chicagotribune--2020-05-20--'Catastrophic dam failures’ in central Michigan force evacuation of 10,000 people

Dow Chemical Co. has been headquartered in Midland for more than 120 years , and its main plant sits on @ @ @ @ @ .
It is a quintessential company town with downtown parks located at the confluence of @ @ @ @ @ and is known among architecture buffs for its midcentury modern structures first introduced by architect @ @ @ @ @ high school is named after the company ’ s founder .
The other high school @ @ @ @ @ Chemics .
A Dow foundation has funded many community amenities such as a botanical garden @

CARLOS OSORIO, COREY WILLIAMS and TAMMY WEBBER

Tyler Marciniak, of Grand Rapids, carries hanging plants through floodwaters as he helps his father, Tom Marciniak, assess the damage to his home on Red Oak Drive on Wixom Lake, on May 19, 2020, in Beaverton, Michigan. (Katy Kildee / Midland Daily News)
EDENVILLE, Mich — Rapidly rising water overtook dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where flooding struck communities along rain-swollen waterways and the governor said one downtown could be “under approximately 9 feet of water" by Wednesday.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, families living along the Tittabawassee River and connected lakes in Midland County were ordered to leave home Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning, water several feet deep covered some streets, parking lots and parkland and had reached a hotel near the river in downtown Midland.
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On Wednesday morning, the river topped a previous record reading of 33.9 feet set during flooding in 1986, the National Weather Service said. Its flood stage is 24 feet, and it was expected to crest by day’s end at about 38 feet.
The Weather Service urged anyone near the river to seek higher ground following “castastrophic dam failures” at the Edenville Dam, about 140 miles north of Detroit, and the Sanford Dam, about seven miles downriver. The evacuations come as Michigan remains under a stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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While Michigan has been a national hot spot for COVID-19, with more than 52,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, Midland County has had fewer than 80 cases and under 10 deaths. Still, some dealing with the flooding and evacuations remained aware of the dangers posed by the virus.
Area schools were set up as shelters Tuesday, with cots spaced apart to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said downtown Midland, a city of 42,000 people, faced an especially serious flooding threat.
“In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately 9 feet of water,” the governor said during a late Tuesday briefing. “We are anticipating an historic high water level.”
Whitmer was scheduled to provide an update early Wednesday afternoon.
Dow Chemical Co. has been headquartered in Midland for more than 120 years, and its main plant sits on the city’s riverbank. It is a quintessential company town with downtown parks located at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers and is known among architecture buffs for its midcentury modern structures first introduced by architect Alden B. Dow. One high school is named after the company’s founder. The other high school’s mascot is the Chemics. A Dow foundation has funded many community amenities such as a botanical garden.
Dow Chemical, with 9,000 employees and contractors in Midland, on Tuesday shut down all operating units except those needed to contain chemicals, spokesman Kyle Bandlow said. By Wednesday, floodwater was mixing with on-site containment ponds and the company and U.S. Coast Guard activated emergency plans, Dow said in a statement. Only essential staff was on site and no injuries have been reported, the company said.
Water rushes through the Edenville on May 19, 2020, in Edenville, Mich. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News)
A view of a dam on Wixom Lake in Edenville, Mich., on May 19, 2020. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times)
Steve Carlson, 61, said he and his wife, Patty, fled their Midland home about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday after an evacuation order was issued for a large swath of the city, and they noticed neighborhood creeks were spilling over local roads and threatening some homes.
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“They had risen a lot and the worst was yet to come,” Carlson said Wednesday morning.
One couple in their neighborhood decided to stay put, but Carlson said everyone else had evacuated their homes. The Carlsons spent the night in a hotel. He said they’ve been wearing face masks in the hotel to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.
“The hotel was very happy to see people coming in. There were refugees coming in,” he said with a laugh.
Further down the Tittabawassee River, communities in Saginaw County were on alert for flooding.
[ Roads still flooded, rivers close to cresting as Chicago hits wettest May on record ]
“It's going to continue downriver,” Sara Pampreen, a weather service meteorologist, said Wednesday morning. “Just exactly how much, that’s the question.”
Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Midland County and urged residents threatened by the flooding to find a place to stay with friends or relatives, or to seek out one of several shelters. She encouraged people to do their best to take precautions to prevent spreading COVID-19.
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Emergency responders went door-to-door early Tuesday warning residents living near the Edenville Dam of the rising water. Some were able to return home, only to be told to leave again following the dam’s breach several hours later. The towns of Edenville, Sanford and parts of Midland have been evacuated, according to Selina Tisdale, spokeswoman for the city of Midland.
There have been no reported injuries or fatalities due to the flooding, and no reports of anyone trapped by the high water, Tisdale said Wednesday.
In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked the license of the company that operated the Edenville Dam due to non-compliance issues that included spillway capacity and the inability to pass the most severe flood reasonably possible in the area.
In 2018, the state rated the Edenville Dam, which was built in 1924, in unsatisfactory condition. The Sanford Dam, which was built in 1925, received a fair condition rating.
Both dams are in the process of being sold.
There were 19 high hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition in Michigan in 2018, ranking 20th among the 45 states and Puerto Rico for which The Associated Press obtained condition assessments.
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The Weather Service issued flood warnings because of widespread rainfall of 4 to 7 inches (10.2 to 17.8 centimeters) since Sunday. Heavy runoff pushed rivers higher. This coming Saturday, there's a 30% chance of rain, with more moving into the area Sunday and Monday.
“Our hope is we get a little time for the water to recede," Tisdale said.
[ Trump threatens on Twitter to hold up coronavirus relief money for Michigan, falsely saying state sent millions of absentee ballots to voters ]
Webber reported from Oak Park, Illinois, and Williams from West Bloomfield, Michigan.


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Illinois legislature special session

Illinois legislature special session

Protesters calling for the government to reopen Illinois rally outside the Bank of Springfield Center as members of the Illinois @ @ @ @ @ for the first time in more than two months to take up a state budget @ @ @ @ @ strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic on May 20 , 2020 , in @ @ @ @ @ / Chicago Tribune )

Reopen Illinois rally takes place outside the Bank of Springfield Center as members of the Illinois House of Representatives meet inside for the first time in more than two months to take up a state budget and other matters while following strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic on May 20, 2020, in Springfield. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Woman charged with stealing $400K from St. Charles company

She has been charged with money laundering and defrauding a financial institution , Kane County court records show .
She @ @ @ @ @ a financial institution , theft from a financial institution , theft by deception , conducting @ @ @ @ @ , forgery , computer fraud and writing bad checks .

A DeKalb woman has been charged with money laundering after she allegedly stole more than $400,000 from a St. Charles company, police said.
Rosa M. Rodriguez, 40, is accused of fraudulently transferring more than $400,000 from Security Equity Partners LLC of St. Charles in early 2020. The company provides funding for security alarm companies, according to its website.
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Rosa M. Rodriguez (St. Charles police / HANDOUT)
The company, located in the 2300 block of Dean Street, reported a theft Jan. 31.
Rodriguez, a former employee of the company, is accused of obtaining $400,000 from 2016 to 2019 by transferring money from the company’s checking account to her personal account.
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She has been charged with money laundering and defrauding a financial institution, Kane County court records show. She was also charged with defrauding a financial institution, theft from a financial institution, theft by deception, conducting a continuing financial crime enterprise, forgery, computer fraud and writing bad checks.
Rodriguez, of the 600 block of South Fourth Street, was released from jail Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond. She is due in court June 3.
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Reputed Chicago mob enforcer wants out of federal prison due to COVID-19 threat

According to federal court documents , Rainone became an informant for the feds in 1989 after he thought Patrick was @ @ @ @ @ killed .
He was taken into witness protection , but he later refused to cooperate @ @ @ @ @ device damaged his mother ’ s porch , according to court records .

Reputed Outfit enforcer Mario Rainone has spent nearly half his life behind bars on a wide range of convictions, from extorting deadbeat borrowers with death threats to throwing a grenade onto the roof of an Oak Park theater in a ploy to take over the business.
Now, Rainone is the one who has something to fear, his lawyers say: COVID-19.
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Rainone, 65, has asked a federal judge to order his release to home confinement from a Minnesota medical prison facility, where he is serving a 15-year term on a gun possession conviction.
The convicted Outfit extortionist Mario Rainone, circa 1990. (Chicago Police Department)
In a motion filed late Tuesday, Rainone’s attorney, Joseph Lopez, said the aging mobster has a variety of ailments that make him particularly susceptible to the coronavirus, including prostate cancer, chronic liver disease and heart problems.
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Lopez said Rainone has been a model prisoner and is no longer a threat to society. If released, he wants to live with his daughter and grandchildren in the suburbs and work at his brother’s jewelry business.
Besides, Lopez wrote, with most of the Chicago mob’s old leadership structure either dead or in prison, the storied crime syndicate is no longer a factor.
“The fact that (Rainone) was formerly convicted of racketeering conduct that occurred decades ago is moot,” Lopez stated in the motion. “The Chicago Outfit was demolished by the ‘Family Secrets’ case in 2007.”
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber is scheduled to take up the motion May 28, court records show.
As of Tuesday, more than 4,400 federal inmates at institutions across the country had contracted the coronavirus, and at least 57 had died of complications from COVID-19, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
At the medical prison in Rochester, where Rainone is housed, however, there are no inmates — and only one staff member — who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the prison bureau numbers.
Rainone was convicted by a federal jury in 2013 of having a loaded Smith & Wesson .357-caliber handgun on his nightstand at his Addison home. Authorities searched the residence after Rainone and an accomplice were caught coming out of a Lincolnshire condo building with jewelry and cash stuffed in their coats.
At his sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu noted a previous judge had labeled Rainone an “urban terrorist” who had no respect for the law.
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“If you give him the opportunity, he will go out and commit crime,” Bhachu said. “He will hurt people. He will take their property.”
Rainone’s colorful mob history dates to the 1980s, when he was identified as an associate of legendary mob bosses Lenny Patrick and Gus Alex.
According to federal court documents, Rainone became an informant for the feds in 1989 after he thought Patrick was setting him up to be killed. He was taken into witness protection, but he later refused to cooperate with authorities after an explosive device damaged his mother’s porch, according to court records.
At Alex’s blockbuster trial in 1992, several business owners testified about being terrorized by Rainone, who threatened to kill them and their families — maybe putting their heads on poles as an example — if they didn’t pay.
Even after he was sentenced to a lengthy prison term, Rainone didn’t stop his criminal ways, according to prosecutors.
In 2010, he was convicted of bribing a corrupt guard to smuggle him salami and other Italian treats into a Wisconsin federal prison, records show.
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Naperville council adopts resolution denouncing racism and lauding diversity in wake of ‘carpetbagge

Naperville council adopts resolution denouncing racism and lauding diversity in wake of ‘carpetbagger’ comment

Among them was an incident at Buffalo Wild Wings in which a group of diners , some of whom were @ @ @ @ @ to move because a racist patron didn ’ t want to be seated by them @ @ @ @ @ station clerk who told a group of Latina girls and women that they should return @ @ @ @ @ a Naperville high school student who posted a social media ad with the photo of @ @ @ @ @ words “ Slave for Sale .
”

The Naperville City Council’s quick response in adopting a resolution denouncing racism, intolerance and unlawful discrimination and celebrating diversity has reinforced Nancy Chen’s faith in the city, the Naperville resident said.
Chen proposed taking action at an April council meeting, and she and a dozen other residents spoke in favor of the resolution Tuesday night before the council approved it.
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The action comes in response to a woman who called Asian residents supporting a ban on selling recreational marijuana in Naperville “roving carpetbaggers.” Her comment was part of a statement read at a council meeting when the topic was discussed.
Chen called the support voiced for the resolution “wonderful," and said she was “deeply touched.” She thanked the city and residents for their swift effort to counter the woman’s statement, which many deemed racist.
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“Your responsive action reinforces my faith in Naperville," Chen said.
The resolution states the city of Naperville “denounces all acts of racism, intolerance and unlawful discrimination and will not tolerate them of any kind,” and “expresses its disapproval and condemnation of any racist, intolerant and unlawful discriminatory acts, including the recent attacks on Asian Americans in Naperville.”
It also calls on residents to treat each other with respect and pledges to work with community partners, including school districts 203 and 204 and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, “to advance equity and inclusion to achieve a truly diverse, inclusive and tolerant environment for all residents.”
In April, Chen and Naperville resident Bill Liu called out Erika DeCarlo’s comments, read at the council’s April 7 meeting, as being derogatory and offensive.
Chen asked council members to consider adopting a resolution condemning attacks on Asian Americans, some of which have been tied to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the other allegations of racism that have occurred in in Naperville in the past two years.
Among them was an incident at Buffalo Wild Wings in which a group of diners, some of whom were African American, were asked to move because a racist patron didn’t want to be seated by them. Others include a gas station clerk who told a group of Latina girls and women that they should return to their home country and a Naperville high school student who posted a social media ad with the photo of a black student and the words “Slave for Sale.”
Naperville resident Paul Leong, who serves on the Naperville District 203 School Board, told the council the incidents are “troubling but if Naperville can learn from them and come together, then we can move forward to forge a better and stronger community."
The current COVID-19 crisis has been been difficult and often tragic, but it has also illustrated how people are the same, not different, Leong said.
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“I look forward to shaking the hands of my friends and neighbors when it is safe to do so again,” he said.
Councilwoman Judy Brodhead said the resolution is a positive development to come out of something that has been so negative.
ehegarty@tribpub.com
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chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Column: Trump’s coronavirus response has been brilliant. Here’s what you don’t understand.

The number of deaths from the virus are being overblown by Trump-hating death counters , and also more than 90,000 @ @ @ @ @ is a great success .
If the president had done nothing , millions would have @ @ @ @ @ .
Also , the dead are only a small percentage of the population and it @ @ @ @ @ dying , I mean ) because they were unhealthy , so they don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 death toll is zero .
But we salute them — the hardly any — @ @ @ @ @ great fight against this horribly overblown hoax-plague that could ’ ve killed millions were it @ @ @ @ @ s great leadership .

It seems some Americans are confused about President Donald Trump’s extremely strong and very powerful national response to the coronavirus pandemic.
That confusion is understandable, as many Americans are not used to having a president who, by his own expert account, has “a very, very large brain” and also has “the best words.” It’s not President Trump’s fault you’re confused. It’s your fault.
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So allow me to catch you up on how the most successful president in American history has single-handedly tackled COVID-19 and, in the process, saved many, many lives.
Here we go. Try to keep up.
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The coronavirus is nothing to worry about, will likely be gone by April (anyone who says April was last month is a FAKE CALENDARIST!) and the virus is also a Democratic hoax, and a plague.
The number of deaths from the virus are being overblown by Trump-hating death counters, and also more than 90,000 people have died, which is a great success. If the president had done nothing, millions would have died from this nothing-to-worry-about virus. Also, the dead are only a small percentage of the population and it was their fault (the dying, I mean) because they were unhealthy, so they don’t really count and technically the COVID-19 death toll is zero. But we salute them — the hardly any — for being warriors in the great fight against this horribly overblown hoax-plague that could’ve killed millions were it not for President Trump’s great leadership.
What’s important now is that Americans come together and TRANSITION TO GREATNESS by closely adhering to the federal guidelines established by the coronavirus task force. Americans also need to REOPEN OUR COUNTRY immediately and completely disregard the aforementioned federal guidelines.
Everything’s fine, life can return to normal, and also President Trump has launched an initiative called Operation Warp Speed that will create a coronavirus vaccine in record time, because everything’s fine but a vaccine is crucial, but also not crucial. As the president said while announcing Operation Warp Speed: “We think we are going to have a vaccine in the pretty near future, and if we do, we are going to really be a big step ahead and if we don’t, we are going to be like so many other cases where you had a problem come in, it’ll go away at some point, it’ll go away.”
So the vaccine, which we’re traveling at warp speed to create, is vitally important and also no big deal because this coronavirus plague — which is nothing to worry about — will simply go away at some point.
Also important and simultaneously not important is testing. While other countries started widespread testing almost immediately, President Trump made the smart choice of not doing that. What’s the point of testing when you don’t already have thousands of deaths demonstrating the need for testing? Swift, widespread testing would have shown a large number of coronavirus cases in America, which would have made the president look bad, and the last thing Americans want during a pandemic is to have their president look bad.
So he patiently waited, and now America has ramped up its testing and the president has boasted about how amazing his administration has been at testing, while also pointing out how testing is dumb (probably Obama’s idea) and causes more people to get the virus: “Don’t forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world. But why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”
Make sense? It’s understandable if it takes you a minute. It’s not easy keeping pace with someone who has a very, very large brain.
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What’s truly remarkable about President Trump’s flawless response is how he has managed it while people tried to blame him for the aforementioned very small number of 90,000 deaths. Only a godless liberal would waste time casting blame in the middle of a national not-a-big-deal crisis.
Also, the Obama administration is to blame and Democratic governors are to blame and the people getting sick are to blame and the so-called infectious disease experts who keep saying the nation needs a coordinated federal response are to blame and the media are to blame and hospitals are to blame and China is to blame, though they must have hacked Trump’s Twitter account on Jan. 24 and posted this tweet: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
Monsters.
Lastly, as President Trump has demonstrated by not wearing a mask, you should always wear a mask while around others. It’s just the right thing to do. Or not do.
Now get out there! Everything makes sense. Everything’s perfect. And anything that’s not perfect you’re wrong about.
Enjoy your transition to greatness! (Unless you die, in which case it’s your fault for transitioning to greatness wrong.)
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Column: Two-tower plan for former Chicago Spire site expected to win key approval Thursday

In March , before the pandemic forced businesses nationwide to shut down and tipped the economy into what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , Related Midwest executives expressed hope they could begin the $ 1 billion project in @ @ @ @ @ unclear if they will be able to maintain that timetable .

A rendering shows two residential towers of unequal height on the Chicago Spire site at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
A developer’s plan for two skyline-altering residential skyscrapers at the former Chicago Spire site cleared a key political hurdle Thursday.
But to avoid the fate of the unbuilt Spire, a proposed 2,000-foot tower that captured the imagination of Chicago, the project will have to overcome the financial hurdle of a sharp, pandemic-induced economic downturn.
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The Chicago Plan Commission approved developer Related Midwest’s plan for the showcase site at 400 North Lake Shore Drive. The plan calls for towers rising 875 and 765 feet, with 1,100 combined apartments as well as the completion of a riverwalk along the Chicago River’s north banks and funding for the long-delayed DuSable Park.
“We’re looking at two very elegant towers that, I think, will be iconic on the lakefront skyline,” Chicago planning commissioner Maurice Cox said before the vote.
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In March, before the pandemic forced businesses nationwide to shut down and tipped the economy into what’s being called the coronavirus recession, Related Midwest executives expressed hope they could begin the $1 billion project in early 2021.
Tricia Van Horn, a spokeswoman for Related Midwest, emailed Wednesday that the developer intends to start construction next year.
The developers also have committed to contribute $10 million to the future construction of DuSable Park, which would be built on a 3.3-acre peninsula east of Lake Shore Drive that’s adjacent to their site.
In response to a question from Cox, Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said Thursday that he will ensure the city would contribute $5 million to the planned $15 million park. It was envisioned during the 1980s administration of former Mayor Harold Washington to honor Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Chicago’s first non-Native American settler.
Since 2008, when plans for the Spire collapsed during the Great Recession, the 2.2-acre site has contained only a 76-foot-deep, circular foundation hole that was dug for the twisting, Santiago Calatrava-designed tower.
Related Midwest’s plan is downsized from its initial proposal for the site, which included towers of 1,100 and 850 feet.
After neighbors complained that the project would worsen traffic flow in the already-congested Streeterville neighborhood, the developer made other changes, including eliminating a hotel from one of the towers and a four-story podium that would have connected the skyscrapers.
Responding to neighbors’ concerns about unruly behavior by pedestrians in Streeterville, Related also cut a previously planned walkway that would have created an east-west route along the Ogden Slip to still-to-be-completed DuSable Park.
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At Thursday’s meeting, which was conducted online, activist Butler Adams criticized that change.
“I don’t think this should be negotiated away just because wealthy residents who live along Ogden Slip hounded the alderman,” Adams said, referring to Reilly. “That’s not fair for the pedestrian access.”
Curt Bailey, Related Midwest’s president, said Thursday that there would be two entrances to DuSable Park — one from the planned riverwalk, the other from the Navy Pier Flyover bike trail.
Reilly reiterated his support for the project, saying it includes important public benefits and would be “a fantastic addition to our city skyline.”
The former Chicago Spire site sits empty behind an entry ramp off Lake Shore Drive on Oct. 22, 2018 in Streeterville as the Vista Tower rises at left. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The developer also has committed to complete the last leg of a riverwalk on the north bank of the Chicago River. The new stretch will extend to DuSable Park, and other landscaped areas of the site will include extensive security cameras and light fixtures — a response to neighbors’ concerns that large crowds on the riverwalk could create security problems. .
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Reilly also said he would require a new traffic study after the first tower is completed and before the city issues a construction permit for the second one.
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The project’s towers are designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architect of One World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
The approximately 3½-year first phase would be completed by 2024, followed by 500 apartments, or possibly condominiums, depending on demand, in the south tower, Bailey said.
The project still needs approval from the City Council’s zoning committee and the full council.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Coronavirus testing sites in Illinois: Search our map for one near you

The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a doctor ’ s order to anyone @ @ @ @ @ underlying risk factor .
Tests are also provided to people on the front lines of @ @ @ @ @ medical workers , first responders and employees of prisons or nursing homes .

Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois.
The state’s information on testing sites changes frequently. This map will be updated periodically. More from the Illinois Department of Public Health here.
There are many sites that are not on the state’s list. Some have asked not to be named. Others may be added at a later date.
Sites as of Dec. 1


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--We’ve lowered the paywall on this essential coronavirus coverage

As the scope of this pandemic came into focus , I started thinking about people living in assisted-living facilities and @ @ @ @ @ bound to experience .
I ’ ve spoken several times at assisted-living facilities around Chicago @ @ @ @ @ aspects of life for residents is the social interaction and the activities and entertainment the @ @ @ @ @ s largely gone now .
Worse yet , many facilities have had to limit or @ @ @ @ @ seniors stuck alone in their rooms or apartments .
So maybe there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ at least that aspect of this crisis .
I tossed an idea out on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ the hashtag # PandemicPals , asking for thoughts and advice on how to network with @ @ @ @ @ where there might be seniors facing isolation .
Read more .

As a public service to our readers and community, we have lowered the paywall on some of our most critical stories so everyone can access this important information. We rely on the support of our subscribers to fund our journalism. If you’re not already signed up, we hope you will consider subscribing.
We are updating a daily live blog with the latest developments on the reopening of Chicago and Illinois. This is where you’ll find updates on the number of COVID-19 cases in our area, as well as the most up-to-date recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Public Health, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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As summer nears, Chicagoans are desperate to get out and about — to have a summer picnic with family, to get back to work, to get a haircut. Here’s how and when you might be able to do those things.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday a five-phase plan to get Illinois reopened as the COVID-19 pandemic slows its toll on health care providers. The plan, from “Rapid Spread” to “Illinois Restored,” splits the state up into regions and allows each region to open a different phase should the impact of the pandemic be different throughout the state. The plan also emphasizes that a region can move backward if the health metrics indicate enough risk. Read more.
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Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois, with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day since April 24. The expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able to get a coronavirus test. The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a doctor’s order to anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor. Tests are also provided to people on the front lines of the pandemic, such as medical workers, first responders and employees of prisons or nursing homes. Search the map for coronavirus testing site near you.
All Illinois residents over age 2 must wear a face mask when they can’t maintain a 6-foot social distance in public. Studies show that the coronavirus can spread between people interacting in close proximity, including people who are not showing symptoms. Here’s where you can find them, what kind to get and how to make your own.
Americans are brainstorming with neighbors, posting questions on social media, and googling for tips and advice. The question at the center of all the hand wringing and head scratching: How do you thank the essential workers who remain out in the world, exposing themselves to greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, so that we can buy our groceries, receive our mail, travel by public transportation, and get health care if we need it? Here are some creative ideas to inspire you.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 68 (Chicago Tribune)
They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed. As the number of deaths attributable to the coronavirus ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
Hundreds of Chicago restaurants have pivoted their operations to delivery, takeout or curbside pickup after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that all bars and restaurants in Illinois are closed for dining-in service through April 30. We’re collecting information on restaurants across the area that are still open for delivery or take out. Find a restaurant near you.
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A sign in the windows of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, seen on March 11, 2020, reminds people to wash their hands. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
You wake up with a sore, scratchy throat, and begin coughing and sneezing. It’s probably a run-of-the-mill cold, or it could be the beginning of a bout of seasonal flu. But with dozens of cases of the novel coronavirus surfacing in Illinois, some people are bound to wonder: Could this be the coronavirus? Here’s what experts advise for Illinoisans who fear they are showing signs of coronavirus.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has placed an extra burden on Chicagoland nonprofit organizations. Here is an evolving list of where you can make donations to organizations helping those in need.


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Column: Listen up, Mayor Lightfoot: Readers want their lakefront back. They’re tired of dodging runn

Column: Listen up, Mayor Lightfoot: Readers want their lakefront back. They’re tired of dodging runners and rats.

`` As the weather has gotten nicer , it has been increasingly difficult to walk on neighborhood streets and maintain @ @ @ @ @ more people come out , ” wrote Edgewater area resident Michael Dunghe .
“ Often @ @ @ @ @ the street but then I have to dodge cars and incredibly rude bicycle riders who @ @ @ @ @ Now I sometimes walk the alleys and only have to dodge rats .
”

A woman runs on a trail near West Wilson Drive on Chicago's lakefront near Montrose Harbor on Feb. 23, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
I’m not the only one urging Mayor Lori Lightfoot to rethink her shutdown of Chicago’s lakefront.
Lots of Chicagoans want their lakefront back, as they made clear in emails responding to my open letter to the mayor in Sunday’s Tribune.
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The lockdown isn’t just preventing people from getting to the shoreline for a little exercise or meditation. It’s flooding some neighborhoods with joggers, walkers and bicyclists who normally would go to the lakefront.
"As the weather has gotten nicer, it has been increasingly difficult to walk on neighborhood streets and maintain social distancing as more and more people come out,” wrote Edgewater area resident Michael Dunghe. “Often I resort to walking in the street but then I have to dodge cars and incredibly rude bicycle riders who never yield to anyone. Now I sometimes walk the alleys and only have to dodge rats.”
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Gold Coast resident Rhonda Robbins wrote that she has called her alderman several times to ask why the lakefront can’t be reopened with restrictions. “Too many walkers, runners, bikers, cars and buses on inner Lake Shore Dr will lead to an accident, especially as it warms up,” she warned.
From the South Side’s Douglas neighborhood, Shirlee A. Hoffman wrote that the shutdown isn’t just bad for people — it’s bad for the lakefront.
“The native areas the Chicago Park District has so wonderfully planted along the lakefront are going to hell because we aren’t allowed to go in there and pull garlic mustard and other nonnative invasives," wrote Hoffman, who has volunteered on landscape projects in the south lakefront’s Burnham Park. "Why? Why? Why?”
I received more than 50 emails and the vast majority of them agreed that Lightfoot should reconsider the shutdown. The mayor ordered the lakefront closed in late March to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
The location of the writers was as significant as their message: As the emails quoted above indicate, people wrote from all types of neighborhoods along the shoreline, not just the wealthy districts that line North Lake Shore Drive.
Indeed, Daniel Burnham and other visionaries conceived of the lakefront as a democratic public space, one that was especially needed to serve those who could not afford to escape to glamorous resorts. That character matters more than ever during the pandemic, especially for families crammed into apartments and living in park-poor neighborhoods. They need a place to breathe, a place to gaze out over Lake Michigan’s majestic expanse.
To be sure, not everyone thinks the shutdown should end anytime soon.
Some counseled continued caution, citing the fact that Illinois and Chicago have not experienced a significant drop in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths.
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Others noted that residents of Chicago and its surrounding Cook County suburbs are now getting a D in social distancing from a New York City data firm that’s been grading the country on compliance with stay-at-home orders.
“I don’t agree with you...Chicago/Illinois cases are to peak in mid June. We can wait. Safety first,” wrote David Hubbell of Uptown.
But as the Tribune’s editorial board wrote Tuesday in urging Lightfoot to reopen the lakefront, there’s a growing consensus that outside activity, accompanied by social distancing and mask-wearing, is not as conducive to spreading the virus as indoor activity.
“The virus has shown us so far a great propensity to spread in closed spaces, among family members living together, and among vulnerable populations. It has not been demonstrated to spread easily outdoors or among individuals exercising,” the editorial board wrote.
Even those who agreed that the lakefront should reopen questioned whether Lightfoot possessed the authority to shut it in the first place.
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“You’re on the right track in trying to get Lightfoot to ease up. She’s acting more like a martinet than a mayor,” wrote Streeterville resident John Miller. "But your whole premise...suggests that everything, including our freedom, belongs to Lightfoot, not to 'We the people...'“
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I don’t completely agree, even though I often quote Burnham’s ringing declaration: “The lakefront by right belongs to the people.”
Just as the City of Chicago has the right to regulate the hours when the lakefront parks are used, it has the right to shut down the lakefront if activity there endangers public health.
Lightfoot still has that right. But the needs of public health can — and should — be balanced with those of public space. That’s the heart of the message from Chicagoans to their mayor.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--‘Horrible nightmare’: Tinley Park woman trying to regain custody of coyote, contemplating move to In

‘Horrible nightmare’: Tinley Park woman trying to regain custody of coyote, contemplating move to Indiana

But Tranchita said her lawyers have told her the civil case could take another year to resolve , and the @ @ @ @ @ Luna ’ s age is prompting her decision to sell her belongings and put her @ @ @ @ @ she said .

]Tomi Tranchita in the yard of her Tinley Park home May 1, 2019, showing where she kept four coyotes. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
In a bid to get back her beloved and aged coyote, Tomi Tranchita believes she has no other option than to sell her home and belongings and jump across the border to Indiana.
That is where 14-year-old Luna has been living the last several months, after animal control officers in April of last year seized her and three other coyotes, which subsequently died, from Tranchita’s Tinley Park home.
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The surviving coyote has been housed at an Indiana animal rescue center since September, and although Tranchita has been pursuing custody in court, she doesn’t believe that, considering Luna’s age, time is on her side.
Tomi Tranchita, of Tinley Park, is trying to regain custody of a 14-year-old coyote, Luna, that she had cared for since it was a pup. (Tomi Tranchita)
“She’s 14 years old and they sometimes live to be 15 or 16,” Tranchita said. “I want her to have some peace the rest of her life.”
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By gaining residency in Indiana, Tranchita believes she has a better and faster shot at getting the animal back.
“There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to get her back,” she said. “It’s been a horrible nightmare for me."
Some 14 years ago, Tranchita inherited three coyote pups — Luna, Sandy and Frodo — that had been taken by an animal rescue group to animal shelter PAWS of Tinley Park.
“But they had been bottle-fed and we realized they were too tame to be released into the wild,” Tranchita said.
Zoos didn’t want the animals and a veterinarian from the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed they wouldn’t survive in the wild, so Tranchita ended up taking them home. Frodo later died and Tranchita got two other Coyotes, Bella and Peytah.
“All was well for basically 13 years,” she said.
On April 24 of last year, things changed.
“I was woken up at 7 a.m. by six armed officers, all wearing bullet-proof vests like this was the raid of the century,” Tranchita said.
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Animal control officers with the state and Cook County took the coyotes initially to a suburban shelter, where three of them — Sandy, 13; Bella, 10; and Peytah, 4 — later died.
Records show Tranchita had long held a USDA Class C exhibitor’s license, the same that is issued to zoos, but had failed to pay a $25 renewal fee to Illinois for a fur-bearing mammal breeder. The license had lapsed in 2016, although Tranchita said breeding the coyotes was never her intention.
She was cited criminally for violating state wildlife codes and not having a “hound running area permit,” according to court records.
That case was settled last September when Tranchita agreed to plead to a misdemeanor charge that she did not have the state “fur-bearing animal” permit. As part of the plea agreement, Luna was transferred to the Indiana facility.
Tranchita’s civil action against the state remains alive. She alleges her property rights were violated when the coyotes were taken and that she was denied due process.
She suffered a setback when an Illinois Appellate Court earlier this month upheld a lower court ruling denying her motion for a preliminary injunction against the state.
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Tranchita, in the civil case, argues that she has “a constitutionally protected property interest in the coyotes” and had renewed the needed state permit.
The appeals court wrote that it would “not determine at this time whether plaintiff could or should regain possession of Luna, based on the fact she now has a valid permit.”
At the time the lower court denied her preliminary injunction, Tranchita lacked the needed fur-bearing mammal permit, according to the appellate ruling.
“Pursuant to the Wildlife Code, coyotes possessed without such a permit are contraband,” the court wrote.
Thousands of supporters have signed an online petition demanding Luna be returned to Tranchita, and several fundraisers have been held to cover her legal expenses.
But Tranchita said her lawyers have told her the civil case could take another year to resolve, and the appellate court setback coupled with Luna’s age is prompting her decision to sell her belongings and put her home on the market, she said.
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Tranchita said her intention wasn’t to keep any of the coyotes as pets, which the state department of resources shortly after the animals were removed had said, noting that keeping wildlife as pets is illegal in Illinois.
She said she opposes the breeding of coyotes as pets and that there are a lot of alternatives for someone who wants a pet.
“The animal shelters are filled with too many dogs,” she said.
However, she said coyotes kept in captivity will bond with one person, “and for Luna that person is me,” she said.
Luna isn’t being mistreated at the Indiana facility, she said, but COVID-19 restrictions have prevented Tranchita from seeing the animal for about two months.
“Luna needs to be with me to have the best chance to heal from the trauma of the past year,” she said.
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mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Oprah Winfrey provides $5 million to start COVID-19 relief network in ‘home city’ of Chicago

“ If this had been the pandemic when I was a kid , what would have happened to me ?
@ @ @ @ @ , ” she said , becoming emotional on the Zoom call from her home in @ @ @ @ @ where she moved after ending her eponymous talk show made in Chicago in 2011 , @ @ @ @ @ syndication .
“ My mother wouldn ’ t have been able to get on that @ @ @ @ @ suburbs to clean white people ’ s houses , and I would have gone hungry @ @ @ @ @ to do for those kids who would have been me ... what I would have @ @ @ @ @ and do .
”

Calling Chicago one of her “home cities,” Oprah Winfrey Wednesday launched a major relief effort aimed at fighting food insecurity and providing medical aid in African American and Latinx communities that face increased risk of severe COVID-19 consequences.
The $5 million donation starts Live Healthy Chicago, a consortium of food, religious, medical and other community organizations. It is part of a larger, $12 million relief effort from the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, she said, aimed at helping the places where she lived on her way to fame and fortune.
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“I wanted to not try to serve the world but go back to the places that have given to me,” she said. In addition to Chicago, the cities where organizations are receiving grants are Nashville and Baltimore, where she had early broadcast jobs, and Milwaukee and Kosciusko, Miss., where she grew up.
Oprah Winfrey accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
“If this had been the pandemic when I was a kid, what would have happened to me? I would have gone hungry,” she said, becoming emotional on the Zoom call from her home in Santa Barbara, Calif., where she moved after ending her eponymous talk show made in Chicago in 2011, following 25 years in national syndication. “My mother wouldn’t have been able to get on that bus to go to the suburbs to clean white people’s houses, and I would have gone hungry. So I am trying to do for those kids who would have been me... what I would have wanted somebody to step up and do.”
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Although she usually likes to follow the teach-a-person-to-fish model of giving, “right now people just need some fish and some bread,” Winfrey said. “My goal was to try to literally put the money and services in the pockets of people who need it most now.”
The Live Healthy Chicago network involves West Side United, Rush University Medical Center, the MAAFA Redemption Project of the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, My Block My Hood My City and Forty Acres Fresh Market, the foundation said, and it plans to provide care packages, contact tracing and wellness visits.
The goal is to both address immediate needs during the public health crisis and to seed long-term recovery in challenged communities, said Winfrey.
“I think there is going to be an ongoing need for people of means to use whatever their abilities are, financial or otherwise, as an essential service to the people who are essential service givers,” Winfrey said. “People of means, give what you can, where you can.”
Leaders of the involved groups celebrated the effort, which Winfrey’s organization said is meant to complement the work of the city’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, a response to the pandemic that West Side United last month helped Mayor Lori Lightfoot convene.
"The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation’s investment in Live Healthy Chicago accelerates our work to not just fight this virus, but to address the underlying reasons it is taking so many black and brown lives,” Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United, a multifaceted health and economic wellness organization, said in a statement.
In an interview, Jaco said $2.9M will go back into the 20 communities the network serves by way of grants over the next two years. The remaining dollars will go toward leveraging what Live Healthy Chicago’s organizations have already been doing: wellness checks, training young people and community members to be community health workers, work around food access, among other assistance.
“To have an international figure like Oprah say I want to help, really paints a picture of how important it is to work together toward a solution in the immediate and long term recovery of repair that is needed due to COVID-19 and that was already there given the historical conditions of our community,” Jaco said.
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Marshall Hatch, Jr, executive director of the West Garfield Park –based MAAFA Redemption Project, and board member of Live Healthy Chicago, said COVID-19 has really shook the foundation of how we operate as a society.
“I don’t think we can return back to normal, whatever that is," he said. “What COVID-19 has done, (of course exacerbated disparities and social ills) is exposed us for who we are, how we treat one another and the most vulnerable. This is an opportunity for us to look in the mirror and ask questions: Not only who am I? But who have I become and who do I want to be and that’s a personal and collective question. I am hopeful that we will be able not only to do something immediately but to resurrect conversations around justice, reparations, and recovery."
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
drockett@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-20--Read a lawsuit filed by the Chicago Teachers Union over handling of special education during COVID-1

Read a lawsuit filed by the Chicago Teachers Union over handling of special education during COVID-19 pandemic

The Chicago Teachers Union is suing President Donald Trump ’ s secretary of education , Betsy DeVos , as well @ @ @ @ @ their handling of special education during the coronavirus pandemic .
Read the full story .

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chicagotribune--2020-05-19--Fearing a winter coronavirus resurgence, colleges including Notre Dame and Marquette will start fall

Fearing a winter coronavirus resurgence, colleges including Notre Dame and Marquette will start fall classes early and shorten breaks

Many colleges nationwide are still toying with how to conduct fall classes ― whether it will be safe to allow @ @ @ @ @ and resume other aspects of campus life or if they should continue taking courses online @ @ @ @ @ preparing for face-to-face instruction acknowledge they will be subject to public health directives and might @ @ @ @ @ classes at any moment .
Many of the plans are dependent on widespread testing for @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not clear when that will be available .

Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, will open two weeks early in the fall and will conclude the fall term before Thanksgiving out of concern about a possible COVID-19 resurgence. (Alfredo Sosa/The Christian Science Monitor)
A new but seemingly simple idea is emerging as a possible solution for colleges that want to bring students back to campus in the fall: starting classes sooner.
In recent days, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Marquette University in Milwaukee announced they will begin the fall semester earlier than usual and finish in-person classes by Thanksgiving. The goal, the schools say, is to limit student travel ahead of any potential resurgence of coronavirus infections anticipated for the winter.
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“A particular epidemiological challenge for college campuses arises when students leave for breaks, are exposed to infectious agents, and return to campus and possibly spread infections to others,” the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said Monday in a letter to faculty. “To minimize this possibility, we plan to begin classes during the week of August 10, continue through without a fall break and conclude the semester before Thanksgiving.”
Many colleges nationwide are still toying with how to conduct fall classes ― whether it will be safe to allow students to return to dorms and resume other aspects of campus life or if they should continue taking courses online. But even the schools preparing for face-to-face instruction acknowledge they will be subject to public health directives and might have to revert to remote classes at any moment. Many of the plans are dependent on widespread testing for the coronavirus, though it’s not clear when that will be available.
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Still, the announcement from Notre Dame, a private Catholic school that serves more than 12,000 students, lays the groundwork for other colleges seeking to reopen in the fall. With many delaying a final decision until late summer, Notre Dame is one of the most renowned schools so far to share details.
Under the plan, students will move back to Notre Dame’s South Bend campus about two weeks early, said spokesman Paul Browne. Notre Dame is also considering canceling spring break in 2021, Browne added. A weeklong fall break, which typically takes place in October, will be skipped as well.
The plan was developed with the guidance of local health experts, who advised that students leaving the college bubble and returning with an infection pose the greatest threat of a campuswide outbreak, Browne said. The school does not intend to restrict student travel for personal reasons — such as attending weddings or funerals — and will follow comprehensive testing, contact tracing and quarantining procedures, he said.
“Whatever those exceptions will be, they are not going to amount to a wholesale dispersal of everyone leaving campus at one time ... and going literally around the United States and coming back again,” Browne said. “That’s what we felt was an unacceptable risk.”
While other schools have discussed limiting the number of students who can be on campus at one time, Jenkins said in his letter that he’s resistant to such a change. Students are required to live in campus dorms for their first three years.
As schools debate how to reopen in the fall, many have publicly discussed the need for increased cleaning of facilities, social distancing in classrooms and instructions for wearing masks, among other new protocols.
At Marquette, a Catholic Jesuit school, schedule changes were also based on a predicted second wave of coronavirus infections in late fall. Marquette, which has about 12,000 students, will start school about a week early and offer finals remotely so students can pack up and leave campus before Thanksgiving and not return until the new year. The regular fall break is also being shortened from two days to one.
Dr. Kimo Ah Yun, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said Marquette will make adjustments for the spring term too. In case students need to stay at home for longer amid a new spike in cases, spring classes will start a week later and spring break will be combined with Easter break, he said.
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“We are making the best choices right now that are possible based on the available scientific data and evidence and listening to our experts,” he said. “Nothing is fixed. If things change, we will change our plans as well ... we will only accommodate (students) if it is safe to do.”
Outside the Midwest, the University of South Carolina said Sunday it will also accelerate the fall semester and cease face-to-face instruction by Thanksgiving. In a message to students, the school said the timeline was being sped up because “our best current modelling predicts a spike in cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of December, which also will likely coincide with traditional flu season.”
Erin Goldman, a rising sophomore at Notre Dame, said she’s eager to return to campus and praised the school’s plan for controlling the outbreak.
Goldman, 19, of Chicago, is studying mechanical engineering and said it was difficult to follow a virtual physics lab that she needed to do this spring. She’s signed up to take another lab class in the fall and had worried about how that would work if she couldn’t use school equipment, like a 3D printer.
“I was definitely happy to know there was something to look forward to because a lot of things felt really up in the air,” she said, of learning the campus would be open in August. “I think it is a pretty smart plan because at Notre Dame, I feel like we could keep it in a pretty contained community as long as no one is leaving or coming.”
Goldman said she would feel safe living in the dorms as long as the school can keep up with the demand for frequent testing and contact tracing. She would still prefer to stay on campus even if the school restricts visitors and requires more documentations about personal travel, she said.
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For Thomas Guiard, a rising sophomore at Marquette, the return to campus also brings hope of partaking in cherished extracurricular activities.
Guiard, who’s studying political science and history, plays the trumpet in the school’s pep band and performs at basketball games. He said he hasn’t heard any official word about whether the band will start up again.
“I’d be really sad if I wasn’t able to do that, but I would understand,” said Guiard, 18, of Libertyville. “But if we are going back, I want to go back fully, and I want to be able to do my extracurriculars because it’s a big part of college.”
Overall, Guiard said he feels comfortable living on campus and thinks the school’s approach is a “good compromise” to keep students safe and provide in-person classes.
echerney@chicagotribune.com