Field Museum who didn’t know her.
“This is a big, big place,” said head of botanical collections Matt von Konrat, her supervisor for more than a decade at the Field. “And she would walk through the halls, with her long stride, and always, always, a smile and hello for everyone. For all of us, for strangers, it didn’t matter.”
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Strozier, of Chicago, died June 7 of complications from coronavirus; her death was announced by the Field Museum on Twitter June 10. She was 35.
Strozier came to the Field Museum in 2009 as an intern.
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“She was just so good, so dedicated, that I hired her,” von Konrat said. She worked as a research assistant at the museum and also went back to school, earning a master’s in biology from Loyola University and a master’s in science education from University of Illinois at Chicago, both completed in 2018.
“More or less at the same time, if you can imagine the pressure,” he said.
In her work in the Pritzker DNA Lab, Strozier was “a perfectionist,” von Konrat said. Imagine working with a process like following a recipe, with the recipe needing to be done just right, over and over, or the results won’t be accurate.
“The work can be frustrating, it can be tedious, and she was determined to get it right,” he said. She would work long hours when necessary. Recently she worked on extracting DNA from plants, sometimes tiny plants, “the size of an eyelash,” von Konrat said. Or sometimes the specimens would be dried plants, decades old.
"I told her she had hands of gold," von Konrat said. "She would always manage it."
Lab work doesn’t always equate with personality but Strozier had an infectious energy “and would make time for anyone.” She became involved with mentoring students and summer interns who came to the Field, first informally and then, von Konrat said, more officially. “We came to rely on her for that.”
As the Field reached out to young participants from diverse backgrounds, he said, “it was really important to those students that they could see someone they could relate to.”
For all of her work in the lab, it was Strozier’s work with people that made the greatest impression.
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Her accomplishments were realized despite some serious challenges.
Field Museum scientist Lynika Strozier. (Corrie Moreau/Field Museum)
Strozier was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1984 and moved with her mother to Chicago when she was 6 months old. According to a 2012 story about Strozier in the Tribune, she went to live with her grandmother Sharon Wright when she was 6 because of her mother’s drug addiction, and when she was 8 was diagnosed with learning disabilities so profound that “when she read aloud, it was in such a halting manner that it sometimes sounded like she was gasping for breath.”
Sushma Reddy was Strozier’s faculty adviser when she was getting her master’s at Loyola University.
“Her grandmother was her champion,” Reddy said Tuesday. “It was her grandmother who pushed her through.”
The learning disability remained a struggle for Strozier years later but she would beat it through simple hard work. Reddy remembers how she once failed a class in bio statistics, a class that would be hard for anyone. “And she came to me and said, 'Oh my god, I’ve come so far but I can’t do it.”
But she turned around and got top grades from there, Reddy said. “She fell hard, and she got up hard."
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Reddy said she also wanted to emphasize “what a Chicago story Lynika was.” One, for the background she came from and the opportunities she created for herself. And two, for the local breadth of her STEM experience: In addition to the two master’s degrees, Strozier got a degree in biology from Dominican University in 2011, had an internship at Truman College in 2007 and DePaul in 2008, contributed as a lab coordinator at the School of Art Institute since 2018 and, most recently, realized her dream of becoming a college science teacher, serving as an adjunct instructor at Malcolm X College.
To have that dream taken away, and to have died just as she had a classroom of her own, Reddy said, “is so tragic. She was a lesson to all of us in academics.”
In an internal statement to Field staff June 8, museum President Richard Lariviere called Strozier’s death a “devastating loss” both to her own family and “her Museum family, and all who knew Lynika.”
The statement referenced a GoFundMe page set up by family members, who declined to comment for this story. Proceeds will be used to cover funeral costs as well as set up a scholarship fund “to support young black women with internship opportunities at STEM institutions in Chicago.” As of Tuesday, the fundraiser had raised $48,000 of its goal of $50,000 from almost a thousand donors.
“Lynika was just one of those people,” von Konrat said. “She was an inspiration. She touched the hearts of so many people.”
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Daywatch: Lake Michigan nears historic high as lakefront to reopen, U. of I. unveils COVID-19 plan f

Daywatch: Lake Michigan nears historic high as lakefront to reopen, U. of I. unveils COVID-19 plan for fall and Chicago’s restaurant reckoning continues

Scientific data confirms what Chicagoans have been experiencing firsthand since before the coronavirus restrictions officially shut down the city ’ @ @ @ @ @ water levels are about as high as they have been in a lifetime .
Lake @ @ @ @ @ higher than usual for early summer and approaching the historical high , set in October @ @

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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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University of Chicago students Jordan Zelch, left, Isabella Bonito and Charlotte Rapp dip their feet in Lake Michigan at Promontory Point in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Scientific data confirms what Chicagoans have been experiencing firsthand since before the coronavirus restrictions officially shut down the city’s lakefront this spring: water levels are about as high as they have been in a lifetime. Lake Michigan is nearly 3 feet higher than usual for early summer and approaching the historical high, set in October 1986.
As Chicagoans return to the lakefront and the 18-mile Lakefront Trail, which officially reopens in most areas Monday, they will notice waves lapping onto flooded pathways, disappearing beaches, submerged breakwaters and stone revetments unable to hold back the pulsating water.
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The Lakefront and 606 trails will reopen Monday after closing for nearly 3 months. Here’s what you need to know.
Students head to class at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in January, before the coronavirus shut down campus. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
In a welcome announcement for restless college students, the University of Illinois confirmed that all three of its campuses will hold modified classes on campus this fall as long as the masses of students coming back wear face masks, undergo coronavirus tests and practice social distancing.
Exactly how college life will look this fall is top of mind for many students deciding whether to move back and reunite with classmates or remain at home and continue taking classes online. Here’s how Chicago-area campuses are dealing with the pandemic.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot talks to reporters June 18, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot lambasted as “clearly racist” and “deeply offensive” a tweet by the Chicago Teachers Union depicting an apparent cartoon version of her tied up, wearing a police uniform and being unmasked by the characters from the “Scooby-Doo” TV show.
In response, a CTU spokeswoman released a statement pointing out Lightfoot has opposed recent demands from black activists such as defunding the Chicago Police Department, removing police from CPS, establishing Juneteenth as a paid public holiday and establishing a civilian oversight board with the power to investigate and fire police officers.
Meanwhile, Lightfoot said she doesn’t want Christopher Columbus statues in Chicago taken down, but instead used to help educate people about “the full history” of the U.S.
Cafe Robey in Wicker Park’s The Robey hotel, was accused by a former employee of having a toxic workplace culture rife with discrimination and harassment. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
The restaurant industry is having a moment. It is a moment defined by frank discussion of race, gender, sexuality and workplace culture. It is a moment built on years of simmering tension, unfolding in a matter of days. It is a moment of accusations, alleged transgressions and newfound efforts to hold restaurants industry leaders accountable.
Amid a broader social reckoning, both customers and restaurant workers — some anonymously and some not — are using newfound time on their hands and the power of the Internet to track and criticize a wide range of Chicago area restaurants, including several of its most prominent names.
Edward Hamlin's short story, "Haddad: A Requiem," won the Tribune's 2020 Nelson Algren Short Story Award. (HANDOUT)
Need a break from the news? Read the winner of the Chicago Tribune’s 2020 Nelson Algren Award, an annual prize for short fiction. This year’s top story is “Haddad: A Requiem” by Edward Hamlin, followed by five other outstanding finalists.


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Column: Trump’s Tulsa coronavirus rally: Deep-fried hydroxychloroquine, a ‘Joyous Festival of Narcis

Column: Trump’s Tulsa coronavirus rally: Deep-fried hydroxychloroquine, a ‘Joyous Festival of Narcissism, Anger and Disease’

Listen to this zany fearmongering by Samantha Whiteside , a Tulsa emergency physician who “ claims ” she ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the Tulsa World on Thursday : “ COVID-19 cases in Tulsa County have risen sharply @ @ @ @ @ the past seven days , the number of new cases in Tulsa County has reached @ @ @ @ @ .
… While I understand that sheltering in place indefinitely and shutting down the economy @ @ @ @ @ holding a large indoor rally , where people are shoulder-to-shoulder , as described by President @ @ @ @ @ team , seems short-sighted at best and reckless and dangerous at worst .
”

Supporters pose for photos June 18, 2020, with a giant Donald Trump flag outside BOK Center, site of the president's first political rally since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump is getting back to holding rallies, and his first Joyous Festival of Narcissism, Anger and Disease will be Saturday night in Oklahoma, a veritable “WHO’s Who” of who might get the coronavirus.
If you thought huge crowds of people gathering outdoors during a pandemic to protest systemic racism in America’s police departments in the wake of the egregious killing of an unarmed black man were a bad idea, surely you’re not in favor of jamming more than 19,000 mask-averse people into an enclosed arena in Tulsa, a city experiencing a sizable spike in coronavirus cases. Right?
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Well, regardless, it’s happening. And I’m sure it’s all going to be just (not at all) fine. To help out, I crafted the following Trump rally invitation for all the MAGA-groupies who signed up for tickets, a number I believe the Trump campaign is now putting at “40 thrazillion.”
Here goes:
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GREETINGS, MAGA NATION! It is with extreme excitement and a patriotic spray of respiratory droplets that I tell all you real Americans: It’s time to get your Trump on!
This Saturday night, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, our glorious president makes his post-coronavirus return to the rally stage, and no slippery liberal ramps will slow him down.
If you’re receiving this, you’re one of the 40 thrazillion America-lovers who showed their opposition to radical left-wing privacy invasion plots like “contact tracing” by giving us your email address and cellphone number to sign up for a rally ticket. (Don’t worry, unlike the libs, we’ll only use your personal information to ask for money, promote MAGA merchandise and build a database to help with all of the Trump family’s business endeavors!)
By now you’ve heard the FAKE NEWS media whining about this rally, saying it’s a “bad idea” or “a terrible idea” or “a really, really bad, terrible idea.” Don’t you to listen to those liars. They wouldn’t be caught dead at a Trump rally! (DISCLAIMER: The Trump campaign is not liable for anyone who winds up dead at or dead due to a Trump rally.)
And besides, you didn’t see them questioning the health risks of the Black Lives Matter protests, as long as you didn’t actually look at or read the news. It’s like these dopey journalists are saying there’s a difference between “important expressions of public outrage in outdoor areas with the widespread use of masks” and “unnecessary, crowded indoor gatherings of people who think masks are tyranny, organized by a president who needs to feel loved.”
Ridiculous!
As you know, America is blessed that our great president limited the number of COVID-19 deaths in America to a mere 117,000 people (so far), when it could have been much, much worse. For example, everyone could have died. That’s what would’ve happened if Crooked Hillary was president. LOCK HER UP! (Get that chant ready for Saturday night, folks.)
And while so-called health departments in Oklahoma are claiming there has been a sizable spike in coronavirus cases lately … who cares?
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Listen to this zany fearmongering by Samantha Whiteside, a Tulsa emergency physician who “claims” she’s a conservative and wrote in the Tulsa World on Thursday: “COVID-19 cases in Tulsa County have risen sharply the past week. In the past seven days, the number of new cases in Tulsa County has reached an all-time high four times. … While I understand that sheltering in place indefinitely and shutting down the economy for months is unrealistic, holding a large indoor rally, where people are shoulder-to-shoulder, as described by President Trump’s own campaign team, seems short-sighted at best and reckless and dangerous at worst.”
Whatever, medical professional! She doesn’t understand the virus-resistant love that Trump supporters emit when they stand shoulder to shoulder indoors booing immigrants.
The bottom line is this: Who are you going to trust with your health, a doctor or a president who has decided the pandemic is over? It’s a no-brainer. (DISCLAIMER: The Trump campaign is not liable for anyone found to have no brain.)
To satisfy all the scaredy cat antifa-loving lefties, we are taking a number of coronavirus-related precautions, including: taking your temperature when you enter the arena with Trump-brand forehead thermometers all set to “perfect temperature”; offering hand sanitizer, but smirking as we dispense it; handing out face masks so people can laugh at your weakness if you wear it; and offering deep-fried hydroxychloroquine doses at the snack bar ($19.99 per dose or $49.99 if you want it served in a commemorative MAGA hat).
So are you ready to chant “FOUR MORE YEARS!” so loud it causes Dr. Anthony Fauci to have a nervous breakdown? Are you ready to holler “(Expletive) Your Social Distancing!” like the God-fearing saliva-sprinklers-of-patriotism that you are?
Then please fill out this disclaimer that reads “you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present” and you “voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19” and agree not to hold the Trump campaign “liable for any illness or injury.”
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Don’t worry, it’s all just boilerplate, not-at-all-worried-about-the-coronavirus-hoax stuff. Everything will be fine. (DISCLAIMER: The Trump campaign is not liable if everything is not fine.)
[ Heat, coronavirus fears are no deterrent for Trump fans already camped outside Tulsa arena ]
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Column: With the reopening of the lakefront, a reunion with a lost love. Let’s not mess it up.

A lot of us felt a pang of grief when Chicago ’ s lakefront was shut down in late March @ @ @ @ @ the right thing to do .
It was a necessary sacrifice in the pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ gathering and spreading the novel coronavirus .
Shutting it down was a signal that this @ @ @ @ @ taming it would be hard and all of us had a part to play in @ @ @

A person walks along the Lakefront Trail south of Chess Pavilion on North Avenue Beach in Chicago on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
I’ve missed the lake.
All of us who love it, who know it as the soul of Chicago, have missed it the way you miss a loved one who dies or a friend from whom you’re estranged, the way you miss some part of yourself that exists only in relationship to something outside you.
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Does this sound hyperbolic? Not for anyone who loves the lake.
A lot of us felt a pang of grief when Chicago’s lakefront was shut down in late March, though closing it was the right thing to do. It was a necessary sacrifice in the pandemic, designed to keep crowds from gathering and spreading the novel coronavirus. Shutting it down was a signal that this virus was serious, that taming it would be hard and all of us had a part to play in the fight.
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But now the lake is back. Or we’re back to it. And it feels like the resurrection of a dead friend, a reunion with a lost love. The return comes with a relief that borders on ecstasy.
Does that sound hyperbolic? Not for anyone who loves the lake.
The lakefront doesn’t officially reopen until Monday but much of the path has been unofficially open for a while, and a few days ago I got a preview of what it felt like to return.
I was out for a walk in the park when I passed a tunnel that leads to the shoreline. Mysteriously, the barricade that had been there for weeks was gone. It hadn’t been trampled in defiance or ripped aside like some of the barricades I’d seen during the closure. It was just gone.
I peered into the underpass. In the distance, I could see joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, strollers, all the familiar ghosts of the lakefront past, but decently distanced.
What did they know that I didn’t? With a shiver of trepidation — was I breaking the law? — I walked through the dark, dank tunnel and emerged into paradise.
The sun was shining on the high grass. The mowers obviously hadn’t come through during the fertile weeks of spring, and traipsing across the unruly lawn, under the big trees, I kidded myself that I was an ancient explorer stumbling for the first time on the sight of this improbable vast water.
And suddenly there it was, a shimmering strip of blue, half-forgotten but deeply remembered.
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The lake.
It wasn’t Lake Michigan as glimpsed from a car window along Lake Shore Drive or from the remote reaches of the park across the highway. This was the lake close enough to touch. To hear. A faithful old friend, welcoming, waiting.
Seeing the lake up close again was like waking up from a dream. Or walking into one. I almost cried.
Does that sound like hyperbole? Fine, I’ll refrain from the word “joy.”
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
In all sorts of ways, this time of the pandemic has felt like a dream. Time has been reordered. The life we took for granted moved into the murky realm of memory. With little warning, we were separated from people and places we love. Reopening the lakefront returns us to one of those loved places.
When I walked over to the lakefront on Thursday morning, it was buzzing like a place getting ready for a wedding. The weed whackers were at full throttle. Big mowers charged through the grass. New signs promoted social distancing and face masks.
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The city’s lakefront reopening echoes the pandemic plan used in Seattle’s parks, including “social distancing ambassadors” deployed to remind people to keep moving and keep their distance. No crowds, no loitering. (And be warned: no open bathrooms or working water fountains.)
Reopening the lakefront has come with a lot of talk about our need to exercise, but the lakefront is more than a gym. It’s a spiritual haven, a place that helps us calm down, clear out, put ourselves into perspective. Out there with the wide water, the big clouds, the sky and the skyline, it’s easier to believe that everything will be all right.
Getting back to the lake will be a thrill, but we have to be careful not to abuse the opportunity. Let’s do our best to follow the rules. We don’t want another forced separation.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MarySchmich


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Eager to head back to the lakefront? A rising Lake Michigan — near the historic high water mark — aw

Eager to head back to the lakefront? A rising Lake Michigan — near the historic high water mark — awaits.

“ If people haven ’ t been back to the beach or their favorite spot in a while , it @ @ @ @ @ erosion or a lot less beach , ” said John Allis , the Army Corps @ @ @ @ @ Lakes hydraulics and hydrology office , based out of the Detroit District .
“ Conditions @ @ @ @ @ the coastline than people may be used to in the past .
”

Anna Ziai leaves the water after a swim in Lake Michigan at Promontory Point on June 16, 2020, in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Nicole Gradford, bare feet in the sand at the 63rd Street Beach, gazed at the turquoise waters of Lake Michigan as waves rolled toward the shore, kissing the land and crashing into the stone embankment shielding the Lakefront Trail. The water, she noticed, has been creeping higher for months. The beach is smaller. A shoreline path south of the beach house near Jackson Park and South Lake Shore Drive is often flooded and impassable.
“With all of the rain we’ve had and the water levels so high, it’s taken its toll,” said Gradford, who frequently walks from her nearby home to the lakefront for reflection and relaxation.
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Scientific data confirms what Gradford and other Chicagoans have been experiencing firsthand since before the coronavirus restrictions officially shut down the lakefront this spring: Water levels are about as high as they have been in a lifetime.
The lake is nearly 3 feet higher than usual for early summer and approaching the historical high, set in October 1986, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the official records for all of the Great Lakes.
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High water levels in Lake Michigan are flooding the Lakefront Trail south of Chess Pavilion on North Avenue Beach in Chicago on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
As Chicagoans return to the lakefront and the 18-mile Lakefront Trail, which officially reopens in most areas Monday, they will notice waves lapping onto flooded pathways, disappearing beaches, submerged breakwaters and stone revetments unable to hold back the pulsating water.
“If people haven’t been back to the beach or their favorite spot in a while, it may be very different with erosion or a lot less beach,” said John Allis, the Army Corps’ chief of the Great Lakes hydraulics and hydrology office, based out of the Detroit District. “Conditions can be very different on the coastline than people may be used to in the past.”
The water level on Lake Michigan, which is measured with Lake Huron since the two connect at the Straits of Mackinac, has set a monthly high mean record each month this year, with the June record nearly assured to fall in a few weeks. The lake, at mid-month, is 5 inches higher than its highest monthly average of record for June.
Scientists are projecting the level to fall just short of the all-time record, unless the final weeks of June and July turn particularly wet. The Lake Michigan water level is forecast to peak for the year in mid-July, Allis said, about 1 inch below the 1986 high water mark.
Shoreline investments
Two miles north of where Gradford enjoyed a few moments of solitude, construction contractors with steamrollers, a backhoe and a giant crane installed armor stone and precast concrete blocks to protect the shoreline from erosion near Morgan Shoal. Work at the site began this month and may continue into July if additional funding from the city of Chicago is approved, the Army Corps said.
The Chicago Shoreline Storm Damage Protection projects are joint endeavors between the Army Corps, the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Near the fenced-off construction zone close to 48th Street, waves crashed into the rocky shore, sending sprays of water into the air. Behind the broken concrete and boulders lining the water, waves have pushed underneath the rocks and slammed over them, leaving behind an assortment of tangled roots and tree stumps, dirt and debris.
Mike Vandersteen, mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the new chairman of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors that focuses on Great Lakes issues, is pushing for funding for more such projects up and down the lakeshore.
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Vandersteen, who began his role this month, said the federal government should be considering stimulus funding for water infrastructure and coastal restoration projects in the Great Lakes region. Those projects would include shoreline stabilization, flood prevention measures and upgraded sewer and freshwater systems affected by rising lakes and surging storms. Such projects, Vandersteen said, take on added importance because of the economic ramifications of the coronavirus shutdowns.
Workers rebuild a portion of the Lakefront Trail at Morgan Shoal damaged by high water levels in Lake Michigan in Chicago on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“We need to make our shorelines more resilient and able to withstand high water and erosion, and also help people get back to work,” Vandersteen said.
The Great Lakes mayors group estimates coastal flooding and record high water levels caused more than $500 million in damages to cities in the region within the last year. Local governments are spending $800 million on projects, but $365 million is needed for the future, the group says.
‘It’s underwater’
The high water levels can be seen up and down Chicago’s shoreline. Near Belmont Harbor, the path for walkers and joggers that skirts the inner part of the harbor was partially covered with water on Monday. Runners dodged water or splashed gingerly on their way. Nearby, a section of the trail was blocked with barricades and a bright yellow warning sign: “Caution Undermining Erosion.”
The Belmont Harbor Dog Beach was almost entirely submerged, with only a small spit of sand available for dogs and their owners. “It’s gone,” one woman mentioned to her companion as they walked past, “It’s underwater.”
On the peninsula at the southern edge of the harbor, seagulls danced with the waves on the lowest level of the concrete revetment lining the lakefront. Teens tempted fate at the water’s edge and groups of bicyclists watched as the lake spilled onto the tiered steps.
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Karina Freer dipped her bare feet into the cool pools of water, laughing with a friend.
“I think Mother Nature has a way of doing things,” said Freer, 41, who lives near Diversey Parkway and Racine Avenue. “If she wants it to be high, she’s got a reason for it. It all just balances out.”
Freer, who called the water “my happy place — and to say that is a total understatement, it’s a love of mine,” was among the many people who visited the lakefront even though it will not officially open until next week. Police officers monitored the shoreline, barriers and cones blocked sections of the trail and traffic officers prevented vehicles from accessing some parking lots, but the waterfront was accessible to those who ventured out.
“I love it,” said Freer, a swimmer and triathlete. “Just to feel the water again.”
A quick bicycle ride to the south of the reconstruction work near Morgan Shoal, Adale Taylor, 18, and his cousin, Shaniqunika Taylor, 27, took pictures with their cellphones at Promontory Point as the water pushed its way over the bottom step of the tiered wall that protects the peninsula.
Isabelle Light, left, and her mother Rose Granado swim in Lake Michigan at Promontory Point in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Adale Taylor, who lives near 69th Street, often visits the lakefront to relax and contemplate. He said he has never seen the water level so high. Shaniqunika Taylor recently moved to Chicago from Flint, Michigan, and the Promontory Point excursion was her first time visiting the lakefront.
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“The water sound is relaxing,” she said, “just to get away for a while.”
Milder winters, more rain
Scientists say a confluence of factors has contributed to the high water: recent record precipitation complete with drenching downpours, milder winters and warming overall temperatures throughout the Midwest.
Heavy rains in the spring and summer of 2019 raised lake levels, setting the table for the record highs of 2020.
Warmer temperatures mean fewer blasts of cold air, less ice cover and less-than-normal evaporation since cool surface water is a driver of evaporation, said Lauren Fry, a physical scientist with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
“Climate factors,” Fry said, “are the primary drivers of water levels.”
Human activity is changing the planet’s climate faster than at any time in modern civilization, heralding costly and, in some cases, life-threatening consequences, scientists concluded in a comprehensive 2018 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For every 1 degree of warming, the atmosphere can hold 4% more water vapor that can turn into precipitation. As the planet warms and additional moisture sticks in the air, we could see more frequent and stronger storms.
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The high water also comes only seven years after the lake was at its lowest level in January 2013, showing how conditions have been swinging from one extreme to the other in as little as three years.
The five-year period between June 2015 and this summer has been the wettest in the Great Lakes basin since 1895, according to statistics compiled by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
Runoff from four states and one Canadian province also add to the water levels of the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron basin.
The huge volume of water that flows through the basin into the lake means the fluctuation of levels takes time, Fry said, and is not necessarily captured by seasonal forecasts or monthly changes, happening instead over multiple years.
Changed landscapes
The rising water is more than just an inconvenience to Chicago-area serenity seekers looking for fresh air and open space during a pandemic. Shoreline flooding and erosion have caused millions of dollars of damage up and down the coast. Beaches have vanished, lakeside ecosystems have been altered and the very nature of the lake itself has changed.
High water levels in Lake Michigan in Chicago on June 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Churning waves have clawed at the shoreline all around Lake Michigan, from the beaches and marshland at Illinois Beach State Park, near the Wisconsin border, to the dunes and sandy bluffs along the west Michigan coast. Docks and piers are underwater, roads have been washed out and shoreline homes and businesses are at risk of being washed away or falling into the lake.
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The Coast Guard warned boaters of high water’s effect on clearances at the lake’s harbors and marinas, especially underpasses below bridges.
“Where you may have been able to fit even a month ago, now they may clip the top of their vessel,” said Lt. Phillip Gurtler, with Sector Lake Michigan based in Milwaukee.
The high water also means rocks closer to shore, normally visible, may be underwater, and piers and breakwaters may be damaged or hard to spot, Gurtler said.
The recent high water level also is contributing to sustained habitat loss in coastal areas such as dunes, dune grasslands and nearby wetlands beyond beaches, said Ethan Theuerkauf, a coastal geomorphologist and assistant professor in the geography, environment and spatial sciences department at Michigan State University who has extensively studied the Lake Michigan shore.
“In addition to the beaches we’re also losing a lot of ecology, habitat and ecosystems,” Theuerkauf said.
At Illinois Beach in Lake County, where Theuerkauf continues research work, high lake levels combined with recent storms have changed the landscape of the undulating coastal wetlands, marshes and grasslands. Essentially, storms buried portions of the wetlands beyond the dune ridges.
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“The waves were just a bulldozer moving the sand that was on the beach backward,” Theuerkauf said.
In addition to sustained erosion of the land near the water, higher lake levels are contributing to the changing nature of the lake bed near the shore. Sand is pulsed out of the beaches and bluffs, creating new shoals and sandbars farther out into the lake, he said.
And when bluffs erode, Theuerkauf said, “they’re gone.”
“It’s a one-way street with bluffs and their associated habitats,” he said.
Habitat destruction, he emphasized, is more than just the loss of homes to geologically significant wetlands, but to land that stores carbon that helps combat climate change, provides breeding ground and homes to turtles, waterfowl and birds such as the piping plover.
While the lake is not projected to break the all-time high record this summer, autumn storms may again push the lake even higher and threaten coastlines anew, scientists said. Even when the lake cycles back to near-normal levels, many of the ramifications to the natural landscape will be permanent.
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“The coastal setting will never be exactly the same when the water goes back down to as it was before these highs,” Theuerkauf said. “Every high that we experience changes the nature of the coast. It’s an evolution through time.”
poconnell@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--CTA and Pace buses will begin collecting fares again, as riders slowly return to public transit

The agency limits the number of passengers on buses to no more than 15 people on a 40-foot bus and @ @ @ @ @ a 60-foot bus .
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Riders board a bus at the CTA Red Line station at 95th Street in Chicago on Feb. 8, 2019. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
In another sign that things are getting closer to normal in the Chicago area, the CTA and Pace will start collecting bus fares again, and the CTA will end rear-door boarding.
The CTA will require customers to enter buses via the front door and pay fares starting Sunday, while the Pace suburban bus service resumes fare collections Monday.
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Both agencies had waived fare collection as a way to protect operators and passengers from the coronavirus. But since the agency started rear-door boarding in April, the state and the agency have adopted other ways of keeping people safe, including providing masks for all drivers, requiring that passengers be masked, and implementing new cleaning technology, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.
The agency limits the number of passengers on buses to no more than 15 people on a 40-foot bus and no more than 22 on a 60-foot bus. The CTA also has a ridership information dashboard on its website that shows when buses are the most crowded to help people choose a better time to travel.
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Keith Hill, president of the bus drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, said his group agreed with the resumption of front-door boarding. Hill noted the CTA had agreed to increase the “standee line,” or how far passengers have to stand back from drivers, to more than six feet.
“Safety is our No. 1 concern,” Hill said. “We don’t want a resurgence of COVID in our membership.”
Of the local union’s 7,000 members, five have died of COVID-19, Hill said.
Pace put up vinyl barriers by the driver to protect both operators and passengers, while CTA drivers are protected by plexiglass shields. Unlike CTA buses, most Pace buses do not have rear doors, but the agency waived fares to prevent people from bunching at the front of the vehicle.
Pace said it is still waiving fares on City of Chicago Taxi Access Program or TAP trips.
Transit agencies saw a sharp drop in ridership as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the state’s stay-at-home order, but passengers have begun to slowly return.
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Pace ridership has gone from from being down to 75% of normal in April to being down 60% in the last week, according to spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken. CTA ridership is down about 80%.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--City Hall missed 70% of deadlines in first year of reforming Chicago Police Department

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot answers questions after announcing a new Community Working Group designed to review and revise CPD's use of force policies at City Hall in Chicago on June 15, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago is still moving slowly on police reforms, missing more than 70% of its deadlines during the first year of the court-overseen process of overhauling the Chicago Police Department, according to a watchdog report released late Thursday.
Former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey detailed the city’s sluggish progress in enacting the consent decree, a wide-ranging court order aimed at forcing reforms to training, discipline and supervision in the troubled department.
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All told, the city missed 89 of 124 deadlines during the first year under the order.
The new report, which covered the six-month period of September 2019 through February, states that the city missed 52 of 74 deadlines. In the previous report, which covered March 2019 through August 2019, the city missed 37 of 50 deadlines.
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Hickey’s latest report said the city missed deadlines in a range of areas governed by the decree, which orders a raft of highly technical adjustments to policy and practice.
For example, Hickey wrote that the city did not meet the Jan. 1 deadline to review foot pursuits leading to uses of force to identify issues with tactics, training or equipment, though the report credits the city for “significant strides” in the area.
The city also missed a Feb. 29 deadline to put in place a policy guiding cops on interacting with members of religious communities, including “instruction on interacting and searching individuals with garments or coverings of religious significance.”
The filing comes as Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration faces pressure to change the Police Department in the wake of sustained protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The mayor is being pressed by activists and some aldermen who want fundamental changes to policing — including cutting the police budget — as well as those who want to see technical changes done faster. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who is involved in the court case over the consent decree, has criticized City Hall and called for more urgent progress toward fulfilling the requirements.
Lightfoot and new police Superintendent David Brown touted changes the city has made thus far but acknowledged the city “can do better.”
“We are redoubling our efforts to meet important milestones mandated by the consent decree,” the two said in a news release.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown listens to Mayor Lori Lightfoot announce a new Community Working Group designed to review and revise CPD's use of force policies at City Hall in Chicago on June 15, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
The city’s slow progress thus far is in keeping with the long process of bringing court-overseen reform to the department in the wake of the November 2015 release of video of white police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. The footage and the protests it sparked led to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found the city’s police to be badly trained, loosely supervised and prone to excessive force, especially against minorities.
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The consent decree gives the Police Department at least five years to fully comply and imposes rolling deadlines for the city achieve the overhaul.
dhinkel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--University of Illinois will reopen with face masks and COVID-19 testing but also virtual classes; ot

University of Illinois will reopen with face masks and COVID-19 testing but also virtual classes; other colleges plan blend of online, in-person learning

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Students head to class at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in January, before the coronavirus shut down campus. The school plans to reopen with restrictions and online offerings in the fall. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
In a welcome announcement for restless college students, the University of Illinois confirmed Thursday that all three of its schools will hold modified classes on campus this fall as long as the masses of students coming back wear face masks, undergo coronavirus tests and practice social distancing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
That means dorms, dining halls, research labs and other campus facilities will begin to reopen in some fashion, with amended protocols to protect students and faculty from falling ill, according to a joint statement issued by university leaders.
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“Plans to restore in-person instruction were developed through weeks of exhaustive review that brought together literally hundreds of key stakeholders and considered every available option, from a full return to traditional instruction to remaining fully online,” said the message, also signed by university President Tim Killeen.
Exactly how college life will look this fall is top of mind for many students deciding whether to move back and reunite with classmates or remain at home and continue taking classes online. Northwestern University, DePaul University, the University of Chicago and public universities in Illinois are all taking steps to offer a blend of in-person and remote coursework. Though many decisions aren’t finalized, enhanced cleaning, contract tracing and access to testing are common features across campuses.
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At Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus, creating enough room for students to sit in classes, grab food from dining halls and socialize with peers could be particularly challenging given its record enrollment of more than 51,000 students last year. An email sent to students Thursday laid out the plans for fall, saying “we will resume on-campus instruction for the Fall 2020 semester in a manner modified to address the ongoing pandemic concerns.”
Not all classes will be offered in-person, with most large lectures available solely online because of caps on gatherings of more than 50 people when Illinois enters the next phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan. Courses that involve lab work, performances or group discussions will be more likely to meet in person, the school website says. The university is trying to space out courses, scheduling them at off hours and using rooms that don’t typically function as classrooms to increase capacity.
Until a vaccine or treatment is developed, UIUC will have to rely on 20 testing stations located throughout campus to identify infected students, though people with symptoms can also self-report. Student will have access to saliva-based testing at the stations, but UIUC hasn’t determined whether it will require them to get tested during orientation or while moving into dorms, according to spokeswoman Robin Kaler. UIUC is seeking federal approval for the saliva test, which was developed by its own researchers and can already be used in its labs.
Additional details also remain elusive. UIUC did not say whether it will limit the number of students allowed to live on campus, an option that some schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have adopted to reduce density. MIT, a prestigious engineering school, said it might allow only up to 60% of undergraduate students to return due to physical distancing constraints.
Though some schools are not requiring students to have roommates, U. of I. leaders said up to two people could be assigned to live together this fall. “The level of in-person instruction and residential occupancy will be determined as restrictions of space, health and safety allow,” according to a statement on the UIUC website.
Doubles make up the majority of housing options at UIUC, and freshmen are required to live on campus. First-year students and those already signed up to live in university dorms need to obtain approval to reside off campus and can submit documentation about medical concerns. Additional rooms will be reserved to house students who contract COVID-19 and need a place to isolate. Students who don’t return to campus can take classes solely online.
Unlike some schools that are starting the year early to get ahead of any anticipated resurgence of COVID-19 infections this winter, UIUC will begin classes as scheduled on Aug. 24. While some schools will end in-person instruction before Thanksgiving break to limit student travel back and forth from campus, UIUC still has a fall break on its calendar.
“Those are all being finalized. We will release decisions as they are made,” Kaler said.
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Other schools in the Chicago area are also ironing out their plans. Most include the aspiration for in-person and online courses, though the ability to provide both options will depend on whether the region continues to see decreased infections.
Schools are keenly aware they might need to clear campus again and revert to remote instruction again if the situation worsens.
Here’s a look at Chicago-area campuses:
NU expects ‘significant portion’ of classes to be remote
Northwestern plans to start most classes about a week early, finish face-to-face courses before the Thanksgiving break and offer all exams remotely this fall. The law and business schools will also begin terms earlier than usual.
In an update to students sent Tuesday, NU administrators said that while they “expect that a significant portion of fall instruction will be conducted remotely,” the school is working to offer safe, in-person experiences to students who choose to return to campus while also accommodating those who need or want to learn from a distance. Academic departments will decide which classes can have in-person components.
“The University plans to welcome you back in the fall and is excited to do so,” according to the message, signed by Interim Provost Kathleen Hagerty and Vice President for Student Affairs Julie Payne-Kirchmeier. “However, those of you who have left and will return to campus will find yourselves in a new and different environment, which may continue to change and evolve as the academic year progresses.”
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Students returning to campus must agree to follow a number of safety protocols, such as wearing face coverings, disinfecting hands frequently, practicing social distancing and participating in the school’s contract tracing efforts.
It’s not clear yet how residence halls will operate. Students intending or required to live in campus dorms will receive more information about that next week. Currently, NU has prohibited outside guests from visiting dorms, limited gatherings to groups of 10 or less in shared lounges and required students to wear face coverings when outside their assigned room.
Northwestern also announced on Thursday that it will not require rising high school seniors to take the SAT or ACT in order to apply for admission. Students who completed the tests can still submit their scores if they want as part of a temporary test-optional policy.
The change is being rolled out to account for students who had difficulty accessing the exams since many national test dates this spring and summer were cancelled. Many schools nationwide have adopted the same approach, saying they will look to grades, letters of commendation and extracurricular participation to evaluate candidates in lieu of test results.
DePaul will offer ‘as many classes on-campus as we can safely deliver'
DePaul is working with the deans of its 10 schools to prioritize which classes will be conducted on campus this fall. Students will be able to take many of DePaul’s first-year courses in person, while others will be offered solely online, according to a message Monday from Interim Provost Salma Ghanem.
But there are a great deal of logistics involved with finalizing the fall schedule. DePaul is in the process of identifying classrooms that are large enough to host students with proper social distancing and is using some of its federal stimulus money to upgrade technology and equipment in 110 classrooms.
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“Class sizes will be reduced, tables and seating will be arranged to promote social distancing, and no rooms will be scheduled with back-to-back classes, all of which will make it easier for Facility Operations staff to sanitize tables and seating after each class,” Ghanem wrote.
Most students will know next week whether the courses they are considering will be online, for in-person learning or as a combination of modalities. Some on-campus classes will also involve Zoom components, with students gathering in-person for part of the time and completing other aspects of the course suing the video conferencing service. The quarter begins Sept. 9.
As for residence halls, DePaul said it has moved its room selection process online this year. The housing department is exploring how it might reduce occupancy in the fall but is still encouraging students to consider living on campus, even though final details have not been announced yet.
“The only thing we can confirm is that converted housing will not be available,” according to a statement on the school’s website.
U. of C. prepares for slow resumption of campus activities
John Boyer, Dean of the College at the U. of C., told students in a video address last week that more information about fall plans will be shared by the end of June.
“Our intention is to provide as many in-person learning experiences that we can reasonably accommodate with the current health guidelines,” he said. “Some of our classes will have to function remotely. And many will have a blended structure that will combine both in-person and online instructional interactions.”
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Fall classes are scheduled to begin Sept. 27 — much later than schools on the semester system — giving U. of C. more time to finalize its decision.
Provost Ka Yee C. Lee said in a recent campus update that nonessential employees who can work remotely should continue doing so and that in June, more faculty will return to campus to prepare for the new academic year.
While she has pointed to promising developments to contain the virus — including that the university hospital has exceeded capacity to conduct 1,000 daily COVID-19 tests — she warned that much progress needs to be made before the campus can look the way it did prior to the outbreak.
“Until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19, some portion of the University community will need to continue to stay home and work remotely,” Lee said.
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-18--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 55 more COVID-19 deaths reported as Chicago tops 50,000 cases and r

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 55 more COVID-19 deaths reported as Chicago tops 50,000 cases and reopening plans for Lakefront, 606 trails take shape

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We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The Lakefront and 606 Bloomingdale trails will reopen Monday after closing for nearly three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The plan for reopening the trails, which will both be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, requires users to stay in constant motion. The city said compliance is “critical” to prevent congregating and make sure users are practicing social distancing.
Meanwhile, state health officials on Thursday announced 593 new known cases of COVID-19 and 55 additional deaths, bringing the total number of known cases to 134,778 and the death toll to 6,537 statewide.
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Also on Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases in Chicago surpassed 50,000, as the citywide total reached 50,084. At least 2,459 Chicagoans have died from COVID-19.
DuPage County, the next largest county after Cook, has 8,574 confirmed cases and 443 deaths. Even when taking population into account, Chicago has a higher rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases than suburban counties.
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[ When can Illinois move to phase 4? Here's where each region stands. ]
[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s what’s happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:07 p.m.: City planning 30 miles of new bikeways, more open streets
The city of Chicago is taking advantage of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic to test using streets in new ways, by opening them up to dining, pedestrians and cycling.
“This is an opportunity for Chicago as a whole to think about what our public streets mean to us,” Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi said.
Besides creating open streets that limit vehicle traffic and closing sections of some streets for weekend dining, the Transportation Department will add up to 30 miles of new bikeways this year, compared with 13 miles last year. The city also plans to paint fresh striping on 40 miles of bikeways, compared with the 10 miles that were restriped last year.
On top of this is a much more ambitious scooter pilot with 10,000 scooters later this summer, four times as many as last year, and an expanded Divvy program.
The city has created, with community input, 6 miles of “open streets,” which are limited to local traffic and make it easier to use them for walking and biking. The locations include a section of Leland Avenue in the Ravenswood neighborhood, Wabansia Avenue in West Town and Drexel Boulevard in Kenwood.
“People are saying ‘Chicago ... where are your 73 miles of shared streets?” Biagi said. “It was important for us to learn from other cities and also listen really well. ... Every neighborhood is different and there are different traffic challenges. We want to make sure we’re supporting business.”
Read more here. —Mary Wisniewski
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4:48 p.m.: Illinois unemployment rate dropped to 15.2% in May as businesses began reopening
The Illinois unemployment rate fell to 15.2% in May, down from a 44-year high of 17.2% in April, as businesses shut down by the coronavirus began reopening, according to the state’s Department of Employment Security.
The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was 13.3%, an increase from 3.6% a year prior and down from 14.7% in April.
Compared to a year earlier, the the state had 737,900 fewer nonfarm jobs in May. Many of the job losses were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which lost 285,200 jobs over the year and has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector also lost 102,100 jobs over the year.
“As we continue to grapple with the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain committed to safely reopening the state to begin economic recovery,” Deputy Governor Dan Hynes said in a news release.
—Chicago Tribune staff
2:47 p.m.: University of Illinois will reopen with face masks and COVID-19 testing but also virtual classes; other colleges also plan blend of online, in-person learning
After months of deliberation, the state’s largest public university signaled Thursday that it will bring students back to its Urbana campus this fall and let them take in-person classes in “a modified manner” as long as they wear face masks, submit to coronavirus testing, practice social distancing and otherwise help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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Students who don’t or can’t return to the downstate campus, which hit record enrollment last year with more than 51,000 students, can take classes solely online, UIUC is expected to announce later Thursday. But students who already signed up to live university housing or freshmen who are required to reside on campus will have to submit special documentation and receive approval to learn from a distance.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
2:35 p.m.: 593 new known COVID-19 cases, 55 additional deaths
On Thursday, state health officials announced 593 new known cases of COVID-19 and 55 additional deaths, bringing the total number of known cases to 134,778 and the death toll to 6,537 statewide since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 25,504 new tests in the last 24 hours.
2:05 p.m.: Lakefront, 606 trails reopen Monday: What you need to know
The Lakefront and 606 Bloomingdale trails will reopen Monday after closing for nearly three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We want the public to enjoy these iconic opportunities in the outdoors, but we want everyone to do this safely,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. Planning to venture out?
Here’s what you need to know. —Jennifer Day
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1:52 p.m.: Now you can bet from home, too. Rivers launches first online sportsbook in Illinois as casinos remain closed.
Professional sporting events may still be few and far between under wide-ranging coronavirus restrictions, but as of Thursday, sports fans in Illinois can bet on games online.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines and Rush Street Interactive launched the state’s first online sportsbook at 10 a.m. Thursday at BetRivers. Users can sign up from home and place bets from their desktop or mobile device as they watch games live from the site, the companies said in a news release.
Read more here. —Jocelyn Allison
12:53 p.m.: From the teachers strike to the school shutdown, looking back at an extraordinary year in Chicago Public Schools
The 2019-20 school year in Chicago Public Schools — which formally ends Thursday — started out with the looming threat of a teachers strike.
That came to pass a few weeks later. But the shutdown of schools and disruption of lives it caused would turn out to be a dry run for the unimaginable that was to come months later when the coronavirus showed up. And one of Illinois’ very first cases turned out to be a CPS classroom aide.
Take a look back here at CPS’s strange and extraordinary year, from picket lines to a global pandemic.
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—Sophie Sherry and Jemal R. Brinson
12:45 p.m.: Amtrak to end daily service on most long-distance routes starting in October
Amtrak will cut service later this year on most of its long-distance routes nationwide to three times a week instead of the current daily service because ridership has fallen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.
Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said Wednesday that the cuts will take effect Oct. 1 and remain in place until at least the summer of 2021, but daily service could be restored if demand improves along its long-distance routes. Many of Amtrak’s routes begin or end in Chicago.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Noon: Chicago’s iO Theater is shutting down permanently
Chicago’s iO Theater will shut down, owner Charna Halpern has told the Tribune, and the theater building at 1501 N. Kingsbury St. will be put up for sale. Halpern said she has no official closing date yet, but like all Chicago theaters, iO has been closed since late March by the pandemic.
The reasons for the closing are financial, Halpern said. She and the theater recently were charged with racism via a petition posted on change.org; the petition made a series of demands for changes in ownership and practices at the theater. Halpern said those events were not the deciding factor.
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She instead pointed to looming property taxes bills of close to $100,000 that would have had to come out of her personal savings.
Read more here. —Doug George
10:23 a.m.: Chicago resale shops open with safety precautions. With surge in quarantine spring cleaning, potential treasures await thrifters.
For shoppers who are redecorating or looking for a fashionable find on the cheap, Chicago’s thrift shops have reopened and are expecting a deluge of donations. After all, the last three months of at-home time gave us the opportunity to dig deep into our closets, basements and garages for a spring cleaning like no other.
We spoke to two of Chicago’s most popular thrifts shops and one hard-core thrifter about the new safety guidelines in place and the treasure trove that awaits.
Read more here. —David Syrek
7 a.m.: Billionaire Ken Griffin giving $5 million to help repair damaged Lakefront Trail as it and the 606 are set to reopen
Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave $12 million in 2016 to create separate paths for pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the busy Lakefront Trail, is giving another almost $5 million to help repair storm and water damage along the route, the city is expected to announce Thursday.
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The trail is set to reopen to the public Monday after it was closed in late March to guard against crowding during the coronavirus pandemic. The city also plans to announce the Monday reopening of The 606 Bloomingdale Trail, another popular public bike and pedestrian path on the Northwest Side closed due to the pandemic.
Read more here. —Mary Wisniewski
6:45 a.m.: Indiana Dunes beaches, with an influx of Illinois residents, are seeing large crowds. ‘Every day is like the Fourth of July.’
The usual announcement came across the loudspeakers Wednesday at Indiana Dunes State Park.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! It’s 11 o’clock. The water is open,” the announcer said, shortly after lifeguards took to their stations, with reminders to only go in the water chest-deep and that inflatables and boogie boards were not allowed.
What’s been different this year, said officials with the state park and the Indiana Dunes National Park, as well as law enforcement, is the sheer volume of the crowds since beach season started Memorial Day weekend.
Read more here. —Amy Lavalley
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6:30 a.m.: Federal regulators warn Chicago firm, two other companies over illegal at-home COVID-19 tests
U.S. health regulators are cracking down on three companies -- including one from Chicago -- for selling at-home blood tests for coronavirus, warning the products have not been shown to safely and accurately screen for COVID-19.
The Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to the companies Wednesday, saying their products are illegal because they have not been reviewed by the agency for home use. While the FDA has OK’d a handful of tests that allow patients to collect saliva samples at home, the agency has not cleared any tests for use completely at home.
At-home testing carries risks because consumers could mishandle the sample or misinterpret the results.
The companies targeted by FDA include: Medakit Ltd. of Hong Kong, Antibodiescheck.com of the United Arab Emirates and Sonrisa Family Dental of Chicago.
The letter to the Chicago company flagged online posts promoting “15 minute Covid tests for the whole family!” Among other violations, the company falsely claimed its products were “FDA approved” and appropriated the FDA logo without permission, the agency said.
Emails and calls to the companies were not immediately returned.
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—Associated Press


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 44 more deaths reported as COVID-19 continues to impact Black peopl

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 44 more deaths reported as COVID-19 continues to impact Black people at greater rate; Chicago says restaurants can open for indoor dining next Friday

“ If we are to make our democracy thrive , we all have to do more to engage in our @ @ @ @ @ at our core a participatory democracy and thus engagement is our life blood , ” @ @ @ @ @ in addition to my challenge to you , I also have a personal request : @ @ @ @ @ life serving government itself .
”

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The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The state of Illinois announced 692 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths on Friday.
The coronavirus continues to impact Black people in Illinois at a greater rate than those of other races and ethnicities. This trend is evident in the data as it stands today: While Black people make up 14% of the state’s population, they account for 28% of those who have died from COVID-19 and 17% of confirmed cases.
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Meanwhile, Chicago restaurants can open for limited indoor seating with the rest of the state starting June 26, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday, a surprise announcement that will have people dining indoors a week earlier than expected.
Restaurants, bars and breweries all can open, but with restrictions, as has been the case with outdoor dining. The move will align with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s moving the state into phase four of his reopening plan.
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Black people in Illinois account for 44% of those who have died from COVID-19.
[ When can Illinois move to phase 4? Here's where each region stands. ]
[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:31 p.m.: ‘Unprecedented’ surge in visitors at forest preserves, natural areas during pandemic
Coronavirus restrictions and safety guidelines have motivated Illinois residents to seek the great outdoors. State parks, forest preserves and nature areas have been popular destinations for people searching for open space, a place to exercise, quiet time or a respite from the indoor pandemic routine.
The Forest Preserves of Cook County experienced “unprecedented levels of visitors for April and May, compared to a typical spring,” spokesman Carl Vogel said.
“At Busse Woods, on a few warm weekends in April we were seeing crowds like we see on a Fourth of July weekend,” Vogel said via email. With the exception of the wet periods of May, there has been a steady flow of cyclists, runners and walkers throughout the system, Vogel said, with weekdays looking more like weekends in terms of numbers of visitors at the most popular sites.
With open, free entrances, the forest preserves do not have a way to tally precise attendance numbers. But Vogel added the preserves’ website figures set daily records in mid-April — more than three times the amount ever recorded — as people sought information on the region’s outdoor parks.
The surge in popularity led the forest preserves to put weekend parking closures in place at six preserves in order to ensure safety and social distancing. Those remain in effect. Grills and coolers still are not allowed during phase three, nor is setting up sports equipment such as goals, nets or cones.
For those looking for a more extended stay in the woods, four of the five Forest Preserves of Cook County campgrounds are open, with capacity restrictions. They opened June 4.
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Read more here. —Patrick O’Connell
6:48 p.m.: Illinois to begin allowing limited outdoor visits at nursing homes amid continued PPE shortages and deaths
Illinois public health officials have OK’d limited outdoor visits at nursing homes — a significant development as facilities still struggle with finding workers and protective gear while the death toll climbs by hundreds each week.
Close contact such as hugging will be prohibited. Facilities also must write individual rules for allowing the visits, a process that could take weeks.
Advocates and industry officials say they pushed the state for the change, but questions remain about how nursing homes can continue to expand visitation to ensure residents and loved ones can meaningfully connect.
“It’s an OK first step,” said Bob Gallo, Illinois AARP’s state director. “But we need long-term solutions.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health announcement comes amid fresh federal and state data showing continued problems the facilities have in battling the virus.
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Read more here. —Joe Mahr
6:10 p.m.: Summer air travel: masks, a new boarding routine and bagged snacks. Here’s what you need to know.
After months of hunkering down at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers are slowly returning to the skies — some eagerly, some cautiously — and all curious to see how their first flight in months will be different.
On a recent morning at O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 1, used primarily by hometown carrier United Airlines, the scene was anything but what used to be considered normal. There were few families heading off on vacation and even fewer corporate road warriors killing time in the airport lounge. Employees appeared to outnumber travelers at the check-in area. A couple of workers used a lull between waves of flights to disinfect seats and kiosks.
Still, there are signs customers are coming back after travel plummeted this spring. Since mid-April, the number of people passing through U.S. airport security checkpoints each day has risen from below 90,000 to 576,514 on Thursday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. A year ago, there were 2,728,786 people, but it’s the busiest that airports have been since late March.
The gradual return to air travel means fliers are likely to find airports cleaner and less crowded. Much about navigating the airport and boarding a flight remains the same. But from the shuttered airport shops to the hand sanitizer wipe handed to passengers when they board, the changes keep the pandemic front-of-mind.
Neither the airplane cabin nor the airport security line were designed for social distancing, and some efforts will depend on passengers’ cooperation. Just this week, major U.S. carriers said they plan to rigorously enforce mask requirements after travelers complained on social media that other passengers weren’t always following the rules.
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“The more we do, the more customers will feel comfortable traveling,” said Mike Hanna, who leads United’s operations at O’Hare.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
5:05 p.m.: After weeks of no guests, Chicago’s tourism industry is betting on local leisure travel to help it rebound
Heading into the official start of summer, Chicago’s tourism scene will be vastly different from years past.
There will be no major events like Lollapalooza, Chicago Pride Parade or Taste of Chicago. Skydeck Chicago, the observation deck on top of Willis Tower, is closed. Neither are the museums. Baseball has been canceled since March.
Already the Fourth of July weekend is shaping up to be a dud with the fireworks show at Navy Pier canceled. The event typically draws more than 100,000 people, according to Navy Pier spokesperson Payal Patel.
Without these and other events that draw millions of people to the city each year, the chances of Chicago’s tourism industry rebounding anytime soon will be slim, experts say.
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But as Chicago moves forward with a phased reopening, industry insiders see a glimmer of hope. More visitors are coming from outside the state, and suburban residents are venturing downtown after weeks of being cooped up at home.
“We will have to tailor experiences with what’s open. We have to promote the boat tours and the outdoor dining patios. … It doesn’t mean we can’t be an attractive destination,” said David Whitaker, president and CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism arm.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
3:53 p.m.: DCFS set to resume parental visits after 3-month coronavirus shutdown
Quincita Fleming hasn’t seen her three children, the youngest less than 6 months old, in person since March.
That’s when the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which has custody of Fleming’s children due to a pending abuse case, suspended supervised parental visits for all children in its care because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
After months of pressure from advocates and a lawsuit brought by the Cook County public defender’s office on behalf of Fleming and three other mothers, the enforced social distancing between parents and their children is about to end.
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DCFS on Monday told staff and partner agencies that it is preparing to resume in-person visits as soon as June 26, when all four regions of the state are expected to move into phase four of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan.
Advocates for families who are involved with the state’s child welfare agency say the move is “much too little too late” for parents and children who haven’t been able to see one another for three months.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
2:35 p.m. (updated 3:51 p.m.): 692 new known COVID-19 cases, 44 additional deaths
The state of Illinois announced 692 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths Friday.
The coronavirus continues to impact Black people in Illinois at a greater rate than those of other races and ethnicities. This trend is evident in the data as it stands today: While Black people make up 14% of the state’s population, they account for 44% of those who have died from COVID-19 and 17% of confirmed cases.
This trend has been explored by the Tribune and other Chicago media, as well as nationally.
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A similar disparity is evident for the state’s Latino population. While Latinos make up 17% of Illinois residents, they make up 33% of confirmed coronavirus cases and 20% of those who have died.
Also announced Friday were the results of 27,171 new test results, the third day in a row with more than 25,000. —Chicago Tribune staff
2:31 p.m.: ‘The roads can’t handle that many cars’: Employers fear gridlock, economic toll if workers shun Metra, L over COVID-19 risks
Downtown Chicago’s economy is unlikely to roar back from the coronavirus pandemic without the accompanying rumble of elevated trains and other public transit packed with office workers.
As the city restarts its economic engine in and around the Loop, city leaders, employers and business groups face the challenge of restoring confidence in the area’s public transportation network.
Without it, gridlocked roads and overflowing parking garages will further frazzle office workers who’ve largely been cooped up at home since March.
Read more here. —Ryan Ori
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2:15 p.m.: You can drive-in to a ‘carpool concert’ as Chicago awaits the return of live music
As Illinois proceeds through its reopening phases following the COVID-19 shutdown, live music and its venues remain largely on the sidelines, waiting to possibly reopen under new guidance before the state reaches phase five of its plan, which specifies that treatment and or a vaccine must be readily available.
Until then, places and performers are continuing to be creative with their shows, and the latest offering is the drive-in concert. Both FitzGerald’s Nightclub in Berwyn and the Lake County Fairgrounds are hosting upcoming “carpool concerts,” where guests can take in live music from their car’s interior.
Read more here. —Adam Lukach
1:17 p.m.: Chicago restaurants can open for indoor dining June 26
Chicago restaurants can open for indoor dining with the rest of the state starting June 26, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday, an about-face from her plan to allow them to reopen July 1.
“Our neighborhood restaurants, bars, and breweries all stand as among the most cherished parts of our communities and are integral to the fabric of our entire city,” Lightfoot said.
Read more here. —Joe Gray
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12:37 p.m.: Lightfoot delivers commencement speech at Northwestern, says democracy will fail ‘if we do not see the humanity in each other'
Drawing on the ongoing coronavirus crisis and continued fallout over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on graduating Northwestern University students to engage in public service and remember that people are all connected to each other.
In her speech Friday, Lightfoot acknowledged the “challenging times” posed by a global pandemic and the national conversation about police and racism stemming from Floyd’s death.
But, she said, both momentous activities should be seen as a call to service.
“The events of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd speak to the importance of engagement through service in two seemingly separate, but powerful and reinforcing ways,” Lightfoot said.
Coronavirus “forced us to rethink and redefine the very notion of public service, to move it beyond its traditional governmental realm, and expand into every role we play.” It also reinforced just how connected we all are, Lightfoot said.
Floyd’s killing, she said, emphasizes the urgency of getting involved.
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“If we are to make our democracy thrive, we all have to do more to engage in our political process. We are at our core a participatory democracy and thus engagement is our life blood,” Lightfoot said. “So in addition to my challenge to you, I also have a personal request: Spend some time in your life serving government itself.”
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt and Sophie Sherry
11:55 a.m.: Cook County sheriff wins partial appeal victory over COVID-19 order covering jail conditions
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart does not have to comply — at least for now — with a portion of a preliminary injunction precluding group housing or double-celling at the county jail due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Dart had asked the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay the entire injunction order — which also includes mandates to increase testing and social distancing at the jail — while his appeal is pending before the court.
In its one-page order Friday, the appellate panel narrowly granted the request, saying the sheriff does not have to comply with the portion of the injunction “precluding group housing or double celling of detained persons.” The remainder of the motion to stay was denied.
Read more here. —Jason Meisner
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6:45 a.m.: Eager to head back to the lakefront? A rising Lake Michigan — near the historic high water mark — awaits.
Nicole Gradford, bare feet in the sand at the 63rd Street Beach, gazed at the turquoise waters of Lake Michigan as waves rolled toward the shore, kissing the land and crashing into the stone embankment shielding the Lakefront Trail. The water, she noticed, has been creeping higher for months. The beach is smaller. A shoreline path south of the beach house near Jackson Park and South Lake Shore Drive is often flooded and impassable.
Scientific data confirms what Gradford and other Chicagoans have been experiencing firsthand since before the coronavirus restrictions officially shut down the lakefront this spring: Water levels are about as high as they have been in a lifetime.
Read more here. —Patrick M. O’Connell
6:30 a.m.: CTA and Pace buses will begin collecting fares again, as riders slowly return to public transit
In another sign that things are getting closer to normal in the Chicago area, the CTA and Pace will start collecting bus fares again, and the CTA will end rear-door boarding.
The CTA will require customers to enter buses via the front door and pay fares starting Sunday, while the Pace suburban bus service resumes fare collections Monday.
Both agencies had waived fare collection as a way to protect operators and passengers from the coronavirus. But since the agency started rear-door boarding in April, the state and the agency have adopted other ways of keeping people safe, including providing masks for all drivers, requiring that passengers be masked, and implementing new cleaning technology, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.
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Read more here. —Mary Wisniewski
6:15 a.m.: AMC Theatres unveils plans to reopen during coronavirus; masks optional
AMC Theatres, the world’s largest exhibitor, has unveiled plans to re-open after coronavirus forced it to close its more than 600 venues in the U.S. for nearly four months.
The company is expected to resume operations in 450 of those locations on July 15 and expects to be almost fully operational by the time that Disney’s “Mulan” debuts on July 24 and Warner Bros.' “Tenet” bows on July 31.
As part of that process, AMC is reducing its seating capacity in order to help people social distance, it is implementing new cleaning procedures, placing hand-sanitizing stations throughout its theaters and encouraging contact-less and cash-free concessions.
Read more here. —Brent Lang, Variety


chicagotribune--2020-06-19--Illinois to begin allowing limited outdoor visits at nursing homes amid continued PPE shortages and

Illinois to begin allowing limited outdoor visits at nursing homes amid continued PPE shortages and deaths

The new state policy will allow up to two visitors per resident , by appointment .
All those participating will @ @ @ @ @ .
Everyone must wear masks and stay at least 6 feet apart , to be @ @ @ @ @ .
Visits must be outdoors , such as under a canopy or tent without walls @ @ @ @ @ able to get there without going through the facility ’ s building .

Susana Fragoso, center, SEIU members and caretakers place a candle outside the Thompson Center June 18 for each of the more than 3,400 Illinois residents and caretakers who have died of COVID-19. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials have OK’d limited outdoor visits at nursing homes — a significant development as facilities still struggle with finding workers and protective gear while the death toll climbs by hundreds each week.
Close contact, such as hugging, will be prohibited. Facilities also must write individual rules for allowing the visits, a process that could take weeks.
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Advocates and industry officials say they pushed the state for the change, but questions remain about how nursing homes can continue to expand visitation to ensure residents and loved ones can meaningfully connect.
“It’s an OK first step,” said Bob Gallo, Illinois AARP’s state director. “But we need long-term solutions.”
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The Illinois Department of Public Health announcement comes amid fresh federal and state data showing continued problems the facilities have in battling the virus.
A survey by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid found a fifth of Illinois nursing homes reported being short on nurses as of June 7. A fourth were short on aides. Out of 673 facilities, more than 80 had less than a week’s supply of gowns, with seven completely out. More than 30 lacked a week’s worth of gloves, with eight having none.
The lingering problems were highlighted by a Thursday night vigil by workers’ union SEIU Healthcare Illinois for the thousands of nursing home residents and workers who’ve died so far, including about a dozen whom Carla Blacher said she cared for at a Rogers Park facility.
“When these people started to die, in front of my eyes, it became so overwhelming, one after the other after the other,” she said.
The union said it set up 3,433 tea lights to represent the previous week’s tally of dead in nursing homes and other large, congregate care facilities.
A day later, the state updated the tally to 3,649 through Friday — roughly 55% of all Illinoisans who’ve died from the virus. More than 400 facilities have had at least one COVID-19 death. Four facilities have had at least 40 deaths.
The virus has spread to facilities in 44 counties, with 558 facilities having at least one resident or worker testing positive in the past 28 days, defined as an “active” outbreak. That’s five more facilities than the week before.
Still, there were positive signs. By Friday, another 35 facilities had weathered through outbreaks no longer active. That’s seven more than the week before. And the weekly tally of dead, while still grim at 216, was less than the 349 from the prior week.
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Beyond the deaths and sickness, advocates say a hidden cost of the pandemic has been the isolation felt by residents, some of whom could call or videoconference with loved ones, or even wave between windows. But they couldn’t be in the same space, until now.
The new state policy will allow up to two visitors per resident, by appointment. All those participating will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms. Everyone must wear masks and stay at least 6 feet apart, to be overseen by the facility staff. Visits must be outdoors, such as under a canopy or tent without walls, and visitors must be able to get there without going through the facility’s building.
Regardless, visits can’t happen until facilities write their own rules for how to do it. And that will take some time, said Pat Comstock, with the industry trade group Health Care Council of Illinois.
“We’re probably at least a couple weeks away from seeing this come to fruition because of the work we have to do to get prepared, just getting (this guidance) this morning,” Comstock said Friday. “There’s a lot of work to do to put that in place.”
Still, Comstock said the “fresh air visitation” is a good sign of recovery.
AARP’s Gallo said his group wants the state to think bigger, with ways to safely allow visits for residents who can’t get outside. He said it will require some cash and material but shouldn’t be brain-busting.
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“If I can go to Costco and Mariano’s and have all these plexiglass screens that separate people from us, and for them, this isn’t difficult to do,” he said. “There are other things that can be done that don’t have to be technology-oriented.”'
A state public health spokeswoman did not immediately answer questions about the new guidance or how the state could allow nursing homes to later expand visitation.
As homes begin allowing outside visits, they’re also facing a requirement to have all residents and staff tested, and come up with a plan to keep monitoring for the virus.
Public health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said the mandate covers 734 skilled and intermediate nursing facilities but state officials “encourage all types of long-term care facilities to conduct testing.”
Arnold was unable to provide a list of facilities and the level of testing each had completed, but said the state has sent out a survey to facilities to try to collect information on testing.
“It is difficult to know the entire universe of testing performed by long-term care facilities,” she said. “Some of these facilities have been and are currently conducting their own testing. Facilities are required to report cases and outbreaks, but not the number of people tested.”