chicagotribune--2020-12-10--Thousands of languishing vacant and abandoned properties with unpaid taxes harm Black neighborhoods

Thousands of languishing vacant and abandoned properties with unpaid taxes harm Black neighborhoods and suburbs. Cook County treasurer says program aimed at fixing the problem is not working.

“ The stuff that doesn ’ t get bid on ( by the Land Bank ) ?
About 80 % @ @ @ @ @ neighborhoods and is sitting there for year after year after year , and it ’ @ @ @ @ @ developer to get their hands on it , because the process is overwhelming , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ s where the Land Bank steps in to handle the process before selling the @ @ @ @ @ they can manage .

Every two years, Cook County conducts what’s called the scavenger sale.
Tens of thousands of mostly vacant and often abandoned properties with a significant amount of unpaid taxes go up for auction, with the aim of getting them into the hands of people who can return the land to productive use and put it back on the tax rolls.
Advertisement
County Treasurer Maria Pappas is out with a new report that concludes the 81-year-old program isn’t working. Not enough people are bidding on the properties, she says, and so the parcels often remain eyesores, a deterrent to revitalizing the neighborhoods they blight. That especially hurts struggling Black city neighborhoods and south suburbs, Pappas notes.
“Nobody wants these properties because they are in areas that are losing population, have high crime and aren’t worth the property taxes you have to pay to own them,” said Pappas, who conducts the sales as directed in state law. “So people abandon them.”
Advertisement
An abandoned house at 1412 14th Place in Ford Heights on Dec. 7, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
While the veteran county official makes no recommendations of her own, she contends it’s time for the General Assembly, which authorized the scavenger sale back in 1939, to come up with a better solution to restoring such properties.
Pappas also contends that the involvement of the Cook County Land Bank Authority has thrown an additional wrench in the works in recent years.
The Land Bank, which has a mission of getting vacant land redeveloped, has the power to scoop up scavenger sale properties with no money down, but has ended up returning more than half of the properties it bid on in the 2015 and 2017 auctions, according to the treasurer’s report.
While the Land Bank holds onto those properties, they’re not available to private developers, Pappas notes. “(That) prevents any other interested party from bidding on the property,” her report states.
Land Bank officials strongly dispute that notion, saying they’ve done more to return properties to productive use in just a few years than private buyers — often hedge funds making speculative bids — have achieved over a much longer period of time.
They acknowledge changes to the system are needed, and plan to ask lawmakers to approve them. “If the treasurer would like to support the reform of this, we couldn’t be more happy to have her join us,” said County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who set up the Land Bank in 2013.
An abandoned commercial property at 14136 S. Indiana Ave. in Riverdale on Dec. 7, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top aide on neighborhood development said the problem of vacant and abandoned property is more complex than just issues with the scavenger sale, although he said some reform likely is needed in that program.
Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar noted that Black population loss in Chicago has topped 200,000 in recent decades, an exodus that began long before the Great Recession, which had a disproportionate negative impact on the housing market on the South and West sides.
Advertisement
Disinvestment in African American communities in the city dates back to at least the 1968 riots after the Rev. Martin Luther King’s assassination. Swaths of Black neighborhoods went up in smoke, and vacant lots and scarred buildings still remain. Even before then, the racist real estate practices of redlining and blockbusting took a toll.
Scavenger sale, explained
The scavenger sale, another intricate cog in Illinois’ complex and little-understood property tax system, only seems to get much public attention when it’s used to commit fraud.
It takes years for a property to end up at the scavenger sale, which the Illinois Supreme Court in 1983 described as “a last resort” to try to get back taxes paid and a parcel redeveloped.
First, a property owner who doesn’t pay their tax bill on time gets 13 months to make good on what they owe, with interest. If they fail to do so, the property is offered at the annual county tax sale, where buyers agree to pay the back taxes, get to charge the property owner interest and obtain a lien on the parcel.
Homeowners then have two years and six months to pay back the holder of the lien from the tax sale, with vacant and commercial property owners getting six months.
That typically takes care of more than 99% of all taxes. But some properties are never bought at the tax sale, so the taxes on them go unpaid. After three years of this, the properties go to the scavenger sale, which can lead to bargain-basement prices.
Advertisement
All it sometimes takes to secure a tax lien at a scavenger is a minimum bid of $250, with no requirement to pay back taxes. The property owner can still pay their back taxes and penalties to get the property back, with the same deadlines that apply to the annual tax sale.
An abandoned house at 1000 E. 8th Place in Ford Heights on Dec. 7, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
But if they don’t pay up, the lienholder from the scavenger sale can take ownership if they pay some of the taxes owed. They also don’t have to pay the back taxes and penalties the previous owner accrued.
“This lengthy process may discourage participation and bidding at the scavenger sale,” states the treasurer’s report, which the Tribune received in advance of its release.
Anemic sales
The scavenger sale takes place every two years. From 2007 to 2019, more than 51,000 individual parcels were offered, but private buyers bid on less than 8,500 of them, the report states.
The numbers are even worse, however. Bids on 4 out of 5 properties end up not making it through the end of a lengthy, complex process, public records reviewed by the Tribune show.
One sign of the scavenger sale’s paltry success rate: Nearly 7,300 of the properties now on the list have lain fallow for so long that their tax bills have gone unpaid for either 19 or 20 years, according to the treasurer’s report.
Advertisement
About half of all the properties offered through the scavenger sale were in the city, with more than 80% of those in predominantly Black wards that have lost population and suffer from high crime, according to the report. The other half were in the suburbs, with nearly 80%in villages and cities that were at least 40% Black, the report stated.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer knows the problem all too well. Reached on Monday, he was at the site of two vacant lots in his 6th Ward trying to determine what if anything could be done with them.
“They’re odd lots, in undesirable areas,” said Sawyer, whose ward includes all or part of Chatham, Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, Park Manor and Auburn Gresham. “It’s devastating to communities.”
An abandoned house at 198 W. 150th St. in Harvey on Dec. 7, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
In addition to the lots on the scavenger list, there’s another 15,000 or so properties the city owns, again in mostly Black wards, data shows. Those properties were acquired in many ways.
Mayekar, the deputy mayor, said Lightfoot is focused on the problem. It’s a key emphasis of her $750 million Invest South/West initiative, which aims to redevelop 10 communities on South and West sides.
It’s also a reason she hired Maurice Cox, who developed innovative programs for using vacant lots in Detroit, as her commissioner of planning and development, Mayekar said.
Advertisement
To reverse the long-standing trend, the city needs to make the struggling neighborhoods attractive to would-be buyers, Mayekar maintained. “We need to address the issue of demand for properties, not supply,” he said, noting that other major cities have faced similar problems since the Great Recession.
Enter the Land Bank
The Land Bank has been the subject of Sun-Times investigations probing its deals, sparking County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to commission an outside audit that determined the agency needs to do more to avoid conflicts and ensure it’s selling land to qualified buyers
The agency also received plaudits for the work it does to restore properties in distressed neighborhoods. The Land Bank acquires vacant, abandoned, foreclosed and tax-delinquent properties to prepare for sale to rehabbers and developers in several ways.
To help the agency accomplish that goal, it was given the power to scoop up scavenger sale properties with no money down, same as Chicago and the Cook suburbs.
That gives the agency a distinct financial advantage over private buyers. To override the Land Bank’s bid, those buyers must offer at least the amount of the back taxes owed, which can range from hundreds to millions of dollars and sometimes exceeds the property’s market value.
The Land Bank can then take properties it has bid on if the owner fails to pay the back taxes with interest on time. Developers then get the property with a clean financial slate, without having to pay the back taxes, though they do have to pay market value for the property as set by the Land Bank.
Advertisement
The agency bid on 17,342 properties during the 2015 and 2017 scavenger sales, but returned 8,886 of them to the county’s list. That’s more than half.
During the 2019 sale, the Land Bank sought 9,190 properties. The agency has yet to return any of them, but still has time to do so. Any scavenger sale bidder is allowed to return properties without penalty.
Many properties are returned because they are still occupied, and the Land Bank won’t keep them because its mission is to put properties back to use, not collect unpaid taxes, said Gainer, the county commissioner.
Other properties turn out to be lots that are not possible to develop because of their small size or shape. And sometimes, because of the complicated process to complete a sale — which the Land Bank maintains involves 75 distinct steps — they don’t finish that process by the required deadline. In those cases, they may return to the property and then rebid so they can get the work done in the next cycle, said Land Bank Executive Director Robert Rose.
And Gainer said the Land Bank is not getting in the way of private buyers. She maintained that they have not shown any interest in the properties being bought by the Land Bank, which works primarily in struggling Black and Latino neighborhoods.
“Historically, over the last 20 years of the scavenger sale, the only properties that were of any interest to the private tax buyers were properties in gentrifying communities — Pilsen, East Garfield Park, South Loop, West Loop,” Gainer said.
Advertisement
“The stuff that doesn’t get bid on (by the Land Bank)? About 80% of that is in Black neighborhoods and is sitting there for year after year after year, and it’s impossible for some neighborhood developer to get their hands on it, because the process is overwhelming,” Gainer continued, saying that’s where the Land Bank steps in to handle the process before selling the property to developers at costs they can manage.
Rose and Gainer point to Land Bank results, noting that to date it has taken deed to 1,183 homes from scavenger sale bids, easily topping the total of all private purchasers taken together over an even-longer period of time.
Land Bank officials and Pappas agree on one thing: The scavenger sale law needs to be reworked.
Last year, the General Assembly considered a bill to streamline the process. It was supported by Habitat for Humanity of Illinois, the Illinois Housing Development Authority and the Land Bank, but not Pappas’ office.
The measure, which is stuck in a committee, would have allowed government agencies such as the Land Bank to complete the scavenger sale on residential property in six months if the property is abandoned, instead of the normal two years.
“This is a process that is not easy to navigate, nor is designed to be easy to navigate,” Rose said. “What we’re fighting against is an inherently flawed system.”
Advertisement
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-10--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Dec. 9 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

“ I ’ ve heard from a number of restaurateurs about this issue but the one thing they ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ this very difficult year for them is just be fair .
Make sure that whatever @ @ @ @ @ they are enforced uniformly , that there ’ s no exceptions , and when people @ @ @ @ @ are held accountable , ” Lightfoot said .
“ Ald .
Tunney understands that he @ @ @ @ @ break the rules .
He didn ’ t just break them as a businessperson .
@ @ @ @ @ alderman who swore an oath to live and abide by a higher set of standards @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s one of the things I ’ ve been hearing a lot from @ @ @ @ @ them really angry and animated about this .
”

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
With federal approval for two coronavirus vaccines expected soon, Chicago officials said Wednesday they hope to vaccinate all city adults in 2021 as they laid out their plans to roll out the vaccine.
But even as city officials celebrated the news of imminent vaccine approval, Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned residents to follow public health guidance and not grow complacent because widespread community vaccination is still “many months away.
Advertisement
The city’s announcement came as Illinois health officials on Wednesday reported 8,256 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 179 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 812,430 and the statewide death toll to 13,666 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday when an advisory committee is set to meet and discuss Pfizer’s request for emergency-use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s what the FDA approval will mean for Chicago and the rest of Illinois.
Advertisement
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
9:30 p.m.: US tops 3,000 daily deaths from COVID-19 for first time
The U.S. topped 3,000 deaths Wednesday in what is a single-day record, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That’s surpassed the level seen during last spring’s peak in and around New York City.
New cases per day have rocketed to more than 200,000 on average, and the number of patients in the hospital with COVID-19 stood at almost 105,000 on Tuesday, another all-time high.
Read more here. —Associated Press
4:45 p.m.: Indiana to cancel, delay elective surgeries as COVID-19 surges, Gov. Holcomb says
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday hospitals are ordered to cancel or delay elective surgeries from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3.
The announcement came as Indiana looks for options to fight the nation’s second highest per-capita COVID-19 spread, straining its healthcare system.
“The state of Indiana is on fire,” Holcomb said, noting doctors and nurses are “overwhelmed.”
The state had halted elective medical procedures in April to help preserve hospital equipment and protective gear. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the surgery restrictions will allow hospitals to shift health care workers to help care for patients with COVID-19.
Advertisement
Holcomb, a Republican, said he was extending the statewide mask order and toughening restrictions on crowd sizes that he reinstated last month. The new rules will prevent local health departments from allowing exemptions for social gatherings of more than 25 people in counties with red ratings and more than 50 people in orange-rated counties.
Read more here. —Meredith Colias-Pete
4:10 p.m.: Lightfoot ‘deeply disappointed’ in Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney after his Ann Sather restaurant breaks pandemic indoor dining rules
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she’s “deeply disappointed” in Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney after the longtime alderman acknowledged letting people eat inside his Ann Sather restaurant despite city and state rules designed to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Tunney, whose restaurant is facing up to $10,500 in possible fines from the city, “knows that he did wrong” and “will absolutely be held accountable,” Lightfoot said.
“I’ve heard from a number of restaurateurs about this issue but the one thing they’ve consistently said to me throughout this very difficult year for them is just be fair. Make sure that whatever the rules are, that they are enforced uniformly, that there’s no exceptions, and when people break those rules, they are held accountable,” Lightfoot said. “Ald. Tunney understands that he made an intentional decision to break the rules. He didn’t just break them as a businessperson. He broke them as an alderman who swore an oath to live and abide by a higher set of standards than the average person and that’s one of the things I’ve been hearing a lot from people that’s made them really angry and animated about this.”
Tunney, a key member of Lightfoot’s City Council leadership team as her hand-picked chair of the Zoning Committee, previously acknowledged diners have been eating inside his Belmont Avenue restaurant and called it an “error in judgment.”
Advertisement
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
3:50 p.m.: Lightfoot-backed plan to let Cubs defer infrastructure payment to city advances
Chicago aldermen moved a step closer Wednesday to letting the Cubs put off a $250,000 payment for infrastructure work around Wrigley Field.
The proposal backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot allows the team to make the scheduled 2021 “CubFund Project” payment in 2024. It passed the City Council License Committee on Wednesday, and will head to the full council next week.
In introducing the ordinance last month, on the same day she got aldermen to approve a $94 million property tax hike and other fine and fee increases to help balance the 2021 budget, the mayor cited the Cubs’ loss of revenue during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, Southwest Side Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, nodded to the potentially problematic optics of giving the billionaire Ricketts family that owns the team a break on neighborhood improvement funds while regular Chicagoans are struggling.
“Someone has to explain, to a least me, from such an organization that has strong financial backing, obviously, it’s a billion-dollar industry, a billion-dollar entity, why we should defer this payment, besides the fact that there’s no baseball and there’s other things in play,” Cardenas said.
Advertisement
Read more here. —John Byrne
2:18 p.m.: If you didn’t get a stimulus check, filing your 1040 can fix that. Here are 2020 tax tips you need to know.
It’s the time of year to start thinking about taxes — but the upcoming filing season is going to be a bit trickier for many Americans due to rampant unemployment, working from home and general upheaval due to COVID-19.
Here are a few pandemic specific conditions — good and bad — to be aware of.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:57 p.m.: Only about half of Americans want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, AP-NORC poll finds
As states frantically prepare to begin months of vaccinations that could end the pandemic, a new poll finds only about half of Americans are ready to roll up their sleeves when their turn comes.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows about a quarter of U.S. adults aren’t sure if they want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Roughly another quarter say they won’t.
Advertisement
Many on the fence have safety concerns and want to watch how the initial rollout fares — skepticism that could hinder the campaign against the scourge that has killed nearly 290,000 Americans. Experts estimate at least 70% of the U.S. population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, or the point at which enough people are protected that the virus can be held in check.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:52 p.m.: Tensions rise over mask requirements as coronavirus grips smaller US cities: ‘The worst health crisis ... and we’re fighting over a mask’
Arguments over mask requirements and other restrictions have turned ugly in recent days as the deadly coronavirus surge across the U.S. engulfs small and medium-size cities that once seemed at a safe remove from the outbreak.
In Boise, Idaho, public health officials about to vote on a four-county mask mandate abruptly ended a meeting Tuesday evening because of fears for their safety amid anti-mask protests outside the building and at some of their homes. One health board member tearfully announced she had to rush home to be with her child because protesters were banging on her front door.
In California, Sacramento County health officials had to suspend a meeting Tuesday after more than two dozen protesters pounded on the chamber doors during a debate over whether to strengthen enforcement against businesses that violate virus restrictions.
And in South Dakota, the mayor of Rapid City said City Council members were harassed and threatened over a proposed citywide mask mandate that failed this week even as intensive care units across the state filled with COVID-19 patients.
Advertisement
“I think that’s a sad commentary here in the middle of a global pandemic, the worst health crisis in our lifetimes, and we’re fighting over a mask,” Mayor Steve Allender said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:34 p.m.: Oak Park approved as vaccination provider, could receive COVID-19 vaccines by mid-December
After the village of Oak Park received approval from the state as a vaccination provider, officials say they could begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to frontline employees later this month.
As one of the few towns with its own municipal health department, the village of Oak Park applied for and received approval from the state on Nov. 27 to become an authorized vaccine provider once a vaccine is approved, officials said.
Read more here. —Steve Schering, Pioneer Press
1:30 p.m.: Chicago officials outline initial coronavirus vaccine distribution plans: ‘We are very ready for the vaccine as it comes’
With federal approval for two coronavirus vaccines expected soon, Chicago officials said Wednesday they hope to vaccinate all city adults in 2021 as they laid out their plans to roll out the vaccine.
Advertisement
Initial vaccine doses will be sent to all 34 hospitals in the city, officials said. Health care workers who treat COVID-19 patients or are at high risk for coronavirus spread will be first to receive it, the city said.
After health care workers, vaccines will be prioritized for a broad group of people including residents and staff at long-term care facilities, people with high risk due to underlying medical conditions, people who are 65 and older, and workers in “essential and critical industries.”
That broad designation potentially allows a wide array of people to be eligible, though public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the definition of essential workers likely will be clarified through additional guidance from federal officials.
The city expects somewhere between 100,000-150,000 doses to be available in December, though that’s just an estimate.
”We are excited about this, we are very ready for the vaccine as it comes,” Arwady said.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
Advertisement
12:06 p.m.: 8,256 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 179 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 8,256 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 179 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 812,430 and the statewide death toll to 13,666 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 92,737 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 9.6% for the period ending Tuesday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
8:28 a.m.: Trump offers $600 direct payments, but would eliminate $300 unemployment boost in COVID-19 relief plan
The Trump administration is back in the middle of Capitol Hill’s confusing COVID-19 negotiations, offering a $916 billion package to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators.
The offer arrived Tuesday with the endorsement of the top House Republican and appeared to demonstrate some flexibility by powerful Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But Democrats immediately blasted the plan over the administration’s refusal to back the partial restoration, to $300 per week, of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August.
The House on Wednesday will pass a one-week government funding bill to give lawmakers more time to sort through the hot mess they have created for themselves after months of futile negotiations and posturing and recent rounds of flip-flopping. Without the measure, the government would shut down this weekend.
Advertisement
President-elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he’s not directly involved in the talks. McConnell says Congress will not adjourn without providing the long-overdue COVID-19 relief. The pressure to deliver is intense — all sides say failure isn’t an option.
Read more here. —Associated Press
8:16 a.m.: Rockford-area coroner buys refrigerated trailer as COVID-19 surges
The Rockford-area coroner’s office has purchased a refrigerated trailer in the event deaths related to COVID-19 overwhelm the office’s capacity to store bodies.
The purchase of the $30,000 trailer was made as the county’s morgue neared capacity, Winnebago County Coroner Bill Hintz said.
“The way our numbers were rising at an alarming level, and I do say alarming, I did not want to be caught without any spaces left,” he said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Advertisement
Updated at 8:15 a.m.: British regulators: Those with ‘significant history’' of allergic reactions should hold off on COVID-19 vaccine
U.K. regulators said Wednesday that people who have a “significant history’' of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program.
The U.K.’s Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is looking into whether the reactions were linked to the vaccine. The two people affected were staff members with the National Health Service who had a history of allergies, and both are recovering. Authorities have not specified what their reactions were.
In the meantime, the regulator has issued the warning for anyone who has had a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food. That includes anyone who has been told to carry an adrenaline shot or others who have had potentially fatal allergic reactions.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:45 a.m.: 5 Bloomington bars & restaurants fined for violating COVID-19 restrictions
Five Bloomington bars and restaurants were fined by the city’s liquor commission Tuesday for violating state-imposed mitigation measures to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
Three others still face a decision before the Bloomington Liquor Commission.
Advertisement
Last month, Bloomington Mayor and Liquor Commissioner Tari Renner announced five businesses were issued citations for violating those measures. They included Eastland Suites, 1801 Eastland Drive; Parkview Inn, 1003 S. Morris Ave.; Garden of Paradise, 1412 E. Empire St.; Western Avenue Tap, 1301 N. Western Ave.; and Cheeks Bar and Grill, 1206 Towanda Ave.
Since then, three others were cited, including Applebee’s, 502 N. Veterans Parkway, Joe’s Pub, 3907 General Electric Road, and Mickey’s Kitchen, at 1709 S. Veterans Parkway.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Nov. 1 that bars and restaurants would have to temporarily stop indoor service and have all outdoor service end by 11 p.m.
Last month, 12 Bloomington bars and restaurants were issued citations, and Renner held off on fines, but warned that any further violations could result in fines and the suspension or revocation of their liquor licenses.
Applebee’s, Cheeks Bar and Grill, Eastland Suites, Parkview Inn and Garden of Paradise all admitted wrongdoing and have already paid a $400 fine, said City Attorney George Boyle.
—Bloomington Pantagraph, via Tribune Content Agency
Advertisement
5 a.m.: After a tough 2020, Chicagoans are going big with their holiday lawn decorations.
Seeking to shine a little extra light in a difficult year, Chicagoans are going big with their 2020 holiday lawn ornaments, festooning porches that usually go bare and debuting eye-catching and over-the-top pieces: Christmas unicorns and dragons, life-size Buddy the Elf blow-ups and towering 12-foot snowmen from “Frozen.”
In suburban Highland Park and in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, residents came together to erect light arches over the sidewalk. In the Rogers Park neighborhood, Treacy Greer managed to hoist an 11-foot pine tree onto her third-floor deck and festoon it with 800 colored lights.
“It just seemed like a good year to go big,” said Rebeccah Willard, 43, an oncology nurse in Oak Park who bought an 11-foot inflatable reindeer. “I think everyone’s feeling we need a little more joy, 2020 being what it has been.”
During a recent earnings call with analysts, Home Depot CEO Craig A. Menear cited strong Halloween decor sales and said the company had similar expectations for Christmas. Customers, he said, appear to be craving normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more here. —Nara Schoenberg
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 some recent stories related to COVID-19.


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--‘Indiana is on fire’: Gov. Eric Holcomb orders hospitals to delay elective surgeries as COVID-19 ove

‘Indiana is on fire’: Gov. Eric Holcomb orders hospitals to delay elective surgeries as COVID-19 overwhelms health care system

Pilot hospitals would be required to have people “ ready on hold ” if there are leftover doses that day @ @ @ @ @ said .
Those who got sick and recovered from COVID-19 within the past 90 days @ @ @ @ @ delay a little bit , ” Weaver said , but everyone is encouraged to get @ @ @ @

CORRECTS NAME Ranjan Shukla, accompanied by her husband Dr Hari Shukla, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, England, Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The United Kingdom, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, is beginning its vaccination campaign, a key step toward eventually ending the pandemic. (Owen Humphreys/Pool via AP) (Owen Humphreys/AP)
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday hospitals are ordered to cancel or delay elective surgeries from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3.
The announcement came as Indiana looks for options to fight the nation’s second highest per-capita COVID-19 spread, straining its health care system.
Advertisement
“The state of Indiana is on fire,” Holcomb said, noting doctors and nurses are “overwhelmed.”
The state had halted elective medical procedures in April to help preserve hospital equipment and protective gear. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the surgery restrictions will allow hospitals to shift health care workers to help care for patients with COVID-19.
Advertisement
Holcomb, a Republican, said he was extending the statewide mask order and toughening restrictions on crowd sizes that he reinstated last month. The new rules will prevent local health departments from allowing exemptions for social gatherings of more than 25 people in counties with red ratings and more than 50 people in orange-rated counties.
District 1, which includes hospitals from Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper and Newton counties, reported 16.7% or only 41 open intensive care unit beds. Virus hospitalizations in the five-county area was at 474, down from 588 Nov. 30, about twice spring’s peak.
Lake County reported six new COVID-19 deaths, totaling 507. Porter County has had 127 deaths to date, according to its health department dashboard.
Community Hospital in Munster is expected to get its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment next week for frontline medical workers, Indiana State Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Lindsay Weaver said.
In total, over 55,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are expected to go to five Indiana pilot hospitals, including Community.
Frontline medical workers will be first in line, under Phase 1A, then nursing home residents, or at-risk patients with chronic conditions like kidney disease, or type 2 diabetes. Phase 2, anticipated later, would cover those who are likely to catch the virus at work. Phase 3 would cover the general public, expected next summer at earliest.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to consider the Pfizer vaccine Thursday, and Moderna’s on Dec. 17.
The vaccine is free, but hospitals are allowed to charge an “administrative fee” directly to insurance companies, Weaver said.
Advertisement
With 400,000 Indiana healthcare workers qualifying, including doctors, nurses, dietitians, cleaning staff and clergy, they couldn’t inoculate everyone that first week, she said.
Pilot hospitals would be required to have people “ready on hold” if there are leftover doses that day, for example, Weaver said. Those who got sick and recovered from COVID-19 within the past 90 days “may be asked to delay a little bit,” Weaver said, but everyone is encouraged to get the two-dose vaccine.
Pfizer’s vaccine requires two shots 21 days apart, while Moderna’s needs two shots 28 days apart. Both require ultra cold storage with at least a 94% protection rate with two doses.
The Associated Press contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Two children killed, four adults injured in house fire in Ingleside in Lake County

The two children , 5 and 8 , were found in the home , one of them in a bedroom @ @ @ @ @ hallway on the second floor , fire officials said .

Members of the Fox Lake Fire Department on Dec. 11, 2020, continue to put out hot spots and investigate a fatal fire that killed two young girls the previous night in the 35700 block of Hunt Avenue in northwest suburban Ingleside. Four adults were also injured in the fire. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
An impromptu memorial sprouted Friday in front of the Ingleside home where two young girls were killed and four family members injured, three critically, Thursday night in a house fire which one fire department official called the worst fire-related tragedy he has ever seen.
“It was definitely a rough one,” said Ed Lescher, a deputy chief with the Fox Lake Fire Protection District. “An entire family was affected by it. This was tragic.”
Advertisement
Balloons, ribbons, flowers and notes were affixed to a railing in front of the home at 35704 Hunt Avenue by early afternoon Friday. Several notes were left by Vivianna Paz, a Gavin Central School fourth-grader and a friend of the girls.
The sisters, Elizabeth, 8, and Autumn Evans, 5, died from smoke inhalation, according to a Lake County Coroner’s Office press release.
Advertisement
Vivianna said she knew if she wrote the letters, the sisters would be able to read them from heaven. She put one on the railing, and returned 30 minutes later with another.
“I wrote a letter to them,” she said. “I wrote I hope they’re having a good time in heaven together.”
Raul Paz, Vivianna’s father, said initially he tried to shield his daughter from the news, but when she logged on to her virtual classroom at Gavin Central, the teacher wasn’t there to greet the students.
“That’s how she found out,” Paz said. “They were so cute, so innocent,” he added, talking about the Evans sisters.
Julie Brua, the superintendent of Gavin School District 37, wrote in an email to the school community Friday there was a loss and counselors would be available. Information for families was in the email.
A memorial started by neighbors appears in front of the house where two young Ingleside girls died in a fire. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)
Anthony Falcone, a senior at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, was also there contributing to the memorial. He said the girls’ teenage brother, who was injured in the blaze, was his best friend.
“This place is like a second home to me,” Falcone said. “I’m here all the time. Those girls had so much energy. They were fun to be around.”
Lescher said firefighters arrived at the house shortly after receiving a report of the fire at 10:45 p.m. They found two adults and the teenager on the front lawn suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, with the two-story home fully ablaze.
Advertisement
Firefighters quickly rescued an adult trapped inside the house on the first floor, but Lescher said the flames were too intense to save two girls. Once the fire was extinguished, the 8-year-old was found in an upstairs bedroom and the 5-year-old in a hallway.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek, who arrived on the scene shortly after 4 a.m., said the girls’ mother, the teenage brother and two grandparents survived. Lescher said the grandmother was the adult rescued. They all lived in the house.
When firefighters arrived, Lescher said the first thing they did was try to rescue those trapped inside. The flames were too intense to enter the through the front.
“We sent a crew to the back, where the flames weren’t as bad,” he said. “They were able to get in the back door, and found an adult 15 feet away. They rescued her, and brought her out of the house. By then, the whole house was engulfed in flames. They couldn’t re-enter.”
Crews then began spraying water on the flames to extinguish them until firefighters could return for the two remaining victims. When part of the second-floor collapsed into the first, they were unable to re-enter the building until the fire was out. Six firefighters were then sent into the home and found the girls.
The sounds of sirens late Thursday night brought many of the neighbors into the street, like Violet Czerwinski, a Grant junior who lives a few doors south of the home.
Advertisement
“There were such flames,” Czerwinski said. “The whole house was burning. Everyone in the neighborhood was out watching.”
Gary Jeffers, who lives across the street from the home, said the loss is taking a toll on the entire neighborhood. He came outside when he heard the sirens, and was startled by what he saw.
“Everything was burning,” Jeffers said. “It was all engulfed. When I told a woman at work, she started crying and then I had a tear in my eye.”
The four survivors were transported to nearby hospitals, including some who were taken by helicopter to Loyola University Medical Center, which has the nearest burn unit.
Banek said the mother and grandparents were being treated Friday for their injuries at the Loyola Medical Center, while the teenager was at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
On Friday, officials had not yet formally identified those injured in the blaze.
Advertisement
Sgt. Chris Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Friday the mother and grandparents were in critical condition. The teenager was in stable condition. The girls’ father was not home at the time of the fire.
Lescher said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but he ruled out arson.
“The fire is not suspicious,” he said.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Daywatch: FDA panel endorses COVID vaccine, how the pandemic is devastating household finances and v

Daywatch: FDA panel endorses COVID vaccine, how the pandemic is devastating household finances and virtual Santas go all out

The coronavirus pandemic has forced employers of all sizes to shrink their operations or shut down , temporarily or for @ @ @ @ @ turn have less money to spend at other businesses .
The health crisis has sunk @ @ @ @ @ into a recession , and despite promising news about vaccines , much remains uncertain .
@ @ @ @ @ who is bearing the brunt of the recession locally .

Good morning, Chicago. Illinois officials announced 11,101 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases on Thursday — the highest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a week and the third-highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. Officials also reported 196 fatalities.
In lighter news, the holiday season is finally here — and so is your guide for food, entertainment, gifts and more in Chicago this December.
Advertisement
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
Advertisement
Documents created by Pfizer for the meeting with the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel, as Pfizer seeks approval for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine are seen on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Jon Elswick/AP)
A U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Thursday, putting the country just one step away from launching an epic vaccination campaign against the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans.
Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the Food and Drug Administration signs off, as expected, on the expert committee’s recommendation.
If Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine receives FDA approval, here’s what it will mean for Chicago and the rest of Illinois
The coronavirus pandemic has forced employers of all sizes to shrink their operations or shut down, temporarily or for good. Laid-off workers in turn have less money to spend at other businesses. The health crisis has sunk the nation’s economy into a recession, and despite promising news about vaccines, much remains uncertain. Here is a breakdown of who is bearing the brunt of the recession locally.
Sarah and Robert Maxwell of Naperville use Dash Carts as they shop at the first Amazon Fresh grocery store in Naperville on Dec. 10, 2020. The high-tech Dash Carts automatically ring items up as they're selected and allow shoppers to skip the checkout line. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Amazon Fresh opened to the public Thursday morning in Naperville, introducing checkout-free Dash Carts and voice-enabled Alexa terminals to the Chicago area in what might be just a taste of the e-commerce giant’s high-tech plans for the grocery shopping experience.
Percy Billings at his now-closed Harold's Chicken #55 in the West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago on Aug. 22, 2019. The restaurant closed this summer. He's opened a ghost kitchen on the North Side to help bring in more revenue. (Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune)
Harold’s Chicken Shack #55, widely considered the best franchise of the beloved fried chicken restaurants founded on the South Side of Chicago, has opened a ghost kitchen location on the North Side.
Owner Percy Billings, 79, had said over the summer that he was not planning to open another location, because he was at the age where he didn’t have the energy, but plans changed for one reason.
Dreezy Claus, aka Chicago's Black Santa, does a virtual visit with 5-year-old Jaden from his basement Dec. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Andre Russell has been doing a mix of visits this year, though most are virtual. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
This year, getting in the holiday spirit requires a dash of hope, a little bit of magic and a Zoom account. Just ask Santa.
Veteran Santa Clauses and rookie St. Nicks alike are shifting the gears on their sleighs and pivoting to virtual visits with customized backgrounds and classic props while officials plead with people to stay home during the pandemic.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--After 21 years, man extradited from Mexico to face charges in 1999 killing of flight attendant in De

After 21 years, man extradited from Mexico to face charges in 1999 killing of flight attendant in Des Plaines

It wasn ’ t until October 2007 when a family of immigrants told detectives about a relative in Mexico who @ @ @ @ @ threatened to kill any relative who gave him up .
The relatives said they fled @ @ @ @ @ of them with a screwdriver and also threatened to kill a second relative and her @ @

Whoever killed flight attendant Young Kavila, deeply gashing her neck, left plenty of evidence behind at her apartment in Des Plaines.
The killer had wiped his hands on her bed covers and had briefly dropped a bloody knife there. He also left clear finger and palm prints on the kitchen counter and a doorknob. But it would take 21 years to track down the suspect in Mexico and bring him back to Cook County to face murder charges.
Advertisement
Luis Rodriguez-Mena was extradited from Mexico and handed over to Des Plaines police at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday. His case was profiled in the Tribune’s “Fugitives From Justice” series about suspects going free because of a lack of coordination between the United States and Mexico.
Luis Rodriguez-Mena was extradited from Mexico and handed over to Des Plaines police at O’Hare International Airport to face murder charges in the 1999 killing of flight attendant Young Kavila. (Des Plaines Police Department)
“We hate to leave anything unfinished. I’m ecstatic that it’s being put to bed, so to speak,” Des Plaines police Chief William Kushner said at a news conference Thursday. “The case is closed. We have the offender in custody, and I’m certain that the justice system here in Cook County will handle the case appropriately and do the right thing.
Advertisement
“It gives me closure,” he added. “I can only imagine the sense of closure it gives to the officers that actually worked the case from the start.”
For two decades, the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, Interpol and the Mexican government worked — sometimes with little or no communication among themselves — to bring Rodriguez-Mena into custody. When authorities finally arrested him, he fought extradition for several months before finally being brought back to the States.
Randy Akin, one of the first detectives on the case who worked on it for about three years, said he was “elated, truly elated” by the arrest. “This was the only one left open,” he said. “It’s good to see how the system works.”
Flight attendant Young Kavila was killed in 1999. (Provided by Edbar Zaman)
Kavila, 30, was killed Nov. 30, 1999, after arriving in Chicago on a flight. She stopped to buy groceries and takeout Chinese food before going home around 10 p.m. But Rodriguez-Mena allegedly had gotten into her apartment in the 600 block of Colonial Lane and was waiting for her.
Kavila fought back as Rodriguez-Mena tried to sexually assault her in the kitchen, according to police. She used a small personal grooming razor to slash her attacker, but police say Rodriguez-Mena had a boot knife and cut her throat. Then he left.
Kavila’s roommate arrived minutes later and found her lying faceup on the kitchen floor. A diamond ring, necklaces and her wallet were missing.
It wasn’t until October 2007 when a family of immigrants told detectives about a relative in Mexico who bragged of the homicide and threatened to kill any relative who gave him up. The relatives said they fled Mexico after Rodriguez-Mena threatened one of them with a screwdriver and also threatened to kill a second relative and her family.
In 2011, then-Des Plaines police Detective Jennifer De Pastors stands near the apartment where Young Kavila was killed. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Detective Jennifer De Pastors, who retired several years ago, confirmed links to the crime scene fingerprints and DNA, and authorities filed first-degree murder charges against Rodriguez-Mena, a factory worker who had lived near Kavila’s apartment before abruptly returning to his childhood home in central Mexico.
Advertisement
Police located an ex-girlfriend of Rodriguez-Mena’s who had his child in 2001, and genetic testing concluded there was a 99.98% chance the child was related to the person whose blood was found at the homicide scene.
FBI agents at the time turned the case over to their Mexican counterparts, according to Tribune reporting in a 2011 story. Rodriguez-Mena learned of the manhunt and was able to stay off the grid around the time the Mexican pursuit began.
Rodriguez-Mena had been living openly at his parents’ house in the town of In Jiutepec at least until July 2007, when he secured a driver’s license in his own name, government records in central Mexico show. After that, Rodriguez-Mena’s family kept moving him around Mexico, according to Kushner.
The yellow-painted house in Jiutepec, Mexico, where Luis Rodriguez-Mena fled after he allegedly killed flight attendant Young Kavila in 1999. (Gary Marx / Chicago Tribune)
“They were aware of this right from the beginning when he fled to Mexico. In 1999, he admitted to his family members that he had killed a flight attendant in Des Plaines,” Kushner said. “They hid it from everyone. They kept hiding him and kept moving him around.”
Kushner joined the Des Plaines Police Department in 2012. At that time, officers began working the phones and reaching out to contacts in the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Customs and Immigration, Homeland Security, Interpol and the U.S. Marshals Service to develop more information.
In February 2014, warrants were issued for Rodriguez-Mena.
Advertisement
It was unclear Thursday exactly how officials were able to finally apprehend Rodriguez-Mena. FBI spokeswoman Special Agent Siobhan Johnson wrote in an email that, “Releasable information is limited to Mexico. No additional information is available at this (time).”
Attempts to reach Kavila’s family by phone were unsuccessful.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--‘This feeling is needed.’ Virtual Santas go all out to make Christmas special for kids during the pa

‘This feeling is needed.’ Virtual Santas go all out to make Christmas special for kids during the pandemic.

Sullivan , who is based in Streamwood , has worked as a seasonal Santa Claus for more than 25 years @ @ @ @ @ He first got into the character when he was in between jobs and began running @ @ @ @ @ for the Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles in the early ’ 90s .
If one @ @ @ @ @ t clock into work , Sullivan would step up and don the classic red suit @ @ @ @

Dreezy Claus, aka Chicago's Black Santa, does a virtual visit with 5-year-old Jaden from his basement Dec. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Andre Russell has been doing a mix of visits this year, though most are virtual. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
This year, getting in the holiday spirit requires a dash of hope, a little bit of magic and a Zoom account. Just ask Santa.
“(Kids) know COVID-19 is bad, they know to wear their masks and be careful and maybe they won’t see their cousins this Christmas,” said Andre Russell, aka Dreezy Claus. “But when they talk to me, they are just having a ball.”
Advertisement
Veteran Santa Clauses and rookie St. Nicks alike are shifting the gears on their sleighs and pivoting to virtual visits with customized backgrounds and classic props while officials plead with people to stay home during the pandemic.
While there is promising news about vaccines, families still face challenges in this difficult year. For one, how do you safely give your children a memorable holiday experience? Many Chicago-area malls are holding in-person visits with Santa where kids can share their wish lists and pose for photos, albeit with Plexiglas barriers and social distancing guidelines. But for kids with remote learning under their belts, a remote visit from Santa is the new normal.
Advertisement
“When the pandemic first hit, I automatically thought of December and wondered if I could or wanted to do it since it’s a tremendous mental responsibility to put the smile on, and people have so much going on,” said Russell, whose Santa hat sports salt-and-pepper-colored dreadlocks and who has been playing the jolly old elf for more than 10 years.
Dreezy Claus, aka Chicago's Black Santa, does a virtual visit with 5-year-old Jaden from his basement on Dec. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Dreezy Claus, played by Andre Russell, has been doing a mix of visits this year, though most of them are virtual. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
This year he created an elaborate setup in his basement, complete with a fireplace decked out in red brick, tinsel and a train set. Gift bags, one with an image of Baby Yoda, peek out from the sides of the fireplace. The Calumet Heights native also invested in a camera and quality lighting to have more polished video setups. After all, Santa Claus doesn’t cheap out.
“This feeling is needed. The kids need something to get cheered up about,” said Russell, 44, whose fees begin at $25 for virtual visits. “To be able to present that image and that conversation and let them know I wish I could be there.”
Toren Jones, 6, and Tarek Jones, 2, met Dreezy Claus for the first time on their tablet a couple of weeks ago. Their dad, Tarence Jones, said the virtual experience still felt special to his children, who are accustomed to virtual conversations.
“It was awesome. At the beginning of the call the younger one wanted to monopolize the conversation and kept yelling, ‘Santa, Santa!’ The 6-year-old was skeptical and shy ... he was like, ‘How does Santa have our phone number? How is he on our tablet?’”
Tarence Jones, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago but now lives in Kenosha, said he has known Russell for years and wanted his sons to meet “Chicago’s Black Santa.” Russell took the name Dreezy from his first name, Andre.
“It was cool for my sons to realize that not all Santas have to look the same way,” he said. “For me, I’m trying to teach my sons that they can be anything they want and that representation is a big deal. They can see a Black Santa, a Black president and now, a Black vice president.”
Dreezy Claus takes a selfie with Toya Jones-West, right, and her daughter, Chase West, 6, at a community event Dec. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The inspiration behind wearing the big red suit is personal. For some it is a calling; others see a need.
Advertisement
When COVID-19 wiped out his job opportunities in the wedding industry in the spring, Keith KoKoruz, 51, looked for a way to use his entertainment skills. Now he is all in, even visiting a local salon to get his beard bleached snow white.
“The good-looking Santas wear their own beards,” KoKoruz joked. “All of the fun and silliness I have as an uncle, I have as Santa. I’ve done my homework.”
Just a month into playing St. Nick, KoKoruz has styled his office in Schaumburg into Santa’s workshop, decorated with bright Christmas lights and garlands. He has perfected a deep and enthusiastic “ho-ho-ho!” for the older children. Babies can get easily frightened on Zoom, he added.
“All my calls are with families super excited about Christmas,” he said. “They tell me how they wear their mask all day; I become their best friend for a second,” KoKoruz said.
KoKoruz’s rate begins at $35 for personalized calls. Each session is unique, and he sings carols and reads Christmas tales. He writes everything down, to pass along to his elves, of course.
The calls are more than brief meetings with the man that leads the world’s most renowned reindeer. For many children, it’s the chance to build a connection to others and maintain the spirit of Christmas, he said.
Advertisement
“In a lot of malls, there’s a quick pass over and a picture,” KoKoruz said. “What’s great about this whole situation is getting to spend time getting to know who they are. ... I think we all crave being social, especially now that the governor and mayor have asked us to stay in when it’s the biggest time of year to be social.”
For John Sullivan, being Santa Claus is a lifestyle. The 81-year-old maintains a long white beard year-round and is often stopped and questioned by inquisitive children wondering where his sleigh is parked.
“The answer is always magic,” Sullivan laughed.
Sullivan, who is based in Streamwood, has worked as a seasonal Santa Claus for more than 25 years in the Chicago area. He first got into the character when he was in between jobs and began running the mall Santa photo operation for the Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles in the early ’90s. If one of the Santas didn’t clock into work, Sullivan would step up and don the classic red suit and fuzzy hat.
John Sullivan, 81, combs his hair as he prepares to put on his Santa hat before recording an individualized message for children on his iPad at his home on Nov. 30, 2020, in Streamwood. Sullivan has been playing Santa Claus for over 25 years. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
“With the little children you are someone really special, you are giving them such joy. It’s the most wonderful thing you can imagine,” he said. “I never dreamt of being a Santa. I know a lot of people who play Santa, and they get the same feeling.”
And Santa Claus is not just important to kids. A 2013 Pew Research Survey found that 7 in 10 parents with at least one child younger than 18 say they plan to have Santa visit their house on Christmas Eve. Even among people whose children don’t believe in Santa or aren’t parents, 1 in 5 still plans to get a visit from him.
Advertisement
Sullivan has been the local Santa for village events, park districts and has spent time on helicopters and Christmas boat tours of Lake Michigan. In a good season, he is booked for up to 60 events and can make upward of $15,000.
Dressed as Santa Claus, John Sullivan, 81, prerecords individualized video messages for children at his home on Nov. 30, 2020, in Streamwood. He built his own home studio complete with a dark blue background, snowflakes, sleigh bells, and a "naughty and nice list." (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
But with pandemic restrictions, he now charges for personalized messages online and books clients for virtual sessions. His computer background is an ethereal mix of blue and green sky, just like the North Pole. He carries sleigh bells, whistles and a naughty and nice list, rolled up in a scroll.
“If I’m vaccinated and back next year, I’ll be back at it,” he said. “As a Santa, there’s nothing like a little child running up to you and saying, ‘Santa, Santa! I’ve been waiting to see you!’ It’s the little ones you miss the most, the true believers.”
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Column: Walking through the pandemic. It’ll save your sanity.

I ’ ve always been a walker , at least since I deduced it was easier on the joints than @ @ @ @ @ feels different .
It comes with a distinct urgency and solace .
Since the first @ @ @ @ @ once the gyms closed , I ’ ve rarely missed a day .
I walk @ @ @ @ @ , often more , always in the morning , sometimes again later .

Two pedestrians in the 4000 block of West Congress Parkway on Dec. 9, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
I’ve been out walking.
And walking and walking and walking and walking and walking.
Advertisement
In the past nine months, walking, above all else, has saved my sanity. And I know from my walks that there are a lot of other pandemic perambulators out there, walking off the weirdness unique to this time.
________
Advertisement
The Chicago Tribune publishes a variety of columnists. Columns are opinion content that reflect the views of the writers and not necessarily the Chicago Tribune
________
The pandemic that flared in March has left most of us in search of ways to keep our lives and minds stitched together. How we do it varies from person to person.
Maybe you’ve brightened up the darkness by cleaning like you’ve never cleaned before. (Have you ever cleaned your dishwasher drain? I hadn’t either, but I can assure you it’s profoundly satisfying.)
Maybe you’ve found comfort in food, in eating too much or eating new things or baking everything on “The Great British Baking Show.” (That’s not me, but if my new habit of eating half a bar of dark chocolate almost every afternoon counts, I fall into that category.)
Maybe you’ve found inner peace by watching TV shows you wouldn’t have bothered with before this deadly virus stole your ordinary pleasures. (Have I really watched all the seasons of “Lucifer?” If so, the devil made me do it.)
The anxieties brought on by the pandemic can manifest in other, less pleasant, ways as well. I went to the dentist not long ago for a routine checkup and asked if it was true, as I’d heard on the news, that pandemic stress was causing dental woes.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “So many cracked teeth.”
Advertisement
On a trip to the dermatologist, I asked if pandemic stress was showing up on skin.
She nodded. “Rashes,” she said. “And itching. Lots of itching.”
I’ve escaped the cracked teeth and itching — so far — but there is no escaping the need to escape the stress of this moment. And there’s no better escape than walking.
I’ve always been a walker, at least since I deduced it was easier on the joints than running, but pandemic walking feels different. It comes with a distinct urgency and solace. Since the first week of the pandemic, once the gyms closed, I’ve rarely missed a day. I walk at least five miles daily, often more, always in the morning, sometimes again later.
I often spot people I once saw only at the gym out walking too. I wonder if they, like me, find walking more satisfying.
But pandemic walking is far more than a substitute for the gym. Every walk feels like a revelation. It’s a way to travel in this time when travel is limited. It’s a way to breathe fully in a time when it can feel hard to take a deep breath. A walk always leaves you calmer.
Advertisement
Still, these pandemic walks present challenges. Some days I think, “I cannot walk this route one more time.” But then I do, with a little variation. I may take the alley instead of the street, turn left instead of right, zigzag from one sidewalk to the opposite one in pursuit of novelty.
And on every single walk, I notice some detail I’d never registered before.
A remarkable doorway. A curious old house ornament. The strange shape of a tree trunk. Sometimes I see an entire building I’d never noticed — though I must have passed it a thousand times.
Walking during the pandemic can be pleasantly solitary, but the socially distanced walk with friends is a way many of us now stay connected. I now have walk dates with friends I once would have met in a cafe or restaurant.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
And then there’s the phone walk-and-talk. Several mornings a week my pal Barbara and I text each other.
“Are you up and out?” one of us asks. “Want to walk and talk?”
Advertisement
Often both of us are. If we’re not, we inspire each other to find our walking shoes and get outside.
“What would we do without walking?” we often wonder. The answer, we fear, is: Go crazy.
Not everyone is able to get out and walk. Not every body can do it. Not every life situation allows it.
But for those who can, it’s a lifesaver. A mind saver. The minute you step outside for a walk this pandemic world looks brighter and feels lighter, and it’s easier to believe, one step at a time, that we’ll make it to the other side.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Planets to appear aligned nearly creating ‘Christmas star’ last widely visible 800 years ago

“ Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn happen every 20 years and most aren ’ t very close at all .
@ @ @ @ @ year is they ’ re right , right next to each other , ” said @ @ @ @ @ planets have never been this close in the sky for 400 years so no one @ @ @ @ @ s going to look like because it hasn ’ t happened since 1623 , in @ @ @ @ @ That kind of gives you a sense of the rarity of the event .
This @ @ @ @ @ event , this is a once-in-our-history since-we-built-the-telescope event .
”

Streaks of beacon and strobe lights from a passenger jet departing O'Hare International Airport pass Saturn and Jupiter as the two planets approach conjunction on Dec. 20, 2020, over Chicago. The Great Conjunction will occur Dec. 21, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
When something inordinately rare or unexpected happens, it is said “the planets aligned.”
On Dec. 21, the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will appear nearly aligned, resulting in an event so uncommon it’s befitting of the saying. At one time, astronomers may have felt it so closely resembled a Christmas miracle — or, perhaps, the star of Bethlehem — that they named the spectacle the “Christmas Star.”
Advertisement
The event is called a conjunction, said Shane Larson, associate director of Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.
“Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn happen every 20 years and most aren’t very close at all. What’s special this year is they’re right, right next to each other,” said Larson. “These two planets have never been this close in the sky for 400 years so no one really knows what it’s going to look like because it hasn’t happened since 1623, in Galileo’s time. That kind of gives you a sense of the rarity of the event. This is not just a once-in-a-lifetime event, this is a once-in-our-history since-we-built-the-telescope event.”
Advertisement
While catching a glimpse of either Jupiter or Saturn is relatively commonplace, Michelle Nichols, an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium, said the 1623 Christmas Star occurred so close to the sun, it’s possible it went largely unnoticed.
A star map of the night sky as seen on Dec. 21, 2020, shows the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter that will create a bright "Christmas star" on the southwest horizon. (TNS)
The last time the two gas giants were this close and easily seen? A cool 800 years.
“It’ll be closer than anybody on Earth has ever seen those two planets,” Nichols said.
She recently has been fielding questions at Adler about what the event will and won’t involve and said she’s encountered a great deal of misinformation. For one thing, she said, “nearly aligned” is not aligned.
“They’re coming close together, but they are not going to merge; they are not forming a single star. They will still appear as two distinct objects,” Nichols said. “The distance between them will appear as about one-fifth of the diameter of the full moon.”
And that’s just how close they’ll look. They’ll still be about half a billion miles apart.
“It’s a rare event that people should take advantage of to go take a look at, if they can,” said Adina Feinstein, a researcher in the University of Chicago’s astronomy and astrophysics department.
And timing is of the utmost importance, she said. The “star” will only be visible for about an hour shortly after sunset, which in Chicago should be at 4:23 p.m. on Monday. (The winter solstice is when the northern hemisphere has the fewest hours of daylight all year.)
Advertisement
“Remember it won’t be the whole night. People wishing to see it will want to look to the horizon, in the southwest sky, or use an app that tells them where Jupiter is,” Feinstein said.
But Larson doubts an app will be necessary. He said to look near where the sun has set and make a fist, lining up the bottom with the horizon. The top should be about where Jupiter will be, and it will be the brightest star in the sky.
Saturn will be much less so, but within about 45 minutes of sunset, Nichols said, the Christmas Star should appear. It will “set” about 6:40 p.m. in Chicago.
“You’ve got about an hour of decent viewing. Whether or not you see it past that time depends on your local horizon and how far down to the horizon you can see,” she said.
Some good news for Chicago residents: Light pollution from the city isn’t likely to affect visibility. But remember the star will be low — more out than up. If the horizon is obscured by buildings or trees, it won’t be visible.
Stars shine in the sky as vegetation sits near a utility pole in the County Line Conservation area in the early hours of on Dec. 10, 2020, in Garden Prairie, Ill. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Nichols said one question she has not been able to answer is whether it’s possible the star of Bethlehem described in the Bible might have been a conjunction. There was a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 7 B.C., she said.
Advertisement
“The answer is we have absolutely no idea,” Nichols said. “What people considered celestially significant then was very different from what people consider significant today, so it is extremely difficult to know what was being referred to.”
Larson encouraged everyone to get out and enjoy the night sky generally, and this event specifically. Although access to a backyard telescope isn’t necessary, it will magnify the experience.
“People have these kinds of moving experiences the first time they look at Jupiter and Saturn through a telescope because they will look just like they do in pictures. It’s really kind of remarkable in that way,” Larson said.
“Either way, go look. And just kind of appreciate the precise and very elegant clockwork of the universe that made this possible. For those of us who enjoy finding our place in the universe by staring into the sky, that is what this event is really most important for.”
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--How full are hospitals in Illinois? Search our list to find out.

The figures cover all adult inpatient beds that a hospital is staffing , as well as the subset of beds @ @ @ @ @ unit .
COVID-19 patients include confirmed cases as well as those considered to be under @ @ @ @ @

Amid pandemic fears of overrun hospitals, federal regulators have released figures that show how full each hospital is — including with COVID-19 patients — and how many beds each has to spare.
The figures cover all adult inpatient beds that a hospital is staffing, as well as the subset of beds staffed in an intensive care unit. COVID-19 patients include confirmed cases as well as those considered to be under investigation for the virus.
The data covers the most recent Friday-to-Thursday period, and the figures are a daily average from that week.
Search below for any hospital in Illinois, then click on the name to get more detailed information. (Figures weren’t provided for hospitals with very small patient loads.)
Data as of Dec. 21.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Data limited to only hospitals with an average of four or more patients in a category. For more information, see this website.


chicagotribune--2020-12-12--Column: This is the best holiday song of 2020 — the year of muddling through somehow

In short , Sinatra was singing about the happy holidays , right here and now .
Garland ’ s version @ @ @ @ @ next year when we all would be together , next year when all our troubles @ @ @ @ @ next year when faithful friends who were dear to us would be near to us @ @ @

Today, we announce the Best Holiday Song of 2020, the year of muddling through somehow.
If you guessed that “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” would win this award, it’s a reasonable guess given how many of us will be stuck at home for the holidays thanks to the pandemic. But wrong.
Advertisement
Judy Garland and Margarete O'Brien in "Meet Me In St. Louis." (MGM Studio)
“Let it Snow?” That’s also a runner-up for holiday song of the pandemic year, given the line that says “since we’ve no place to go.” But wrong.
________
Advertisement
The Chicago Tribune publishes a variety of columnists. Columns are opinion content that reflect the views of the writers and not necessarily the Chicago Tribune
________
No, the Best Holiday Song of 2020, the year in which a virus has turned the world upside down, is the classic, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
In the typical year, this is a poignant song, the perfect holiday blend of happy and sad. This year, it feels pointed, as if it were composed just for us, just for right now.
The song has gone through several iterations since it was written, in the midst of World War II, for the 1944 movie “Meet Me in St. Louis.” The original lyrics, by Hugh Martin, are rarely sung and barely known. They began:
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past
Advertisement
Judy Garland, the film’s star, found the lyrics grim, and in an NPR interview decades later, Martin conceded that, despite his initial reluctance to change them, they were “hysterically lugubrious.” To appease Garland and others involved with the movie, he made them cheerier.
But even that version retained a strong melancholy flavor, and Frank Sinatra wanted Martin to brighten the song up even more. In 1957, as Entertainment Weekly once reported, Sinatra asked Martin for the change.
“He called to ask if I would rewrite the ‘muddle through somehow’ line,” Martin recalled. “He said, ‘The name of my album is ‘A Jolly Christmas.’ Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?”’
Martin jollied up several lines. Where Judy Garland sang, “Next year all our troubles will be out of sight,” Sinatra crooned, “From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.”
Where Garland sang, “Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow,” Sinatra sang, “Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow.”
Where she sang “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow,” he jauntily sang, “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.” No muddling for Sinatra and his happy-go-lucky 1950s world.
Advertisement
In short, Sinatra was singing about the happy holidays, right here and now. Garland’s version was about delayed gratification — next year when we all would be together, next year when all our troubles would be far away, next year when faithful friends who were dear to us would be near to us once more.
The chipper Sinatra version is the more commonly recorded, but it’s the Garland version — with its hope for next year, its acknowledgment of muddling in the moment — that makes “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” the Best Holiday Song of 2020.
When I heard the song the other day, I got curious about the word “muddle.” I knew what it meant but wondered about the official definition. I looked it up: “to cope in a more or less satisfactory way despite lack of expertise, planning, or equipment.”
It’s an exquisite summary of 2020. When the pandemic hit, none of us was an expert in how to live through it. Planning was poor. Equipment was scant.
But we’ve coped. And hoped. In other words, muddled.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Back when the song was written, World War II separated friends and family for a different reason than the pandemic separates us now. But it’s useful to remember that we aren’t the first people to yearn to be with the people we love. We aren’t the first people to muddle through. We won’t be the last.
Advertisement
Next year will come. We will be together. If the fates allow.
***
Speaking of songs. My colleague Eric Zorn and I hope you’ll join us for the 22nd Songs of Cheer, the holiday singalong we host with a band of talented musicians affiliated with the Old Town School of Folk Music. We’re going online this year, for a prerecorded show that will be livestreamed on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. Buy a ticket and you get a private YouTube link to the show, along with a link to a downloadable songbook. The link will be good at least through Dec. 20.
Tickets are $25. Call the Old Town School at 773-728-6000 or go online: http://ots.fm/sogc2020
It’s safe holiday fun that also does good for people in need. A portion of ticket sales will benefit community partners of the Chicago Tribune’s holiday community giving campaign, including the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Deborah’s Place.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


Corrections and clarifications

Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune ’ s news responsibility and a value @ @ @ @ @ .
Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards .
Everyone in @ @ @ @ @ live up to this code of conduct .
Download the file .

· A caption with a photograph of an indoor shooting range on Page 6 of Friday’s paper incorrectly said the photo was taken Wednesday. In fact, it was a file photo taken in June.
The Tribune regrets the error.
Advertisement
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
To report an error, fill out this form.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Illinois surpasses 14,000 COVID-19 deaths less than a week after hitting 13,000 mark

“ But if we don ’ t keep on this path of trying to wear our mask and stay at @ @ @ @ @ a big surge , ” she said .
“ We ’ re already teetering .
@ @ @ @ @ there are a dozen beds , a dozen ICU beds in the region right now @ @ @ @ @ can not be handled .
”

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois on Friday surpassed 14,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began, less than a week after the statewide death toll reached 13,000.
The state reported an additional 190 deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday, with fatalities continuing to be consistently high in December as the state continues to battle the aggressive fall coronavirus resurgence.
Advertisement
While the authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has provided hope that the end of the pandemic may be in sight, there continues to be a persistently high number of deaths in Illinois and throughout the country.
“We all want the deaths to come down. I think the light at the end of the tunnel is the vaccine and getting as many people vaccinated as will be vaccinated based on the supply,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Friday at a coronavirus briefing in Chicago.
Advertisement
“But if we don’t keep on this path of trying to wear our mask and stay at home, we could have a big surge,” she said. “We’re already teetering. We have some areas where there are a dozen beds, a dozen ICU beds in the region right now. So a big surge cannot be handled.”
[ Coronavirus updates: Here's what happened Friday in the Chicago area and the rest of Illinois ]
As of Thursday night, 5,141 people across the state were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 1,081 in intensive care units and 635 on ventilators. The number of statewide hospitalizations has come down over the past few weeks, after reaching as high as 6,175 on Nov. 20.
The state reported 9,420 new and probable cases of COVID-19 Friday, which came out of a batch of 104,448 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests stood at 9.4% for the period ending Thursday, down from 10.3% a week earlier. The state reported that throughout the course of the pandemic, 832,951 known and probable cases have been identified in Illinois.
Officials have said the COVID-19 inoculations could begin in a matter of days for the priority groups, including health care workers and long-term care facilities.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a state review panel is “poised to review all available FDA data and based on all information to date, the team is optimistic that this vaccine can safely move forward.”
“Federal officials have told us that these first doses will be shipped out to states within 24 hours of approval, and Illinois is prepared to quickly get this vaccine to our front-line health care workforce,” Pritzker said.
Advertisement
Pritzker’s administration last week released details about its updated plan for distributing the initial vaccine shipment throughout the state, which prioritizes the 50 counties that have seen the highest per capita death rates during the pandemic, via 10 regional hospital distribution points.
That initial plan did not include counties where a few of those regional hospitals are located in the group of 50, but “since then we’ve made some revisions to our allocation to make sure that every regional hospital will get a portion of vaccine to distribute in week one,” Ezike said Friday.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--The Spin: Duckworth says relief bill ‘close’ | Bost, LaHood back Texas lawsuit to throw out election

The Spin: Duckworth says relief bill ‘close’ | Bost, LaHood back Texas lawsuit to throw out election results | Renewed push to rename Lake Shore Drive for DuSable

Meantime , ace reporter Tony Arnold over at WBEZ-FM got his hands on a letter six Illinois Democrats wrote to @ @ @ @ @ publicly said they won ’ t support embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan ’ s bid @ @ @ @ @ leadership post when it comes up for a vote next month .
The letter , @ @ @ @ @ short of asking the group to change their minds — though the math right now @ @ @ @ @ Madigan could lose the longtime post .
Rather , it calls for Democratic Party unity @

Sen. Tammy Duckworth speaks at a health care rally hosted by the American Optometric Association on June 21, 2017, at the U.S. Capitol. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth offered a slice of hope today to the Illinois restaurant industry struggling in the midst of the pandemic. During a virtual town hall meeting, the Hoffman Estates Democrat said a relief bill that would provide immediate financial assistance was “very close to the finish line,” my Tribune colleague Phil Vettel reports.
Meantime in the U.S. House, 126 Republicans are backing a lawsuit that would overturn the November presidential election, including Downstate GOP U.S. Reps. Mike Bost of Murphysboro and Darin LaHood of Peoria. The Associated Press is calling the latest legal maneuver to dismiss Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Donald Trump a conservative litmus test.
Advertisement
And there’s a renewed push at Chicago’s City Hall to rename Lake Shore Drive, perhaps one of the city’s best known roadways, for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable — the Black explorer credited with being the area’s first nonnative settler.
It comes amid a national reckoning over race and justice in this country that has once again shone a light on how history books, monuments and even street names honor the story of white Americans in this country. The one-dimensional narrative not only leaves out the contributions of Black and Latino residents but also fuels the racial divide.
Advertisement
Meantime, ace reporter Tony Arnold over at WBEZ-FM got his hands on a letter six Illinois Democrats wrote to their 19 colleagues who have publicly said they won’t support embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bid for another term in the leadership post when it comes up for a vote next month. The letter, marked “confidential” stops short of asking the group to change their minds — though the math right now shows their defections would mean Madigan could lose the longtime post. Rather, it calls for Democratic Party unity.
Welcome to The Spin.
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump listens as Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, speaks during a media briefing in the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)
The Associated Press reports that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said.
The vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech won a critical endorsement Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the agency — which was expected this weekend — is the next step needed to get the shots to the public.
In Chicago today, Gov. J.B. Pritzker told reporters the FDA decision “all but imminent,” and said a state review panel is “poised to review all available FDA data, and based on all information to date, the team is optimistic that this vaccine can safely move forward,” my Tribune colleague Jamie Munks reports.
It was another grim day with Illinois public health officials reporting the state had surpassed 14,000 COVID-19 deaths, less than a week after hitting 13,000 mark, Munks notes. More details here.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., speaks via videoconference during a subcommittee hearing Dec. 10, 2020, on transporting a coronavirus vaccine. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
The Tribune’s Vettel writes: In a video town hall meeting sponsored by the Illinois Restaurant Association, Sen. Tammy Duckworth gave hope to the restaurant industry, saying that a relief bill that would provide immediate financial assistance was “very close to the finish line.”
“I’m not leaving town until we get federal relief out the door,” she said Friday, speaking from Washington.
Advertisement
The news cheered the restaurant industry members who participated in the call, who reiterated the crisis that restaurant owners and workers face. Read the full story here.
Indeed, talks on a relief package are stalled at the moment, The Associated Press is reporting, but there is universal agreement that Congress likely won’t adjourn for the year without passing a long-delayed round of pandemic relief.
The bust of early Chicago settler Jean Baptiste Point DuSable will be moved across the street from Pioneer Plaza along the Chicago River to outside of the Wrigley Building. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s John Byrne: “Aldermen on Friday debated naming Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the Black man who’s credited with founding Chicago.
“The proposal would rename about 17 miles of the Outer Drive, from Hollywood Avenue on the north to 67th Street on the south, to honor DuSable, a Black explorer of Haitian descent who’s credited as the area’s first nonnative settler for establishing a trading post along the Chicago River in 1779.
“South Side Ald. David Moore, 17th, said he was moved to introduce the plan last fall after taking a boat tour downtown and noticing DuSable never came up as the guide mentioned the many honorees in Chicago’s public places.” Read the rest here.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Advertisement
Speaker Michael Madigan on the House floor before Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first budget address to a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate at the Illinois State Capitol on Feb. 20, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
WBEZ’s Tony Arnold writes in a new piece: “Citing concerns that their division over reelecting Michael Madigan as Illinois House Speaker is giving strength to their political opponents, six Illinois House Democrats are pleading with their 19 colleagues who have committed to not supporting Madigan to ‘come together as a family’ and ‘unite for a common purpose.’”
Arnold notes the letter, marked “confidential,” was signed by “six Madigan-aligned state representatives: Michael Zalewski, D-Riverside, Frances Hurley, D-Chicago, John D’Amico, D-Chicago, Nick Smith, D-Chicago, Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, and Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island.” Read the full story here.
Timing: It comes a month before the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene and the Democratic-led House votes on who will be the chamber’s speaker, a powerful leadership post Madigan has held since 1983 — save for a couple of years when Republicans were in control.
Madigan’s grip on power has been in question for months now, after he was implicated in a federal bribery investigation involving Commonwealth Edison; the utility giant agreed to pay a $200 million fine and agreed to cooperate after acknowledging its role in a near-decadelong effort to curry favor with the speaker by offering jobs and contracts to his allies.
Madigan, who also runs the state Democratic Party, has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied any knowledge of the bribery and influence scheme.
President Donald Trump with Rep. Mike Bost during a rally in 2018 in Murphysboro, Illinois. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
The Texas lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate President-elect Joe Biden’s victory has quickly become a conservative litmus test, as 126 members of Congress and multiple state attorneys general signed onto the case even as some have predicted it will fail.
Advertisement
The lawsuit filed against Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin repeats false, disproved and unsubstantiated accusations about the voting in four battleground states that went for Trump’s Democratic challenger. Read more here.
While two Illinois Republicans have signed, three other GOP members of the state’s congressional delegation didn’t, including retiring U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, of Collinsville; newly reelected U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, of Taylorville; and U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, of Channahon.
More than once, Kinzinger has pushed back on claims Trump’s made about voter fraud and even offered Biden his congratulations on winning the race.
Excessive tweets will not change the election. We need to rise above the fray & move forward as a nation.
My thoughts here: https://t.co/j2V4DWfDcq — Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 10, 2020
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul was part of a coalition of 23 attorneys general across the country who are urging the Supreme Court to reject Texas lawsuit.
In a statement, Raoul, a Democrat, said: “It is concerning and dangerous that the president and his allies have spent the weeks following the election seeking to undermine its results, as elections are at the very core of our democracy. Further, it is unconscionable that a state attorney general would use his authority to file a frivolous, unfounded lawsuit aimed at overturning an election.”
On Monday, the Electoral College meets and is expected to cement Biden’s victory: Yes, voters cast their ballots a month ago, but it’s the Electoral College’s vote next that matters, the AP reminds in this explainer.
Advertisement
“The Constitution gives the electors the power to choose the president, and when all the votes are counted Monday, President-elect Joe Biden is expected to have 306 electoral votes, more than the 270 needed to elect a president, to 232 votes for President Donald Trump.”
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Man stabbed longtime friend to death in his Chatham apartment, took friend’s car and went to police

Man stabbed longtime friend to death in his Chatham apartment, took friend’s car and went to police station to turn himself in, prosecutors say

Larry Morris , 60 , is charged with first-degree murder in the killing sometime before 10:45 a.m. Wednesday of Kevin @ @ @ @ @ at Sudduth ’ s home in the 8200 block of South Indiana Avenue , according @ @ @ @ @ turned himself in to police not long after stabbing Sudduth , he still had a @ @ @ @ @ on it in his jacket , prosecutors said Friday .

A Chatham man’s longtime friend stabbed him to death, then stole his car and eventually went to a police station where he walked in, covered in blood, and told police he had just killed someone, prosecutors said Friday.
Larry Morris, 60, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing sometime before 10:45 a.m. Wednesday of Kevin Sudduth Sr., 61, at Sudduth’s home in the 8200 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to authorities. When Morris turned himself in to police not long after stabbing Sudduth, he still had a broken steak knife with blood on it in his jacket, prosecutors said Friday.
Advertisement
Morris was ordered held without bail in a hearing Friday before Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz, according to court records.
Sudduth’s daughter told investigators that Morris and Sudduth had been friends for years, and that Morris owed Sudduth money, prosecutors said Friday. Over the years, Sudduth had let Morris stay with him and would pay for Morris’ groceries and bills, prosecutors said.
Advertisement
Wednesday morning, Morris had walked to Sudduth’s home and rang the bell and Sudduth let him in, prosecutors said. The two got into a dispute and Morris took out a knife and stabbed Sudduth repeatedly.
Morris ran from the apartment and the building’s maintenance man saw him leave Sudduth’s apartment vestibule with his hands covered in blood, prosecutors said.
Morris, of the 10100 block of South Yates Avenue, drove off in Sudduth’s car, eventually going to the Grand Crossing police station, prosecutors said. Morris turned himself in to the front desk at the station on South Cottage Grove Avenue about 2 p.m. Wednesday, wearing bloody clothing and with blood on his hands, police said.
Larry Morris, 60, is charged with first-degree murder in the Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, killing of Kevin Sudduth Sr., 61, at Sudduth’s home in the 8200 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to police. (Chicago Police Department)
When Morris told Grand Crossing officers he had killed someone, he also said that he killed Sudduth because Sudduth and his family had stolen his identity and disability checks from him, prosecutors said. Sudduth’s daughter later told investigators Morris had never had mail sent to Sudduth’s home.
Morris also told investigators he was schizophrenic and he wanted all Sudduth’s family locked up because of their stealing his identity, prosecutors said.
Sudduth’s daughter, who lived with him, was called by their landlord, and she found her father on the floor in a pool of blood and called 911 as she tried to save his life, prosecutors said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office later determined Sudduth had been stabbed more than 85 times, prosecutors said.
At the time of the attack, Morris was on probation in a March domestic battery case in which he pleaded guilty in October, according to prosecutors and court records.
Advertisement
lford@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Aldermen debate renaming Lake Shore Drive for DuSable, Black man credited with founding Chicago

Nonetheless , Ald .
Edward Burke , 14th , raised concerns about the thousands of residences and businesses on the @ @ @ @ @ address changes if that part of the roadway were renamed , prompting an angry response @ @ @ @ @ Drive is no longer included in his ordinance .

The famous song lyrics about Chicago’s iconic lakefront roadway might soon need to be amended to “slippin’ on by on Jean Baptiste, Friday night trouble bound.”
Aldermen on Friday debated naming Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the Black man who’s credited with founding Chicago.
Advertisement
The proposal would rename about 17 miles of the Outer Drive, from Hollywood Avenue on the north to 67th Street on the south, to honor DuSable, a Black explorer of Haitian descent who’s credited as the area’s first nonnative settler for establishing a trading post along the Chicago River in 1779.
South Side Ald. David Moore, 17th, said he was moved to introduce the plan last fall after taking a boat tour downtown and noticing DuSable never came up as the guide mentioned the many honorees in Chicago’s public places.
Advertisement
“That just hurt me in the heart, and I said, ‘I have to do something about this,’” Moore said.
The DuSable Museum of African American History, DuSable High School and a bust of DuSable along Michigan Avenue north of the DuSable Bridge downtown aren’t sufficient, the alderman said. “That’s not enough for the founder of this great city,” he said.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Moore noted the killing of George Floyd, who was Black, by Minneapolis police this past spring, which set off widespread unrest in Chicago and elsewhere, as a turning point in the discussion of honoring DuSable and other Black Chicagoans.
“I am not going back. People say we need to go back to normal. What we were dealing with wasn’t normal,” Moore said.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 23 In the early 1900s Lake Shore Drive was extremely close to the waters edge of Lake Michigan, as seen here in Lincoln Park, circa 1905. Chicago would end up extending itself eastward with landfill in a counterattack on Lake Michigan's persistent erosion of the shoreline. (Library of Congress)
After initially calling for Lake Shore Drive in its entirety to be renamed, Moore changed his proposal to just the Outer Drive so residents and businesses on the Inner Drive don’t have to go through the cost and hassle of changing their addresses.
Nonetheless, Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, raised concerns about the thousands of residences and businesses on the Inner Drive that would need address changes if that part of the roadway were renamed, prompting an angry response from Moore because the Inner Drive is no longer included in his ordinance.
“For you to start with fear mongering, that’s (b-------),” Moore said. “We removed the residents from this discussion.”
Advertisement
There’s recent precedent for such a change.
The City Council last year renamed Congress Parkway downtown to honor crusading Black investigative journalist Ida B. Wells.
City Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi spoke favorably of the DuSable idea Friday. “I want you to know, I understand the great power in the naming of our public spaces,” Biagi said during the hearing.
The city work to rename the Outer Drive would be significant, from changing street signs to updating computer geolocation systems, Biagi said. “This is not to say it cannot be figured out or carried out,” she said.
Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., 21st, said he will hold an up-or-down vote on the plan by April in the Transportation Committee he chairs.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
Twitter @_johnbyrne