chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Shipping delays mounting as USPS struggles with ‘historic’ holiday volume. Here’s how to be a succes

Shipping delays mounting as USPS struggles with ‘historic’ holiday volume. Here’s how to be a successful Santa.

Chellie Britt , 30 , of South Holland , said two of three gifts she sent through the Postal Service @ @ @ @ @ .
A second batch of packages , mailed Saturday , have had more issues .
@ @ @ @ @ her aunt on Saturday was delivered to the wrong ZIP code , another package appeared @ @ @ @ @ but returned to a post office , and a certified letter sent the same day @ @ @ @ @ have moved , she said .

With a week to go before Christmas Eve, anyone who’s still scouring the internet for the perfect gift may want to get in the car and head for a store or start making IOU’s.
Record online sales have led to the crush of packages at shipping companies and the U.S. Postal Service that was predicted a month ago. As a result, merchants of all sizes are issuing warnings and apologies to consumers, who are turning to social media to complain.
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Nike, Ulta and Barnes & Noble say it’s already too late for free shipping. Nordstrom calls out items that arrive by Christmas and Macy’s is spotlighting products that are eligible for pickup or same-day delivery and arrive in a Macy’s bag. H&M says any new orders won’t arrive by Christmas.
With the clock ticking, retailers like Kohl’s and Target are encouraging shoppers to place orders for store pickup rather than risk a late delivery.
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@USPS I now have two packages that were ordered at different times from different companies that are going to separate addresses and both are stating they are running late but still in transit. Both are a week past their original delivery date. What is going on???!! — Sara (@NurseSara924) December 11, 2020
Gift and greeting card shop Inkling, in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, has stopped taking orders that require shipping. Packages shipped through the Postal Service were starting to take longer than three or four days to deliver and some customers, who mostly live within the city, began calling with concerns, said employee Sean Coen.
“We just went ahead and shut it off. I don’t want people to be disappointed,” he said.
Scott Friedland, owner of Timeless Toys in Lincoln Square, used to ship most items customers bought online through the Postal Service, until delivery times that used to take three days recently stretched to two or three weeks. He has been encouraging customers to pick UPS, whose shipments have been arriving in about three days and typically cost about $3 or $4 more.
“To get it there in time for Christmas, that’s not a huge price jump,” Friedland said.
Chellie Britt, 30, of South Holland, said two of three gifts she sent through the Postal Service earlier this month arrived late. A second batch of packages, mailed Saturday, have had more issues. A gift she sent to her aunt on Saturday was delivered to the wrong ZIP code, another package appeared to be out for delivery but returned to a post office, and a certified letter sent the same day doesn’t appear to have moved, she said.
Between the pandemic and the holiday rush, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see some delays, but wasn’t expecting to see gifts go to the wrong address or get stranded, like a package she has yet to receive that spent four days sitting in Atlanta.
“I’ve spent a lot of time the last week refreshing usps.com. I have work to do. I don’t want to have to worry about my cousin’s kids getting their gifts on time,” Britt said.
A FedEx employee delivers a package in the Edgewater Glen neighborhood on Dec. 16, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The Postal Service acknowledged temporary delays because of a “historic record of holiday volume” and capacity challenges, including a shortage of employees due to COVID-19, according to a statement earlier this week.
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U.S. online holiday sales are expected to hit $184 billion this holiday season, up 30% from last year, according to Adobe Analytics.
Early in the season, shipping companies mostly kept up, according to ShipMatrix, which analyzes shipping data. Between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5, FedEx, UPS and the Postal Service delivered 94.9%, 96.3% and 92.8%, respectively, of packages on time. All three delivered more packages on time than they did during the same period last year.
That still means about 2.5 million packages could take an extra day or two to arrive, said ShipMatrix President Satish Jindel.
Trying to figure out why a package I mailed to a customer 20 miles away went from Chicago > Des Moines > Denver to ARRIVING LATE. #WTF #USPS — Mouth & Trousers (@mouthntrousers) December 17, 2020
With other companies turning away packages they don’t have the capacity to handle, volume at the Postal Service has increased, and so have the delays, said Carson Krieg, co-founder of Convey, a company that tracks shipping data and helps retailers manage deliveries.
The Postal Service delivered about 79% of packages on time during the week that ended Dec. 3 and just 60% during the week ending Dec. 10, according to Convey.
UPS delivered about 83% of packages on time during the week ending Dec. 10, while FedEx delivered 66% on time, down from 75% a week earlier, according to Convey.
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Convey’s data tracks whether packages arrive on the initial estimated delivery date that shoppers see in a package tracking email, while ShipMatrix looks at whether a carrier delivered within the window it promised the retailer. A package could miss the estimated date but still arrive on time.
Shipping companies are taking steps to handle the extra packages. The Postal Service has extended the hours for package delivery and is delivering packages on Sundays in more areas.
UPS and FedEx advertised 100,000 and 70,000 seasonal jobs in September, respectively, to help deal with the extra packages, and both say they are doing more weekend deliveries.
Even so, “any retailer that can provide that bricks-and-mortar presence is probably going to be your best bet now that we’re past that Dec. 15 date,” Krieg said.
Services that let customers shop online for pickup or delivery from nearby stores only help if the item on a shopper’s wish list is in stock at a nearby store.
Some retailers are trying to give nearby online shoppers a wider range of merchandise. Nordstrom shows people willing to pick up an order the following day items at several nearby stores and will deliver purchases to the store that’s most convenient for the customer, spokeswoman Caroline Mattingly said in an email.
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Target and Walmart, which already offered same-day delivery and curbside pickup, said they expanded the range of items customers can order online and receive the same day. Target also expects to ship millions of items from stores rather than warehouses, which still requires shipping but shortens the distance.
Others are trying to make shopping for pickup or same-day delivery more convenient. Ulta lets shoppers pick up online orders before stores open at most stores that offer curbside pickup. Best Buy also has extended pickup hours. Old Navy and Athleta have service hubs where shoppers can pick up online orders separate from standard checkout lines.
Barnes & Noble and J.C. Penney, meanwhile, are offering discounts on at least some items when shoppers agree to pick up orders at a store.
Home delivery is more widely available, too, as retailers partnered with companies better known for food and grocery delivery to get items to shoppers.
Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have partnered with DoorDash to offer same-day home delivery, Best Buy and Five Below have similar partnerships with Instacart and Bed Bath & Beyond works with both Shipt and Instacart.
Smaller stores, many of which struggled with the impact of store closures early in the pandemic, are promoting pickup and delivery options too. Timeless Toys offers curbside pickup and will have employees drive orders to customers who live nearby.
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The delivery service, offered twice a week, is free on purchases of more than $50. The deadline for nearby delivery orders needed by Christmas is Dec. 20, three days later than the UPS shipping cutoff.
That’s earlier than usual, but not because the store anticipates delays in transit. About 25% of its holiday sales this season have come from online orders, up from 2% last year, and Timeless Toys needs more time to deal the surge in online shopping too.
“We’d usually cut things off on the 20th, but we need time to get orders out,” Friedland said.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--9 Chicago businesses cited for COVID-19 violations, including 5 for allowing indoor dining or drinki

9 Chicago businesses cited for COVID-19 violations, including 5 for allowing indoor dining or drinking

One of the more egregious COVID-19 violations was an event at World Wide Blend ( 2427 W. Hubbard St. ) @ @ @ @ @ party ” on social media .
About 2 a.m. Sunday , investigators found about 50 @ @ @ @ @ wearing masks , department officials said .
The location also had curtains blocking out the @ @ @ @ @ cited for building code violations , such as no smoke alarms , no carbon monoxide @ @ @ @ @ , according to the department .

Chicago’s Department of Business and Consumer Protection fined nine businesses for COVID-19 violations last weekend. The citations are part of the department’s continued efforts to enforce the city’s ever-changing safety guidelines, which since Oct. 30 have included a shutdown of indoor dining, officials said.
Ten locations in the Wrigleyville entertainment district that were open and operating for outdoor dining were also investigated Saturday night, and all of them were in compliance with safety guidelines. In total, 118 investigations were conducted citywide Dec. 10 to 13.
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One of the more egregious COVID-19 violations was an event at World Wide Blend (2427 W. Hubbard St.) advertised as a “pandemic party” on social media. About 2 a.m. Sunday, investigators found about 50 people neither social distancing nor wearing masks, department officials said. The location also had curtains blocking out the windows, and was also cited for building code violations, such as no smoke alarms, no carbon monoxide detector and no fire extinguishers, according to the department.
Eight other businesses were cited during the weekend investigations:
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River North CrossFit (330 W. Ontario St.) was cited Dec. 11 for holding indoor fitness classes and for patrons not wearing masks.
Cafe Touche (6731 N. Northwest Highway) was cited Dec. 11 for allowing indoor dining.
Edison Park Inn (6715 N. Olmsted Ave.) was cited Dec. 11 for allowing indoor dining.
Beverly Hills Art Gallery (2135 W. 95th St.) was cited Dec. 11 for hosting an unlicensed event indoors without enforcing social distancing or masking.
Barraco’s Pizza (2105 W. 95th St.) was cited Dec. 11 for allowing indoor dining.
The Clark Street Bar (3040 N. Clark St.) was cited Dec. 12 for serving customers after 11 p.m.
A shared housing party (6950 S. Michigan Ave.) was cited Dec. 12 for hosting an indoor event with 24 people.
Duffy’s Tavern and Grille (420 W. Diversey Parkway) was cited Dec. 13 for allowing indoor dining.
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So far during the pandemic, the department has issued 355 citations and investigated 7,184 businesses.
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Police investigating after teen found fatally shot on Far South Side

About 11:20 p.m. , officers responded to the Golden Gate neighborhood after receiving an alert from the city ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , according to a statement from police .
With the help of a police helicopter @ @ @ @ @ in the 300 block of East 133rd Street , police said .

A 19-year-old man was found fatally shot late Wednesday on the Far South Side, and Chicago police are investigating his death as a homicide, officials said.
About 11:20 p.m., officers responded to the Golden Gate neighborhood after receiving an alert from the city’s gunshot detection center, ShotSpotter, according to a statement from police. With the help of a police helicopter, officers located a body in the 300 block of East 133rd Street, police said.
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Thursday morning the Cook County medical examiner’s office said the man had been identified as Dion Hartwell Jr., 19, of the 400 block of West 118th Street.
Hartwell man was found unresponsive near a parking lot, suffering from gunshot wounds to the face, back and leg, a police spokeswoman said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and police said early Thursday they believed the then-unidentified man was about 20 years old.
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Officers had not located any witnesses to the fatal shooting and would not say whether surveillance footage from the area had been recovered.
The case remains under investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear arguments on governor’s COVID-19 capacity limits

Palm wants to issue a new order limiting indoor capacity , which would remain in effect for 28 days , @ @ @ @ @ feel she legally can do so until the court rules in the case , attorneys @ @ @ @ @ Justice said in legal filings .
Palm said Wednesday that the ability for her to @ @ @ @ @ to COVID-19 , a measles outbreak or whatever else may happen , is “ really @ @ @ @ @ ”

The latest court challenge to a move made by Gov. Tony Evers’ to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Wisconsin comes before the state Supreme Court on Thursday, this time related to an order limiting how many people can gather in bars and restaurants.
The on-again, off-again order that expired in November is one of a series that the Democratic governor has issued in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, all of which have been challenged by conservatives.
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The conservative-leaning Wisconsin Supreme Court previously struck down Evers’ “safer at home” order in May, saying it should have gone through the Legislature as an administrative rule. It heard arguments last month in a lawsuit supported by Republican legislative leaders to strike down Evers’ statewide mask mandate, which is set to remain effect until Jan. 19.
The case before the court Thursday centers on statewide capacity limits ordered in October by Evers’ Department of Health Services secretary, Andrea Palm. The order expired on Nov. 6, but the legal question of whether it was legally issued persists and the resolution will affect future public health orders.
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Palm wants to issue a new order limiting indoor capacity, which would remain in effect for 28 days, but she doesn’t feel she legally can do so until the court rules in the case, attorneys for the state Department of Justice said in legal filings. Palm said Wednesday that the ability for her to issue health emergency orders pertaining to COVID-19, a measles outbreak or whatever else may happen, is “really critical to our work.”
Mitigation strategies, such as limiting how many people can gather indoors, “have really shown themselves to be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and will continue to remain to be important until we have enough vaccine in the arms of Wisconsinites to really be that final tool that helps us end this pandemic,” she said.
The Oct. 6 order limited the size of indoor public gatherings to 25% of a building or room’s occupancy or 10 people in places that don’t have an occupancy limit.
The powerful Tavern League of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit challenging the order, arguing it would drive bars and restaurants out of business. It said such an order should have to be issued as a rule by the Legislature.
A Sawyer County judge blocked the capacity limits order on Oct. 14, only to have a Barron County judge reinstate it five days later. That sparked an appeal from The Mix-Up bar in Amery and a group that opposes abortion rights, Pro-Life Wisconsin, which argued that the capacity restrictions limit its fundraising gatherings.
The 3rd District Court of Appeals blocked the restrictions on Oct. 23 and issued its final order on the same day the limits expired, Nov. 6. The appeals court concluded that the order should have gone through the legislative process and been issued as a rule. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who is representing the Evers administration, appealed.
The state Supreme Court’s ruling will likely make clear whether Evers can issue future orders limiting gatherings or whether he’d have to instead go through the Legislature, which has opposed many of his efforts to limit the virus. Assembly Republicans have also released a proposal that would prevent local health officials from issuing emergency orders that close businesses or that implement capacity restrictions unless the limits apply to all types of businesses.
COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin spiked in mid-November and have been trending downward since then. As of Wednesday, nearly 445,000 people in Wisconsin had tested positive for COVID-19 and 4,196 people had died of the disease since the start of the pandemic, according to the state Department of Health Services.


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Cops release photo of Jeep wanted in connection with October homicide

McKinney , who was of the same block where he was shot , was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center @ @ @ @ @ he was pronounced dead less than an hour after the attack , officials said .

Chicago police have released a picture of a black Jeep wanted in connection with the October homicide of a 32-year-old man in the Roseland neighborhood on the city’s Far South Side.
The victim, Deshawn McKinney, was in the passenger seat of a 2016 black Chevrolet Equinox parked in the 11400 block of South Calumet Avenue about 4:25 p.m. on Oct. 24 when the killing happened.
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When a woman who had been behind the wheel of the Chevrolet was getting out of the vehicle, someone inside a passing southbound black Jeep SRT opened fire, hitting McKinney multiple times to his body and damaging the Chevrolet, police said.
McKinney, who was of the same block where he was shot, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour after the attack, officials said.
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An autopsy the next day determined McKinney died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
In a community alert issued Wednesday night, police said the Jeep involved was last seen missing a front license plate, has blacked-out wheels and tinted windows, police said.
Chicago police released this picture of a black Jeep wanted in connection with the Oct. 24, 2020, homicide of DeShawn McKinney, who was fatally shot in the 11400 block of South Calumet Avenue. (Chicago police)
Anyone with information is urged to call Area 2 detectives at 312-747-8271 or submit an anonymous tip to cpdtip.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--The first five: How a Chicago hospital picked its first COVID-19 vaccination recipients

“ It ’ s a relief to know we have this coming , ” he said .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ lot , and the people who should be getting ‘ hurrahs ’ and ‘ thank @ @ @ @ @ who made this happen .
The Ph.D.s , the researchers , the graduate students who @ @ @ @ @ months doing the same thing over and over again in their labs .
We as @ @ @ @ @ recognize that .
”

The 975 coveted doses of the COVID-19 vaccine expected to arrive by police escort as soon as Thursday morning will create a new challenge for Roseland Community Hospital in a year that has been overrun by them.
Like other medical centers across the country in recent days, Roseland has been tasked with deciding which of its hundreds of employees — for reasons both practical and symbolic — should be the first to get the injection they’ve all needed since the pandemic began.
The Far South Side hospital, which treats patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, has carried a tremendous weight over the past 11 months. As the Roseland neighborhood has suffered a coronavirus death rate 67% greater than the citywide average, the staff opened a 40-bed COVID ward, provided inpatient care to 320 people and conducted more than 25,000 tests in a community that has long suffered from the city’s health care inequities.
It hasn’t always gone smoothly. When a pregnant woman with COVID died after failing to be quickly triaged upon arrival, the state cited the hospital for several issues related to its handling of the virus. The hospital has said it worked address the issues.
The hospital believes it will receive enough doses to vaccinate its 600 employees and contractors, including the estimated 25% who have expressed reluctance about getting the injections. Each vial contains about five shots, so Roseland President and CEO Tim Egan wanted the first five recipients to be a reflection of the many faces who have contributed to the fight.
Two of the picks are, most obviously, a doctor and a nurse who have been treating COVID patients from the start. His other three selections — a housekeeper, an engineer and a medical lab scientist — are employees who have jobs that may not grab headlines, but who have allowed the hospital to wage a public health battle unlike any in the past century.
“It takes an army to win a war and we’ve had this army on the front lines since day one,” Egan said. “It’s not just doctors and nurses who are doing heroic work, it’s all across the board. We are so appreciative of the dedication of all our professionals. We want them all to know that they’re valued, and we want them protected.”
Meet Roseland’s first five:
Gil Jean, chief nursing officer
Gil Jean, chief nursing officer, on Dec. 16, 2020, at Roseland Hospital. Jean will be among the five recipients to share the first vial of COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at Roseland Hospital on Chicago's Far South Side. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Gil Jean has a secret that she has kept from her nursing staff since the pandemic began.
She was scared of the virus too.
As Roseland’s chief nursing officer, she didn’t want her staff to know just how deeply worried she was about their safety, the alarming pace at which the virus took patients’ lives or even her own health. She kept those feelings buried, she said, until she got home and could cry in private.
“I feel as a leader, I always need to be strong for them and tell them how much I appreciate them. There were some really, really hard days, and they were amazing,” she said as her voice choked with emotion. “And I know they were scared. I know this because I was scared too.”
Her staff’s fears also played a role in her decision to receive one of the hospital’s first vaccinations. Several nurses already have told her they do not want to receive the shots until they first see how other people react, a reluctance that has alarmed hospital leadership and spurred them into action.
Roseland executives, including CEO Egan, have been passing out flyers about the importance of the vaccine in recent days, hoping to sway the skeptics. About 25% have indicated they don’t want the vaccine, Egan said.
Beyond wanting to protect his staff, Egan worries about the message it would send to the neighborhood if hospital employees are too scared to be vaccinated. He understands their fears — fueled by both the country’s history of inhumane experiments on Black Americans and distrust in a system that has allowed deadly health care disparities — but he believes this is the only way to blunt the virus’s spread.
Jean shares Egan’s concerns, so she volunteered to roll up her sleeve and receive the first of two shots Thursday. She tells anyone who asks that she trusts the science and the scientists who approved the vaccine for emergency use.
“I want them to see me,” she said. “I want them to know that I would never ask them to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. This is a time for leadership.”
Linda Seaverson, head environmental services worker
Linda Seaverson, lead environmental services worker, in the linens storeroom on Dec. 15, 2020, at Roseland Hospital. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
As the hospital’s head housekeeper, Linda Seaverson pushes aside concerns for her own safety each morning and heads to work in a community hit hard by the virus. She says she never, not even in the pandemic’s deadliest moments, considered finding a different job.
“I care about people. I always have,” she said. “I wouldn’t want someone to walk away from me when I needed them most, so I would never walk away from anyone else.”
Seaverson, 61, makes a concerted effort to be a cheerful, uplifting presence in the COVID patients’ rooms each day. Draped in full personal protective equipment, she chatters happily as she goes about cleaning, sanitizing and collecting linens. She even speaks to those who are too sick to answer, believing they can hear her and wanting them to know someone cares.
She always leaves with a promise to see the patient later, though she knows it’s a pledge she can’t necessarily keep. Nothing, she says, is harder than later seeing an empty bed in a patient’s room.
“I’m not going to lie,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy.”
In keeping with her desire to help people, Seaverson has agreed to be among the first vaccinated at the hospital. She initially had questions about its safety, but she says she has read enough about the dosage to feel comfortable with her decision.
She hopes people will follow her example and educate themselves about the importance of getting the shot.
“I was scared about getting it,” she said. “But if I do it and get a good reaction, maybe it will help show other people it’s safe. I’m a people person, and all I ever want to do is help.”
Dr. Tunji Ladipo, emergency medical specialist
Dr. Tunji Ladipo in the emergency room on Dec. 15, 2020, at Roseland Hospital. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
An exhausted Tunji Ladipo returned home from work recently, thoroughly beaten by the recent uptick in COVID cases and the overflowing emergency department it produced.
His 16-year-old daughter tried to cheer him by announcing that she, too, planned to become a doctor some day.
“Really?” Ladipo said, brightening. “You want to be a doctor like your dad?”
“No,” she quickly answered. “I want to be a doctor like Dr. (Anthony) Fauci.”
On the eve of becoming part of the largest vaccination effort in American history, Ladipo believes his teenager has it right. After months and months of darkness, scientists are bringing us toward the light.
He says he will be thinking, with gratitude, of those scientists as the vaccine is injected into his arm.
“It’s a relief to know we have this coming,” he said. “I’ve thought about this a lot, and the people who should be getting ‘hurrahs’ and ‘thank yous’ are the scientists who made this happen. The Ph.D.s, the researchers, the graduate students who spent hours and days and months doing the same thing over and over again in their labs. We as a society really need to recognize that.”
Tony Nevarez, medical lab scientist
Tony Nevarez, medical lab scientist, in the lab where COVID-19 tests are run on Dec. 15, 2020, at Roseland Hospital. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
With a pandemic raging, Tony Nevarez decided he wanted to go back to a hospital laboratory.
He had left the field a few years earlier to work in environmental sciences, but he didn’t feel the same satisfaction there as he did in a medical setting. Choosing to return to a hospital job, however, meant he would be handling and testing samples to determine whether they contained the potentially deadly coronavirus.
He didn’t care. He joined a private laboratory and was contracted to work at Roseland Community Hospital, which conducts about 250 tests a day.
“Don’t get me wrong. The risks of working in a hospital were always in the back of my mind,” the 29-year-old said. “But I like helping people, and this job is just more interesting.”
When Roseland started offering testing in mid-March, it was one of the few Illinois sites that allowed patients to be tested without being in a car. In a neighborhood where many residents don’t have their own transportation, it was a crucial service.
The hospital also relaxed its rules on who could receive a test, giving it to anyone regardless of whether they had a doctor’s order, COVID-19 symptoms or an underlying condition that would make the patient vulnerable to the virus’s deadly grasp. By the time Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared testing available to anyone who is symptomatic, Roseland already had been doing its open testing initiative for two weeks.
From the start, Roseland staff have believed the tests offered the community some reassurance and a sense of control amid a virus that hit lower-income Black neighborhoods harder than richer white ones in the city.
Nearly a year into pandemic, accessible testing remains one of the hospital’s core principles. And Nevarez’s selection as one of the first five people vaccinated at Roseland is meant to reinforce that belief.
“It’s good to know I’m doing something positive for society,” Nevarez said. “As a kid, I never could have imagined something like this, but this is really good way to make a living. I feel good about my job. I feel good about myself.”
Dan Moriarty, hospital engineer
Dan Moriarty, engineer, in the basement workshop on Dec. 15, 2020, at Roseland Hospital. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Ask Dan Moriarty how it feels to be on the front lines of a pandemic and he’ll say he hasn’t given it much thought.
Truth be told, he’s been far too busy to contemplate such matters.
In the past year, Moriarty has helped build a 40-bed COVID ward at the hospital, installed more than 60 negative pressure systems in patient rooms and converted Roseland’s lobby into an overflow treatment area. His most important project, however, was completed this week when he transformed a meeting space into a vaccination command post that allows the doses to be stored nearby at their ultracold temperatures and provides employees with privacy as they get their shots.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to keep the place safe,” he said. “There were a lot of overnights and extra hours to make it happen, but everyone pulled together and made sure it got done.”
The job required considerable brainstorming, as the engineering staff regularly conferred on how to best handle their construction projects while adhering to safety protocols. Even a routine job like changing an air filter required full personal protective equipment that made him look like he was responding to a hazmat spill.
Moriarty, who has worked at the hospital since May 2019, said he did everything he could to protect himself from the virus. It wasn’t so much the idea of contracting the illness that drove his vigilance but the fear that he could infect someone else.
“At the end of the day, everyone had a job to do,” he said. “You just do it as safely as possible.”
Moriarty hopes the newly available vaccines hasten the return of things he once took for granted such as going to a restaurant or spending an entire eight-hour shift without a mask on his face. He’d also like to go to bed each night without worrying that he unknowingly infected someone with a potentially deadly virus.
“I just want things to go back to normal,” he said. “It’s what everyone is hoping for, isn’t it?”


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologizes for wrongful police raid, said it was a mistake to try to stop CBS f

Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologizes for wrongful police raid, said it was a mistake to try to stop CBS from airing body camera video

“ I want to tell Ms. Young ( that ) I am deeply sorry and troubled that her home was @ @ @ @ @ had to face the humiliation and trauma that she suffered .
That is just not @ @ @ @ @ in an emotional news conference after Wednesday ’ s City Council meeting .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ .
And I will make sure that there is full accountability for what took place @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot takes questions from the news media after reading a statement concerning a video of Chicago police mistakenly searching the wrong house, during a news conference at City Hall on Dec. 16, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologized to social worker Anjanette Young on Wednesday for the Chicago Police Department’s 2019 raid on her home, during which officers handcuffed her while she was naked, and disavowed her Law Department’s extraordinary attempt to block WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of the incident.
“I want to tell Ms. Young (that) I am deeply sorry and troubled that her home was invaded, and that she had to face the humiliation and trauma that she suffered. That is just not right,” Lightfoot said in an emotional news conference after Wednesday’s City Council meeting. “It simply should not have happened. And I will make sure that there is full accountability for what took place.”
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The apology came one day after the mayor sidestepped questions about the embarrassing raid. Lightfoot also said she would push for changes at the local and state level to make it easier to release body camera footage under circumstances similar to what Young experienced.
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The controversy erupted earlier this week when Lightfoot’s Law Department attempted to block CBS from airing body camera footage of Chicago police officers mistakenly raiding Young’s home in February 2019. Officers arrived at the wrong address and found Young naked, then handcuffed her, the video showed.
City lawyers also filed a request to have Young sanctioned for allegedly violating a confidentiality order on the video, though Lightfoot on Wednesday said Young should not be punished — just her lawyer, if a judge rules in that way.
A federal judge rejected the Lightfoot administration’s unusual request to prevent a television station from airing a news report. The courts long have ruled against efforts to prevent news companies from publishing reports, saying it’s an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
Lightfoot disavowed the move by her Law Department, saying she was “blindsided” by it.
“Filing a motion against a media outlet to prevent something from being published is something that should rarely if ever happen,” Lightfoot said. “And had I been advised that this was in the works, I would have stopped it in its tracks.”
Lightfoot emphasized that the incident happened before she was mayor and said her administration has made reforms to curb bad police raids, though some have questioned whether the city has done enough.
But even as Lightfoot apologized for the incident, she denounced a question asking why her administration had refused to give Young the video in response to a public records request and falsely said her administration had not received a Freedom of Information Act request from Young.
Young filed a FOIA request seeking a copy of the footage in November 2019, but the city denied her request. City officials also resisted turning the video over to Young as part of the lawsuit, until a judge said they had to under seal, according to the Law Department’s filing.
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Lightfoot lawyers objected to providing Young with a copy of the recordings on the raid at her home because they believed it “was an attempt to provide the media with the body worn camera to paint an inaccurate picture of what happened during the subject search warrant,” their filing said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously fought to keep secret a video showing white police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times, but a county judge ordered his administration to release the video. Emanuel has since been dogged by accusations that he covered up the scandal to preserve his 2015 reelection campaign, an allegation he’s denied.
Chicago has since instituted a rule allowing the release of police shooting videos and audio within 60 days.
In an interview with the Tribune earlier this week, Young’s attorney Keenan Saulter criticized the city for its handling of the situation. Saulter said he believes the city’s motivation was more about keeping an embarrassing incident secret.
“This city has a history of attempting to cover up unfavorable video,” Saulter said. “That’s all we’re dealing with here.”
Following news reports on the issue, other politicians weighed in.
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“Words cannot express the outrage we as Black residents of the City of Chicago feel upon hearing of another tragic incident suffered by a fellow Black Chicagoan, Anjanette Young, at the hands of the Chicago Police Department,” the City Council Black Caucus said in a statement.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who won her first election following public outrage over the McDonald tape and whose reelection was endorsed by Lightfoot, criticized the lack of transparency.
“The audacity that the city calculated its embarrassment over the release of the video is a clear violation of Ms. Young’s body and autonomy. This was a complete and utter dismissal of her humanity,” Foxx said. “Her humanity was, literally, stripped from her. This disturbing video explicitly illustrates who the victim is, who deserves justice, and who holds the power.”
She added: “Let’s be clear, this is her body and this is her trauma. To imagine what Ms. Young experienced at the hands of those who were supposed to protect her is shameful. This is what’s wrong with our criminal justice system, this is why there is a lack of trust.”
This isn’t Lightfoot’s first flap involving the Law Department. City corporation counsel Mark Flessner, a longtime Lightfoot friend, agreed last year to repay the state about $2,500 for the Chicago tax break he received on a South Loop condo while living in west suburban Naperville.
That move came amid questions about whether Flessner was still residing in Naperville while working in the Lightfoot administration in violation of city residency rules. Lightfoot denied Flessner had a residency problem.
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Emanuel had his share of difficulties involving city lawyers.
After a federal judge cited and rebuked five city attorneys for withholding evidence in two separate police misconduct cases, Emanuel said in early 2016 that it was “not possible” his Law Department was part of the cover-up culture that had tainted the Police Department.
But he then reversed course a few days later and initiated his own third-party review of the Law Department’s Federal Civil Rights Litigation division.
Emanuel also faced questions about the way a private lawyer hired by the city treated the mother of 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer.
Court records show an attorney representing the city in the lawsuit filed by Janet Cooksey asked her during a deposition how LeGrier was conceived and if she had engaged in prostitution with LeGrier’s father.
During her run for mayor, Lightfoot campaigned on a pledge to “bring in the light,” and promised to boost transparency at City Hall and reform local government. Since taking office, however, Lightfoot has faced criticism over her handling of some key open government issues.
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Previously, the Illinois attorney general’s office ruled the City Council violated the state’s open meetings law when it held a series of conference calls with Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Lightfoot also has repeatedly refused to release the inspector general’s report on the night former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in his car after drinking at a downtown bar known for heavy pours, despite calls from activists, media outlets and some aldermen to do so.
Lightfoot officials also sought to keep secret a top aide’s email about what he called “The Bet” from just before the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike.
“The Bet: 3 cigars and a bottle of scotch of the winner’s choosing. Under: Strike ends before next Weds. Over: Strike extends past Weds,” the aide wrote in the email, which had “confirming our agreement” in the subject line.
Lightfoot officials later said it was a joke and denied the mayor bet on the strike. But they fought to keep the email secret, denying a Tribune open records request while citing exemptions to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act that protect policymaking discussions and attorney-client privilege.
The Illinois attorney general’s office ruled the redaction improper and ordered the email’s release.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
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jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Dec. 16 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

But a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said there have been no changes to the @ @ @ @ @ been made to the states : the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine , which @ @ @ @ @ went out this week ; the first shipment of a second vaccine from Moderna , @ @ @ @ @ to ship as soon as next week ; and the second shipment of the Pfizer @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday and also would ship next week .

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Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, click here for Thursday’s live blog.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal officials clashed Wednesday over whether the state’s next two shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine were being cut back, putting on display the logistical complications of a massive vaccination distribution effort that’s slowly getting off the ground.
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Pritzker said anticipated shipments nationwide in the next two weeks both have been cut in half, which “will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month roughly by half.” But a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said there have been no changes to the three official allocations that have been made to the states.
Meanwhile, Illinois Veterans’ Affairs officials acknowledged Wednesday that a complaint has been filed with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration over employees who tested positive for COVID-19 but continued to work at the state’s home in LaSalle where a deadly outbreak sickened more than 200 residents and staff members, and 33 residents have died.
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Also on Wednesday, Illinois health officials announced 7,123 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 146 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 870,600 and the statewide death toll to 14,655 since the start of the pandemic.
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:30 p.m. (updated): More Illinois hospitals begin vaccinating health care workers as state and federal officials clash over size of future shipments
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal health officials clashed Wednesday over whether the state’s next two shipments of Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine were being cut back, putting on display the logistical complications of a massive vaccination distribution effort that’s slowly getting off the ground in Illinois.
Pritzker began his daily COVID-19 briefing Wednesday by saying anticipated shipments nationwide in the next two weeks both have been cut in half, which “will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month roughly by half.”
“The same is true across the rest of the nation,” the governor said.
But a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said there have been no changes to the three official allocations that have been made to the states: the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which was allocated Nov. 20 and went out this week; the first shipment of a second vaccine from Moderna, allocated Nov. 27 and set to ship as soon as next week; and the second shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which was allocated Tuesday and also would ship next week.
“Operation Warp Speed remains on track to allocate enough vaccine for about 20 million Americans to receive their first doses before the end of the month,” assuming the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the Moderna vaccine for emergency use later this week, the spokesperson said.
A Pritzker spokeswoman had no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
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The dispute over the number of available vaccine doses comes as public anticipation and media fervor triggered by the vaccine’s arrival in the state butts up against the painstaking process of receiving, repackaging and distributing the highly delicate doses to regional medical centers.
Those 10 large hospitals will serve as hubs for getting the vaccine to the designated local health departments and hospitals in line to receive the initial doses.
Some Illinois hospitals began giving their employees vaccines Wednesday.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella, Lisa Schencker and Gregory Pratt
6:20 p.m.: State VA official acknowledges employees with coronavirus allowed to work at LaSalle home where 33 veterans died
Illinois Veterans’ Affairs officials acknowledged Wednesday that a complaint has been filed with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration over employees who tested positive for COVID-19 but continued to work at the state’s home in LaSalle where a deadly outbreak sickened more than 200 workers and residents.
Staff members at LaSalle were not required to work after testing positive for the virus, but some chose to do so, Tony Kolbeck, chief of staff for the state VA department, said after being asked by legislators at a state House committee hearing whether employees were pressured to stay on the job.
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“There were occasions in the overnight shift in which an individual was alerted that they were positive, they were in the COVID unit already,” Kolbeck said during the nearly four-hour House Veterans’ Affairs committee meeting. “They were asymptomatic and they chose to stay the rest of the shift. If they had not, there may have been a concern about not the proper staff being there in that overnight shift.”
The outbreak at LaSalle was first identified on Oct. 31, when a routine test on a staff member came back positive and a resident who was sent to the hospital for a separate issue tested positive.
Since then, 33 residents have died, and more than 200 residents and staff members have been infected. Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration fired LaSalle home administrator Angela Mehlbrech and placed the nursing director on administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing inspector general’s investigation.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
4:45 p.m.: Chicago Teachers Union says ‘all options’ are on the table if schools can’t reopen safely
Less than 40% of Chicago Public Schools students eligible to begin in-person instruction next year plan to do so.
That’s according to survey data released during Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting – data that also showed a significant disparity in the rate of white students opting to return to schools versus students of color.
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But at the same meeting, Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey indicated the union remains highly skeptical about CPS’s reopening plans and he all options are on the table if the sides can’t reach an agreement on how to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmissions in schools.
Sharkey said options could include those that “would have very real consequences for this whole city.”
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
3:15 p.m.: Three Floyds reportedly closes brewpub — this time for good — due to pandemic
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Three Floyds Brewing said it would close its brewpub and taproom indefinitely due to the virus. Indefinitely has become forever, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana.
The newspaper reported Wednesday afternoon that the iconic northwest Indiana brewery has informed investors that its brewpub, which operated a full kitchen and poured a broad array of Three Floyds beers, will not reopen after being closed for seven months.
“As many of you know, this pandemic has not been kind to the restaurant industry, and we are no exception,” Three Floyds wrote in a letter to investors, according to the Times. “As of December 1, 2020, we have decided to permanently close 3 Floyds Brewpub. This decision was not easy for us, but at the end of the day, the safety of our customers and staff will always be our top priority.”
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Calls to the brewery and its founder, Nick Floyd, were not returned Wednesday.
Read more here. —Josh Noel
2:24 p.m.: Twin Drs. Brandi Jackson and Brittani James discuss COVID-19 and the Black community on Facebook Live
As part of the largest vaccination effort in American history, Chicago and other parts of Illinois began administering the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine this week.
While the pandemic has impacted all of our lives, it has disproportionately affected Black and brown communities.
Over one-third of Black adults said they know someone firsthand who died after contracting COVID-19. This reflects generations-long disinvestment in communities of color – disinvestment rooted in policy that continues in areas of housing, employment, education, food, transportation, small businesses and access to health care.
This harsh reality has been intensified by the racial tension seen across the nation following accounts of police brutality in the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others.
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While some see the vaccine as a silver bullet that will take us back to prepandemic life, others are concerned that the vaccines have been rushed and want to see how the rollout goes before they commit to getting it.
In a recent poll, fewer than half of Black Americans said they would take the vaccine.
Dr. Brandi Jackson, director of Integrative Behavioral Health at Howard Brown Health Center and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Rush University Medical College, and Dr. Brittani James, a family practitioner with the University of Illinois health system and assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, discuss the Black community’s response to the vaccine and the disparities and inequities they’ve seen in the past nine months on Facebook Live.
—Darcel Rockett
1:29 p.m.: Shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly reduced over next two weeks
The next two shipments of the new Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to Illinois and other states have been significantly reduced by the federal government, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday.
”This development will likely cut our state’s project Pfizer shipments this month roughly by half,” Pritzker said at his daily COVID-19 briefing. “The same is true across the rest of the nation.”
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Anticipated deliveries of about 8 million and 9 million doses in the next two weeks both have been cut to 4.3 million, Pritzker said.
Pritzker did not immediately provide a reason for the reduction.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
12:10 p.m.: 7,123 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 146 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 7,123 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 146 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 870,600 and the statewide death toll to 14,655 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 93,278 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 8.5% for the period ending Tuesday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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11:13 a.m.: Chicago teachers union discusses ongoing safety concerns over in-person classes, reiterates demands
The Chicago Teachers Union held an online news conference Wednesday to address its ongoing safety concerns and to reiterate its demands ahead of Chicago Public Schools potentially reopening schools on a hybrid basis Feb. 1.
Numerous teachers and union officials, including its president, Jesse Sharkey, were joined on a Zoom call by environmental consultants to outline what they see as unacceptable conditions that should preclude reopening. Sharkey said there is a path to reopening before widespread access to a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, but that it hinges on a variety of factors which are addressed in a list of demands submitted to CPS by the union.
”The whole point behind the CTU setting out a number of demands is we think we should begin in-person learning when we can meet those demands,” Sharkey said. “We shouldn’t say everyone has to be vaccinated (first). Public health officials are telling us that may take a long time … It depends on there being some guardrails, if you will, that help us be assured of safety, equity and trust.”
Linda Perales, a special education teacher at Corkery Elementary, said that Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS have already made empty promises, among them that teachers would have access to adequate disinfectant wipes and that 400 additional custodians will be hired to keep schools clean and safe. She said each teacher would only get three containers of disinfectant wipes and only a quarter of those 400 janitorial positions have been filled to date.”
In addition, the CDC has told us that we should not interact with anyone outside of our household. And with the current CPS reopening plan, teachers and students will be interacting on a daily basis with multiple people that do not live in their household, who will not be able to wear a mask all day and who will not be able to social distance. So this plan is just truly unsafe,” Perales said.
She also said the demands on teachers to instruct students on basic safety precautions – how to socially distance, wear masks and wash their hands – on top of teaching under the hybrid remote and in-person model, are unsustainable.
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”This is an impossible task. Not to mention that clinicians and special teachers, like art and music, will be travelling to multiple (buildings) which increases the risk for the transmission of COVID-19,” she said. “What we need is a real plan that is safe … and we need a better plan for remote learning.”
Sterling Laylock, a behavioral economist and environmental consultant working with the teachers union, said he’s repeatedly heard school and city officials say they are “following the science,” but he said that’s not accurate.
He is concerned about classroom conditions and remains unconvinced that a study provided by CPS, which relied on an air quality inspection of about 20% of CPS classrooms, is a fair assessment of what conditions will be like once they’re in use.
”We’ve got a lot of inconsistencies and a lot of missing information. If you just simply take a look at how the schools were inspected, they inspected 20% of the classrooms for indoor air quality with no persons present. People are the source of this COVID-19 pollution, when we breathe, when we cough,” he said.
The other 80% of classrooms were evaluated with a walkthrough and visual assessment. But Laylock said that beyond the dangers of COVID-19 transmission once rooms are in use, many of the most toxic gasses are colorless and odorless. By simply looking at an empty classroom, no one can say whether that room will be safe, Laylock said.
”We keep hearing, ‘we’re following the science, we’re following the science.’ Well, that sounds nice but we have to actually do the science – and that’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is a marketing presentation, straight away,” Laylock said.
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Short of ongoing monitoring, he said there is no way to use the visual inspections to extrapolate and say with any certainty what conditions will be like in all classrooms.
”I’m so passionate about it because how will we know where we are, and how will we know what we’re doing, and how will we be able to make any kind of corrective action, especially coupled with the fact that this report is incomplete and it focuses on buildings, not children and the adults that are staff and teachers, that are going to be expected to implement all this stuff,” he said.
—Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
8:38 a.m.: Negotiators nearing agreement on long-delayed COVID-19 aid bill — including direct payments
Top congressional leaders appear closer to an agreement on a long-delayed COVID-19 relief package, hoping to seal an agreement as early as Wednesday that would extend aid to individuals and businesses and help ship coronavirus vaccines to millions.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a coauthor of a $908 billion bipartisan package, said leadership negotiators are closing in on an agreement that would extend direct payments of $500-$600 to most Americans but would deny Democratic negotiators long-sought aid to state and local governments. Manchin credited his bipartisan group with facilitating the breakthrough.
“I think they’re basically now putting it all together,” Manchin said on CNN. “We were able to break the gridlock.”
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Read more here. —Associated Press
7:20 a.m.: Chicago handing out more than $11 million in relief to performance venues, restaurants and bars
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration was slated to announce that more than $11 million in grants is being handed out this week as part of a city COVID-19 relief fund, according to a news release.
The city’s Hospitality Grant Program has handed out grants of $10,000 to 995 restaurants and bars and grants of at least $10,000 to 100 performing arts venues, according to the release.
The grant money is designed to help those most affected “throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, especially following recent state-wide mitigation measures that have closed indoor service and performances,” according to the release.
The City Council was expected Wednesday to pass ordinances to give what Lightfoot’s office calls “regulatory relief” to businesses, including extending license expiration dates to July 21, after capping fees charged by third-party food delivery companies.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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5 a.m.: ‘Project Cheer’ making Christmas a little brighter for Decatur restaurant employees
A group of anonymous donors are serving up a bit of Christmas cheer to local restaurant and bar employees affected by COVID-19 restrictions, and helping other businesses in the process.
“The mitigation measures faced by the restaurant and bar establishments has taken both a human and economic toll. With the holiday season upon us, our support is needed now more than ever,” said a news release from the Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce announcing the Project Cheer initiative.
Working with the owners of restaurants that are members of the Chamber, employees most in need were identified to be among the beneficiaries of donations totaling more than $22,000.
The gifts, in the form of Metro Money, are being delivered to the recipients this week. Metro Money can be redeemed at over 45 local businesses and are treated just like cash.
“This gift allows those employees the opportunity to purchase food, Christmas gifts, whatever is needed to lighten their load this December while also putting dollars back into our local community,” the release stated.
The effort grew out of inquiries from Chamber members about ways of helping those in the local restaurant industry.
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The Chamber partnered with the United Way of Decatur and Mid-Illinois to accept additional donations.
—Decatur Herald & Review, via Tribune Content Agency
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five things that happened Tuesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-12-18--Second teen charged with botched carjacking that killed retired Chicago firefighter

They waited for him to come out and three of them left the Ford and confronted Williams , 65 .
@ @ @ @ @ from his waistband and exchanged gunfire , police said .
Williams was hit once in @ @ @ @ @ The three got back into the car and sped down Artesian Avenue .

Two days after the arrest of a 15-year-old boy, a second teen has been charged with a botched carjacking that killed a retired Chicago firefighter on the Southwest Side earlier this month.
Police say Dwain Johnson, 18, of Gary, drove the getaway car after three others confronted Dwain Williams as he walked out of his favorite popcorn shop on the Southwest Side earlier this month.
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He was charged with first-degree murder, vehicle hijacking and unlawful use of an automatic weapon. Prosecutors said he admitted his role in the attack after confronted with video and other evidence placing him at the scene.
Dwain Johnson, 18, who also goes by Dwain Cunigan, was charged with first-degree murder, vehicle hijacking and unlawful use of an automatic weapon for the fatal shooting of retired Chicago Fire Department lieutenant Dwain Williams, 65, on Dec. 3, 2020 at 2402 W. 118th St. Chicago police said. (Chicago police / HANDOUT)
Johnson, who also goes by the last name Cunigan, was out on a juvenile warrant at the time for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon, according to Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy.
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Around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 3, Johnson, the 15-year-old and two others were in a stolen black Ford Fusion when they spotted Williams driving a maroon Jeep Grand Cherokee and followed him to a popcorn shop in the 2400 block of West 118th Street in the Beverly Woods neighborhood.
They waited for him to come out, and three of them left the Ford and confronted Williams, 65. He pulled out a revolver from his waistband and exchanged gunfire, police said. Williams was hit once in the abdomen and collapsed. The three got back into the car, and Johnson sped down Artesian Avenue.
Police found Williams lying on the pavement next to his Jeep with his revolver close by. Three types of shell casings were found at the scene: 9 mm, .40 caliber and .38 caliber.
Detectives reviewed security video to track the movement of the victim and suspects. Johnson was seen driving the Fusion and staying inside during the attack, Murphy said. He then “makes good their escape.”
Johnson was arrested on Wednesday during execution of a search warrant for an unrelated case, he said. Police found two guns and linked one of them to the murder of Williams. Johnson’s Facebook profile and other information was found on the cellphone of the 15-year-old, whose fingerprints were found on the hood and inside the Fusion, Murphy said.
After being arrested, Johnson made “detailed admissions” that he was the driver and was involved in the plan to carjack Williams, Murphy said.
Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler told the court that, before the pandemic hit, Johnson had been attending high school, where he was a senior, and living with his mother in Gary. Earlier this year, he was shot and spent a week in a hospital.
Before that, he had been working at a Chuck E. Cheese as a game manager, Koehler said.
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Denying bond, Judge Charles Beach II called Johnson a danger to the community. “This was a coordinated effort,” Beach said.
On Thursday, police announced murder charges against the 15-year-old, saying he was known to authorities as a member of a “crew” that stole cars in the south suburbs.
Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said investigators, including the FBI and south suburban police departments, learned the four were involved in other carjackings and auto thefts.


chicagotribune--2020-12-18--Daywatch: Fallout from botched CPD raid continues, public could get COVID-19 vaccine at drugstores b

Daywatch: Fallout from botched CPD raid continues, public could get COVID-19 vaccine at drugstores by spring and our critic’s top 10 movies of 2020

Police say a 15-year-old boy charged with an attempted carjacking that took the life of a retired Chicago firefighter was @ @ @ @ @ member of a “ crew ” that stole cars in the south suburbs .
But @ @ @ @ @ said they wondered whether a suspect so young fully realized the consequences of what he @ @

Good morning, Chicago. On Thursday, Illinois health officials announced 8,828 new cases of COVID-19 and 181 additional fatalities. Meanwhile, the state ramped up its vaccination effort, even as questions remain about just how many doses the federal government will send in the coming weeks.
Also on Thursday, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board declined to pursue an injunction sought by the Chicago Teachers Union, clearing a hurdle for Chicago Public Schools to move forward with its plans to reopen schools in the new year.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a news conference at City Hall on Dec. 17, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her administration will no longer withhold video from residents seeking police records about their cases and acknowledged that the city’s handling of a wrongful raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home harmed her relationship with Chicagoans.
The comments came as Lightfoot spent a third day dealing with continued criticism about her response to revelations about the February 2019 raid where Young was handcuffed naked by officers who had wrongly entered her home.
Editorial: Count the failures in CPD’s botched raid. There are plenty.
In other CPD news, the controversial president of the Chicago police union is facing possible dismissal for offensive posts on social media.
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine vial after being administered Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 at Roseland Community Hospital on Chicago's Far South Side. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
With health care workers the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and residents and staff of longterm care facilities next, Americans are asking when it will be their turn to get a dose.
Walgreens and CVS Health predict the vaccine will be available to the public during the spring, and patients will most likely be able to make appointments to get the shots at pharmacies.
The head of the FDA said that his agency will move to quickly authorize the second COVID-19 vaccine, hours after the shot won the key endorsement of a government advisory panel.
Dwain Williams, a retired Chicago Fire Department lieutenant, was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with carjackers in the 2400 block of West 118th Street. (Family photo)
Police say a 15-year-old boy charged with an attempted carjacking that took the life of a retired Chicago firefighter was known to authorities as a member of a “crew” that stole cars in the south suburbs. But the family of Dwain Williams said they wondered whether a suspect so young fully realized the consequences of what he did.
“We are, of course, saddened that this was a child,” said Williams’ daughter, Dakeeda Williams-Barton. “I’m very disheartened that this was essentially a baby that has — I don’t even know if they understand the repercussion their actions have caused.”
A FedEx employee delivers a package in the Edgewater Glen neighborhood on Dec. 16, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
With less than a week to go before Christmas Eve, anyone who’s still scouring the internet for the perfect gift may want to get in the car and head for a store or start making IOU’s.
Record online sales have led to the crush of packages at shipping companies and the U.S. Postal Service that was predicted a month ago. As a result, merchants of all sizes are issuing warnings and apologies to consumers, who are turning to social media to complain.
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Micheal Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn in "Lovers Rock." (Parisa Taghizadeh / TNS)
Tribune film critic Michael Phillips’ picks for the 10 best movies of 2020 include Steve McQueen’s five-film anthology “Small Axe,” Chicago documentary “City So Real” and Julia Garner in “The Assistant.” See his full list here.


chicagotribune--2020-12-18--Column: Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive could be upended by anti-Huppke oligarch’s generous of

Column: Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive could be upended by anti-Huppke oligarch’s generous offer

Beyond that , I ’ ll sit down with the top five donors from each team via Zoom and have @ @ @ @ @ .
You can yell at me , ask me whatever you want , make fun @ @ @ @ @ just let me regale you with tales of my upbringing in the swamps of central @ @ @ @ @ self-esteem got eaten by a gator .

Volunteers Richard Calhoun, left, and John Lattyak prepare food for distribution at the food pantry at Harmony Community Church in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood on Dec. 9, 2020. The Greater Chicago Food Depository supplies the food pantry. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Third Annual Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive is a little more than halfway done, and I’m shocked and appalled to report that the RexRocks team is trouncing the RexStinks team. It’s not even close.
But that could soon change.
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Someone I’ll refer to only as “an area oligarch” has decided to rally the RexStinks team with an offer I’ll refer to only as “outrageously generous.”
________
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Columns are opinion content that reflect the views of the writers.
________
The person will start by making a $10,000 donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository under the RexStinks team name. That’s amazing, and will help feed Chicagoans facing food insecurity, but it won’t come close to evening the score. The RexRocks team currently leads the Rex Stinks team by more than $92,000!
(You won’t find a bigger Rex Huppke critic than me and my vast personal collection of insecurities, and I can assure you there is NO WAY I’m $92,000 above stinking. On a good day, I might be, say, $1.50 above stinking. And that’s being generous.)
The second phase of this kind (to everyone except me) one-percenter’s plan is this: He’ll match donations to the RexStinks team up to $50,000. That means if you donate $50 to the Food Depository under the RexStinks team name, this person will put in an additional $50. If people who rightfully loathe me wind up donating a total of $50,000, the oligarch will match that amount, easily pulling the RexStinks team back into contention.
The total raised so far in this year’s drive is more than $104,000, which is outstanding and translates to about 312,000 meals. The Food Depository supplies hundreds of food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens, all of which have seen sharp increases in demand this year as the coronavirus pandemic left many jobless or facing reduced work hours.
Should the aforementioned oligarch’s devious plot to serve me my just desserts prevail, the virtual food drive could raise more than $200,000. And if the RexRocks team can’t muster enough grassroots support, or an oligarch of its own, the RexStinks team might finally prevail.
To that end, let me remind everyone of the stakes in this year’s Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive.
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There’s the core offer: If the RexStinks team wins, I’ll write a column degrading myself and highlighting my every flaw — a truly brutal, public takedown of my wretchedness.
If the RexRocks team wins, I’ll write a column praising myself in ways that would make President Donald Trump, an unparalleled narcissist, say, “Wow, that seems a bit much.”
Beyond that, I’ll sit down with the top five donors from each team via Zoom and have a 10- or 15-minute chat. You can yell at me, ask me whatever you want, make fun of my stupid face or just let me regale you with tales of my upbringing in the swamps of central Florida and the time my self-esteem got eaten by a gator.
The next five highest donors from each group will receive a video of me saying whatever they want me to say. Maybe you know someone who likes the columns (I realize this is unlikely). I’ll gladly record a video giving that person a shoutout.
If you know someone who despises me, I will recite for that person whatever you want me to recite (as long as it’s trashing me and not others), and as a special bonus, I’ll have a family member splash cold water in my face. My self-degradation and physical discomfort will be HILARIOUS!
Greater Chicago Food Depository officials will reach out to the top 10 donors from each team, so your email information — necessary for setting up a Zoom call or sending a video message — will come to me ONLY if you give the depository permission.
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To all those who take time throughout the year to remind me that I’m an abysmal failure and an embarrassment to my ancestors, this is your moment. One of your own is ready and willing to match your donations and bring an end to my illogical reign of awesomeness.
And for those who enjoy my blathering, this is your chance to stand up and defend my honor, of which I have none.
Donate under RexStinks! Donate under RexRocks! I don’t care, it’s all going to help people who are unquestionably more important than I am.
We’ll run the food drive through Dec. 31. You can donate at this link: http://myfooddrive.org/#InsultRex.
I encourage you to share this column and that link with as many people as possible.
Thank you, and may the best (or worst) oligarch win.
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-18--Controversial president of Chicago police union faces possible firing over inflammatory posts on soc

Controversial president of Chicago police union faces possible firing over inflammatory posts on social media

“ The specific posts that were even mentioned in the complaint were some of the most egregious , violent stories @ @ @ @ @ personal comments and observations on , ” he said .
“ I have no doubt @ @ @ @ @ department as a whole and their ( FOP ) membership will get that this is @ @ @ @ @ this is not any credible complaint that even approaches any major discipline , let alone @ @ @ @ @ honest with you .

John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, is facing possible dismissal from the Chicago Police Department for offensive posts on social media, it was disclosed at the monthly meeting of the city’s police disciplinary panel.
The case could be decided by the full Chicago Police Board in the coming months.
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Chicago police Superintendent David Brown was overruled by a member of the panel in deciding a punishment for Catanzara, leader of the largest union of Chicago police officers.
According to information from the Police Board made public late Thursday, Catanzara in 2016 posted offensive messages on Facebook. One message read, “Wtf its seriously time to kill these (expletives),” without mentioning exactly who Catanzara was writing about.
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In another post in 2017, according to the board, Catanzara made a statement on Facebook that was disparaging to Muslims, reading, “Savages they all deserve a bullet.” Catanzara did not become FOP president until May.
Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7 President John Catanzara Jr. gives an interview at his office in the 1400 block of West Washington Boulevard on June 18, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Sydney Roberts, chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, recommended earlier this year that Catanzara be fired in the case while Brown disagreed, calling for a one-year suspension.
But after Police Board member Andrea Zopp was randomly chosen to review the case, per city ordinance, she announced at the board’s monthly meeting Thursday night that Brown was not persuasive enough to overcome COPA’s recommendation. This means the case will be decided in the coming months by the board’s eight other members.
“After considering this matter, it is my opinion that the superintendent did not meet the burden of overcoming the chief administrator’s recommendation for discipline,” said Zopp, a former deputy mayor under Mayor Rahm Emanuel who is president and CEO of World Business Chicago. “Based on the facts and circumstances of this matter, an evidentiary hearing before the Police Board is necessary to determine whether Officer Catanzara violated any of the Police Department’s rules of conduct.”
Zopp’s decision does not mean that COPA’s findings in the case were correct and that Brown’s rationale was wrong. But it sets the stage for a historic disciplinary hearing that could determine whether Catanzara should lose his job as a Chicago cop. He’s accused by COPA of several Police Department violations, including bringing discredit to the department and failing to promote the department’s efforts to accomplish its goals.
Reached by phone Thursday night, Catanzara did not dispute writing any of the Facebook posts but said many of them were him defending himself on social media. He said he was upset by disturbing material he had seen on Facebook when he made the comments.
“The specific posts that were even mentioned in the complaint were some of the most egregious, violent stories that I made my own personal comments and observations on,” he said. “I have no doubt that the (police) department as a whole and their (FOP) membership will get that this is purely retaliatory nonsense, that this is not any credible complaint that even approaches any major discipline, let alone even minor to be quite honest with you.
“But I was harassed repeatedly. My significant other at the time was insulted for her Mexican heritage by this clown (another Facebook user) via Facebook to the point where he had to get blocked by both of us,” Catanzara added. “So there was an ongoing situation.”
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Catanzara also said that if he were to be fired, it would not affect his right to run the FOP. “This has no relevance or even future ramifications for me continuing and finishing out my term as the president of Lodge 7,” he said.
But the case against Catanzara also refers to allegations that he made several statements on Facebook that were “disrespectful to CPD management,” including one 2017 post where he called superior officers “spineless.”
A spokesman for Brown declined to comment on Thursday night’s Catanzara decision. But COPA released a statement praising Zopp’s decision to move the case to the rest of the nine-member Police Board.
“The conduct by the officer expressed bias and animosity toward various minority groups which is especially problematic in a city as diverse as Chicago and negatively impacts the Department’s ability to effectively serve its residents,” Ephraim Eaddy, COPA’s spokesman, said in a prepared statement.
That case was an especially unusual one for Brown, who as Chicago’s top cop has tried to work with Catanzara in his capacity as FOP president to not alienate the Police Department’s thousands of rank-and-file officers, including those who supported Catanzara in the last union election. But Catanzara has had an extremely contentious relationship with Brown’s boss, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, whose administration is in the middle of tense contract negotiations with the police union.
COPA records show the case stems from a complaint filed by Catanzara’s commander in 2017 who accused him of expressing “bigoted views on social media,” including making “hostile remarks against Muslims, sexist remarks about women and liberals, and remarks about (former first lady) Michelle Obama.” The commander also alleged Catanzara used social media to call for “the murder of college students” and made “defamatory statements against those participating in social programs, and stated that officers should not attempt to chase offenders.”
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Catanzara was also accused in the complaint of sending “inappropriate emails to Hubbard High School staff, in that the accused officer accuses (Chicago Public Schools) staff of racist tactics, questions their recruitment process, and identifies himself as a Chicago Police Officer while doing so.” That part of the allegations was not specifically referenced Thursday.
Hubbard High School is pictured on Dec. 17, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Around the time the commander filed the complaint, Catanzara posted a photo of himself on Facebook in an apparent protest of NFL players who knelt during the national anthem at the start of football games. The photo showed him in uniform holding an American flag as he stood in front of a marked Chicago police SUV.
The Police Department issued Catanzara a reprimand — among the lightest punishments a Chicago cop can face — for violating rules that prohibit officers from participating in any partisan political campaign or activity while on duty.
Overall, he has a lengthy history of complaints filed against him since becoming a Chicago cop in 1995. Records obtained by the Tribune show by the end of mid-2017, he had amassed at least 35 complaints, many for personnel violations. He’s also been suspended several times in his career, and past police superintendents have tried twice to fire him.
In August 2008, then-Superintendent Jody Weis sought Catanzara’s firing on allegations that he did not follow orders to complete a psychological exam, according to Police Board records. But in February 2009, the board cleared Catanzara in a 5-3 decision.
Three years later, then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy tried to fire him for working a side job as a security guard for a restaurant when he was supposed to be on medical leave for a back injury. The Police Board found him guilty in that case of several Police Department violations, board records show. But instead of firing him, the board voted 7-2 to suspend Catanzara for 20 days.
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In May, Catanzara won a runoff election to become the next FOP president, defeating then-incumbent Kevin Graham. Catanzara received close to 55% of the vote, garnering 4,709 votes to Graham’s 3,872, according to the union.
At the time, Catanzara was relieved of his police powers and under investigation by the Police Department on allegations related to a 2018 police report he filed against then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Catanzara accused him of breaking the law by allowing marchers onto the Dan Ryan Expressway to protest city violence.
That complaint remains under investigation by the Police Department’s internal affairs bureau.
Thursday night’s decision also marked the third time in two months that a Police Board member overruled Brown in officer misconduct cases in which he sought more lenient punishments for cops who COPA investigators felt should be fired. In October, Police Board members determined Brown did not meet “his burden of overcoming” COPA’s recommendations that three officers in two 2018 shootings be fired. Those two cases will also be presented to the rest of the board members in the coming months.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-18--The Spin: CPD raid fallout continues | Cook County approves Juneteenth as paid day off for county go

The Spin: CPD raid fallout continues | Cook County approves Juneteenth as paid day off for county government workers | Questions remain about future coronavirus vaccine shipments.

* The Civic Federation has sent out a save the date for an event next month , when the group @ @ @ @ @ top public health officials who have been out front in the state ’ s and @ @ @ @ @ fight COVID-19 .
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Chicago Department @ @ @ @ @ Allison Arwady are scheduled to be honored with the 29th Annual Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence @ @ @ @ @ a Jan. 27 virtual event , according to an email the Civic Foundation sent out @ @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot reads a statement concerning a video of Chicago police mistakenly searching the wrong house, during a news conference at City Hall on Dec. 16, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Fallout from the 2019 errant raid on a Chicago social worker’s home continued Thursday, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised the city would begin releasing residents’ records of their interactions with police.
Local health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties took in another combined 43,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, rounding out the 86,000 state officials were expecting this week, which is separate from the direct shipment Chicago received, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. Questions, nevertheless, remain about just how many doses the federal government will send Illinois over the coming weeks.
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And the Cook County Board voted to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for county government workers.
Welcome to The Spin.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot reads a statement concerning a video of Chicago police mistakenly searching the wrong house, during a news conference at City Hall on Dec. 16, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and Jeremy Gorner: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said her administration will no longer withhold video from residents seeking police records about their cases and acknowledged that the city’s handling of a wrongful raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home harmed her relationship with Chicagoans.
“The comments came as Lightfoot spent a third day dealing with continued criticism about her response to revelations about the February 2019 raid where Young was handcuffed naked by officers who had wrongly entered her home.
“‘There’s a lot of trust that’s been breached, and I know there’s a lot of trust in me that’s been breached, and I have a responsibility to build back that trust,’ she said.” Read the rest here.
* ‘We are saddened this was a child,’ says family of retired Chicago firefighter after 15-year-old boy charged in fatal attempted carjacking
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A classroom sits empty at King Elementary on the first day of school for Chicago Public Schools on Sept. 8, 2020. No students were in school as they do remote learning. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Hannah Leone: “The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on Thursday declined to pursue an injunction sought by the Chicago Teachers Union, clearing a hurdle for Chicago Public Schools to move forward with its plans to reopen schools in the new year.
“Unwilling to accept defeat, the CTU is escalating its fight for staff and students to return to classrooms only when the union agrees it’s safe.
“With unresolved factual disputes between the union and school district, the labor board decided the case fell short of legal requirements for seeking an injunction from the Illinois attorney general.
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In a 2-1 vote, the board agreed with general counsel Ellen Strizak’s recommendation to deny the request. Strizak said the union had not established reasonable cause to believe CPS had violated the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and that a hearing was needed to resolve factual disputes.” Read the rest here.
Co-workers Tejal Patel, seated from left, Michele Mazurek and Sunita Mohpatra get their COVID vaccinations at the same time at Mount Sinai Hospital on Dec. 17, 2020, in Chicago. "Sinai Chicago plans to offer the vaccines based on FDA and CDC recommendations for distribution," Tejal Patel, system director of inpatient pharmacy and respiratory services. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Jamie Munks, John Keilman and Sarah Freishtat: “Illinois ramped up its statewide vaccination effort with a focus on front-line health care workers Thursday, even as questions remain about just how many doses the federal government will send the state in the coming weeks.
“On Thursday, the local health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties took in another combined 43,000 doses, rounding out the 86,000 state officials were expecting this week, which is separate from the direct shipment Chicago received, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
“‘All shipments arrived safely and securely at their destinations over the course of the last two days,’ Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing in Chicago.
“The 43,000 vaccines the state took in at the Illinois Strategic National Stockpile on Monday were distributed to 10 regional hospital centers across the state and directly to DuPage County, and from there to 45 counties and local health departments, and ultimately to 77 hospitals statewide, Pritzker said.” Read the rest here.
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* The Civic Federation has sent out a save the date for an event next month, when the group is scheduled to honor two top public health officials who have been out front in the state’s and city’s efforts to fight COVID-19. Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady are scheduled to be honored with the 29th Annual Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award during a Jan. 27 virtual event, according to an email the Civic Foundation sent out Thursday afternoon.
* 9 Chicago businesses cited for COVID-19 violations, including 5 for allowing indoor dining or drinking
* Walgreens, CVS predict COVID-19 vaccines will be available to the general public by appointment at pharmacies by spring
Illinois politicians including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle march on Columbus Drive in observance of the Juneteenth holiday at Grant Park in Chicago on June 19, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Alice Yin: “The Cook County Board voted Thursday to recognize Juneteenth as an official paid holiday for county government employees starting next year, following a year marked by racial justice protests over high-profile killings of Black people.
“In 2021, Juneteenth will be designated as one of 14 government holidays granted to all Cook County workers, making it the country’s largest populated county to grant a paid day off to celebrate both Black Americans’ freedom from slavery and their contributions to the nation. Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the measure, which outlines the centuries of mistreatment America has dealt on Black people.
“That sullied history stretches to this year’s killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police as well as Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting by two white men, the ordinance acknowledges.
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“‘This year, Cook County and the nation have experienced unprecedented racial and civil unrest,’ lead co-sponsor Commissioner Stanley Moore said. ‘The call to recognize Juneteenth in light of these unfortunate events is stronger than ever. The passage of this ordinance is the first step towards the healing process for African Americans and for all.’” Find the rest of the story here.
* Also from Yin: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s South Cook Fair Transit pilot to slash certain Metra fares gets final green light without CTA participation
An aerial view of the proposed site for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park in Chicago on May 13, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Also from Alice Yin: “A federal review into the historic effects of former President Barack Obama’s proposed presidential center in Jackson Park officially concluded Thursday afternoon, further dashing hopes of opposition groups troubled by the impact of future construction on the storied South Side park.
“Officials finalized a memorandum of agreement that caps off the presidential center’s three-year Section 106 federal review, the longest out of several triggered by the Obama Foundation’s decision to locate the future complex on historic property. Other reviews into mitigating environmental impacts as well as protecting public parkland remain ongoing, although the foundation announced earlier this month that groundbreaking for the center is slated to begin in 2021.
“The $500 million Obama Presidential Center is expected to be a sprawling campus that will house the Obama Foundation offices and include spaces for large gatherings, an athletic center and a public library branch. In addition, the campus will have outdoor recreation areas including a sledding hill and walking paths.” Read the rest here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.