chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Chicago police union’s new leader is a cop facing discipline for filing report on Eddie Johnson

Catanzara has a lengthy history of complaints filed against him in his 25 years as a Chicago cop .
Records @ @ @ @ @ he had at least 35 complaints against him through mid-2017 , many of them for @ @ @ @ @ also been suspended several times in his career , and past superintendents have tried twice @ @ @ @ @

John Catanzara holds up a pro-police blue stripe flag as members of the Fraternal Order of Police and their supporters clash with counterprotesters as they gather outside the George W. Dunne Cook County office building in Chicago on April 1, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Rank-and-file Chicago police officers have chosen a new leader for their union, a veteran street cop known for being outspoken against Police Department brass who has a lengthy complaint history and faces an internal investigation into a pending disciplinary matter.
Officer John Catanzara, a 25-year Chicago Police Department veteran, won a runoff election on Friday to become the next president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 by defeating incumbent Kevin Graham. He received close to 55% of the vote, garnering 4,709 votes to Graham’s 3,872, according to the union.
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Catanzara has been an outspoken critic of CPD’s leadership and city government. He’s been a mainstay at public meetings over the years, including monthly Chicago Police Board meetings where he has often chided police brass on myriad issues.
He is currently relieved of his police powers and under investigation by the department on allegations related to a 2018 police report he filed against then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Catanzara accused him of breaking the law by allowing marchers onto the Dan Ryan Expressway to protest city violence.
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Catanzara has a lengthy history of complaints filed against him in his 25 years as a Chicago cop. Records obtained by the Tribune show he had at least 35 complaints against him through mid-2017, many for personnel violations. He’s also been suspended several times in his career, and past superintendents have tried twice to fire him.
In August 2008, then-Superintendent Jody Weis sought Catanzara’s firing on allegations that he did not follow orders to complete a psychological exam, according to Chicago Police Board records. But in February 2009, the board cleared Catanzara in a 5-3 decision.
Three years later, then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy tried to fire him for working a side job as a security guard for a restaurant when he was supposed to be on medical leave for a back injury.
The Police Board found him guilty in that case of several Police Department violations, board records show. But instead of firing him, the board voted 7-2 to suspend Catanzara for 20 days.
The department in 2017 issued Catanzara a reprimand — among the lightest punishments a Chicago cop can face — for violating rules that prohibit officers from participating in any partisan political campaign or activity while on duty.
In that case, he posted a photo of himself on Facebook in an apparent protest of NFL players who knelt during the national anthem at the start of games. The photo showed him in uniform holding an American flag as he stood in front of a marked Chicago police SUV.
Catanzara and Graham were the top two finishers for president in the general FOP election in March. But since neither got more than 50% of the vote — Catanzara received about 32% while Graham got nearly 26% — the contest resulted in a runoff.
Catanzara will head the union during its negotiations for a new police contract, as the existing one expired about three years ago. When Graham was elected FOP president in 2017, the contract was under fire in the fallout over Laquan McDonald's fatal shooting.
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In its aftermath, a task force formed by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized the union contract for contributing to a “code of silence” that protects bad officers. Negotiations over the next contract, the task force wrote, should focus on removing provisions that prevent people from filing anonymous complaints and force them to sign affidavits describing police misconduct.
As Catanzara begins his tenure, the FOP’s path toward a new contract proceeds amid court-ordered reforms that began last year to improve Chicago’s disciplinary system overseeing police misconduct allegations, as well as the training and supervision of CPD officers.
The contract could also determine whether the city’s roughly 10,000 rank-and-file police officers are entitled to raises. In September, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the unions representing police supervisors reached an agreement on contract terms that gave sergeants, lieutenants and captains raises of more than 10% over a five-year period.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot lays out plan for reopening Chicago as state exceeds 20,0

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot lays out plan for reopening Chicago as state exceeds 20,000 daily tests for first time

A couple weeks after the coronavirus lockdown began , a petition appeared on change.org , calling on the Poetry Foundation @ @ @ @ @ million emergency fund to support the poetry community .
The authors of the petition , @ @ @ @ @ publishing house , reasoned the sum would amount to about 2 % of the well-endowed @ @ @ @ @ The Poetry Foundation doused the idea a few weeks later , issuing a brief statement @ @ @ @ @ has contributed $ 25,000 to the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund , it would not @ @ @ @ @ The Chicago-based organization said it has a mandate to support its own headquarters and operations @ @ @ @ @ valued at $ 257 million in 2018 .
Signers of the petition say it must @ @ @ @ @ writers right now .
Read more here .
—Jen Day

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot set tougher benchmarks for the rate of coronavirus infections in Chicago before easing stay-at-home rules than Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker did in his statewide strategy, as part of her five-phase reopening plan she outlined on Friday.
Lightfoot’s plan layers additional standards for rates of infection and testing capacity on top of the state rules the governor unveiled earlier this week. As with Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan, Lightfoot’s framework sets a high bar for returning to normalcy.
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Shortly after Lightfoot laid out her plan, Pritzker announced that Illinois had passed another milestone in testing, for the first time conducting more than 20,000 screenings in a single day. Expanded testing is a cornerstone of Pritzker’s plan for reopening the state, but a study released this week suggests Illinois is still a long way from doing enough to safely relax the governor’s stay-at-home order.
The state also reported 2,887 new known cases of COVID-19, along with 130 more fatalities. That brings the total count of known cases to 73,760 and the death toll to 3,241 statewide since the start of the outbreak.
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[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s a recap of what happened May 8 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:36 p.m.: Glassdoor lays off 300 workers due to COVID-19, including some in Chicago office
California-based job and recruiting site Glassdoor laid off 300 employees Thursday, or 30% of its workforce, due to COVID-19 business declines. The layoffs affected an undisclosed number of employees in Glassdoor’s three-year-old Chicago office.
Launched in 2008, Glassdoor quickly grew into one of the largest job sites in the world. In 2017, Glassdoor opened a new office in Chicago’s Fulton Market district that housed 300 workers as of last summer, making it the company’s second-largest office outside its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay area. Read more here. —Robert Channick
7:33 p.m.: Coronavirus-related deaths at long-term care facilities up nearly 500 from last week and now make up 48% of state total
The number of coronavirus-related deaths tied to long-term care facilities jumped by nearly 500 in the past week — a grim sign of just how much the virus has torn through vulnerable populations across Illinois.
The state Department of Public Health released its weekly tally Friday that showed the number of deaths of residents and workers tied to long-term care facilities has now reached at least 1,553 — compared with 1,082 reported a week ago.
At least 270 facilities have reported at least one death, with the highest figures at Meadowbrook Manor of Bolingbrook, with 26 deaths. Symphony of Joliet has 24 deaths, followed by Elevate Care North (23), Center Home for Hispanic Elderly (22), and Glenview Terrace, Bria of Geneva and Windsor Park Manor (21).
As of Friday, deaths tied to long-term care facilities made up 48% of all deaths tallied statewide. Read more here. —Joe Mahr
7 p.m.: Whether CPS schools reopen in the fall remains unknown, but summer school will be virtual
Chicago Public Schools will continue remote learning for students taking classes over the summer, but district leaders have not yet determined what the fall will look like.
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The announcement about summer school came Friday in a letter to families, also informing them that CPS is planning a way for students and staff to safely retrieve items they left behind when the school shutdown began in March.
Fall remains less certain, though Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke Friday of her goal to reopen schools in some fashion after Labor Day. Read more here. —Hannah Leone
6:45 p.m.: Illinois surpasses 20,000 COVID-19 tests for the first time, but research suggests many more needed to safely reopen
Illinois has passed another milestone in testing for the new coronavirus, for the first time conducting more than 20,000 screenings in a single day, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.
Expanded testing is a cornerstone of Pritzker’s five-phase plan for reopening the state, but a study released this week suggests Illinois is still a long way from doing enough to safely relax the governor’s stay-at-home order. And Pritzker himself has said the state needs to test even more than the study from Harvard University suggests.
“Testing is fundamental to our ability to reopen the economy while controlling the spread of the virus,” the governor at his daily news briefing. “That’s what it takes to keep the public safe.
"The progress we’ve made on testing over the last two months — building a statewide testing program from scratch, to around 15,000 to 20,000 tests per day — is tremendous. Even if we’re one of the best states in the nation on testing, we know it’s not enough to be where we need to be on a longer time frame.”
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In March, Pritzker set a goal of conducting 10,000 tests per day, a benchmark it took nearly a month to achieve as Illinois, like other states, struggled with supply shortages and other roadblocks. The state finally surpassed that goal on April 24 and since has been averaging about 15,000 daily screenings. Read more here. —Dan Petrella
5:57 p.m.: More rigorous study of hydroxychloroquine is getting underway with help of Cook County health researchers
Despite all the experimentation and debate surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, no one really knows if the drug is effective, useless or harmful.
That’s because of a lack of completed, carefully controlled trials evaluating how patients who have the disease fared on the drug. Now, researchers at the Cook County Health and Hospitals System are joining a host of medical institutions around the country seeking to answer the question.
“A lot of doctors used the drug in the absence of randomized, controlled trials because they didn’t have anything to give patients,” said Dr. Sybil Hosek, the system’s research director and lead investigator of the county’s trial arm. "And so now we’re really pulling away from that and saying, ‘Whoa, whoa, we just can’t answer this question truthfully until we do a rigorous trial,’ and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Specifically, the health system is looking to enroll about 100 patients who were recently diagnosed with COVID-19 but are not sick enough to need hospital care. Equal numbers would be enrolled at five other medical institutions, with the tab for the work being covered by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Some patients will be given hydroxychloroquine, others will receive the same drug along with the antibiotic azithromycin and the rest will be given vitamin-filled placebos. All will receive the type of doses already approved for treating malaria and autoimmune disorders like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
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When the results are tabulated in a couple of months, the researchers will then evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine, whether alone or in combination with the antibiotic, helps to prevent severe illness and keeps patients out of the hospital.
The study is among nearly 200 being conducted around the country to determine if the drug actually works as a COVID-19 treatment, Hosek said. Other studies will test its efficacy in severely ill patients or examine whether it helps prevent the disease when taken by health care workers or close contacts of sick people, she said. Read more here. —Hal Dardick
5:38 p.m.: Lack of ankle monitors keeps defendants behind bars: ‘He’s just kind of stuck there’
After overcoming what felt like a thousand hurdles, Candina Crane’s son Christopher was finally scheduled for release from Cook County Jail on an ankle monitor this week.
“Tuesday night he was supposed to come out, Wednesday night he was supposed to come out,” Crane told the Tribune on Friday. “Then Thursday morning, we found out.”
Christopher, 22, would be staying in jail. The Cook County sheriff’s office ran out of equipment for their electronic home-monitoring program this week, the office confirmed.
“He’s just kind of stuck there,” Crane said of her son.
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A massive push to reduce the jail’s population amid the coronavirus crisis had the intended effect: The number of detainees behind bars is at historic lows. But many of those released were assigned to home monitoring instead — pushing an already-stressed supply of monitors past its breaking point this week, the sheriff’s office said.
Those placed on home monitoring now may remain in jail instead, “a result that threatens to undo the successes we have achieved in slowing the spread of the virus,” the office noted in a statement Thursday.
Supplies were being replenished bit by bit. By Friday afternoon, the office had received 12 new monitors from their vendors and had collected 22 previously used ones, according to the office. They are expecting a shipment of 50 “alternative devices” soon. In addition, about 26 defendants will have their electronic monitoring orders returned to court for review by a judge. Read more here. —Megan Crepeau
3:19 p.m.: Possible staggered start times, social distancing ushers in store for Chicago’s lakefront when it reopens, Lightfoot says
Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised the possibility Friday of assigning different times of the day for joggers, walkers and bikers to use Chicago’s lakefront and other popular outdoor areas that are now closed due to overcrowding during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lightfoot refused to set a timetable for when she might reopen lakefront parks, the 606 elevated trail, and the downtown Riverwalk, which she closed in late March after residents flouted social distancing rules to pack into them on a warm weekend afternoon.
“A lot of that is going to be guided by the science, and I have to be confident that we can open up those larger venues, the lakefront, the 606, interior trails in a way that still allows us to maintain social distancing,” Lightfoot said at a news conference to announce her five-phase framework for benchmarks that need to be met for reopening different parts of the city.
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The mayor repeatedly has said she doesn’t want to backslide as the city tries to move forward from the stay-at-home order, a stance she reiterated.
“When I made the hard decision — but I think appropriate decision — to close down the lakefront, it’s because we talked, we talked, we talked, and people ignored it. Now the weather’s even nicer, the lakefront is beautiful, it’s an incredible attraction, we can’t reopen it up and go back to where we were,” she said. Read more here. —John Byrne
2:50 p.m.: State exceeds 20,000 daily tests for first time
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday that the state tested more than 20,000 specimens for the new coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, exceeding that threshold for the first time.
The number is double the daily testing goal of 10,000 that Pritzker set in March. The state first exceeded that goal two weeks ago.
In all, 20,671 specimens were tested in the previous 24 hour for a total of 399,714, officials said.
The state also announced 2,887 new known cases of COVID-19, along with 130 more fatalities. That brings the total count of known cases to 73,760 and the death toll to 3,241 statewide since the start of the outbreak.
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According to a recent analysis conducted by Harvard University and the STAT online medical publication, Illinois would have to conduct more than 64,000 tests every day before it can further relax its stay-at-home order.
By that measure, Illinois falls far short. Illinois has averaged 15,829 tests a day for the five days ending Tuesday. That, according to the Harvard analysis, is about 48,000 fewer than needed.Illinois is not alone, the analysis found. Dozens of states are falling well short of what’s needed, with estimates based on the number of detected cases so far and the population of each state. New York, for example, is conducting about 22,000 tests a day but should be doing nearly 113,000.
Pritzker acknowledged Thursday that the state still needs to conduct many more tests per day before it will be safe to fully reopen the economy.
“Every state in the country, let’s be clear, is trying to ramp up testing,” Pritzker said when asked about the Harvard study at his daily press briefing. “We’re doing it better than most; indeed, we’re No. 2 among the top 10 most populous states in the nation.” However, he added, “We’re all trying to get to a sense of adequacy. I don’t think 64,000 is adequate for the state of Illinois I think we’re going to need many more tests than that.
“We want people to be safe when they go to work; we want to be people to be safe when they go to school. We want people to be safe in all their activities, and they want to know that others have been tested around them so that nobody is without an opportunity to get a test.”
Illinois and other states have been navigating a worldwide shortage of testing supplies and a lack of coordination on the federal level, Pritzker said, adding that he’s grateful that the Washington is now sending more testing swabs to Illinois.
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The governor said the first shipment of materials from the federal government, originally scheduled to arrive in the first week of May, has been pushed back to Sunday. —Dan Petrella and Hal Dardick
2:33 p.m.: 2,887 new COVID-19 cases and 130 additional deaths
Officials announced 2,887 new known cases of COVID-19 in Illinois for a statewide total of 73,760. There were 130 additional deaths, pushing the death toll to at least 3,241.
2 p.m.: Elmhurst bagpiper plays at sunset every evening to lift spirits during COVID-19 shutdown
Talk to the Costellos about Brian’s bagpipe playing, and they will tell you what day it is.
“Day 51,” Brian Costello said Wednesday from his Elmhurst home, referring to how long he has been playing the bagpipes in his yard each evening during the coronavirus shutdown.
Neighbors and strangers gather, a safe distance apart, to listen.
“It gives you a little bit of joy,” said Christine Falkenberg, who walks over from her house to better hear the music.
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Other people line up on the Illinois Prairie Path, which borders Costello’s backyard. Read more here. —Kimberly Fornek
1:41 p.m.: Pritzker’s reopening plan gives fitness clubs a first step: outdoor classes and personal training. But will people feel safe getting off their Pelotons and sweating next to strangers?
For nearly eight weeks, Lakeshore Sport & Fitness has been overhauling its two Chicago clubs, spending more than $200,000 on new cleaning equipment and making other changes to meet new standards for hygiene and personal space, even as members’ dues stopped flowing.
But like other fitness club operators, Lakeshore managing partner Peter Goldman still has little sense of when he’ll be able to roll out the changes, even after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a five-phase plan to reopen the state’s economy.
That’s a problem for gyms that have seen little if any revenue while forced to shut their doors to slow the spread of COVID-19. When they can reopen, it’s uncertain how eager people who have spent weeks avoiding physical contact with others will be to start working out with a bunch of sweaty strangers — especially if they’ve bought home workout equipment while cut off from their favorite studio. Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
1:30 p.m.: Lightfoot lays out five-phase plan for reopening Chicago
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is setting tougher benchmarks for the rate of coronavirus infections in Chicago before easing stay-at-home rules than Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker did in his statewide strategy, as part of her five-phase reopening plan she outlined on Friday.
Lightfoot’s plan layers additional standards for rates of infection and testing capacity on top of the state rules the governor unveiled earlier this week.
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As with Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan, Lightfoot’s framework sets a high bar for returning to normalcy.
Chicago is currently in what the city calls phase two of its recovery, a period Lightfoot’s plan dubs “stay-at-home.”
Before moving into phase three, labeled “cautiously reopen,” the city would need to see a decline in the COVID-19 case rate over 14 days and a declining rate of new cases, stable or declining rates of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, fewer than 1,800 coronavirus patients in hospital beds, fewer than 600 coronavirus patients in ICU beds, and fewer than 450 coronavirus patients on ventilators, Lightfoot said.
The city also would need to be able to test 135,000 residents per month, with positive rates decreasing below 15% of those tested in the community and at least 14 days of declining rates of new cases, on average. Positive rates of below 30% would be needed in “congregate” settings such as nursing homes, shelters and jails, according to the Lightfoot plan.
Those standards are stricter than what Pritzker laid out earlier this week for his statewide plan. The governor called for positive rates at or below 20% and an increase in the positive rate of no more than 10 percentage points over 14 days. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt, John Byrne and Dan Petrella
1:13 p.m.: Virtual hugs, curbside brunch pickup, drive-up photo booths — Mother’s Day will look different amid coronavirus pandemic
On Mother’s Day, Ruanda Mejia will receive a simple but priceless gift: a reunion with her 6-year-old son Gabriel after spending a month in COVID-19 quarantine.
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Mejia, a nurse who works for Sinai Health System, started showing signs of the disease in early April despite taking extensive precautions to avoid it. Her sister Jennifer took in Gabriel as Mejia hunkered down alone in the bedroom of her Berwyn home to fight off dry coughs, fevers and body aches.
Since then, she has interacted with Gabriel only through FaceTime calls, for which her son would dress up as Spiderman, Batman or Aquaman. Though Gabriel is finally coming home, Mejia said she will try to maintain social distancing to minimize the chances of reinfection. Read more here. —John Keilman, Jessica Villagomez and Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
1:04 p.m.: Coronavirus pandemic causes Via ride-share service to temporarily shut down in Chicago
Via, the smallest of the city’s three ride-share providers after Uber and Lyft, has temporarily suspended its Chicago operations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Via, a New York City-based company that came to Chicago in 2015, specializes in multipassenger rides. The company’s mobile app connects passengers who are headed the same way, and customers may have to walk a block or two before and after the ride.
Ride-share services nationwide have seen sales drop due to the pandemic, which also has caused falling public transit and vehicle traffic numbers because of people working from home or losing their jobs.
Both Uber and Lyft suspended shared rides in March.
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Via’s range included the entire city plus Evanston, Norwood and Harwood Heights. It accounted for less than 1% of total ride-share sales for the Chicago metro area in June of last year, according to Second Measure, an analytics platform. Read more here. —Mary Wisniewski
12:49 p.m.: Oak Parker stages Zoom plays as COVID-19 benefits, casting them with millennial Hollywood
Its a common enough idea at the moment: Well-intended theater project in Oak Park responds to the pandemic by doing fundraiser readings of plays in YouTube livestreams, with viewers invited to donate. Any money raised goes in part to the West Side’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
Unremarkable, that is, until you get to the play’s casts: Florence Pugh, Oscar-nominated for “Little Women.” Brandon Flynn of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why.” Margaret Qualley, Willa Fitzgerald, Justice Smith. All young Hollywood actors. The organizer, director and casting agent of this endeavor, titled Acting for a Cause, is Brando Crawford, himself just 24. Read more here. —Doug George
12:46 p.m.: Local Muslim community to break fast during Ramadan with virtual iftar Saturday
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA will host a virtual iftar open house at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Known for its open houses during Ramadan, the Muslim community’s “Virtual Reflections on the Power of Prayer During the Pandemic” event will be one of dozens across the nation. It will feature faith-based speakers, a video about the group’s 100 years in America, narrated by community member Mahershala Ali, and appearances by local elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Sean Casten and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, according to Iftekhar Ahmad, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Chicago’s director of public affairs.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re not able to do an in-person open house, but we still want to come together with friendship, prayer and support during these times,” Ahmad said. “Even though we’re physically separated, we just feel that unity is still very critical in this time.”
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The Zoom meeting ID is 565 001 0410; the password is 786786. —Darcel Rockett
12:31 p.m.: CSO cancels remainder of 2020 season
The remainder of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-20 season has been canceled due to the coronavirus.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which manages the institution, announced on Friday that all concerts have been canceled through June 27.
“These cancellations follow this week’s announcement by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker of a multi-phase plan that will significantly impact when concert presentations can resume,” the CSOA said in a statement. Read more here. —Howard Reich
12:06 p.m.: ‘It’s one thing to survive the infection, but what’s next?’ Some COVID-19 patients need rehab to walk, talk and problem solve
In front of enormous windows overlooking Lake Michigan, Gordon Quinn sat at a small white table at a rehabilitation hospital facing speech language pathologist Kate Webler.
Only Webler’s eyes were visible from behind a mask, face shield and goggles. She asked Quinn to place a white plastic straw in his mouth, then suggested he sing “Happy Birthday” through it — an exercise meant to help him stretch and relax his vocal cords.
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Instead, Quinn began singing the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Webler laughed and urged him on.
It was a moment of levity in an otherwise difficult six-week-long journey for Quinn, a renowned Chicago documentary filmmaker — known for movies such as “Hoop Dreams” — who came down with COVID-19 in March. Quinn, 77, spent about a month at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, including nearly two weeks on a ventilator. He was so sick, at one point, that he told his doctors he’d rather obtain a do-not-resuscitate order than be placed on a ventilator again.
By mid-April, he was well enough to leave the hospital, but he still couldn’t walk very far on his own. He couldn’t control his fingers well enough to type the pass code into his cellphone. He had trouble swallowing and speaking. So, instead of going home, he went to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago. Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
12:05 p.m.: US unemployment hits 14.7%, highest rate since Great Depression
The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.
The losses reflect what has become a severe recession caused by sudden business shutdowns in nearly every industry. Almost all the job growth achieved during the 11-year recovery from the Great Recession has now been lost in one month.
The Illinois jobless rate for April has not been released yet. However, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.6% in March, a month in which the national jobless rate was 4.4%. Read more here. —Associated Press
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11:54 a.m.: Smaller Illinois businesses are landing loans in round two of the federal PPP, but doubts remain about reopening
When Kyla Herbes was shut out of the first round of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, she was frustrated that larger businesses received millions of dollars in forgivable loans, while House of Hipsters, her vintage home décor shop in Barrington, got nothing.
Like many small business owners, the second round has been a different story for Herbes, whose $10,000 PPP loan application through BMO Harris rose to the top of the pile and was approved Tuesday.
Herbes is "breathing a sigh of relief” that she will have money to pay her landlord, but with new state guidelines offering no clear target date for reopening amid a global health crisis, the government relief may not last long.“
Even though I have $10,000 coming to me, it’s gone already,” said Herbes, 45. “It’s gone, and my business is still closed.”
Launched in April, the federal paycheck program offers businesses with fewer than 500 employees forgivable loans of up to $10 million to cover eight weeks of payroll. The Small Business Administration approved more than 1.6 million loans, worth $349 billion, in less than two weeks before the first round of funding ran out.
Many smaller businesses were initially shut out, as banks allegedly prioritized larger clients ahead of mom-and-pop stores. That led to a number of class action lawsuits and pushback from lawmakers and small business advocates, pressuring some “larger” small businesses like Ruth’s Chris, Shake Shack and Chicago-based Potbelly to give back their loans.
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The $310 billion second round of PPP has been more inclusive, with banks and the SBA pushing out more loans to smaller businesses. The average loan size through Thursday is about $74,000, versus $206,000 in round one. Read more here. —Robert Channick
10:54 a.m.: Two local churches challenge governor’s coronavirus rules, arguing for right to worship
Two Chicago-area churches have launched a new legal challenge to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s strategy to contain the spread of coronavirus, saying the recently announced Restore Illinois plan violates their right to worship while practicing accepted social distancing guidelines.
A federal lawsuit filed late Thursday by the Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church on Chicago’s Northwest Side and Logos Baptist Ministries of Niles seeks a temporary restraining order allowing services to continue without “threat of criminal sanctions” by the government.
The churches vowed to adhere to strict social distancing guidelines, including reduced seating to keep worshipers more than six feet apart, advising attendees to wear masks or gloves and avoid physical contact, and keeping “doors propped open or held open by ushers to prevent the need for congregants to touch doors while entering and exiting the church or sanctuary.” Read more here. —Jason Meisner
9:36 a.m.: Chicago’s Poetry Foundation is sitting on millions — a petition asks it to do more in response to the pandemic
A couple weeks after the coronavirus lockdown began, a petition appeared on change.org, calling on the Poetry Foundation to establish a $5 million emergency fund to support the poetry community. The authors of the petition, the founders of a small publishing house, reasoned the sum would amount to about 2% of the well-endowed Foundation’s assets. The Poetry Foundation doused the idea a few weeks later, issuing a brief statement noting that while it already has contributed $25,000 to the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund, it would not be making new commitments. The Chicago-based organization said it has a mandate to support its own headquarters and operations. But that endowment was valued at $257 million in 2018. Signers of the petition say it must do more for poets and writers right now. Read more here. —Jen Day
9:29 a.m.: Mayor’s office closes Cook County Forest Preserve golf courses within city limits for the remainder of May
The vast majority of Americans can return to their favorite local golf course. That includes Illinois residents — except those who want to play in Chicago.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office has ordered the closing of the three Cook County Forest Preserve courses within city limits — Indian Boundary, Billy Caldwell and Edgebrook.
A visit to the ForestPreserveGolf.com website yields an interesting mix: The eight courses outside the city limits, such as River Oaks and Joe Louis, are taking tee times.
But a click on the other three yields the message: “Temporarily closed — Per City of Chicago Department of Health we are closed for the remainder of May. Please check our website, social media and email for re-opening information.”
Earlier this week, the city also ordered the closing of Harborside International Golf Center, the upscale, 36-hole, 400-acre facility along the Bishop Ford Freeway with views of the skyline. All 160 golfers who expected to play Thursday were issued refunds. Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
9 a.m.: Numerous Kane and Kendall nursing homes that failed to follow infection control rules now have COVID-19 cases
Federal inspectors entered an Aurora nursing home in July and found a resident standing in his doorway with red, itchy dots on his arms, federal inspection records show.
A staff member told the inspectors at least seven other residents had rashes at the home, Symphony of Orchard Valley. Another staff member told the inspectors one of the residents had just tested positive for scabies, the records show.
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“The facility failed to track, investigate, and take steps to control potential communicable disease outbreaks,” inspectors wrote in their report. “The facility also failed to exclude an employee from direct resident contact after disclosing she was suffering from an itchy rash.”
The nursing home is one of two dozen in Kane and Kendall counties that have been cited by federal inspectors since 2017 for failing to follow infection control measures. Twelve of those are now reporting cases of COVID-19. Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
6:50 a.m.: Lightfoot to announce guidelines for reopening Chicago during pandemic
After delaying her announcement by a day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and public health officials will release a “reopening framework” for Chicago Friday.
On Thursday, Lightfoot said the city can’t reopen without a decrease in the number of coronavirus cases, “which we have not seen yet at all.” Though the city has seen progress in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases, the mayor said challenges remain.
Lightfoot said her proposed guidelines for the city are separate from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s, but added that she understands people’s anxiety and businesses’ concern. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
6:40 a.m.: Reopening Illinois: Everything you need to know about getting back to normal at gyms, the office, restaurants and more
As Chicago’s mayor prepares to release her own guidelines for reopening the city, Gov. J.B. Pritzer announced his plan earlier this week. How will it affect our daily lives? As summer nears, Chicagoans are desperate to get out and about — to have a summer picnic with family, to get back to work, to get a haircut. Here’s how and when you might be able to do those things.
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6:30 a.m.: Devices for electronic monitoring run out in Cook County amid efforts to drastically reduce jail population
The Cook County sheriff’s office has run out of electronic monitoring devices for defendants placed on home confinement. The concerted efforts to reduce jail population amid the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have led to skyrocketing demand for the equipment, as judges ordered more defendants out of cells and on to ankle bracelets. Read more here. —Megan Crepeau
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
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chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State now above 75,000 known COVID-19 cases as 111 new deaths are r

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State now above 75,000 known COVID-19 cases as 111 new deaths are reported by health officials

The efforts to undermine Democratic governors who invoked stay-at-home orders are most pronounced in states such as Wisconsin , Michigan @ @ @ @ @ of which have divided government and are key to President Donald Trump ’ s path @ @ @ @ @ there face lawsuits , legislation and other moves by Republicans trying to seize control of @ @ @ @ @ .
All three states have also been hotbeds of right-wing protest pushing for a faster @ @

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois Department of Public Health Sunday announced 1,656 new known cases of coronavirus disease in Illinois, including 57 additional deaths. That brings the total count of known cases to 77,741 and the death toll to 3,406 statewide since the start of the outbreak.
That’s down from Saturday, when the state reported 2,325 new known cases and 111 more deaths, and Friday, which saw 2,887 cases and 130 deaths reported.
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But the number of tests conducted over the past day is also down: In a 24-hour period ending Sunday, labs processed 13,653 tests. For Saturday, that number was 16,617 specimens. On Friday, the state announced a record 20,671 processed over the preceding 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Sunday that as the state seeks to ramp up testing and contact tracing for the novel coronavirus, it’s not expecting any help from the Trump administration.
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[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s what happened May 9-10 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
3 p.m.: Fifty-seven new COVID-19 deaths reported in Illinois Sunday, and more than 1,600 new known cases
Illinois had 1,656, new known COVID-19 cases and 57 additional deaths have been linked to the coronavirus, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Sunday afternoon.
That’s down from Saturday, when the state reported 2,325 new known cases and 111 more deaths, and Friday, which saw 2,887 cases and 130 deaths reported.
But the number of tests conducted over the past day is also down: In a 24-hour period ending Sunday, labs processed 13,653 tests. For Saturday, that number was 16,617 specimens. On Friday, the state announced a record 20,671 processed over the preceding 24 hours.
A total 77,741 people are now known to have had the coronavirus in Illinois, and 3,406 deaths in 98 counties have been attributed to the virus.
The oldest death reported Sunday was a man who was in his 100s, who lived in Cook County.Other Cook County coronavirus deaths announced Sunday included two men in their 20s; two men in their 40s; three women in their 50s; four men in their 50s; five women in their 60s; nine men in their 60s; another person in their 60s; five women in their 70s; seven men in their 70s; four women in their 80s; four men in their 80s; four women in their 90s; another person in their 90s. –Hannah Leone
2:25 p.m.: Suburban sisters came home from college to find both parents sick with COVID-19, but the couple has survived after ICU stay for both
Mariel and Alexa Boden had just returned home after their colleges campuses were shut down because of COVID-19, only to learn both of their parents were ill with the virus.
Both parents ended up in the ICU and their father suffered a stroke too. But now both are out of intensive care and, though they have a long road ahead, their daughters are hopeful – and grateful. Read more here. –Karen Ann Cullotta
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2:10 p.m.: Illinois governor says state will continue to ‘go it alone’ without White House help
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Sunday that as the state seeks to ramp up testing and contact tracing for the novel coronavirus, it’s not expecting any help from the Trump administration.
“I have not been counting on the White House because there have been too many situations in which they’ve made promises not delivered,” Pritzker said during an interview on CNN Sunday. “Very recently they promised a lot of swabs, they’re supposed to arrive today, the first shipment of those, I’m looking forward to that. But what we’re doing is we’re going it alone, as the White House has left all the states to do.”
The governor also said Illinois is following Massachusetts’ approach to contact tracing and that he has assembled a group of experts to monitor new cases of a mysterious illness reported in children that might be tied to COVID-19. Read more here. –Hannah Leone
1:50 p.m.: Nearly 200 Ludeman Center residents in Park Forest, 71 staff have tested positive for COVID-19
More than half of the Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center’s 344 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services.
A universal testing initiative launched late last month for residents of the Park Forest facility for adults with developmental disabilities found 196 residents, about 57%, had contracted the coronavirus.
The figure, which is three times greater than any other developmental center in the state, includes both residents who are actively infected and residents who were infected and have since recovered, Human Services spokeswoman Meghan Powers said.
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Powers could not immediately provide the number of Ludeman Center residents who had recovered from COVID-19.Three residents have died after contracting the virus.
Until this past week, when the state began offering on-site testing for all Ludeman Center employees, access to testing had been limited to workers who showed symptoms or had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Friday, 71 staffers had tested positive for COVID-19 and three had died, according to Human Services data.
It’s not clear how many of the facility’s 892 employees have been tested nor how many of the 71 who tested positive have recovered. Read more here. –Zak Koeske
1:30 p.m.: More businesses are realizing their ‘temporary’ layoffs due to COVID-19 may become permanent
Call it realism or pessimism, but more employers are coming to a reluctant conclusion: Many of the employees they’ve had to lay off in the face of the pandemic might not be returning to their old jobs anytime soon. Some large companies won’t have enough customers to justify it. And some small businesses won’t likely survive at all despite aid provided by the federal government.
If so, that would undercut a glimmer of hope in the brutal April jobs report the government issued Friday, in which a record-shattering 20.5 million people lost jobs: A sizable majority of the jobless — nearly 80% — characterized their loss as only temporary.
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Nelis Rodriguez has worked as a server at the M Restaurant & Lounge in the Warwick Hotel in downtown Chicago for 21 years. But revenue at the restaurant steadily disappeared as conventions that are critical for spring sales were canceled. She received two days' notice of her layoff before the restaurant closed March 15th.
Rodriguez, 45, never thought she'd be thrown out of work, so she'd never thought about finding another job. But now she fears that as the coronavirus lingers, she might be laid off again and again.
“I think I will try to get out of the restaurant business altogether because I am afraid now,” she said. Read more here. –Associated Press
10:30 a.m.: Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce survey shows 10% of businesses near permanent closure, 32% two months from shuttering
A Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce survey of area businesses and nonprofits shows 10% of respondents are on the verge of losing their business immediately as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the Illinois stay-at-home order.
The survey also showed just under one-third of businesses and nonprofits that responded had less than two months in cash reserves left before they would be forced to shut down permanently.
“The stories are sad, but the numbers are real,” said Kaylin Risvold, president and CEO of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. Read more here. –Erin Hegarty
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May 9
Obama harshly criticizes Trump’s handling of coronavirus pandemic as ‘absolute chaotic disaster’ in call with supporters
Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster” during a conversation with ex-members of his administration, according to a recording obtained by Yahoo News.
Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he worried that the “basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”
More than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Obama’s comments came during a Friday call with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration. Obama urged his supporters to back his former vice president, Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election. Read more here. —Associated Press
In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, GOP lawmakers try to roll back Democratic governors’ executive power
Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly trying to strip Democratic governors of their executive authority to close businesses and schools, a power grab by lawmakers that channels frustration over the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic but could come with long-term consequences for how their states fight disease.
The efforts to undermine Democratic governors who invoked stay-at-home orders are most pronounced in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all three of which have divided government and are key to President Donald Trump’s path to reelection. Democratic governors there face lawsuits, legislation and other moves by Republicans trying to seize control of the response to the virus. All three states have also been hotbeds of right-wing protest pushing for a faster reopening.
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The GOP lawmakers’ strategy echoes earlier attempts in some states to curb the powers of Democratic governors. But this round comes with added health and political risk. By pressing for a faster reopening and seeking to override their governors, Republicans are betting that Americans are ready to restart economic activity — even if that risks steady infection rates and death in the months leading to the November election. Read more here. —Associated Press
Nursing home patient who tested positive for COVID-19 goes missing, sources say
A 61-year-old man suffering from the COVID-19 virus has gone missing from a Northwest Side nursing home, according to police sources.
Staffers at the Ambassador Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 4900 N. Bernard Ave., in the Albany Park neighborhood reported him missing to police Saturday morning after the man walked out of the home, sources said.
The man is a patient at the home and has tested positive for the virus, police said. Read more here. —Rosemary Sobol and Jeremy Gorner
FDA approves new coronavirus antigen test with rapid results
U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country.
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement.
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The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA.
Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patient’s nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialized equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities. Read more here. —Associated Press
Illinois now above 75,000 known COVID-19 cases as 111 new deaths are reported by state health officials
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 111 additional deaths connected to COVID-19 Saturday, bringing the total to 3,349.
The state also recorded 2,325 new known cases of coronavirus disease, with a total of 76,085 positive tests.
Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 16,617 specimens for a total of 416,331, the department said.
The deaths were recorded in 11 counties, according to a statement from the IDPH. They include:
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Clinton County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
Cook County: 1 male 20s, 4 females 50s, 7 males 50s, 4 females 60s, 9 males 60s, 7 females 70s, 13 males 70s, 1 unknown 70s, 8 females 80s, 7 males 80s, 4 females 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 unknown 90s, 2 females 100s
DeKalb: 1 male 60s
DuPage: 1 female 60s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 7 females 90s, 1 male 90s
Iroquois: 1 female 90s
Kane: 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
Kendall: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90s
Lake: 1 female 70s, 2 males 90s
LaSalle: 1 female 60s, 1 male 80s
Madison: 1 female 80s
McHenry: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s
Rock Island: 1 male 80s
St. Clair: 1 male 40s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
Will: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s
Winnebago: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
Out of State: 1 female 90s
—Stacy St. Clair
Chicago likely to cross 30,000 COVID-19 cases Saturday
Chicago is likely to cross 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, while more than 1,200 people have died so far, according to Allison Arwady, director of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
During a daily Q and A on social media, Arwady broke down some of the data the city will be looking at as it decides when to move into new phases of its response to the pandemic, one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out a plan for reopening Chicago.
According to Lightfoot's "five-star" plan, in order to move to phase 3 to "cautiously reopen," the city would need to see a decline in the COVID-19 case rate over 14 days and a declining rate of new cases, stable or declining rates of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, fewer than 1,800 coronavirus patients in hospital beds, fewer than 600 coronavirus patients in ICU beds, and fewer than 450 coronavirus patients on ventilators.
"We fundamentally need to see a declining rate of new cases," Arwady said. "We are already flattening. We need to see it coming back down."
With 29,665 total cases, the city is testing just under 3,000 people a day on average. About 26 percent are coming back positive, Arwady said.
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As it looks to move to phase 3, Arwady said the city aims to test at least 5 percent of city residents each month by the end of May. This would mean averaging about 4,500 tests a day, or about 1,500 more than the current average.
The city also wants to see the rate of positive tests decrease to less than 15 percent in a community setting, Arwady said.
That metric is split off from the city’s infection rate in settings that are tied to outbreaks in specific places, like the jail. In those settings, the city aims for an infection rate of less than 30 percent. —Madeline Buckley
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
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chicagotribune--2020-05-09--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--CPD union’s new leader is a cop facing discipline related to police report he once filed against Edd

CPD union’s new leader is a cop facing discipline related to police report he once filed against Eddie Johnson

Catanzara has a lengthy history of complaints filed against him in his 25 years as a Chicago cop .
Records @ @ @ @ @ he had at least 35 complaints against him through mid-2017 , many for personnel violations @ @ @ @ @ been suspended several times in his career , and past superintendents have tried twice to @ @ @


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 3,349 deaths, 76,085 confirmed cases, 416,331 tests, 23% ICU beds and

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 3,349 deaths, 76,085 confirmed cases, 416,331 tests, 23% ICU beds and 66% ventilators open

As the coronavirus spreads and local , state and national governments work to contain and mitigate the outbreak , the @ @ @ @ @ .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Lightfoot: Possible staggered start times, social distancing ushers in store for Chicago’s lakefront

Lightfoot: Possible staggered start times, social distancing ushers in store for Chicago’s lakefront when it reopens

“ A lot of that is going to be guided by the science , and I have to be confident @ @ @ @ @ those larger venues , the lakefront , The 606 , interior trails in a way @ @ @ @ @ maintain social distancing , ” Lightfoot said at a news conference to announce her five-phase @ @ @ @ @ to be met for reopening different parts of the city .

People run and walk on the Lakefront Trail near Foster Avenue on March 24, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised the possibility Friday of assigning different times of the day for joggers, walkers and bikers to use Chicago’s lakefront and other popular outdoor areas that are now closed due to overcrowding during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lightfoot refused to set a timetable for when she might reopen lakefront parks, The 606 elevated trail and the downtown Riverwalk, which she closed in late March after residents flouted social distancing rules to pack into them on a warm weekend afternoon.
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“A lot of that is going to be guided by the science, and I have to be confident that we can open up those larger venues, the lakefront, The 606, interior trails in a way that still allows us to maintain social distancing,” Lightfoot said at a news conference to announce her five-phase framework for benchmarks that need to be met for reopening different parts of the city.
Under Lightfoot’s five-part plan, in order to move to phase three and “cautiously reopen,” the city would need to see a decline in the COVID-19 case rate over 14 days and stable or declining rates of certain hospitalization data.
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Lightfoot also wants to see the rate of positive tests decrease to less than 15% in a community setting. The current test rate is about 26%, according to Dr. Allison Arwady, director of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
“We fundamentally need to see a declining rate of new cases,” Arwady said Saturday. “We are already flattening. We need to see it coming back down.”
The state reported 2,325 new known cases of COVID-19, along with 111 more deaths on Saturday. The announcement brings the total count of known cases to 76,085 and the death toll to 3,349 statewide since the start of the outbreak.
The city did not update its numbers, though Arwady said it was likely to cross 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with more than 1,200 since March.
The mayor repeatedly has said she doesn’t want to backslide as the city tries to move forward from the stay-at-home order, a stance she reiterated Friday.
“When I made the hard decision — but I think appropriate decision — to close down the lakefront, it’s because we talked, we talked, we talked, and people ignored it. Now the weather’s even nicer, the lakefront is beautiful, it’s an incredible attraction, we can’t reopen it up and go back to where we were,” she said.
But she also said she’s open to outside-the-box ideas such as staggered start times for different modes of transportation along Lake Michigan.
“People have been sending me really interesting ideas about a phased reopening, even having segmented hours for particular types of activities, I think those are really interesting ideas,” Lightfoot said.
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Social distancing ambassadors to tell people to move farther apart could also be considered, she said.
“I think a lot about the ushers at Wrigley,” she said. “They’re pretty tough. They’re checking your ticket, they’re making sure you’re going to the right seat. We need to have the same kind of rigor, I believe, in thinking about reopening our parks and other big public spaces. So I see that as another area where we’re going to be employing people where those jobs didn’t exist before.”
Stacy St. Clair and Madeline Buckley contributed.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--7 cops hurt in clash with man at South Loop business

A fight broke out when the suspect began fighting with the officers , one of whom injured his shoulder and @ @ @ @ @ taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment .

Seven Chicago police officers were injured during a brawl with a man who refused to leave a South Loop business on Saturday morning.
The situation took place shortly after 11 a.m. in the 1300 block of South Wabash Avenue.
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Officers responded to a call of a disturbance in the lobby of the business, where someone complained that the suspect, a man, would not leave when asked to.
A fight broke out when the suspect began fighting with the officers, one of whom injured his shoulder and knee and had to be taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment.
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Six other officers had minor injuries and were treated on the scene, police said.
Charges were pending against the suspect, police said.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Nursing home patient who tested positive for COVID-19 goes missing, sources say

As of Saturday afternoon , he had not yet been located , and officers who are on the lookout for @ @ @ @ @ “ extreme caution .
’ ’

A 61-year-old man suffering from the COVID-19 virus has gone missing from a Northwest Side nursing home, according to police sources.
Staffers at the Ambassador Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 4900 N. Bernard Ave., in the Albany Park neighborhood reported him missing to police Saturday morning after the man walked out of the home, sources said.
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The man is a patient at the home and has tested positive for the virus, police said.
The missing man is African American with a clean-shaven head, stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 225 pounds. He was last seen wearing a brown jacket and dark jeans, police said.
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As of Saturday afternoon, he had not yet been located, and officers who are on the lookout for him were urged to use “extreme caution.’’
A spokeswoman at Ambassador, could not provide further information immediately.
According to data released by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Ambassador has 100 confirmed cases of the virus and 7 deaths among its patients and staff.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Illinois police say Iowa man not involved in 1992 slaying of Evanston college student Tammy Zywicki

The statement appeared to rule out what had seemed to be a promising lead in the case of Zywicki , @ @ @ @ @ car troubles on Interstate 80 near La Salle , Illinois in 1992 .
She was @ @ @ @ @ , to Grinnell College in Iowa .
Her body was found in Missouri days later @ @ @ @ @ and sexual assault .

Authorities in Illinois say an Iowa man charged in 1990s serial killings “does not appear to have been involved" in the unsolved 1992 slaying of a college student.
The Illinois State Police said Friday that Clark Perry Baldwin is not a suspect in the death of 21-year-old Tammy Zywicki.
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The statement appeared to rule out what had seemed to be a promising lead in the case of Zywicki, who was abducted after experiencing car troubles on Interstate 80 near La Salle, Illinois in 1992. She was returning from Evanston, Illinois, to Grinnell College in Iowa. Her body was found in Missouri days later, with evidence of stabbing and sexual assault.
Police arrested Baldwin, a former truck driver, at his home in Waterloo, Iowa on Wednesday. He's charged in the deaths of two women who were found in Wyoming in 1992 and a woman whose body was found the prior year in Tennessee.
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A retired investigator who worked on Zywicki’s case, had told the La Salle News Tribune that the allegations against Baldwin in other cases fit the profile of the person who killed Zywicki.
The Illinois State Police didn’t elaborate on why Baldwin isn’t suspected but said the case remains under investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities, more than 7,500 confirmed cases and more than 1,5

Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities, more than 7,500 confirmed cases and more than 1,500 deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois .
The @ @ @ @ @ long-term care facilities in 34 counties reporting at least one case .
In all , @ @ @ @ @ can be tied to these facilities , with more than 1,000 deaths as of May @ @

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois. The data shows outbreaks have occurred at long-term care facilities in 94 counties. Of those, 1,003 facilities have an “active” outbreak, defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days. In all, 71,103 confirmed cases can be tied to long-term care facilities, with 9,263 deaths, as of Jan. 22.


chicagotribune--2020-05-09--1 dead, at least 6 injured in overnight shootings on West, South sides

The victim was driving when someone in a passing silver SUV fired shots , striking him in a leg .
@ @ @ @ @ University of Chicago Medical Center , where he was listed in fair condition , police @ @

A man is dead and at least six people were injured in shootings since about 9 p.m. Friday until around 3 a.m. Saturday on the West and South sides, Chicago police said.
The fatal shooting happened shortly before 10:45 p.m. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood in the 600 block of North Spaulding Avenue on the West Side.
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Officers responding to ShotSpotter technology found a 21-year-old man lying outside unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
About the same time in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side, a 19-year-old man was shot in the first block of East 71st Street, police said.
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The victim was driving when someone in a passing silver SUV fired shots, striking him in a leg. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition, police said.
In other attacks:
About 9 p.m. Friday, a 17-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man were on a sidewalk in the 3800 block of West Maypole Avenue when they saw a beige vehicle approach then heard shots and felt pain. Once the two victims were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, medical staff determined they were not actually shot but were injured trying to escape gunfire, police said.
Shortly after midnight Saturday, a 26-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman were shot while sitting in a parked vehicle in the 13200 block of South Riverdale Avenue in the Golden Gate neighborhood. The man was hit in the elbow, and the woman suffered wounds to the abdomen. She was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. The man refused treatment, police said.
About 3 a.m., someone was shot in the 900 block of West 51st Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Officers responding to ShotSpotter technology found shell casings but no victim, however about 4:40 a.m., a 36-year-old man walked into Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a wound to the ankle. Police were able to determine he was shot on 51st Street despite him being uncooperative.
No one was in custody, and police were investigating.


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Illinois Gov. Pritzker on COVID-19 fight: ‘We’re going it alone, as the White House has left all the

Illinois Gov. Pritzker on COVID-19 fight: ‘We’re going it alone, as the White House has left all the states to do’

“ It hasn ’ t been yet categorized in Illinois , but we just put together a group within our @ @ @ @ @ track these cases and of course to bring in folks that could help us answer @ @ @ @ @ we protect children from this , what is causing this particular strain , is it @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ I think we all thought that children perhaps were less susceptible to @ @ @ @ @ this is a mutation of it that we haven ’ t seen before , but @ @ @ @ @ ’ s my goal and our group ’ s goal to make sure that we @ @ @ @ @ .
”

As Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker tries to meet goals for daily COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, he’s not banking on any help from the federal government, he said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper.
“I have not been counting on the White House because there have been too many situations in which they’ve made promises not delivered,” Pritzker said. “Very recently they promised a lot of swabs. They’re supposed to arrive today, the first shipment of those. I’m looking forward to that. But what we’re doing is we’re going it alone, as the White House has left all the states to do.”
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The governor’s remarks came hours before the Illinois Department of Public Health announced 1,656 new known COVID-19 cases and 57 additional deaths linked to the coronavirus.
That’s fewer than Saturday, when the state reported 2,325 new known cases and 111 more deaths, and Friday, which saw 2,887 cases and 130 deaths reported.
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But also down is the number of tests processed over the past day. In a 24-hour period ending Sunday, labs processed 13,653 tests, according to the health department. For Saturday, that number was 16,617 specimens. On Friday, the state announced a record 20,671 processed over the preceding 24 hours.
Illinois officials will continue to increase testing on their own, and are modeling contact tracing practices after Massachusetts’ approach, Pritzker said on CNN.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said on CNN on May 10, 2020, that the state will note reopen "unless we meet all of the standards I’ve set for doing so." (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
“We’ve had contact tracing across the state. We have county health departments that do that, we have our state health department which does that, but what we’re now going to put in place and we’re in the process is we’re imitating one of the great collaborative efforts that’s happened in the United States, and that’s what’s happening in Massachusetts,” Pritzker said. “The Massachusetts contact tracing collaborative, we can do that in Illinois. We are, in fact. We’ve hired somebody who was at the CDC, who was an expert at their outbreak intelligence service, and we think that we can have a massive contact tracing effort up in the next few weeks.”
A recent analysis by Harvard University and the STAT online medical publication determined that Illinois would need to conduct more than 64,000 tests every day before relaxing its stay-at-home order. Even with the record 20,000 tests announced Friday, the state would need to more than triple its testing to meet that goal. And for the week ending Friday, the state averaged 16,432 tests a day.
“In order to reopen businesses, in order for people to feel confident, we have to make sure that we’re constantly growing those efforts,” Pritzker said.
He attributed the continued rise in positive cases to that increase in testing, and said the percentage of tests that are positive has not been going up.
“The truth is that what we watch are the positivity rates, you know the rates at which people are testing positive, so is that rate stable or going down, and it is in Illinois,” Pritzker said. “We also watch the hospitalization rate, how many new people are entering the hospital, which is roughly flat around the state, and then we are watching the number of hospital beds that are available.”
Officials know that they need to maintain a certain number of open beds in case new cases surge, and could also turn elective surgeries back off to free up resources, Pritzker said. People are still required to wear masks in public.
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“We will not reopen unless we meet all of the standards I’ve set for doing so,” he said.
Illinois has also seen examples of cases of serious illness in children that may be linked to COVID-19, which have been tied to deaths in New York, but many questions remain unanswered, Pritzker said.
“It hasn’t been yet categorized in Illinois, but we just put together a group within our Department of Public Health to track these cases and of course to bring in folks that could help us answer the question, how do we protect children from this, what is causing this particular strain, is it really coronavirus?” Pritzker said. “I think we all thought that children perhaps were less susceptible to coronavirus, but now perhaps this is a mutation of it that we haven’t seen before, but whatever it is, it’s my goal and our group’s goal to make sure that we protect the children of Illinois.”
A total of 77,741 people are now known to have had the coronavirus in Illinois, and 3,406 deaths in 98 counties have been attributed to the virus.
The oldest person known to have died of the coronavirus reported Sunday was a man from Cook County who was over 100 years old.
Other Cook County coronavirus deaths announced Sunday included two men in their 20s, two men in their 40s, seven people in their 50s, 15 people in their 60s, 12 people in their 70s, eight people in their 80s and one person in their 90s.
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Deaths reported in other counties included a man in his 30s in Kane County, a man in his 60s in Kankakee County, a woman in her 80s in Peoria County, a man in his 90s in St. Clair County and a woman in her 50s in Winnebago County.
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Chicago police arrest Hyde Park man in connection with assault that injured 7 officers

The police refused , and then Arrington reentered the storage unit and closed its door on the officers , who @ @ @ @ @ , Nevin said .
After a scuffle , they managed to get one handcuff on @ @ @ @ @ he “ flailed his body in a violent manner , '' Nevin said , and @ @ @ @ @

Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Megan Crepeau

A South Side man injured several police officers in a scuffle at a South Loop storage facility, Cook County prosecutors said Sunday.
An employee of the storage facility in the 1300 block of South Wabash Avenue called police Saturday to report that someone was trespassing and making threats, Assistant State’s Attorney Carolyn Nevin said.
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Officers arrived at the scene to find Nathan Arrington, 57, who asked if he could change his clothes in a storage unit, Nevin said.
Officers let him do so, then tried to escort him off the property — at which point Arrington asked if he could change clothes again, Nevin said.
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The police refused, and then Arrington reentered the storage unit and closed its door on the officers, who tried to hold it open, Nevin said. After a scuffle, they managed to get one handcuff on him, at which point he “flailed his body in a violent manner," Nevin said, and multiple officers suffered cuts.
Responding police called for assistance; one of the officers attempted to use a Taser on Arrington, which had no effect, according to prosecutors.
Six of the officers suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene, police said. The seventh officer suffered a separated shoulder and knee injury, and he or she was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was listed in fair condition, according to the news release.
Nathan Arrington (Chicago Police Department)
Arrington, 57, of the 800 block of East 53rd Street in Hyde Park, was charged with aggravated battery against a police officer, resisting arrest, assault and trespassing.
Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Arrington held in lieu of $5,000 bond and placed him on electronic monitoring if he can pay the necessary $500 to get out of custody.
Arrington’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood, said Arrington is a high school graduate with some college who until the COVID-19 pandemic hit was working in construction and as a personal trainer.
He is an Army veteran who was honorably discharged and has one child, Smallwood said. He does have some mental health concerns.
Arrington has a criminal record stretching back decades, under several aliases. The vast majority of his previous cases involve allegations of theft.
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kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Semi jackknifes on Kennedy Expressway; minor fuel leak but no injuries

Illinois State Police said the semi was traveling south in the right lane when the driver lost control and struck @ @ @ @ @ a news release .
The impact of the collision with the barrier forced the truck @ @ @ @ @ , with its rear striking the front of a passing vehicle , state police said @

A semitrailer struck a concrete median Sunday morning on the inbound Kennedy Expressway, causing the vehicle to jackknife across three lanes and striking a passing car that couldn’t avoid the crash, authorities said.
The jackknife that occurred just after 9 a.m. on the busy southbound Interstate 90 at Division Street didn’t cause any serious injuries but did spill about 5 gallons of diesel fuel at the scene, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
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Illinois State Police said the semi was traveling south in the right lane when the driver lost control and struck the barrier, according to a news release. The impact of the collision with the barrier forced the truck to sweep across three lanes, with its rear striking the front of a passing vehicle, state police said.
The damaged vehicles were removed from the roadway, but southbound traffic remained at a standstill until shortly before 11 a.m., when all lanes were reopened. It was unclear if any traffic citations were issued.


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--President Trump, frequent critic of Chicago, congratulates new local police union chief on Twitter

“ Congratulations to Officer John Catanzara for being elected President of the Chicago Police Union .
He always ‘ Gets @ @ @ @ @ # MAGA @ foxandfriends , ” Trump said , closing the tweet with a hashtag @ @ @ @ @ “ Make America Great Again , ” along with a mention of a popular TV @ @ @ @ @ News Channel that has frequently had Trump on as a guest over the years .

President Donald Trump participates in a meeting with military leaders and his national security team May 9, 2020, at the White House. On May 10, the president congratulated Officer John Catanzara for being elected president of the Chicago Police Union. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Pool/Getty Images)
The newly elected president of the Chicago Police Department’s largest union got a special shoutout on Sunday from a famous person he admires: President Donald Trump.
The commander in chief took to Twitter to congratulate Officer John Catanzara on his victory Friday night in a runoff election to become the next president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.
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“Congratulations to Officer John Catanzara for being elected President of the Chicago Police Union. He always ‘Gets the Job Done’. #MAGA @foxandfriends,” Trump said, closing the tweet with a hashtag for his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” along with a mention of a popular TV talk show on the Fox News Channel that has frequently had Trump on as a guest over the years.
Catanzara took notice of the tweet Sunday morning, posting it on his own Facebook page with a message that read: “Great way to start my day! Happy Mothers Day to all the moms, especially all the police , Fire and Medical moms working today.”
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John Catanzara holds up a pro-police blue stripe flag as members of the Fraternal Order of Police and their supporters clash with counterprotesters as they gather in the Loop on April 1, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Trump has expressed support for law enforcement, and the past two Chicago FOP presidents have met with the him personally. For instance, when Trump visited the city in October, then-FOP President Kevin Graham, who lost to Catanzara in the runoff, greeted Trump when he arrived to O’Hare International Airport.
In addition, like the FOP, the Trump administration has shown opposition to court-ordered reforms to improve the Chicago Police Department in the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald shooting scandal.
Trump has been critical of Chicago in his tweets and public comments, particularly because of the city’s violence. Last fall, following his visit to Chicago for a speech at an annual conference for the International Association of Chiefs of Police at McCormick Place, Trump expressed gratitude to Graham and slammed then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson for the city’s crime.
“Chicago will never stop its crime wave with the current Superintendent of Police. It just won’t happen!” Trump tweeted on Nov. 1. “Thank you to Kevin Graham and all of the GREAT Chicago Police Officers I just had the privilege to meet. Tremendous crime fighting potential if allowed to do your thing!”
Congratulations to Officer John Catanzara for being elected President of the Chicago Police Union. He always “Gets the Job Done”. #MAGA @foxandfriends — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2020
Catanzara, meanwhile, has shown his support for Trump on social media. In 2017, the department issued Catanzara a reprimand — among the lightest punishments a Chicago officer can face — for violating rules that prohibit officers from participating in any partisan political campaign or activity while on duty.
In that case, he posted a photo of himself on Facebook in an apparent protest of NFL players who knelt during the national anthem at the start of games. The photo showed him in uniform holding an American flag as he stood in front of a marked Chicago police SUV.
In that photo, a poster that sat in front of Catanzara read: “I STAND FOR THE ANTHEM. I LOVE THE AMERICAN FLAG. I SUPPORT MY PRESIDENT AND THE 2ND AMENDMENT.”
On Friday, Catanzara defeated Graham in the runoff by receiving close to 55% of the vote, garnering 4,709 votes to Graham’s 3,872, according to the FOP.
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Catanzara has been an outspoken critic of CPD’s leadership and city government. He’s been a mainstay at public meetings over the years, including monthly Chicago Police Board meetings, where he has often chided police brass on myriad issues.
He is currently relieved of his police powers and under investigation by the department on allegations related to a 2018 police report he filed against Johnson, when Johnson was the police superintendent. Catanzara accused him of breaking the law by allowing marchers onto the Dan Ryan Expressway to protest city violence.
Catanzara has a lengthy history of complaints filed against him in his 25 years as a Chicago officer. Records obtained by the Tribune show he had at least 35 complaints against him through mid-2017, many for personnel violations. He’s also been suspended several times in his career.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Southwest Side man charged with murder says he was acting in self-defense after his son was followed

Southwest Side man charged with murder says he was acting in self-defense after his son was followed from gas station

They began to “ mean-mug ” him , giving him intimidating looks , then followed Kawar ’ s son as @ @ @ @ @ gas station , Nevin said .
As they began to pursue him , Kawar ’ @ @ @ @ @ tell him that he was being chased , according to prosecutors .

A Southwest Side man fatally shot a 16-year-old who had “mean-mugged” his son at a gas station, mistaking him for a rival gang member, prosecutors said Sunday.
Steve Kawar, 54, was charged with first-degree murder. His attorney said Sunday that he shot in self-defense.
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Judge Susana Ortiz rejected prosecutors’ request to deny Kawar bail, instead holding him on a $350,000 bond and ordering home confinement if he pays.
The incident was set off at a gas station at the corner of 83rd Street and Pulaski Road on Thursday, said Assistant State’s Attorney Carolyn Nevin.
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The 16-year-old victim and his friends, members of the Ambrose street gang, saw Kawar’s son at the gas station and thought he was a rival, Nevin said.
They began to “mean-mug” him, giving him intimidating looks, then followed Kawar’s son as he pulled out of the gas station, Nevin said. As they began to pursue him, Kawar’s son called Kawar to tell him that he was being chased, according to prosecutors.
As Kawar’s son was about a block and a half ahead of the pursuing car on 83rd Street, Kawar exited his nearby house with a gun, prosecutors said.
Steve Kawar. (Chicago Police Department/HANDOUT)
The victims’ car was parked for a few seconds before Kawar walked down the middle of the street, and “did not appear to be scared,” according to a nearby Uber driver who witnessed the shooting, prosecutors said.
Kawar walked within 5 feet of the victim’s car, raised his arm and fired, Nevin said. The Uber driver did not hear any argument or gunshots before Kawar fired, and he saw smoke coming from the barrel of Kawar’s gun, Nevin said.
Due to the number of gunshots, it is believed that the people in the car returned fire, Nevin said.
The 16-year-old, who was in the back seat of the car, was shot in the forehead. His friends drove away from the scene. The teen was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center.
Meanwhile, Kawar picked up several fired cartridge casings from the street before police arrived, Nevin said. Kawar told the Uber driver that he “saw Mexican gangbangers flying down the street,” according to Nevin.
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But Kawar told police, in a conversation recorded on a body-worn camera, that he fired in self-defense. And he later told authorities that his son called him about people giving him trouble at a gas station, Nevin said.
Kawar’s son has no gang affiliation and is about to graduate from high school with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Illinois at Chicago, said Kawar’s attorney, Zaid Abdallah.
Kawar has lived in Chicago all his life and works as a union plumber, Abdallah said. The shooting was a case of self-defense, Abdallah said, disputing the assertion that Kawar shot first.
But even if he did, he would still have been justified in opening fire, Abdallah said.
“If they brandished a firearm ... he’d be fully within his right,” he said.
Kawar has medical conditions that would make him more susceptible to COVID-19, Abdallah said, in successfully arguing for the judge to set a bond.
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mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--3 Chicago firefighters hurt in Jackson Park Highlands when chunk of plaster ceiling crashes down on

3 Chicago firefighters hurt in Jackson Park Highlands when chunk of plaster ceiling crashes down on their heads

All three were initially rushed to the hospital in serious condition because of the large size of of the falling @ @ @ @ @ later upgraded and set for release on Sunday , according to fire officials .

It’s a good thing they were wearing helmets.
Chicago firefighters were injured Sunday morning when a chunk from a classic plaster ceiling inside a Jackson Park Highlands apartment building crashed down on them.
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All three were initially rushed to the hospital in serious condition because of the large size of of the falling plaster, but were all later upgraded and set for release on Sunday, according to fire officials.
“One firefighter has been released and another will be released shortly,” Fire Department Chief Juan Hernandez said a few hours after the fire in in the 6700 block of South Cregier Avenue near the edge of Jackson Park.
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The fire crew were working to locate the source of smoke inside the occupied three-story building around 9:20 a.m. As they checked for flames inside the ceiling, a large chunk of the plaster ceiling fell on top all three, according to Hernandez.
Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the source of the flames as the injured firefighters were taken to the hospital. No other injuries were reported and no one was displaced by the fire, authorities said.
All three firefighters were wearing helmets, which likely blunted the full force of the collapsing ceiling, Hernandez said.
Two of the three firefighters were expected to return to active duty, but a third member won’t return right away because of a previous injury, officials said. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Formerly a getaway for the rich in the 1900s, The tiny Jackson Park Highlands enclave is home to dozen of homes built at the start of last century by noted architects of varying styles.


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Sunday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

The oldest death reported Sunday was a man who was in his 100s , who lived in Cook County.Other Cook @ @ @ @ @ included two men in their 20s ; two men in their 40s ; three women @ @ @ @ @ men in their 50s ; five women in their 60s ; nine men in their @ @ @ @ @ their 60s ; five women in their 70s ; seven men in their 70s ; @ @ @ @ @ ; four men in their 80s ; four women in their 90s ; another person @ @ @ @ @ Leone


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 3,406 deaths, 77,741 confirmed cases, 429,984 tests, 25% ICU beds and

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 3,406 deaths, 77,741 confirmed cases, 429,984 tests, 25% ICU beds and 61% ventilators open


chicagotribune--2020-05-10--Suburban couple who were both in ICU with coronavirus have survived, been moved to care facility. ‘I

Suburban couple who were both in ICU with coronavirus have survived, been moved to care facility. ‘It’s quite frankly a miracle.’

“ I ’ m not here to say how great it is having to stay in the house all day @ @ @ @ @ stay home now to have a future , ” Alexa Boden said .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ important to understand that the whole world is struggling right now , so we have @ @ @ @ @ another , and need to stay strong .
We wish people would realize that even @ @ @ @ @ t have both parents in the hospital like we did , they need to understand @ @ @ @ @ discriminate who it infects .
”

Two suburban sisters whose parents both landed in intensive care with COVID-19 say they feel hope and gratitude as their parents begin what is expected to be a long road to recovery.
Nancy Frohman and David Boden, who are in their 50s, were recently released from Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where they had been in the intensive care unit and on ventilators after testing positive for COVID-19 in March.
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Mariel, and her sister, Alexa, returned home from college in March to find both of their parents feeling ill. The couple’s health rapidly deteriorated and, within days, both were in critical condition and placed on ventilators, according to family and friends.
The Vernon Hills couple are now being treated at a long-term care hospital in a Chicago suburb, “and both are heading in the right direction,” said Mariel Boden, 21.
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Mariel Boden, second from left, and sister Alexa Boden returned from their college campuses to find both their parents ill with what turned out to be the coronavirus. David Boden and Nancy Frohman were both in the ICU but are now in recovery. (HANDOUT)
“It quite frankly is a miracle ... where we’re at right now,” said Boden, a recent graduate of McGill University. “At any point, there is a real possibility for setbacks, but I’m a pathologically optimistic person, which has been super helpful in this situation. I’m realistic about the situation, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up hope."
Frohman, who works for a nonprofit organization, and David Boden, who is in sales and plays guitar with two local bands, were healthy and active prior to contracting the virus, “but they obviously have a super long way to go, and a long recovery ahead,” Mariel Boden said.
Both of her parents are in the process of being slowly weaned off ventilators, and David Boden is also recovering from a stroke he suffered during his recent hospitalization, Mariel Boden said.
While Mariel said she and Alexa are above all, grateful to the medical community who continue to care for their parents, they also want to underscore the real life stories behind the public health statistics that show the number of those who are categorized as having “recovered” from the coronavirus.
“Yes, there are X amount of recoveries, but that doesn’t mean those people are jumping out of bed, and it’s still a process,” Mariel Boden said. “I’m very, very happy that my parents are alive, and I think that’s because of the amazing care they got at the hospital, not just the doctors and nurses, but the respiratory therapists, the janitors who clean the hallways, the person who brings in food for patients. ... These are the unsung heroes.”
While the sisters are still prohibited from visiting their parents in person, due to heightened restrictions at hospitals and care facilities to avoid the spread of the virus, the Stevenson High School graduates enjoy frequent FaceTime chats with their mom and dad, who are alert, conscious and able to communicate with their daughters for short periods of time.
Sisters Alexa Boden, left, and Mariel Boden, shown outside their Lake County home, returned from college to find both of their parents were sick with COVID-19. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Despite the brevity and limits of the digital visits, these days, even simple gestures, like David Boden, an avid “Star Trek” fan, giving Mariel the “Vulcan salute” — “live long and prosper” — and flashing a peace sign to Alexa, are small moments to be treasured, Mariel Boden said.
Taking a short break on Friday from studying for her online final exams with the University of Connecticut, where she is finishing her freshman year, Alexa Boden acknowledged that some aspects of the past few months “have been absolutely terrifying.”
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“The honest truth is, I’ve really had to work hard to not focus on the negatives, and while I do get stressed and cry sometimes, I just have to keep moving forward with school and staying strong for my family, because that’s what my parents would want me to do,” Alexa Boden said.
While the Boden sisters said they look forward to the day when they can visit the hair salon and hang out with friends, they are determined to serve as public health advocates with the goal of preventing other families from having to deal with the heartbreak wrought by the virus.
“I’m not here to say how great it is having to stay in the house all day, but we need to stay home now to have a future,” Alexa Boden said. “I think it’s really important to understand that the whole world is struggling right now, so we have a global affinity to one another, and need to stay strong. We wish people would realize that even though most people don’t have both parents in the hospital like we did, they need to understand that this virus does not discriminate who it infects.”
For more information, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/md9q5-help-mariel-and-alexa.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-11--When Trump talks about Chicago, we track it

`` But , there is one person that 's not here today .
We 're in Chicago .
I said @ @ @ @ @ I want to talk to him . '
In fact , more than anyone else @ @ @ @ @ here , because maybe he could learn something .
And that 's the Superintendent of @ @ @ @ @ '' During a speech at the annual conference for the International Association of Chiefs of @ @ @ @ @ Chicago

Chicago and its violence have been a frequent subject of President Donald Trump’s attention. It was a common campaign thread Trump used to hammer Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and now Joe Biden.
Since becoming president Trump has returned the theme frequently bashing the city in Tweets and interviews. It’s not all vinegar, though. In a 2016 interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity Trump said: “I love Chicago. I have big investments in Chicago, and I think it’s a great city.”
Here are Trump’s mentions of Chicago — and the state of Illinois — with annotations where appropriate.