chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Column: Celebrating death is long-standing ritual of Chicago’s culture of violence

Before many of the details were known , I wrote a column in the form of an open letter to @ @ @ @ @ knew it was unlikely they would see it .
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Most Chicagoans will never understand our city’s culture of violence.
For those who live in neighborhoods far away from the daily killings, the murders that pervade our city are like an apparition that both intrigues and frightens us but never gets close enough to touch us directly.
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Since the video of young people partying on the Northwest Side during the pandemic went viral last week, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what must have been going through the minds of those 100 or so attendees.
Before many of the details were known, I wrote a column in the form of an open letter to the participants, though I knew it was unlikely they would see it. There is nothing else I can say to them, but there is much more they could say to us.
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Tink Purcell prompted a long overdue conversation with Chicagoans last week when she spoke to a writer at The Triibe. The digital platform is a unique forum in which African American millennials address issues that most affect their lives. They do it in their own voices, for an audience that is largely ignored or misunderstood.
Purcell, who recorded the party on Facebook Live, told writer Vee L. Harrison that she lost two friends to gun violence in 2018. The 26-year-old said she and her friends decided to go ahead with plans to honor them with a party in Galewood, despite the city’s shelter-in-place rule that forbids such large gatherings.
Some people thought that reasoning was ridiculous. But for many young people whose lives have been breached by violence, celebrating death is a revered ritual. Such parties, often held on the victim’s birthday or anniversary of their death, are the only way survivors can pay homage to their deceased friends and keep their memory alive.
It is rare to find young people in urban Chicago who have not been touched by violence in some way or another. Seven years ago, while visiting Harper High School in Englewood, then-first lady Michelle Obama asked students how many of them had been affected by gun violence. Everyone in the room raised their hand.
Students who were there said the first lady cried. She had not expected such a response. Indeed, all of us are astounded by how violence disrupts the lives of nearly every urban child, whether they are directly involved in the killings or not.
But young people are resilient. With no access to professional counseling, they deal with grief the best they can, creating their own playbook for survival.
I learned about many of the customs born out of Chicago’s violence while spending months at a time reporting on youth homicides in the Pill Hill community on the South Side and in North Lawndale on the West Side.
Those stories, published in the Tribune in 2013 and 2017, revealed a subculture of death, mourning and revenge established by young people in an attempt to survive, both emotionally and physically, in a city where death likely will come knocking before they reach adulthood.
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The teenagers I got to know in Pill Hill, a once affluent black enclave that was home to doctors, nurses and pharmacists decades ago, started out as innocent kids like yours, full of life and eager to embrace what their promising futures once held.
But the innocence slowly slipped away, after they witnessed the death of a friend whom they had known nearly all their lives. That was in the summer of 2012.
The teenagers I wrote about, a 17-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, were walking home from a store with their friend, 17-year-old Derrick Davis, when a white Buick pulled up. The driver pointed a handgun out the window and fired.
Derrick fell to the ground with a bullet wound to his head. The young man knelt beside his best friend, lifted his head from the ground and cradled him. Derrick died in his arms, and a part of this young man died along with him.
Shortly afterward, the celebratory ritual of death began. Before the blood could dry on the sidewalk, people in the neighborhood had marked the spot with candles, photographs and 25 to 30 empty malt liquor bottles.
The teenager rode to the funeral in the family limousine. He was a pallbearer, and like the other boys carrying the casket, he wore a specially made T-shirt with Derrick’s picture on the front. For months afterward, the teenager wore the T-shirt like a uniform. Then it was put away and worn only on Derrick’s birthday.
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Before long, the young man would get tattoos memorializing his slain friend. His sister got a tattoo that covered her forearm, with the words, RIP D-Baby, above a pair of praying hands.
On Derrick’s birthday, the teenagers told me about the party they were planning. I could come, they said, but they warned that I probably wouldn’t feel comfortable because there would be drinking and marijuana smoking. I gracefully declined.
It was clear that while it was billed as a party, the event was really a memorial. They relived that bitter afternoon in 2012 every day of their lives, just as you and I would if we were to experience such a tragedy.
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The damage to the teenage boy ran so deep that no one could help him, though many tried. “I was right there. It could have been me,” he once told his mother. He has spent years afterward in and out of jail.
No matter what they did, Derrick lingered in their hearts and consumed their minds. They were crippled by anger, and perhaps guilt that they survived and he did not.
The T-shirts with his picture were not enough. The tattoos that covered their bodies were not enough. Even retaliation couldn’t relieve the pain. So they celebrated a canceled birthday once a year. On this day, they could laugh about the good times, and forget about the bad.
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Of course, Tink and her friends should have put their party on hold. But there is one thing we know for sure. During this pandemic, there will be others. Police broke up several house parties across the city over the weekend. The mayor’s threat of jail is not an effective deterrent.
Too many young people in our city were in the grips of a deadly pandemic long before COVID-19. For them, the coronavirus isn’t nearly as dangerous as the virus of violence, which has consumed their neighborhoods and threatens to wipe out their entire generation.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--After winter apart, piping plovers Monty and Rose reunite at Montrose Beach

Like last summer , protective measures will be implemented as soon as any eggs are laid , Clemency said .
@ @ @ @ @ Resources biologist will place a cage over the nest to deter prowling predators while Monty @ @ @ @ @ incubation duty .
USDA biologists will also put up a camera for nest monitoring .

Imani, a piping plover, stands in the water in the Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area on July 27, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Their timing is impeccable.
After wintering far away from Lake Michigan, Monty and Rose, the federally endangered piping plovers who fledged two chicks last summer on Montrose Beach, have each flown across the country to end up together again on the same patch of Chicago sand.
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The birds are believed to have reached Montrose by Thursday or early Friday. The Chicago Park District has been keeping a lookout, and the couple was spotted by the end of the week on the now deserted beach.
Monty and Rose, now weighing about a half stick of butter each, are not wasting any time.
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The birds have already been spotted “engaging in courtship behavior,” which involves making scrapes in the sand, said Louise Clemency, a field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Like last summer, protective measures will be implemented as soon as any eggs are laid, Clemency said. An Illinois Department of Natural Resources biologist will place a cage over the nest to deter prowling predators while Monty and Rose take turns on incubation duty. USDA biologists will also put up a camera for nest monitoring.
All partners will be following coronavirus precautions, Clemency said.
In recent weeks, plover enthusiasts have pinned their hopes on the birds’ return. Plovers often fly back to spots where they’ve successfully nested, and last summer, after ruffling feathers over a music festival, Monty and Rose did just that on the North Side beach.
The Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team bands endangered piping plover chicks in Michigan on July 6, 2019.
By Friday, some birders were ready to pop champagne.
Tamima Itani, of the Illinois Ornithological Society, said she was starting to worry Monty had not yet appeared.
“But now they’re both back, and it’s kind of amazing,” Itani said.
Rose wintered in Florida. It’s unclear where Monty has been in recent months, maybe somewhere along the Gulf Coast near Texas, Itani said.
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“Yet somehow they managed to be back at Montrose within a 48-hour window of each other,” Itani said. “It’s really a big sense of relief.”
Chicago naturalist and longtime Montrose Beach Dunes steward Leslie Borns said the birds’ return was validation of what the stewardship program and the Park District have been able to accomplish.
“To think that Monty and Rose survived the winter and their long spring migration and returned to this one place along the entire Lake Michigan coast!” Borns said in an email. “I am over the moon.”


chicagotribune--2020-05-05--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Pritzker reports 2,341 new known COVID-19 cases as well as 46 addit

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Pritzker reports 2,341 new known COVID-19 cases as well as 46 additional fatalities, the lowest daily death toll in two weeks

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
While cautioning against reading too much into single statistics, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that the number of people hospitalized with the new coronavirus and the percentage of intensive care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients are down from a week ago.
The governor also announced 2,341 new known cases, along with 46 more deaths. That brings the overall count of known cases to 63,840 and the death toll to 2,662 statewide since the start of the pandemic. The 46 deaths reported Monday is the lowest total for a 24-hour period since April 19.
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Meanwhile, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday that the city of Chicago has reached 1,000 COVID-19 deaths. Lightfoot said the city hasn’t experienced the scale of tragedy of other cities such as New York, in part due to the city’s efforts on bending the disease’s growth curve by encouraging people to stay home.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
[ From closing schools to stay-at-home order, here's how Illinois' coronavirus response compares with other states ]
Here’s a recap of what happened May 4 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
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9:05 p.m.: McHenry drive-in theater to reopen this weekend under new exception to state’s coronavirus shutdown
A drive-in movie theater owner in far northwest suburban McHenry said he plans to reopen Friday after getting the go-ahead to open despite the Illinois coronavirus business shutdown.
Illinois Department of Public Health officials confirmed the McHenry Outdoor Theater may open under updated guidance issued Saturday by the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Read more here. — Robert McCoppin
7:30 p.m.: United Airlines plans to cut more than 3,400 management jobs. Chicago could be especially hard-hit.
United Airlines plans to eliminate more than 3,400 management and administrative positions Oct. 1 as the airline reels from the coronavirus pandemic that has brought air travel to an almost standstill. Chicago, United’s hometown, could be especially hard-hit.
“We have to acknowledge that there will be serious consequences to our company if we don’t continue to take strong and decisive action, which includes making decisions that none of us ever wanted or expected to make,” Kate Gebo, the airline’s executive vice president of human resources and labor relations, said in a memo to employees on Monday.
The cuts represent 30% of United’s roughly 11,500 management and administrative employees. Most of those working at the company’s Willis Tower headquarters are in management or administration. Employees affected by the cuts, which go into effect Oct. 1, will be notified in July, Gebo said.
United expects to announce a voluntary separation package for domestic management and administrative employees in mid-May, Gebo said in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune. Employees who take the offer will be able to keep travel privileges and medical benefits for an extended period, along with “some continuation of pay,” she said. Starting Oct. 1, the company will no longer offer management and administrative employees cash severance packages. Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
7:08 p.m.: How might graduation look for the class of 2020? Illinois officials offer guidance
High schools across the country are trying to figure out alternative ways to honor their graduating seniors. Illinois’ state education authority is now offering some guidance.
Commencement ceremonies could be virtual or even drive-in or drive-through, the Illinois State Board of Education said in guidelines it issued with the state health department.
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But the thing that epitomizes what a graduation ceremony is all about – the handing out of the diplomas – won’t be happening. And there won’t be handshakes or hugs. Read more here. —Hannah Leone
6:20 p.m.: Northwest Illinois church to appeal federal judge’s denial of temporary restraining order and injunction against Pritzker’s stay-at-home order
An evangelical church in northwest Illinois on Monday filed its intent to appeal a federal judge’s denial of a temporary restraining order and injunction against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order in a ruling issued this weekend that found the order does not violate religious freedom.
In a lawsuit filed April 30, the roughly 80-person church accused Pritzker – whose order has prohibited large in-person religious services during the COVID-19 pandemic – of demonstrating “illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith.” The complaint took particular issue with the governor’s designation of other select businesses, such as liquor stores and dog groomers, as essential.
The governor’s office released a modified stay-at-home order on April 30 – the same day the church’s lawsuit was filed -- that expressly lists the “free exercise of religion” as an essential activity. Under the extended order, gatherings of more than 10 individuals are still prohibited.
In his 37-page decision denying the Beloved Church an injunction, U.S. District Court Judge John Z. Lee referred to the worship formats permitted by Pritzker’s order as “imperfect substitutes” for traditional services.
“Still, given the continuing threat posed by COVID-19, the Order preserves relatively robust avenues for praise, prayer and fellowship and passes constitutional muster,” Lee wrote.
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The Beloved Church on Sunday went ahead and held an in-person service attended by about 60 to 80 people, “with social distancing,” said Tom Ciesielka, a spokesman for the Thomas More Society, a conservative public interest law firm in Chicago that is representing the church and its pastor, Stephen Cassell.
The church’s filing said the appeal would go to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. —Antonia Ayres-Brown
6:12 p.m.: Lake County sheriff’s office won’t issue tickets for breaking 2-person boat limit, but boating communities push back on Pritzker’s order
Boaters in Lake County don’t need to worry about a ticket if they have more than two people in their boat, a Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said Monday.
Revised stay-at-home regulations rolled out by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reopened up some businesses and public spaces but set limits aimed at large gatherings.
Among the new stay-at-home provisions is a rule limiting the number of people on a boat to two, according to a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office.
“Those health restrictions haven’t changed,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email Monday.
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The official executive order signed by Pritzker does not include the two-person rule and instead says boaters need to follow the guidelines set by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said Sgt. Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office has not received any enforcement guidance from the department, and so it can’t enforce the rule, Covelli said.
“Our function on the waterways remains unchanged: maintaining the safety of its users and enforcing the law,” Covelli said. “We ask boaters to use their best judgment, be responsible, and operate carefully.”
The Sheriff’s Office will be enforcing the usual maritime laws in addition to temporary guidelines issued by the Fox Waterway Agency in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Those rules include a ban on tying boats to each other and a requirement that anchored boats be at least 10 feet apart. Read more here. —Emily Coleman
4:53 p.m.: Model kits see resurgence as coronavirus shut-ins turn to old-school hobby for ‘something to do’
While auto sales slump during the coronavirus shutdown, build-it-yourself plastic versions at 1/25th the size are flying off the shelves.
Revell, the 77-year-old model kit maker that was acquired out of bankruptcy two years ago by a German investment fund, has seen a resurgence as a growing number of people stuck at home during the pandemic painstakingly piece together everything from ’60s muscle cars to “Star Wars” spaceships.
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“We saw a spike in the weeks leading into the stay-at-home directives,” said Lou Aguilera, 50, president of Revell USA, based in northwest suburban Fox River Grove. “Since then, our online sales have seen significant growth from people just staying at home, looking for something to do.”
Founded in California in 1943, Revell pioneered the plastic model kit that would become a childhood staple for many baby boomers. In 1986, Revell merged with its chief rival, Morton Grove-based Monogram, making the Chicago area the center of the model kit universe.
The basic kits feature sleek cars, planes and ships you build by breaking parts off a plastic tree, gluing them together and then painting and applying decals. The process often takes many hours to either complete or abandon in a sticky mess of adhesive collateral damage.
Many aging baby boomers apparently decided the COVID-19 outbreak was a good time to take another crack at it, Aguilera said.
“You’ve got people that did it maybe 30, 40 years ago and said this is something I would like to do, if I ever get the time,” he said. “Well now they’ve got the time.” Read more here. —Robert Channick
4:45 p.m.: Illinois marijuana dispensaries sold almost $37.3 million of legal weed in April
Illinois marijuana dispensaries — designated as essential during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — sold almost $37.3 million worth of legal weed in April.
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Recreational marijuana went on sale in Illinois Jan. 1. April’s sales bring the state total to about $147.5 million over the last four months, according to data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which regulates dispensaries.
Last month’s sales bested March’s almost $36 million and February’s roughly $35 million, but trailed the $39.2 million in revenue during January. Read more here. —Ally Marotti
3:39 p.m.: Coronavirus and nursing homes: Here’s what you need to know before choosing a site
Under normal circumstances, health care experts tell anyone deciding whether to seek the services of a nursing home to make an in-person tour of the facility. Better yet, two visits — one unannounced.
Since nursing homes in Illinois began banning visitors in mid-March due to the coronavirus, it’s been impossible for families to see what is going on inside these facilities. Yet new sick and elderly patients continue to need skilled nursing at these institutions.
For families faced with this dilemma, health care advocates say the most important aspect of a nursing home hunt has now shifted from inspections to interrogation. The lack of access has made one of the hardest decisions in life — and one of the most expensive — even harder. Read more here. —Robert McCoppin
2:35 p.m.: 2,341 new known COVID-19 cases, 46 additional deaths
While cautioning against reading too much into single statistics, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that the number of people hospitalized with the new coronavirus and the percentage of intensive care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients are down from a week ago.
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As of Sunday, just under 4,500 hospital beds across the state were occupied by patients with the coronavirus, a drop of about 4% from a week earlier, Pritzker said. Likewise, the share of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients dropped by a percentage point, to 33% from 34%.
“Snapshots in time alone are not enough to offer a full understanding of where we are, but together they can offer some indication of how things are trending,” Pritzker said.
The governor also announced 2,341 new known cases of the coronavirus, along with 46 more deaths. That brings the overall count of known cases to 63,840 and the death toll to 2,662 statewide since the start of the pandemic.
The 46 deaths reported Monday is the lowest total for a 24-hour period since the 33 deaths reported on April 19.
“I would just encourage everybody to look at these things on a multiday basis, taking maybe a three, five or seven day average,” Pritzker said. “I’m hopeful. When I saw this number today, I was hopeful that this was the beginning or a continuation of a trend that I’ve been praying for.” —Dan Petrella
1:27 p.m.: Chicago reaches 1,000 COVID-19 deaths
The city of Chicago reached 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters on a conference call.
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Lightfoot noted the dark milestone during a Monday afternoon call with reporters where she noted the dead are parents, grandparents, cousins, friends, and loved ones – not just statistics.
She noted the city hasn’t experienced the scale of tragedy of other cities like New York due in part due to the city’s efforts on bending the disease’s growth curve by encouraging people to stay home.
"We have to find hope that we haven’t had the same kind of outbreak as other cities,” Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot also announced that the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund application process will be reopened. Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the fund in March, and it’s reopening through May 11 with another $1.5 million to give out, Lightfoot said. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
11:24 a.m.: Indiana governor apologizes for maskless photo at restaurant
Indiana’s governor has apologized for posing for a photo with two people in which none of the three were wearing protective masks — a photo taken a day after he issued a plan for relaxing coronavirus restrictions that recommends such masks be worn in public until mid-June.
The photo circulating on social media shows Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb taking the selfie while inside a restaurant Saturday in the southern Indiana tourist town of Nashville, even while his statewide stay-a-home order was still in effect.
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Holcomb said in a statement that he left his mask in the car while picking up his carry-out order from the restaurant after spending the night at the governor’s retreat in nearby Brown County State Park.
“It was a lapse in my usual vigilance,” Holcomb said. “I should have gone back out to the car to get my mask. My apologies to all the health care professionals and Hoosiers who are working so hard to slow the spread.” Read more here. —Associated Press
11:07 a.m.: Grant Park Music Festival cancels 2020 summer season
For the first time since the Grant Park Music Festival was established in 1935, the institution will fall silent.
The festival has canceled all its events running June 10 through Aug. 15 in Millennium Park and across the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Just ensuring the safety of the (Grant Park) Orchestra and Chorus, the administrative staff, our production crew, our patrons – that really drove our decision,” said festival President and CEO Paul Winberg in an interview Monday morning.
“It’s just not safe or prudent to move forward with our festival season. This is going to have a tremendous financial impact on the organization. We’ve been busily trying to assess what that even would look like.”
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The festival has an annual operating budget of $7.2 million, said Winberg. Read more here. —Howard Reich
10:55 a.m.: If you get sick with COVID-19, is your employer liable? As businesses prepare to reopen, worker safety is a priority.
Businesses gearing up to return to work as coronavirus lockdowns ease face a minefield of potential liabilities, from age discrimination claims if they hesitate to bring back older employees to disability discrimination claims if they punish anxious workers fearful to come into the office.
But one of their biggest concerns is if employees get sick with COVID-19 and claim they contracted it at work — a costly proposition, employer groups say, at a time businesses are grappling with stalled sales and lost income.
“For an employer wanting to get back to normal business, this could be the third crisis facing the nation,” said Todd Maisch, head of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. “The first being the health crisis, the second being the economic crisis, the third being years of a liability crisis.”
As federal lawmakers battle over whether to shield employers from pandemic-related lawsuits, a fight is brewing in Illinois over workers’ compensation coverage for COVID-19 illnesses. Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
9:28 a.m.: Nursing homes push for immunity from lawsuits as COVID-19 deaths top 20,000
Faced with 20,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.
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At least 15 states have enacted laws or governors’ orders that explicitly or apparently provide nursing homes and long-term care facilities some protection from lawsuits arising from the crisis. And in the case of New York, which leads the nation in deaths in such facilities, a lobbying group wrote the first draft of a measure that apparently makes it the only state with specific protection from both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.
Now the industry is forging ahead with a campaign to get other states on board with a simple argument: This was an unprecedented crisis and nursing homes should not be liable for events beyond their control, such as shortages of protective equipment and testing, shifting directives from authorities, and sicknesses that have decimated staffs. Read more here. —Associated Press
6:40 a.m.: Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputy dies of COVID-19
A 25-year veteran of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office died Sunday of complications due to COVID-19, the sheriff’s office announced.
Deputy Richard O’Brien was most recently assigned to the Civil Process Division in Skokie, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
He was known to be a “highly motivated and dedicated professional.”
At least one Cook County corrections officer had died from COVID-19 prior to O’Brien’s death. Read more here. —Paige Fry
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6 a.m.: Food distribution pop-up sites start on South, West sides to fill gap during COVID-19 pandemic
Under a sunny sky Friday morning outside Trinity United Church of Christ on the city’s Far South Side, Monica Moss and other volunteers gave away 500 boxes of boxed and canned food and fresh produce.
The effort marked the beginning of a partnership among seven community- and faith-based organizations and the Greater Chicago Food Depository to address food insecurity in areas hardest hit by COVID-19.
“Our church sits in what would be considered a food desert. To get healthy food to people, to raise awareness about eating healthy, has been my passion,” said Moss, first lady of the church, which is at the corner of 95th Street and Eggleston Avenue.
“It was a beautiful day. People were just so excited to be out of the house helping people," she said.
Moss’ church, and six others on the city’s South and West sides, will host pop-up food distribution for the next five weeks. Volunteers from each organization will distribute 500 to 1,000 boxes of food weighing 20 to 30 pounds each. Read more here. —Peter Nickeas
5 a.m.: Inmate who agreed to stay in Cook County Jail to avoid immigration trouble lost life to COVID-19 instead
In early March, Rene Olivo Sangabriel was just one among the thousands of Cook County Jail inmates who would soon find themselves in the devastating path of COVID-19.
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Sangabriel, 42, locked up since October 2019 on an 8-year-old outstanding warrant after picking up a second felony DUI charge, appeared in court March 5 for a fairly routine status hearing. His attorney told the judge that Sangabriel had 46 days left in a drug and alcohol treatment program at the jail and that he wanted to finish the program before entering a plea.
“I think let’s go to the end of the program,” Judge Diana Kenworthy agreed, according to a court transcript. “I don’t want them to remove him from the program and have any changes. ... What’s a good date?"
“How about Cinco de Mayo,” responded attorney Domingo F. Vargas.
“By agreement May 5 for a plea,” Kenworthy responded.
The plan to delay Sangabriel’s plea two months and keep him at the jail made perfect sense at the time, Vargas said.
Court officials had already indicated Sangabriel, who was living in the United States without legal permission, was likely facing a prison sentence on his new charges. Vargas and Sangabriel determined the risk that immigration officials would find him was higher in the Illinois Department of Corrections so they wanted him to burn time as possible at the jail.
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In the end, it was COVID-19 that caught Sangabriel. Read more here. —Annie Sweeney and Elvia Malagón
5 a.m.: The coronavirus pandemic has people cooped up and anxious. Therapy dogs are here to help, by video call, of course.
Video call meetings and work-from-home regulations are no longer just for humans. Illinois-based organizations that offer therapy dog services are having their canines offer their emotional support online.
Typically in disasters, therapy dogs are dispatched to physically comfort those affected, said Tim Hetzner, president and CEO of Lutheran Church Charities. But, with growing concerns and physical limitations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, video calls have comforted those who need it the most. With the physical restrictions of the state’s stay-at-home order, many Chicagoans are also choosing to foster pets for companionship.
“Many states have stay-at-home orders, and we thought of how we could continue to touch people without being able to physically go out with the animals,” Hetzner said. Read more here. —Jessica Villagomez
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
May 2-3
Here are five things that happened this weekend that you need to know:


chicagotribune--2020-05-05--United Airlines plans to cut more than 3,400 management jobs. Chicago could be especially hard-hit.

“ We have to acknowledge that there will be serious consequences to our company if we don ’ t continue @ @ @ @ @ action , which includes making decisions that none of us ever wanted or expected to @ @ @ @ @ , the airline ’ s executive vice president of human resources and labor relations , @ @ @ @ @ employees on Monday .

United Airlines plans to eliminate more than 3,400 management and administrative positions Oct. 1 as the airline reels from the coronavirus pandemic that has brought air travel to an almost standstill.
Chicago, United’s hometown, could be especially hard-hit.
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“We have to acknowledge that there will be serious consequences to our company if we don’t continue to take strong and decisive action, which includes making decisions that none of us ever wanted or expected to make,” Kate Gebo, the airline’s executive vice president of human resources and labor relations, said in a memo to employees on Monday.
The cuts represent 30% of United’s roughly 11,500 management and administrative employees, most of whom work in Chicago, many at the company’s Willis Tower headquarters. Employees affected by the cuts, which take effect Oct. 1, will be notified in July, Gebo said.
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Travelers walk through the ticketing area at O'Hare International Airport in 2016. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
United expects to announce a voluntary separation package for domestic management and administrative employees in mid-May, Gebo said in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune. Employees who take the buyout offer will be able to keep travel privileges and medical benefits for an extended period, along with “some continuation of pay,” she said. Starting Oct. 1, white-collar employees who are laid off will not receive cash severance packages.
Gebo said United is “trying to give everyone as much notice as possible that changes are coming, and we’re making the voluntary options as attractive as possible.”
In the meantime, domestic management and administrative employees will be required to take 20 unpaid days off between May 16 and Sept. 30.
Just last year, United extended the lease for its 850,000-square-foot headquarters at Willis Tower through 2033, with plans to redesign its 16 floors of space over the next three years, and add a 30,000-square-foot cafeteria and roof deck on the fourth floor. At the time, United said it employed about 4,700 people at Willis Tower.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the company’s outlook. United reported a $1.7 billion first-quarter loss, even as industry group Airlines for America said U.S. airlines’ passenger numbers remained strong through late February.
Now, passenger numbers at U.S. airports are down roughly 95% from the same period last year, according to the Transportation Security Administration. United has slashed about 90% of its flying capacity in May and expects to operate a similar schedule in June.
Globally, the International Air Transport Association estimated the COVID-19 pandemic could cost airlines $314 billion in lost revenue this year, with airline passenger revenues falling 55% compared with 2019.
Major U.S. airlines including United are receiving billions in financial assistance to keep workers on the payroll through the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package.
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Airlines receiving that assistance agreed to avoid involuntary furloughs or pay rate cuts through Sept. 30. The funds buy the airline industry time to see how much demand recovers, but executives and analysts say it’s unlikely to bounce back by fall, and warned job cuts could follow.
United’s memo to management employees gives an early look at how much the airline thinks it may need to shrink.
United has already been trying to slash payroll costs, saying the $5 billion in grants and loans it is receiving through the coronavirus relief package won’t fully cover employee pay and benefits through Sept. 30. There are so few people flying that the airline expects to spend billions of dollars more than it earns for the next several months.
That’s “not sustainable for any company,” United said in a statement Monday.
Employees across the airline have had their hours reduced or been asked to take voluntary unpaid leaves. Last week, the company said it would reduce 15,000 airport workers’ hours to part-time, though the union representing those workers is challenging the move.
More than 20,000 employees have already taken unpaid leave or separation options. This month, more than a third of United’s flight attendants are taking unpaid leave, according to the union representing them, the Association of Flight Attendants. The union said it expects to discuss additional leave and voluntary separation options in the months to come.
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The airline has been in touch with several employee groups about how the company’s response to the pandemic and cost-cutting steps may affect their jobs. A separate memo to employees on United’s flight operations team, including pilots, earlier this week said to expect information on voluntary separation programs later this month.
United Senior Vice President of Flight Operations Bryan Quigley said in the memo that he received “a significant number” of questions about furloughs, but it was too soon to say when they might come or how widespread they might be.
“We simply don’t know what conditions will be like in the fall. … However, if conditions do not improve before October, we won’t be able to avoid furloughs,” he said.
Executives have also received pay cuts. United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby won’t receive their base salary through at least June 30, and corporate officers’ base salaries have been cut by half. In December, United announced that Munoz would transition from CEO to executive board chairman after the company''s annual meeting May 20.
The airline has also been slashing other costs, making dramatic cuts to its schedule of flights, parking jets and halting real estate projects, including work on lounges at O’Hare International Airport.
Similar cuts could be on the way at United’s U.S. competitors, at least when it comes to those with a similarly global reach. Compared with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, there’s little reason to think United would be significantly worse off, said Seth Kaplan, an airline expert and former editor of Airline Weekly.
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“All have said they expect to be smaller. United is just the first to be this specific,” he said.
Southwest Airlines could benefit from its focus on domestic flying if travel restrictions, lingering health concerns or the economic fallout from the pandemic mean U.S. flying bounces back before international travel.
Southwest generated more than 90% of its operating revenues from domestic flying last year, compared with 62% at United, according to the companies’ annual reports.
Still, United has been building up its domestic flying over the past three years, Helane Becker, airline industry analyst at Cowen, said in a research note earlier this month. About 57% of United’s flying capacity was domestic in 2019, according to Cowen.
“United made a big push to improve their domestic share over the past 3 years, and we would not be surprised to see the network continue to shift further domestic over the next 3 to 5 years given international demand will likely take longer than domestic to recover,” Becker wrote.


chicagotribune--2020-05-05--The drug remdesivir got emergency use clearance from the FDA. What will that mean for treating COVID

The drug remdesivir got emergency use clearance from the FDA. What will that mean for treating COVID-19?

Taiwo said faster recovery times would be beneficial not just to the patient but also to the health care system @ @ @ @ @ able to leave the hospital faster , it means that there will be more opportunity @ @ @ @ @ patients , and the stress on the health care system will be lessened , ” @ @ @ @ @ he hoped the final results of the study would show lower death rates for patients @ @ @ @

Though the federal government has cleared the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat some COVID-19 patients, don’t expect it to be put into routine use anytime soon.
The emergency use authorization granted Friday by the Food and Drug Administration allows the drug to be given to patients with COVID-19 only if they are severely ill — with blood oxygen levels at 94% or lower, or otherwise requiring supplemental oxygen.
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Supply of the drug also is limited, given remdesivir is a complex intravenous medication made by one company that already must provide enough of it to support the clinical trials being conducted at nearly 200 sites across the globe. The antiviral drug, a medicine first developed to treat Ebola with less than glowing results, is still considered experimental.
For now, the federal government will decide who can get treated with the drug outside of the continuing research trials.
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“The U.S. government will coordinate the donation and distribution of remdesivir to hospitals in cities most heavily impacted by COVID-19,” the company that makes the drug, Gilead, said in a statement. “Given the severity of illness of patients appropriate for remdesivir treatment and the limited availability of drug supply, hospitals with intensive care units and other hospitals that the government deems most in need will receive priority in the distribution of remdesivir.”
Friday’s FDA authorization was based in part on an initial finding from a National Institutes of Health trial in which patients given remdesivir recovered from the disease 31% faster than patients given a placebo. Those receiving the drug recovered in an average of 11 days as opposed to 15 days for the control group, said Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease physician at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. Huhn is heading the hospital’s participation in a separate remdesivir trial, run by Gilead, that the FDA also cited in making its decision.
"There also was a mortality difference, not statistically significant, but 8% mortality for those in the remdesivir arm versus 11% in the placebo arm,” Huhn said of the NIH trial.
Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease physician at Stroger Hospital, is shown May 4, 2020, outside Cook County Health in Chicago. (Raquel Zaldivar / Chicago Tribune)
“It’s not a miracle drug,” said Dr. Babafemi Taiwo, chief of infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, which has 19 patients enrolled in the NIH trial. “It’s not a panacea. But it’s a much better option than a placebo.”
Taiwo said faster recovery times would be beneficial not just to the patient but also to the health care system. “If patients are able to leave the hospital faster, it means that there will be more opportunity to take care of more patients, and the stress on the health care system will be lessened,” he said, adding that he hoped the final results of the study would show lower death rates for patients treated with remdesivir.
The language in the FDA’s emergency authorization for the drug is cautious. “It is reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of (remdesivir) outweigh the known and potential risks of the drug for the treatment of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19,” the FDA letter of authorization states. The risks include increased liver enzymes that may indicate damage to that organ and reactions caused by infusions, including low blood pressure, nausea and sweating.
Remdesivir is one of two drugs for which the FDA has granted an emergency use authorization during the COVID-19 pandemic. The other is hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump has touted as a COVID-19 remedy, though recent study results indicate it may not be terribly effective and comes with potentially fatal risks.
Huhn said remdesivir was given a more thorough trial run before emergency use was granted. “The EUA for hydroxychloroquine was granted without this degree of data, especially in a placebo-controlled trial,” Huhn said.
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For remdesivir to be used more widely, it would need to meet the more rigorous standards required for FDA approval. Many of the restrictions would then be lifted.
Huhn noted that results from one arm of the Gilead study, focused on moderately ill patients, could be analyzed within a matter of weeks. “That might be the basis for FDA licensure as well,” Huhn said.
Initial results from the Gilead trial taking place at Stroger Hospital and other locations are showing no statistically significant difference in outcomes for severely ill patients who received remdesivir for five days and those who were given a 10-day course, Huhn said. That is encouraging because it suggests the drug might go twice as far as first hoped.
“You can actually double the amount of global supply if you can treat patients in five days versus 10 days,” Huhn said.
Huhn views remdesivir as a potentially useful tool in the medical arsenal used to combat COVID-19, even if it’s no silver bullet.
“This would be the first push in a therapeutic counteroffensive," Huhn said. “I think to get to the other side of COVID-19, we’re going to need a multidimensional approach with effective and safe therapeutics and certainly an effective vaccine that will bring us to herd immunity.”
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hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-05--Drive-thru graduation? How Illinois high school commencement ceremonies might look this spring amid

Drive-thru graduation? How Illinois high school commencement ceremonies might look this spring amid COVID-19 pandemic

For drive-in graduation at outdoor theaters or large parking lots , students and immediate family household members would get to @ @ @ @ @ their cars to watch presentations projected on large screens .
Sound equipment would likely be @ @ @ @ @ to be provided for students and families without cars and , depending on class size @ @ @ @ @ necessary , the guidelines note .

Natalie D'Ambrosio and her dog, Belle, pop out of the sunroof as she celebrates her decision to go to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business on senior Decision Day at Barrington High School on May 1, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Drive through, drive in or tune in to graduation ceremonies for the class of 2020. But expect no person-to-person transfer of diplomas, hugs or handshakes.
The Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health have provided new guidance for holding ceremonies while the coronavirus pandemic continues, with creative suggestions for recognizing graduates while adhering to social distancing mandates.
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Some of the possibilities would be more manageable for smaller schools to pull off than for larger ones. While each school or district can make its own decision about whether, when and how to host ceremonies, state officials “strongly” encourage virtual events, such as video-based online ceremonies with commencement speakers and acknowledgment of awards.
Chicago Public Schools has already announced that Oprah Winfrey will give the main commencement address during a virtual ceremony in June for all of Chicago’s high school seniors, whether they attend district, charter or private schools.
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However, each school can supplement with its own programming, as many are already doing with Twitter and Instagram campaigns featuring seniors’ college plans.
Other virtual examples recommended by ISBE include asking graduates to send video messages for inclusion in a longer video that also includes recorded speeches and highlights; and using social media to celebrate graduates.
But officials say they realize that may not work for everyone and will allow in-person events under certain circumstances: drive-in, drive-thru and individualized ceremonies, in some cases possibly playing out over the course of multiple days.
Whatever the scenario, officials say, it’s important for districts or schools to make sure students get their caps, gowns and diplomas ahead of time.
For drive-in graduation at outdoor theaters or large parking lots, students and immediate family household members would get to the location and stay in their cars to watch presentations projected on large screens. Sound equipment would likely be needed, transportation would have to be provided for students and families without cars and, depending on class size, multiple ceremonies may be necessary, the guidelines note.
For drive-thru ceremonies, families would come in waves and leave once their student was recognized.
“These events will require precise scheduling, traffic control, and school safety personnel, etc. and may be appropriate for small to medium-sized graduating classes in less trafficked areas,” according to the guidelines.
In either driving scenario, students could individually get out of their cars to have their photos taken. Anyone not inside a car would have to cover their face, but students could remove their masks long enough to have their photo taken by a district or school photographer, according to the guidelines.
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Other options include individualized ceremonies at school or home. Students could come to their school at set times to walk across a stage and have their photo taken, or school staff could visit each graduate’s home, staying at least 6 feet away and outside, to honor and photograph each student in their cap and gown, holding a diploma.
Regardless of how a ceremony is held, there can’t be any person-to-person contact or handing of diplomas or other items, and markings and pathways must ensure students are always at least 6 feet apart. Any procedures related to photography should be clearly communicated, and families should get copies of photos for free, according to the guidelines.
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Illinois reports the fewest coronavirus deaths in two weeks, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker urges longer vie

Illinois reports the fewest coronavirus deaths in two weeks, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker urges longer view in fight against COVID-19

“ The fact is that because we haven ’ t had to use as many beds as we thought , @ @ @ @ @ Place we haven ’ t yet had to use , that is an indicator of @ @ @ @ @ ve had both at issuing the stay-at-home order and at getting people to adhere to @ @ @ @ @ Monday .
“ I think the total number of patients that have been in there @ @ @ @ @ 29 or 30 … and thank God for that , that it ’ s only @ @ @ @

Dan Petrella, Lisa Schencker, Gregory Pratt

Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday reported the fewest daily deaths related to the new coronavirus in more than two weeks, and also announced fewer people were hospitalized with COVID-19 than a week earlier.
But he cautioned against reading too much into those small positive signs.
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“Snapshots in time alone are not enough to offer a full understanding of where we are, but together they can offer some indication of how things are trending,” Pritzker said during a rare solo appearance at his daily news conference.
Earlier, Mayor Lori Lightfoot marked a grim milestone, noting during a conference call with reporters that Chicago on Sunday reached 1,000 COVID-19-related deaths.
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With the 46 additional deaths reported Monday, the statewide toll stands at 2,662, officials said. That means Chicago, home to less than a quarter of Illinois’ residents, accounts for considerably more than a third of the state’s coronavirus deaths.
Monday’s daily fatality count was the lowest since 33 deaths were reported April 19, and a sharp drop from the single-day record of 144 reported April 28.
“I would just encourage everybody to look at these things on a multiday basis, taking maybe a three-, five- or seven-day average,” Pritzker said. “I’m hopeful. When I saw this number today, I was hopeful that this was the beginning or a continuation of a trend that I’ve been praying for.”
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Pritzker also noted improvement in two other key measures the state has been closely tracking in gauging the effectiveness of its response to the virus: the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the share of beds in intensive care units occupied by patients with the disease.
As of Sunday night, 4,493 people across the state were hospitalized with COVID-19 or assumed cases of the illness. That was down from 4,672 a week earlier and 4,599 two weeks earlier.
The percentage of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients has also decreased statewide, Pritzker said. As of Sunday, about 33% of 3,681 ICU beds were filled with COVID-19 patients. That was down from 34% of 3,631 ICU beds a week earlier and 40% of 3,134 ICU beds two weeks earlier.all
Statewide, 933 ICU beds were available Sunday night.
Some regions, however, have less availability than others.
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[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
Hospitals in the north suburbs had only 11.9% of their ICU beds available Sunday night — the lowest percentage in the state, equaling about 27 beds. In Chicago, 16.9% of ICU beds were available, equaling 186 beds.
The governor said those are figures he’ll be watching closely in determining whether restrictions in his stay-at-home order can be eased in some areas before the statewide May 29 expiration date.
“A spike in one area that happens to have 25 hospital beds available or 25 ICU beds available, if there’s a significant spike in that area, 25 is not a big number, and so what we want to make sure is that we are able to handle a spike because that is what potentially could occur if we reopen things too fast,” Pritzker said.
The words of caution followed news on Friday that state and city officials have decided to wind down operations at the McCormick Place alternate care facility.
Officials said they expected to start taking down about 500 beds meant for mildly ill patients this week. There hasn’t been enough demand for the extra space from hospitals, as the growth of COVID-19 has slowed in Illinois, said Dr. Nick Turkal, executive director of the McCormick Place alternate care site.
“The fact is that because we haven’t had to use as many beds as we thought, in fact most of McCormick Place we haven’t yet had to use, that is an indicator of the success that we’ve had both at issuing the stay-at-home order and at getting people to adhere to it,” Pritzker said Monday. “I think the total number of patients that have been in there at any time is about 29 or 30 … and thank God for that, that it’s only that number.”
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The remaining 500 beds at McCormick Place will be left in place, for now, in case of a surge in coming weeks, but the facility is not planning to accept more patients at the moment.
Lightfoot and city officials also credited adherence to the governor’s directive and other restrictions with helping slow the spread of COVID-19 in Chicago.
The mayor said the city hasn’t experienced the scale of tragedy of other cities such as New York, in part due to the city’s efforts on bending the disease’s growth curve by encouraging people to stay home.
“We have to find hope that we haven’t had the same kind of outbreak as other cities,” Lightfoot said.
Still, while Chicago has seen “some slight progress,” the city isn’t where it needs to be, she said.
She cautioned against ending the state’s stay-at-home order prematurely or loosening restrictions. Doing so might lead to a spike in cases, she said, pointing to examples in Japan, Singapore and Germany.
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Dr. Allison Arwady, the city’s public health commissioner, agreed, saying, “We are still in our stay-at-home order for a reason.”
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
lschencker@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Greg Zanis, the Aurora man whose crosses memorialized victims of gun violence around the country, ha

Greg Zanis, the Aurora man whose crosses memorialized victims of gun violence around the country, has died

“ Mr .
Greg Zanis was a giant among men , ” Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said in a statement @ @ @ @ @ a man of action who simply wanted to honor the lives of others .
In @ @ @ @ @ one of honor and one that was celebrated throughout our nation and world .
Heeding @ @ @ @ @ up your cross and follow me , ’ Mr. Greg Zanis did just that .
@ @ @ @ @ he made and followed his mission in the noblest of ways .
His legacy shall @ @ @ @ @ hometown of Aurora and around the globe .
”

Greg Zanis, with wife Susan, is visited by well-wishers at his home in Aurora on May 1, 2020. Zanis has been making crosses for those who have been killed by gun violence for years and is now battling terminal cancer. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Greg Zanis, an Aurora man who gained national attention for placing crosses at the sites of mass shootings in the United States, died Monday after a battle with cancer.
A drive-by event to salute the ailing “Cross Man” was held outside his house Friday, and hundreds of people drove by to show their support. Zanis has mostly been bedridden recently and was on hospice care at his home.
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“Mr. Greg Zanis was a giant among men,” Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said in a statement Monday. “He was a man of action who simply wanted to honor the lives of others. In return, his life was one of honor and one that was celebrated throughout our nation and world. Heeding to the Scripture ‘pick up your cross and follow me,’ Mr. Greg Zanis did just that. He picked up the crosses he made and followed his mission in the noblest of ways. His legacy shall forever be remembered in his hometown of Aurora and around the globe.”
The Rev. Dan Haas, a longtime Auroran, knew Zanis since the beginning of his mission. In fact, it was the white cross Haas brought to a memorial for Zanis’ father-in-law after his murder that made the Aurora carpenter aware of the impact that a simple wooden memorial at a prayer vigil could have on a person struggling with grief.
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With help from the Rev. Dan Haas, Greg Zanis uses his power saw to prepare crosses in his Aurora garage in 2017 to take to Las Vegas after a mass shooting there killed 58 people. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)
Over the years, Haas accompanied Zanis on some of his delivery missions. For more than two years, the two men went into Chicago on a weekly basis to set up crosses for victims of violence in the city.
Haas remembers one episode when an activist was not all that happy with the men and their crosses, until Zanis walked over to him, gave him a big hug and said, “I love you, man.”
“That totally changed the whole atmosphere,” Haas said.
The first cross Zanis made was for Nicholas “Nico” Contreras, a 6-year-old boy shot and killed in his grandparents’ home in Aurora while sleeping in their back bedroom on Nov. 10, 1996.
Zanis entered the national spotlight when he erected crosses after the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999 in Colorado, where two students fatally shot 12 students and a teacher.
His mission led him to place crosses at the sites of tragedies around the country. Among his many trips, he placed crosses for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, where a 20-year-old shot 20 children and six staff members.
He made the trip with his crosses to Las Vegas in October 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd at a music festival, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds of others.
The impact of Zanis’ crosses was felt in other cities too.
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In a 2019 interview with The Beacon-News, the then-mayor of Thousand Oaks, California, highlighted the role the crosses played after a gunman opened fire in a bar in his city in 2018 and killed 12 people.
Rob McCoy said Zanis’ crosses provided a single location for residents to gather and grieve following the shooting, which helped his community heal.
Tanna King, of Parkland, Florida, said Zanis’ crosses were a focal point for the community that helped them heal after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
After returning from a three-day trek to place 17 wooden memorials at the site of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in 2018, Aurora "Cross Man" Greg Zanis becomes emotional as he talks about how hard this trip was for him. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)
“It's where we went to grieve together, to reminisce, to be with other people who felt the same,” King said. “It was such a unifying place.”
King’s daughter was a junior at the high school at the time and lost several friends.
“It was so heartwarming that someone like Greg thought of other people,” King said. “I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to do that time and time again and go to these places where people are in such pain.”
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Zanis’ work hit home in 2019, when he built crosses in memory of the five people killed in the Henry Pratt warehouse shooting in Aurora.
Earlier this year, the crosses became the centerpiece of an Aurora Historical Society memorial exhibit focusing on the anniversary of the warehouse shooting.
John Jaros, the society’s director, said through the years, Zanis had begun working with local historical societies in the cities where he had brought crosses. He wanted to help make sure the memorials were preserved in some way.
Jaros said the mission to place the memorials took a toll on Zanis. He would make the crosses and drive hours on end, with no sleep, to get to whatever destination he was headed to and place the memorials, Jaros said.
“And it took a toll, mentally and physically, to share these families’ grief,” he said.
In all, Zanis made more than 27,000 crosses over the years as part of his Crosses for Losses ministry. In addition to crosses, he also built Jewish stars of David in honor of Jewish victims of gun violence, including the 11 people killed when a gunman opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
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He’s also gone to the anniversaries of mass shootings, including Newtown and for the Northern Illinois University shooting in DeKalb that happened in February 2008.
Family members, friends and volunteers help carry over 700 crosses made by Greg Zanis of Aurora along Michigan Avenue in Chicago on Dec. 31, 2016, to memorialize the people killed in the city that year. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
It was Dec. 31, 2016, when hundreds of people carried more than 700 of his crosses in Chicago for each person slain in the city during the year.
Jaros described Zanis as “a human dynamo.”
“He wouldn’t stay still — he went and went and went,” Jaros said. “I guess he found his calling, his niche, and he ran with it.”
Beacon-News reporters Megan Jones and Sarah Freishtat, columnist Denise Crosby and freelance reporter Linda Girardi contributed.
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MORE COVERAGE
Dec. 2019: Aurora’s Greg Zanis, known for making crosses for mass shooting victims across the country, is retiring
Feb. 2018: Aurora cross maker returns from Florida in grief: ‘I love what I am doing, but it has taken its toll’
Oct. 2017: Back from Las Vegas, Aurora’s Cross Man continues his mission
Dec. 2016: Aurora man builds crosses for everyone killed this year in Chicago


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Which Midwest states are reopening economies amid the coronavirus pandemic? Here’s a breakdown

Restrictions : Gatherings of more than 10 people are currently banned .
Bars , non-tribal casinos , theaters , gyms @ @ @ @ @ and tattoo parlors are to remain closed , but could open under a second phase @ @ @ @ @ gatherings of up to 30 people would be allowed .
Community centers , entertainment venues @ @ @ @ @ sports , graduations and summer camps remained banned , but could be allowed by the @ @ @ @ @ on June 1 , when gatherings would be limited to 90 people or fewer .
@ @ @ @ @ to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted .

Across the nation, governors are continuing to balance how best to protect citizens from the coronavirus pandemic with reopening sectors of their economy amid record job losses.
In the Midwest, a wide range of strategies have emerged. Some governors never issued stay-at-home orders and many businesses have been allowed to reopen. Some are taking a more gradual approach. And in states where COVID-19 cases remain high, most businesses are still closed.
[ Time for states to reopen their economies? Political divisions emerge as Midwest governors weigh coronavirus cases vs. unemployment. ]
Here’s a breakdown of the policies implemented by the Midwest’s 12 governors as of May 1:
Major business reopenings:
INDIANA
Governor: Eric Holcomb, Republican. (Since 2017)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 24, extended until May 23.
Business openings: In late April, elective medical procedures and dental visits were allowed to resume, as were curbside retail pickup and deliveries. Effective May 4, all manufacturing resumed while retail, commercial businesses, malls, restaurants and bars could reopen at 50% capacity. Gatherings of up to 25 people are allowed. Church services can resume with social distancing. Local communities can have stronger requirements, and the state restrictions won’t be lifted until May 11 in Indianapolis and Lake County in Northwest Indiana, and until May 18 in Cass County.
Restrictions: Nail salons, barber shops, massage studios and tattoo parlors to remain closed until May 11. Playgrounds, basketball courts, pools and fitness centers closed until May 24. Movie theaters and other large venues remain closed. Bar seating is banned. Gatherings limited to 25 people, but could be expanded to 100 on May 24. Those over the age of 65 or with underlying medical conditions should remain at home except for essential trips. Schools remain closed. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted.
IOWA
Governor: Kim Reynolds, Republican. (Since 2017)
Stay-at-home order: None.
Business openings: Effective May 1, retail stores, gyms, malls and restaurants could reopen in 77 of the state’s 99 counties at 50% capacity and with 6-foot spacing for social distancing. Church services in all 99 counties will be allowed to resume.
Restrictions: Many businesses in the other 22 counties with higher case levels remain closed. Schools remain closed, and other businesses in all counties, including bars, barbershops and salons, are closed. Gatherings of 10 or more people remain banned. Visits to senior housing facilities and nursing homes are banned.
KANSAS
Governor: Laura Kelly, Democrat. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 30, expires May 4.
Business openings: Kelly has announced a three-phase plan to reopen the state’s economy. Effective May 1, many businesses including restaurants, retail stores, offices and many other employers will be allowed to open with no occupancy limits, but are asked to implement social distancing guidelines and prevent 10 or more people from congregating in lobbies and break rooms.
Restrictions: Gatherings of more than 10 people are currently banned. Bars, non-tribal casinos, theaters, gyms, nail salons, barbershops and tattoo parlors are to remain closed, but could open under a second phase starting May 18, when gatherings of up to 30 people would be allowed. Community centers, entertainment venues, festivals, parades, sports, graduations and summer camps remained banned, but could be allowed by the plan’s third phase on June 1, when gatherings would be limited to 90 people or fewer. Schools remain closed. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted.
MISSOURI
Governor: Mike Parson, Republican. (Since 2018).
Stay-at-home order: Enacted April 6 and expires May 4.
Business openings: Effective May 4, Parson’s “Show Me Strong Recovery Plan” allowed all businesses to reopen statewide under social distancing requirements. Restaurants, factories, gyms, hair salons, barbershops, massage studios and churches are allowed open. Restaurants are limited to 50% occupancy, small retail shops are limited to 25% occupancy and large retail shops are limited to 10% occupancy. Sporting events and social gatherings can resume with social distancing. Local governments can have stricter requirements.
Restrictions: Visits to senior housing facilities and nursing homes remain banned. Schools remain closed. Stay-at-home orders in St. Louis and Kansas City remain in place.
NEBRASKA
Governor: Pete Ricketts, Republican. (Since 2015).
Stay-at-home order: None.
Business openings: Some businesses were never required to close but have had to follow social distancing guidelines. Effective May 4, restaurant dining rooms, tattoo parlors, hair salons and massage studios were allowed to reopen with social distancing in 59 of the state’s 93 counties with lower coronavirus case levels. Restaurants are limited to 50% occupancy and parties of six or fewer. In those counties, child care facilities can allow 15 children per room. Statewide, religious services, weddings and funerals are allowed with 6 feet of separation between families.
Restrictions: In 34 counties with higher case levels, restrictions requiring businesses to remain closed or limited to curbside/carryout remain in place. Bans on religious services also apply in these areas. Statewide, a ban on gatherings of 10 or more people remains in place through May 31. Bars and movie theaters remain closed through May 31. Visits to senior housing facilities and nursing homes are banned.
NORTH DAKOTA
Governor: Doug Burgum, Republican. (Since 2016).
Stay-at-home order: None.
Business openings: Effective May 1, the “North Dakota Smart Restart” plan allowed all businesses to reopen, including bars, restaurants, salons, barbershops, movie theaters, casinos and gyms with social distancing guidelines. Restaurants are limited to 50% occupancy.
Restrictions: Schools remain closed. Visits to senior housing facilities and nursing homes are banned.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Governor: Kristi Noem, Republican. (Since 2019).
Stay-at-home order: None.
Business openings: Most businesses have been allowed to stay open throughout the pandemic. Under Noem’s “Back to Normal Plan,” "enclosed retail businesses that promote public gatherings” should resume operations while allowing for social distancing and considering a reduction in occupancy. Employers are encouraged to transition workers from telework back to the office. Schools should consider in-person learning as a “check-in” before the end of the school year.
Restrictions: Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are banned.
Gradual business reopenings:
MINNESOTA
Governor: Tim Walz, Democratic-Farmer-Labor. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 27, extended until May 18.
Business openings: In late April, Walz allowed 100,000 workers at some 20,000 industrial, manufacturing and offices that don’t interact with the public to return to work under social distancing guidelines. Effective May 4, retail stores could open up for curbside pickup and delivery.
Restrictions: Most businesses remain closed, including dine-in at restaurants, bars, barbershops, gyms and massage studios. Gatherings of more than 10 people are restricted. Schools and churches remain closed. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are banned.
OHIO
Governor: Mike DeWine, Republican. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 23, extended until May 1 and likely longer.
Business openings: DeWine has announced a plan to phase in portions of the state’s economy. Effective May 1, elective surgeries and health procedures that do not require an overnight stay resumed along with dentist and veterinarian offices. Effective May 4, general office spaces, distribution centers, manufacturing and industrial businesses and construction could open under social distancing guidelines. Effective May 12, retail stores can reopen with customers and employees wearing masks and under social distancing guidelines.
Restrictions: Hands-on services, including nail salons, barber shops, tattoo parlors and massage studios remain closed. Dining-in at bars and restaurants remains banned. Gatherings of 10 or more people remain banned. Schools and churches remain closed. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes remain restricted.
Businesses mostly closed:
ILLINOIS
Governor: J.B. Pritzker, Democrat. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 21, extended until May 31.
Business openings: Construction and some manufacturing has been allowed, with social distancing and face coverings required. In late April, elective medical procedures could resume. Effective May 1, state parks reopened, golf resumed under social distancing, garden centers were categorized as essential services and retail stores began to offer curbside pickups and delivery. On May 5, Pritzker announced a five-phase “Restore Illinois” reopening program that breaks the states into four regions: Northeast Illinois, North Central Illinois, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois.
The state largely is in the second phase, and Pritzker announced the earliest a state could enter the third phase — when manufacturing, offices, retail, barbershops and salons reopen — is May 29. Any gathering of up to 10 people also would be allowed at this point. For a region to reach that phase, testing for health care workers, patients and at-risk individuals must be available, positive test rates and hospitalizations must be steady or declining and contact tracing within 24 hours must be underway.
The fourth phase would allow gatherings of up to 50 people and restaurants and bars could reopen. To reach this phase, a region must continue to meet the testing and hospitalization levels in addition to having the ability to test all residents regardless of symptoms and be able to contact trace 90% of all positive cases within 24 hours. The fifth phase would be a full reopening of the economy, which would only occur with a vaccine or highly effective treatment. Only at that point would festivals, conventions and large events be permitted.
Restrictions: Those shopping in close spaces are required to wear face coverings. Most nonessential businesses remain closed. In-person shopping at stores and dining at bars and restaurants remain banned. Schools and churches are closed. Gatherings of 10 or more people are banned. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted.
MICHIGAN
Governor: Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 24, extended until May 15.
Business openings: Whitmer’s order has been among the strictest in the nation. When she extended it until May 15, she permitted several practices already allowed in other states. Effective May 1, plant nurseries and bicycle shops were allowed to reopen under social distancing; motorized boating and golf were allowed to resume with social distancing; large, essential retailers were allowed to open garden and paint sections; landscaping businesses resumed work with social distancing; and retail stores are allowed curbside pickup and deliveries. Effective May 7, construction and real estate work resumes in the state.
Restrictions: Those shopping in close spaces are required to wear face coverings. Most nonessential businesses remain closed. In-person shopping at stores and dining at bars and restaurants remain banned. Schools and churches are closed. Gatherings of 10 or more people are banned. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted.
WISCONSIN
Governor: Tony Evers, Democrat. (Since 2019)
Stay-at-home order: Enacted March 25, extended until May 26.
Business openings: In late April, Evers allowed elective surgeries to resume. Effective April 29, some curbside pickup was allowed for no-contact businesses including dog groomers, repair shops, upholstery businesses, self-serve car washes and outdoor recreational rentals. Effective May 1, the state’s 34 state parks reopened, but not their bathrooms.
Restrictions: Most nonessential businesses remain closed. In-person shopping at stores and dining at bars and restaurants remain banned. Schools and churches are closed. Gatherings of 10 or more people are banned. Visits to senior centers and nursing homes are restricted.


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley, 56, dies. Longest-serving mayor in city history ‘never stopped adv

Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley, 56, dies. Longest-serving mayor in city history ‘never stopped advocating for his constituents’

“ Aaron was a good , loyal , honest person you could always count on to do the right thing @ @ @ @ @ “ Just when you thought you knew Aaron ’ s passion , he would get @ @ @ @ @ always expanding and doing new and exciting things .
”

Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron T. Shepley has died unexpectedly at age 56, city officials announced Monday.
Shepley was the northwest suburban city’s longest-serving mayor, holding office for 21 years.
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Shepley was an avid bicyclist who biked some 50 miles Sunday, felt a little tightness in his chest before bed, and apparently died in his sleep, City Council member Ellen Brady said. His passing came as a shock, she said, and there was no indication that it was related to the coronavirus outbreak, she said.
Shepley first got involved in local politics in 1996, when he successfully fought a proposal to build 288 apartments on land zoned for single-family homes.
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“He got a taste of it, and liked making a difference,” Brady said. “He was always a champion for Crystal Lake.”
In 2013, Shepley supported residents who successfully sued over expanded football field stands at Crystal Lake South High School.
Officials for Community High School District 155 had argued that they didn’t have to follow local zoning rules, which the mayor called “nonsense.” The bleachers were reduced in size after two courts ruled they were too big and too close to neighboring homes.
Shepley was an attorney who worked at Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP for years, and most recently worked for Centegra Health System and Northwestern Medicine.
In addition to biking, he helped start the Crystal Lake Strikers marching drum line that performed at numerous parades in the Chicago area, awards scholarships and a special-needs unit. He also learned sports photography and started his own website, and later in life took up woodworking.
His wife, Regan, is also an attorney, and he is survived by two grown daughters, Chase and Madison, as well.
“Aaron was a good, loyal, honest person you could always count on to do the right thing,” Brady said. “Just when you thought you knew Aaron’s passion, he would get another one. He was always expanding and doing new and exciting things.”
McHenry County Chairman Jack Franks, a Democrat from Marengo, called Shepley “a tireless public servant who cared deeply about the Crystal Lake community and never stopped advocating for his constituents.”
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He credited Shepley for helping to bring a thriving retail presence to U.S. Route 14 (Northwest Highway), keeping down property taxes, and getting a second Metra train station in the city at Pingree Road. He also said Shepley fought to improve suburban transit, including paratransit, as a board member of Pace, the suburban bus agency.
“Most importantly,” Franks said, “Aaron was a humble man who told anyone who would listen that behind every good elected leader was an army of dedicated and talented civil servants.”
A city news release credited Shepley for helping the community with “a positive and empowering message.”
“Mayor Shepley championed a united City Council, working together for one purpose and vision: to make Crystal Lake a great place to live,” the release stated. “Mayor Shepley loved Crystal Lake and was a strong advocate for our community. We celebrate his life and trust that his legacy will inspire all residents and businesses to serve their community.”
State Rep. Tom Weber, a Republican from Lake Villa, issued a statement mourning Shepley’s “unexpected” passing.
“His stewardship of the city over the past several years has been integral to it becoming a thriving and welcoming community for so many families today,” Weber said. “His commitment to public service will be sorely missed.”
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This story has been revised to give the correct name of the law firm for which Aaron Shepley worked.


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--The Spin: Despite GOP pressure, Pritzker says he’s ‘not thinking politics’ in pandemic |  Axelrod, J

The Spin: Despite GOP pressure, Pritzker says he’s ‘not thinking politics’ in pandemic |  Axelrod, Jarrett stand with Biden | Will pandemic hit property taxes next?

Biden says he ’ s getting advice from Obama on VP selection : Vowing to pick a woman — with @ @ @ @ @ ’ s name mentioned — Biden said during Friday ’ s fundraiser he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , Obama , about the best way to choose a running mate : “ What @ @ @ @ @ me about vice president , who I should think about , etc .
and how @ @ @ @ @ , he made the point , he said , 'Find people who can make up @ @ @ @ @ t have as much experience in doing .
’ ”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker along with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and public health officials provide updated public guidance around the coronavirus, during a press conference at the Thompson Center, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Over the weekend, Gov. J.B. Pritzker went on national television and said he’s “not thinking about politics” when asked about conservatives protesting in downtown Chicago and southern Illinois as well as Mayor Lori Lightfoot talking about some Chicagoans not abiding by his stay-at-home order.
Pritzker said he’s talked with Lightfoot about the pushback she’s seeing in Chicago and suggests protesters and even the “rule breakers” are “outliers.”
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But some Illinois Republican elected leaders say that they’re hearing from plenty of constituents who want to see the restrictions lifted, if only little by little, so they can do everything from get back to work to boating and fishing – just the family – on a lake.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s vetting before he became Barack Obama’s running mate back in 2008 has become a talking point among his Democratic allies — including several Chicagoans — amid allegations from a onetime staffer in Biden’s then-U.S. Senate office who says he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
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David Axelrod, a senior strategist in Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign now the head of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, penned a piece for CNN last week aimed at poking holes in accuser Tara Reade’s allegations. He pointed to a team of attorneys and others who vetted Biden before he was picked to be Obama’s vice president. Axelrod said it “certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate. It did not.” Ditto on “salacious rumors.”
And hours after Biden went on MSNBC on Friday to deny the allegations, Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser in the Obama White House, offered opening remarks at a virtual fundraiser and said that before and after “necessary background checks and vetting” Biden was Obama’s top pick for vice president.
Welcome to The Spin.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker arrives in a mask to speak April 19, 2020, at the Thompson Center during the coronavirus pandemic. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The governor may say he’s not thinking about politics in the pushback over his stay-at-home order, but that doesn’t mean politics isn’t playing a role — from protesters pumping Trump 2020 signs to the Republicans suing over the order to even President Donald Trump suggesting Democratic-run local governments are going to have to compromise on some other issues if they’re going to get federal relief money.
“The fact is that there is — there are millions of people in the state of Illinois who have been following our stay-at-home rule, and they are the ones who have bent this curve for us. It is true there are outliers,” Pritzker said on CBS Sunday morning politics show “Face the Nation.” “The mayor and I have talked several times about the challenge of people wanting to break the rules. But the truth is those are real outliers.”
DuPage County mayors want governor’s permission to reopen businesses before May 30: The Naperville Sun’s Erin Hegarty reports here.
Pritzker’s win in court: On the same day a rural Illinois church held services - after filing a federal lawsuit alleging Pritzker’s executive order alleging religious discrimination for curbing services - a judge ruled Sunday that the stay-at-home was constitutional, the Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner writes. Read his story here.
Pritzker’s hand was seemingly forced amid the lawsuit and he amended the stay-home order to allow people to leave their homes and attend church services. On Sunday, U.S. District Court Judge John Z. Lee issued a written ruling that read in part, "given the continuing threat posed by COVID-19, the (o)rder preserves relatively robust avenues for praise, prayer and fellowship and passes constitutional muster.”
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Gorner notes that until testing signals it’s safe to return to worshipping in large groups, Lee wrote, the plaintiffs, "as Christians, can take comfort in the promise of Matthew 18:20 — ‘For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.’ ”
Cutting to the heart of a lawsuit: Rep. John Cabello, a Machesney Park Republican and a Rockford police officer who co-chaired President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in Illinois, offered some perspective during the weekend over the lawsuit he filed in Winnebago County challenging the stay-at-home order.
While the aim of the lawsuit, one of two filed by GOP lawmakers, is to give Illinois residents the option to ignore Pritzker’s order, Cabello cut to the rich versus poor, Chicago versus the rest-of-the-state sentiment that’s becoming apparent as the economy tanks.
“I don’t think this out of touch multibillionaire governor understands what some of these Illinoisans are really going through,” Cabello said of Pritzker during this weekend’s WFLD-Fox 32′s “Flannery Fired Up” politics show.
Side note: It may not all be partisan bickering. In this city of Democrats, Lightfoot has faced pushback over the order. As the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reported on Saturday she broke up a group of young men and as she walked away, one answered back, “Ya’ll overdoing it. Ya’ll need to find a cure, talking about go home. You go home.”
Pritzker vs. Trump — and the next funding bill: The governor was asked on “Face The Nation” about Trump (not to mention other Republicans) questioning why Democratic-run states such as Illinois should get bailout money considering their long-standing pension and other fiscal woes. Trump also suggested that funding may hinge on whether sanctuary cities are willing to change their immigration policies. Lightfoot said last week there was no way that would happen.
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Pritzker used the three words that are music to Trump’s ears — reopening the economy: “I don’t know whether there’ll be strings attached. I hope there aren’t too many, because the fact is every state has a problem and it’s different in every state where they need to put the dollars. So putting more strings on it makes it much more difficult for us to move forward to get our economies going.”
Protesters and ’reprehensible’ anti-Semitic signs: During the interview, he made a glancing comment about some protesters - marching in protest of his stay-home order - carrying signs with swastikas on them: “There were only a few hundred protesters. And although, you know, they sometimes carry reprehensible signs and, you know, are attacking what we’re trying to do, we’re still trying to keep them healthy as we are the 12.7 million Illinoisans across the state.”
Pritzker got into more detail about those signs with Chicago media: “There were people carrying signs with swastikas on them suggesting that there’s, you know, either that they believe in Nazism or they think it’s OK to throw the invective at people with a swastika,” said Pritzker, who is Jewish. You can read his full take in the Tribune here.
And NBC News Chicago reports: “In one instance, photos posted to social media showed a woman wearing an American flag face mask holding a sign that read ‘Arbeit macht frei,’ a German phrase meaning ‘work sets you free.’” The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum took issue with the sign, writing on Twitter that the phrase “was a false, cynical illusion SS gave to prisoners of #Auschwitz.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wears a mask as she prepares to speak about the coronavirus economic recovery plan April 23, 2020, at the Historic Water Tower. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago reached 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, Mayor Lightfoot told reporters on a conference call.
She said Chicago hasn’t experienced the scale of tragedy of other cities such as New York partly because of the city’s efforts on bending the disease’s growth curve by encouraging people to stay home.
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“We have to find hope that we haven’t had the same kind of outbreak as other cities,” Lightfoot said.
Asked about a researcher quoted in The New York Times who said the country is in the second inning of its fight against the coronavirus, Lightfoot said the city “might be a little further along than the second inning, but we’re not at the seventh-inning stretch.”
Instead, she said, the city is probably in the fourth inning of “a very tough game that looks like it’s going to go into extra innings.”
The mayor also said her warnings against house parties over the weekend scared off some partygoers, though others ignored the city’s threat to arrest people holding large gatherings. (Gregory Pratt)
Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin is estimating a 30% property tax default rate amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Campaign photo)
The Chicago Sun-Times’ David Roeder writes: "It’s going to be a summer of reckoning for your friendly local politician.
“COVID-19 and its cessation of commerce are starving government of revenue. ... All the stores we’re not visiting, the gas we’re not buying, the income we aren’t making are compounding losses for the tax collector.”
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Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, A Democrat who represents the Far North Side and nearby suburbs, tells Roeder he’s talked with constituents — meaning residents and businesses — and is estimating a 30% property tax default rate. Normally it’s around 3%. Read the story here.
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly: Higher rates of COVID-19 infection in people of color “shocking but not surprising” — Daily Southtown columnist Francine Knowles gets the south suburban congresswoman’s take here.
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Burbank Rehabilitation Center's employees and representatives of SEIU hold a news conference outside the center April 23, 2020, to protest the lack of PPE equipment inside the center. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
As federal lawmakers battle over whether to shield employers from pandemic-related lawsuits, a fight is brewing in Illinois over workers’ compensation coverage for COVID-19 illnesses.
Illinois was the first state in the nation to change its workers’ compensation law to presume workers contracted COVID-19 on the job if they work at businesses deemed essential by the state’s stay-at-home order, such as health care centers, banks and grocery stores. That made it easier for them to get coverage for medical bills, lost wages, long-term impairment and, if they didn’t survive the disease, death benefits for their families.
But business groups concerned about the cost of claims sued, and a judge halted enforcement of the change, saying the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission exceeded its rule-making authority when it approved the emergency amendment.
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On Monday, the state withdrew the change, reverting to existing law that requires employees to prove that their workplace was the cause of their illness. That can be a high bar given that the highly contagious coronavirus seems to lurk everywhere.
Gov. Pritzker’s office said he plans to revive efforts to ensure front-line workers receive workers’ compensation insurance if they get sick with COVID-19. (Alexia Elejalde Ruiz)
President Barack Obama laughs with Vice President Joe Biden during a ceremony in 2017 at the White House in Washington during which Obama presented Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Susan Walsh/AP)
At a virtual fundraiser for Biden with Obama White House and campaign alums in attendance, Jarrett recalled to those assembled on the videoconference call that in the 2008 campaign season, then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden was at the top of Obama’s list of vice presidential contenders. He was subject to “necessary background checks and vetting,” she said, adding: “And guess who was at the top of that list at the end of it? Vice President Joe Biden.”
According to the pool report, she didn’t mention the Tara Reade assault accusation, but Biden did — again denying the allegations as he did earlier in the day when he broke his silence on the issue. Reade talked to The Associated Press about the allegations here.
A day before the Friday fundraiser, Axelrod, who now heads the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, wrote an opinion piece for CNN recalling his days as senior strategist for the Obama campaign and talked about how he was briefed by the vetting team as its members conducted a background check on Biden.
“Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it,” Axelrod wrote. “Reade did not surface her allegations of a criminal sexual assault when Biden was a candidate for president in 2008, nor did she offer them confidentially to the Obama vetting team when Biden emerged as a principal contender for vice president later that year.”
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Biden says he’s getting advice from Obama on VP selection: Vowing to pick a woman — with Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s name mentioned — Biden said during Friday’s fundraiser he’s talked with his old boss, Obama, about the best way to choose a running mate: “What he said when talking to me about vice president, who I should think about, etc. and how I should go about it, he made the point, he said, 'Find people who can make up for what you don’t have as much experience in doing.’”
Last year, The New York Times took this deep dive into why Obama, who cut his political teeth in Chicago, gravitated to Biden, who seemed to be riding into the political sunset, from the get-go.
Before @JoeBiden was selected VP by @BarackObama, vetters for the campaign scoured every aspect of his record, career and life. Tara Reade or complaints of sexual harassment or assault never came up. I know. I was there.
Here are my recollections:https://t.co/eBwX0ji6ao — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 2, 2020
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Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Crashes in Mettawa, Beach Park leave 2 in critical condition

“ For an unknown reason , he accelerated at a high rate of speed , causing the front wheel of @ @ @ @ @ the roadway , ” according to a release issued Monday by the Lake County Sheriff @ @ @ @

The Lake County Sheriff’s office is investigating two crashes that left two Lake County men in critical condition Saturday, Sgt. Christopher Covelli, the Lake County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Monday.
A 55-year-old Wadsworth man driving a Honda Gold Wing Motorcycle lost control and crashed around 6:10 p.m. Saturday in a parking lot in the 25900 block of Riverwoods Road in Mettawa. He was not wearing a helmet.
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“For an unknown reason, he accelerated at a high rate of speed, causing the front wheel of the Honda to rise from the roadway,” according to a release issued Monday by the Lake County Sheriff’s office.
An ambulance transported him to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was in critical condition.
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In Beach Park, a 22-year-old North Chicago man driving a Chevrolet Impala crossed into the northbound lanes of Sheridan Road near Mawman Avenue around 8:45 p.m. Saturday striking a Nissan Rogue head-on.
The North Chicago man was taken by ambulance to Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan and listed in critical condition. The driver of the Nissan, a 37-year-old Waukegan man, was transported with minor injuries.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit is conducting the investigations.


chicagotribune--2020-05-04--Ida B. Wells, journalist and civil rights icon

African American journalist , civil rights activist and women ’ s rights pioneer Ida B. Wells-Barnett ’ s legacy and @ @ @ @ @ of history .
But in recent years , as historians , activists and scholars brought @ @ @ @ @ a new generation embraced her , that obscurity has lifted .
She was born into @ @ @ @ @ Mississippi , and became a crusading journalist who exposed the crime and shame of lynching @ @ @ @ @ suffrage .

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