chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Chicago has spent at least $222 million in overtime so far in 2020, already over budget for the year

“ If this is part of the ‘ safety , ’ then so be it , ” one of the @ @ @ @ @ provide his name for fear of repercussions , said .
“ You know , no @ @ @ @ @ vandalized or anything like that .
They don ’ t want the same things to @ @ @ @ @ ’ re doing the best they can .
”

Streets and Sanitation vehicles are deployed to deter possible unrest on North Avenue and Wells Street in the Old Town neighborhood on Sept. 25, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The weekend after a Kentucky grand jury declined to charge any police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered a fleet of city vehicles to prepare for another possible round of civil unrest and looting.
Garbage trucks lined up along Halsted Street and North Avenue, with their drivers idling by retail corridors in case they were needed to block roadways. One worker told the Tribune he was part of a “blockade on wheels.” Another, who read a book on a folding chair in front of his truck while waiting for a crisis that did not come, summed up the city’s strategy as: “You better be safe than sorry.”
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But the city’s approach to potential civil unrest has had a significant financial cost for taxpayers, records released to the Tribune in response to an open records request show. Chicago has spent at least $222 million on overtime for Chicago government workers through August, a budget-busting figure as the city faces historic shortfalls.
To put that into perspective, Lightfoot budgeted roughly $180 million in 2020 overtime costs for all city departments, records show.
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Much of the spending is being driven by police and other public safety departments, as well as public health needs generated by the coronavirus pandemic.
But overtime also has skyrocketed due to public safety needs even in departments that do not obviously have public safety at the core of their mission, such as Streets and Sanitation, which already has spent twice its overtime budget.
“If this is part of the ‘safety,’ then so be it,” one of the workers, who declined to provide his name for fear of repercussions, said. “You know, no one wants any more property vandalized or anything like that. They don’t want the same things to keep happening, and they’re doing the best they can.”
In response to questions about Chicago overtime spending this year, Lightfoot budget spokeswoman Kristen Cabanban said the city had been “making significant strides in better managing overtime use” through May, but a confluence of the global pandemic, the August derecho storm and civil unrest caused a spike in costs. Protests also have led to increased overtime in other cities across the country, she noted.
“2020 should be treated as an (outlier) as the confluence of a pandemic, a violent and destructive storm and a series of spontaneous protests have all driven up overtime costs,” she said in an email.
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Over budget
Earlier this summer, Lightfoot announced the city’s 2021 budget deficit would be $1.2 billion, a sum she said was largely attributable to COVID-19 related economic fallout. The pandemic also blew an $800 million deficit in the city’s 2020 budget, she said.
But rising crime and civil unrest also have contributed to the city’s financial hole. Lightfoot is scheduled to explain how she’ll fill the deficit on Oct. 21 and has not ruled out measures like a property tax increase or staff layoffs.
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So far this year, the Chicago Police Department has spent $99.7 million on overtime and is already over budget. Lightfoot set aside nearly $96 million for police overtime in all of 2020.
The Police Department in recent years has stepped up its overtime spending in the face of national headlines highlighting Chicago’s violence problem, and the expense keeps mounting.
In 2012, the city spent $53 million on police overtime, a year in which there were more than 500 homicides in Chicago. At that time, the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents rank-and-file Chicago cops, decried overtime spending as a “Band-Aid approach,” calling for the city to instead hire more officers.
The following year, the department started an overtime initiative that called for 400 extra cops each day to work in 20 “impact zones” within the most dangerous neighborhoods on the South and West sides. By the end of November 2013, overtime costs totaled about $96 million — triple the $32 million budgeted for the year.
In 2017, the city’s inspector general found that the department had failed to closely monitor overtime and had not taken measures to prevent officers from abusing the system to pile up additional pay. The report found the city had spent a combined $575 million on officer overtime over the previous six years.
Chicago spent roughly $140 million on police overtime last year, records show.
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So far this year, Chicago Fire Department officials have spent $60.3 million on overtime, compared with roughly $39 million that the city budgeted for the year.
Cabanban attributed the increases to the firefighter union contract requirements, as well as COVID-19 and vacancies.
“CFD has also utilized surge ambulances and created COVID-19 task forces during the peak of COVID-19, constituting more than 6% of CFD’s overtime,” she said. “They have also been involved in responding to civil unrest by establishing task forces on the ground to respond to fires and medical emergencies.”
City trucks are parked in the 100 block of East Wacker Drive amid a heavier-than-normal police presence along North Michigan Avenue on Aug. 29, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
One of the biggest spikes in overtime spending comes from the Department of Streets and Sanitation, which so far has spent more than $14.7 million on overtime in 2020.
Lightfoot’s budget called for the department to spend about half that for the whole year.
Similarly, the Department of Transportation has spent $5.8 million so far in overtime, compared with the $3.7 million called for in the budget.
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Streets and Sanitation and Transportation both have been called on to help with public safety work, such as blocking roads, as well as fallout from the derecho storm in August, Cabanban said.
Some of the city’s overtime spending will be eligible for reimbursement from the federal CARES Act, Cabanban said, but the administration couldn’t say how much. Overtime costs for the city’s response to civil unrest will not be eligible for CARES Act, she said.
‘A blockade on wheels’
Four uniformed city workers, who spoke to the Tribune but declined to give their names the weekend after last month’s Breonna Taylor decision in Kentucky, said they believed their assignment, which was to wait inside trucks until they need to block a street, was a vital use of city resources.
One worker who has been with Streets and Sanitation for almost two decades said his biggest fear when posted in his truck is getting shot or hit with a Molotov cocktail. Nothing close to that has happened, he said, but he has been confronted by residents, including one who heatedly asked, “Why are you helping the police?”
The assignment has left him concerned.
“We’re not police. I have no bulletproof vest, no gun,” the worker said. “We’re basically a blockade on wheels.”
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The employee said he worked eight hours of overtime on top of his normal eight-hour shift and “would rather be at home.” But he said he believes it’s his duty to protect Chicago’s businesses, which already are struggling amid the pandemic.
“I don’t want overtime, but I want to do my job,” he said. “If they need me out here, I’m out here. Residents feel safer when someone’s around at night. We alleviate the fear because then at least somebody is out there.”
An employee with the water department said his assignment — to park his blue truck on the street so he’s ready in case of looting — has become routine at this point.
“We try to protect our people as best as we can. It’s not so much getting overtime as the idea of helping out our city during looting,” he said. “The businesses have lost so much. Downtown Chicago is not even downtown Chicago anymore.”
A third Streets and Sanitations employee was spending his regular shift standing outside his parked truck rather than collecting trash. After watching looters in Chicago run off with stolen goods on the news earlier this summer, he believed the city was on the right track with this assignment.
“It’s a good idea,” he said. “I don’t want to see anybody getting hurt. Protesting is good, protesting is healthy. But people shouldn’t get hurt.”
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gpratt@chicagotribune.com
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-06--Trump, after receiving unprecedented level of care, downplays COVID-19 and returns to White House wi

Trump, after receiving unprecedented level of care, downplays COVID-19 and returns to White House without a mask

Trump ’ s experience with the disease has been dramatically different from most Americans , who do not have access @ @ @ @ @ monitoring and care .
While most must cope with their symptoms — and fear of @ @ @ @ @ a turn for the worse — at home and alone , Trump has been staying @ @ @ @ @ one of the nation ’ s best hospitals and has been given experimental drugs not @ @ @ @ @ .
He returns to the White House where there is a team of doctors on @ @ @ @ @

ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and AAMER MADHANI

BETHESDA, Md. — President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans — and then he entered the White House without a protective mask.
Trump’s message alarmed infectious disease experts and suggested the president’s own illness had not caused him to rethink his often-cavalier attitude toward the disease, which has also infected the first lady and several White House aides, including new cases revealed on Monday.
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Landing at the White House on Marine One, Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask and declared, “I feel good.” He gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter from the portico terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.
President Trump returns to the White House.
Full video here: https://t.co/1nsreXhkot pic.twitter.com/ktp39Byu6p — CSPAN (@cspan) October 5, 2020
The president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where his doctor, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley, said earlier Monday that the president remains contagious and would not be fully “out of the woods” for another week but that Trump had met or exceeded standards for discharge from the hospital. Trump is expected to continue his recovery at the White House, where the reach of the outbreak that has infected the highest levels of the U.S. government is still being uncovered.
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Still, just a month before the election and anxious to project strength, Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital, “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!!” And in case anyone missed his don’t-worry message earlier, he rushed out a new video from the White House.
“Don’t be afraid of it,” Trump said of the virus. “You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines.” His remarks were strong, but he was taking deeper breaths than usual as he delivered them.
Trump’s nonchalant message about not fearing the virus comes as his own administration has encouraged Americans to be very careful and take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease as cases continue to spike across the country. For more than eight months, Trump’s efforts to play down the threat of the virus in hopes of propping up the economy ahead of the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.
“We have to be realistic in this: COVID is a complete threat to the American population,” Dr. David Nace of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said of Trump’s comment.
“Most of the people aren’t so lucky as the president,” with an in-house medical unit and access to experimental treatments, added Nace, an expert on infections in older adults.
“It’s an unconscionable message,” agreed Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “I would go so far as to say that it may precipitate or worsen spread.”
[ Since President Trump’s COVID diagnosis, numerous associates have tested positive, but the White House has not investigated how the outbreak unfolded ]
Likewise, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who spent more than 90 minutes on the debate stage with Trump last week, said during an NBC town hall Monday night that he was glad Trump seemed to be recovering well, “but there’s a lot to be concerned about -- 210,000 people have died. I hope no one walks away with the message that it’s not a problem.”
Biden, who tested negative for the virus on Sunday, said in an interview with WPLG Local 10 News in Miami: “I saw a tweet he did, they showed me, he said ‘Don’t let COVID control your life.’” Tell that to all the “families that lost someone.”
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 12 President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller stands in the Oval Office of the White House during a law enforcement briefing on the MS-13 gang, July 15, 2020, in Washington. Miller has tested positive for COVID-19. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
There was pushback from a prominent Trump political supporter as well.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that Trump had “let his guard down” in his effort to show that the country was moving beyond the virus and had created “confusion” about how to stay safe.
Dr. Conley said that because of Trump’s unusual level of treatment so early after discovery of his illness he was in “uncharted territory.” But the doctor also was upbeat at an afternoon briefing and said the president could resume his normal schedule once “there is no evidence of live virus still present.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 can be contagious for as many — and should isolate for at least — 10 days.
[ CDC now says coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air in updated guidance ]
Trump’s arrival back at the White House raised new questions about how the administration was going to protect other officials from a disease that remains rampant in the president’s body. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had tested positive for the virus Monday morning and was entering quarantine.
There were also lingering questions about potential long term effects to the president — and even when he first came down with the virus
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Conley repeatedly declined to share results of medical scans of Trump’s lungs, saying he was not at liberty to discuss the information because Trump did not waive doctor-patient confidentiality on the subject. COVID-19 has been known to cause significant damage to the lungs of some patients. Conley also declined to share the date of Trump’s most recent negative test for the virus — a critical point for contact tracing and understanding where Trump was in the course of the disease.
Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, talks with reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Evan Vucci/AP)
Only a day earlier, Trump suggested he had finally grasped the true nature of the virus, saying in a video, “I get it.” But then on Sunday afternoon, he ventured out of the hospital while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade — an outing that disregarded precautions meant to contain the virus.
At the hospital, doctors revealed that his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the very sick.
Trump’s experience with the disease has been dramatically different from most Americans, who do not have access to the same kind of monitoring and care. While most must cope with their symptoms — and fear of whether they’ll take a turn for the worse — at home and alone, Trump has been staying in the presidential suite of one of the nation’s best hospitals and has been given experimental drugs not readily available to the public. He returns to the White House where there is a team of doctors on call with 24-hour monitoring.
Trump was leaving the hospital after receiving a fourth dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir Monday evening, Conley said. He will receive the fifth and final dose Tuesday at the White House.
[ Nearly one-third of COVID patients in Chicago-area study had an altered mental state — ranging from confusion to coma-like unresponsiveness ]
Vice President Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail moments after Trump announced he would soon leave the hospital. The vice president boarded Air Force Two to fly to Salt Lake City, where he is to face off against Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
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Trump, in his new video, defended his decision to repeatedly flout his own administration’s guidelines to slow the spread of the virus, including by holding rallies with thousands of largely maskless supporters.
Apparently referring to any potential danger to himself rather than others, he said, “I stood out front. I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did.” He added, “And I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger. But that’s OK. And now I’m better. And maybe I’m immune, I don’t know.”
Even before Trump’s motorcade outing on Sunday, some Secret Service agents had expressed concern about the lackadaisical attitude toward masks and social distancing inside the White House, but there isn’t much they can do, according to agents and officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
Trump’s aggressive course of treatment included the steroid dexamethasone and the single dose he was given Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help the immune system fight the virus. Trump on Friday also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients. The drugs work in different ways — the antibodies help the immune system rid the body of virus, and remdesivir curbs the virus' ability to multiply.
Miller and Colvin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard and Jonathan Lemire in Washington, and Bill Barrow in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-10-06--CPS teacher who died of COVID-19 cleaned houses before earning her college degree and had ‘an incred

CPS teacher who died of COVID-19 cleaned houses before earning her college degree and had ‘an incredible instinct for working with children’

It was , “ you have another language , now you will add English to this and you will have @ @ @ @ @ the world , ” Garreton said .
“ It was important to her not to @ @ @ @ @ coming with deficits , but another area they could develop or that was valuable to @ @ @ @ @ s not replace Spanish with English , let ’ s add English to what you @ @ @ @ @

After holding her hands as she took her final breaths, Olga Quiroga’s family drove past a double rainbow last Thursday and felt her presence.
“The biggest rainbow was in front of us. It gave us this peace and we felt like, that was our mom," said Gladys Quiroga Watts, the oldest of Quiroga’s three daughters.
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Just weeks before, Quiroga was starting a new school year teaching at Funston Elementary.
Giovanna Quiroga, the middle sister, had stayed up until nearly 4 a.m. helping her mom make little hands on Popsicle sticks with the names of each of her students, which they could use to raise their hands in class.
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But just days into fall quarter, Quiroga was hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19. She was put in a medically induced coma and intubated on Sept. 19, her daughters said.
Last Wednesday, doctors told Quiroga’s family that nothing more could be done, and she didn’t have much time left. Gladys, who lives in Austin, Texas, booked a flight for early Thursday.
Around 11:15 that morning, Giovanna got a call that her mother’s heart and oxygen levels had dropped so low that she coded, and asking if the family wanted medical staff to initiate CPR. Giovanna and the youngest sister, Genesis, were both at home. Their father was at work, and Gladys was in the air, approaching Midway Airport.
“I told them to hold onto her until we get there, just hold onto her,” Giovanna said. Genesis and their father rushed to the hospital, while Giovanna headed for the airport to pick up Gladys.
All three daughters and father were allowed in the room after suiting up: double masks behind a face shield, gloves and gowns.
“It’s been a very long time since all five of us were together, so she made sure that we were there together before she left us,” Gladys said.
CPS teacher and mother, grandmother and wife Olga Quiroga died of COVID-19 on Oct. 1, 2020. (Family photo)
A hospital chaplain gave final blessings. Quiroga’s oxygen tubes were removed and the family surrounded her, holding her hands. They noticed that she took a breath each time they spoke, as if in response.
For nearly 10 minutes, they talked about memories and her grandchildren. Once they told her they would take care of each other and it was OK for her to go, her heart rate slowly went down. She took her last breath at 3:51 p.m. A doctor came in a half-hour later and pronounced her dead.
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“My mom was a fighter and she’s still a fighter up in heaven right now,” Gladys said. “She’s still going to make a difference.”
Quiroga died the day after her 58th birthday of respiratory failure and novel coronavirus, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which also noted diabetes.
A Chicago Public Schools teacher for two decades, Quiroga’s career as a bilingual educator traces back to her childhood 1,400 miles away in Nuevo Laredo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Playing pretend with her siblings, Quiroga assumed the role of a teacher who could speak both English and Spanish.
Newly married, Olga and Juan G. Quiroga moved across the border to Laredo, Texas, and in 1985 to Chicago. After a brief return to Texas and the birth of their second daughter, the couple moved back to Chicago for good, finding a home in Little Village and eventually in Garfield Ridge.
Gladys recalled her mother decorating for every holiday in those early years in Chicago, covering a wall inside their house with paper hearts for Valentine’s Day.
Olga Quiroga started cleaning houses for $50 a week while enrolled in GED and English classes, her daughters said. Their father, who also worked during the day, would cook for them and pick her up at night when class was over. In the early 1990s, she started working for CPS as a paraprofessional. She later earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago State University. Giovanna will never forget the graduation ceremony: Her mother got her hair and makeup done, because she wanted everything to be perfect.
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“She cried so much that day, because she did it," Giovanna said. “That was for all of us.”
A student teaching program through Chicago State placed Quiroga in Lois La Galle’s classroom at CPS’ Inter-American Magnet School in 2000. Quiroga later became a mentor herself to many younger teachers.
“Having her in my classroom helped me become a better teacher, because she has such an incredible instinct for working with children,” La Galle said. “Just this genuine, deep down, authentic respect and love for the students that informed everything she did and it was inspiring to have her there working with me.”
Quiroga was hired to stay on at the school. In addition to her delight, joy and skill in working with children, La Galle was impressed by how organized she was.
“I didn’t understand at the end of the day my room looked like a tornado had hit and hers, not a single thing was out of place,” said La Galle, who would tease Quiroga: “Did you teach today or did you just organize your classroom?”
Bilingual education was especially important to Quiroga, who understood what it’s like to be in a new city and not know the language. Her colleagues said she devoted her career to helping immigrant students and families, and her support and advocacy went beyond the classroom.
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“She was never intimidated by authority or school policy,” La Galle said. “When she saw a wrong being done to a child or a child’s family ... whenever she would see an injustice being done that could be fixed and should be fixed, she never hesitated for a moment to advocate.”
Maria Teresa Garreton, Quiroga’s bilingual education professor at Chicago State, recalled the many barriers Quiroga pushed through, while never feeling sorry for herself. She worked hard to master English and took a required skills test multiple times, until she finally passed.
“She kept studying and improving until she got it done so she could get her license,” Garreton said, adding Quiroga was such a powerful bilingual teacher in part because she saw speaking Spanish as an asset.
It was, “you have another language, now you will add English to this and you will have two ways of looking at the world,” Garreton said. “It was important to her not to look at the child as coming with deficits, but another area they could develop or that was valuable to the world: 'Let’s not replace Spanish with English, let’s add English to what you already know.’”
When Quiroga picketed during teachers strikes and again this fall, her husband accompanied her to the big Chicago Teachers Union parade through the Loop.
“My dad ... was so proud of her,” Genesis said. “My mom was it for him.”
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All three daughters went to Chicago Public Schools.
“She wanted to keep us grounded. She always wanted to keep us humble," Giovanna said. "She wanted us to appreciate an education because for her, moving to Chicago and working for CPS, that was her dream and she fulfilled it and she wanted us to be in the same system.”
Her family believes it was her very dedication to her students that placed her in the path of the coronavirus. In recent weeks, she had only left the house to stop by the school, most recently to distribute supplies several days before school started.
Funston’s principal did not respond to an email but informed the community of Quiroga’s death in a letter saying she “will be missed immensely” and offering support to students through school counselors, social workers and psychologists. “We are saddened by this loss and will do everything we can to help you and your (students),” she wrote.
A statement from CPS said that when the district learned of the positive case at Funston, it initiated “standard protocol” and identified one person who had been within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes. That person was told to quarantine, and no other cases at Funston had been reported as of Monday, according to CPS.
“Our hearts are heavy upon learning of the loss of a dedicated member of the CPS community," said spokeswoman Emily Bolton. "Our deepest condolences are with Mrs. Quiroga’s family and the Funston school community.”
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On social media and the funeral home’s memorial website, former students and co-workers have left comments reflecting on how Quiroga changed their lives. Some created an online fundraiser to help cover funeral costs.
In addition to her three daughters, Quiroga left behind four grandchildren, ages 9 months to 14 years. She gave each their first bath. When Gladys, who serves in the Army, was deployed to Afghanistan, the oldest grandchild went to stay with Quiroga.
Besides her family and teaching, she loved to travel and visited Gladys wherever she was stationed. Most summers, the family visited Quiroga’s father and siblings in Nuevo Laredo.
Quiroga’s daughters said she was happy in her dad’s house, dancing in the backyard or sitting on the porch in a rocking chair and looking at the plants. Her favorite tree there, a bougainvillea that blossomed with vibrant purple flowers, was planted by her mother, who died in 1997. Her daughters said she sensed her own mother in that tree, the way they felt her in the rainbow.
Visitation is noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn, followed by a memorial service. Gatherings are limited to 50 or fewer guests, who are required to wear face coverings. The memorial service will be streamed live: https://asimplestreaming.com/quiroga.
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-07--Daywatch: Lightfoot considers $200M worker cuts, Second City for sale and all the ‘Windy City Rehab’

Daywatch: Lightfoot considers $200M worker cuts, Second City for sale and all the ‘Windy City Rehab’ drama

As Trump convalesced out of sight in the White House , the administration defended the protections it has put in @ @ @ @ @ working there to treat and support him .
Trump again publicly played down the virus @ @ @ @ @ from a three-day hospitalization , though even more aides tested positive , including one of @ @ @ @ @ Miller .

Want Daywatch delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. | Get the top Tribune stories of the day on your smart speaker | Here’s how to get the most out of your Tribune subscription | Got something to say? Join the conversation on our Facebook page
Good morning, Chicago. On Tuesday, Illinois health officials announced 1,617 new known cases of COVID-19 and 32 additional fatalities. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is currently 3.4%.
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Also, the city warned that Chicago residents are “strongly advised” to avoid traveling to Indiana. The state may be the next addition to the quarantine list next week.
Have you prepared your voting plan for this upcoming election? Early voting is now underway in Chicago and across the state, and we’ve put together a list of nearly 200 locations in the city and the suburbs where you can vote early.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot releases the 2021 budget forecast at the Chicago Cultural Center on Aug. 31, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday cast a dark vision of the city budget plan she will present to aldermen later this month, saying it might be the toughest vote City Council members will ever have to take because of its potential to disrupt workers' lives if she resorts to wide-scale layoffs or other labor cuts.
Though Lightfoot again declined to specify exactly how she will close a projected $1.2 billion deficit, the mayor said every meeting with her financial team about the issue “has been painful.”
A member of the cleaning staff dressed in a protective suit sprays the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)
President Donald Trump, said to be making progress in his recovery from COVID-19, tweeted his eagerness to return to the campaign trail Tuesday even as the outbreak that has killed more than 210,000 Americans reached ever more widely into the upper echelons of the U.S. government.
As Trump convalesced out of sight in the White House, the administration defended the protections it has put in place to protect the staff working there to treat and support him. Trump again publicly played down the virus on Twitter after his return from a three-day hospitalization, though even more aides tested positive, including one of his closest advisers, Stephen Miller.
A CPS clerk said conditions in some schools are deplorable and that "this is a risk CPS is asking is to take. Why does CPS feel that our lives are not important?" (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
With one month left of the fall quarter, the outcome of a labor dispute with the Chicago Teachers Union could have implications for whether Chicago Public Schools reopens for the winter.
While students and teachers continue remote learning at least through Nov. 5, an independent arbitrator on Friday ruled that CPS violated its contract with the Chicago Teachers Union by making some employees work in person under what may not have been “safe and healthful” conditions.
A man walks past the Wells Street entrance to Second City in Chicago in August. The famed comedy theater is now entirely up for sale. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
In June, in an attempt to take the fall for internal turmoil, Andrew Alexander, the longtime co-owner of Second City, announced plans to remove himself from the famed comedy theater and put his share up for sale. On Tuesday, a Los Angeles-based investment bank put the whole institution up for sale. Second City is a mainstay of Chicago’s famed theater scene but also is a for-profit, live-entertainment operation devastated by a forced closure.
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Alison Victoria transforms historic homes in the high-stakes Chicago market as host of “Windy City Rehab.” (HGTV)
Here’s a look at the issues that have plagued the HGTV series “Windy City Rehab,” which follows Alison Victoria Gramenos and her team as they renovate and flip Chicago homes, from permit trouble to a burglary, civil and city lawsuits, work stoppage and behind-the-scenes drama.


chicagotribune--2020-10-07--Senior groups backing graduated-rate income tax say opponents' warning that it could lead to a tax o

Senior groups backing graduated-rate income tax say opponents' warning that it could lead to a tax on retirement income is an attempt to confuse older people

“ The facts are absolutely clear : the Fair Tax does not tax retirement income , nor does it make @ @ @ @ @ so , ” Fulks said , using the name the group has adopted for the @ @ @ @ @ supports the Fair Tax because it helps our working families and like the governor and @ @ @ @ @ taxing retirement income .
”

The specter of a tax on retirement benefits in Illinois being raised by opponents of a proposed graduated-rate income tax amendment has prompted an outcry from leading seniors' groups that are backing the proposal.
Officials from AARP Illinois, the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans and Jane Addams Seniors in Action contend amendment opponents are attempting to mislead older voters by saying the proposal could lead to a state tax on retirement benefits. The senior groups are asking that opposition advertising saying as much be taken down.
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“As someone who has dedicated myself to supporting the aging population in Illinois for the last 30 years ——including fighting for retirement security ——I’m deeply concerned about the misinformation being spread,” said Charles D. Johnson, 76, who directed the state Department on Aging from 2003 to 2011 and is an AARP volunteer.
“No matter who has said it or how they have said it, the simple truth is that switching to a graduated income tax does not allow the state to tax retirement income,” Johnson said.
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Johnson said the senior groups have been working to distribute postcards and contact people about the amendment and counter opponents' messaging as a flurry of TV ads come from both sides.
“What I see in some of the opponents' commercials is that it’s older people saying this is going to give the opportunity for politicians to tax older people and retirement income. That’s not true. They can do it now if they want to,” Johnson said.
AARP and the other groups “would not support something not deemed to be in the best interests of older persons and especially lower-income older persons,” he said.
The retirement tax issue has arisen in the debate over Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature agenda item on the Nov. 3 ballot, a proposal to change the state constitution to eliminate its current mandate of a flat-rate income tax and allow a graduated-rate tax that increases the levy as income rises.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first State of the State speech at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on Jan. 29, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois is one of three states that levies an income tax but does not impose it on retirement income, such as pensions and IRA and 401(k) plans. There is nothing in the language of the proposed amendment that changes state law that prohibits taxing retirement benefits.
But opponents have seized on an amendment provision that would allow lawmakers to set various tax rates on various incomes as creating the potential for state lawmakers to someday seek to enact a tax on those with large retirement incomes.
Imposing any tax on retirement income would be fraught with political peril, one lawmakers consider akin to “touching the third rail” — an issue so heavily charged that it risks a politician’s future, such as talk of cutting Social Security benefits.
Adding to the political sensitivity is that older people are the most dependable voting demographic in politics.
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But amendment opponents point to a comment Democratic State Treasurer Michael Frerichs made in June to the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce. The Daily Herald reported Frerichs said one consideration for adopting the graduated-rate amendment was that it could allow the taxing of retirement income for those who could afford it.
“One thing a progressive tax would do is make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income,” he said, according to the Daily Herald. “And, I think that’s something that’s worth discussion.”
On Tuesday, Frerichs had scheduled a news conference to rebut amendment opponents' use of his comments. But he abruptly canceled it 10 minutes before it was to begin. When asked why, a Frerichs aide offered no explanation.
Later, Frerichs issued a statement in which he did not address the canceled news conference but said he opposes a retirement tax and supports the graduated-rate income tax.
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“I oppose creating a retirement tax in Illinois, along with the General Assembly, and governor,” Frerichs said.
“I encourage others to join me to stand up for working families and retirees, so they get a tax cut while we ask millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. The fact is opponents of the fair tax have actually released plans to tax retirement income and raise taxes on everyone,” Frerichs said.
One group opposing the amendment, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, proposed in February 2019 an $8 billion budget package that included raising the state’s flat-rate income tax from 4.95% to 5.95%, a 20% increase on all incomes, as well as imposing the income tax on retirement income.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield in January. Illinois is one of three states that levies an income tax but does not impose it on retirement income. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Frerichs' comments in June most recently were used by a GOP-aligned group in a lawsuit against the state over the informational language used in a state pamphlet sent to voters and on the ballot explaining the proposed amendment.
“Furthermore, some evidence suggests that passing the … amendment is a precondition to imposing a tax on retirement income,” the lawsuit said before referencing Frerichs' June comments.
Amendment supporters have dismissed the lawsuit as “frivolous.”
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Before Frerichs called off his news conference, the lead group opposing the proposed amendment, the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike, issued a statement contending the state treasurer had “admitted taxing retirement income is on the table.”
“No amount of backtracking can change the fact this is the worst possible time to raise taxes, and we simply can’t trust Springfield politicians,” said Lissa Druss, spokesperson for the coalition.
Quentin Fulks, who chairs the pro-amendment Vote Yes For Fairness group, contended opponents pushing the retirement tax argument are “simply trying to confuse Illinoisans.”
“The facts are absolutely clear: the Fair Tax does not tax retirement income, nor does it make it any easier to do so,” Fulks said, using the name the group has adopted for the amendment. “Treasurer Frerichs supports the Fair Tax because it helps our working families and like the governor and the General Assembly, opposes taxing retirement income.”
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-07--Column: Why are Trump and Republicans the ones getting COVID-19? Must be a liberal conspiracy.

Heck , Trump just got out of the hospital after single-handedly beating the so-called virus into submission with his bare @ @ @ @ @ : “ Flu season is coming up !
Many people every year , sometimes over @ @ @ @ @ Vaccine , die from the Flu .
Are we going to close down our Country @ @ @ @ @ learned to live with it , just like we are learning to live with Covid @ @ @ @ @ less lethal !
!
!
”

President Donald Trump holds his face mask as he stands on the Blue Room Balcony upon returning to the White House on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, after leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (Alex Brandon / AP)
I don’t mean to sound conspiratorial, but I think godless DEMONcrats have intentionally infected President Donald Trump, several Republican senators and a number of military and religious leaders with the coronavirus.
How else can we explain the fact that Republicans, who wisely question the seriousness of this so-called pandemic, seem to be the ones getting diagnosed with COVID-19 while liberals like Sleepy Joe Biden who religiously wear masks and abide by silly social distancing recommendations don’t get sick? It makes no sense.
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This all hit me the other day as I was finishing a blog post titled: “Only GIRLY LIBS wear masks: How to beat the FAKE coronavirus scare with AMERICAN #toughness!!”
I came across an investigative tweet by former Republican congressional candidate and true American patriot DeAnna Lorraine. It read: “Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent Democrats have had the virus but the list of Republicans goes on and on?”
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Wow. That really makes you not think, doesn’t it?
Here are some of the recent Republican politicians and members of the Trump administration who have tested positive for the fake coronavirus: President Trump; first lady Melania Trump; Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; press secretary Kayleigh McEnany; aide Hope Hicks; former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway; campaign manager Bill Stepien; principal assistant press secretary Chad Gilmartin; assistant press secretary Karoline Leavitt; Sen. Mike Lee; Sen. Ron Johnson; Sen. Thom Tillis; and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Also suspiciously testing positive for a thing I don’t believe in are: Notre Dame President John Jenkins; vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Charles Ray; California megachurch pastor Greg Laurie; and Texas megachurch pastor Matt Hagee.
On Tuesday, because of the Coast Guard admiral’s diagnosis, the top U.S. general, Gen. Mark Milley, and other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff went into quarantine.
How are the liberals pulling this off?
The only things all these people have in common is attending White House events or other engagements where few people wore masks or practiced social distancing. So you’re telling me behavior that conflicts with basic coronavirus rules set up by the notoriously liberal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could somehow put a person at greater risk?
That sounds dodgy. I have it on good authority from the president and a number of people at Fox News that masks are silly and we have to just live our lives and not worry about the virus.
Heck, Trump just got out of the hospital after single-handedly beating the so-called virus into submission with his bare hands and he tweeted this: “Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!”
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(Note how Trump smartly included a bunch of incorrect information in that tweet to infuriate the FAKE NEWS media and force Twitter to label it as “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.” Classic!)
But I still can’t figure out why Republicans seem to be the main ones learning to live with the virus by catching the virus.
At my Masks Are Tyranny advocacy group’s planning session Tuesday afternoon, I got close to the faces of several members and loudly exclaimed, “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?”
The group’s co-founder, following one of the coughing fits he recently developed, shouted this into my face: “THIS HAS TO BE A RADICAL LEFT-WING CONSPIRACY AIMED AT DESTROYING AMERICA AS WE KNOW IT AND SILENCING CONSERVATIVES THEN ENSLAVING US AND FORCING US TO WORK IN THE KALE FIELDS!!!”
That adds up. But it doesn’t explain everything.
No, I think something more sinister is afoot, and I would bet my ticket to this weekend’s Midwestern Shopping Mall Bannister Licking Competition on it.
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I asked myself: If masks are dumb and unmanly — duh! — and standing in crowded spaces during a pandemic is awesome and sensible, why are so many people who believe those things getting sick?
Then it hit me: antifa.
Clearly, the coronavirus has teamed up with left-wing radicals in antifa who are trying to bring down the government. They are likely dispatching some of their Super Soldiers (you can find out about them on the internet or from my Uncle Stu). The soldiers may be disguising themselves as Republicans or even President Trump to infect unsuspecting real-Republicans who have gathered in crowded areas to hug and talk loudly without masks.
This is literally the only thing that makes sense.
So, fellow Republicans, if you are out and about, please be on the lookout for people who look like Republicans. They will likely be maskless and eager to talk directly into your face.
If you see anyone fitting that description, run away as quickly as possible shouting, “ANTIFA! THEY’VE COME TO GIVE ME THE CORONAVIRUS!”
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This is the only way we can stop them.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-07--Column: Trump’s COVID-19 antics are appalling. They might just win him reelection.

He doesn ’ t care what die-hard anti-Trumpers think of his antics .
He knows he ’ ll never get @ @ @ @ @ any savvy politician , he ’ s not wasting time in this final stretch of @ @ @ @ @ us over .

US President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks out of Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland walking to Marine One on October 5, 2020, to return to the White House after being discharged. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Most Americans are appalled, if not enraged, by the way Donald Trump has acted since testing positive for COVID-19.
When we think he can’t get any worse, he comes up with a new stunt that makes our blood boil. That’s exactly what Trump wants. Every good political showman knows that drama creates energy, and that translates into votes.
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Not our votes, of course. We’re spectators on the sidelines of an invitation-only performance for his zealous and loyal base — the roughly 40% of Americans who have stuck with him through scandals no other president could have withstood.
As ridiculous as it seems, contracting the coronavirus — and seemingly overcoming it — might be the best thing that could have happened to Trump weeks away from the election.
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He has masterfully turned the diagnosis most of us initially thought would be a politically humiliating, game-changing disaster into an effective reelection strategy.
Every movement — from his drive-by on Sunday, his abrupt departure from the hospital, his photo op on the White House balcony to his videotaped tweet urging Americans not to let COVID “take over your lives” — was meticulously orchestrated.
If you’re offended by any of this, you definitely weren’t on his guest list.
We’re not stupid, though. We all know exactly what he’s up to. What we don’t know — and what scares us — is whether this dangerous, unorthodox strategy might work.
I’m here to warn you that it absolutely could.
Trump knows exactly how to play to his base. What he needs more than anything if he has any chance of winning reelection is for his people to be energized.
He doesn’t care what die-hard anti-Trumpers think of his antics. He knows he’ll never get our vote. So like any savvy politician, he’s not wasting time in this final stretch of the campaign trying to win us over.
The more outraged we get over Trump’s performances, the more excited his base gets. In this game of one-upmanship the two sides have been playing for four years, Trump supporters get a big ego boost seeing their opponents in a tizzy.
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They can feel the momentum growing, and Trump has promised them a victory on Nov. 3 even if he loses.
It’s very likely that Joe Biden will win the popular vote by a landslide, as Hilary Clinton did in 2016. She defeated Trump by nearly 3 million votes. But as you know, the popular vote doesn’t decide the winner. The Electoral College does.
Though more than 136 million votes were cast nationwide, only about 80,000 voters put him in the White House. A mere 10,704 voters in Michigan, 46,765 in Pennsylvania and 22,177 voters in Wisconsin gave Trump the edge needed to win the electoral vote.
The troubling thing is that he didn’t even do all that well in those states. He narrowly won Michigan by 0.2 percentage points, Pennsylvania by 0.7 and Wisconsin by 0.8. But combined, they gave him 46 electoral votes.
If Clinton had done better there, we would have been spared these past four years of torment. But there’s no use in crying over the past. We have to look forward.
Current polling averages compiled by RealClearPolitics show Biden with a nine-point national lead over Trump, including a 5.6-point lead in Wisconsin, 6.3 points in Pennsylvania and 6.2 points in Michigan. Fourteen other battleground states could also be in play this year, and Biden is ahead in all of them except Texas, according to the agency.
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Most of the polls, however, fall within the margin of error, which means it’s not a sure thing. A win in nearly any combination of the battleground states could push Trump over the top.
Of course, the same would be true for Biden, but Trump has something he doesn’t. Trump is going into this election with an incumbent’s advantage. He will wake up on Election Day with an automatic 40%.
These steadfast supporters stuck with him through an impeachment, a $130,000 payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair, reports that he only paid $750 in federal taxes and a botched response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If he can get them to the polls, all he needs is a handful of other voters in key states to push him over the top.
A CNN poll released Tuesday showed Biden leading Trump 57% to 41% among likely voters. While 90% said they’ve already decided whom to vote for, 8% said they might change their mind and 1% said they were undecided.
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It’s a small window of opportunity, but if Trump can siphon a handful of voters away from Biden in the right states, he has a good shot at reelection.
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Otherwise, he’s hoping that Democratic voters in battleground states stay home. He knows they aren’t nearly as fired up over Biden as his supporters are for him.
Even his behavior at last week’s debate was part of his master plan. While we were complaining about how brash and offensive it was, his core supporters, most notably the far-right group the Proud Boys, saw it as a rallying call.
His recent coronavirus theatrics drew praise from one of his most influential supporters on Monday. Fox News host Sean Hannity compared Trump’s handling of COVID-19 to the heroic actions of wartime leaders President Franklin Roosevelt and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
His base ate it up. Some Republican-leaning voters who aren’t willing to admit it publicly probably loved it too.
On Election Day, they could decide to give him a standing ovation.
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dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-10-07--Girlfriend of alleged River North hotel rape mastermind accused of trying to intimidate victim, witn

Girlfriend of alleged River North hotel rape mastermind accused of trying to intimidate victim, witness

The judge gave Taniqua Williams the high bail partly because of the cruel nature of the rape case .
“ @ @ @ @ @ this rape and armed robbery was set up by this woman , according to the @ @ @ @ @ ” Lyke said .
“ And this woman was allegedly her friend .
With friends @ @ @ @ @ need an enemy . ''

The details from the Sept. 27 court hearing were chilling.
A violent sexual assault inside a River North hotel was, according to Cook County prosecutors, the plan of a career criminal and con man hoping to sue the hotel’s parent company for lax security. Those who know the man told investigators that he’s an able-bodied man who uses a wheelchair as a prop in bogus lawsuits, attorneys told a judge.
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The victim, unaware of the plan, was lured to the downtown hotel by the man’s longtime girlfriend for a fun weekend getaway before she moved out of state the next day. Instead, she was accosted by a masked assailant after she exited an elevator, tied up and assaulted at knife point in a stairwell.
On Tuesday, prosecutors alleged that the girlfriend, Taniqua Williams, called the victim’s mother and asked her to pass along a message: Recant your rape claims and tell police that you lied.
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The call came the same day authorities had charged her fiance, Tirnell Williams, with several felonies, including conspiracy to commit aggravated rape related to the Aug. 14 attack at the Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago River North.
The victim was upset and frightened after her mother relayed Williams' message to her, prosecutors told a judge during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube. Days later, Taniqua Williams allegedly threatened another unidentified witness in her boyfriend’s criminal case, telling the person, “We know you’re a (expletive) snitch! Bang bang!" pointing her finger like a gun, according to prosecutors.
Taniqua Williams, 33, now faces felony charges for communicating with and harassing a witness.
Taniqua Williams, 33, has been charged with felony communicating with a witness and harassing a witness. - Original Credit: (Chicago police / HANDOUT)
Taniqua Williams, a resident of the Woodlawn neighborhood and mother of an 8-year-old, was ordered held on $250,000 bond, along with house arrest if she posts the required $25,000.
Tirnell Williams, 43, remains in custody after being denied bail by another judge. At his Sept. 27 hearing, authorities described Williams as a predatory opportunist and admitted scammer who lied with regularity. A nine-time felon, Williams had prior relationships with “several civil attorneys through bringing in potential lawsuits,” adding that he receives money from attorneys to bring in clients.
Authorities said Tirnell Williams had scouted out the Hilton Corp. as a target for a personal injury lawsuit due to what he thought was poor security and a lack of surveillance cameras.
The state’s attorney’s office has disclosed that a recorded phone conversation allegedly captured Tirnell Williams admitting to planning the August rape and lawsuit against Hilton, a global hotel chain with nearly 600 locations.
In court on Tuesday, authorities said Taniqua Williams’ message to the victim following her boyfriend’s arrest was done despite both a police detective and an assistant state’s attorney advising her not to contact the victim or her mother.
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But recorded telephone conversations allegedly captured Taniqua Williams admitting to someone that she called the victim’s mother, Assistant State’s Attorney Amanda Bielinski told Judge John Lyke Jr. Williams later allegedly made the same admission to police, she added. Authorities gave no other details about the recorded conversation.
Prosecutors recounted the graphic sequence of events first heard during Tirnell Williams' bail hearing. The 32-year-old victim was quietly tailed while returning to the hotel after a short trip to a nearby Walgreens. The victim was on the phone with Taniqua Williams during her walk back, but the call ended when the victim reached the hotel, Bielinski said.
Taniqua Williams said she awoke to find the victim hadn’t returned and left the hotel to look for her, Bielinski said. She later found her friend in the stairwell, tied to the railing with her own leggings, authorities said.
Taniqua Williams denied the allegations through her court-appointed attorney, Emily Bock, who said she was an unemployed mom with mental health issues and a volunteer for a south suburban youth cheer team.
The judge gave Taniqua Williams the high bail partly because of the cruel nature of the rape case. “In essence the victim of this rape and armed robbery was set up by this woman, according to the state’s proffer,” Lyke said. “And this woman was allegedly her friend. With friends like this you do not need an enemy."
Lyke also called the harassment case an attack on the legal justice system. “If we allow witnesses to be intimidated or threatened not to come to court, then bad guys can get away with doing bad things.”
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The judge barred Taniqua Williams from contacting the victim or any witnesses.
She is scheduled to return to court next week.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--More than 300,000 Cook County residents could lose insurance if ACA were repealed, officials say: ‘I

More than 300,000 Cook County residents could lose insurance if ACA were repealed, officials say: ‘It is really hard to imagine anything more cruel’

“ The potential for a repeal of the ACA will be devastating to the patients we care for and will @ @ @ @ @ this organization in jeopardy , ” Carey said .
“ To those elected officials and @ @ @ @ @ repeal of the Affordable Care Act : You are choosing politics over primary care , @ @ @ @ @ over humanity .
”

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle made it clear on Wednesday: There is no Plan B for the hundreds of thousands of her constituents who risk losing health insurance should Republicans in Washington succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act.
She warned of a possibly cataclysmic blowback within Cook County’s public hospital system that runs a massive insurance program made possible by the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Without it, there is no backup for many of the 370,000 low-income enrollees who have come to rely on the county’s largest Medicaid managed care plan to access health care, she said.
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“Here’s the bottom line: The repeal of the ACA would not only financially cripple Cook County Health by dramatically increasing the amount of uncompensated health care we provide, it would be catastrophic — catastrophic — for the patients we serve,” Preckwinkle said at a news conference with several Democratic congressmen at Cook County Health’s Chicago headquarters.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks on the impact of a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act during a news conference at Cook County Health in Chicago on Oct. 7, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Democrats have sounded the alarm on the implications of repealing the Affordable Care Act before, but Preckwinkle said Wednesday that now more than ever, there is “a very real threat this time around.”
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That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments on the law’s constitutionality on Nov. 10 after GOP officials sued the federal government in 2018 to strike down Obamacare. And with the pending confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett to the nation’s highest court, the cards could be stacked against the ACA.
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About 308,000 Cook County residents potentially would lose health insurance under an ACA repeal: nearly 94,000 CountyCare enrollees who qualified for Medicaid under the Obamacare expansion, and about 214,000 patients on other Medicaid plans. Financially, the cost is at least $1.4 billion due to loss of CountyCare capitation revenue and reimbursements for other ACA patients within Cook County Health as well an overwhelming uptick in charity care for the uninsured.
Cook County Health interim CEO Debra Carey said she worries the human toll could mean patients discontinuing medications, going back to frequenting local emergency departments or not seeking care until they are acutely ill, she said.
“The potential for a repeal of the ACA will be devastating to the patients we care for and will put the fundamental mission of this organization in jeopardy,” Carey said. “To those elected officials and others who would allow the repeal of the Affordable Care Act: You are choosing politics over primary care, rhetoric over responsibility and heartlessness over humanity.”
Other political officials at the news conference said this year is the worst time to be considering a rollback in health insurance, given a pandemic that has hit the U.S. especially hard.
“It is really hard to imagine anything more cruel, especially at this moment of dire need in this country,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston said.
The president, who was diagnosed last week with COVID-19 and has received top-notch government-funded health care, should not be treated any differently than Cook County’s poorest residents, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg said.
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“I wish him well,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I understand that he is receiving world-class care as we speak. That’s a good thing. But the American people deserve no less. The people of Cook County deserve no less. And advocating for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act at the same time that you yourself have COVID and there’s a global health pandemic is just plain wrong.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 2,630 new known COVID-19 cases and 42 additional deaths reported as

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 2,630 new known COVID-19 cases and 42 additional deaths reported as Pritzker says recent progress has ‘cooled off a bit’

Illinois health officials Wednesday announced 2,630 new known cases of COVID-19 and 42 additional confirmed fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 307,641 and the statewide death toll to 8,878 since the start of the pandemic .
Officials reported 58,820 new tests in the last 24 hours , as the state surpasses 6 million total COVID-19 tests .
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.5 % .
The new statewide numbers come as Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that the gains that most regions in Illinois had been making in bringing down COVID-19 positivity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off a bit.
” The governor noted specifically that the northeastern region that includes Lake and McHenry counties has seen a reversal after a period of decline .
“ That progress has cooled off a bit , across Illinois , ” Pritzker said .
“ We are seeing changes in positivity averages around the state level off , with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level.
” 7:15 p.m. : CPS says clerks must report to work in person , despite labor ruling that questions COVID-19 protections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ threatens jobs.
’ Despite an arbitrator ’ s ruling that certain Chicago Public Schools employees should be allowed to work from home when feasible during remote learning , the district is continuing to require them to work in person .
An email from Chief Talent Officer Matt Lyons sent late Tuesday told clerks , clerk assistants and technology coordinators that the expectations have not changed .
“ As critical members of our school community , you are integral in our collective work communicating and supporting families , staff , and students , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means you will continue to be expected to report to work in person , unless you have an approved or pending request for a leave of absence or accommodation .
“ You may have received conflicting information recently on this reporting requirement , ” the email continued , “ but we are writing today to confirm CPS ' expectation and directive to report to work onsite.
” Without a leave of absence or accommodation request approved or pending , employees are not allowed to work from home , according to the email , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t show up in person , “ CPS will consider your absence unauthorized and proceed accordingly.
” The Chicago Teachers Union is interpreting the email as a threat of discipline and an attempt “ to strongarm workers into schools in defiance of the ruling.
” The union also claims CPS is stalling on bargaining over remedies .
After spending much of Tuesday night calling colleagues at The Purple Pig , Ryan Love felt upbeat about the five people who committed to picketing the Chicago restaurant Wednesday morning .
The protest , which ended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signs saying , “ 211K Americans dead .
Tapas anyone ?
” and “ No transparency , no accountability , ” was inspired by frustration over the perceived actions of restaurant chef and owner Jimmy Bannos Jr. and other members of management .
Love contends they did not take appropriate steps to keep employees and guests safe after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 24 .
Love , a lead server and bartender , said a full week had passed before the restaurant was deep-cleaned and staff was notified about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ management didn ’ t act until pushed , he said .
He heard the news that a staff member had tested positive from other colleagues during his shift Sept. 26 and emailed management Sept. 28 .
There was no all-staff announcement before Love sent his email , he said .
“ That was basically the confirmation that they ’ re not taking this seriously and it is a serious situation , ” Love said .
“ I was really , really mad that they would be so careless.
” 6:35 p.m. : Notre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campus after getting the coronavirus As college leaders deliberated whether to bring students back to campus , none led the charge for reopening more forcefully than the president of the University of Notre Dame .
The Rev .
John I. Jenkins , the university ’ s president and a 66-year-old Catholic priest with degrees in philosophy and divinity , was among the first to invite students back for dorm life , intercollegiate sports and face-to-face classes , arguing in a New York Times op-ed in May that the college had a moral obligation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He also seemed humble about the challenge : When he forgot social distancing rules as he posed for pictures with students returning to campus in August , he issued a public apology .
But all the humility in the world might not have spared Jenkins from the storm of protest he now faces over the latest news from South Bend : that he not only violated his own health rules — appearing without a mask at a White House reception last month for Judge Amy Coney Barrett , a Supreme Court nominee and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also is infected with the coronavirus himself .
Students have petitioned for his resignation , angry over what they consider his hypocrisy as well as the rising tide of infections on campus .
Others have reported him to a coronavirus hotline for violating his own mask mandate .
The student newspaper called the affair “ embarrassing ” in an editorial .
And the faculty senate stopped one vote short Tuesday night of considering a vote of no confidence in his leadership .
“ I haven ’ t seen people this outraged in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been here since 2001 , ” Eileen Hunt Botting , a political science professor , said .
5:10 p.m. : ‘ Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health , ’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed Wisconsin Republicans for that state ’ s recent spike in coronavirus cases , saying “ Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health.
” Lightfoot made her comments after Wisconsin health officials announced Wednesday that a field hospital will open next week at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as a surge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Referring to the field hospital , Lightfoot said , “ The fact that , in October , a state is having to open up a field hospital because of the stress on the healthcare system , because of the explosion in cases requiring hospitalizations , is a disgrace.
” And alluding to the clashes between Evers and Republicans , Lightfoot said , “ Public health should never be politicized.
” Only 16 % of the state ’ s 11,452 hospital beds were available as of Tuesday afternoon , according to the DHS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had grown to 853 , its highest during the pandemic according to the COVID Tracking Project , with 216 in intensive care .
4:40 p.m. : Pritzker says state ’ s recent progress on COVID-19 has ‘ cooled off a bit ’ The gains that most regions in Illinois had been making in bringing down COVID-19 positivity rates in recent weeks have “ cooled off a bit , ” Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday , noting specifically that the northeastern region that includes Lake and McHenry counties has seen a reversal after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week that there were “ promising declines in nearly every region of the state , ” with the exception of the northwest region , where the state imposed more strict rules over the weekend due to the positivity rate there surpassing a threshold that triggers a scaled-back reopening .
“ That progress has cooled off a bit , across Illinois , ” Pritzker said Wednesday during a virtual news conference , as he continued to quarantine after one of his staff members tested positive for COVID-19 .
“ We are seeing changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off , with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level.
” Wisconsin has become a hot spot for the disease over the last month , ranking third nationwide this week in daily new cases per capita .
Health experts have attributed the spike to the reopening of colleges and K-12 schools as well as general fatigue over wearing masks and socially distancing .
“ We hoped this day wouldn ’ t come , but unfortunately , Wisconsin is in a much different , more dire place today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 cases , ” said Democratic Gov .
Tony Evers .
“ This alternative care facility will take some of the pressure off our healthcare facilities while expanding the continuum of care for folks who have COVID-19.
” Eli Lilly is asking the federal government for emergency approval of an antibody drug it says has shown success in early trials stopping some COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms from later needing hospitalization .
The Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant said Wednesday it would petition the U.S. Food and Drug Administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make the treatment more widely available to patients at high-risk for serious COVID-19 complications .
Its drug is similar to one that President Donald Trump received on Friday from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc .
These medicines supply concentrated versions of specific antibodies to help the immune system clear the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 .
They ’ re given as a one-time treatment through an IV .
Illinois has now conducted more than 6 million COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began earlier this year , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker announced on Wednesday .
The state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 58,820 tests during the latest 24-hour period , which resulted in 2,630 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 .
The state also reported 42 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 .
The testing total is now 6,033,289 .
Illinois has seen a total of 307,641 known cases of coronavirus to date , and the state is reporting 8,878 deaths of people with COVID-19 .
As of Tuesday night , 1,679 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Illinois .
Of those patients , 372 patients were in an intensive care unit , and 165 were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children in suburban Cook County public housing to get free laptops as remote learning continues to present digital barriers Hundreds of school-age children in suburban Cook County public housing will get free laptops paid for by federal coronavirus stimulus money starting Wednesday , as part of an ongoing effort to ensure digital access after the COVID-19 pandemic upended in-person learning .
About $ 270,000 of CARES Act money allocated to the Housing Authority of Cook County will be used to purchase laptops for 900 students who live in the public housing complexes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remote learning .
The giveaway is part of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle ’ s efforts to address long-standing racial inequities that have intensified under the grip of the coronavirus .
11:25 a.m. : Trump has COVID , but many supporters still eschew masks : ‘ The far-left liberals are causing this ’ On the day that President Donald Trump defiantly left the hospital where he was being treated for a coronavirus infection and returned to a White House that appears to be one of Washington ’ s most contagious hot spots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pennsylvania showed no signs of questioning their own defiance of experts ' advice on how to limit the virus ’ s spread .
In the Lebanon Valley east of Harrisburg , where support for Trump remains particularly strong , the president ’ s failure to protect his family and inner circle from the virus was not seen as a reflection on his inability to protect Americans , as the death toll passed 210,000 .
On the contrary , Trump loyalists echoed misinformation that the president has spread for much of the year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threat of the virus to aid his reelection .
11:01 a.m. : How much would Trump ’ s coronavirus treatment cost most Americans ?
President Donald Trump spent three days in the hospital .
He arrived and left by helicopter .
And he received multiple coronavirus tests , oxygen , steroids and an experimental antibody treatment .
For someone who isn ’ t president , that would cost more than $ 100,000 in the American health system .
Patients could face significant surprise bills and medical debt even after health insurance paid its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have struggled with both the long-term health and financial effects of contracting coronavirus .
Nearly half a million have been hospitalized .
Routine tests can result in thousands of dollars in uncovered charges ; hospitalized patients have received bills upward of $ 400,000 .
Trump did not have to worry about the costs of his care , which are covered by the federal government .
Most Americans , including many who carry health coverage , do worry about receiving medical care they can not afford .
10:37 a.m. : Second stimulus check updates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweet , Trump tries to pick and choose parts of COVID-19 relief The White House on Wednesday tried to salvage its favorite items lost in the rubble of COVID-19 relief talks that President Donald Trump blew up , with his administration pressing for $ 1,200 stimulus checks and a new wave of aid for airlines and other businesses hard hit by the pandemic .
As part of a barrage of tweets and retweets , Trump pressed for passage of these chunks of assistance , an about-face from his abrupt and puzzling move on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longtime rival , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi .
The California Democrat has rejected such piecemeal entreaties all along .
But the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a much different result , with gambling tax revenue down by 13.4 % for the first full year under the new law .
The state ’ s gambling tax revenue fell by nearly $ 200 million to $ 1.2 billion for fiscal year 2020 , which ended June 30 .
Everything from horse racing to bingo took a hit , according to an annual wagering report by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a modest annual increase in tax revenues until gambling operators were shut down in mid-March , said Eric Noggle , a senior analyst with the state ’ s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability who co-authored the study .
7:20 a.m. : County officials to announce program to distribute laptops for children still in need of online learning help Cook County officials were scheduled Wednesday morning to announce a program to give laptops to school-age children who still need devices for online learning .
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laptops Wednesday morning at the Richard Flowers Apartments in Robbins as part of Digital Inclusion Week , according to a release from Preckwinkle ’ s office .
Digital Inclusion Week seeks to increase online literacy , widen internet access to people with lower incomes and increase media literacy .
5 a.m. : Coronavirus outbreak flares again at Jacksonville prison A COVID-19 outbreak at Jacksonville Correctional Center that had remained stable for weeks is growing again .
Eight prisoners at the facility tested positive between Saturday and Monday , taking the total prisoner infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prison also have tested positive since the outbreak began .
A reinfection also was noted in a resident of Aperion Care in Jacksonville , where another resident also tested positive , according to a daily briefing by the Morgan County Department of Public Health , Jacksonville/Morgan County Emergency Management , Memorial Health System , county commissioners and the city of Jacksonville .
There have been 305,011 known coronavirus cases and 8,836 confirmed deaths in Illinois since the start of the pandemic .
Here are five things that happened Tuesday related to COVID-19 @

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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)
Illinois health officials Wednesday announced 2,630 new known cases of COVID-19 and 42 additional confirmed fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 307,641 and the statewide death toll to 8,878 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials reported 58,820 new tests in the last 24 hours, as the state surpasses 6 million total COVID-19 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.5%.
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The new statewide numbers come as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that the gains that most regions in Illinois had been making in bringing down COVID-19 positivity rates in recent weeks have “cooled off a bit.” The governor noted specifically that the northeastern region that includes Lake and McHenry counties has seen a reversal after a period of decline.
“That progress has cooled off a bit, across Illinois,” Pritzker said. “We are seeing changes in positivity averages around the state level off, with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level.”
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Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:15 p.m.: CPS says clerks must report to work in person, despite labor ruling that questions COVID-19 protections in schools. CTU says the action ‘threatens jobs.’
Despite an arbitrator’s ruling that certain Chicago Public Schools employees should be allowed to work from home when feasible during remote learning, the district is continuing to require them to work in person.
An email from Chief Talent Officer Matt Lyons sent late Tuesday told clerks, clerk assistants and technology coordinators that the expectations have not changed.
“As critical members of our school community, you are integral in our collective work communicating and supporting families, staff, and students,” the email states. "This means you will continue to be expected to report to work in person, unless you have an approved or pending request for a leave of absence or accommodation.
“You may have received conflicting information recently on this reporting requirement,” the email continued, “but we are writing today to confirm CPS' expectation and directive to report to work onsite.”
Without a leave of absence or accommodation request approved or pending, employees are not allowed to work from home, according to the email, which states that if employees don’t show up in person, “CPS will consider your absence unauthorized and proceed accordingly.”
The Chicago Teachers Union is interpreting the email as a threat of discipline and an attempt “to strongarm workers into schools in defiance of the ruling.” The union also claims CPS is stalling on bargaining over remedies.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
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6:55 p.m.: The Purple Pig employees hold protest over concerns of coronavirus safety negligence
After spending much of Tuesday night calling colleagues at The Purple Pig, Ryan Love felt upbeat about the five people who committed to picketing the Chicago restaurant Wednesday morning.
The protest, which ended up being four people greeting passersby with signs saying, “211K Americans dead. Tapas anyone?” and “No transparency, no accountability,” was inspired by frustration over the perceived actions of restaurant chef and owner Jimmy Bannos Jr. and other members of management. Love contends they did not take appropriate steps to keep employees and guests safe after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 24.
Love, a lead server and bartender, said a full week had passed before the restaurant was deep-cleaned and staff was notified about the employee who tested positive. And management didn’t act until pushed, he said. He heard the news that a staff member had tested positive from other colleagues during his shift Sept. 26 and emailed management Sept. 28. There was no all-staff announcement before Love sent his email, he said.
“That was basically the confirmation that they’re not taking this seriously and it is a serious situation,” Love said. “I was really, really mad that they would be so careless.”
Read more here. —Grace Wong
6:35 p.m.: Notre Dame’s president faces an angry campus after getting the coronavirus
As college leaders deliberated whether to bring students back to campus, none led the charge for reopening more forcefully than the president of the University of Notre Dame.
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The Rev. John I. Jenkins, the university’s president and a 66-year-old Catholic priest with degrees in philosophy and divinity, was among the first to invite students back for dorm life, intercollegiate sports and face-to-face classes, arguing in a New York Times op-ed in May that the college had a moral obligation to not be crippled by fear. He also seemed humble about the challenge: When he forgot social distancing rules as he posed for pictures with students returning to campus in August, he issued a public apology.
But all the humility in the world might not have spared Jenkins from the storm of protest he now faces over the latest news from South Bend: that he not only violated his own health rules — appearing without a mask at a White House reception last month for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a Supreme Court nominee and former Notre Dame Law School professor — but also is infected with the coronavirus himself.
Students have petitioned for his resignation, angry over what they consider his hypocrisy as well as the rising tide of infections on campus. Others have reported him to a coronavirus hotline for violating his own mask mandate. The student newspaper called the affair “embarrassing” in an editorial. And the faculty senate stopped one vote short Tuesday night of considering a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
“I haven’t seen people this outraged in my whole career and I’ve been here since 2001,” Eileen Hunt Botting, a political science professor, said.
Neither Jenkins nor the school spokesman, Paul Browne, responded to requests for comment.
Read more here. —The New York Times
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5:10 p.m.: ‘Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot says
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed Wisconsin Republicans for that state’s recent spike in coronavirus cases, saying “Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health.”
Lightfoot made her comments after Wisconsin health officials announced Wednesday that a field hospital will open next week at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as a surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has repeatedly clashed with Republicans in that state over measures to curb the coronavirus.
Conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' monthslong stay-at-home order in May.
Referring to the field hospital, Lightfoot said, “The fact that, in October, a state is having to open up a field hospital because of the stress on the healthcare system, because of the explosion in cases requiring hospitalizations, is a disgrace.”
And alluding to the clashes between Evers and Republicans, Lightfoot said, “Public health should never be politicized.”
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Only 16% of the state’s 11,452 hospital beds were available as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the DHS. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had grown to 853, its highest during the pandemic according to the COVID Tracking Project, with 216 in intensive care.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt; The Associated Press contributed
4:40 p.m.: Pritzker says state’s recent progress on COVID-19 has ‘cooled off a bit’
The gains that most regions in Illinois had been making in bringing down COVID-19 positivity rates in recent weeks have “cooled off a bit,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday, noting specifically that the northeastern region that includes Lake and McHenry counties has seen a reversal after a period of decline.
Pritzker said last week that there were “promising declines in nearly every region of the state,” with the exception of the northwest region, where the state imposed more strict rules over the weekend due to the positivity rate there surpassing a threshold that triggers a scaled-back reopening.
“That progress has cooled off a bit, across Illinois,” Pritzker said Wednesday during a virtual news conference, as he continued to quarantine after one of his staff members tested positive for COVID-19. “We are seeing changes in positivity averages around the state level off, with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level.”
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
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3:24 p.m.: Wisconsin activates field hospital as surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals
Wisconsin health officials announced Wednesday that they’ve opened a field hospital at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as a surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
Wisconsin has become a hot spot for the disease over the last month, ranking third nationwide this week in daily new cases per capita. Health experts have attributed the spike to the reopening of colleges and K-12 schools as well as general fatigue over wearing masks and socially distancing.
“We hoped this day wouldn’t come, but unfortunately, Wisconsin is in a much different, more dire place today and our healthcare systems are beginning to become overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 cases,” said Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. “This alternative care facility will take some of the pressure off our healthcare facilities while expanding the continuum of care for folks who have COVID-19.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:08 p.m.: Eli Lilly asks for emergency approval of COVID-19 antibody drug
Eli Lilly is asking the federal government for emergency approval of an antibody drug it says has shown success in early trials stopping some COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms from later needing hospitalization.
The Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant said Wednesday it would petition the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization, which could make the treatment more widely available to patients at high-risk for serious COVID-19 complications.
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Its drug is similar to one that President Donald Trump received on Friday from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. These medicines supply concentrated versions of specific antibodies to help the immune system clear the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. They’re given as a one-time treatment through an IV.
Read more here. —Meredith Colias-Pete
12:10 p.m.: 6 million total COVID-19 tests conducted; 2,630 new known COVID-19 cases and 42 additional deaths reported
Illinois has now conducted more than 6 million COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Wednesday.
The state passed the 6 million mark after recording 58,820 tests during the latest 24-hour period, which resulted in 2,630 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state also reported 42 additional deaths of people with COVID-19.
The testing total is now 6,033,289. Illinois has seen a total of 307,641 known cases of coronavirus to date, and the state is reporting 8,878 deaths of people with COVID-19.
The state’s seven-day positivity rate is currently 3.5%. The rate was 4.2% a month earlier.
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As of Tuesday night, 1,679 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Illinois. Of those patients, 372 patients were in an intensive care unit, and 165 were on ventilators.
—Jamie Munks
12 p.m.: 900 children in suburban Cook County public housing to get free laptops as remote learning continues to present digital barriers
Hundreds of school-age children in suburban Cook County public housing will get free laptops paid for by federal coronavirus stimulus money starting Wednesday, as part of an ongoing effort to ensure digital access after the COVID-19 pandemic upended in-person learning.
About $270,000 of CARES Act money allocated to the Housing Authority of Cook County will be used to purchase laptops for 900 students who live in the public housing complexes to keep and otherwise would struggle to complete remote learning. The giveaway is part of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s efforts to address long-standing racial inequities that have intensified under the grip of the coronavirus.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
11:25 a.m.: Trump has COVID, but many supporters still eschew masks: ‘The far-left liberals are causing this’
On the day that President Donald Trump defiantly left the hospital where he was being treated for a coronavirus infection and returned to a White House that appears to be one of Washington’s most contagious hot spots, backers of the president in rural Pennsylvania showed no signs of questioning their own defiance of experts' advice on how to limit the virus’s spread.
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In the Lebanon Valley east of Harrisburg, where support for Trump remains particularly strong, the president’s failure to protect his family and inner circle from the virus was not seen as a reflection on his inability to protect Americans, as the death toll passed 210,000.
On the contrary, Trump loyalists echoed misinformation that the president has spread for much of the year, as he has sought to minimize the threat of the virus to aid his reelection.
Read more here. —The New York Times
11:01 a.m.: How much would Trump’s coronavirus treatment cost most Americans?
President Donald Trump spent three days in the hospital. He arrived and left by helicopter. And he received multiple coronavirus tests, oxygen, steroids and an experimental antibody treatment.
For someone who isn’t president, that would cost more than $100,000 in the American health system. Patients could face significant surprise bills and medical debt even after health insurance paid its share.
Across the country, patients have struggled with both the long-term health and financial effects of contracting coronavirus. Nearly half a million have been hospitalized. Routine tests can result in thousands of dollars in uncovered charges; hospitalized patients have received bills upward of $400,000.
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Trump did not have to worry about the costs of his care, which are covered by the federal government. Most Americans, including many who carry health coverage, do worry about receiving medical care they cannot afford.
Read more here. —The New York Times
10:37 a.m.: Second stimulus check updates: After calling off negotiations in a tweet, Trump tries to pick and choose parts of COVID-19 relief
The White House on Wednesday tried to salvage its favorite items lost in the rubble of COVID-19 relief talks that President Donald Trump blew up, with his administration pressing for $1,200 stimulus checks and a new wave of aid for airlines and other businesses hard hit by the pandemic.
As part of a barrage of tweets and retweets, Trump pressed for passage of these chunks of assistance, an about-face from his abrupt and puzzling move on Tuesday afternoon to abandon talks with a longtime rival, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat has rejected such piecemeal entreaties all along.
Trump’s tweets amounted to him demanding his way in negotiations that he himself had ended.
He called on Congress to send him a “Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200)” — a reference to a preelection batch of direct payments to most Americans that had been a central piece of negotiations between Pelosi and the White House.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
10:34 a.m.: Illinois gambling tax revenues fell 13.4% due to pandemic shutdown
When Illinois passed sweeping legislation last year to expand gambling in the state, it was envisioned as a way to generate increased tax revenue.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a much different result, with gambling tax revenue down by 13.4% for the first full year under the new law.
The state’s gambling tax revenue fell by nearly $200 million to $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30. Everything from horse racing to bingo took a hit, according to an annual wagering report by the state.
Illinois was on pace for a modest annual increase in tax revenues until gambling operators were shut down in mid-March, said Eric Noggle, a senior analyst with the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability who co-authored the study.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
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7:20 a.m.: County officials to announce program to distribute laptops for children still in need of online learning help
Cook County officials were scheduled Wednesday morning to announce a program to give laptops to school-age children who still need devices for online learning.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Housing Authority of Cook County were to distribute laptops Wednesday morning at the Richard Flowers Apartments in Robbins as part of Digital Inclusion Week, according to a release from Preckwinkle’s office.
Digital Inclusion Week seeks to increase online literacy, widen internet access to people with lower incomes and increase media literacy.
—Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: Coronavirus outbreak flares again at Jacksonville prison
A COVID-19 outbreak at Jacksonville Correctional Center that had remained stable for weeks is growing again.
Eight prisoners at the facility tested positive between Saturday and Monday, taking the total prisoner infections to 225. Fourteen staff members at the prison also have tested positive since the outbreak began.
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A reinfection also was noted in a resident of Aperion Care in Jacksonville, where another resident also tested positive, according to a daily briefing by the Morgan County Department of Public Health, Jacksonville/Morgan County Emergency Management, Memorial Health System, county commissioners and the city of Jacksonville.
There have been 305,011 known coronavirus cases and 8,836 confirmed deaths in Illinois since the start of the pandemic.
Marco Cartolano, Jacksonville Journal-Courier, via Tribune Content Agency
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five things that happened Tuesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--9-year-old boy dies after accidentally shooting himself while playing on West Side

Ashton Lipscomb , of the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue , where the shooting occurred , was pronounced dead @ @ @ @ @ Stroger Hospital , according to the Cook County medical examiner ’ s office and police @

Police investigate the scene of an accidental shooting Oct. 7, 2020, in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue in the North Austin neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
A 13-year-old boy has told Chicago police that his 9-year-old brother was accidentally shot and killed by a younger sibling, 5, who found the gun in the bedroom of their North Austin home.
Officers found Ashton Lipscomb lying motionless and bleeding from the head around 1:45 p.m. in an apartment in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue, according to police.
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The 13-year-old told them Ashton was shot in the back of the head by the 5-year-old and directed them to a second-floor bedroom where police found three guns, police said. One of them, a revolver, had a spent shell casing in the cylinder.
The father told police he was picking up his wife from a hospital when the shooting occurred. Police said it was unclear if any adult was watching the children at the time.
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The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was notified of the death and confirmed an allegation of abuse within the same family back in March of 2016, according to spokesman Bill McCaffrey.
The case was closed a month later, according to McCaffrey, who had no further details.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com