chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Vandals strike outdoor dining tents in Chicago’s West Loop

Formento’s was one of a few West Loop restaurants hit by graffiti over the holiday weekend. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on outdoor tents used to shelter patrons dining outdoors in the cold weather. For partner Nancy Bruni, it was the latest in a long string of struggles she’s had to face during the pandemic.
“I was in tears,” Bruni said Monday morning. “It’s all so much.”
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She’s frustrated by the mayor, the governor and the president, the first of whom she plans on writing a “nasty letter” to later Monday. It costs Formento’s $4,500 a month to have the outdoor dining tents up, and the graffiti made them eyesores that could potentially turn away customers willing to brave the cold weather to dine in, she said. She walked outside into the gloomy weather to snap a few photos and take a real look at what was written on the tents, which she said was gibberish.
One of her managers filed an online police report Sunday afternoon that was still pending approval as of Monday afternoon. Another restaurant on Randolph Street, Bar Siena, had tents also hit with graffiti over the weekend, according to a report by NBC.
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Bruni said the city sent a crew on Monday to clean up the graffiti. But overall she said the incident is just more proof that people don’t care about restaurants, whether they’re public officials or laypersons.
“I’m just so sad for humanity,” she said. “Instead of coming together during the virus, it just feels like we’re getting screwed.”
She repeated her pleas that she shared during a press conference on Nov. 11: Give restaurants aid or at the very least, give them transparency and a voice when making decisions about their livelihoods.
”No one is giving us any answers and we are left in limbo here,” she said. “When it gets really cold, realistically, do you think people are going to be trudging through the snow and ice to eat in an igloo or a tent?”


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Carjacking in Morton Grove leads to arrest of two Chicago teens after crash on I-94

According to police , a 19-year-old man from Skokie was pumping gas into his 2019 Acura when a black Volkswagen @ @ @ @ @ people got out .
One of the occupants of the Volkswagen , later identified as @ @ @ @ @ gun on the driver and stole the man ’ s cellphone and car keys from @ @ @ @ @ .
He and the second suspect , identified as Maddox , then jumped in the @ @ @ @ @ nearby Edens Expressway , Yaras said .

A 16-year-old boy who police say was already on probation for an armed carjacking offense is accused of stealing a car at gunpoint outside a Morton Grove gas station Sunday night.
The teen, of Chicago, is facing charges of robbery and aggravated vehicular carjacking in connection with the theft, which occurred at the BP Gas Station at Dempster Street and Central Avenue around 8:30 p.m., said Morton Grove Police Cmdr. Paul Yaras.
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A second teen, identified as Willie Maddox, 19, of the 400 block of West 97th Street, Chicago, was also charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle, though other charges against him are being sought, Yaras said.
According to police, a 19-year-old man from Skokie was pumping gas into his 2019 Acura when a black Volkswagen Tiguan SUV approached and two people got out. One of the occupants of the Volkswagen, later identified as the 16-year-old, pulled a gun on the driver and stole the man’s cellphone and car keys from his pockets, Yaras said. He and the second suspect, identified as Maddox, then jumped in the car and drove toward the nearby Edens Expressway, Yaras said.
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Illinois State Police located the stolen car and pursued it south on I-94 before it crashed near Torrence Avenue, south of Chicago, Morton Grove police said. The occupants fled on foot, but were apprehended by police a short time later in south suburban Lansing, Yaras said.
A gun that is believed to have been used in the carjacking was found behind the driver’s seat of the Acura when it was recovered, he said. Police were investigating whether the gun had been reported stolen and to whom it may have belonged, Yaras said.
The 16-year-old, who has not been identified by police because he is being charged as a juvenile, was on probation for an aggravated vehicular hijacking at the time of his arrest and has a history of other criminal charges, including robbery and theft, Yaras said.
He was turned over to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Morton Grove police said.
A bond hearing was scheduled Monday for Maddox, according to police.
After the two carjacking suspects drove away from the Morton Grove gas station in the Acura, Morton Grove police said, a third person in the Volkswagen Tiguan drove that car away from the scene.
The carjacking occurred two nights after a family in neighboring Lincolnwood was robbed of their 2012 Audi Q7 by two armed men after they pulled into a driveway on the 3900 block of Estes Avenue, police reported. The car was later recovered on Chicago’s South Side.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--After Black Lives Matter sign vandalized at Evanston church, donations and support quickly roll in

“ We were not aligning ourselves with any political movement , but rather the global movement for racial equality and @ @ @ @ @ to explain that to anyone who had concerns , ” Kirby said .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ us that , as a religious community , that the idea that equality before God @ @ @ @ @ to our belief system .
”

A Black Lives Matter sign was vandalized at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Evanston between 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28 and 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 29, Evanston police said. (Northminster Presbyterian Church)
A Black Lives Matter banner in the yard of an Evanston church was vandalized over the weekend.
When parishioners at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 2515 Central Park Ave., were ready to welcome the Advent season Sunday, they found the word “Black” had been sliced out of their sign, church officials said.
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“It was discovered on Sunday morning, the Sunday of hope,” said the Rev. Michael Kirby. “While that initially obviously created a shadow on this day that’s supposed to be the beginning of a beautiful season, it was also an inspiration for us to remember that our hope is in the child who is coming, whose birth we celebrate.”
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The word “Black” appeared to have been sliced out of the 4-foot-by-8-foot banner that reads, “BLACK LIVES MATTER To God and To Us,” Kirby said. The damage left a gaping rectangular hole.
The damage was done overnight, but church security cameras — focused largely on the building itself — failed to capture the vandalism as it happened in the yard, Kirby said.
A police report was filed Sunday, Kirby said.
Northminster Presbyterian has more than 500 members, Kirby said. Before the church’s governing body, called the Session, could meet to discuss the damage, “the community began to respond. That has been incredibly heartwarming.”
Neighbors and others who heard of the vandalism came by with Black Lives Matter yard signs, both printed and handmade, which they stood in the ground under the defaced banner. One supporter wrote “BLACK” in white letters on a black background and taped it on the banner where the word used to be.
The banner had been in place since June, shortly after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kirby said. This is the first time it has been vandalized.
Previously, “we’d had a couple complaints from neighbors but nothing serious,” Kirby said, “and mostly overwhelming support from the community and the neighborhood.”
Those neighbor complaints were mainly from those concerned that the banner also represented support for defunding the police, which Kirby said it does not.
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“We were not aligning ourselves with any political movement, but rather the global movement for racial equality and racial equity. I attempted to explain that to anyone who had concerns,” Kirby said. “It’s incredibly important to us that, as a religious community, that the idea that equality before God is something that is essential to our belief system.”
Kirby said the banner will be replaced.
An anonymous donor has offered to pay for a new banner of the same size, and nine more to be given to houses of worship in Evanston and the greater North Shore, he said.
The new banner should arrive in about 10 days, and the vandalized sign will remain until the new one is installed, Kirby said.
“We believe it is important that the defaced banner remains on display, so we can all confront the reality that the fear or hatred that led to its defacement is both real and present in Evanston in 2020,” Kirby said. “Also, be inspired by the generosity of spirits and grassroots commitment demonstrated by our neighbors’ caring response to the vandalism.”
gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives a COVID-19 update

Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will give an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a briefing @ @ @ @ @ the latest updates on COVID-19 in Illinois here .

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chicagotribune--2020-11-30--North Shore butcher sentenced to a year in prison in sports betting scheme

Poeta admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors that from 2014 to 2018 , he used offshore betting websites based @ @ @ @ @ millions of dollars in sports wagers and did not report the income on his tax @ @ @ @ @ Poeta has agreed to repay more than $ 1.4 million in lost tax revenue .

A North Shore butcher was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for running an illegal sports bookmaking operation that raked in millions of dollars that he used to fund real estate investments, car purchases and his family’s popular wrestling gym.
Domenic Poeta, 63, who for years has run Poeta’s Italian Food Mart in Highwood, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of illegal bookmaking and filing a false tax return.
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Poeta admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors that from 2014 to 2018, he used offshore betting websites based in the Caribbean to process millions of dollars in sports wagers and did not report the income on his tax returns. In all, Poeta has agreed to repay more than $1.4 million in lost tax revenue.
In rejecting Poeta’s request for probation or home confinement, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly said the length and breadth of the scheme was enormous and “quite likely an undercount by a significant amount.”
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“It’s breathtaking, quite honestly,” Kennelly said.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Kennelly put off the date Poeta must report to prison until May 29, saying “things should be significantly better by then.”
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of up to about three years behind bars, saying Poeta’s operation victimized addicted gamblers who burned though personal finances and in some cases took out high-interest cash loans from credit cards because of their mounting debts.
One bettor who frequently used Poeta’s bookie services embezzled millions of dollars from his family’s chain of restaurants to keep up with payments, resulting in the loss of the business, according to prosecutors.
To help keep bettors coming back, Poeta also set up a lending operation where he gave high-interest loans to people who owed him money.
In May 2018, Poeta told investigators he’d lent approximately $250,000 over the previous decade to “two degenerate gamblers who owned a restaurant,” charging them 20% interest, according to a prosecution filing in September.
Over the five years of the charged scheme, Poeta reported only about $50,000 in taxable income from his butcher business and paid only about $7,000 in federal income taxes, according to prosecutors.
During those same years, Poeta’s personal expenditures exceeded $4.7 million, including more than $1 million in mortgage payments, $800,000 in futures and commodities investments, $620,000 in real estate acquisitions, $514,000 for the family wrestling gym in Lake Forest, and payments for three different vehicles, prosecutors said.
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In asking for a term of probation or home confinement, Poeta’s attorney, Thomas Breen, said his client’s advanced age and health concerns put him at increased risk for COVID-19 infection in prison.
Citing the dozens of letters of support sent by relatives, customers and others, Breen said Poeta, who immigrated to the United States at age 5 from his hometown of Tottea, Italy, is an important member of the North Shore community and has spent a lifetime helping others.
Breen also said Poeta “is making a commitment” to getting out of the sports gambling business, one that is now sanctioned by governments across the United States, including in Illinois.
“Apparently, the morality issues of gambling have been resolved in favor of tax revenue for the states and federal government,” Breen said in a sentencing filing earlier this year.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick King said Poeta’s black market operation was a far cry from the now-legalized sports gambling world where taxes are paid and money must be laid down upfront.
“(Poeta) allows people to wager money that they do not have. He allows wagers on credit,” King said during Monday’s 45-minute hearing.
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Before he was sentenced, Poeta, appearing via a video link, apologized for his actions and asked for a sentence that would allow him to keep taking care of people, including his cancer-stricken brother, and pay down what he owes.
“There’s a lot of people that I think need me,” said Poeta, of Highland Park. “I just want to do the right thing and just pay my debt.”
The case against Poeta was not the first time he appeared in federal court in connection with gambling allegations.
In 2008, he was accused in a civil case by the feds of being a bookie who accepted $647,211 in checks for gambling debts.
The judge at that time ruled that Poeta had to pay all the money back to the government for accepting bets by Adam Resnick, who was convicted of embezzling millions from the Chicago bank where he worked to fund his insatiable gambling.
Kennelly said Monday that despite the publicity in that case, “Mr. Poeta’s involvement in bookmaking … didn’t slow down or stop or anything close to that.”
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com