chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 715 new known COVID-19 cases and 64 more fatalities as Pritzker say

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 715 new known COVID-19 cases and 64 more fatalities as Pritzker says no plans to quarantine visitors from states with spiking infection rates

” That ’ s not something that we are looking at implementing right now , but going forward if we @ @ @ @ @ that , we might , ” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in @ @ @ @ @ can say is that New York and New Jersey and Connecticut have been through an @ @ @ @ @ ve had so many people die , so many people hospitalized .
A really tragic @ @ @ @ @ can understand why they might feel a need , when they see other places on @ @ @ @ @ ’ re actually doing a good job of keeping the rates down , that they @ @ @ @ @ way in which to diminish or keep down the number of cases .
”

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The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he is not currently considering asking visitors to Illinois from states with spiking coronavirus infection rates to quarantine upon arrival, a measure the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced they would impose as summer officially begins.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced a joint travel advisory for those states requiring all incoming visitors from states with coronavirus infection rates above a certain threshold to quarantine for 14 days from the time they were last in contact with that state.
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Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 715 new known cases of COVID-19 and 64 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 138,540 and the death toll to 6,770 statewide.
[ Illinois will enter phase 4 of reopening plan Friday. Here’s a guide to what’s allowed. ]
[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
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8:10 p.m.: Judge orders McDonald’s to improve COVID-19 safety training
A judge on Wednesday ordered several Chicago McDonald’s restaurants to adopt new safety measures for social distancing, training and masks, granting a partial win to workers who sued the fast food giant for allegedly failing to adequately protect them from COVID-19.
In issuing the preliminary injunction, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Eve Reilly said the restaurants were not enforcing their mask policies or training employees about social distancing in a way that is consistent with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s order, creating a public nuisance.
The order was in response to a proposed class action lawsuit filed by five employees of four local McDonald’s, and four of their live-in relatives, against Chicago-based McDonald’s and three franchisees. The suit alleged that inadequate safety protocols endangered the public and sought injunctive relief to require the chain to provide better training and equipment.
The judge denied claims that McDonald’s was negligent and said the company had taken many measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including putting up plexiglass in the drive-thru and counters, taking employee temperatures and providing masks and gloves.
But she highlighted two “serious failures” in the company’s processes, including training managers that people can be closer than six feet apart as long as it’s not for more than 10 minutes, which she said is inconsistent with the state’s guidelines and “potentially hazardous” in combination with a failure to consistently enforce the proper wearing of masks. Read more here. — Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
5:44 p.m.: ‘Another unusual school year’ awaits Chicago Public Schools as it figures out if buildings will reopen this fall
Chicago Public Schools is planning for multiple scenarios as it looks to when and how schools will reopen, CEO Janice Jackson told Board of Education members Wednesday.
It’s still undecided if in-class instruction will resume in CPS at all this fall. But one thing seems clear: “We know this will probably be yet another unusual school year,” Jackson said. Read more here. — Sophie Sherry and Hannah Leone
4:17 p.m.: Fitness clubs can reopen for indoor workouts Friday, but stricter rules in Chicago have some gyms worried
After months with nothing but virtual workouts and, more recently, personal training and outdoor classes, CrossTown Fitness has been getting ready to let people back inside its three Chicago gyms.
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There are socially distant workout stations marked on the floor. They’ve stocked up on cleaning supplies to disinfect weights, cardio equipment and frequently-touched surfaces, and purchased devices to check temperatures and disinfect shoes upon entering. One trainer made a video offering advice on how to work out in a mask. Read more here. — Lauren Zumbach
4:14 p.m.: Restaurants, bars reopen Friday: What you need to know about dining out
As Illinois moves into phase four of the coronavirus reopening Friday, restaurants and bars can invite patrons indoors again. After poring through dozens of pages of city, state and federal safety guidelines, we put together a simplified guide to everything you should know about dining out during the continuing pandemic. Read more here. — Louisa Chu
3:11 p.m.: Chicago Dogs will play home games in Rosemont after all — with some fans allowed in
The Chicago Dogs, an independent-league baseball team based in Rosemont, announced Wednesday that they will be playing their home games at Impact Field in the northwest suburb — and a limited number of fans can attend. The home opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. July 7 against the Milwaukee Milkmen.
The Dogs originally planned to play at Franklin Field, home of the Milkmen. The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball had devised a “hub city” system in which teams would share a home base in states with more liberal reopening rules. But Illinois will enter phase four of its reopening plan Friday, allowing outdoor spectator sports to resume at 20% capacity.
While the team is working with state and local officials before it sets a limit on spectators, the capacity of Impact Field is 6,300, meaning roughly 1,260 fans would be allowed.
Meanwhile, three other Chicago-area minor-league teams — the Schaumburg Boomers, Joliet Slammers and Windy City Thunderbolts, based in Crestwood — learned Wednesday that their season was canceled. The Frontier League suspended its season because of “ongoing gathering and travel restrictions in many of our locations.” Read more here. — Chris Boghossian
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2:46 p.m.: Pritzker says Illinois has no plans to quarantine visitors from states with spiking COVID-19 infection rates
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he is not currently considering asking visitors to Illinois from states with spiking coronavirus infection rates to quarantine upon arrival, a measure the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced they would impose as summer officially begins.
”That’s not something that we are looking at implementing right now, but going forward if we got the advice to do that, we might,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Geneseo. “All I can say is that New York and New Jersey and Connecticut have been through an awful lot. They’ve had so many people die, so many people hospitalized. A really tragic, tragic situation. I can understand why they might feel a need, when they see other places on the rise, when they’re actually doing a good job of keeping the rates down, that they might look at every possible way in which to diminish or keep down the number of cases.”
Earlier Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced a joint travel advisory for those states requiring all incoming visitors from states with coronavirus infection rates above a certain threshold to quarantine for 14 days from the time they were last in contact with that state.
That joint travel advisory to the three eastern states applies to any traveler coming from a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. The states plan to use messaging in airports, on highway signage and on social media, and are asking hotels to communicate the 14-day quarantine to guests traveling from one of the identified states. Read more here. —Jamie Munks
2:35 p.m.: 715 new known COVID-19 cases, 64 more fatalities
Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 715 new known cases of COVID-19 and 64 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 138,540 and the death toll to 6,770 statewide.
2:10 p.m.: From closed rest areas to drive-thru testing limitations, truck drivers face rough road during coronavirus pandemic
Life as a long-haul trucker has always had its challenges — boredom, bad traffic and tough schedules.
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But the coronavirus pandemic has added new problems, with closed rest stops and roadside restaurants, along with varying levels of compliance by both drivers and the individuals they encounter when it comes to wearing face masks Drivers say it can also be tough for for them to get tested for COVID-19.
With several interstate highways and its location in the nation’s center, Chicago is a major trucking hub. Truck drivers offer a unique perspective on the coronavirus pandemic because they are one of the few groups of essential workers who have been traveling regularly between different regions of the country.
Read more here. —Mary Wisniewski
1:30 p.m.: University of Chicago hospital eliminating COVID-19 units
The University of Chicago Medical Center is eliminating its units dedicated to COVID-19 patients as the number of people suffering from the illness has dropped.
Instead, patients with COVID-19 will be cared for in isolation rooms, the hospital’s incident commander said in a memo sent to faculty and staff Tuesday. As of Wednesday morning, the hospital had 18 patients with the illness, compared with more than 140 in mid- to late April.
”Our patients and community will be better served by caring for our COVID-19 patients in appropriate isolation rooms and allowing our COVID-19 units to return to serving their regular patient populations,” the memo stated.
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Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
12:46 p.m.: For Aurora area restaurant owners, opening up for indoor dining will be ‘like a family reunion’
Restaurant owners in the Aurora area say they are “excited” for Friday, when indoor dining will be allowed again as the state eases some restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday begins Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan. Restaurants will be able to be fully operational as long as tables are at least six feet apart for social distancing, parties do not exceed 10 and standing areas including bars remain at 25% capacity.
Phil Cullen, owner of Ballydoyle Irish Pub in downtown Aurora, said Friday “would be like a family reunion.”
”Frankly, I can’t wait to see some of our regulars again and I’m sure they feel the same way,” Cullen said a few days before Friday’s opening. “It’s a new world in the restaurant business and in some ways, the opening with outdoor seating has been a blessing in disguise. The last few weeks have given us a chance to get our feet wet, and now we can bring the same routine inside.”
Jim Ebel, co-owner of Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora, said he and his brother Jason and staff “are excited about the Friday opening.”
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”We have things spaced out and we’re staffed for the reopening, and hopefully people will come out,” Jim Ebel said. “With the rain always being a component of outdoor dining, being able to move indoors will make for a more consistent business.”
Read more here. —David Sharos
11:04 a.m.: Porchlight Music Theatre moves entire 2020-21 season back a year
Porchlight Music Theatre says it is postponing its entire 2020-21 season by a full year.
Instead of beginning its previously announced mainstage slate of “Legally Blonde,” “Titanic” and “25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee” at the Ruth Page Arts Center, 1016 N. Dearborn St., this fall, all of those shows will become the 2021-22 subscription season.
A spokesperson for the company said the decision regarding its 26th season reflects the ongoing uncertainty in the COVID-19 crisis, especially as to when the authorities will allow live theatrical productions to resume in a viable way.
Read more here. —Chris Jones
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10:50 a.m.: New York City Marathon is canceled, but the Chicago Marathon remains in limbo
As another major fall marathon announced its cancellation Wednesday, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon remains in limbo.
The New York City Marathon, the world’s largest marathon, will not be run Nov. 1 because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The 43rd running of the Chicago Marathon is still tentatively scheduled for three weeks before that on Oct. 11, but earlier this month organizers announced they could not definitely say whether a race would be held. A countdown clock on the website notes 108 days until the race.
”We’re continuing our preparations for the event with the goal of providing a safe race weekend experience,” organizers posted on their website June 8. “This includes working with city and state officials to align our preparations with their current guidelines and re-opening framework.”
The Chicago Marathon typically draws about 45,000 runners and wheelchair athletes to the city, with a record 45,786 finishers from 50 states and more than 100 countries in 2019. Organizers estimate about 1.7 million spectators annually line the 26.2-mile course that starts and ends near Grant Park and travels as far north as Wrigleyville and as far south as Bridgeport.
Read more here. —Colleen Kane
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7:11 a.m.: Chicago to expand outdoor dining program in five neighborhoods
Chicago officials were scheduled to announce an expansion of the city’s outdoor dining program Wednesday, including the closure of streets or expanded sidewalk dining in five neighborhoods to allow more businesses in dense areas to offer outdoor service.
With the state and city moving to Phase Four of the state’s reopening plan Friday, restaurants will be able to offer limited indoor dining, but the city has worked to expand the number of eateries with outdoor seating, especially in areas where they usually don’t have room.
According to a release from the mayor’s office, the new dining areas, which will go into effect over the weekend, are:
Balmoral Avenue on both sides of Clark Street in Andersonville;
Chinatown Square at Archer Avenue between Wentworth and Princeton avenues in Chinatown.
Taylor Street, from Loomis Street to Ashland Avenue in the Little Italy neighborhood.
Oliphant Avenue from Northwest Highway to an alley just north of the Northwest Highway in Edison Park.
And sidewalk dining on 75th Street between Indiana and Calumet avenues in the Chatham neighborhood.
The five new street closures come on top of a small pilot program that has closed parts of Broadway, Rush Street and Oakley Avenue for outdoor dining.
“The announcement comes on the heels of an ordinance passed by City Council earlier this month that temporarily removes regulatory burdens for sidewalk cafe permits and ensures establishments can operate as quickly and safely as possible,” according to a release from the mayor’s office. “As of this week the City has approved over 1,000 sidewalk café permits and will be sending refunds for 75% of the permit fee to over 500 business that already paid for the sidewalk café permit in full.”
—Chicago Tribune staff
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5 a.m.: Column: Chicago’s new ‘social distancing ambassadors’ are helping us stay safe on the lakefront
Congratulate when congratulations are due. Educate when needed. Those are among the principles that Colleen Lammel-Harmon, who manages the city’s new social distancing ambassadors program, has taught her trainees, and education was clearly what was needed with some people now that Chicago’s Lakefront and 606 trails are open.
This week’s reopening has come with big new signs on the lakefront. One invokes the need for face coverings, a protection against the virus that in late March prompted the trail’s closure. Another says in giant letters: KEEP IT MOVING.
Signs alone, however, aren’t as persuasive as people, and that’s where the ambassadors come in. There are 300 so far, mostly Chicago Park District employees. By July there will be more, many of them ages 16 to 24, who will be what Lammel-Harmon calls “example makers.”
Columnist Mary Schmich visited the lakefront with the people working to keep everyone safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here is some of what happened Tuesday in Illinois related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--The Spin: Pritzker on unemployment system complaints | Board of Ed votes to keep Chicago police in s

The Spin: Pritzker on unemployment system complaints | Board of Ed votes to keep Chicago police in schools | Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee will now be largely virtual

When asked why the state doesn ’ t open some of the unemployment field offices , Pritzker didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ this , saying : “ There is a process for every department coming back to @ @ @ @ @ having our staff in-person , it sort of depends on the locations , it depends @ @ @ @ @ that would normally be in that space , ” the governor said , when asked @ @ @ @ @ that , like so many other governmental agencies , businesses and schools closed to prevent @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We have health guidance for people who work at IDES just like any @ @ @ @ @ re trying to reopen .
So that ’ s one aspect of it .
”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked this week about the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s performance when it comes to processing claims during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor fielded the question repeatedly since the pandemic took hold and scores of laid-off and furloughed employees turned to the state for benefits.
The governor said his office is working to fill job openings to handle the increased demand. Asked about when field offices that have been shuttered as a result of the pandemic might open, the governor was vague.
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On the national scene, a bit of breaking news: Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual presidential nominating convention Aug. 17-20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, party officials said Wednesday, the Associated Press and other outlets are reporting. More details in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.
Illinois Democratic Party Chair Mike Madigan issued a statement embracing the changes and whacking President Donald Trump, who’s aiming for a second term.
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“We appreciate the difficult decisions the DNC has made regarding the convention in Milwaukee,” Madigan is quoted as saying. “Unlike Trump and the GOP, we believe protecting public health and safety is paramount. The Illinois delegation is ready to participate in this new convention format and elect Joe Biden as our next president.”
And former President Barack Obama was front and center at a virtual fundraiser last night for Biden. While he lauded his onetime vice president as the best person for the job right now, he also delivered some warnings about the fight for the White House in the short term and the battle for social change that takes much longer.
Of the latter, Obama told the nearly 200 gathered on the line: “I appreciate you all being on this call, but man, this is serious business. Whatever you’ve done so far is not enough. And I hold myself and Michelle and my kids to the same standard. We have this unique chance to translate a growing awareness of injustice in society into actual legislation and institutional change ... and those moments don’t come too
Trump, meantime, attended a reelection campaign rally last night in Arizona.
Welcome to The Spin.
Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama speak to the press at the White House in 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP/AP)
While giving a full-throated endorsement of Biden’s candidacy, Obama told backers at last night’s virtual fundraiser that they shouldn’t see the “great awakening” going on among younger Americans pushing for reforms as some kind of guarantee that Biden will win, according to a pool report of the event.
“Just because this energy is out there does not mean that it assures our victory and it does not mean that it gets channeled in a way that results in real change,” he said, noting that “there’s a backlash, that is fierce, against change.”
“We can’t be complacent or smug or sense that somehow it’s so obvious that this president hasn’t done a good job because, look, he won once,” said Obama, who cut his political teeth in Chicago, quickly ascended to the nation’s highest elected office and has used his popularity to blast the Trump presidency. Last night, Obama called it a “shambolic disorganized mean-spirited approach to governance.” Read the AP story here about the event.
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Pivot point, money: The virtual fundraiser marked Obama’s official return to the presidential campaign trail and underscored his unmatched popularity within the Democratic Party. Biden, who appeared virtually alongside Obama at the event, said it raised a record-breaking $7.6 million from more than 175,000 individual donors.
Trump’s Dallas fundraiser earlier this month raised north of $10 million for the campaign, Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Fund.
Joe Biden opens wide lead over President Donald Trump in New York Times national poll: Read the story here. A new Marquette University poll shows Biden is leading Trump in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Read that story here.
Will Chicago beat its own vote-by-mail record this fall? Chicago broke a World War II-era record for vote-by-mail applications with 118,000 voters requesting ballots in the March primary as a pandemic gripped the nation and officials began warning of going out in public. Now the city is poised to topple that record, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners announced this week.
In less than a week — through Monday night — nearly 67,000 would-be voters have applied for a mail in-ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
Based on those numbers, more than 500,000 voters likely will apply, city election board Executive Director Lance Gough said in a news release.
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He’s quoted, too, as saying: “We also want our voters to know we are committed to opening enough early voting sites and Election Day polling places for voters who want to or need to vote in person.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., accompanied by other Republican senators, speaks at a news conference June 17, 2020, to announce a police reform bill on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
The stalled GOP policing measure, decried by Democrats as inadequate, means the parties must decide whether to negotiate a compromise or walk away amid public outcry over the police-involved killings of African Americans.
The GOP’s Justice Act, which has the blessing of President Donald Trump, is seen by Republicans and Democrats as a starting point in the broader debate over how best to change policing practices as demonstrations in cities large and small focus on law enforcement and racial injustice. It would create a national database of police use-of-force incidents and set up new training procedures and commissions to study race and law enforcement, among other things.
The package from Republicans is not as sweeping as a Democratic proposal, which would mandate many of the changes and would hold police liable to damages in lawsuits. There are similarities on some issues, lawmakers say, but also vast differences. The Democratic bill is headed for a House vote Thursday, with support growing from high-profile backers.
During an interview on MSNBC, Duckworth said the legislation should have been crafted and co-sponsored by Democrats and Republicans to ensure swift passage.
“There’s no systemic change,” she said, adding later in the interview: “None of it actually bans chokeholds, none of it actually mandates independent of investigation of police reform — none of that is in there and that’s what needs to happen ...
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“I’m not giving up. I’m going to keep applying pressure and Senate Democrats are going to keep applying pressure.”
In a statement, Durbin said: “Senate Republicans’ proposal on police reform fails to meet this historic moment with the real change that the young people on the streets are calling for. We owe it to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and all of the Black and Brown lives we have lost to brutal acts of racial injustice to take real action to bring about justice and accountability.
“I hope that Senator McConnell will now allow Republicans and Democrats to sit down across the table and try to work together in good faith to reach a bipartisan agreement. Let’s seize this moment and work together. Let’s finally make the necessary changes that will create a safer, more just America.”
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Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin attend the 'Standing with Aurora Honoring Our Huskies' vigil at Northern Illinois University on Thursday February 21, 2019 in DeKalb, Ill. The vigil was held to honor the lives of NIU student Trevor Wehner, 21, and alumnus Clayton Parks, 32, who were killed during the mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, IL last week (John Konstantaras/For the Chicago Tribune) 3072785 ct-niu-aurora-shooting-vigil-met (John Konstantaras / Chicago Tribune)
Dozens of U.S. Senate Democrats, including Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, signed on to new legislation today calling for the removal of Confederate military base names in the U.S. in a year.
The effort, lead by former Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, calls for the Pentagon to rename any asset carrying a Confederate title.
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“Honoring the ‘lost cause’ of those who waged war against America to defend their right to own, sell and kill Black Americans has no place in our nation, especially the U.S. Armed Forces, which fought to a deadly war to eliminate the barbaric practice of slavery,” Duckworth, an Army combat veteran, said in a prepared statement.
Durbin, also quoted in a statement, said: “Military bases named after Confederate leaders are shameful and disparaging to the Black servicemen and women, past and present, who have sacrificed for our country. If we’re to move forward toward a more equitable society built on racial justice, we must rename the military bases that commemorate confederate leaders who committed treasonous atrocities in order to preserve slavery.”
The Hill newspaper notes, “The idea of renaming the bases has divided Republicans. But those hoping to water down the language have an uphill climb, as passing an amendment on the Senate floor would likely require 60 votes, including Democratic support.” Read that story here.
Just the same, President Trump has vowed to veto a measure calling for bases to be stripped of their confederate titles.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks to the media March 13, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago / Chicago Tribune)
This week, Gov. Pritzker was asked once again during a news conference by WMAQ-NBC Ch. 5 about “steady complaints” from consumers trying without success to call the Illinois Department of Employment Security lines but being unable to reach anyone. He’s fielded similar questions previously as many companies laid off and furloughed employees amid the pandemic.
When asked why the state doesn’t open some of the unemployment field offices, Pritzker didn’t offer a direct answer for this, saying: “There is a process for every department coming back to having in-person offices … and having our staff in-person, it sort of depends on the locations, it depends upon the number of people that would normally be in that space,” the governor said, when asked about the shuttered IDES offices that, like so many other governmental agencies, businesses and schools closed to prevent the spread of the virus. “We have health guidance for people who work at IDES just like any other business that we’re trying to reopen. So that’s one aspect of it.”
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Background: WBEZ-91.5 reported last month that the Pritzker administration inked $22 million in no-bid contracts with Deloitte, little more than half of it going to “oversee the hiring of telephone agents who will field applications for jobless benefits, according to documents released to WBEZ in response to an open-records request.”
The ‘Help Wanted’ sign is out: Pritzker told reporters “we have increased” staffing and, as a result the number of calls IDES is able to field. But ”there are ‘lots of open positions’ at IDES, the governor said yesterday, and the state is working to recruit and hire people in order to expand service.”
Refresher course: Applying for unemployment benefits for the first time? Here are 7 things you need to know. Read the Tribune story here.
Will state government be next to announce furloughs, layoffs or pay cuts? As cash-strapped state and local governments look to Washington — and wait — for relief money to help pay for the unexpected costs tied to responding to COVID-19, Pritzker was asked about possible cuts: “Obviously, we look at that all the time because we want to be prepared. But the fact is, I think there is also a growing consensus the Senate will likely take up a (relief) bill of some sort ... in July,” said Pritzker, sounding reasonably confident.
Northwestern offers buyouts to 4,000 employees in attempt to cut costs because of COVID-19: The university expects 150 to 200 employees to take the buyout, the Tribune reports. It comes on the heels of the university announcing furloughs for about 250 workers, suspending contributions to employee retirement plans and digging deeper into its endowment. Read the full Tribune story here.
The latest: Pritzker says Illinois has no plans to quarantine visitors from states with spiking COVID-19 infection rates - The Tribune’s Jamie Munks has the story here.
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Related: Illinois anti-abortion group sues Pritzker, claims COVID-19 gathering limits unconstitutional — Read the Tribune story here and the lawsuit here.
New street closures for restaurants this week in Andersonville, Little Italy and Edison Park, plus more outdoor dining in Chinatown: Read Grace Wong’s story in the Tribune here.
$185 million Aon Center observatory is latest Chicago project delayed by coronavirus: Tribune business columnist Ryan Ori has the details here.
Emerging from the pandemic: Lincoln Park Zoo sets public reopening for Monday with Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo restarting on July 1: The Tribune’s Steve Johnson has the details here.
Tribune columnist Mary Schmich is on the ground with Chicago’s ‘social distancing’ ambassadors at the lakefront: “Congratulate when congratulations are due. Educate when needed. Those are among the principles that (Colleen) Lammel-Harmon, who manages the city’s new social distancing ambassadors program, has taught her trainees.” Read Schmich’s full piece here.
University of Chicago hospital eliminating COVID-19 units as number of patients drops: My Tribune colleague Lisa Schencker has the details here.
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Metra adds express routes as it brings back trains on three lines: Tribune transportation guru Mary Wisniewski has the details here.
Chicago Public Schools and other organizations march June 9, 2020, to push to remove police from schools. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Board of Education voted down a proposal to end a $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department that puts police officers in public schools.
The effort failed by the slimmest of margins, with three members voting in favor of ending the police contract and four voting to keep it.
The contract has faced pushback since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The motion submitted to the Board of Education to end the CPD contract explains efforts to end the deal, citing a “well-documented history of police misconduct, abuse, violence, and disregard of human dignity and Black life,” along with recent cases of police violence against Black people in the country and locally, which “are in direct conflict with the values of the District.” Read Tribune education reporter Hannah Leone’s story here.
Here’s where the front-line players stand, courtesy of Leone, on the politically charged issue:
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot has dismissed the idea of taking police out of schools.
Chicago Board of Education President Miguel del Valle, appointed by Lightfoot, told students protesting outside his home this morning that he would vote against ending the contract.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson reiterated as the meeting got underway today her belief that local school councils are best poised to make decisions about officers in each school and that CPS will affirm each LSC’s decision on whether to retain school resource officers.
South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, has submitted a City Council ordinance that would sever the city-school tie.
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey addressed the board this morning, asking them to end the contract, arguing that police in schools do not make students safer, but instead, criminalizes them.
Related: CPD seeks to fire 3 cops involved in 2 separate use-of-force cases: In one case, the “Chicago Police Department is seeking to fire a cop accused of lying about the videotaped beating of a patient at a South Side hospital in 2014, records show,” the Tribune’s Dan Hinkel writes. Read the full story here.
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Other news: Crowds tear down statues outside Wisconsin Capitol, including one of an anti-slavery activist, and attack state senator: The Associated Press has the story here.
Cards Against Humanity co-founder Max Temkin steps down amid accusations of racist, sexist Chicago office: The Tribune’s David Channick and Alexia-Elejalde Ruiz have the details here.
University of Chicago closes investigation into economist over Martin Luther King Jr. comments, reinstates professor as journal editor: “The university announced on Monday that it finished reviewing claims that professor Harald Uhlig made discriminatory comments during class and that he will be reinstated as lead editor of the Journal of Political Economy, a renowned academic publication printed by the school’s press,” The Tribune’s Alice Yin writes. Read the full story here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--‘Another unusual school year’ awaits Chicago Public Schools as it figures out if buildings will reop

‘Another unusual school year’ awaits Chicago Public Schools as it figures out if buildings will reopen this fall

As for CPS , Jackson said : “ We will be putting together multiple scenarios for how we reopen the @ @ @ @ @ guidance from ( the Illinois State Board of Education ) yesterday which was also helpful @ @ @ @ @ our planning.
” The district also intends to seek feedback “ from all our stakeholders @ @ @ @ @

Chicago Public Schools is planning for multiple scenarios as it looks to when and how schools will reopen, CEO Janice Jackson told Board of Education members Wednesday.
It’s still undecided if in-class instruction will resume in CPS at all this fall. But one thing seems clear: “We know this will probably be yet another unusual school year,” Jackson said.
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CPS expects to share districtwide draft guidance for fall sometime in the coming weeks. Once the guidelines are approved, Jackson said schools will create their own individual plans, with input from local school council and parent groups.
The 2019-20 school year was the most eventful in CPS history, Jackson said.
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“We understand that the journey is not over, and our commitment to ensuring the next year is effective is ongoing,” she said.
Addressing the board during the virtual meeting, Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said CPS should have two goals for the fall: getting schools open and doing so safely.
“We have to do it in a way that doesn’t turn our schools into vectors,” he said.
On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled the statewide guidance for students returning to classrooms. The guidance calls for the use of face coverings and suggests social distancing “as much as possible,” with gatherings of students limited to 50 people or fewer. The plan also calls for additional schoolwide cleaning and disinfection, as well as symptom screening and temperature checks for people entering schools.
It is ultimately up to the state’s 852 school districts, as well as community colleges and universities, to create their own reopening plans, in compliance with statewide guidance.
But just because Illinois schools can reopen in the fall, that doesn’t mean they will, though many districts are looking at a blend of virtual and in-classroom instruction and staggered schedules to limit the number of students in a school at any given time.
As for CPS, Jackson said: “We will be putting together multiple scenarios for how we reopen the schools. We saw the guidance from (the Illinois State Board of Education) yesterday which was also helpful and will be utilized in our planning.” The district also intends to seek feedback “from all our stakeholders,” she said.
LaTanya McDade, CPS chief education officer, also provided the Board of Education with updates on summer school, which will be held through distance learning only but will still offer a range of programs.
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CPS officials also announced plans to continue meal distribution through the summer at around 270 locations. Since March 17, when the statewide shutdown of schools resulting from the coronavirus pandemic began, the district has provided over 15 million meals to students, according to CPS.
During Wednesday’s board meeting, CPS also broke down its COVID-19-related expenses.
So far the district has spent around $55 million to address the pandemic, with more than $24 million spent on technology, such as laptops and hot spots, to aid students in remote learning. Roughly one-third of all students lacked adequate access to online learning at the start of the shutdown, officials have said.
Another $19 million has been spent on premium pay for essential personnel, according to district figures.
Arnie Rivera, CPS’ chief operating officer, said Wednesday he is proud of the district’s response so far but that COVID-19 is not going away and the district must continue to plan for the realities of next school year.
“While we cannot predict the future to see where we will be this coming fall, our approach will be nimble and focused on safety, maximizing learning time and ensuring trust with all of our stakeholders,” Rivera said.


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Suspect held in slaying of 2 teens Saturday

“ They don ’ t ever go out into the neighborhood because it ’ s so dangerous , ” he @ @ @ @ @ their mom , can we just go down to the store — it couldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ a half a block away — can we just go down to the store to @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s what they did .
”

A 19-year-old Englewood neighborhood man is facing murder charges following the killings of two teens on the South Side on Saturday during one of the most violent weekends Chicago has seen in years, police said.
Laroy Battle, 19, of the 6100 block of South Racine Avenue, was charged with two counts of murder, possession of a controlled substance, police said.
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Battle, who was also wanted on a warrant, was arrested by the Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force at 11:45 a.m. in suburban Schiller Park Battle after being positively identified as the shooter, police said.
Battle was scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
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Laroy Battle, 19. (Chicago police)
The Police Department announced his arrest on Wednesday, four days after 16-year-old Charles Riley and 17-year-old Jasean Francis were shot and killed outside a friend’s home in the South Chicago neighborhood.
Shortly after the killings, the department released video images of the alleged killer, though police wouldn’t say Wednesday afternoon whether the suspect arrested was the same person depicted in those images.
The shooting happened in an alley shortly after 5 p.m. in the 7900 block of South Luella Avenue. Francis was shot in the back, chest and left hand while Riley was struck in his back and left flank, police said. Both teens were pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Riley and Francis were with their friend and had just gone to a mall, Brendan Deenihan, CPD’s chief of detectives, said Sunday.
“They don’t ever go out into the neighborhood because it’s so dangerous,” he said. “They asked their mom, can we just go down to the store — it couldn’t have been more than a half a block away — can we just go down to the store to buy some candy? And that’s what they did.”
The boys had almost reached their gangway to return home when someone ran up and shot them “for no reason at all,” Deenihan said.
“These kids are not criminals, they’re not gang members, they have nothing to do with the ongoing disputes out there and they just get gunned down for no reason at all,” he said.
The teens were among 106 shot, 14 fatally, including a 3-year-old boy, during one of the most violent weekends Chicago had experienced in recent memory.
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jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces $50M in state grants for broadband projects across Illinois

“ I ’ m not willing to accept that only Chicago can have high-speed internet access , ” Pritzker said @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Our whole state must prosper .
The disadvantages that persist when our communities @ @ @ @ @ demand an ambitious effort to bring them to a close .
”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced $50 million in state grants for broadband projects Tuesday, which will expand internet access for thousands of businesses, homes and farms across Illinois.
The state grants will be combined with $65 million in matching funds for a total of $115 million for 28 projects spread across the state, aimed at bringing broadband to more than 26,000 homes, farms and businesses.
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The first round of funding will send nearly $1.9 million to Cook County for a project to expand the Chicago Southland Fiber Network’s high-speed connectivity to additional underserved communities, including education campus facilities with limited online resources.
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Pritzker last year signed into law a massive statewide infrastructure plan, coined “Rebuild Illinois,” which dedicates $400 million to increasing access to high-speed internet connectivity across the state.
Pritzker’s goal in the “Connect Illinois” broadband expansion plan aims to create “near ubiquitous broadband access” across the state. Much of the broadband funding announced Wednesday is destined for downstate projects.
“I’m not willing to accept that only Chicago can have high-speed internet access,” Pritzker said at a Wednesday news conference. “Our whole state must prosper. The disadvantages that persist when our communities are left out of opportunity demand an ambitious effort to bring them to a close.”
Pritzker was in Geneseo, where a local project by Geneseo Communications will receive a $5 million grant to extend improved high-speed internet to businesses, farms and homes in northwestern Illinois.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Man airlifted to hospital after car hits his motorcycle on Cline Avenue

At a little past 12:30 p.m. , the man was riding a motorcycle northbound on Cline Avenue when a woman @ @ @ @ @ into the plaza from southbound Cline and collided with the motorcycle , Griffith Police spokesman @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday .

Emergency workers escort a motorcycle crash victim to the UCAN air ambulance Wednesday afternoon in Griffith. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)
A 34-year-old man was airlifted from the Griffith Park Plaza parking lot after a lunchtime vehicle accident Wednesday.
At a little past 12:30 p.m., the man was riding a motorcycle northbound on Cline Avenue when a woman in a car turned eastbound into the plaza from southbound Cline and collided with the motorcycle, Griffith Police spokesman Cmdr. Keith Martin said Wednesday.
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Highland and Griffith First Responders search for remnants of an accident involving a motorcycle Wednesday afternoon. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)
The man was taken to an undisclosed Illinois hospital in unknown condition for treatment, while the woman was uninjured, Martin said.
The crash is still under investigation, but the woman and man were the only two involved in it, Martin said.


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Chicago Board of Ed rejects bid to end contract with police, despite weeks of protests since killing

Chicago Board of Ed rejects bid to end contract with police, despite weeks of protests since killing of George Floyd

“ Imagine going to a high school that has four different gangs , or five different gangs in it , @ @ @ @ @ In the hierarchy of needs , safety is at the forefront .
You can ’ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t feel safe .
... We also need to take into account the reality @ @ @ @ @ , which unfortunately are still not as safe and they do look to a safe @ @ @ @ @ be their school .
”

Protesters dance and play music outside Chicago Board of Education President Miguel del Valle's home as a virtual school board meeting takes place on June 24, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
A vote by a deeply divided Chicago Board of Education to end its contract with the Chicago Police Department has failed, split along gender lines.
The $33 million agreement pays for police officers who are stationed in schools. Students protested the board vote last year, accusing the district of turning schools into miniature police stations, but the pressure has been even greater following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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The board was heavily split on the matter, with three members — Elizabeth Todd-Breland, Luisiana Melendez and Amy Rome — voting in favor of ending the police contract, while Board President Miguel del Valle, Vice President Sendhil Revuluri and members Dwayne Truss and Lucino Sotelo voted to keep police in schools.
Despite vocal opposition to having the resource officers in CPS buildings — including from many students, parents and educators — the mayor and schools chief have spoken in favor of maintaining the officers but continuing to give local school councils the choice.
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Currently, 144 officers are assigned in pairs to 72 schools. There are another 48 mobile school officers and 22 sergeants.
The board members who tried to end the contract characterized it as a civil rights issue, citing research on the school-to-prison pipeline and significantly higher rates of police notifications for Black students than for white students.
“I’m a Black mother, I’m a resident of the South Side of Chicago, I’m a former (Local School Council) member, I’m a former high school college counselor and a historian and an education researcher who studies race and education in Chicago. And in all of these roles I am clear that police do not belong in schools,” said Todd-Breland, who presented the motion.
Rome implored the board to take a stand against police brutality, saying, “It’s unacceptable to support a slow and gradual improvement of what is a well-researched and documented history of disproportionate criminalization of Black and brown students in our schools."
Rome said she’s spoken with students who fear officers will put them in the police gang database or, if they are undocumented, report them to immigration authorities.
Wednesday’s decision won’t be the last word on the issue. The police contract the board upheld was due to end in August. Another would have to win board approval for police to be back in schools in the fall, should they reopen.
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CPS Chief of Security Jadine Chou told the board there will be room for changes to any new police contract, with some already underway.
In his rationale for keeping officers in schools, Truss talked about his work with youth along with recent cases of young lives lost to gun violence, naming 3-year-old Mekhi James and 13-year-old Amaria Jones, both killed over Father’s Day weekend.
“My reality is, I live in Austin,” he said, describing his neighborhood as a microcosm of violence where some children feel safer at school than at home. “SROs are needed in the schools that want them.”
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Board Pres. Miguel Del Valle won’t listen to young students in CPS. Why won’t you listen to us?! We’re the ones in the classroom!! #CopsOutCPS #PoliceFreeSchools pic.twitter.com/XoDkoV5gen — #CopsOutCPS #PoliceFreeSchools (@StuStrikeBack) June 24, 2020
Prior to the start of the meeting, about 30 youth, mostly CPS students, showed up outside del Valle’s home.
Around 10:15 a.m., del Valle went outside and told student protesters that he would vote against ending the contract with the Police Department, eliciting boos.
“I’m a CPS student and I believe cops should not be in CPS schools,” someone could be heard calling out on a video of the exchange that was posted on Twitter. “Why won’t you listen to me? Don’t you care about my voice?”
The board motion to end the contract stated the district must “identify ways to holistically support, rather than criminalize, students.” The motion cites a “well-documented history of police misconduct, abuse, violence, and disregard of human dignity and Black life.”
CPS data for last school year show about 37% of police notifications were for Black male students and 23%were for Black female students, though each of those groups only makes up 18% of the student population. In contrast, slightly more than 1% of police notifications were for white female students and 2.5% were for white male students, who each account for 5% to 6% of students.
Chou acknowledged there is still a disproportionate number of police notifications involving Black students, but said the district has been working to eliminate disparities in discipline and the data show CPS is moving in the right direction.
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In early meeting remarks, CPS CEO Janice Jackson reiterated her belief that local school councils are best poised to make decisions about officers in each school.
“I don’t believe that a top-down mandate makes sense in this situation,” Jackson said. “... My personal views on this continue to evolve, but I also want to make sure that we do the right thing.”
Jackson said she welcomes scrutiny into the school resource officer program and pointed to reforms and restorative practices already in place.
The Chicago Teachers Union and others want the $33 million spent on police reallocated entirely to restorative justice and trauma supports, economic development and affordable housing for CPS families.
In comments to the board, CTU President Jesse Sharkey argued that police in schools do not make students safer, but instead criminalize them.
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He asked the board not to “hide behind the rationale” of local school council power, as the contracts are centrally authorized. If the councils were offered the amount of money that goes toward officers and given choices of how to use it, the results would be different, he said.
Also during the meeting’s public comment period, students called in from outside del Valle’s house as he appeared on screen from within. One student led the group in chants, with students repeating each line.
Slogans are written in chalk outside Chicago Board of Education President Miguel del Valle's home, where protesters gathered Wednesday. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“We are here to demand the defunding of the police,” he said, “To get CPD out of CPS. ... We as a youth don’t feel safe with police in my school. Police are not meant for schools.” When it came time to vote, del Valle said he could still hear the students outside.
Another speaker, Marvin Hunter, the pastor of Grace Memorial Baptist Church, said he’d heard compelling arguments from both sides. Hunter is the great-uncle of Laquan McDonald, the teenager who was shot 16 times and killed by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was later convicted of second-degree murder. Referencing that case, Hunter said police don’t understand children and the use of officers in schools needs to be rethought.
“The truth of the matter is, speaking as a resident of the city ... the optics of having police officers in the schools is not a good look from the perspective of the community,” Hunter told the board. In his community, he said most people have been traumatized in one way or another by police.
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Dian Palmer, of Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents CPS support staff, said the district was facing a question of moral priority. Board members could end the school-to-prison pipeline by removing police from schools “and listening to the youth who have been organizing and demanding” that change for years, she said.
“Schools are supposed to be a sanctuary for children,” Palmer said. “... Instead they are met with armed police officers. ... Childhood mischief is met with the criminal justice system.”
Since Floyd’s killing, the Minneapolis Board of Education, and school boards in several other U.S. cities, have cut ties with their police departments – a demand Chicago activists have been making for years. In addition to students, parents and educators, an unusually large number of Chicago City Council members spoke at the meeting, for and against the police contract.
Nodding to his prior experience on an LSC, Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 38th, said, “there’s no group better suited to make decisions about school safety” than elected local school councils.
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Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, asked what the board’s response would be if a school officer pressed a knee into a student’s neck for nearly nine minutes, and called it a “straw person idea” to argue police need to be in schools in case there was a shooter.
Protesters dance and play music outside the home of Chicago Board of Education President Miguel del Valle. Protesters want CPS to end its contract with Chicago police, but del Valle told them he supports the police contract. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Pointing out not all CPS schools have officers, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, said the schools that do have police presence are among those where children are already the most traumatized.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, said many of his colleagues who spoke in support of school officers drew from anecdotes, but said, “We need to be driven by research. We need to be driven by evidence, and the evidence says very clearly the impact of police officers in our schools is negative.”
South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, has also submitted a City Council ordinance that would sever the city-school tie.
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hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--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--2020-06-24--Fitness clubs can reopen for indoor workouts Friday, but stricter rules in Chicago have some gyms wo

Fitness clubs can reopen for indoor workouts Friday, but stricter rules in Chicago have some gyms worried

Planet Fitness will be among the first to reopen , with 69 of 82 Illinois gyms reopening Friday and the @ @ @ @ @ gyms and fitness studios are still getting ready , including CrossTown Fitness , where indoor @ @ @ @ @ .
Gym-goers must reserve a spot in advance since classes , which normally draw about @ @ @ @ @ capped at 15 .
Gyms will keep holding outdoor classes to provide extra capacity and @ @ @ @ @ hesitant to work out indoors .

Paul Hogan, right, warms up as his coach Ryan Nightingale looks on at CrossTown Fitness in Chicago on June 24, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
After months with nothing but virtual workouts and, more recently, personal training and outdoor classes, CrossTown Fitness has been getting ready to let people back inside its three Chicago gyms.
There are socially distant workout stations marked on the floor. They’ve stocked up on cleaning supplies to disinfect weights, cardio equipment and frequently touched surfaces, and purchased devices to check temperatures and disinfect shoes upon entering. One trainer made a video offering advice on how to work out in a mask.
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Even with the changes, the next phase of Illinois’ reopening will be a big step toward normalcy for gyms like CrossTown Fitness, which closed when the state ordered nonessential businesses to shut down and have only recently been able to resume personal training sessions and outdoor workouts.
Starting Friday, Illinois health and fitness clubs can open at half their capacity with group classes of up to 50 people, as long as they can practice social distancing. But in Chicago, tighter restrictions, including a 25% capacity limit and requirement to wear a mask while working out indoors, have some owners worried. Outside the city, people must wear face coverings except while exercising.
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“A lot of places will be able to open up, but by no means is it a long-term solution,” said Charles Graff, owner of CrossTown Fitness, which has locations in Lakeview, Roscoe Village and the Near West Side. “If we can’t get to higher capacity in a few weeks, there’s going to be a lot of places that don’t make it.”
It’s not just that restricting access means less revenue, club owners say. When fitness clubs reopen, they will spend more on cleaning supplies and devote more staff time to sanitizing equipment and making sure gym-goers keep their distance. Some businesses, including hair salons, dentists and restaurants, have tacked on extra fees for the extra work, though several gyms said they aren’t changing prices.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how eager members will be to start exercising with strangers — especially if it requires sucking air through a sweaty mask. Many people upgraded home gyms while fitness clubs closed — overall sales of fitness equipment jumped 130% in March compared with the same month last year, according to market research firm The NPD Group.
Ryan Nightingale, right, a coach at CrossTown Fitness, has his temperature taken upon arriving at the studio by co-manager Chris Burt on June 24, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Planet Fitness will be among the first to reopen, with 69 of 82 Illinois gyms reopening Friday and the rest soon after. Other gyms and fitness studios are still getting ready, including CrossTown Fitness, where indoor group classes start July 6. Gym-goers must reserve a spot in advance since classes, which normally draw about 30 people, will be capped at 15.
Reyna Hoerdeman, owner of Studio Fit Chicago in the Lincoln Park area won’t be ready to reopen Friday. She would feel more comfortable restarting barre, bootcamp and boxing classes if she knew Chicago’s capacity limits would soon be eased to 50%, a more financially sustainable level, she said.
“It is a little upsetting because as a boutique fitness studio owner, I have every point of control from you walking in to you leaving,” she said. “You think about a Home Depot or Target, people aren’t walking by and washing everything after you touch it.”
In a news release announcing the reopening guidelines, city officials said capacity restrictions could be loosened within Phase 4, but likely not until Chicago sees fewer than 100 new cases each day. The city is averaging 159 cases a day as of Wednesday.
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Large fitness clubs with more space for people to spread out were less concerned about the capacity limits.
Planet Fitness hasn’t had issues hitting capacity limits in other states, said spokeswoman McCall Gosselin. Signs encourage members to practice “social fitnessing,” and certain cardio machines have been marked unavailable to encourage people to spread out.
Life Time, which has more than 150 clubs in the U.S. and Canada, plans to open all 10 Illinois clubs at 6 a.m. Saturday. Group fitness classes require advance sign-up, but members don’t need to reserve equipment.
Fitness equipment has been spread out to allow for social distancing and at swimming pools, families can gather no more than four chairs. But swim teams and lessons will restart July 6, said spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw.
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Midtown Athletic Club’s four Illinois clubs won’t reopen Friday, said CEO Steven Schwartz. Each club employs 150 to 400 people who must be trained in new health and safety measures.
“There just isn’t enough time for us to mobilize,” he said.
Midtown’s three suburban clubs will likely reopen in mid-July, but Schwartz is evaluating plans in Chicago due to the lower capacity limit.
In addition to extra cleaning, temperature checks and measures meant to ensure social distancing, Midtown’s Logan Square-area club is creating more outdoor workout space in a covered parking garage. Each club’s website will have data on how close it is to reaching capacity to help members plan visits.
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Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, with two locations, plans to reopen July 1, at which time it will resume charging dues, said managing partner Peter Goldman.
Members will see clear plastic shields in front of cardio machines to contain droplets users exhale. Advance sign-up will only be required for pool access and group workout classes unless it’s needed to manage demand for other equipment or facilities.
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CrossTown Fitness co-manager Chris Burt works on a computer behind plexiglass at the entrance to the studio in Chicago on June 24, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Goldman estimated 30% to 40% of members are eager to come back and 20% are fearful of returning. The rest are nervous, but willing to “get their feet wet.”
Several gyms said they plan to continue offering outdoor or virtual classes.
“We have some students who are ready to bang the door down and can’t wait, and others saying they won’t come back until there’s a vaccine,” said Meghan Rohde, operations manager at Yoga By Degrees, which has six Chicago-area studios.
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It will resume in-person classes Friday, but virtual classes will continue at least through August.
There will be tape markings indicating where participants can put their mats, and the business will not rent yoga mats, towels or props. Yoga By Degrees spent more than $50,000 on electrostatic spraying devices that will help disinfect studios nightly. Showers and water fountains are off-limits, and people must sign up for classes in advance.
Some studios are making preparations in case reduced class sizes make it difficult to keep up with demand. CrossTown Fitness is giving people with unlimited memberships priority access to classes. Studio Fit Chicago plans to limit members to five in-person classes a week.
Orangetheory Fitness is starting with its standard schedule of classes but will add extra sessions if needed based on traffic during the first two weeks, said Brad Ehrlich, CEO of Orangetheory Fitness in Illinois.
All Illinois locations are expected to open between June 29 and July 6 to allow time to rehire and train staff. Classes will be about half their usual size, and members will have temperatures checked at the door. Each piece of equipment will be used by no more than two people per class, and participants will get sanitizing wipes to clean them between uses.
At the 14 studios Ehrlich owns, classes will initially will run for 45 minutes, not an hour, to give employees time to get used to the new cleaning routines and ease members back into workouts.
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In Chicago, whether members return isn’t just about fear of contracting COVID-19. Several gym owners said they worry customers would rather keep working out at home rather than come back to a studio and work out in a mask.
“I have had a lot of members say they aren’t going to come back until the mask requirement is gone,” CrossTown Fitness’s Graff said. “It’s more than I can count.”
Orangetheory Fitness members who usually work out in the city can switch to the suburbs to get around the rule. Some already have begun going to studios in Indiana, Ehrlich said.
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CrossTown Fitness employee Irma Martinez cleans dumbbells at CrossTown Fitness in Chicago on June 24, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Health officials recommend wearing masks to keep people who don’t know they are infected from spreading the virus, especially in public places where social distancing is challenging. Still, the World Health Organization has advised people against wearing masks while exercising and instead to concentrate on social distancing to prevent the virus’s spread, since masks can make it more difficult to breathe.
Abby Phelps, owner of three Chicago Club Pilates studios, planned to require masks regardless of whether the city required them and instead cut some high-intensity classes from studio schedules. Those classes will be offered online so members can take them at home.
“I believe it’s a really important aspect of containing the virus,” she said.
Studio Fit Chicago’s Hoerdeman has worn masks while teaching outdoor classes.
“I just say, ‘Your lung capacity is going to be super stellar after this,’” she said. “You have to make light of it because you have to do what you have to do.”
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Restaurants, bars to reopen Friday: What you need to know about dining out as pandemic continues

In Chicago , indoor capacity is limited to 25 % or 50 people per room , whichever number is lower @ @ @ @ @ s no limit , as long as 6 feet of social distancing is maintained .
@ @ @ @ @ a number for seated capacity , but for standing areas , the limit is 25 @ @ @ @ @ this case , includes diners — not staff or a live band .
If you @ @ @ @ @ particular room ’ s capacity in the city , establishments that serve liquor are required @ @ @ @ @ otherwise signage is required only in spaces for more than 100 people , according to @ @ @ @ @

As Illinois moves into phase four of the coronavirus reopening Friday, restaurants and bars can invite patrons indoors again. After poring through dozens of pages of city, state and federal safety guidelines, we put together a simplified guide to everything you should know about dining out during the continuing pandemic.
10 people per table is the limit — inside and out.
Chicago guidelines say all patrons must be seated. Illinois guidance, however, allows standing areas, so watch for that in the suburbs. (Local governments may set guidelines that are more restrictive than the state’s.) Neither the city nor the state guidelines restrict who can gather, but health experts advise exercising caution when expanding your “quaranteam.”
Capacity is limited.
In Chicago, indoor capacity is limited to 25% or 50 people per room, whichever number is lower; outside, there’s no limit, as long as 6 feet of social distancing is maintained. The state does not set a number for seated capacity, but for standing areas, the limit is 25%. Capacity, in this case, includes diners only — not staff or a live band. If you’re wondering about a particular room’s capacity in the city, establishments that serve liquor are required to post a sign; otherwise signage is required only in spaces for more than 100 people, according to the Department of Buildings.
Tables must be spaced 6 feet apart.
For tables that can’t be moved — including booths, counters and bars — hosts should decommission existing seating to space diners at least 6 feet apart. Booths next to one another can be used if 6-foot-tall impermeable barriers, like plexiglass, are installed.
Russell Kook, executive chef, holds a staff meeting June 24, 2020, to introduce and sample new dishes at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse on Rush Street in Chicago. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Face coverings must be worn.
They can, of course, be removed when you’re eating or drinking. In the city, you have to be seated too, indoors or out. Exceptions can be made for people with medical conditions or disabilities that prevent them from safely wearing face coverings as well as for children under 2 years old. Note that face masks must cover both your mouth and nose.
Cafeterias, buffets and self-service food and beverage stations can reopen.
The state says you can serve yourself, but hand sanitizer and signage must be at both ends of a food line. Diners must sanitize hands on each visit to a station. For beverages, a new disposable cup must be used every time. The city, however, disallows self-service food, instead requiring an employee wearing personal protective equipment to serve.
Live music is permitted by the state.
The city, though, recommends keeping music low, so your server doesn’t have to lean in to hear an unmasked diner.
Alcohol sales at city bars and restaurants end earlier than before the pandemic.
Sales for on-site consumption in Chicago bars and restaurants end at 11 p.m. For takeout or delivery, it’s 9 p.m. Drinking establishments with tavern licenses in the city should limit seating to a maximum of two hours. Businesses can stay open past 11 p.m., but must have a last call for alcohol.
Penalties for breaking rules range up to $10,000.
The city of Chicago will enforce all guidelines by fining businesses up to $10,000, but at this point is focusing on education, said Isaac Reichman, director of public information at the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
For more, read the guidelines:
State of Illinois phase 4 guidelines for restaurants and bars
City of Chicago guidelines


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Off-duty Chicago police sergeant rescues 3 who fell off jet ski into Lake Michigan near 63rd Street

Off-duty Chicago police sergeant rescues 3 who fell off jet ski into Lake Michigan near 63rd Street Beach

Jackson , a detective sergeant assigned to the Wentworth Area Violent Crimes unit , was able to get to the @ @ @ @ @ pull them onto his own jet ski soon after they went in the water about @ @ @ @ @ 30-year-old man and two women , ages 18 and 19 .
None of them had @ @ @ @

Chicago police Sgt. Donovan Jackson retells how he helped pull people out of the water Tuesday after some jet ski riders got in trouble on Lake Michigan near 63rd Street Beach. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police Sgt. Donovan Jackson was relaxing on his boat Tuesday evening when he suddenly heard a helicopter hovering above.
When he emerged from his 33-foot Sea Ray, docked in Jackson Harbor, Jackson saw police and fire vehicles driving toward Lake Michigan.
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Jackson then rushed to the top of a nearby hill, where he saw people in the water near 63rd Street Beach and a capsized water scooter.
The 22-year police veteran was off duty, but duty still called. And for Jackson, who spent 12 years as a Chicago Park District lifeguard, instincts quickly kicked in.
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“I ran back to my boat, grabbed my life jacket, and jumped on my jet ski,” he said.
Jackson, a detective sergeant assigned to the Calumet Area Violent Crimes unit, was able to get to the stranded jet skiers quickly and pull them onto his own jet ski soon after they went in the water about 6:20 p.m. Jackson rescued a 30-year-old man and two women, ages 18 and 19. None of them had to be hospitalized.
Jackson recounted the details of the rescue at a news conference Wednesday afternoon at 63rd Street Beach with the portion of the lake where the rescue occurred in the background.
Chicago police marine unit Sgt. Eduardo Beltran, who was on duty during the rescue, said he was “extremely happy” to see Jackson and said he pulled off a “very difficult rescue.”
And although the people in the water were wearing life jackets, Beltran, who was among the emergency workers who helped lower a ladder to Jackson when his jet ski made it to a pier, said Jackson “absolutely” saved their lives.
“They were in the water for about 10 minutes, the water temperature was about 60 degrees, so they were starting to feel the effects of hypothermia, and the jet skis were partially submerged,” Beltran said.
There is concern this year with Lake Michigan’s high water levels, especially with people venturing out onto partially submerged piers, where they could be swept into the lake by waves, Beltran said. And he urged all boaters always to wear life jackets.
An earlier version of this story misidentified the unit Sgt. Donovan Jackson is assigned to.


chicagotribune--2020-06-24--Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6,770 deaths, 138,540 confirmed cases, 1.43 million tests, 4.77% positi

Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6,770 deaths, 138,540 confirmed cases, 1.43 million tests, 4.77% positivity rate for northeast region

The state ’ s data on hospitals shows the impact of the outbreak declining slowly but steadily .
On April @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus patients on ventilators across the state .
As of June 23 , the latest @ @ @ @ @ 219.On April 28 there were 1,290 coronavirus patients in ICU beds in Illinois .
As @ @ @ @ @ 389 .

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--2020-06-24--Pritzker says Illinois has no plans to quarantine visitors from states with spiking COVID-19 infecti

Pritzker says Illinois has no plans to quarantine visitors from states with spiking COVID-19 infection rates

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he is not currently considering asking visitors to Illinois from states with spiking coronavirus infection rates to quarantine upon arrival, a measure the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced they would impose as summer officially begins.
”That’s not something that we are looking at implementing right now, but going forward if we got the advice to do that, we might,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Geneseo. “All I can say is that New York and New Jersey and Connecticut have been through an awful lot. They’ve had so many people die, so many people hospitalized. A really tragic, tragic situation. I can understand why they might feel a need, when they see other places on the rise, when they’re actually doing a good job of keeping the rates down, that they might look at every possible way in which to diminish or keep down the number of cases.”
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Earlier Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced a joint travel advisory for those states requiring all incoming visitors from states with coronavirus infection rates above a certain threshold to quarantine for 14 days from the time they were last in contact with that state.
That joint travel advisory to the three eastern states applies to any traveler coming from a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. The states plan to use messaging in airports, on highway signage and on social media, and are asking hotels to communicate the 14-day quarantine to guests traveling from one of the identified states.
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