chicagotribune--2020-09-09--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Sept. 8 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Tamale Guy Chicago reopens today in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood .
The namesake restaurant of Claudio Velez was closed for @ @ @ @ @ tested positive for COVID-19 , just two weeks after a grand opening with 10 block @ @ @ @ @ waits and selling out of thousands of tamales .
Prior to the coronavirus mandated closures @ @ @ @ @ for his red cooler full of warm tamales , sold bar to bar on the @ @ @ @ @ .

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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)
Illinois health officials Tuesday announced 1,392 new known cases of COVID-19 and seven additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 252,353 and the statewide death toll to 8,186 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday began the fall quarter with remote learning. Most educators were teaching from their homes, though some streamed lessons from their school classrooms. Families around the city reported a range of successes and frustrations as the watershed day came to a close.
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Many suburban school districts have already resumed classes, with teachers giving lessons remotely from their school classrooms. Some private schools, including the Archdiocese of Chicago’s students, already went back to school in person.
Also Tuesday, the city of Chicago added Kentucky to its mandatory quarantine order and removed California and Puerto Rico, officials announced.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:15 p.m. (update): Back to school, from home: CPS begins a new school year with a return to remote learning, successes and frustrations
Surrounded by four computer monitors, Nightingale Elementary teacher Lauren Kullman joked that she felt like she was producing the Emmys. But it was just the first day of school.
As Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday began fall quarter with remote learning, most educators were teaching from their homes, though some streamed lessons from their school classrooms. Families around the city reported a range of successes and frustrations as the watershed day came to a close.
Kullman is married to a special education teacher, and the couple has a 5-year-old in kindergarten along with a younger child.
“Our house is embracing the chaos,” she said Tuesday. “... We are just so grateful that we are remote. The challenges we will face are nothing compared to what we could have faced in an unsafe environment.”
But she said not all school employees were spared from that. At more than 100 CPS buildings, clerks, technology coordinators and clinicians have reported unsafe conditions or lax enforcement of safety protocols, according to the Chicago Teachers Union.
While Kullman was speaking at a CTU news conference, she got a Google notification from a fifth-grade student, telling her good morning.
“They’re excited,” Kullman said of her students. “I’m excited. The thing I’m most nervous about is, not seeing some of them for the past six months, and really checking in with them.”
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Read more here. —Hannah Leone
8:10 p.m.: Six months into the pandemic, CPS has served more than 21 million free meals and won’t let up anytime soon
When all Illinois schools, including private and charter, were closed March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many wondered how the roughly 355,000 students in Chicago Public Schools would be impacted, especially those who rely on school for their meals.
More than 75% of CPS students are economically disadvantaged, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot verbalized her hesitancy in closing the schools for this reason.
CPS has served more than 21 million meals to children since schools closed, said Crystal Cooper, executive director of nutritional support services for CPS.
Read more here. —Christen A. Johnson
7:10 p.m. (update): AstraZeneca puts COVID-19 vaccine trials on hold after recipient’s ‘potentially unexplained illness’
Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates whether a recipient’s “potentially unexplained” illness is a side effect of the shot.
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In a statement issued Tuesday evening, the company said its “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.”
AstraZeneca didn’t reveal any information about the possible side effect except to call it “a potentially unexplained illness.” The health news site STAT first reported the pause in testing, saying the possible side effect occurred in the United Kingdom.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson confirmed the pause in vaccinations covers studies in the U.S. and other countries. Late last month, AstraZeneca began recruiting 30,000 people in the U.S. for its largest study of the vaccine. It also is testing the vaccine, developed by Oxford University, in thousands of people in Britain, and in smaller studies in Brazil and South Africa.
Two other vaccines are in huge, final-stage tests in the United States, one made by Moderna Inc. and the other by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. Those two vaccines work differently than AstraZeneca’s, and the studies already have recruited about two-thirds of the needed volunteers.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:40 p.m.: Number of active COVID-19 cases in Naperville tops 230, higher than previous peak in May
Naperville saw 235 active cases of COVID-19 Sept. 4, a new case record and a 42% increase in active cases from the city’s previous peak at the end of May.
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The number of active COVID-19 cases in Naperville has steadily increased since June 28 when there were 49 active cases in the city, Naperville’s COVID-19 dashboard shows.
Naperville passed the previous May 24 record of 166 active cases on Aug. 14 when the city had 173 active cases of COVID-19, the most recent data on the city’s coronavirus shows.
The numbers do not yet include data from Labor Day weekend and come as most of the city’s restaurants and bars have been offering indoor service for months. The Will County portion of Naperville is under more stringent restrictions.
Read more here. —Erin Hegarty
5:50 p.m.: As COVID-19 clusters emerge on campus, Bradley University tells all students to quarantine and stop socializing for two weeks
Bradley University in downstate Peoria, is requiring all students to quarantine for two weeks and is temporarily reverting to remote learning due to concerns that clusters of COVID-19 are linked to off-campus gatherings, officials announced Tuesday.
Students are being asked not to gather with anyone except roommates, not to visit bars or restaurants and to stay home, with a few exceptions.
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The school is reporting about 50 COVID-19 cases so far but already has hundreds of students in quarantine because of possible exposure.
Read the full story here. —Elyssa Cherney
5:25 p.m.: Statewide coronavirus relief fund winding down despite ‘tremendous need’
A private fundraising effort started in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic to give a boost to nonprofit organizations helping those grappling with the physical and financial consequences of COVID-19 is winding down its work, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday.
While acknowledging that there remains “tremendous need” throughout the state, Pritzker said the intent of the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund when it was set up in March was to provide quick assistance as the federal and state governments were still formulating their responses.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
2:25 p.m.: Acclaimed Italian-influenced Korean restaurant Passerotto closing, in part due to the coronavirus
When chef Jennifer Kim opened Passerotto in 2018, she described her restaurant as an ode to growing up Korean American and training in Italian kitchens. That love letter resonated with Chicago diners and the culinary world at large, garnering a slew of awards, including a Chicago Tribune Critic’s Choice Dining Award (naming Kim as Rookie of the Year), James Beard Award nominations, Best Neighborhood Restaurant by the Jean Banchet Awards and a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award. It also landed a spot on the Chicago Tribune’s Phil’s 50 list.
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But over the weekend, the Andersonville restaurant announced that it would be closing its doors permanently, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last day is Saturday.
Read more here. —Grace Wong
2:05 p.m.: Target reinstates car seat recycling program with contactless trade-in option
Parents hoping to get rid of their child’s old car seat will soon see the return of a popular, sustainable option.
Target reinstated its car seat recycling program this month despite COVID-19 uncertainty, according to the corporation’s website. From Sept. 13-26, customers enrolled in Target’s loyalty program can bring any of its stores a car seat in exchange for a coupon for 20% off any new car seat, car seat base, stroller or select baby home gear, such as high chairs or rockers.
Target accepts all types of car seats, including infant, convertible, harness and booster seats, car seat bases and expired or damaged ones. The seats will be disassembled and recycled by the retailer’s partner, Waste Management.
The corporation didn’t host its spring car seat trade-in program this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chicago-area parents were struggling to get rid of car seats and other children’s items as resale shops limited donations and retailers stalled trade-in programs out of fear of COVID-19 spread.
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Read more here. —Kelli Smith
12:25 p.m.: Chicago Public Schools begins a new year amid scramble to get all students connected for remote learning
The new school year in CPS began Tuesday with a different sort of test, one that will determine if hundreds of thousands of students all have the computer devices and internet access they need for at least another quarter of remote schooling.
Over the weekend, families were still trying to get computers and internet. Even as CPS is trying to get every student a laptops or tablets, distributing more than 128,000 starting in the spring and another 18,000 in recent weeks, some parents spent the holiday weekend figuring out how to get one after their school ran out.
As for whether her students all have the tools they needed to participate, Westinghouse College Prep teacher Nina Hike said Tuesday: “I think today is the day that we find out.”
Read more here. — Hannah Leone
12:20 p.m.: What will it take to get Chicagoans to go to the show? Here’s what you told us.
Our fall arts preview typically offers readers advice on what not to miss. This year, with so much closed or canceled due to the novel coronavirus, we wanted to know what you, the audience, are missing? What would it take to make you feel safe in a theater again? And does it matter to you whether Chicago remains a center for culture?
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So we asked.
The Tribune posted an online questionnaire on Aug. 20, and 361 of you responded over the next two weeks. We aren’t claiming this is scientific, but it is interesting. Think of it as something akin to 361 person-on-the-street interviews.
So what would bring audiences back to an indoor venue?
About half — 52% — said they wouldn’t return until there’s a vaccine or effective treatment. The rest said they would consider it with some mix of social distancing, sanitation, temperature checks or — for about 21% — rapid COVID-19 testing. Many more added other suggestions; air filtration is high on people’s list of demands. A few called out their fellow citizens for lousy mask-wearing habits.
Read more here. — Jennifer Day
11:50 a.m.: Doctors studying why obesity may be tied to serious COVID-19
In the early days of the pandemic, doctors noticed something about the people severely ill from COVID-19: Many were obese.
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The link became more apparent as coronavirus swept across the globe and data mounted, and researchers are still trying to figure out why.
Excess weight increases the chances of developing a number of health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. And those are among the conditions that can make COVID-19 patients more likely to get very sick.
But there’s some evidence that obesity itself can increase the likelihood of serious complications from a coronavirus infection. One study of more than 5,200 infected people, including 35% who were obese, found that the chances of hospitalization rose for people with higher BMIs, even when taking into account other conditions that could put them at risk.
Read more here. — Associated Press
11:25 a.m.: Michigan grad students strike over in-person instruction during the coronavirus pandemic
Graduate students who teach classes were on strike Tuesday at the University of Michigan over in-person instruction during the coronavirus pandemic and other issues.
The strikers chanted and held umbrellas while marching in the rain. “I do not want my students and colleagues to get a chronic illness because this university decided it was most important to collect tuition,” Surabhi Balachander wrote on Twitter.
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The Graduate Employees’ Organization, which represents more than 1,000 instructors, has called for a four-day strike.
Most classes at the University of Michigan have shifted to online. But the union says the university isn’t doing enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Read more here. — Associated Press
11:05 a.m.: 6 state legislature leaders — Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — send letter to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren
Leaders of six state legislatures in the Big Ten footprint have sent a letter to Commissioner Kevin Warren asking the conference to reconsider its decision to cancel the fall football season.
The letter is written on the letterhead of Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and also signed by statehouse leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“Recent actions taken by other conferences around the country to start football and other fall sports have placed the Big Ten, its members and students at a disadvantage,” the letter said. “These athletes are losing a vital part of student life and are becoming less marketable to future employers with each passing week. Additionally, our local universities stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars that support vital student scholarships.
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“This is even more frustrating when we think of how our Big Ten athletic programs are leading the way by providing outstanding health and safety protocols. All of that unprecedented planning and teamwork was an unmitigated success, and yet somehow the conference has decided to cast it aside anyway.”
The Big Ten, and Warren in particular, have received strong pushback since the conference announced that university presidents voted to push back football and other fall sports until the second semester because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more here. — Associated Press
11 a.m.: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Senate to vote on ‘targeted’ coronavirus aid package
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, under pressure from GOP senators in tough reelection races, said Tuesday the Senate would vote on a trimmed-down Republican coronavirus relief package, though it has a slim chance of passage in the face of Democrats’ insistence for more sweeping aid.
The GOP leader acknowledged the package he will be putting forward “does not contain every idea our party likes.” And he said it was far less than what Democrats are seeking.
The move comes as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, as hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill — or much else
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Read more here. — Associated Press
10:40 a.m.: Chicago adds Kentucky to city’s travel quarantine order; removes California, Puerto Rico
The city of Chicago added Kentucky to its mandatory quarantine order and removed California and Puerto Rico, officials announced Tuesday.
The new addition will be effective Friday, when the list will cover 21 states, according to a Chicago Department of Public Health press release. The removal of the two states applies immediately.
The city adds a state to its quarantine list if the state averages more than 15 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period. People who have spent more than 24 hours in the high-risk states are required to self-quarantine for 14 days after entering Chicago.
In addition, five states on the list have dipped below the 15 cases threshold and will be removed from the list next week if they remain under the requirement. They are Idaho, Nevada, Texas, North Carolina and Hawaii.The states as of Friday will be Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina,North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
Last week Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s public health commissioner, said Indiana crossed the threshold and could be added soon, but as of Tuesday the neighboring state’s numbers had slid back and it was not on the quarantine list.
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Read more here. — Alice Yin
6:40 a.m.: Lightfoot, Jackson to visit Englewood school to mark start of CPS school year
As Chicago public schools start the school year remotely, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson Mayor Lightfoot will mark the start of the year Tuesday morning by visiting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Academy of Social Justice, 644 W. 71st St.
Lightfoot and Jackson will tour the school and then Lightfoot was scheduled to take questions in a short news conference. — Chicago Tribune staff
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories related to COVID-19 from the weekend.


chicagotribune--2020-09-08--Police: 14-year-old boy instigated Maine South ‘Zoom bombing’ incident where racist language was use

Police: 14-year-old boy instigated Maine South ‘Zoom bombing’ incident where racist language was used during classes

“ We have zero tolerance for the use of any hate speech in our school community , ” Collins wrote @ @ @ @ @ , explaining that racial equity would be a topic at the monthly 2nd Cup of @ @ @ @ @ 10 .
“ We stand in solidarity with our Black students and students of color @ @ @ @ @ of racism in our society .
”

Maine Township High School District 207's new offices are located at 1177 S. Dee Road in Park Ridge, adjacent to the Maine South campus. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
A 14-year-old boy is accused of sharing login information for remote learning sessions at Maine South High School, resulting in people disrupting class sessions with profanity and racial slurs, Park Ridge police said.
The incidents occurred between Aug. 25 and Aug. 27 during the first week of the new school year. In an email to parents, Principal Ben Collins described the incidents as containing “rude, inappropriate, racist and hateful language,” including the use of a racial slur in two instances.
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“We have zero tolerance for the use of any hate speech in our school community,” Collins wrote in his email to parents, explaining that racial equity would be a topic at the monthly 2nd Cup of Coffee parent meeting on Sept. 10. “We stand in solidarity with our Black students and students of color as they are repeatedly targets of racism in our society.”
Park Ridge Police Department Executive Officer Tom Gadomski said a 14-year-old male student identified as having posted login information and passwords for Zoom classroom sessions on Twitter and encouraging followers to “log in and disrupt the classes.”
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Gadomski said school officials reported that the boy had done the same thing in July.
No similar incidents have been reported at Maine East or Maine West High School, said Maine Township High School District 207 Spokesman Brett Clark.
The teen was not charged with a criminal offense, but he was referred to the Park Ridge Peer Jury, police said. Peer Jury allows juvenile offenders to receive a non-criminal sentence, such as performing community service or paying restitution, after admitting to an offense.
The incidents reported at Maine South are similar to what occurred at Emerson Middle School in Niles at the start of the school year.
Families of Emerson students were notified that on the first two days of school, “intruders” had interrupted Zoom classes and used “inappropriate, racist, religious, hateful and homophobic language,” according to an email from the school’s principal.
Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Spokesman Pete Gill said a total of nine “Zoom bombing” incidents occurred at Emerson during the first two days of the school year, which began Aug. 27.
Several students have been identified in connection with the incidents, Gill said.
“We’re currently working with the Niles Police Department in an ongoing investigation,” he said.
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jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Daywatch: Chicago will replace lead water pipes, what science has learned about COVID-19 and how to

Daywatch: Chicago will replace lead water pipes, what science has learned about COVID-19 and how to get a Wienermobile at your marriage proposal

Local and federal officials wrangled Wednesday over who should get credit for a recent dip in Chicago violence , even @ @ @ @ @ in the city in August and shootings continue at a pace far above last year @ @ @ @ @ said during a visit to Chicago that the federal Operation Legend program has led directly @ @ @ @ @ shootings in the violence-torn city over the past five weeks .

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Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, Illinois health officials reported 1,337 new known cases of COVID-19 and 30 additional deaths, as the positivity rate in Chicago ticked up to 5.1%.
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If you’re already gearing up for next month’s spooky holiday, you may need to start brainstorming some trick-or-treat alternatives. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that Halloween will look different this year as the city works on plans to celebrate and follow public health guidelines.
And although the school year has just begun, some Illinois universities are seeing an early glimpse of the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on enrollment: numbers of incoming freshman and international students shrank.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Ed Morales, left, and Jeff Steele, both plumbers with the city's Department of Water Management, attach a copper service line to an existing lead service line after it was accidentally damaged while they and others worked to replace water main lines in 2016. (Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago, the last big American city to require water pipes made of brain-damaging lead, is now the last one beginning to rip toxic pipes out of the ground.
Under plans shared Wednesday with the Chicago Tribune, the Department of Water Management envisions a long and costly effort to protect Chicagoans from a widespread public health threat that remained largely hidden for decades.
Dajore Wilson, 8, was fatally shot on Labor Day, while three adults with her, including her mother, were injured in the attack in Canaryville. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Earlier this week, someone opened fire on the car Dajore Wilson’s father, D’Andre Wilson, was driving at Union’s intersection with 47th Street. Dajore, her father and a friend were shot. Her mother was injured by broken glass. Only Dajore died.
Now, Dajore’s family is grieving, her father from his hospital bed, as are neighbors who tried to help in the minutes before police and paramedics arrived.
Dozens gather during vigil to pray, mourn death of 8-year-old Dajure Wilson, slain in Canaryville
Attorney General William Barr gives an update on Operation Legend on Sept. 9, 2020, at a news conference at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Local and federal officials wrangled Wednesday over who should get credit for a recent dip in Chicago violence, even though 63 people were slain in the city in August and shootings continue at a pace far above last year. Attorney General William Barr said during a visit to Chicago that the federal Operation Legend program has led directly to a significant drop in shootings in the violence-torn city over the past five weeks.
Brandon Pratt, left, and Taneka Aaron are wearing masks while walking along 53rd Street in Hyde Park on Aug. 25, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
It’s been only nine months since the world learned of a new coronavirus that would trigger a pandemic declaration in March and ultimately disrupt billions of lives.
That’s little more than a blink of the eye when it comes to understanding a novel disease, and the advice from scientists and doctors is still evolving as they accumulate experience with COVID-19.
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Hot dog fans and lovers can request the Wienermobile for their marriage proposal at no cost. (Oscar Mayer)
You don’t have to be an Oscar Mayer wiener to have everyone be in love with you (contrary to the popular 1960s jingle). But with proposal season almost upon us, you can request an appearance by the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to make your engagement more memorable.


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Chicago announces plan to start replacing lead water pipes after decades of denying the dangers

“ We know there will be some things we need to do differently in Chicago than they have done in @ @ @ @ @ Cheng , an assistant water commissioner , said in an interview .
“ We need @ @ @ @ @ with other utilities .
We are going to need a lot of public outreach .
@ @ @ @ @ on this one block will inform our bigger program in the future . ''

A Chicago Water Department worker begins to clean up the street after working on installing water main pipes on Laramie Avenue near Irving Park Road on Sept. 9, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago, the last big American city to require water pipes made of brain-damaging lead, is now the last one beginning to rip toxic pipes out of the ground.
Under plans shared Wednesday with the Chicago Tribune, the Department of Water Management envisions a long and costly effort to protect Chicagoans from a widespread public health threat that remained largely hidden for decades.
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Initial work will be modest compared with the scope of the dangers. Next year the city estimates it will replace only 750 of the roughly 400,000 lead service lines connecting homes to street mains, according to slides prepared by the water department.
Yet the new program from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is the latest example of a shifting mindset at City Hall, where mayors and aldermen resisted changes to Chicago’s plumbing code until Congress outlawed lead water pipes in 1986.
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Jeff Steele, a plumber with the city's Department of Water Management, attaches a copper service line to an existing lead service while he and others work to replace water main lines in 2016 in the 1500 block of West Roscoe Street in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune)
Former city officials — up to and including Mayor Rahm Emanuel — also denied for years that anyone could be harmed just by drawing a glass of water from their household faucet.
“It’s great that Mayor Lightfoot has done what none of her predecessors had the courage to do, which is to acknowledge the problem,” said Miguel del Toral, a retired U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official who played a key role in identifying similar threats in Flint, Michigan, and East Chicago, Indiana.
Chicago by far has more lead service lines than any other city. Detroit, with the second most, has about 125,000.
Ingesting tiny concentrations of the metal can permanently damage the developing brains of children and contribute to heart disease, kidney failure and other health problems later in life. In 2018, researchers estimated more than 400,000 deaths a year in the U.S. are linked to lead exposure.
Like other cities that already are replacing lead service lines, Chicago will rely on federal grants and low-interest loans to finance its work.
Most of the $19 million earmarked for next year will be spent in low-income neighborhoods where children also are endangered by dust from lead-based paint — still the largest source of exposure. The water service line will be replaced in 600 homes with high lead levels, some of which were identified through free testing kits distributed by the city.
A Chicago water department worker begins to clean up the street after working on installing water main pipes on Laramie Avenue near Irving Park Road on Sept. 9, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
To assess what likely will become a routine construction project, the Lightfoot administration will separately pick one city block where every lead service line is replaced while crews dig up the street to install a new water main.
“We know there will be some things we need to do differently in Chicago than they have done in other cities," Andrea Cheng, an assistant water commissioner, said in an interview. “We need to work on our coordination with other utilities. We are going to need a lot of public outreach. Learning how it all works on this one block will inform our bigger program in the future."
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Coordinating the replacement of service lines and water mains would make the work more cost-effective. It also would end a city practice that likely exposed Chicagoans to high levels of lead in their tap water during the past decade.
Studies by del Toral and others have found that when service lines are jostled by street work or plumbing repairs, spikes of lead can intermittently flow out of household taps for weeks or months afterward.
The city dug up scores of streets under Emanuel as the former mayor sped up the replacement of aging, often-leaky water mains. City workers also installed dozens of meters to conserve the considerable-but-limited supply of water Chicago is allowed to draw from Lake Michigan — work that Lightfoot paused last year after the city confirmed it triggered high lead levels.
Emanuel secured more than $475 million in low-interest loans for the projects and doubled water rates to pay off the debt. But Emanuel — and until recently Lightfoot — didn’t apply for money to replace lead service lines.
Even now, city crews are attaching old, toxic pipes to new water mains before filling in trenches and repaving streets. Lightfoot’s new plan does not address what should be done on streets where the water main already has been replaced.
Others have suggested requiring service line replacement when a property is sold. Some cities loan residents money at low or zero interest to replace their service line, with payments invested to finance new projects.
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“This problem is only going to be solved by everyone chipping in,” del Toral said. “I think most fair-minded people would agree.”
For homeowners willing and able to pay for a new service line, Lightfoot is asking City Council to waive costly permit fees.
There is no federal standard for the amount of lead in tap water from individual homes. Utilities are considered to be in compliance with EPA regulations as long as 90% of the homes tested have lead levels below 15 parts per billion, a standard the EPA set nearly three decades ago because the agency thought it could be met with corrosion-inhibiting chemicals.
Chicago conducts this type of testing in just 50 homes every three years — the minimum required. Most are owned by water department employees or retirees living on the Far Northwest and Far Southwest sides, where cases of lead poisoning are rare.
By contrast, results from the city’s free testing kits show lead-contaminated water has been found in at least one home in all 77 community areas.


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Former state GOP Chairman Pat Brady endorses Democrat Sean Casten for reelection over Republican Jea

Former state GOP Chairman Pat Brady endorses Democrat Sean Casten for reelection over Republican Jeanne Ives

Brady , a resident of the district , was state GOP chairman from 2009 to 2013 and previously was a @ @ @ @ @ state .
He resigned the top Republican post after endorsing same-sex marriage , angering social @ @ @ @ @ countermanded a plank in the state Republican platform that specified marriage can only take place @ @ @ @ @ woman .
Brady said his support was a personal , not party , position .

Former Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady endorsed Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten in a series of ads on Thursday, saying Republican challenger Jeanne Ives, a hard-line social conservative and backer of President Donald Trump, was “too extreme” for the suburban district.
Brady’s decision to back the first-term Casten, of Downers Grove, over Ives, a former state representative of Wheaton, reflects the turmoil that has existed within the state GOP over the last several years as its socially conservative and moderate factions have struggled for control and party identity in an increasingly Democratic state.
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“I’m Pat Brady, a lifelong Republican, but I can’t support Jeanne Ives for Congress. Ives makes Trump look reasonable. She’s attacked same-sex families, even questioned the science behind climate change and the coronavirus. Ives is on the wrong side of history,” Brady says in one ad.
In a second ad, Brady touts Casten without mentioning Ives, saying the Democrat “makes decisions based on facts, never politics. He’s worked across the aisle to protect our health and get our economy moving again.”
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Brady, of St. Charles, is a resident of the west and northwest suburban 6th Congressional District, where Casten upset veteran Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton two years ago. Brady backed Roskam in that race.
Like the state GOP, the congressional district is finding its own identity. Once containing the heart of DuPage County’s rock-ribbed Republicans, the district has shifted Democrat while retaining parts of its social conservatism centered around Wheaton. The district favored Democrat Hillary Clinton by 7 percentage points over Trump in 2016.
Casten said in a statement that he was “honored” to receive the Brady endorsement.
“I believe that public officials should always lead with their values,” Casten said. “Jeanne Ives has made it clear that her values don’t represent the 6th District, and Pat Brady has made it clear that her values don’t represent the Republican Party.”
The state’s current Republican leadership — Chairman Tim Schneider, National Committeeman Richard Porter and National Committeewoman Demetra Demonte — came to Ives’ defense in a joint statement that contended “identifying and labeling Pat Brady as a Republican is false and misleading.”
“Pat Brady is a liberal Democrat and has been for some time. Sean Casten may have the backing of political hacks but Jeanne Ives is supported by hard working taxpayers,” the statement said.
Ives weighed in on Twitter, saying: “Of course Pat Brady endorsed Sean Casten. Amoral, ruling class political hacks stick together.”
Lobbyists Stumping for Lobbyists. Our Response:
Of course Pat Brady endorsed Sean Casten. Amoral, ruling class political hacks stick together. — Jeanne Ives (@JeanneIves) September 10, 2020
In response, Brady, now a lobbyist, said, “I’m still a Republican but I can’t embrace the Ives extreme agenda, which does not in my opinion represent the 6th Congressional District.” He said Ives’ “rabid response” to his decision to back Casten and her past controversial history were reasons why she is “temperamentally ill equipped for public office.”
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Ives has had a complicated relationship with the state GOP. After six years in the Illinois House, she nearly upset then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in the 2018 GOP primary.
In that campaign, she ran an ad using exaggerations and misleading statements to attack Rauner’s conservative credentials with actors mockingly saying “thank you” to him for expanded transgender, abortion and immigration rights.
Schneider, who is now coming to Ives’ defense, was Rauner’s hand-picked state GOP chairman and denounced the 2018 ad. He said it did not reflect the Illinois Republican Party, called it a “cowardly attempt to stoke political division” and asked her to apologize and remove it. She did neither.
State Republicans who are running a “races to watch” online program to help raise funds for a variety of contenders did not include Ives. State GOP officials said she declined to participate in the fundraising effort, but they support her candidacy.
Brady said it was the 2016 ad that showed Ives’ beliefs were “too extreme for the district” — a theme echoed on other social media ads the Casten campaign began rolling out Wednesday.
“She’s about as far right as you can go of any candidate in the country,” he said. “But compounding that, I think she disqualified herself from any public office with that ad she ran two years ago, which to me reflects really poor judgment, particularly the fact that she never disavowed it after Republicans and Democrats condemned it.”
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Ives launched her own half-minute cable-TV ad campaign Thursday with a biographical ad recounting her Army and legislative background. Her campaign is spending at least $43,228, cable industry records show, and running a minutelong version on social media.
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Brady, a resident of the district, was state GOP chairman from 2009 to 2013 and previously was a Republican national committeeman for the state. He resigned the top Republican post after endorsing same-sex marriage, angering social conservatives who said his position countermanded a plank in the state Republican platform that specified marriage can only take place between a man and a woman. Brady said his support was a personal, not party, position.
Among those pushing for Brady’s ouster at the time was state Sen. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove. Oberweis is the Republican nominee challenging first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville in the neighboring urban and exurban 14th Congressional District.
Underwood, who defeated veteran GOP U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren of Plano, also launched her first ad of the general election campaign, a half minute spot aimed at demonstrating she has traveled throughout the district and had three measures signed into law, including one aimed at lowering the cost of insulin drugs. Cable industry records show she is spending $190,584 to air the spot.
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chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Silent spreaders and long haulers. Aerosols and protocols. 10 things science has learned about COVID

Silent spreaders and long haulers. Aerosols and protocols. 10 things science has learned about COVID-19 in less than a year.

“ Some of the behaviors and the resistance to putting on masks — I think it ’ s gotten better @ @ @ @ @ an unbelievably significant amount of people that just feel like they are not getting treated @ @ @ @ @ t have the freedom to do what they wish to do , ” Khare said @ @ @ @ @ always to me as a public health person a little bit disturbing .
But that @ @ @ @ @ America .
”

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
It’s been only nine months since the world learned of a new coronavirus that would trigger a pandemic declaration in March and ultimately disrupt billions of lives.
That’s little more than a blink of the eye when it comes to understanding a novel disease, and the advice from scientists and doctors is still evolving as they accumulate experience with COVID-19.
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“People seem to think that we would have all the information on it right away,” said Northwestern University professor Aaron Packman, an environmental engineer who specializes in surveillance of wastewater and buildings to detect disease-causing germs. “What most people don’t appreciate is when you have a new disease — a new infectious disease, a new pathogen — historically it’s taken years to get all the information you need to fully deal with it. This is all accelerated, a lot.”
Here are a few things that science has learned — so far — about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the disease it causes.
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1. The disease spreads primarily through the air.
Early advice on how to protect oneself from COVID-19 focused a great deal on surfaces, after initial studies found that SARS-CoV-2 can survive on surfaces for two or three days.
That led to an early public health focus on frequent hand-washing, disinfecting surfaces and groceries, and telling people to “stop touching your face.”
A billboard encourages people to wear face masks to combat the coronavirus Aug. 18, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
But as epidemiologists watched the pandemic unfold, evidence emerged about the disease spreading in crowded rooms — especially at bars, restaurants and churches — suggesting that airborne virus particles were the main cause of transmission.
While hand-washing and cleaning surfaces are still good practices, the primary focus has shifted to mask-wearing and maintaining social distance.
[ Where’s your closest drive-thru COVID-19 test site? Can you avoid that deep nasal swab? Your top 10 questions about coronavirus testing, answered. ]
2. Wearing a mask helps prevent the virus from spreading.
In the days leading up to the pandemic declaration on March 11, national public health officials were saying people didn’t need to wear a mask, in some cases contending masks weren’t effective at preventing COVID-19 transmission.
But in April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed course and recommended that people wear a cloth face covering when distance from others could not be maintained.
The early advice was based on a lack of understanding about how COVID-19 spreads and the fear that a run on medical-grade masks would place health care workers in danger at a time when protective gear was in short supply.
Brandon Pratt, left, and Taneka Aaron wear masks while walking along 53rd Street in Hyde Park on Aug. 25, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
But it soon became clear the virus was spreading via particles exhaled from the mouths and noses of infected people. And early experiments involving cloth face coverings suggested they could reduce the amount that escapes into the air. That, in turn, limits how much of the virus is inhaled by others nearby, which can prevent infection or reduce the severity of the disease.
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“The truth was that we didn’t know how effective fabric masks were or were not, or are or are not. We know now,” said Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control at University of Chicago Medicine.
Dr. Rahul Khare, CEO of the Innovative Express Care immediate care facility in Chicago and an early advocate of mask use, said he’s heartened that so many people have adopted mask-wearing in public.
“It has become a cultural norm to have a mask on when outdoors or when even in your office space, which three months ago would be crazy,” Khare said. “And we actually feel uncomfortable when we see someone or talk with someone who does not have a mask. So I think that’s pretty remarkable.”
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
3. Six feet apart sometimes isn’t far enough.
By now, people are very familiar with the advice to maintain a “social distance” of 6 feet.
That guidance is based on the idea that the respiratory droplets emitted while talking, singing or coughing fall to the ground relatively quickly and don’t travel far.
But it isn’t just the droplets we have to worry about, experts now say. Researchers have found the virus also can be present in much smaller particles called aerosols that are lighter, linger in the air longer and can spread much farther.
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“In the beginning, we thought this was going to be a droplet-borne infection,” said Landon. Two other diseases caused by coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, “are entirely droplet-borne,” she said. “And the ordinary coronavirus that causes colds we get every year is mostly droplet-spread, and we don’t see a lot of airborne spread.”
The new knowledge about aerosols has put a wrinkle in the 6-foot rule. Outdoors, where fresh air rapidly disperses the virus, 6 feet is likely enough space between people who aren’t wearing masks, but people should wear masks indoors even if they are 6 feet apart, Landon said.
Scientists are also turning their focus to improving the ventilation of indoor spaces and looking at ways to kill the airborne virus inside buildings.
[ A new report said 6 feet may not be enough for social distance. Here’s what local doctors said. ]
4. People without symptoms can transmit COVID-19, giving rise to the term “silent spreaders.”
The spread of COVID-19 primarily by air is especially concerning in light of another unexpected behavior of SARS-CoV-2: It can infect someone and cause no symptoms, and people can be infected for weeks before symptoms do emerge. That means people can be spreading infected droplets and aerosols and not know it.
“The toughest thing about this virus seems to be that there’s quite a prolonged incubation period,” said Dr. Sadiya Sana Khan, an epidemiologist at Northwestern University Medical Center who specializes in cardiac care. “Typically, in influenza, you’ll have symptoms in a day or two. Here, the average end of the median time is five days. That’s a long time to be infected and potentially spreading without even knowing it. And on the longer end, (it can take) 14 days, and some have reported even longer than that.”
That’s one reason why having everyone wear a mask is so important, experts said. It’s also further proof of the need for wide availability of testing, which can help detect infections earlier and allow people to isolate before they spread the disease.
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5. Some drugs show promise in helping sick people.
Strides are being made in treatment, even if there still is no cure-all.
Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug, has been found to reduce recovery times. The Food and Drug Administration recently expanded its early emergency approval of the drug to treat any hospitalized COVID-19 patient. But the drug is expensive and in limited supply.
Steroids, which are widely available and inexpensive, are also being used to treat patients. Steroids don’t fight SARS-CoV-2, but it’s believed they can help prevent an overreaction of the immune system to the virus that proves fatal in some patients.
The World Health Organization recently called for steroids to be standard treatment for people with “severe and critical” COVID-19. That came after a clinical study concluded that the treatment reduced deaths.
Other potentially promising treatments are being studied. Plasma, which recently received FDA emergency use authorization but has its detractors, is taken from recovered patients with antibodies in their systems and given to sick people.
Monoclonal antibodies created in a laboratory have been used to treat other diseases, like Ebola and cancer. They are now being tested in the fight against COVID-19, with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, calling it a “promising form of therapy.”
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6. Helpful new treatment protocols are emerging.
Khare, who also practices emergency medicine, said his work treating COVID-19 patients has changed significantly.
“It used to be that we would intubate these patients early,” Khare said, referring to the process of putting someone on a ventilator to help them breathe. “And then we found out it’s very difficult to get them off of the ventilator. In fact, it increases mortality.”
So for people with COVID-19, he said, doctors are tolerating lower blood oxygen levels that would normally mean using a ventilator.
Khare added that doctors also have been placing many patients in a prone position, instead of on their backs, to improve breathing.
But, in a sign of how the science keeps evolving, there is concern that patients placed face down could suffer nerve damage.
Landon mentioned that doctors initially were reluctant to use what are known as high-flow nasal cannulas to deliver oxygen for fear that the greater flow of oxygen would help spread the disease. “But it became very clear that patients did a lot better when they got it," she said, “so we just changed around the way we did our infection control to make it safe to do that.”
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7. Even after they “recover,” many COVID-19 patients have lingering health problems.
Another disturbing discovery about COVID-19 is it can leave people with serious ailments — including damage to the kidneys, nervous system, heart and lungs — long after the infection clears their system. Other symptoms that can linger include fatigue and loss of smell and taste.
A patient goes through therapy exercises with speech language pathologist Kate Webler on April 27, 2020, at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab while recovering from being on a ventilator with COVID-19. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
All of that has given rise to the term “long haulers,” the designation given to people with persistent symptoms.
“We don’t know if those problems are going to be permanent yet,” Landon said. “But the fact that they could be is absolutely in the back of my mind when I say: Please, please, please wear your mask and be socially distant.”
8. Infected children can get very sick.
Early in the pandemic, people were advised that children were far less likely to get sick. That is still borne out by the facts on the ground.
But some children do get very ill. And after the infection is cleared from their bodies, some young children and teenagers develop what’s now called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. It’s a condition that can swell organs and cause them to fail, sometimes to fatal effect.
It also was thought that children were unlikely to spread the disease, but there’s now some evidence that they do.
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9. Wastewater testing can help detect outbreaks.
Even as COVID-19 testing becomes more widely available, many cases are still being missed or go undetected for several days while the person is contagious. That interferes with the ability to control outbreaks by identifying and isolating infected people.
Scientists say wastewater testing can help by detecting the presence of the virus even before people develop symptoms. The tests search for fragments of the genetic building blocks of SARS-CoV-2 left in human waste.
“We know we can detect SARS-CoV-2 in what comes into a sewage treatment plant,” said Khalid Alam, the CEO of Stemloop Inc. Shown here, the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant on May 27, 2020, in Skokie. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
“It’s an early warning system,” said Packman, the Northwestern University professor who specializes in surveillance of wastewater and buildings.
When the virus showed up last month in the wastewater from one dorm at the University of Arizona, the school quickly tested all 311 residents, finding two with asymptomatic cases. Those students were quarantined, perhaps preventing a much larger outbreak. Similarly, 287 students were quarantined at Utah State University after the virus was detected in four dorms.
10. Strict stay-at-home orders may not be needed anymore.
When the pandemic started, there was a shortage of protective equipment, a lack of sufficient testing and a dearth of knowledge about the disease. So stay-at-home orders were viewed as the best way to limit the spread of COVID-19.
But six months into the pandemic, with greater knowledge and experience, many scientists now believe masks and social distancing are a workable alternative.
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That, Landon said, should dispel the idea that society must choose between a complete shutdown and a wide-open society.
“We now know that’s a false choice — that’s a false dichotomy," she said. "There certainly are ways to protect people. We are able to protect our health care providers and keep them from getting COVID while taking care of COVID patients. We’re able to protect the public, and we could get on with a lot of things.
“There are a lot of countries,” Landon said, “that have been able to get on with their normal life and not have a thousand people die a day.”
Khare said the message is getting through to many people and it’s brought relief in difficult times.
“For the most part, people feel less anxiety about going outside and visiting with others, meeting at parks,” Khare said. “If you go to Chicago on Saturdays and Sundays, it’s actually a beautiful scene. There are groups of young people that are responsibly social distancing, wearing masks and talking in a circle. Three months ago, that wasn’t going to happen. You were kind of told you shouldn’t do that.
“So, people are learning to live in this new age of COVID-19.”
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But he concedes there are still large pockets of resistance to mask-wearing.
“Some of the behaviors and the resistance to putting on masks — I think it’s gotten better, but there’s an unbelievably significant amount of people that just feel like they are not getting treated well because they don’t have the freedom to do what they wish to do,” Khare said. “That’s always to me as a public health person a little bit disturbing. But that continues. That’s America.”
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to correct the name of the Arizona university where the new coronavirus was detected in wastewater testing.
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--His dog was declared dangerous after pet shop attack. Now a DuPage County rescue owner is seeking a

His dog was declared dangerous after pet shop attack. Now a DuPage County rescue owner is seeking a rare reversal in court.

“ You have to stand up for these animals , ” said Cangelosi , who estimated he has spent more @ @ @ @ @ ’ s care and legal fees .
“ Someone has to be their voice .
@ @ @ @ @ with them through thick and thin .
There ’ s no reason he should have @ @ @ @ @ something he didn ’ t do .
”

Joe Binkley holds onto the leash as his foster dog, Jordan, watches another dog stroll by on the opposite side of the street in Schaumburg on Aug, 11, 2020. Binkley, a Marine veteran, is in the process of adopting Jordan through Pets and Vets USA. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
About 50 times a year in DuPage County, authorities conclude a dog should be declared dangerous. Two or three times a year, owners decide to fight it in court. They almost never win.
Now comes Jordan, a 100-pound brown and white pooch who is between a pit bull and a boxer, branded as dangerous after he allegedly attacked an 18-pound Shih Tzu-Pomeranian mix at a Bloomingdale PetSmart two years ago.
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Owned by a nonprofit rescue organization called Pets and Vets USA and fostered by a Marine Corps veteran, Jordan must wear a muzzle when he’s in public, including the walks he takes around his Schaumburg neighborhood.
Joe Binkley's foster dog, Jordan, gets a drink after his walk. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
“He’s just the sweetest dog,” Joe Binkley, Jordan’s caretaker, said as they strolled through a subdivision last month. “He was put in an unfortunate situation in a public area where there were a lot of moving parts and he defended himself, just like any person would.”
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Winning would mean Jordan could get rid of the muzzle, which Binkley said appears to stress the 9-year-old dog’s breathing, and could go off leash in areas that permit it. But it would also vindicate the long and expensive battle Peter Cangelosi, founder of Pets and Vets USA, has waged against the county.
“You have to stand up for these animals,” said Cangelosi, who estimated he has spent more than $25,000 on Jordan’s care and legal fees. “Someone has to be their voice. I signed up to be with them through thick and thin. There’s no reason he should have to wear a muzzle for something he didn’t do.”
Cangelosi said he aspired to be a Marine as a teenager but wasn’t accepted because of wrestling injuries. He also wanted to be a veterinarian but couldn’t handle the despair of losing an animal. So when he came into money following a legal settlement for a botched surgery, he said, he formed a nonprofit to fuse his interests.
Pets and Vets USA rescues and trains dogs, especially pit bulls, to become companions for military veterans. Six years ago, Cangelosi said, someone tagged him in a Facebook post about a stray named Jordan who was about to be euthanized in San Bernardino, California, and he agreed to take him.
Jordan came with a reputation: He’s listed as a pit bull (Cangelosi said he’s closer to a boxer), and his kennel record said he was quarantined after he growled and barked at other dogs.
Cangelsoi wasn’t put off.
“When a dog goes into the shelter, it’s no different than a person going into a county jail,” he said. “They’re going to be scared.”
Cangelosi brought Jordan to Illinois and boarded him for two years in his Roselle facility before a man agreed to foster him. But that arrangement took a bizarre turn when the man went incommunicado; eventually, Cangelosi said, he received a call from an Elgin-area animal shelter that Jordan had been picked up as a stray.
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Back Jordan went to the nonprofit. In November 2018, Cangelosi took another shot at finding Jordan a permanent home by taking him to an adoption event at a PetSmart in Bloomingdale. That’s where the trouble happened.
In a scene captured by a security camera, a handler took Jordan out of the store, preceded by a Roselle couple carrying a small white dog named Charlie. A woman set Charlie on the ground and Jordan wandered over. In a split-second, a brief but one-sided fight began.
Jordan seized the smaller animal in his jaws, and while much of the tussle was obscured by people trying to pry the dogs apart, Charlie got the worst of it: According to records in the court file, Jordan was essentially uninjured while Charlie received several bite wounds, one of which required three staples to close.
Joe Binkley and girlfriend, Anna Wojcik, walk his foster dog, Jordan, in Schaumburg on Aug. 11, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Charlie’s owners did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment, but in a statement to DuPage County Animal Services after the incident, one of them called Jordan a “vicious animal” and said he should “never (be) permitted to interface with the public again.”
But when police interviewed witnesses, two said Charlie had been the aggressor, while one blamed Jordan. Cangelosi, who did not witness the ruckus, said he believes the video shows that Charlie sparked the fight by turning to bite Jordan.
It fell to animal services to sort it out. Dr. Barbara Hanek, a veterinarian who is the department’s administrator, declined to discuss Jordan but said she generally relies on witness accounts, photos, veterinarian records, police records and other evidence to make the determination.
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By state law, a dog can be judged dangerous if it bites a person without justification, or, should it be unmuzzled or unleashed, “poses a serious and unjustified imminent threat of serious physical injury or death to a person or a companion animal.”
In her ruling one month after the incident, Hanek concluded that Jordan attacked Charlie “in an unprovoked manner” and caused serious injury, and thus was dangerous. He would have to be muzzled and restrained by a leash no longer than 6 feet when off Cangelosi’s property.
The decision struck Cangelosi as unfair. He hired an attorney and within two weeks filed an appeal in DuPage County court. A judge was at last supposed to hold a decisive hearing last month, but a scheduling conflict pushed it to November.
Meanwhile, Cangelosi has taken his case to the internet, mounting a fundraiser for legal costs and posting an online petition asking the judge to overturn the decision. So far, more than 9,500 people have signed.
Cangelosi said the county’s investigation was inadequate and one-sided, and that he will fight on if he loses the first round in court.
“We’ll do what we have to do and go as far as we have to go to do what’s right,” he said.
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Binkley, who began to foster Jordan three months ago after losing his German shepherd to cancer, had no concern about Jordan’s temperament even after watching the video. He said Jordan has been friendly to people and animals alike, though the dog wears both a prong collar and a thick backup collar on walks as a precaution.
Security video from Bloomingdale PetSmart shows Jordan, a dog owned by the nonprofit group Pets and Vets USA, getting into a fight with another dog in 2018. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
No matter what happens in court, he said, he and his partner plan to adopt Jordan.
“Even if the dangerous dog designation sticks, we’re still going to keep him,” Binkley said. “We might just move out of the state, for all we know.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the length of the leash on which the dog must be kept.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Strangers tried to save Dajore Wilson when she and her father were shot: ‘I fought so hard to save y

Strangers tried to save Dajore Wilson when she and her father were shot: ‘I fought so hard to save your baby’

Lamb had complete focus on the child .
By the time she bent over the girl and started chest compressions @ @ @ @ @ anyone else in the car and had forgotten they were there .
She thought that @ @ @ @ @ get the little girl ’ s heart pumping , she may have a chance at @ @

The clear casket carrying the body of 8-year-old shooting victim DaJore Wilson is carried out of Abundant Living Christian Center in Dolton after her funeral on Sept. 18, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Doreen Angone crossed Union Avenue early Wednesday afternoon, toting a bag of stuffed animals and toys and photos of 8-year-old Dajore Wilson, who had been shot here Monday night.
She placed the photos into clear plastic bags, attached to black cardboard on the tree, that protected the photos from the rain. She left the bag at the tree’s base for the family to set out the stuffed animals.
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Two nights earlier, someone had opened fire on the car Dajore’s father, D’Andre Wilson, was driving at Union’s intersection with 47th Street. Dajore, her father and a friend were shot. Her mother was injured by broken glass. Only Dajore died.
Relatives of Dajore and neighbors near the scene still haven’t fully processed what happened here. Dajore’s family is grieving, her father from his hospital bed, as are neighbors who tried to help in the minutes before police and paramedics arrived.
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Doreen Angone hangs photos of Dajore Wilson, 8, near her memorial on 47th Street and South Union Avenue on Sept. 9, 2020, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The 8-year-old’s family had left Dajore’s grandmother’s home nearby and were heading to Fairplay Foods, a block from the shooting, for groceries Monday night. D’Andre Wilson drove, his daughter in the back seat with a family friend, and Dajore’s mother in the front seat.
After grocery shopping, the father planned to take Dajore back to his house and spend time with her and her twin brother, Damani, D’Andre Wilson said.
Their car was stopped at a red light when a man in all black got out of a Dodge Charger that was behind their car, and as the light turned green, the man started shooting, according to police sources.
They ducked when they heard gunfire, D’Andre Wilson said in an interview Wednesday. Rounds hit the dashboard. His car crashed into a tree. The Charger spun around and headed south.
Angone, who lives near the intersection, heard the first gunfire and started walking toward her back porch. She heard a commotion outside, but she wasn’t sure what it was. She heard more gunfire and started down her stairs.
Across the street, Shanna Lamb was outside with her daughter and her daughter’s friend, chopping wood for a fire, she recalled. She rushed them behind a generator when the shooting started. She moved them to a doorway, thinking she’d kick the door down if she needed to.
Police investigate the scene where an 8-year-old girl was killed and two adults were wounded when someone shot into a car near the intersection of 47th Street and Union Avenue during the Labor Day weekend, Sept. 7, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Angone stepped toward her alley, between a trailer and her garage, and heard a car crash into a tree. She waited at the alley, trying to cross as cars passed. Farther south, the black Charger sped past a firehouse. Firefighters were surprised by the speed, 80 to 100 mph they later told police.
When Angone made it across the street, Dajore lay on the ground while her mother hunched over her, pleading with the girl to stay awake.
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“Dajore, breathe, breathe. It’s Mommy, please breathe,” she said to her daughter.
Dajore’s father looked to the apartment nearbyand pleaded for help.
“Please help us,” he yelled. “They just shot my baby.”
“They shot the baby,” Lamb yelled to people who had taken refuge inside. She yelled for someone to start CPR and ran down the stairs from the porch.
After a couple of seconds, Angone saw Lamb running down the steps toward the car. Angone was yelling while trying to get Dajore’s mother away, telling her to let Lamb do CPR.
A woman kneels on the ground outside the University of Chicago Medicine's Comer Children's Hospital, where an 8-year-old girl was taken after being shot near the intersection of 47th Street and Union Avenue during the Labor Day weekend, Sept. 7, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Dajore wasn’t moving and didn’t appear to be breathing. Angone asked Lamb if she was calm enough to work on the girl, and she said she was. Angone guided Dajore’s mother away.
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Lamb had complete focus on the child. By the time she bent over the girl and started chest compressions. She thought that if she could at least get the little girl’s heart pumping, she may have a chance at survival.
As Angone guided the mother, she noticed a woman in the back seat who appeared near to passing out. Angone grabbed her arm and asked if she was OK.
“I think I was shot in my back,” she told Angone, who saw the burn holes in the woman’s T-shirt from where she had been shot.
In the front seat, D’Andre Wilson screamed and prayed. His leg was broken, he couldn’t move, and he craned his neck and body around to see where Lamb was trying to help Dajore.
“That’s my baby, I want my baby, is my baby OK?” D’Andre Wilson said to Angone. She told him that they were working on the baby, that she should be OK.
Dajore Wilson, 8, was shot on Union Avenue near 47th Street in the Canaryville neighborhood. (Family photo)
Lamb pleaded with the girl while she worked on her. She had never performed CPR on a child or a gunshot victim before, but in the moment she just moved to help.
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“Stay with your mom, listen to your mom’s voice, baby,” Lamb said. She’s not sure the girl heard her. But she tried.
A neighbor thought she was pressing too hard, and Lamb replied that she was trained. Police started to arrive, and someone told Lamb to stop, but she said she couldn’t unless someone was going to take over.
The woman in the back seat, shot in the back, started getting wobbly, and an officer asked for an ambulance. Angone told the officer the front-seat victim, the girl’s father, was also shot.
She waited with them until the ambulances arrived.
Dajore was taken away and died at Comer Children’s Hospital.
Wednesday morning, a half day before a scheduled vigil, Dajore’s 28-year-old uncle Reggie Ray sat alone against his car next to the memorial relatives built Tuesday night.
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He poured himself a small drink. He came here to grieve alone.
Balloons in shades of pink. Round, star-shaped, some mylar, some bearing the word “princess,” some tied to a wooden cross secured to the tree with ribbon.
Daija Neal and David Wilson attend a vigil for their cousin, Dajore Wilson, 8, on Sept. 9, 2020, near where she was killed Monday at 47th Street and South Union Avenue in the Canaryville neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
At the base stood extinguished candles and others lit by battery, and nylon and plastic flowers with pink and white butterflies.
Ray lay down flowers. An older couple passed. The man made the sign of the cross while looking down at the memorial and kissed his fingers without breaking stride.
“That was his heart,” Ray said of his brother’s daughter. “That was his only girl. She was stuck to him like glue. She was an angel.”
Dajore had a twin brother, and Ray said the two were always together. The fraternal twins had middle names of King and Queen, D’Andre Wilson said.
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“Her brother, they was always close. They’re all full of energy, all the kids. They all look alike, just happy kids, living a kid’s life.”
In the hospital Wednesday, her father struggled with the thought of talking to his other children about their sister’s death. He struggled with the idea of Chicago as thin ice, cracking everywhere he walks, and the weight of that now that his daughter is dead.
His baby, he said, was smart.
“So smart and caring and cute. She just loved me so much. She’d make her mom jealous,” D’Andre Wilson said.
She liked SpongeBob and Disney movies. Her favorite song was “Boomerang” by JoJo Siwa. She would dress up and dance, her father said. She liked the color pink.
She was a girly girl and loved fashion, including her Gucci purse and belt, he said. She pretended to be a model.
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“Of course she was spoiled,” her uncle said. “She was his only daughter.”
She wanted to be a teacher, and she loved school.
“All she wanted to do was schoolwork.” She was fine with remote school too. As long as she could be in school, D’Andre Wilson said.
She had a calm demeanor and never raised her voice.
“If I got worked up, she’d say, ‘Dad, calm down,'” D’Andre Wilson said. "I’ve got to calm down, she kept me sane. She kept me together.''
Tuesday night, a couple of relatives had a chance to thank Lamb for her care in Dajore’s last moments. They gave her big hugs and thanked her for trying.
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After the shooting, Lamb reached out to D’Andre Wilson through Facebook and expressed condolences.
“I would like to say I fought so hard to save your baby. I wanted her to live so bad and I’ll never forget her beautiful face. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I’m so very sorry.”
“I love you so much,” he replied. “(You) tried and I swear I love you. I saw it in yo face you wanted her to live. I could not move I can’t stop crying. But thank you.”
pnickeas@chicagotribune.com
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-10--Dozens gather during vigil to pray, mourn death of 8-year-old Dajore Wilson, slain in Canaryville

“ If it happened in this city , that ’ s a Chicago problem , ” he said to the @ @ @ @ @ .
“ That is a Chicago problem .
We not going to racially divide this @ @ @ @ @ ) and his community , that affects me and my community , what affects me @ @ @ @ @ .
”

More than 100 people gathered on Union Avenue next to a tree adorned with pink balloons Wednesday night in Canaryville to mourn the death of 8-year-old Dajore Wilson.
Dajore was in a car with her parents and a family friend when someone opened fire on theirs near the intersection of 47th Street and Union Avenue on Monday night.
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The first people tending to Dajore and her family on Monday were neighbors who heard the gunfire, found the girl bleeding and tried to save her life.
Dajore Wilson (Family photo)
Within minutes, people who had been listening to their police scanners at home, who heard the shots, who saw the news on Facebook or who were just passing by gathered at the scene while paramedics performed CPR.
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Many again gathered at Wednesday’s vigil, which was organized over Facebook by an anti-violence group whose office is housed in a garage a block away.
Mourners add to a memorial Sept. 9, 2020, during a vigil in memory of Dajore Wilson, 8, near where she was killed two days earlier at 47th Street and South Union Avenue in the Canaryville neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
William Calloway, a young activist who has an 8-year-old daughter of his own, implored those gathered to consider this a Chicago problem and not just a Black problem, brown problem or neighborhood problem.
“If it happened in this city, that’s a Chicago problem,” he said to the gathered mourners before a prayer. “That is a Chicago problem. We not going to racially divide this. What affects (him) and his community, that affects me and my community, what affects me and my community affects him.”
People gather Sept. 9, 2020, for a vigil in memory of Dajore Wilson, 8, near where she was killed two days earlier at 47th Street and South Union Avenue in the Canaryville neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Calloway spoke just before Justin Griffin, a member of St. Gabriel Parish who helped organize the event.
“I see a lot of people out here who are friends, family,” Griffin said. “This is at our doorstep. This is where we grew up. We walked down these streets a thousand times. This shouldn’t happen. These gentlemen are exactly right.”
A squad car blocked Union Avenue for the gathering. Trucks rumbled over steel plates on 47th Street.
“Please join me in saying the Our Father for this poor young girl who lost her life for no reason at all,” he said. “I ask you to pray for this city.”
Neighbors watched from porches and front lawns. Those on the street, many holding small LED tea lights, bowed their heads and prayed.
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pnickeas@chicagotribune.com