chicagotribune--2020-10-19--As Chicago proposes making Pilsen one of the city’s largest landmark districts, residents fear more

As Chicago proposes making Pilsen one of the city’s largest landmark districts, residents fear more displacement: ‘Saving buildings will not save people’

City officials say the proposal is part of a strategy aimed at preserving Mexican American communities in Pilsen and Little @ @ @ @ @ sought to preserve the exteriors of nearly 900 Baroque-inspired buildings built between 1875 and 1910 @ @ @ @ @ Leavitt Street to Sangamon Street , as well as other residential and commercial buildings between @ @ @ @ @ to 21st Street .
At recent community meetings , the planning department has presented an @ @ @ @ @ the number of buildings covered by the district to 465 .

Marcos Carbajal, co-owner of Carnitas Uruapan, stands outside the restaurant on 18th Street in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood on Oct. 15, 2020. He is also manager of his father's building, which would be part of the historic landmark district. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Nearly 45 years ago, Marcos Carbajal’s father opened a restaurant that would become a staple of the Pilsen neighborhood in the first building the Carbajal family was able to buy after migrating from Mexico.
After aggressive gentrification in the area over the past two decades, Carnitas Uruapan is one of the few family-owned businesses left on 18th Street that recall the identity of one of Chicago’s largest Mexican American neighborhoods.
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In an attempt to preserve the character and culture of the area, including the Baroque-style building that’s home to Carnitas Uruapan, city officials two years ago proposed designating part of Pilsen as a city historic landmark district. The area now is under preliminary landmark status and if made permanent, it could be one of the city’s largest landmark districts and the only one in a Latino neighborhood.
The area, originally home to a population of Czech immigrants who built many of its distinctive buildings and gave Pilsen its name, already is covered by a national and state historic district, which provides some tax incentives for building owners.
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Marcos Carbajal, co-owner of Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Carbajal and other property owners, as well as the area’s aldermen, oppose the ordinance, citing unnecessary expenses and hurdles to maintaining their buildings that they believe could force some to leave their longtime homes.
“We are the owners of these properties and we have the right to choose what we want to do with them, not the city,” said Carbajal, who grew up in Pilsen watching his father, Inocencio Carbajal, grow their business of Michoacan-style carnitas.
According to Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, in recent weeks more than 300 property owners within the proposed Pilsen Historic District, like Carbajal, have signed affidavits opposing the ordinance spearheaded by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Far from benefiting the residents in his ward, Sigcho-Lopez argues the ordinance would inflict exorbitant expenses on working-class property owners and so push more Latino families out of the neighborhood.
During a community town hall Wednesday, city Plan Commissioner Maurice Cox acknowledged the concerns and the opposition to the ordinance but said the department considers the designation “an important tool for the preservation of Pilsen.”
Gerardo Garcia, coordinating planner for the planning department, said the goal of the designation is to preserve the area’s architecture and help the people of Pilsen remain there. The idea that the designation will result in increased costs for maintenance of landmarked properties “is just not true,” he said.
“Just as important as those buildings are the people that inhabit them, that use them, that bring vibrancy to their communities, and their stories,” Garcia said.
But Carbajal said preserving his building’s facade won’t maintain the neighborhood’s identity. He realized that after he was told the signage that makes his nearly 50-year-old storefront stand out does not meet landmark standards.
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The carnicería has a modern black canopy sign running the width of the building, with a white silhouette of a pig in the middle of the shop name, Carnitas Uruapan, in large white letters. The district’s preliminary landmark status has kept Carbajal from renovating his sign, he said.
A shopkeeper sweeps up along 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
A process to get approval to repair the sign, which in the past only took a few minutes and $150, has dragged out for almost a year, he said. He has had to hire a permit expediter, costing him more than $2,000.
According to Carbajal, the Landmarks Commission wants him to “change the entire storefront to make it look more minimal so that the architecture of the building can be seen,” erasing the character his family has added to the building.
“The way they pick and choose what is historically valuable is arbitrary and kind of silly,” Carbajal said.
The current culture of the neighborhood was fostered by Mexican immigrants like his father, who were able to transplant their language, food and art to the Lower West Side decades ago.
City officials say the proposal is part of a strategy aimed at preserving Mexican American communities in Pilsen and Little Village. The initial ordinance sought to preserve the exteriors of nearly 900 Baroque-inspired buildings built between 1875 and 1910 along 18th Street corridor from Leavitt Street to Sangamon Street, as well as other residential and commercial buildings between Ashland and Racine avenues down to 21st Street. At recent community meetings, the planning department has presented an alternate plan that would reduce the number of buildings covered by the district to 465.
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A historic landmark designation would mean the city would review any repairs that require building permits to ensure they match buildings' original Bohemian Baroque construction.
Caroline Skolnik Muñoz, said the ordinance wouldn’t be worth it.
When she and her husband first learned of the historic district in December 2018, “it looked good on paper,” because of its potential to preserve history and stop displacement, she said.
That changed after she and some of her neighbors began investigating what the landmark district could mean for them. They say it will result in restrictions on the use of their properties and a complex permitting process.
“But the most concerning part is the potential amount of homeowners and renters that could be forced to leave because they won’t be able to keep up with repair costs, attracting a higher-income demographic, raising rent and raising taxes,” Skolnik Muñoz added.
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Residents, members of the Pilsen Alliance and supporters march on Oct. 1, 2020, protesting a proposal to designate part of the Pilsen neighborhood as a historic landmark district. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Even after the community voiced disapproval of the proposal and sent letters against it, the Landmarks Commission designated the area as a preliminary landmark district in May 2019. So city guidelines apply while a vote on the ordinance is pending.
Spurred by the potential demolition of historic buildings in the district, that same month the commission voted unanimously to recommend the landmark district to the City Council for a final vote.
The vote was delayed after a plea from Sigcho-Lopez for a one-year extension on the proposal.
In July, the City Council approved another six-month extension so the planning department could get reaction from residents to the proposal. Before going to the City Council for a final vote, the ordinance must pass through the zoning committee, but under city landmark rules, because the commission has approved it, the district would go into effect in January if no vote takes place.
“We want a vote,” demanded Moises Moreno, director of the Pilsen Alliance advocacy group, during a rally against the Historic Landmark Proposal on Oct. 4 in Pilsen’s Plaza Tenochtitlan.
In a letter to aldermen, zoning chair Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, said he intends to hold a special hearing on the matter in November after community meetings with the planning department and the zoning committee are completed. Tunney’s chief of staff Bennett R. Lawson confirmed in an email to the Tribune that Tunney plans to consider the Pilsen district plan in a November meeting, but did not specify a date.
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In May, Sigcho-Lopez introduced an alternate “demolition-free district” ordinance, also pending in the zoning committee, that would protect the same area as the proposed district, plus the former St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church, 1650 W. 17th St.
Sigcho-Lopez said the ordinance is the best alternative to the proposed landmark district to halt Pilsen gentrification. Instead of following the usual procedure for approving changes in buildings in landmark districts, it would prohibit the city from issuing demolition permits or approvals for major projects until the local alderman holds a public meeting about each request.
Marissa Meza, a Pilsen resident and property owner, said she is disappointed with the way city officials have responded to the community’s concerns.
Meza, Skolnik Muñoz and 10 other property owners in the district participated in an advisory committee that met in the summer with Sigcho-Lopez, administration officials and representatives of the Landmarks Commission, Meza said.
The committee discussed alternate ways to guarantee affordable housing in the area, halt gentrification and preserve architecture, “but I don’t think they considered anything of what we discussed,” Skolnik Muñoz said.
City officials say they are trying to respond to neighborhood concerns by adding special provisions to the ordinance. Incentives include a property tax assessment freeze. To qualify there’s a minimum investment of 25% of the property’s market value, according to the city.
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The incentives from the planning department intends to offer as part of the landmark district are “absurd,” Meza said.
“We don’t have that kind of money just lying around,” Meza said. “This is all created for people who have money, not for us.”
There is also a three-year, $3 million Adopt-A-Landmark pilot program to assist commercial property owners who have been in the district for at least 10 years. Another $3 million from the Department of Housing would also be available to homeowners to help them maintain affordable rent, Garcia said during the most recent town hall meeting.
Still, Meza said, “It’s been our property for over 60 years and all of a sudden they want to mandate over it? No.”
Laura Paz, a Pilsen property owner, and once an activist featured in the book “Chicanas of 18th Street,” said that she has seen Mexican residents pushed out of Pilsen for decades, “and this landmark will make no difference.”
“Saving buildings will not save people.”
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct what would be reviewed under a historic landmark designation. The city would review any repairs that require building permits.
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laura_n_rod


Corrections and clarifications

· In an Oct. 1 story about the village of Tinley Park ’ s plan to buy land from video @ @ @ @ @ the Tribune reported that Heidner informed municipal officials that he was pulling out of the @ @ @ @ @ one day after a Tribune reporter began making calls to ask questions about the plan @ @ @ @ @ stand by that reporting .
After publication of the story , however , Heidner provided @ @ @ @ @ from his business that indicated that he had informed one of his attorneys and his @ @ @ @ @ Sept. 21 that he intended to pull out of the deal on Sept. 23 .

· In an article on Page 1 Saturday titled “Eat a carp burger, save the Great Lakes,” a reference to an event at a restaurant in Uptown and an event in Ashburn had the wrong date. The event at Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant in Uptown and the event in Ashburn will be Oct. 24.
· In Friday’s Arts+ Entertainment section, a story about an Open House Chicago app incorrectly stated that there is no audio commentary for a tour of former Chicago taverns and other beer industry buildings. Two of the nine beer building sites have audio commentary.
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· Stories on Page 10 Thursday and Page 4 Friday incorrectly reported that the Cook County sheriff’s office budget would be decreased 7% under Toni Preckwinkle’s plan. It would be decreased by 4% under her proposal.
The Tribune regrets the errors.
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· In an Oct. 1 story about the village of Tinley Park’s plan to buy land from video gambling operator Rick Heidner, the Tribune reported that Heidner informed municipal officials that he was pulling out of the deal on Sept. 23, one day after a Tribune reporter began making calls to ask questions about the plan on Sept. 22. We stand by that reporting. After publication of the story, however, Heidner provided a chain of internal emails from his business that indicated that he had informed one of his attorneys and his son at 8:59 p.m. on Sept. 21 that he intended to pull out of the deal on Sept. 23.
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chicagotribune--2020-10-19--The Spin: Pritzker, Lightfoot sound ‘alarm’ on COVID-19 surge | Lightfoot likely to face controversy

The Spin: Pritzker, Lightfoot sound ‘alarm’ on COVID-19 surge | Lightfoot likely to face controversy over her 2021 budget | Mayor says she was not told of ex-top cop’s ‘improper relationship’

A difference of opinion or geography ?
In Southern Illinois this afternoon , the governor said as he announced tightened @ @ @ @ @ well , the first thing I ’ d say ( is ) it is an @ @ @ @ @ — and there is a lot of it — shows that bars and restaurants are @ @ @ @ @ lot of spread of the virus .
That ’ s an unfortunate fact , ” @ @ @ @ @ businesses are important job creators .

Mayor Lori Lighfoot and Gov. J.B Pritzker listen to the announcement of the U.S. Department of Energy's blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, at a press conference at the University of Chicago's Harper Center, Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
It all sounds and feels very familiar: A chill in the air, the unknowns of a deadly pandemic and Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces he’ll be holding daily news conferences about rising case counts while Mayor Lori Lightfoot warns the spike will not only hurt families and communities but also the economic engine that supports the residents here.
But it’s not March or May. It’s mid-October and the governor said this afternoon he’s imposing a new round of restrictions on bars and restaurants in southern Illinois and that it could soon expand to Chicago’s suburbs.
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At a separate news conference, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said,"Make no mistake, we are in the second surge."
Pritzker over the weekend was on CNN and pinned some of blame for the increase in cases on President Donald Trump’s “allies in our state, all across the state who are simply saying to people don’t pay any attention to the mitigations don’t follow the rules.” Trump, who contracted the virus, has sent mixed messages about mask-wearing and social distancing.
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The governor took the swipe at Trump on Sunday after the president campaigned in neighboring Janesville, Wisconsin, on Saturday night and said “Illinois could use a new governor” and called for schools to reopen. The governor-appointed Illinois State board of Education gave local school districts the flexibility on remote and in-person learning amid the pandemic. Trump largely played down the pandemic in his campaign stop in Wisconsin, a crucial swing state, Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart reports.
And we’re just 48 hours from Lightfoot announcing her 2021 budget plan, The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and John Byrne were first with the details on Sunday: She’s expected to roll out a $94 million property tax increase, more than 300 city worker layoffs and a gas tax hike.
Welcome to The Spin.
Mayor Lori Lighfoot and Gov. J.B Pritzker at a news conference at the University of Chicago's Harper Center on July 23, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
As cases soar across the state, Gov. Pritzker was in Murphysboro this afternoon and announced he was tightening coronavirus restrictions on southern Illinois bars and restaurants.
As Jamie Munks reports: “Two other regions appear on the brink of seeing some businesses limited and gathering caps halved. The region that includes DuPage and Kane counties had surpassed an 8% positivity rate for two consecutive days, with public health officials reporting an 8.5% positivity rate for the region on Monday.” Read more here.
And, the governor said he’ll be resuming the state’s daily COVID-19 briefings as he held during the pandemic’s opening months.
“We are sounding this alarm because the increase is real,” the city’s top public health official, Dr. Allison Arwady said during a news conference earlier in the day with the Chicago mayor.
Data points: Chicago’s seeing 500-plus cases daily. That’s a jump from the 300 daily cases seen when bars reopened and restrictions on restaurants and retailers were eased last month. Statewide, 3,113 new known COVID-19 cases were announced along with 22 additional deaths: Read more here.
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City officials threaten to return to stricter times when restaurants were only allowed to serve diners in outdoor areas or at indoor tables close to open windows. And they could do it before Chicago reaches the crucial 8% positivity threshold; right now the city and state’s 7-day rolling positivity rate is at 5.4%.
Pritzker said on CNN yesterday that the state enacts restrictions on a region-by-region bases, but he didn’t rule out the possibility that all of Illinois could return to tighter restrictions if the trend doesn’t change.
'Broad problem’: My colleagues Gregory Pratt and John Byrne write: “Lightfoot said she doesn’t believe the decision to ease business restrictions — including allowing bars that don’t serve food to reopen for indoor drinking — last month has led to the current spike. She said the health department has been analyzing the increase to help understand its causes so that the city can use a ‘surgical’ approach to its response, but so far, the problem seems broad.”
A difference of opinion or geography? In Southern Illinois this afternoon, the governor said as he announced tightened restrictions there said, “well, the first thing I’d say (is) it is an unfortunate fact that the research — and there is a lot of it — shows that bars and restaurants are places where there is a lot of spread of the virus. That’s an unfortunate fact,” he said noting that small businesses are important job creators.
Pritzker’s rural disconnect? On CNN, the governor said of Trump: “He doesn’t wear a mask in public, he has rallies where they don’t encourage people to wear masks in public. This is now rhetoric that what people understand is, particularly the rural areas, ‘well, the President doesn’t wear a mask, we don’t need to wear a mask, it’s not that dangerous.’ ”
During two news conferences today Pritzker was asked about that comment — in one case specifically whether there’s a disconnect between the governor, who calls Chicago home, and rural downstate residents heeding his orders. The Democratic governor reiterated that the cavalier message was coming from the Republican White House and Illinois is seeing spikes in rural communities.
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Lightfoot gets a letter from elected leaders on reopening schools later this fall: “Sharing many concerns of the Chicago Teachers Union, dozens of elected officials from Chicago and Illinois sent a letter over the weekend to Mayor Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools leaders and the Board of Education listing their demands about remote learning and an eventual return to school,” the Tribune’s Hannah Leone writes.
The mayor says data shows public and private institutions — open for in-person classes since September — near CPS schools aren’t a source of virus spread lending some optimism to the gradual reopening plan. If the surge continues, this may all be a moot point. Read the full story here.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot provides an update on Chicago's response to COVID-19 at City Hall in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Most of the tools Lightfoot can use to balance the city’s budget is going to generate some controversy, the Tribune’s Pratt and Byrne write. You can read the breakdown here.
Consider: "If the mayor borrows to plug the shortfall, she likely will be criticized for putting the current financial burden on future generations. If the city refinances its debts then uses the money to shore up finances in the short term, she’ll likely be criticized for relying on one-time fixes.
"If the mayor raises property taxes, she could face backlash from residents whose finances already have been walloped by the pandemic-fueled economic downturn.
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"If Lightfoot raises fines or fees, she could be criticized for walking back on her promises to end what she has called the city’s ‘addiction’ to fines and fees.
“Dipping into the city’s rainy day fund could negatively affect the city’s already dismal credit rating.”
Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson talks with Mayor Lori Lightfoot during the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation's 15th annual Candlelight Vigil at the Gold Star Families Memorial and Park on Sept. 10, 2019, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lightfoot declined to comment today on sexual assault allegations against ex-top cop Eddie Johnson by his former driver, saying she can’t talk about pending litigation, the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt writes.
In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday, Cynthia Donald said Johnson raped and abused her repeatedly for more than three years, and later destroyed evidence of that abuse on his cellphone when the city Inspector General was investigating his conduct. Johnson has denied any sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lightfoot “worked to deflect blame” from the city over the incident and ordered Johnson to “dump” Donald from his security detail.
Asked about the allegations, Lightfoot said, “Eddie Johnson, obviously common sense tells you, never told me he was engaged in any kind of improper relationship with Ms. Donald, he never of course told me he was taking her into his office and sexually assaulting her on a regular basis.”
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“Why would he tell his boss something that outrageous and beyond the pale? Because if he had said something like that to me, I would have ordered that he be arrested on the spot,” Lightfoot said.
In a year of unexpected tragedy and turmoil, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown sought to reshape his department: My Tribune colleague Jeremy Gorner takes a deep dive here.
Rockford police officers will pair with mental health experts to respond to crisis calls: The Associated Press has the story here.
Voters line up outside Niles Village Hall to cast their ballots on the first day of expanded early voting on Oct. 19. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
We’re 15 days out from the election.
Early voting expands with opening of more polling places in suburban counties: The Tribune’s Kelli Smith has the details here.
Mayor Lightfoot voted in person on Saturday afternoon at an early voting site in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. It was a family affair, with wife Amy Esheleman also casting a ballot and the couple’s young daughter Vivian also on hand.
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‘Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote.’ Women’s March holds mix of smaller in-person, virtual events amid pandemic and widening political gender gap: The Tribune’s Joe Mahr has the details here.
Steelworkers union shines Biden, Harris ‘bat light’ on Chicago’s Trump Tower: The Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg Douglas has the story here.
Man who dangled from Trump Tower for more than 13 hours, pulled to safety: He had demanded to talk to Donald Trump or the media. Read the Tribune story here.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s Illinois campaign is hosting a virtual early voting rally today with a smattering of local Democrats on the ballot including Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, of suburban Matteson, and 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate Marie Newman along with a message from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. Also on hand: Quentin Fulks, who chairs the “Vote Yes for Fairness” campaign; the organization that supports Gov. Pritzker’s signature top-of-the-Illinois-ballot initiative to change the state’s mandatory flat income tax to a graduated income tax that levies higher rates as income rises.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood is hosting a “drive-in rally” tonight at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles, part of the suburban and exurban 14th Congressional District she represents, to mark the start of expanded early voting across the suburbs. She’ll speak at 5 p.m., which will be livestreamed, followed by a screening of the film “Surge” which documents her 2018 campaign.
Richard Monocchio, Housing Authority of Cook County executive director, delivers boxes of groceries to residents at Richard Flowers Homes in Robbins in May 2020. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)
From the Tribune’s Alice Yin: At least 10,000 people have applied to join suburban Cook County’s housing voucher program since officials announced on Monday morning its waitlist will open up for the first time in nearly two decades.
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The program subsidizes rent for households living in private rentals by using funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The revival was neither spurred by the coronavirus pandemic nor a change in federal funding for affordable housing, which Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said has been at most stagnant for decades. Housing Authority of Cook County Executive Director Richard Monocchio said there was simply a “huge supply and demand issue” with getting through a waitlist of about 70,000 from 2001 without significant additional help from HUD.
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.
ldonovan@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Early voting expands with opening of more polling places in suburban counties, prompting wait times

Early voting expands with opening of more polling places in suburban counties, prompting wait times up to 5 hours long: ‘This is a moment that’s very important’

“ It ’ s a little uncomfortable for me , believe me , standing on my feet at my age @ @ @ @ @ was a little strain on me , but I thought , ‘ No , I @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” Lewis said .
“ What is it to take four hours or five @ @ @ @ @ just to vote so that I know that I ’ m doing what we ’ @ @ @ @ @ as citizens . ''

Early voting expanded Monday and some people faced hourslong waits to cast their ballot, as additional polling places opened in suburban Cook as well as in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Voters encountered long lines, with wait times reaching up to five hours at some early voting sites. The long lines were reminiscent of Chicago’s polling sites after the city expanded early voting to each of its 50 wards last week, and 17,289 votes were cast in person by the end of the first day.
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In south suburban Matteson, Antoinette Lewis, 69, said she waited five hours at the village’s community center after arriving about 10:30 a.m. and getting in a line that wrapped around the building. But she said she remained in good spirits, speaking with others in line to pass the time and cheering on those still waiting as she left.
“It’s a little uncomfortable for me, believe me, standing on my feet at my age and my weight ... it was a little strain on me, but I thought, ‘No, I have to do something,’” Lewis said. “What is it to take four hours or five hours out of my life just to vote so that I know that I’m doing what we’re all called to do as citizens."
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Suburban Cook County expanded voting to more than 50 sites, including for the first time at Chicago’s Union Station, which will operate as a super site for early voting. The county’s sites will remain open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The expansion in Cook County and elsewhere allows more Illinois voters to cast their ballot in person at their local polling place or drop off their mail-in ballot at a secured drop box location. Voters can check for the nearest polling place at https://ova.elections.il.gov/PollingPlaceLookup.aspx.
Election officials have urged voters to cast their ballot early this year, rather than wait until Nov. 3, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lewis said she cast a provisional ballot because she’d originally applied to vote by mail but had changed her mind when she realized “all I have to do is keep my masks on.”
“I just wanted to stay. I did not want to give up,” Lewis said. “Live for the moment, and this is a moment that’s very important to all people.”
DuPage County also expanded early voting and was operating 18 sites Monday, including in “areas that had previously been underserved” by early voting, according to a county news release.
“Typically lines become longer at early voting closer to Election Day,” DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek said in the release. “If a voter intends to go to an early voting site, the sooner the better.”
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Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said during a Monday morning news conference at Chicago’s Union Station that the long lines outside polling places shouldn’t be cause for concern.
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“Quite frankly I’m ecstatic about the lines because that means people are engaged and people are voting,” Yarbrough said.
She said the biggest problem has been dealing with misinformation on social media, which has required “just as much time” as processing ballots.
Election officials also mentioned the dramatic increase in voting by mail, which in Cook County surpassed 500,000 requests. The county clerk’s office had been working through a backlog of roughly 20,000 vote-by-mail applications last week, which delayed the mail-in ballot delivery process for some voters.
“When I hear from people saying that they haven’t gotten their ballot, I tell them, ‘Wait, it’s coming. You’ll get it,’” Yarbrough said.
Secured drop boxes are also available inside many polling places and are accessible when the site is open. James Nally, legal counsel for the Cook County clerk’s office, encouraged voters to drop their mail-in ballot off in a secured drop box if they still have it a few days before Nov. 3.
The ballots collected in drop boxes are picked up by a licensed security service on a daily basis and taken to the elections operations center for processing with the rest of the mail-in ballots. Nally said everyone who applied for a mail-in ballot in advance will be able to track their ballot or will physically have it “by the end of this week.”
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“People are concerned because there’s been a lot of misinformation about mail balloting,” Nally said, “but we are processing those ballots and those ballots are going out.”
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--House GOP leader Durkin: Confused about graduated-rate tax amendment? Vote no

“ Look , here ’ s what I think that ’ s important , that if someone ’ s confused @ @ @ @ @ tell whether or not which side is making sense , all the more reason to @ @ @ @ @ ’ m not ready to vote for this , ’ and they should not be @ @ @ @ @ complicated issue , ” Durkin , of Western Springs , said in a virtual news @ @

Amid multimillion-dollar TV ad campaigns from both sides of the issue, Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Monday that voters who are confused about Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated-rate income tax amendment should just vote against it.
“Look, here’s what I think that’s important, that if someone’s confused and they can’t tell whether or not which side is making sense, all the more reason to say that, ‘I’m not ready to vote for this,’ and they should not be because this is a very complicated issue,” Durkin, of Western Springs, said in a virtual news conference.
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“But the most important thing that people should know is that this will not affect only the millionaires and billionaires. It is going to be the middle class that ultimately will be carrying the bag for this — that is to meet the governor’s spending needs,” he said.
Quentin Fulks, chairman of the Pritzker-backed Vote Yes For Fairness group, accused Republicans and amendment opponents of sowing confusion.
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“Leader Durkin and opponents of the fair tax have made their strategy clear from day one — mislead and lie to voters in an effort to confuse them into either voting no on the fair tax or not voting at all,” Fulks said.
Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin stands during a House committee hearing at the Stratton Building in Springfield on Sept. 29, 2020. (Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register)
“While opponents of the fair tax prefer to leave voters in the dark, we encourage all Illinoisans to do their research and understand how the fair tax will help their families, their communities, and their state,” he said.
For several weeks, voters have been subject to well-funded efforts on both sides of the proposal to replace Illinois' mandated flat-rate income tax with a constitutional amendment to allow tax rates to increase as income grows.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, has given $56.5 million to the Vote Yes for Fairness group while billionaire Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel hedge fund and investment firm, has given $46.7 million to the anti-amendment effort.
Durkin, of Western Springs, one the GOP leaders who led opposition to the proposed amendment in the legislature, contended that since Pritzker would pay about $74,000 more in state taxes under the plan, “the math doesn’t add up” and that lower- and middle-income taxpayers will end up paying to raise the estimated $3.4 billion the tax structure is expected to raise over a year.
“When it’s clear that a billionaire like Gov. Pritzker won’t be paying the tab, paying his fair share — I’ve heard that time and time again, rich guys got to pay their fair share — that means every business, small and large, every farmer, every retiree and every taxpayer across the state is going to be looking at paying higher taxes under the governor’s plan,” Durkin said.
While Durkin said he was “not providing any misinformation,” he said retirees would face higher taxes under Pritzker’s plan, even though retirement income is not taxed in Illinois and the amendment’s language has nothing to do with taxing retirement benefits such as pensions and 401(k) plans.
“The taxpayers of the state of Illinois are once again being played and their being sold a false promise from politicians that will do anything to raise and spend more taxes based on their spending whims,” Durkin said.
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Supporters of the proposed amendment said data from the state Department of Revenue showed that 97% of Illinois residents, those that make $250,000 or less, would pay at least the same or lower income taxes under the amendment. About 175,000 individual filers would pay higher taxes under the plan, generating the additional income to the state, they said.
Pritzker reported Friday that he and his wife, M.K., paid a combined $118,255 in personal state income taxes on an adjusted gross income of more than $2.4 million. Under Pritzker’s plan, that liability would increase by about $74,000 under graduated tax rates set to go into effect if the constitutional amendment is approved.
Overall, Pritzker aides said counting trusts benefiting the governor, he would have paid approximately $10.5 million in Illinois taxes for 2019 if the amendment was in effect. Those trusts, the governor’s office said, paid $6.7 million in state taxes at a rate of 6.45%.
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Patriarch gets probation, home detention, in sports gambling scheme allegedly involving Casey Urlach

Patriarch gets probation, home detention, in sports gambling scheme allegedly involving Casey Urlacher

Urlacher , 41 , who is the mayor of the tiny village of Mettawa in Lake County , has pleaded @ @ @ @ @ conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business .
He is accused of acting as an @ @ @ @ @ , recruiting bettors in exchange for a cut of their eventual losses .

Casey Urlacher, 40, leaves after his arraignment hearing at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on March 4, 2020. Urlacher, the mayor of the village of Mettawa in Lake County, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
An 85-year-old Orland Park man was sentenced to probation with three months of home detention Monday for his role in an illegal sports betting operation that allegedly included the brother of Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher.
Eugene “Geno” Del Giudice pleaded guilty earlier this year to acting as a “runner” for the gambling ring, which was allegedly headed by his son, Vincent, and raked in millions of dollars from hundreds of Chicago-area bettors.
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Del Giudice appeared before U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall via a video conference from his home, where he was seated at a kitchen table with a bouquet of flowers behind him.
“I know what I did was wrong and I’m sorry,” Del Giudice, a retired employee of the Metropolitan Water and Reclamation District, said in a raspy voice. “I don’t have an excuse, so I ain’t gonna make any.”
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Del Giudice — who was convicted of illegal gambling in Cook County in 1996 — also said he got caught up by the feeling he was being useful to the younger members of the operation.
“One of the scariest things about getting old is not feeling useful,” he said. “I miss that.”
Del Giudice is the first to be sentenced in a case that made headlines because of the alleged involvement of Casey Urlacher.
Urlacher, 41, who is the mayor of the tiny village of Mettawa in Lake County, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business. He is accused of acting as an agent for the gambling ring, recruiting bettors in exchange for a cut of their eventual losses.
The indictment filed in February alleged the gambling ring was run by Del Giudice’s son, Vincent Del Giudice, an Orland Park businessman who goes by “Uncle Mick.”
Vincent Del Giudice, 55, allegedly paid a Costa Rica-based sportsbook a service fee to use its online platform and recruited gamblers to place wagers on his website. To expand the operation, Del Giudice hired people to act as agents and enlist new gamblers.
Vincent Del Giudice, of Orland Park, leaves after his arraignment hearing at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on March 4, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
When agents searched Vincent Del Giudice’s home in April 2019, they seized nearly $1.1 million in cash and nearly a half-million dollars' worth of silver bars, gold coins and jewelry, the indictment stated. The government is seeking forfeiture of $8 million.
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Vincent Del Giudice is scheduled to change his plea to guilty at a hearing next week, federal court records show.
Urlacher, meanwhile, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
During Monday’s hourlong sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava said the operation victimized addicted gamblers, many of whom jeopardized their careers, marriages and family life by continuing to place bets.
One victim said he felt threatened by an agent after he fell behind on his debts and wound up embezzling money from his employer to cover his losses, Srivastava said.
“This is not a group of friends gambling together or doing a football pool,” said Srivastava, who asked for six months of home detention.
Del Giudice’s attorney, David Petrich, asked for leniency, noting the dozens of character letters sent to the court by DelGiudice’s supporters as well as his client’s failing health in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Casey Urlacher moved with his famous older brother to Lake Bluff in 2000, shortly after Brian Urlacher signed with the Bears. He attended Lake Forest College and was invited to the Bears training camp as a fullback in 2003 and signed to a three-year contract, but he never made the team’s regular season roster.
He later had a brief career with the Arena Football League, including a stint with the Chicago Rush as a running back, before entering politics.
Urlacher was elected mayor of Mettawa — population 547 — in 2013 and reelected four years later. He said at a village meeting earlier this year that he intended to stay on as mayor while he fights the charges.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Illinois community colleges see big drop in enrollment amid the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting nat

Illinois community colleges see big drop in enrollment amid the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting national declines in higher education

“ Even those that might enroll virtually , they may have a challenge getting access to a computer , ” @ @ @ @ @ may have a challenge having enough computers to also allow their children to do virtual @ @ @ @ @ , it could be that people have lost jobs , or they are having housing @ @ @

Enrollment at Illinois community colleges plunged nearly 14% this fall, an indication that low-income and older students who typically favor the institutions might be struggling to pursue higher education because of the coronavirus pandemic.
All but three of the state’s 48 community colleges saw substantial head count declines, according to initial data from the Illinois Community College Board. Compared with last year, about 37,200 fewer students enrolled in for-credit classes this fall. Some of the biggest drops were among students over age 30 and in career-track courses such as nursing, construction and welding.
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The preliminary data, collected in an online survey at the end of class registration, mirrors national trends. The latest analysis by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows community colleges are suffering the greatest losses, with first-year students down nearly 23%. Countrywide, undergraduate enrollment declined about 4% across all colleges and universities.
In Illinois, community colleges serve a significant population of minority and first-generation students, said Brian Durham, executive director of the ICCB.
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Many of these students already face financial or technological hurdles, which have only worsened during the pandemic, Durham said. Enrollment for African American and Latino students were down about 19% compared with a 12% decrease for white students, Durham said.
“Even those that might enroll virtually, they may have a challenge getting access to a computer,” Durham said. “They may have a challenge having enough computers to also allow their children to do virtual instruction. Or of course, it could be that people have lost jobs, or they are having housing challenges.”
In the survey sent to Illinois community colleges, many identified the pandemic as the biggest issue affecting enrollment. Colleges reported large dips in areas such as career technical education and adult education. Those courses typically require in-person instruction, which has been difficult to offer during the pandemic and possibly undesirable to students, Durham said.
Though the state’s community college enrollment has been decreasing in recent years, the drops this fall are steeper. In each year since 2016, enrollment fell between 3% and 4%, according to ICCB. This fall, overall head count fell by 13.7%.
During economic downturns, community colleges often see demand surge. Instead of entering a shaky job market, recent graduates and adults have enrolled to earn professional certifications and increase their earning potential. This year, community colleges tried to present themselves as affordable options for students who would otherwise be living at home and taking online classes at expensive four-year universities.
Out of the grim data, one bright spot emerged from City Colleges of Chicago. While enrollment at six of the network’s seven schools decreased, the overall head count at the Malcolm X campus on the Near West Side jumped by 4.7%. Outside of the city, McHenry County College in Crystal Lake and Shawnee Community College in downstate Ullin, near the Missouri border, saw enrollment increases.
But other schools, such as Prairie State College in Chicago Heights and Joliet Junior College, lost nearly 30% of students compared with last year, some of the largest declines statewide.
At Harper College in Palatine, overall head count was down about 9.5% to 12,199 students, according to ICCB data.
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Robert Parzy, Harper’s interim associate provost for enrollment services, said the biggest declines are among older students and minorities.
“I think adults are very worried in general right now about employment security, tuition and mortgage payments and rent,” Parzy said. “Education sometimes falls aside ― especially if you’ve not gone back to school in a while or not gone to school at all, you tend to put that on the back burner.”
Enrollment at Oakton Community College, whose Skokie campus is shown here, dropped this fall by about 12.4% to 7,079 students. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The numbers were slightly worse at Oakton Community College, which has campuses in Des Plaines and Skokie. Head count dropped by about 12.4% to 7,079 students, according to the ICCB.
Matthew Huber, Oakton’s dean of enrollment management, said the school worked to provide computers, hot spots and internet in its parking lots to students since the vast majority of classes are online this fall.
“Some barriers that we’ve seen at the college include financial impact, certainly a technology gap and then changes to personal and family responsibilities, for instance, with parents required to care for children and potentially even their parents," Huber said.
ICCB will continue to analyze the numbers to look for demographic trends and new insights while the numbers are finalized, Durham said.
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The Illinois Board of Higher Education has not released fall enrollment data for the state’s public four-year universities. A few schools that already published the numbers show a mixed bag — some reported smaller freshmen classes while also seeing growth in graduate student enrollment. IBHE numbers are typically released in October.
Durham said the enrollment drops could have economic consequences for community colleges but hoped state funding and federal relief money could offset some of the loss.
“I don’t expect in the short term you are going to see major financial problems from colleges but if this were something that would go on for a number of years, at this kind of level, it could be challenging.”
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--For first time in nearly 20 years, Cook County opens suburban housing voucher waitlist. At least 10K

For first time in nearly 20 years, Cook County opens suburban housing voucher waitlist. At least 10K people already applied.

Applicants can go to http : //myportal.thehacc.org until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2 to put their names in for a randomized @ @ @ @ @ final waiting list , which will be capped at 10,000 households .
To qualify , @ @ @ @ @ must be less than 50 % of the area ’ s median income , or @ @ @ @ @ family of four , and they must seek units within the housing authority ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , Monocchio said .
The vouchers subsidize the difference between 30 % of the applicant @ @ @ @ @ the cost of rent .

At least 10,000 people have applied to join suburban Cook County’s housing voucher program since officials announced on Monday morning its waitlist will open up for the first time in nearly two decades.
At 8:30 a.m., the Housing Authority of Cook County reopened applications for the Housing Choice Voucher waitlist that has been closed since 2001, Executive Director Richard Monocchio said during a news conference. The program subsidizes rent for households living in private rentals by using funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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“Ten thousand applicants in three hours I think speaks to the incredible, incredible need for affordable housing in not only Cook County, but you know, this is emblematic of the entire country,” Monocchio said shortly after noon.
Applicants can go to http://myportal.thehacc.org until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2 to put their names in for a randomized lottery to get on the final waiting list, which will be capped at 10,000 households. To qualify, an applicant’s income must be less than 50% of the area’s median income, or about $45,500 for a family of four, and they must seek units within the housing authority’s jurisdiction of suburban Cook County, Monocchio said. The vouchers subsidize the difference between 30% of the applicant’s household income and the cost of rent.
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The revival was neither spurred by the coronavirus pandemic nor a change in federal funding for affordable housing, which Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said has been at most stagnant for decades. Monocchio said there was simply a “huge supply and demand issue” with getting through a waitlist of about 70,000 from 2001 without significant additional help from HUD.
Richard Monocchio, Housing Authority of Cook County executive director, delivers boxes of groceries to residents at Richard Flowers Homes in Robbins in May 2020. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)
Preckwinkle said thousands of Cook County residents will be lifted from poverty because of the reopening of the waitlist, but she wants more help from the federal government as the economic fallout from COVID-19 rattles housing security for vulnerable residents.
“No one — no one — should have to choose between paying their rent or feeding their family or being able to clothe their children or fill a prescription,” Preckwinkle said. “COVID-19 has made these difficult decisions, choices between food and shelter, even harder. And unfortunately, the federal government through its own inaction has only exacerbated this problem.”
More than 15,000 people in Cook County already participate in the voucher program, which is separate from the housing complexes owned and operated by the housing authority. An additional 6,000 people are on the current waitlist and will need to be sorted through over the next few months before the new batch of 10,000 awardees are selected. For those 10,000, it may take up to four years to receive the voucher, Monocchio said.
Commissioners Donna Miller, D-Lynwood, and Alma Anaya, D-Chicago, both said a flood of constituents have approached their offices about potentially being displaced from their homes since the pandemic started.
“It is time that we need to continue to say that housing is a human right,” Anaya said. “Again, housing is a human right.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Elected officials, community groups demand more from CPS reopening plans, say families have ‘great t

Elected officials, community groups demand more from CPS reopening plans, say families have ‘great trepidation about returning to schools this fall’

“ The families we represent have great trepidation about returning to schools this fall , just as they did prior @ @ @ @ @ classes , ” Johnson said .
`` What they want is remote learning to be @ @ @ @ @ teachers can safely transition back into school buildings .
We know remote learning and COVID @ @ @ @ @ communities , but so are the risks of bringing students back , and we have @ @ @ @ @ CPS that gives us confidence in its current plans .
”

Sharing many concerns of the Chicago Teachers Union, dozens of elected officials from Chicago and Illinois sent a letter over the weekend to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools leaders and the Board of Education, outlining their demands about remote learning and an eventual return to school.
Their positions were amplified Monday in a similar letter from parents and community groups under the banner of the Grassroots Education Movement Coalition, which took issue with the plan CPS announced Friday to bring students in preschool and some special education clusters back to schools during the second quarter. After first offering in-person learning to those groups sometime after the quarter begins Nov. 9, district leaders would like to phase in other grades early next year.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday it will take a month or more for CPS to transition from all-remote learning to a different model. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Though the elected officials who signed the letter are wary of in-person learning until convincing safeguards are in place, they detailed ongoing problems with remote learning such as inadequate internet access, shortages of computers for students and a lot of screen time.
“We are deeply concerned about how Chicago Public Schools' students and staff will safely return to school buildings for the remainder of the current school year and the foreseeable future,” began the letter, signed by City Council members, state lawmakers and three Cook County commissioners.
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The Grassroots Education coalition said its members won’t support a plan that isn’t responsive to the needs of special education students and Black and other minority communities, particularly in neighborhoods with high COVID-19 positivity rates. They’re also seeking more support for students experiencing homelessness.
“While we believe that a staggered hybrid learning plan could be a viable future option, until CPS can engage families, educators and community in this decision-making process and provide scientifically based, transparent evidence to answer the above demands, we cannot trust CPS to safely bring vulnerable populations back into schools,” the Grassroots letter states. “CPS is rushing into this hybrid plan the same way it rushed into remote learning and we cannot support it.”
Since surveys in July, the community groups say there’s been “radio silence, and virtually no community engagement of families since the announcement of remote learning in August." Their letter states they’ve seen no evidence that CPS is incorporating feedback from teachers, parents and students to create a virtual learning plan that works, and want CPS to consult families in any reopening decision.
Lightfoot addressed the elected officials’ letter during a Monday morning news conference.
“I always appreciate engagement, and I encourage those elected officials to also take advantage of the many, many ways in which we have been engaging with their colleagues,” Lightfoot said.
But Lightfoot said the city needs to rely on facts and data.
“We are not seeing, in looking at the examples of schools that have already been open since September in Chicago — in the same neighborhood where Chicago Public Schools are — we are not seeing the schools as a source of spread,” Lightfoot said. “Archdiocese, charter schools, other private schools, we look at their experience very, very closely. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, obviously, but we look at that data very, very closely."
Lightfoot said the announcement Friday was not a definitive plan, and CPS is seeking feedback.
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“But let me just say this,” the mayor said. “When you hear people talking about schools, if the first words out of their mouth are not about kids and equity, listen closely to what they’re really saying.”
Rather than considering the district as a whole, the lawmakers’ letter asks the mayor and CPS to make a plan addressing the way COVID-19 is affecting the city’s various communities.
“Not every community has experienced the pandemic in the same way,” the letter states. “As such, making a decision based on a citywide measure for transmission may mean higher risk of spread in areas with high populations of essential workers, multigenerational families, and those at higher risk of serious complications, thus putting students and families at risk.”
The officials ask for any plan involving in-person learning to include a remote-only option that doesn’t penalize students who choose it. It also asks CPS to “revamp” its screen schedule and improve opportunities for offline learning, stating that “seven hours a day is simply too much.”
“We recognize that the current remote learning system is difficult for students, working families, and the educational staff committed to them,” the letter states. “At the same time, we also don’t want to put students in harms' way, especially as other cities have encountered real difficulties in returning to in-person learning.”
The parent groups say hybrid learning framework released when a blended learning proposal was on the table in August “did not come close to answering enough questions to give families sufficient information to make an informed choice."
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Before bringing students back to schools, both letters demand ventilation and filtration improvements and a strong program for testing, tracing and isolation.
Though its plan doesn’t include rapid testing at schools, CPS officials have said they’re making sure anyone who has symptoms or was in close contact with someone who tested positive “has access” to a free test. The district has also hired staff to help with contact tracing.
Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady on Friday said COVID-19 transmission has been rare among children in public settings such as day care, athletic events and summer programs, and that Chicago students who have returned to parochial and private school classrooms have a lower rate of COVID-19 than what has been detected among children who have not been learning in person.
The Chicago Department of Health has not provided data on where youth transmission or cases have been traced, and a spokesman said they may be unable to produce “granular data” on day care centers and other settings. The infection rate for Chicago children from Aug. 17 to Oct. 4 was 0.4%, with 2,147 cases among population of 548,999, and archdiocese schools “are seeing roughly half that rate,” according to the department.
But at some public districts in the suburbs where in-person learning had resumed, positive cases have prompted schools to close again. And citing a sharp rise in the number of daily COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, Lightfoot on Monday threatened tighter restrictions on businesses if the numbers keep going up.
The Grassroots Coalition letter points to 10 ZIP codes experiencing positivity rates at least triple the rate of the city overall as examples of communities that need a voice in school decisions. The coalition includes the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, CTU’s Caucus of Rank and File Educators, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Cook County College Teachers Union, Enlace Chicago, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Lugenia Burns Hope Center, Northside Action 4 Justice, Parents 4 Teachers, Pilsen Alliance, Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, SEIU Local 73 and Teachers for Social Justice.
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The letter from elected officials states that "with regard to testing and tracing, we believe that the City’s current approach is insufficient. The experience of several universities is instructive: rapid testing, backwards tracing to prevent ‘super spreader’ events, and clear isolation protocols. The City must have the same resources in place for a return to in-person learning at CPS.”
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, called the district and Lightfoot “tight-lipped on the specifics of how they plan to return to in-person instruction, cutting students, parents, Aldermen and other elected officials, and our labor partners out of this very necessary planning process."
Sigcho-Lopez and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson both called for collaboration in a news release promoting the letter.
“The families we represent have great trepidation about returning to schools this fall, just as they did prior to the September start of classes,” Johnson said. "What they want is remote learning to be better until students and their teachers can safely transition back into school buildings. We know remote learning and COVID has been difficult for our communities, but so are the risks of bringing students back, and we have yet to see anything from CPS that gives us confidence in its current plans.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Dad of teen killed in Calumet Township home says son had new job, was getting started in life

“ Even when I was hard on him , he always took it to heart and did better , ” @ @ @ @ @ one big fight we had was over his phone and grades .
Once I took @ @ @ @ @ sure to get his grades back up .
”

A small shrine is posted in front of the house where two Calumet Township teens were killed Oct. 16. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)
There were only two things Elijah Robinson ever really argued with his dad about, and all one had to do was look at the 18-year-old and his blonde curls to see who won the first.
The best example is a photo that adorns his stepmom Justina Robinson’s social media page, Jon Robinson said. The family had gone on a cruise, and Elijah Robinson, off to the right with his arm thrown around his stepsister’s shoulders, grins and peers out from underneath the tangle.
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Jon Robinson didn’t know how he functioned under all that hair, but he understood that it wasn’t his decision, either.
Elijah Robinson in family photo. - Original Credit: Post-Tribune (Provided by Robinson family / HANDOUT)
“That trip, his hair was hanging over his eyes, but he wouldn’t cut it. We think the girls probably told him it was cute or something,” Jon Robinson said Sunday. “But he recently got it cut because he was starting a new job.”
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Jon Robinson described his son as a young man who was finally starting to get it about life. After working at a fast-food place in Griffith for a bit, he was about to start a job working in the deli at the Highland Strack and Van Til because it paid more, he said.
Elijah moved in with his best friend, Maxwell Kroll, and Kroll’s grandparents in the 3900 block of W. 51st Avenue in Calumet Township because his mom and her family moved to LaPorte, and it made sense for him to be close to his work as well as friends.
The two were killed in Kroll’s grandparents' home at some point early Friday. And now the family is just trying to make sense of the tragedy, Jon Robinson said.
“I know I sound calm, but I have to keep it together right now,” Jon Robinson said. “I’ll break down later when I have everything taken care of.”
Elijah Robinson and Max met at Lake Ridge Middle School and became essentially inseparable before Elijah’s mom moved the family to Hammond’s Hessville section, Jon Robinson said. School City of Hammond Superintendent Scott Miller said he remembers the pair when he was dean of students at Lake Ridge.
“Elijah was always pretty quiet kid. Max, he had a personality on him,” Miller said.
Jon Robinson agreed and said Elijah was “a little sensitive” and got his feelings hurt easily. But that usually never stopped him from smiling and playing jokes.
“Even when I was hard on him, he always took it to heart and did better,” he said. “The one big fight we had was over his phone and grades. Once I took his phone, he made sure to get his grades back up.”
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There were even plans to talk to people about trying for an electrician union apprenticeship, his dad said.
“He was a kid, but he was trying to make moves,” Jon Robinson said. “He was respectful and he loved his ‘Big J Grandma’ and his Aunt Ruby more than anything.”
Lake Ridge Schools Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley, said she spoke to Max’s grandfather and sister Monday morning and that the two are naturally “just devastated.” Students at Calumet New Tech High School were in class Monday for a standardized test, but no one could really talk about their deaths.
“The kids have to social distance, so we can’t implement the programs we normally would in a situation like this,” Johnson-Shirley said. “I sent out a notice to our community, though, with the contact information for Community HealthNet, Edgewater Systems and Crown Counseling for anyone who needs help."
She said the school will be conducting a Zoom meeting with Edgewater Systems from 3-3:30 p.m. Oct. 26 about the events.
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a release Friday that one of the young men’s girlfriends had been trying to contact him before noon Friday and become concerned when he wasn’t responding. When she arrived at his home, she found him and another friend unresponsive before calling 911, he said.
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Jon Robinson said he hasn’t heard anything more about the circumstances behind Elijah’s and Max' deaths, and he hopes that’s a good sign.
“I know the police are working on it, and I feel like if they were talking more, it’d be because they need more information. That’s how I’m handling it, anyway,” he said.
Lake County Sheriff’s Department Spokeswoman Pam Jones said Monday the investigation into their deaths is ongoing.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Archdiocese of Chicago removes retired pastor Daniel McCarthy from Norwood Park parish following all

Archdiocese of Chicago removes retired pastor Daniel McCarthy from Norwood Park parish following allegation of sexual abuse

McCarthy was at the orphanage from 1967 to 1974 , according to a letter written to the Notre Dame College @ @ @ @ @ ’ s president , Shay Boyle , and principal , Daniel Tully .
The orphanage @ @ @ @ @ replaced by Misericordia , a home for people with disabilities , which is operated by @ @ @ @ @

The Archdiocese of Chicago over the weekend removed the Rev. Daniel McCarthy from St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, a parish in Norwood Park where he was pastor emeritus, after an allegation surfaced that he sexually abused a minor about 50 years ago at a Far North Side orphanage, according to the archdiocese.
McCarthy, a chaplain since 2012 at Notre Dame College Prep, a Roman Catholic school in Niles, was alleged to have committed the abuse while he was assigned to the now-closed Angel Guardian Orphanage in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood, according to a letter Cardinal Blase Cupich sent Saturday to the St. Elizabeth of Trinity community.
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McCarthy was at the orphanage from 1967 to 1974, according to a letter written to the Notre Dame College Prep community by the school’s president, Shay Boyle, and principal, Daniel Tully. The orphanage closed in 1974 and was replaced by Misericordia, a home for people with disabilities, which is operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
“While this matter is not related to Notre Dame College Prep, Fr. McCarthy is not able to serve our community in any capacity during the investigation by the archdiocese,” Boyle and Tully said Saturday in the letter.
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The Rev. Daniel McCarthy exits St. Tarcissus Catholic Church on Feb. 24, 2012. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
McCarthy had also served since 2013 as chaplain at Resurrection College Prep High School, a Catholic all-girls school in Norwood Park, according to the school’s website. Officials with Resurrection High School didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Archdiocese’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review received the allegation about McCarthy, which was reported to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Cook County state’s attorney, Cupich said in the letter to the St. Elizabeth of Trinity community.
Cupich said he asked McCarthy to live away from the parish while the matter is investigated. He said the person who made the allegation was “offered the services of our Victim Assistance Ministry and the Archdiocese has begun its investigation of this matter.”
“In the days and weeks ahead, members of the Archdiocese’s Office for the Protection of Children and Youth will be available to answer any questions you may have and provide you with support during this challenging time,” Cupich said in the letter.
McCarthy had previously spoken out about clergy sexual abuse. In 2002, he said he called the archdiocese immediately after learning a priest in his parish may have had an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl.
“That’s what’s been killing me,” McCarthy said at the time. “If I’d had any idea ...”
McCarthy declined to comment Monday on the allegation against him.
“I’m really not ready to comment yet, hopefully at some time in the future,” he said in an email.
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kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Plainfield man, juvenile arrested on home invasion charges by Naperville police

Officers responding to a report of a gunshot being fired in an apartment in the 1300 block of Modaff Road @ @ @ @ @ Rickie L. Ellis II , 20 , of the 3600 block of Shannon Court , @ @ @ @ @ the age of 18 , a news release said .

Rickie L. Ellis, of Plainfield, was arrested Friday on residential burglary and home invasion charges by Naperville police. (DuPage County Sheriffs Office / HANDOUT)
A Plainfield man and his juvenile accomplice were arrested Friday night on home invasion and residential burglary charges in Naperville, police said.
Officers responding to a report of a gunshot being fired in an apartment in the 1300 block of Modaff Road led to the arrest of Rickie L. Ellis II, 20, of the 3600 block of Shannon Court, and a Plainfield resident under the age of 18, a news release said.
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A third person jumped from a third-floor window and left in a dark-colored sedan, the release said.
In addition to the felony home invasion and burglary charges, both suspects were charged with felony criminal trespass to residence.
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Ellis is being held in the DuPage County jail in lieu of $40,000 bond. The juvenile is being held in the in a youth home pending an upcoming hearing, the release said.
Anyone with additional information on the case is asked to call 630-420-6666 and ask for the Investigations Division.


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--R. Kelly lawyers denied chance to question inmate who attacked singer in federal lockup

According to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons report , Farmer was able to slip away from an MCC employee on @ @ @ @ @ ’ s cell and beat him repeatedly in the head while Kelly was in the @ @ @ @ @ stopped only after a jail security officer pepper-sprayed Farmer , the report states .

A courtroom sketch shows defense attorneys Ashley Cohen, from left, and Jennifer Bonjean with singer R. Kelly at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. (Cheryl Cook / Chicago Tribune)
Attorneys for R. Kelly will not get the chance to question an inmate who confessed to attacking the singer at a downtown jail in August, a federal judge ruled Monday.
And Kelly’s beating behind bars is not enough, on its own, to merit his release from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber wrote.
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It was the latest rejection of Kelly’s many attempts to be released from custody while he awaits trial in several jurisdictions on sweeping charges related to sexual abuse.
Despite pleading poverty after he was charged last year, bank records show Kelly has enough money to flee Chicago, and chances are good that if released he would try to meddle with witnesses or evidence, Leinenweber wrote in an order Monday.
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“Mr. Kelly will go to trial as soon as it is safe and practicable. Until then, he will remain in detention,” Leinenweber wrote.
Kelly was beaten in his own cell Aug. 26 by fellow inmate Jeremiah Shane Farmer, who admitted to the attack in subsequent court filings.
Kelly’s attorneys wanted to question Farmer under oath as part of their effort to free him from custody, writing that “an unresolved issue remains as to whether Metropolitan Correctional Center personnel encouraged, and then allowed, a beating of Mr. Kelly to take place.”
The motion said a jail security videotape handed over by prosecutors showed Farmer had “roamed a great distance” before entering Kelly’s cell and that “no one at the MCC raised a finger to stop Mr. Farmer from attacking Mr. Kelly until after Mr. Farmer was well into beating.”
Leinenweber wrote that the attack does not merit Kelly’s release from custody, and if he “wishes to challenge the conditions of his confinement or the MCC’s ability to protect him," he can bring a civil suit.
According to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons report, Farmer was able to slip away from an MCC employee on Aug. 26, enter Kelly’s cell and beat him repeatedly in the head while Kelly was in the lower bunk. The attack stopped only after a jail security officer pepper-sprayed Farmer, the report states.
Farmer, 39, has claimed in court filings he committed the attack “in hopes of getting spotlight attention and world news notice to shed light on” wrongdoing by the government. He also was angered by repeated lockdowns at the jail that he blamed on Kelly’s celebrity status.
Farmer, of Hammond, was convicted last year in the June 25, 1999, slayings of Marion Lowry, 74, and Harvey Siegers, 67, who were beaten with a small sledgehammer at their business, Calumet Auto Rebuilders. He’s facing a mandatory life sentence and was transferred to a federal facility in Michigan after the attack on Kelly.
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Kelly, 53, faces federal indictments in two states on charges related to sexual abuse as well as multiple indictments filed in Cook County. He has been held without bond since his arrest on the federal charges in July 2019.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Two men charged with attempted murder in Aurora

Investigators conducted numerous interviews and learned that the shooting occurred after two men traveled from the Melrose Park area to @ @ @ @ @ man , police said .
After meeting with the men , the 28-year-old said that @ @ @ @ @ shot multiple times , according to police .

Two men have been charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting in early October on Aurora’s southeast side, officials said.
Aurora police responded around 5:48 p.m. Oct. 3 to the 1400 block of Farington Lane after getting a report that a person had been shot, Aurora police said in a news release. Officers found a 28-year-old Aurora man lying on the side of the road with multiple gunshot wounds.
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Investigators conducted numerous interviews and learned that the shooting occurred after two men traveled from the Melrose Park area to sell drugs to the 28-year-old man, police said. After meeting with the men, the 28-year-old said that he was robbed and then shot multiple times, according to police.
Richard M. Gaston (Aurora Police Department / HANDOUT)
After an extensive investigation, detectives focused on Richard M. Gaston, 18, of Melrose Park, and Dontae W. Parker, 19, of Chicago, as the two men involved, officials said.
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Dontae W. Parker (Aurora Police Department / HANDOUT)
The two men were tracked to Appleton, Wisconsin, and were taken into custody on Wednesday with assistance from the Appleton Police Department and Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department.
The men have been charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm, police said. Both men were transported back to Illinois and are being held in the DuPage County jail. Bond was set Sunday for the men at $500,000.
Aurora police spokesman Paris Lewbel said that without cooperation from the community and witnesses giving information, the department wouldn’t have been able to make the arrests.
“We can’t do the policing alone, and when people tell us nothing happened or they didn’t see anything, we aren’t able to do anything about it,” Lewbel said.
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Column: Trump calls Fauci an ‘idiot,’ says rallies are ‘BOFFO’ while coronavirus rages on

In that same Journal Sentinel story , Matthew Heywood , CEO and president at Aspirus , which runs a number @ @ @ @ @ of his health care workers : “ I think the thing that ’ s most @ @ @ @ @ , and most challenging for them , is while they ’ re working their butts @ @ @ @ @ re working hard — it ’ s the fact that they don ’ t know @ @ @ @ @ serious this is .
They see the politicization of it , and then they see @ @ @ @ @ s happening when they do their job every day .
And they ’ re watching @ @ @ @

As hospitals fill up with COVID-19 patients in Wisconsin and Chicagoans face a second surge of coronavirus cases that could lead to new shutdowns, President Donald Trump is calling medical professionals “idiots.”
As most states across the country face rising coronavirus numbers and hospitalizations, the president effectively says he’s “tired” of it all.
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Of course he didn’t use the first person. He always puts his own gripes in the mouths of others, pulling a page from the narcissist’s playbook, as he can’t imagine anyone thinking differently than he does.
In a call with his campaign staff Monday, Trump said: “People are tired of COVID. I have these huge rallies. People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.”
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Ah, “people.” Those “people” who just say “whatever” about a deadly virus that has claimed more than 220,000 American lives and left millions with, at best, a preexisting condition and at worse lingering health issues.
Those “people” who say “leave us alone” without acknowledging their own health affects everyone they’re around, young and old, weak and strong, friend and stranger.
Those people are certainly out there. They’re the ones showing up maskless at Trump rallies and acting like COVID-19 is much ado about nothing while sneering at “people” like me and saying, “Get out of your mama’s basement, coward.” (Fun fact: Thanks to the virus, I, like millions of Americans, haven’t been able to see my mama all year, much less hang out in her basement. And when it comes to a pandemic, I am very much a coward. And proud of it.)
President Donald Trump waves goodbye to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally Oct. 17, 2020, at Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
But hey, Trump and the people he’s using to channel his own childish, “I DON’T WANNA DEAL WITH THIS MEAN PANDEMIC ANYMORE!” attitude are tired of it all.
Well, let me find someone to play a sad trombone sound for them, one that can be heard from coast to coast. Because guess what? I’m tired of it too.
I don’t think there are any Americans who aren’t tired of COVID-19 and the pandemic that has thrown our lives wildly out of whack.
But rather than whining about it, denying science and wasting time deriding those who share best practices to slow the spread, many in this country are wearing masks, avoiding crowded gatherings and bending over backward to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe.
But it’s not enough. There are too many adopting the president’s “I’m SO over this” attitude.
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Don’t take my word for it. Listen to people like Melissa Resch, a registered nurse who works in a coronavirus medical unit in Wisconsin. She told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this week that she’s seeing patients ranging in ages from their 20s to their 90s.
“This doesn’t discriminate against age,” Resch told the newspaper.
She asked people to stay home, social distance and wear masks so she can avoid having to help families FaceTime with a loved one “as they take their last breath.”
“It’s real world. And it’s here,” she said. “And we as individuals can help prevent it. Please help us save lives.”
In that same Journal Sentinel story, Matthew Heywood, CEO and president at Aspirus, which runs a number of Wisconsin hospitals, said of his health care workers: “I think the thing that’s most painful for them right now, and most challenging for them, is while they’re working their butts off — and they’re working hard — it’s the fact that they don’t know if the community sees how serious this is. They see the politicization of it, and then they see the repercussions of what’s happening when they do their job every day. And they’re watching people die.”
Reading those words, it’s clear that feeling “tired of COVID” is a luxury to which no one is entitled.
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In Chicago, the city’s public health commissioner said Monday the average daily number of new cases in the city may exceed 600 by week’s end. Already we’ve had a week of more than 500 new cases a day, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said there has been a “worrying” increase in hospitalizations.
“Make no mistake,” she said. “We are in the second surge.”
That means we’re in a moment that requires vigilance. And patience. And a respect for both science and other human beings.
But Trump is out dancing about at his rallies. On Monday he referred to his tour of potential superspreader events as “BOFFO.”
And he’s calling Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, and other public health officials “idiots.”
Trump has routinely mocked Fauci, a key member of the president’s coronavirus task force, for not recommending masks in the early stages of the pandemic. Fauci has explained that decision, telling the Washington Post in July that there was initial concern about having enough masks for health care workers and uncertainty about how the virus spreads: “We didn’t realize the extent of asymptotic spread … what happened as the weeks and months came by, two things became clear: one, that there wasn’t a shortage of masks. … Secondly, we fully realized that there are a lot of people who are asymptomatic who are spreading infection. So it became clear that we absolutely should be wearing masks consistently.”
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If you’re unsure whether to trust Trump or an expert like Fauci, who on Monday received the first-ever Presidential Citation for Exemplary Leadership from the National Academy of Medicine, I’m not sure I can reach you.
But the bottom line is this: Americans are dying, every day, and the number of cases is rising as we enter the winter months, just as experts like Fauci predicted.
We need to stay strong and smart. Committed and unified.
Trump may have stopped caring about the coronavirus, but I have news for him and anyone following his lead: The coronavirus doesn’t care about your feelings.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Leading Chicago outreach organization finds support for diverting portion of police budget to social

Leading Chicago outreach organization finds support for diverting portion of police budget to social services in survey of focus groups

Ever since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota sparked outrage throughout the @ @ @ @ @ critical of law enforcement have been more vocal in calling for “ defunding of police @ @ @ @ @ policing money should be rerouted to social programs .
The Chicago CRED report called for @ @ @ @ @ diverted to social services , while also making clear that the police are still necessary @

Chicago needs to “reimagine” public safety and shift money from the Chicago Police Department’s budget to more social services to reduce gun violence and make the city safer, according to a report issued Monday by the Chicago CRED organization.
The 17-page report summarized discussions with about 200 people in Zoom-based focus groups, primarily on the South and West sides, where Chicago’s violence is most concentrated. Participants included street outreach workers who mediate gang conflicts and provide other community services, ex-offenders, public officials, community leaders and regular residents, according to Marcus Yancey, a consultant for Chicago CRED.
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Ever since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota sparked outrage throughout the U.S., activists who are critical of law enforcement have been more vocal in calling for “defunding of police,” the idea that policing money should be rerouted to social programs. The Chicago CRED report called for some police funds to be diverted to social services, while also making clear that the police are still necessary.
But if there’s any question as to whether the police are needed “to the degree that we have them now,” the groups believe part of their budget could be better suited to help fight violence by being reallocated to help disadvantaged people in the areas of mental health support, housing options, substance abuse aid and other social services.
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Chicago CRED outreach supervisor Terrance Henderson with coworkers during an outreach walk in the Roseland neighborhood in July. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
“I think a lot of people are tired of being reactionary,” said Yancey. "We have this whole situation that happened and now we’d have a reaction whether that’s going to be through mechanisms like incarceration, arrests. ... What can we do on the front end to really prevent from even getting to that point?
“And we believe that some of these services that have the potential to scale and be able to be provided to a larger (portion) of the community would definitely be able to help assist,” he said.
CPD is more than a year into a federally mandated consent decree aimed at improving its policing practices in the areas of training, officer supervision and other disciplines. While there’s been a deeply rooted distrust of police in South and West side neighborhoods, exacerbated by high-profile incidents of police brutality and abuse, the focus groups “did not have a deep disdain for police officers,” according to the report.
But it also said many participants felt police officers were “inefficient and overly aggressive” at doing their jobs. The groups attribute this to lack of training, emotional and mental stress and officers not being from the neighborhoods they patrol.
“Many community members felt the officers are there for harsh enforcement rather than positive policing and protecting the community,” the report stated.
Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), is a nonprofit where Arne Duncan, former U.S. education secretary and Chicago Public Schools chief, is managing partner.
The release of the report comes a week before the Chicago City Council will be holding hearings for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2021 budget, which is expected to reflect a $1.2 billion deficit. The report was also made public at a time when Lightfoot has promoted street outreach work as a holistic approach to stopping violence, and as an alternative to being too dependent on Chicago police.
Her administration has touted $11.5 million in spending this year on conflict intervention, counseling and employment for people most at risk, as well as services for victims and funding for the city’s public safety office. But the city’s spending for these alternate approaches to violence is less than 1% of the city’s share of the Police Department budget this year, which is about $1.7 billion.
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jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--With a ‘new wave’ of coronavirus, Pritzker places southern Illinois under tighter restrictions; four

With a ‘new wave’ of coronavirus, Pritzker places southern Illinois under tighter restrictions; four counties near Chicago, including DuPage and Kane, could be next

The region that includes Will and Kankakee counties had also surpassed that threshold , with the state reporting an 8.3 @ @ @ @ @ Monday , the second consecutive day that region saw a rate above 8 % .
@ @ @ @ @ scaled back in September , but the region was returned to the rules under Pritzker @ @ @ @ @ plan , after its rate dropped to under 6.5 % for three days in a @ @

Southern Illinois is the latest region to have its reopening scaled back after reaching a state-set COVID-19 positivity rate threshold, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday, while warning that “in Illinois, it looks like a new wave could be upon us.”
“Every region of the state has started to move in the wrong direction,” Pritzker said at a news conference in southern Illinois. “Cases, positivity rates, hospitalizations and deaths are rising statewide.”
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On Thursday, southern Illinois will join the northwestern region of the state in being ordered to scale back its reopening, effective Thursday. When regions reach a positivity rate of 8% or higher for three consecutive days, Pritzker’s administration has ordered indoor dining and bar service shuttered, and gathering limits set at 25, down from 50 in the state’s reopening plan.
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area ]
Two other regions appear on the brink of seeing some businesses limited and gathering caps halved. The region that includes DuPage and Kane counties had surpassed an 8% positivity rate for two consecutive days, with public health officials reporting an 8.5% positivity rate for the region on Monday.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker applauds while attending the 50th anniversary dedication ceremony of the Gen. Richard L. Jones Armory in Washington Park in Chicago on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The region that includes Will and Kankakee counties had also surpassed that threshold, with the state reporting an 8.3% positivity rate there on Monday, the second consecutive day that region saw a rate above 8%. That region saw its reopening scaled back in September, but the region was returned to the rules under Pritzker’s phase four reopening plan, after its rate dropped to under 6.5% for three days in a row.
Public health officials on Monday announced 3,113 newly diagnosed cases in the state and 22 additional deaths of people with COVID-19.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate continues to rise, and stood at 5.4% for the weeklong period ending Sunday. To date, the state is reporting 347,161 known cases of coronavirus and 9,236 deaths since the pandemic began.
[ Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatens stricter coronavirus restrictions if city’s cases continue to rise. ‘Make no mistake: We are in the second surge.’ ]
The statewide positivity rate was 4.3% a week earlier, and it stood at 3.5% on Oct. 1.
“The number of cases are going up, the number of hospitalizations are going up and the numbers of deaths are going up, and it’s partially because people aren’t worried about this anymore,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said.
Ezike warned that as the weather cools and people spend more time indoors, where the virus can spread more easily, “the number of cases will continue to rise, unless we do what we know we can do to turn this around.”
The more than 3,000 new known cases reported statewide on Monday resulted from a batch of 48,684 tests conducted over the prior 24 hours. As of Sunday night, 2,096 people in the state with COVID-19 were hospitalized, with 485 in intensive care units and 179 on ventilators.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
Pritzker also announced he would resume daily coronavirus briefings on weekdays, which were a staple in the spring but moved to briefings on an as-needed or weekly basis for the past several months.
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“All of this takes place in a national landscape of increasing positivity rates, and where the majority of our border states have been called out as national hot spots,” Pritzker said.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker provides update on COVID-19 in Illinois

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker is expected to provide an update on the state ’ s response to COVID-19 in @ @ @ @ @ p.m. CDT .
Get the latest news on the coronavirus in Illinois here .

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chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Chicago police release surveillance photos, video in 2019 homicide in South Shore neighborhood

The person police are seeking to identify , nearest the camera lens , is believed to be the person who @ @ @ @ @ according to Chicago police .
The second person in the video is believed to have @ @ @ @ @ the same attack .
A statement from the Chicago Police Department said the second person @ @ @ @ @ sought , but the person shot is not cooperating with detectives and police only highlighted @ @ @ @ @ killing in their release .

The Chicago Police Department on Oct. 19. 2020, released surveillance footage and still photographs from a 2019 killing in the city’s South Shore neighborhood, hoping someone recognizes a man who emerges from a white SUV and starts running with what appears to be a handgun. The shooting happened on Dec. 30 in the 2100 block of E. 69th Street about 11:25 a.m. A 45-year-old man was shot and survived but a 23-year-old, Joseph L. Wright, was killed in the attack. (Surveillance via Chicago police)
The Chicago Police Department released surveillance footage and still photographs Monday from a 2019 killing in the city’s South Shore neighborhood, hoping someone recognizes a man who emerges from a white SUV and starts running with what appears to be a handgun.
The shooting happened on Dec. 30 in the 2100 block of E. 69th Street about 11:25 a.m. A 45-year-old man was shot and survived but a 23-year-old, Joseph L. Wright, was killed in the attack. Both were taken to University of Chicago hospital.
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The video released shows two men running from an SUV, both of whom appear to be carrying handguns or small objects at their right sides. Both are carrying handguns, according to police. The surveillance footage is timestamped 11:13 a.m.
The person police are seeking to identify, nearest the camera lens, is believed to be the person who shot and killed Wright, according to Chicago police. The second person in the video is believed to have shot the surviving victim in the same attack. A statement from the Chicago Police Department said the second person in the video is being sought, but the person shot is not cooperating with detectives and police only highlighted the man suspected in the killing in their release.
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It’s also not clear why the surveillance video was released almost ten months after the shooting. Police declined to answer why.


chicagotribune--2020-10-19--Mayor Lori Lightfoot declines to comment on sex assault allegations against ex-police Superintendent

Mayor Lori Lightfoot declines to comment on sex assault allegations against ex-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson; says she wasn’t told of alleged ‘improper relationship’

The most serious punishment issued by the department , according to the report , went to the commander of the @ @ @ @ @ .
A 26-year veteran , Jerome faces a 28-day suspension for failing to file a @ @ @ @ @ who recorded footage of the DUI from the body-worn camera on their cellphone , a @ @ @ @ @ then forwarded the recording to Jerome , according to the report .

Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined Monday to comment on sexual assault allegations against former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson by his former driver, saying she can’t talk about pending litigation.
The mayor also declined to comment on allegations that she ordered Johnson to “dump” Cynthia Donald, Johnson’s former driver, by removing her from his security detail.
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In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday, Donald said Johnson raped and abused her repeatedly for more than three years, and later destroyed evidence of that abuse on his cellphone when the city inspector general was investigating his conduct. Johnson has denied any sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lightfoot “worked to deflect blame” from the city over the incident and ordered Johnson to “dump” Donald by removing her from his detail and sending her to a police district.
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Johnson declined, sending her to the records department instead so she could remain nearby in police headquarters, the lawsuit alleges.
Asked about the allegations, Lightfoot said, “Eddie Johnson, obviously common sense tells you, never told me he was engaged in any kind of improper relationship with Ms. Donald, he never of course told me he was taking her into his office and sexually assaulting her on a regular basis.”
“Why would he tell his boss something that outrageous and beyond the pale? Because if he had said something like that to me, I would have ordered that he be arrested on the spot,” Lightfoot said.
Lawsuits “make all sorts of allegations” and “the truth or not of them” eventually will come out, she said.
Also last week, Inspector General Joe Ferguson released details of his investigation into the October 2019 incident where Johnson was found asleep in his car after a night out drinking with Donald.
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Chicago police officers made a series of critical mistakes ranging from not supervising young officers to improperly handling body-worn camera footage after Johnson was found asleep in his car a year ago, having consumed the equivalent of 10 drinks, the report said.
The most serious punishment issued by the department, according to the report, went to the commander of the Deering District, Don Jerome. A 26-year veteran, Jerome faces a 28-day suspension for failing to file a report on a district lieutenant who recorded footage of the DUI from the body-worn camera on their cellphone, a department violation. The lieutenant then forwarded the recording to Jerome, according to the report.
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Lightfoot said she had no role in the decision not to fire the lieutenant but said she supports Superintendent David Brown’s decision.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com