chicagotribune--2020-04-30--We’ve lowered the paywall on this essential coronavirus coverage

As the scope of this pandemic came into focus , I started thinking about people living in assisted-living facilities and @ @ @ @ @ bound to experience .
I ’ ve spoken several times at assisted-living facilities around Chicago @ @ @ @ @ aspects of life for residents is the social interaction and the activities and entertainment the @ @ @ @ @ s largely gone now .
Worse yet , many facilities have had to limit or @ @ @ @ @ seniors stuck alone in their rooms or apartments .
So maybe there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ at least that aspect of this crisis .
I tossed an idea out on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ the hashtag # PandemicPals , asking for thoughts and advice on how to network with @ @ @ @ @ where there might be seniors facing isolation .
Read more .

As a public service to our readers and community, we have lowered the paywall on some of our most critical stories so everyone can access this important information. We rely on the support of our subscribers to fund our journalism. If you’re not already signed up, we hope you will consider subscribing.
We are updating a daily live blog with the latest developments on the reopening of Chicago and Illinois. This is where you’ll find updates on the number of COVID-19 cases in our area, as well as the most up-to-date recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Public Health, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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As summer nears, Chicagoans are desperate to get out and about — to have a summer picnic with family, to get back to work, to get a haircut. Here’s how and when you might be able to do those things.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday a five-phase plan to get Illinois reopened as the COVID-19 pandemic slows its toll on health care providers. The plan, from “Rapid Spread” to “Illinois Restored,” splits the state up into regions and allows each region to open a different phase should the impact of the pandemic be different throughout the state. The plan also emphasizes that a region can move backward if the health metrics indicate enough risk. Read more.
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Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois, with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day since April 24. The expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able to get a coronavirus test. The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a doctor’s order to anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor. Tests are also provided to people on the front lines of the pandemic, such as medical workers, first responders and employees of prisons or nursing homes. Search the map for coronavirus testing site near you.
All Illinois residents over age 2 must wear a face mask when they can’t maintain a 6-foot social distance in public. Studies show that the coronavirus can spread between people interacting in close proximity, including people who are not showing symptoms. Here’s where you can find them, what kind to get and how to make your own.
Americans are brainstorming with neighbors, posting questions on social media, and googling for tips and advice. The question at the center of all the hand wringing and head scratching: How do you thank the essential workers who remain out in the world, exposing themselves to greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, so that we can buy our groceries, receive our mail, travel by public transportation, and get health care if we need it? Here are some creative ideas to inspire you.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 68 (Chicago Tribune)
They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed. As the number of deaths attributable to the coronavirus ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
Hundreds of Chicago restaurants have pivoted their operations to delivery, takeout or curbside pickup after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that all bars and restaurants in Illinois are closed for dining-in service through April 30. We’re collecting information on restaurants across the area that are still open for delivery or take out. Find a restaurant near you.
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A sign in the windows of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, seen on March 11, 2020, reminds people to wash their hands. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
You wake up with a sore, scratchy throat, and begin coughing and sneezing. It’s probably a run-of-the-mill cold, or it could be the beginning of a bout of seasonal flu. But with dozens of cases of the novel coronavirus surfacing in Illinois, some people are bound to wonder: Could this be the coronavirus? Here’s what experts advise for Illinoisans who fear they are showing signs of coronavirus.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has placed an extra burden on Chicagoland nonprofit organizations. Here is an evolving list of where you can make donations to organizations helping those in need.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker and health officials provide update on coronavirus in Illinois

Gov .
J.B. Pritzker and state health officials are scheduled to provide an update on the coronavirus in Illinois at @ @ @ @ @ the latest coronavirus updates here .

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chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Running list of Chicago-area closings and cancellations because of coronavirus

When it became clear residents weren ’ t practicing social distancing on a warm weekend in March , Lightfoot announced @ @ @ @ @ 606 , the Lakefront Trail , and the Riverwalk .
She also banned contact sports @ @ @ @ @ , and baseball .
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle , who has already shut @ @ @ @ @ preserves in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 , and has closed parking @ @ @ @ @ preserves on weekends .
The county has shuttered all public buildings , nature centers , @ @ @ @ @

Chicago Tribune staff, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
What began as a trickle of individual closings and event cancellations has become a free fall as the battle to contain the new coronavirus has ramped up with an intensity befitting the virus’s own rate of spread.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued and extended a stay-at-home order, a “modified” version of which will be in effect until at least May 30, and asks people to stay home with few exceptions for essential needs — and even then wear a face mask covering both nose and mouth. Pritzker also has extended the closure of Illinois schools to the end of the school year.
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When it became clear residents weren’t practicing social distancing on a warm weekend in March, Lightfoot announced she was ordering closed The 606, the Lakefront Trail, and the Riverwalk. She also banned contact sports such as basketball, football, and baseball. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who has already shut down parts of the forest preserves in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, and has closed parking lots at some more popular preserves on weekends. The county has shuttered all public buildings, nature centers, campgrounds and public restrooms.
Officials have converted McCormick Place from a giant convention center into a makeshift hospital with beds for thousands of people in case there’s nowhere else to put them. The United Center also has been transformed into a logistics hub for Chicago’s coronavirus response — used for food distribution, first responder staging and collecting medical supplies.
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With more than 2,100 deaths and more than 48,000 known cases reported in Illinois as of Tuesday, event organizers here have reacted to the local transmission of the virus.
For south suburban closings and cancellations, click here. For North Shore closings and cancellations, click here. Here are Chicago-area cancellations, closings and modifications prompted by the pandemic:
Events
Museums
The Shedd Aquarium announced it was closing.
The Museum of Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium and Field Museum have joined Shedd Aquarium in announcing coronavirus-related temporary closures. MSI said it would close in order to help minimize the spread of COVID-19. Adler said its closure will last “until further notice.”
The Art Institute shut its doors “so that we can thoroughly and thoughtfully respond to the escalating impact of COVID-19,” said a museum statement.
The Illinois State Museum suspended all of its programs, events and school group visits, due to then coronavirus. The program suspension affects the Springfield museum and branch facilities, the Lockport Galley and Dickson Mounds Museum, but those facilities currently remain open during regular operating hours.
Lincoln Park Zoo is closed.
The Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe announced it will keep outside grounds and gardens open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but canceled all programs, classes and events, then closed after the governor’s stay-at-home order.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications said it would be closed beginning March 16, and the Poetry Foundation is canceling its programming. Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum said it would close beginning March 14.
Local museums, such as the Edgewater Historical Society Museum in Chicago, have closed their doors.
Government
Hospitals
Many Chicago-area hospitals are not allowing most visitors, with limited exceptions, because of the spread of the coronavirus.
Highland Park Hospital is among a number of Lake County hospitals that have increased visitor restrictions. Most county hospital policies that limited hours due to COVID-19, have now been changed to exclude all visitors except in special cases.
Lake Forest Hospital allows only one visitor over the age of 18 per patient. North Shore University HealthSystem — which includes Highland Park Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital, and Evanston Hospital — prohibits all visitors, with few exceptions. Vista Health System in Waukegan and Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, part of the Advocate Health Care group of hospitals in the region, also are not allowing any visitors, with some exceptions.
Businesses
All nonessential businesses are closed or have workers at home, with grocery stores, pharmacies and some department stores with groceries open, and restaurants limited to carry out or delivery.
Ford shut down production at the Chicago Assembly Plant on the city’s Southeast Side after a confirmed coronavirus case at a Hammond, Indiana, seat manufacturing plant disrupted the supply chain. Sources later told The Associated Press that all of the Big Three automakers were shutting down production to slow spread of the virus.
On Tuesday, Dispensary33 in the Uptown neighborhood stopped recreational sales until further notice, said marketing director Abigail Watkins. The dispensary could not serve recreational customers and keep everyone at a safe distance from each other, she said. MOCA Modern Cannabis in the Logan Square neighborhood halted recreational sales last week.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all bars and restaurants to close except for delivery or takeout service.
CME Group is closing its Chicago trading floor as a precaution to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus; floor-based trading will cease until further notice. The Chicago-based futures exchange will continue to trade products electronically.
The Illinois Gaming Board ordered all casinos in the state to close for two weeks starting Monday.
Apple is closing all of its stores outside China.
360 Chicago Observation Deck, 875 N. Michigan Ave., formerly known as the John Hancock Building, closed March 15. Reopening date was not announced. All events and classes planned for the space are also canceled.
Two luxury hotels in Chicago, The Peninsula and Park Hyatt, have temporarily closed. The Peninsula’s website says no reservations will be available until further notice, while the Park Hyatt “is not currently accepting room, restaurant, bar, or other reservations until April 30.” Hotel Zachary, across from Wrigley Field, also is closed.
Schools
Gov. J.B, Pritzker ordered all public and private schools in Illinois closed from Tuesday, March 17, through the end of the month. Pritzker has now ordered all schools closed through the end of the school year.
The University of Illinois has canceled commencement ceremonies set for May at Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield campuses because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a letter from the school to students, faculty and staff. Schools will mail diplomas and are exploring possible alternatives such as rescheduling or holding virtual events to honor the class of 2020.
The Illinois Institute of Technology has canceled its commencement ceremonies, and the school president will instead preside over a virtual event May 16, according to a post on its website. All graduating students will be invited to participate in future ceremonies, and they will be refunded their graduation fees.
All Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago, which covers Cook and Lake counties, were closed indefinitely before Pritzker’s order.
Pritzker’s closing order followed many piecemeal closings of schools related to the spread of COVID-19, including:
Check back for updates.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Wow Bao aims to help struggling restaurants by offering its Chinese steamed buns for delivery

Alexander explains that Wow Bao products are fully cooked and then frozen , so a restaurant only needs to be @ @ @ @ @ and griddle the potstickers and then pack them up to go .
This can be @ @ @ @ @ .
They ’ ll need a steamer , or a rice cooker and a kettle @ @ @ @ @ or a skillet .
“ Equipment needs are either already built into your restaurant , @ @ @ @ @ $ 300 , ” says Alexander .
“ You don ’ t need a hood @ @ @ @ @ find 3 feet of kitchen space .
”

You might be seeing a whole lot more of Wow Bao. The quick-service restaurant specializing in Chinese steamed buns and potstickers has several permanent locations in Chicago, but a new project hopes to increase its spread across the country by allowing other restaurants to sell its products for delivery.
With restaurants struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic, Wow Bao is advertising the concept as a way for places to bring in extra cash when they need it most.
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Wow Bao president, Geoff Alexander claims that this idea was actually developed before the coronavirus pandemic. “We realized that other restaurants could sell our products to grow their sales during slow times,” says Alexander on the phone. “We talked about ice cream stores. When no one is buying ice cream in the winter, they could be selling Wow Bao out the back door. What about catering kitchens? If they don’t have an event, they could sell.”
A restaurant taking part in the program wouldn’t advertise that it sold Wow Bao. Instead, Wow Bao would pop up as available for delivery in the restaurant’s area on apps like Grubhub, Caviar, DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats. The food would be prepared in the restaurant’s kitchen, before being packaged and then delivered by one of the delivery app companies. “For this project, we are not customer facing at all,” says Alexander. “You can’t walk up and buy something. But if you open up an app like Uber Eats in Los Angeles, Wow Bao will show up.”
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He notes that until Shaw’s Crab House in Schaumburg closed because of the pandemic, it prepared Wow Bao dishes in its kitchen for delivery.
Alexander explains that Wow Bao products are fully cooked and then frozen, so a restaurant only needs to be able to steam the buns and griddle the potstickers and then pack them up to go. This can be done with standard kitchen equipment. They’ll need a steamer, or a rice cooker and a kettle, along with a griddle or a skillet. “Equipment needs are either already built into your restaurant, or the costs are about $300,” says Alexander. “You don’t need a hood. You just need to find 3 feet of kitchen space.”
According to Alexander, a restaurant would pay for the Wow Bao products and around 25 percent commission for delivery, leaving around 40 percent for profit. He thinks that after six weeks, a restaurant could make $2,000 in a week. “These are not small numbers,” says Alexander. “And in this day and age, that’s the difference between doors being open and doors being closed.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Illinois hospitals are resuming more surgeries, but some patients may still have to wait

Now that the growth rate of COVID-19 cases in Illinois has slowed , the state health department has said elective @ @ @ @ @ May 11 at Illinois hospitals and surgery centers .
But some patients might have to @ @ @ @ @ as hospitals deal with backlogs , rebuild their capacities and figure out which patients should @ @ @ @ @ people , though in need of certain procedures , may also continue to put off @ @ @ @ @ catching COVID-19 .

When Brandi Corbello was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma last year, she felt as if her normally stable life was suddenly out of control.
But the 31-year-old Streeterville woman soon adapted, finding a new routine.
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After undergoing surgery to remove the area around a cancerous mole and a lymph node, she began getting CT scans and ultrasounds every few months to make sure the skin cancer didn’t return. She also received monthly immunotherapy infusions and got her blood drawn every couple weeks for monitoring at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
But that routine was suspended in April as many Illinois hospitals canceled all but the most pressing procedures, tests and appointments to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and to conserve beds and resources for a possible flood of COVID-19 patients.
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Brandi Corbello is a cancer patient who had her monthly medication infusion and monitoring canceled in April because of COVID-19. (Jos M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Corbello understands why her treatment and monitoring were put off, and she and her doctor agree that the delays didn’t put her in danger. Still, she called the postponement “unnerving.”
“I’ve been pretty anxious,” Corbello said. She also worries for people who may not know they have cancer because some testing has been put off. “You just don’t know what’s going on.”
Now that the growth rate of COVID-19 cases in Illinois has slowed, the state health department has said elective surgeries and procedures may resume May 11 at Illinois hospitals and surgery centers. But some patients might have to wait longer than that, as hospitals deal with backlogs, rebuild their capacities and figure out which patients should go first. And other people, though in need of certain procedures, may also continue to put off care out of fear of catching COVID-19.
Though the term “elective” may bring to mind cosmetic surgeries and other optional procedures, it actually encompasses a wide range of necessary, if not emergency, treatments — everything from heart valve replacements and repairs of herniated discs to certain cancer therapies.
“We are going to be living with COVID for many months to come, not at the pandemic level … but at a level that is still going to (require) consideration for how we prioritize care for some time to come,” said Dr. Jeffrey Matthews, surgeon in chief at University of Chicago Medicine.
Guidance released by the Illinois Department of Public Health requires that hospitals and surgical centers meet a list of criteria before restarting elective procedures, including having a certain amount of personal protective equipment on hand. To resume elective procedures that require overnight care, hospitals must also create committees of doctors and nurses to prioritize surgeries and must have a certain number of available beds.
Northwestern Memorial doesn’t plan to bring back elective surgeries just yet because the hospital wouldn’t be able to meet the state’s requirements for open beds if it did so, given the number of COVID-19 patients it’s still treating, said Dr. Charles Davidson, clinical chief of cardiology.
“The COVID pandemic really hasn’t started to decline at least at Northwestern,” Davidson said. “We are not in a position where we can open up all services.”
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Northwestern has, however, been planning to bring back more urgent surgeries and procedures the first week of May, Davidson said. These are not elective, he said; they are treatments for patients whose conditions have worsened or those who might worsen as their issues go untreated.
Over the last month, many types of cardiovascular surgeries have been delayed, including some bypasses, stent insertions and valve repairs, Davidson said.
Rosemary Grow, of Bloomingdale, is one of the Northwestern patients whose procedures were put on hold. Grow, 73, has a condition in which the mitral valve in her heart doesn’t close tightly, allowing blood to flow backward in her heart. Grow was supposed to have a device called a MitraClip inserted on May 4 to address the problem, which causes her to have shortness of breath and fatigue.
She understands why the procedure was put off, but hopes she’ll be able to get it rescheduled sooner rather than later. Before Grow started experiencing symptoms, she was an active person, but now, if she tries to do more than a few tasks she has to rest. “I want to feel less tired and less overexerted,” Grow said.
“I was disappointed that it didn’t go through, of course, but I understand public safety, and concerns over the safety of myself and everyone,” Grow said of her procedure.
The University of Chicago Medical Center has also already begun, in recent weeks, to slowly increase what it calls “medically necessary time-sensitive” procedures: a colon resection to remove a blockage, removal of an infected hip replacement, repair of a lacerated finger tendon. The hospital has been trying to prioritize cases by looking at how likely a surgery is to improve a patient’s health, whether there are safe alternatives to surgery, what types of resources a surgery would require, and whether a surgery would put the patient or health care workers at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.
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The hospital plans to restart elective surgeries after May 11, “but we have a lot medically necessary time sensitive (surgeries) to do first,” Matthews said.
Loyola Medicine plans to bring back most of its elective surgeries in three phases. The first phase, starting May 11, will include restarting elective surgeries performed in outpatient surgical centers rather than the hospital, including eye surgeries and certain kinds of endoscopies and orthopedic procedures, said Dr. Richard Freeman, regional chief clinical officer. The second phase may start about a week after that and include non-urgent surgeries performed in the hospital that don’t require overnight stays, such as certain types of biopsies to diagnose cancer and heart stent placements.
The final phase will entail resuming non-urgent surgeries in the hospital that require overnight stays, such as heart valve replacements, total joint replacements and certain types of spine surgeries.
Loyola doesn’t yet know when it will implement that final phase. It needs more empty intensive care unit beds before bringing those surgeries back, Freeman said. Loyola includes Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park and MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn.
Advocate Aurora Health, which has 12 hospitals in Illinois, plans to extend previous restrictions on elective surgeries and procedures and non-urgent outpatient visits through May 15, the system said in a statement. Advocate said it would, however, explore lifting those restrictions in communities with fewer cases of COVID-19.
Amita Health, which has 19 hospitals in Illinois, is also still in the planning stages.
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“We’re still taking into consideration all factors that will allow us to safely restart (nonemergency) procedures, such as availability of PPE and COVID-19 tests,” Amita said in a statement. “We will not restart these procedures until we know we can best protect our patients, physicians and associates.”
Even after more hospitals resume normal service, some patients may be forced to wait as hospitals clear their backlogs. Others may continue to put off treatment, for financial reasons or for fear of the coronavirus. A TransUnion Healthcare survey from the week of April 13 found that nearly half of patients who had elective surgeries deferred said they would reschedule only once they believe there’s no longer a high risk of catching COVID-19 or once guidelines say it’s safe.
Many of Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Dr. Sheri Dewan’s patients have already told her they’d like to continue to wait until June or July, she said. They’re afraid of catching the virus and also worried about how to get through a surgery and recovery when many hospitals are still restricting visitors, she said.
“For many of the surgeries, such as larger cranial surgeries or spinal surgeries, patients are very reluctant now, not only out of fear of catching the coronavirus but also the fact that their family may not be able to visit them for an extended period of time,” Dewan said. “It’s challenging to go through surgery without having a support structure readily available to you.”
Still, she said, it’s important to give patients who have been struggling through pain and discomfort the chance to get their issues addressed. She estimates that 20% to 25% of the procedures she usually does were canceled in recent weeks.
“I think it’s going to be a very slow process,” Dewan said. “I don’t suspect we’re going to be ramping up quickly."
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Some patients, however, are eager to resume their normal medical care, even though COVID-19 is unlikely to disappear any time soon.
Lauren Sheely, of Lakeview, was supposed to have her kidney and lungs scanned at U. of C. Medical Center on April 13. Sheely has a genetic condition called von Hippel-Lindau that causes tumors, sometimes benign and sometimes cancerous, to grow throughout her body. In 2018, she underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her kidney. She undergoes regular scans to check for tumor growth.
Her kidney and lung scans have been rescheduled for June 8, and she plans to make that appointment. The 28-year-old said she will wear a mask and gloves, bring hand sanitizer and be as careful as she can.
“I feel like every month that passes that I don’t do it will make me a little more anxious that there’s something going on I don’t know about,” Sheely said.
Kelly Vick, of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, was hoping to start an in vitro fertilization cycle in mid-April, as she and her husband have been trying to conceive for about two years.
She was to undergo two more tests before starting IVF, but those tests were delayed until May because of COVID-19. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine also recommended in March that IVF clinics hold off on starting any new IVF cycles — putting the dreams of many families on hold. A typical IVF cycle involves at least two types of medical procedures, one to retrieve eggs and another to transfer an embryo into the uterus.
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The society has since come out with updated recommendations, detailing how some clinics may resume care.
Dr. Michelle Catenacci, medical director of Vick’s clinic, the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago, said the center started offering limited treatments a couple weeks ago for patients who were at the highest risk for worsening fertility issues, for example because of age. The clinic is also now slowly starting to add more patients back to its schedule for May and June, but limiting the number who can get treatment each week to maintain social distancing, Catenacci said.
Vick hopes to get her treatment underway as soon as possible. She never expected that a pandemic would become a barrier to starting her family — but she’s trying to stay positive.
“I know there’s someone else struggling more than I am,” Vick said. “There’s always someone with a worse health condition than what I’m going through. It is frustrating, but it’s frustrating for everyone.”
lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Here are some Chicago-area mask giveaways to prepare for Illinois order that starts Friday

With surgical masks in short supply , state residents are encouraged to don fabric masks or homemade face coverings .
@ @ @ @ @ and distributing them , and a wide variety of cloth masks are available online , @ @ @ @ @ .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Air travelers with and without face masks use a moving walkway toward their gates at Midway International Airport in Chicago on April 19, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Starting Friday, Illinois residents older than age 2 are required to wear masks or face coverings in public, according to an order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The directive requires facial coverings when social distancing is not possible, such as in grocery stores.
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With surgical masks in short supply, state residents are encouraged to don fabric masks or homemade face coverings. Many people have been making and distributing them, and a wide variety of cloth masks are available online, including through some local retailers.
As Chicago-area residents prepare for the order, here are some places to pick up a free mask:
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Volunteers were scheduled to pass out free masks and gloves from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday in the CSO Sports Multiplex parking lot, 1301 E. 47th St. The effort is organized by community groups and Ald. Sophia King, 4th.
A local organization, Masks4Chi, is partnering with Chowbus, a food delivery platform, to deliver cloth masks with food orders starting Thursday and continuing as supplies last. People can also get masks when picking up food at participating locations.
Five thousand free masks were to be given out while supplies last beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at 3506 W. Chicago Ave. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The 5th Ward was scheduled to host two mask giveaways: one at 11 a.m. Friday at 7351 S. Stony Island Ave. and the second at 2 p.m. at 60th and Stony Island Avenue.
About 6,000 masks were to be given away to 9th Ward residents from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Pullman Community Center, 10355 S. Woodlawn Ave. Masks are limited to two per resident.
Elderwerks Educational Services was scheduled to give away free masks to senior citizens from 9 a.m. to noon May 8 at two locations: Elderwerks Education and Resource Center at 251 E. Northwest Highway in Palatine and The Landing on Dundee Senior Living at 156 W. Dundee Road in Wheeling.
Chicago’s 33rd Ward office will be handing out free face masks from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Tuesday, 3001 W. Irving Park Road.
The 31st Ward is holding a drive-through mask giveaway on Saturday at New Life Covenant Church at 5101 W. Diversey Ave. Four masks will be distributed per vehicle.
The city will distribute 250,000 reusable cloth masks to Aldermanic offices in coming weeks, along with another 750,000 masks provided to vulnerable populations this month through the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team. Details on when and where the masks will be passed out weren’t immediately released Friday.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Voices of the pandemic: How the coronavirus changes the lives of Chicagoans, in their own words

On missing school : “ A big part of baking is how things look and how they feel .
We @ @ @ @ @ heavy a batter should look , what temperature something has to be .
When we @ @ @ @ @ a lot of what I do is ask , ‘ Chef , does this look @ @ @ @ @ having that guidance on site is what I would consider the most difficult part of @ @ @

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic rose to the forefront of our everyday lives, Chicagoans have been stepping up. Their stories have inspired us, compelled us to give back, and kept us going through uncharted waters.
Acts of heroism abound, but tragedy has touched our communities just as powerfully. There’s the little stuff, too — the day-to-day minutiae we didn’t miss until it changed, possibly for good.
Along with the latest news updates and a running list of Chicago-area closings and cancellations, the Tribune is taking a look at how our day-to-day lives are changing. Here’s how Chicagoans like you reflect on what’s happening in our world each day.
Here’s what Chicago had to say this week on how we’re living in the time of COVID-19:
On regret: “I’ve been really remorseful over having that party during the pandemic. The best way I can do this is if I could really make up with my mother, make sure she’s good, that would be enough for me.”
(Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
— Janeal Wright, 26, apologizing for hosting a West Side house party that was captured in a viral video. Wright pledged to work with state Rep. LaShawn Ford on educating his community about the coronavirus.
On losing a father: “He was so excited about retiring. He had worked so, so hard to just get to the point where he could retire.”
Juan Martinez. (Family photo/HANDOUT)
— Juan Martinez Jr. on his father, who died Monday after testing positive for COVID-19, days before he was set to retire April 30 after decades of scrubbing in on surgeries as a surgical technologist.
On feeling down: “I think you can take some comfort in the sense that you’re not alone. We still have to, as a community, figure out ways to come together and get through this. And we will. Communities are resilient. We are resilient. We are all in the soup.”
— Vaile Wright, a clinical psychologist and senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association, on a survey that found one-third of Chicagoans feeling hopeless about the future.
“If anything, some people are sitting in their homes and thinking, ‘I hate my sofa.’”
Interior designer Alfred Beam of Walter E. Smithe. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
— Colleen Smithe, the director of advertising for Walter E. Smithe, an Itasca-based furniture company, on how interior design customers are adapting to the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders.
“We’ve been racking our brains, wanting to make a difference, and thinking that we had more free time than we’d been used to. So the timing was perfect."
Anand Sheth, left and Emily Jodlowski. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Anand Sheth, owner of Mon Ami Jewelry, on launching the nonprofit Masks4Chi, which is distributing 350,000 free face masks to Chicagoans.
“Facebook groups and Facebook memes and Tiger King and quarantinis and stuff like that are all like a Band-Aid. They’re all trying to keep us sane when there’s a global trauma going on."
— Allison Vasquez-Lovell, 28, of Milwaukee, on moderating the Sounds Midwestern Facebook page and celebrating various aspects of quarantine culture.
On gym class: “We’re trying to keep our students’ spirits high, and we don’t want to penalize them, because they’re going through a difficult time right now, and they need our positive support more than ever.”
(Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
— Emmie Galan on how she and her students are adapting to physical education remote learning at Winston Campus Junior High in Palatine.
“There’s a statement to be made, and these were the right places to make it.”
(JoseM. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
— Lydia Ross, Chicago’s public art director, on placing masks on the Art Institute lions and Daley Center Picasso Thursday as a reminder of the state’s new policy requiring most people to wear masks in public.
On giving birth: “It’s hard enough being a newborn mom, but adding to that being in the midst of a global pandemic has just been something next level. Some days it’s overwhelming, and some days you can manage it a little bit more. We’ve just been trying to find the blessing in it.”
(Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
— Rachael Stewart, of Beverly, on how the coronavirus pandemic impacted the birth of her second child, a boy named Caleb, in late March.
On growing up: “I’ve learned that you can always improvise and make something amazing.”
(Provided by Zalmanov family / HANDOUT)
— Yudi Zalmanov, 13, on celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in a nontraditional way because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On nursing home safety: “We’re at the point where we have to strike to save lives.”
(Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Tainika Somerville, a certified nursing assistant at the Bridgeview Healthcare Center in the southwest suburbs, who was fired this month after asking for hazard pay and complaining about a lack of adequate staffing and protective equipment.
On El Milagro: “You can tell it’s made with love, it’s homemade, it’s authentic. It’s a huge loss.”
(Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Vanessa Dremonas, executive officer at Pete’s Fresh Market, on how temporarily losing its top-selling grocery product, El Milagro tortillas, will impact shoppers.
On losing a co-worker: “He was loved. We are broken and terrified of who could die next.”
(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
— Alejandro Castillo, 63, discusses the loss of his United Scrap Metal co-worker Raymundo Rodriguez from COVID-19. Castillo helped organize a walkout Tuesday at the Cicero-based plant, where employees are asking the company to close for a deep clean and to provide them with protective gear after Rodriguez’s death.
On missing school: “A big part of baking is how things look and how they feel. We’re still learning how heavy a batter should look, what temperature something has to be. When we’re in class, a lot of what I do is ask, ‘Chef, does this look all right?’ Not having that guidance on site is what I would consider the most difficult part of it.”
(Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
— Veronika Pesovic, an aspiring pastry chef in Grayslake, on how vocational students adapt after College of Lake County closed during her patisserie class.
On impacted colleges: “We’re confident that our doors will be open and that we’ll be teaching and educating many tens of thousands of students. Will it look exactly as it did last year? Probably not.”
(E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
— Timothy Killeen, president of the University of Illinois System, on what colleges campuses across Illinois will look like come fall.
On coming home from the hospital: “The first thing she asked for was for her kids and grandkids. The nurses were phenomenal, they put music on for her, they went above and beyond because she was asking for us.”
(John Smierciak / Post-Tribune)
— Kecia Evans on her mother Dorothy Hall’s recovery from COVID-19. Hall, pictured, recently returned to her Gary home, where her family surprised her with a drive-by parade in her honor Tuesday.
On pay cuts: “While we hold on to glimmers of hope that the worst of the human impact may have passed, the economic consequences are likely to play out for months, or even years to come."
(Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
— Aon CEO Greg Case in a memo to employees Monday outlining 20% pay cuts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the global insurance giant prepares for a “significant and sustained economic downturn.”
archeung@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--State police offer new details, announce woman’s arrest in Edens Expressway standoff

The call launched a sequence of events that played out alongside Interstate 94 near Old Orchard Road near Skokie , @ @ @ @ @ surrounding the vehicle parked on the right shoulder , the closure of the interstate in @ @ @ @ @ three hours and the discovery that a woman in the semitrailer was resting a handgun @ @ @ @ @ to Illinois State Police .
Those who responded included members of the SWAT team and @ @ @ @ @ , and after hours of barricading herself — at times speaking with authorities — the @ @ @ @ @ the truck and was arrested .

An hourslong standoff on the Edens Expressway began with a call from a trucking company employee to state police, requesting someone check on the well-being of one of the company’s employees who had stopped on the side of the road Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The call launched a sequence of events that played out alongside Interstate 94 near Old Orchard Road near Skokie, with dozens of squad cars surrounding the vehicle parked on the right shoulder, the closure of the interstate in both directions for more than three hours and the discovery that a woman in the semitrailer was resting a handgun in her lap, according to Illinois State Police. Those who responded included members of the SWAT team and crisis negotiators, officials said, and after hours of barricading herself — at times speaking with authorities — the woman eventually got out of the truck and was arrested.
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People at the scene initially reported seeing a man in the truck and holding a weapon, but in a news release Thursday, state police said troopers arrested Meghan Fenner, a 54-year-old Michigan woman, on suspicion of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and disorderly conduct. Fenner, who was the only person in the truck, was taken to an area hospital after she was arrested about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Fenner was evaluated and it was determined she did not suffer any injuries. Sgt. Jacqueline Cepeda, a state police spokeswoman, confirmed Fenner remained hospitalized Thursday, however.
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Cepeda in an email declined to answer additional questions, so it was not known what Fenner was being treated for, what prompted a co-worker to call for a wellness check or why Fenner initially stopped on the side of the road.
It was unclear whether Fenner had a valid firearm owner’s identification card or a concealed carry license for Illinois or Michigan, though the latter would not be valid as Illinois does honor Michigan carry licenses.
Fenner will go to bond court when she’s released, according to state police.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Rural Illinois church files lawsuit accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker of relegating people of faith to ‘se

Rural Illinois church files lawsuit accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker of relegating people of faith to ‘second-class citizenship’ by shuttering churches

“ Nobody ’ s going to , you know , run in and break up a gathering of churchgoers at @ @ @ @ @ will tell you that there are consequences .
Of course the state has the ability @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve been looking to people to do the right thing , '' Pritzker @ @

Resistance to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s extension of his statewide stay-at-home order grew Thursday, with a church in northwest Illinois filing a federal lawsuit contending that Pritzker’s executive actions have demonstrated “illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Beloved Church, a roughly 80-person congregation in the town of Lena, by the Thomas More Society, a conservative public interest law firm in Chicago. Stephen Cassell, the church’s pastor, is listed as a co-plaintiff with the church.
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The complaint takes issue with how Pritzker’s stay-home order deemed worship spaces nonessential, and alleges that Pritzker and other law enforcement and public health officials have “intentionally denigrated Illinois churches and pastors and people of faith by relegating them to second-class citizenship.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker arrives to speak April 19, 2020 at the Thompson Center during the coronavirus pandemic. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
On March 31, Lena police Chief Craig Beintema, who is one of the co-defendants with Pritzker, delivered Cassell a cease-and-desist order insisting on the church’s compliance with the stay-at-home order, according to the lawsuit. The church says it hopes to resume public worship on Sunday without fear of arrest.
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The lawsuit criticizes Pritzker for requiring churches to remain shuttered while other highlighted businesses — including liquor stores and dog groomers — are permitted to continue operations.
“Plaintiffs believe that, in these dark times, Illinoisans need the Spirit of Almighty God, but Pritzker’s orders have left them to settle for the lesser spirits dispensed out of the state’s liquor stores,” the document states.
During his daily press briefing Thursday, Pritzker called the Beloved Church an “outlier," saying many pastors across Illinois have partnered with the state to encourage parishioners to stay home.
“I would just urge the faith leaders, you know, who are concerned about the length of this to just put the health and safety of their congregants first. I think that’s uppermost in everybody’s minds. It’s certainly uppermost in my mind,” Pritzker said.
The governor said that large gatherings continue to pose a public health risk to the communities in which they occur, and he encouraged parishioners to request that services be canceled or held online during the stay-at-home order.
“Nobody’s going to, you know, run in and break up a gathering of churchgoers at the moment, but I will tell you that there are consequences. Of course the state has the ability to enforce orders, but we’ve been looking to people to do the right thing," Pritzker said.
The church’s lawsuit arrives on the tails of two other legal challenges to Pritzker’s stay-at-home order introduced recently by Republican state representatives. On Monday, a downstate judge issued a temporary injunction allowing Rep. Darren Bailey of Xenia to ignore the stay-at-home order. Rep. John Cabello of Machesney Park filed another complaint on Wednesday in Winnebago County seeking to exempt more Illinoisans from the stay-at-home order.
Peter Breen, one of the lead attorneys representing the Beloved Church, is running as the Republican nominee for state representative in the west suburban 48th District. He previously held the seat until losing in 2018 to Democratic Rep. Terra Costa Howard, who is seeking reelection.
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aayres-brown@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--After years of fighting alongside the Illinois National Guard, the Polish military deploys a team to

After years of fighting alongside the Illinois National Guard, the Polish military deploys a team to help fight COVID-19 in the Chicago area

“ Medicine is international .
The human condition is international , so we need to share the best practices , @ @ @ @ @ performed a surgery at the hospital Tuesday night and then reported for Guard duty Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ many instances when the United States is ahead on certain processes .
There are other @ @ @ @ @ because they were exposed first .
So you don ’ t have to reinvent the @ @ @ @ @ t have to make the same mistakes .
”

Dr. Guy Dugan, medical director of the critical care unit, points out modifications made for coronavirus patient rooms to members of the Polish delegation, April 29, 2020 at Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. A nine-member Polish army medical team visited area hospitals to gather insight on the COVID-19 virus and possible treatments and shared information they’ve learned. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
For the past 17 years, the Polish military has served alongside Illinois National Guard members in Iraq and Afghanistan as their armies battle an unconventional, hard-to-break enemy.
So when Polish military officials saw the state fighting the coronavirus — a novel and aggressive adversary in its own right — they assembled some of their leading medical experts and flew them nearly 5,000 miles to help.
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A nine-member Polish medical team arrived in Chicago last week, armed with best practices and lessons learned from treating COVID-19 patients in both Poland and in Lombardy, Italy, one of Europe’s hardest-hit regions. At in-person visits to hospitals across the Chicago area and a series of webinars, they have shared warnings about increased suicide rates, tips for post-shift decontamination and ideas on how to reopen hospitals when the crisis ebbs.
Tomasz Kutycki, a paramedic with the Polish army medical delegation, attends a meeting with medical staff April 29, 2020, at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
“Our relationship with the Illinois National Guard has lasted for 30 years. In this period, we have fought against our enemies arm-in-arm and we have always adjusted to the type of threat we are facing,” said Polish army Capt. Dr. Jacek Siewiera, the mission commander and a top anesthesiologist there. “Today, the threat is COVID-19.”
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Poland’s population is three times that of Illinois, and the country has reported more than 12,000 confirmed cases and 600 deaths attributed to the virus since March 4, according to the World Health Organization. Illinois has four times as many confirmed cases and deaths. As Illinois nears its projected COVID-19 peak, Siewiera estimates the state is about two to four weeks behind Poland’s experience with the virus.
The Polish government has announced plans to reopen hotels and shopping malls Monday after weeks of a stay-at-home order stricter than those in the U.S. Restaurants will remain closed and minors still cannot be outside unless accompanied by an adult.
The Eastern European country will allow its hospitals to perform elective procedures again as early as next week, something Chicago-area hospitals will be dealing with following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest order. It’s a topic several Chicago-based doctors broached with Siewiera during his visit.
In anticipation of the reinstatement, Siewiera said, Poland has given COVID-19 tests to prospective patients and asked those who test negative to quarantine themselves for a week before having their procedures. Those who test positive, but who are otherwise in good health, may have their procedures done at hospitals dedicated solely to treating the virus.
On a Wednesday visit to Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, Siewiera also warned about the spike in suicides that occurred in his home country before the outbreak hit its peak. While experts would expect the rates to climb amid the virus’s economic fallout, Siewiera said Polish health officials were surprised to see an increase in the number of young people who died by suicide before the virus began to ebb.
Capt. Jacek Siewiera of the Polish delegation wears a stethoscope while meeting medical staff at Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates on April 29, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Medical professionals consider such insights invaluable given the evolving scientific understanding of the virus, said Col. Dr. Eric Vaughn, a trauma surgeon at St. Alexius and an officer in the Illinois National Guard.
“Medicine is international. The human condition is international, so we need to share the best practices," said Vaughn, who performed a surgery at the hospital Tuesday night and then reported for Guard duty Wednesday morning. “There are many instances when the United States is ahead on certain processes. There are other instances where Europe is ahead because they were exposed first. So you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to make the same mistakes.”
During a visit to Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center, the Polish team members and hospital staff sought each other’s insights on the virus and possible treatments, as well as Poland’s use of X-ray images of patients’ lungs to determine whether they should be admitted to the hospital. They discussed the latest trials, possible drug treatments and the possibility of convalescent plasma playing a role. They agreed there appears to be no surefire cure emerging in the near future.
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Siewiera took particular interest in how the Elk Grove Village hospital doubled its intensive care unit beds to 72 in anticipation of the outbreak. The Polish military is working to create a similar model, he said, but it did not have it in place when the pandemic hit.
“What you’ve done is amazing,” he said.
The partnership is a natural fit — roughly 7% of Chicagoans claim Polish ancestry. It formed in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since that time, the two sides have participated in about 400 training exercises together, with the state Guard playing an instrumental role in helping to modernize Poland’s military aircraft.
When Poland agreed to send troops to Iraq to support coalition forces in 2003, the country’s military leaders specifically asked for the Illinois National Guard to embed with its soldiers. That arrangement has continued for the past 17 years, as troops from both Poland and Illinois are still deployed to the Middle East together every six months.
After nearly two decades of having each other’s backs, the Polish Ministry of National Defense reacted instinctively when it saw the death rate climb in Chicago and more than 1,100 Illinois National Guard members deployed to help. Though Poland recorded its first positive case after Illinois, experts believe the virus already has peaked there in large part because of the stay-at-home and social distancing orders enacted early in light of the virus’s deadly tear through Italy and Spain.
“We are deeply moved by the incredible act of kindness and support from our friends from Poland who are joining us here in Chicago to share their experience and expertise in fighting the coronavirus and offering to lend a hand in some of the local hospitals,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard Neely, the Illinois adjutant general.
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Illinois National Guard members, the Polish army medical delegation, and medical staff pose for a photo at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Much of the Polish team’s experience with COVID-19 came in Italy. Members were deployed to help with the outbreak and the complete collapse of the medical system in Lombardy. In many cases, the hospital personnel there compounded the problem as they infected patients and each other with subpar decontamination procedures, Siewiera said.
He now advocates for all scrubs and medical clothing to be washed at a hospital facility instead of at home to prevent the virus’s spread. It’s a practice that some, but not all, Chicago-area hospitals have adopted.
The Polish team — including Siewiera, who carries a large bottle of sanitizer in the pocket of his camouflaged fatigues at all times — have been fastidious about their own decontamination procedures and hygiene while in Chicago. In addition to testing negative for the virus 48 hours before landing in Illinois, team members each have two rooms on a single isolated floor of a South Loop hotel.
When they return each night, team members go directly into their individual rooms dedicated for decontamination and wipe their rubber gloves with hand sanitizer before removing them. They then remove and disinfect their protective goggles, clothes and masks, in that specific order.
Their clothing is placed under an ultraviolet lamp at 500 watts for 30 minutes while they shower with medical-grade soap. Once they’re done showering, they flip their clothing to the other side for another 30 minutes and then wipe down the room with disinfectant before returning to their sleeping quarters.
Team members mostly remain in their rooms, which they refer to as “the safe zone,” when they’re not working, a foreshadowing of the mandatory 14-day quarantine they’ll face when they return to Poland on Saturday.
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Siewiera considers it a small price for helping an ally.
“We will always fight together," he said.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Masks up: Art Institute lions, Daley Center Picasso get coronavirus face coverings

Co-founder Jeremy Biewer and a friend had the idea of putting facial masks on Chicago sculptures to get the public @ @ @ @ @ Kelly Winter at Dimension did some quick mockups .
The firm posted them to Facebook @ @ @ @ @ Lori Lightfoot ’ s page — and , boom , a week or so later @ @ @ @ @ in a cherry picker and on a scissors lift strapping the proudly Chicagoan protective gear @ @ @ @ @

Mark Witteveen, owner of The Chicago Flyhouse, places a city of Chicago flag mask on one of the lions outside the Art Institute on April 30, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker required Illinoisans to begin wearing protective face masks in public beginning Friday. The Art Institute lions and the Daley Center Picasso jumped the gun.
Crews Thursday morning installed artisanal masks onto the downtown Chicago icons, a message to the rest of Chicago — and Illinois — that we can handle a little sacrifice, a little disruption of the face we present the public, for the sake of the common good.
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When the adornment was complete on the blustery but fortuitously rain-free morning, the lions still looked like regal sentinels keeping watch on Michigan Avenue, only now they were guards who wouldn’t make you so nervous should you occupy the same aisle at the nearby Walgreen’s.
And the Picasso sculpture? Let’s just say that for an abstraction of a face, species unknown and 18-1/2 feet tall, it was wearing the bespoke respiratory shield pretty well.
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Did it look a little like a feedbag strapped to the bottom of that vaguely equine mug? Someone else will have to judge. Certainly, a key to the presentation was the artful light blue straps stretching up and around the, I guess, ears.
“It looks as good as a mask on the Picasso could look,” pronounced Lydia Ross, the city’s public art director.
As for the possibility of maybe putting more masks on more Chicago art, Ross said she thought it would belabor the point while adding unnecessary labor in a time of civic crisis.
“There’s a statement to be made, and these were the right places to make it,” she said.
The Chicago flag-patterned masks were the idea of Dimension Design, a Glenview firm that works mostly in the now-on-hiatus trade show and live event world.
Co-founder Jeremy Biewer and a friend had the idea of putting facial masks on Chicago sculptures to get the public health point across. Designer Kelly Winter at Dimension did some quick mockups. The firm posted them to Facebook with a nod to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s page — and, boom, a week or so later, a worker was up in a cherry picker and on a scissors lift strapping the proudly Chicagoan protective gear onto civically significant artworks.
Designer Kelly Winter finishes sewing one of the large Chicago flag masks that will fit one of the Art Institute lions at Dimension Design in Glenview on April 29, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Scientists may note that neither Picasso’s sculpture nor those inanimate lions are likely to sneeze or cough or in any way spread the virus that has turned 2020 into a landmark year. But symbolism, not science -- or, rather, symbolizing science -- is the point.
“Being able to promote safety and reduce the stigma of wearing these masks, it’s important,” Biewer said. “Wearing the masks is going to save lives. If we can get Chicago to mask up, it helps reduce the transmission of all of this.”
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Chicago Flyhouse, a national rigging firm located in the West Loop, agreed.
His firm hangs art installations, Shedd Aquarium lakefront curtains, department store displays, “anything that needs to get suspended in the air safely,” said Mark Witteveen, senior project manager for Chicago Flyhouse. “This kind of stuff is right up our alley.”
By comparison to many of their projects, which involve moving things through space quickly and quietly, masks that will stay in place on a few sculptures are beginner’s stuff.
“The challenge here is not hard,” said Witteveen, who did the actual strapping on of the masks Thursday. “It’s just a mask. It’s just some fabric. But to make sure it aesthetically stays looking good in the Chicago spring, with lots of wind and lots of rain…”
Let us hope the spring will be enough.
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @StevenKJohnson


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Polish medical team visits, shares COVID-19 info

As the coronavirus spreads globally , it has been revealed that some notable people have tested positive for the virus @ @ @ @ @ of most recently reported .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10
Dr. Guy Dugan, medical director of the critical care unit, points out modifications made for coronavirus patient rooms to members of the Polish delegation, April 29, 2020 at Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. A nine-member Polish army medical team visited area hospitals to gather insight on the COVID-19 virus and possible treatments and shared information they’ve learned. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Coronavirus pandemic leaves Chicago-area seminarians waiting to fulfill dream of becoming priests, m

Coronavirus pandemic leaves Chicago-area seminarians waiting to fulfill dream of becoming priests, ministers

“ Cardinal Blase Cupich and I are deeply saddened that these liturgical celebrations have to be postponed , ” said @ @ @ @ @ , rector of Mundelein Seminary .
“ However , it is important that we abide @ @ @ @ @ large gatherings .
We want these liturgies to be accessible to all , and they @ @ @ @ @ beginning for the entire archdiocese to celebrate when we come out of this situation .
@

Deacon Pat Gorman celebrate a daily Mass April 29, 2020, at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge. His ordination has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Pat Gorman sat in his graduate student office at Purdue University when an administrative assistant rushed in and told him that America “was under attack.”
Gorman, then a 23-year-old aspiring software developer, rushed to the nearest television and watched in disbelief as two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. And while that apocalyptic moment would forever change America, it inspired a decadeslong journey for Gorman that would ultimately lead to priesthood.
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“After 9/11, I wanted to use my life and use my career to do good and to have a positive impact in the world,” said Gorman, 42, a deacon at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge and student at Mundelein Seminary.
Deacon Pat Gorman, 42, gets ready for a daily Mass at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of Catholic deacons across the country, including Gorman, find themselves waiting for ordination as they are on the verge of priesthood.
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As American colleges and churches abruptly closed last month because of the pandemic, seminaries followed suit, forcing aspiring religious leaders attending seminaries to wait before fulfilling their ambitions of becoming priests or pastors. Chicago historically has had more seminaries than any other metro area in the country, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, so the shutdowns have hit hard here.
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Mundelein Seminary has indefinitely postponed the ordination for priesthood candidates from the archdiocese.
“Cardinal Blase Cupich and I are deeply saddened that these liturgical celebrations have to be postponed,” said the Rev. John Kartje, rector of Mundelein Seminary. “However, it is important that we abide by the current directives for large gatherings. We want these liturgies to be accessible to all, and they will serve as a joyful beginning for the entire archdiocese to celebrate when we come out of this situation.”
The decision to postpone ordinations is up to each individual diocese. The Joliet Diocese has also delayed its ordinations. The Diocese of Gary, however, will proceed with a private ordination for its one new priest. The ordination will comply with all social distancing guidelines, a diocese spokesman said.
Deacon Pat Gorman, left, assists at a Mass celebrated by the Rev. Jerry Gunderson at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge on April 29, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Deacon Pat Gorman, left, assists as the Rev. Jerry Gunderson celebrates daily Mass at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The process by which a seminarian reaches ordination varies across denominations, so not all faiths are being affected in the same way.
In the Evangelical Covenant Church, graduating seminary students wait two years before they are ordained, said David Kersten, dean of the seminary at North Park University.
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, prospective pastors are not ordained as ministers until a church selects them to preside over a congregation.
And although they won’t immediately miss out on their ordination, seminary students who are serving in other denominations will still miss out on their graduation after years of study.
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“Nothing can replace the walk,” said Makayla Dahleen, a student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. “Nothing can replace shaking my adviser’s hand. And introducing my parents or spouse to my professors. Nothing will replace it.”
David Rebey, who had a 30-year career in the health care industry before enrolling at the Lutheran School of Theology, said he, too, looked forward to an in-person ceremony — marching into the church where the graduation was scheduled to be held and being surrounded by family, friends and former graduates.
“When I and others first found out that we were not going to be able to participate in that special event, it was very disappointing,” said Rebey, 59.
Leaders of seminaries who have spent the past few years shaping and preparing students for ministry understand the heartbreak that comes with not being able to mark the end of their journey with a traditional graduation.
“We want them to celebrate their hard work,” said Stephen G. Ray Jr., president of Chicago Theological Seminary. “This is the end of their time having been a big part of the community, and we know it’s painful not being able to rejoice with each other.”
David W. Watkins III, McCormick Theological Seminary’s associate dean for student academics, said he understands why students would have mixed feelings.
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“They’ve finished their ministerial journeys, but they’re also grieving not being able to walk for graduation,” he said. “But we will still do something virtually, because a commencement, for us, is a joyous celebration for years of hard work.”
Despite being disappointed, graduating seminary students said they recognize the need to postpone ordinations and hold virtual graduations.
The ceremonies are a “profoundly optimistic, celebratory and hopeful moment in the church” and should be celebrated publicly, Gorman said.
He spent the past 20 years on a winding journey, which included teaching English to 3-year-old students in Taiwan, working in Alabama as a software developer, and studying and working in China before becoming a student at Mundelein. Gorman’s first act going into the priesthood will be to wait, he said.
“At the seminary, we learn that our life is not our own,” he said. “And the priesthood is all about making a gift of ourselves to others and the church.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Column: Time to applaud Trump’s coronavirus response as the ‘great success story’ it is

Yes , some U.S. workers are getting a much-needed unpaid vacation of indeterminate length , but many still have jobs @ @ @ @ @ way : There could be zero Americans employed .
That would stink , right ?
@ @ @ @ @ the powerful work of your president and his knowledgeable son-in-law , there are more-than-zero Americans @ @ @ @

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, appears in the Oval Office of the White House on April 28, 2020. Kushner has been advising Trump on response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Mandel Ngan/Getty-AFP)
It’s high time people start applauding the amazingly successful job President Donald Trump and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner have done handling the coronavirus outbreak in America.
As Kushner told Fox News on Wednesday: “The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story.”
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The young man who made a seamless transition from failing at realty to shadow-running the most powerful country in the world is right. The Trump administration has smartly and flawlessly handled every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
So why do only about 40% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the coronavirus when it should be 100% of Americans approving, and ideally applauding?
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It’s a mystery.
Yes, as of Wednesday, more than 60,000 people had died of COVID-19, more than the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. But that’s an unfair comparison. As I’m sure Kushner would be quick to point out, the virus has still not killed more Americans than died in ALL wars. So that’s clearly a win.
And as Trump has repeatedly pointed out, “potentially 2.2 million” Americans could have died “if we did nothing.” Few are pointing out the number of lives this president saved by shelving the “do nothing” plan and reluctantly doing something. There’s a word for that kind of leadership. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m sure it’s a very good word.
Let’s also remember the myriad other things that could have killed Americans since the outbreak started but haven’t, all thanks to the steady, large hands of our great president and his almost translucent son-in-law.
An asteroid could have wiped out half the country. But you won’t hear the Lamestream Media reporting on the fact that there have been zero catastrophic asteroid strikes.
Zombies. There have been no reports of zombie hordes. It’s safe to say America is 100% zombie-free.
And it’s worth mentioning here, for the first time in any major U.S. publication, that there have been NO VELOCIRAPTOR-RELATED DEATHS in the United States this year. That’s really something.
So while the Trump administration naturally considers every life precious, 60,000 lives lost is a great success story, as there’s no telling how many more deaths might have happened if other deadly things had occurred.
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Another big part of the coronavirus success story is the economy, which is doing extremely well when compared with not having any economy at all.
While the nattering nabobs of negativity in the news media keep pointing to the more than 30 million Americans who have requested unemployment benefits since the outbreak started, the real focus should be on the fact that millions of Americans remain employed.
Yes, some U.S. workers are getting a much-needed unpaid vacation of indeterminate length, but many still have jobs. Look at it this way: There could be zero Americans employed. That would stink, right? But instead, thanks to the powerful work of your president and his knowledgeable son-in-law, there are more-than-zero Americans working. Success!
And none of that really matters anyway because the economy will come roaring back soon, thanks to the AMAZING coronavirus testing process that President Trump/Kushner have not put in place nationally via their none-of-government approach.
As Trump said this week: “We are the best in the world on testing. We’ve tested much more than anybody else, times two — or every country combined. We’ve tested more than every country combined.”
That is 100% correct, as long you don’t actually combine every country. (Also, try to avoid combining the testing totals of just Russia, Germany and Italy, as those might make Trump’s claim slightly less than 100% correct, which would be unpatriotic.)
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Bottom line: Victory is ours! Not everyone has died, not everyone is unemployed and we are outpacing the entire world at overstating our coronavirus testing capabilities and not being eaten by velociraptors.
And it’s all because President Trump and Co-President Kushner rose to the challenge, spent a couple of months wisely debating whether to do something or nothing, then boldly stepped forth and did something that has resulted in fewer American deaths than all wars combined, including the First Barbary War.
A great success story for the ages*!
*The Trump/Kushner administration cannot be held liable for any American not living to see “the ages.”
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Navy SEALs raided Afghan village in attempt to locate Illinois man taken hostage by militants

A former U.S. national security official who is advising the Frerichs family called on Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to @ @ @ @ @ “ he needs to understand from the top that getting an American hostage home is @ @ @ @ @ .
He is aware of Mark ’ s presence , but it does not appear @ @ @ @ @ he needs to get him home.
” The former official insisted on anonymity to speak @ @ @ @ @ works with the Trump administration .

Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Illinois, poses in Iraq in this undated photo obtained from Twitter that he would include with his resume when job hunting. Frerichs was abducted in Afghanistan in January 2020.
WASHINGTON — In the days following the capture of an American contractor in Afghanistan earlier this year, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence community tried to track the cellphones of the man and his captors, The Associated Press has learned.
While the circumstances surrounding the abduction remain unclear, the previously unreported operation described by multiple American officials over the past month shed new light on early efforts to locate Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Lombard, Illinois, whose disappearance has been shrouded in mystery and whose case has been the subject of minimal public discussion by the U.S. government.
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The new details emerge as violence and political infighting in Kabul threaten to scuttle a Taliban peace deal with the U.S. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced frustrations after a failed attempt to mediate a power struggle between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. The Trump administration said it would cut $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan.
Washington has urged Kabul to release Taliban prisoners, which is part of the peace agreement, arguing the detainees were at risk of spreading the coronavirus.
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But there are no public indications that Frerichs, a Navy veteran, has been part of negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban leadership or that his release is part of any peace deal.
“The Taliban kidnapped my brother in January. In February, the U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban. My brother wasn’t part of the deal. Now we are arranging for the Taliban and Afghan government to exchange thousands of prisoners,” Charlene Cakora, one of Frerichs’ sisters, said in a statement provided to the AP. “Why can’t we make an American hostage be one of them?”
Frerichs' father, Art, said in a statement that though he has faith in President Donald Trump and Pompeo, “I just need them to tell their people negotiating with the Taliban that America won’t lift a finger until my son comes home. He’s a veteran. This is America. We don’t leave people behind.”
The Pentagon and U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment on the SEALs' raid. The rescue effort is being coordinated through the FBI-led, multiagency Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, which said in a statement that it was working with its partners to ensure “that Mark Frerichs and all Americans held hostage abroad are returned home.” It encouraged anyone with information about the case to come forward.
The State Department said it was aware of an American who’d been abducted in Afghanistan.
“The welfare, safety and security of Americans is the Trump Administration’s highest priority,” the department said. “The United States will continue to push for the safe return of this and all other U.S citizens through all relevant channels.”
A former U.S. national security official who is advising the Frerichs family called on Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to resolve the situation, saying “he needs to understand from the top that getting an American hostage home is also part of his job. He is aware of Mark’s presence, but it does not appear yet that he understands that he needs to get him home.” The former official insisted on anonymity to speak candidly since the official sometimes works with the Trump administration.
U.S. officials believe Frerichs, 57, was held for at least some time in Khost, an eastern province along the border with Pakistan and its so-called tribal regions, a mountainous area that has historically been a haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
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The former national security official said that Frerichs has been in Afghanistan for about a decade working on commercial projects and was not a U.S. government contractor.
“The first 96 hours is crucial,” a senior U.S. government official briefed on the case told the AP on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. “If they’re not recovered in the first few days, it becomes harder every minute after.”
Though no formal demands are known to have been made, U.S. intelligence officials believe Frerichs was captured by members of the Haqqani network, a militant group aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Haqqanis have strong links to North Waziristan, a tribal region in Pakistan, south of Afghanistan's Khost province.
The Obama administration designated the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization in 2012 for its ties with the Taliban and the group's attacks on U.S. military and civilian personnel. Though the Haqqanis are known to carry out assassinations and kidnappings for ransom, Taliban leadership has not acknowledged Frerichs' capture.
“I have not received any information about him,” said a Taliban source who asked not to be named. “There has been no clue despite my contacts with every side to get information.”
In November, the Afghan government released three prominent members of the Haqqani network in exchange for an American citizen and an Australian professor abducted in 2016. Pompeo characterized the prisoner swap as a “goodwill gesture.”
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Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican and Army veteran who led the teams that searched for Bowe Bergdahl after the Army soldier abandoned his post in 2009 and wound up captured by the Taliban, said the Taliban frequently hides American hostages until they can move them over the border into Pakistan.
He said peace deal negotiations should have stopped as soon as the U.S. government learned that Frerichs was missing.
“I have real concerns about suggestions that the Taliban are serious about peace, that the Taliban are upholding their end of the deal when — as we speak today — they are holding a former Navy veteran and American citizen hostage that they took, again, during the peace negotiations,” Waltz said in an interview.
The search area for Frerichs began in Khost and extended south to the province of Kandahar, according to a senior U.S. government official and a second official at the Defense Department.
Members of the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group, more familiarly known as SEAL Team Six, who were involved in the Frerichs effort had spent late January working to recover the bodies of two American service members who died when their aircraft crash-landed in Ghazni in central Afghanistan, according to the two U.S. officials.
The bitter winter weather that limited overhead surveillance of the airplane wreckage by U.S. military drones also worked against officials during the later SEAL operation on the night of Feb. 3. Periods of poor-to-nonexistent visibility ultimately delayed a planned intelligence-gathering operation on a known Taliban location, said the senior U.S. government official, who has direct knowledge of the raid.
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Once the weather cleared, the SEALs loaded onto helicopters and flew to the undisclosed location. The senior official declined to disclose the exact location of the province for operational security reasons.
The senior U.S. government official and the Defense Department source with knowledge of the raid, who also requested anonymity, said the SEAL platoon was not met with any Taliban resistance and that once at the compound, they detained several alleged Haqqani militants and uncovered a weapons cache. It’s not known if the weapons cache was destroyed at the scene or given to Afghan security forces.
The suspected Haqqani members were questioned about Frerichs’ whereabouts and ultimately turned over to the Afghan government, according to the senior U.S. government official.
On Feb. 4, American intelligence officials received a report that Frerichs had possibly been moved to Quetta, Pakistan, a historical haven for the Taliban, the two officials said. But the information was deemed not credible enough to warrant a special operations mission, according to the senior U.S. government official.
The report also conflicted with signals intelligence U.S. officials had at the time. Signals intelligence is information gathered from the electronic signals that are broadcast from devices like portable radios and cellphones. The information can be used to track the movements of individuals or eavesdrop on conversations, known in the spy business as low-level voice intercepts.
U.S. intelligence officials continued to receive location pings from the suspected cellphones of Frerichs and his captors, but the trail went cold on Feb. 5, according to the senior U.S. government and Defense Department officials.
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While the senior U.S. government official would not say where exactly the last location ping for Frerichs came from, the official said it was near where he was captured. The AP was not able to determine how the U.S. intelligence community knew to target these specific cellphones to monitor.
“Operationally, the reason why time is critical in a kidnapping is because you can close the distance quicker, ideally immediately or by utilizing sources,” said the senior U.S. government official. “This is not the case right now. He could be two houses down from where he was taken and we would not know.”
LaPorta reported from Delray Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Kathy Gannon in Islamabad and Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--State police: 1 dead in Dan Ryan crash on Chicago’s South Side

The driver then lost control of the van and it struck the right side guardrail , overturned several times and @ @ @ @ @ vehicle as it stopped in the right lane .
The right three lanes were closed @ @ @ @ @ investigation , state police said .

A man was killed in a single-vehicle rollover crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway early Thursday, officials said.
About 2:30 a.m., Illinois State Police troopers were called to the West Chesterfield neighborhood when a 2004 blue Dodge passenger van lost control on an Interstate 94 south exit ramp to 95th Street, according to a news release. Officials believe the van was on the ramp, but its driver, a 32-year-old man, suddenly veered left in an attempt to stay on the interstate.
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The driver then lost control of the van and it struck the right side guardrail, overturned several times and ejected the driver from the vehicle as it stopped in the right lane. The right three lanes were closed about 2:45 a.m. for an investigation, state police said.
The man was pronounced dead and information on his identity had not yet been released Thursday morning.
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About 5:15 a.m., all lanes were reopened.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Woman hit by foul ball at Wrigley sues Cubs and MLB. ‘The blow knocked me unconscious’

“ I suffered a spider fracture under both of my eyes , '' she said .
“ I have frequent @ @ @ @ @ , and my taste and smell have been permanently affected .
I was hit so @ @ @ @ @ from their nerves and I had to have extensive dental work done .
And even @ @ @ @ @ few teeth in the process and am still losing them today .
”

Laiah Zuniga says she’s a lifelong Cubs fan but was especially excited to attend a game at Wrigley Field in August 2018 because, for the first time, she had a seat close to the field, just a few rows back.
She and a friend were sitting along the third base line when a foul ball hit by a Mets player smashed into her face, according to a lawsuit filed this week against the team and Major League Baseball.
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Laiah Zuniga is pictured after allegedly being struck by a foul ball during a Chicago Cubs game in August 2018. (Clifford Law Offices)
“The blow knocked me unconscious,” Zuniga said in a statement released by her lawyers. “When I awoke, my beef sandwich was the only thing I had to catch the waterfall of blood running down my face.
“I suffered a spider fracture under both of my eyes," she said. “I have frequent bloody noses to this day, and my taste and smell have been permanently affected. I was hit so hard my teeth were detached from their nerves and I had to have extensive dental work done. And even then I still lost a few teeth in the process and am still losing them today.”
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Her lawsuit contends that protective netting at the ballpark should have been extended to protect more spectators.
“MLB executives, including the commissioner, and players have acknowledged this danger posed to patrons,” the suit states. “Some players refuse to allow their loved ones to sit close to the field unless they are directly behind the netting. The players, through their union, have even demanded that the netting be extended.”
The lawsuit notes that after netting was erected in ballparks, “patrons like plaintiff Laiah Zuniga have continued to be seriously injured by baseballs being hit into the stands at high rates of speed, including on several occasions before the Aug. 27, 2018 incident at Wrigley Field.”
“In fact,” the suit adds, “MLB and the Cubs have increased the risk of injury to patrons not only by failing to extend the netting further, but also by including distractions during the game, increasing the pace of the game and encouraging the use of mobile devices during the game.”
The lawsuit points out that some teams have extended netting beyond what MLB recommended, including the St. Louis Cardinals, which “extended the netting to the far end of the dugouts; had defendant MLB required the Cubs to similarly extend the netting at Wrigley Field, plaintiff Laiah Zuniga would not have been injured.”
The suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages from the Cubs and MLB.
A similar complaint was filed in 2017 against MLB and the Cubs by a Schaumburg man who was blinded in one eye when a foul ball hit him at Wrigley Field. That case is pending.
Last year, a young girl was struck by a foul ball hit by Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. during an Astros-Cubs game in Houston. The 2-year-old girl suffered a skull fracture and has permanent brain damage, according to an attorney representing her family.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Contractors who worked on ‘Windy City Rehab’ facing new fraud allegations

The property owners “ believe that there were deficiencies in the work performed on several ‘ Windy City Rehab ’ @ @ @ @ @ ( Builders ) and Mr. Pajazetovic conspired with Eckhardt and Greymark in a scheme to @ @ @ @ @ Orchard to prop up the high-profile ‘ Windy City Rehab ’ projects , ” the @ @ @ @ @ for the property owners did not return a Tribune request for comment , nor did @ @

Two contractors from the first season of “Windy City Rehab” committed fraud by diverting money from other projects to help fund work done on the popular HGTV show, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Cook County court.
Space Builders — owned by Ermin Pajazetovic — sued Donovan Eckhardt, his Greymark Development Group, 612 West Stratford LLC and Lakeside Bank in December 2019 over $108,500 he says he was owed for work he performed and materials he provided during renovation of 612 W. Stratford Pl.
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612 West Stratford LLC and 2530 North Orchard LLC are countersuing Pajazetovic and Space Builders, alleging that Pajazetovic “overcharged and conspired with others to overcharge” them for renovation of 612 W. Stratford in Lakeview East and 2530 N. Orchard St. in Park West, according to paperwork filed April 22.
The property at 612 W. Stratford Pl. in Lakeview is photographed on March 3, 2020. (Tracy Swartz/Chicago Tribune)
The property owners “believe that there were deficiencies in the work performed on several ‘Windy City Rehab’ projects, and that Space (Builders) and Mr. Pajazetovic conspired with Eckhardt and Greymark in a scheme to divert funds from Stratford and Orchard to prop up the high-profile ‘Windy City Rehab’ projects,” the filing reads. The attorney for the property owners did not return a Tribune request for comment, nor did Eckhardt.
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In an email to the Tribune, Pajazetovic’s attorney denied wrongdoing by Space Builders and “any conspiracy” between the company and Eckhardt. Attorney Telly Stefaneas blamed Eckhardt for the money issues and said there was “no overlap” between the two renovations and “Windy City Rehab” projects.
“Thus, any allegation that monies were diverted ‘to prop up the high-profile Windy City Rehab projects’ is simply untrue,” Stefaneas said in his statement.
Eckhardt and Pajazetovic worked on homes that were featured on the first season of “Windy City Rehab,” which follows Alison Victoria Gramenos as she flips Chicago homes. Gramenos is not named in the original lawsuit or the counterclaim.
“I have zero knowledge of the Stratford or Orchard projects. Me, my businesses, my show and my network have nothing to do with them,” Gramenos said in an email to the Tribune.
According to the counterclaim, Eckhardt had “minority ownership interest” in 612 West Stratford LLC “at certain times in the past.” His company, Greymark, was retained as general contractor for the renovation of the Stratford and Orchard buildings. Greymark hired Space Builders as subcontractor.
2530 N. Orchard St. in the Park West neighborhood is photographed on July 5, 2019. Renovation of the building is the focus of a lawsuit filed in April 2020 in Cook County court. (Tracy Swartz/Chicago Tribune)
The city issued a stop-work order in May 2019 for the Orchard location, which was one of 13 properties the Chicago Department of Buildings cited when it temporarily suspended Greymark’s general contractor license last year for a slew of alleged violations.
Greymark and Space Builders were “terminated” from the Stratford and Orchard projects in August 2019, according to the counterclaim.
The property owners say they found “substantial deficiencies” in flooring, HVAC, masonry, plumbing and other work performed at the Stratford location, while “numerous categories of work” were “underperformed or incomplete” at the Orchard location, including demolition, electrical work, flooring and framing.
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“Counterdefendants brazenly submitted sworn contractor affidavits for work that was not performed and materials that never made it to the work sites; and they conspired with others to submit sworn statements that were intended to obtain payment of other funds for work never performed,” the counterclaim reads.
The property owners say they paid more than $380,000 to finish the Stratford renovation and more than $850,000 to complete the Orchard renovation. They are seeking a jury trial. A hearing is scheduled for May 21.
Eckhardt is the subject of other local lawsuits. A Wicker Park couple and a Lincoln Square couple are separately suing Gramenos, Pajazetovic and Eckhardt for alleged fraud related to renovations of their homes, which were featured on the first season of “Windy City Rehab.”
Eckhardt is being sued by Ridge Development Partners over mortgage allegedly due for a Bucktown property, but Ridge said in an April 15 filing it is seeking to have the suit dismissed “as all issues have been resolved.”
“Windy City Rehab” premiered in January 2019 with 11 episodes in its first season. HGTV has not announced a premiere date for the second season. It seems Eckhardt will not be back after he and Gramenos had a falling out.
Her attorney, Daniel Lynch, said in a statement that Eckhardt and his companies “are not involved as general contractor or in any other construction capacity on any of the projects for Season 2.” Gramenos appears to still be working with Pajazetovic.
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tswartz@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Selling sofas without the sit test: Interior design moves online during the pandemic

There was a learning curve as designers , now working from home , got used to teaching customers to take @ @ @ @ @ coaching them through purchasing furniture they can ’ t touch and feel first .
Still @ @ @ @ @ because the company already had the system in place , Smithe said .

Walter E. Smithe interior designer Alfred Beam works on a composite design for a client's master bedroom while working remotely at his home in Naperville on April 27, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
When Itasca-based furniture company Walter E. Smithe started offering virtual interior design a couple of years ago, the service wasn’t much of a hit.
People wanted to sit-test sofas in the company’s 10 Chicago-area showrooms or have a designer come to their home.
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But during the COVID-19 pandemic, stores are closed, home visits are off-limits, and Walter E. Smithe’s designers and customers alike are getting used to communicating online when tackling home projects, said Colleen Smithe, the company’s director of advertising.
[ Pandemic pivot: How Chicago-area businesses and workers are managing the coronavirus crisis ]
“It wasn’t a big part of our business, but we’re so happy we did it,” she said.
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She and her three sisters are the fourth generation of Smithes in the family business, started by their great-grandfather in 1945.
There was a learning curve as designers, now working from home, got used to teaching customers to take measurements for floor plans and coaching them through purchasing furniture they can’t touch and feel first. Still, the shift was easier because the company already had the system in place, Smithe said.
Even as efforts to contain the pandemic affect consumers’ pocketbooks, people are still taking on home projects, Smithe said.
“If anything, some people are sitting in their homes and thinking, ‘I hate my sofa,’” she said.
Others have been buying desks and other items to upgrade home offices or buying furniture for long-planned moves.
Alfred Beam, interior designer for Walter E. Smithe furniture company, works on a composite design for a client's master bedroom while working remotely at his home in Naperville on April 27, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
People still like to try out furniture before buying. Smithe said she doesn’t think virtual design will replace showrooms anytime soon, but Walter E. Smithe plans to continue offering it once stores reopen.
“If people are time-pressed or don’t care about seeing an item in person, online design is perfect and designers are using the time now to get really comfortable with it,” she said.
A handful of manufacturers the retailer works with temporarily shut down or switched to making fabric masks instead of their usual products. But the company can still get items from most product lines to customers, along with custom-ordered products, and has started offering contact-free pickup at its Itasca warehouse, Smithe said.
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Smithe said the company has been able to avoid layoffs or furloughs but declined to say how many people Walter E. Smithe employs, whether it sought loans for businesses affected by the pandemic, or comment further on the financial impact of the pandemic.
[ Cosmetology students say online learning ‘not the same’ ]
In the meantime, the company is working on plans to safely reopen stores, including limiting the number of people inside at a time and providing masks for all customers and employees. Skokie, where one store is located, already requires people wear masks in most public places, Smithe said.
The company hasn’t started stocking up, in part because it doesn’t want to compete with health care workers for protective equipment.
“We’re looking at everything day by day. ... We can plan for the best, which would be opening the second the governor says we can. But it will depend on the governor’s order, CDC guidelines, and our and our employees’ comfort levels,” she said.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Chicago-area companies and workers to face harsh realities about their paychecks and their place in the local economy. The Tribune is reaching out to hear, and share, their stories.


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--4 people suffer minor injuries when a sedan crashes into a CTA bus in the Loop

The bus driver was taken to Northwestern Hospital where she was listed in good condition , as were the two @ @ @ @ @ police .
The driver of the sedan also was taken to Northwestern and he also @ @ @ @ @ .
Details about injuries weren ’ t immediately released by police .

Four people were hurt when the driver of a sedan crashed into a CTA bus early Thursday in the Loop, according to Chicago police.
The female bus driver, two passengers on the bus, and the driver of a black sedan, a 29-year-old man, all were injured as a result of the collision about 4:20 a.m. in the 100 block of North LaSalle Street, authorities said.
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Police said the bus was headed east on East Washington Street and had moved into the intersection when a black sedan, traveling south on LaSalle at a “high rate of speed” failed to stop at a red light and collided with a portion of the bus.
The bus driver was taken to Northwestern Hospital where she was listed in good condition, as were the two injured passengers, according to police. The driver of the sedan also was taken to Northwestern and he also was listed in good condition. Details about injuries weren’t immediately released by police.
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The collision also forced the bus into a bank building, where it struck some windows, police said.
Officials said the driver of the sedan likely faces at least one citation, related either to the vehicle’s speed or the collision, but a police spokeswoman said the report had not been completed so it was unclear whether any citations had been issued.
Check back for updates.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews