chicagotribune--2020-11-19--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ .
The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or @ @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives a COVID-19 update

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will give an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a @ @ @ @ @ Get the latest updates on COVID-19 here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 168 new deaths, 14,612 new confirmed and probable cases and 113,4

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 168 new deaths, 14,612 new confirmed and probable cases and 113,447 new test results

Illinois announced 14,612 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Thursday for a total of 621,383 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 11,178 and 113,447 new test results for a total of 9.47 million @

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Leading Cook County judge named to appellate seat by Illinois Supreme Court

Martin took the bench in 2002 after a legal career spent mostly in private practice .
In 2015 , Chief @ @ @ @ @ the head of the Criminal Division , supervising dozens of judges at the bustling Leighton @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Little Village neighborhood .

Cook County Judge LeRoy Martin Jr., who presides over the busiest felony courthouse in Chicago, has been assigned to a seat on the state’s appellate court.
Martin’s assignment will take effect Jan. 4, according to an order entered Thursday by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Advertisement
Martin took the bench in 2002 after a legal career spent mostly in private practice. In 2015, Chief Judge Timothy Evans named him the head of the Criminal Division, supervising dozens of judges at the bustling Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
Martin’s father, the late LeRoy Sr., was Chicago police superintendent in the 1980s and early 1990s. His son, LeRoy III, is a rank-and-file Cook County prosecutor.
Advertisement
Evans is now tasked with naming Martin’s replacement at Leighton.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Dozens file federal suit alleging Chicago police abuse at this year’s protests over the death of Geo

Dozens file federal suit alleging Chicago police abuse at this year’s protests over the death of George Floyd

In the lawsuit , Tendaji contends she was near 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue when she said she saw @ @ @ @ @ , something she told the Tribune wasn ’ t necessary .
When she saw people @ @ @ @ @ she said she wanted to try to find out who they were to help find @ @ @ @

Police officers guarding the Trump International Hotel & Tower hold back protesters in the Loop on May 30, 2020, during a rally and march to remember the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago was still struggling with looting and violence in the wake of police protests late this spring when Amika Tendaji and Jasson Perez heard about a mellow demonstration against police brutality taking place on a Sunday in Hyde Park.
“People began saying hello to their neighbors, presumably not seeing them in a while, and just chatting,” recalled Tendaji, who brought her daughter and nephew to the protest.
Advertisement
But things took a turn as the demonstration wound down, she said, when police forced the crowd to leave the neighborhood in one direction when some of their cars were parked elsewhere. Soon enough, officers clashed with protesters, resulting in Tendaji getting bruised and beaten, she said.
Jasson Perez, who showed up separately to the event, said he tried to get police to stop grabbing and beating his friends with batons before he himself was beaten by officers, suffering a concussion and needing several staples to close a gash in his head.
Advertisement
“I was just like, man, they’re just in a mode. They’re upset about something,” Perez said of the police.
Amika Tendaji, 39, at the intersection of 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue in Hyde Park on Nov. 18, 2020. She is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Chicago police, alleging misconduct by officers in several protests in the city since May 30. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
He and Tendaji were among 60 plaintiffs who filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against numerous Chicago police officers, alleging they were beaten, unlawfully arrested and mistreated in other ways by cops during several of the protests throughout the city this year as part of the fallout from George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minnesota.
“The (Chicago Police Department) and other city agencies responded to these demonstrations with brutal, violent, and unconstitutional tactics that are clearly intended to injure, silence and intimidate plaintiffs and other protesters,” according to the more than 200-page lawsuit. “These abuse tactics include beating protesters with batons — often striking them in the head; tackling and beating protesters while on the ground; using chemical agents against protesters; falsely arresting protesters; and trapping protesters in enclosed areas.”
The suit alleged that officers went after protest leaders, legal observers, medics and people recording the demonstrations “with unlawful, retaliatory and lethal force.” Police also destroyed cameras, phones, eyeglasses, and confiscated bikes, backpacks and other belongings, the suit alleged.
“CPD officers’ animus against plaintiffs and other protesters is unmistakable — they regularly called protesters vile and vulgar names, often using misogynistic and homophobic words,” according to the lawsuit.
A Chicago police spokesman Thursday morning referred all inquiries to the city’s Law Department. A spokeswoman there said the city had not yet been served Thursday morning.
“But it is important to remember that these are allegations at this stage and not proof,” Kathleen Fieweger said in an emailed statement. “We will review the complaint thoroughly, and each allegation it contains, once we have been served and respond through the courts as appropriate.”
The lawsuit takes a historical perspective, citing several events in the last century where Chicago police were accused of abusing citizens, including the 1919 race riots, the unrest that followed the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a protest in 2016 against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump outside what was then known as the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion.
Advertisement
Sheila Bedi, a civil rights attorney from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, said those events reflect how Chicago police officials for more than 100 years have allowed their officers to “brutalize those who speak out for progressive change.”
“Chicagoans who are part of what has been called the largest social justice movement in the world took to the streets this summer to protest law enforcement brutality, violence and racism,” Bedi said. “CPD responded with brutality, violence and racism.”
She also said the lawsuit signifies the department’s noncompliance with a court-ordered consent decree to improve the city’s policing practices.
In early June, the former federal prosecutor tasked with monitoring the department’s progress, Maggie Hickey, said she would investigate complaints that police had abused protesters. She has yet to deliver her findings. Hickey held listening sessions over two days in August and heard activists complain that police had beaten and insulted peaceful protesters.
The lawsuit comes little over a week after Chicago’s civilian police investigative agency disclosed more than 500 complaints have been filed against Chicago police officers since late May on allegations of misconduct during the demonstrations. At least eight Chicago cops involved in responding to the protests have been stripped of their police powers pending investigations, though neither the agency — the Civilian Office of Police Accountability — nor Chicago police have revealed why.
Bedi said the plaintiffs in Thursday’s lawsuit consist of community organizers, such as Perez and Tendaji, and regular citizens who wanted to express their First Amendment rights mainly during protests on May 30 along the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown; the following day in Hyde Park; July 17 in Grant Park in front of a Christopher Columbus statue; and on Aug. 15 in the Loop.
Advertisement
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, also named as a defendant in the case, has said “agitators” in peaceful demonstrations since late May have caused many of his officers to get hurt.
The protest-related complaints began to roll in four days after Floyd’s May 25 death, which sparked outrage throughout the country, led to widespread protests and unrest, and sparked a renewed national conversation about U.S. law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans.
Tension between Chicago police officers and protesters, including Tendaji and Perez, was heightened in Hyde Park on May 31, the same day widespread looting and gun violence rocked the city and a day after a peaceful demonstration downtown had given way to rioting.
In the lawsuit, Tendaji contends she was near 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue when she said she saw an officer brandishing a rifle, something she told the Tribune wasn’t necessary. When she saw people getting detained by police, she said she wanted to try to find out who they were to help find lawyers for them.
Jasson Perez, 39, at 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue in Hyde Park on Nov. 18, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Perez alleged in the lawsuit he was beaten at different times by officers at the protest, including when he tried to get in between the cops and another person he knew from the crowd.
Advertisement
“My head was kind of in a blur,” he told the Tribune, adding that because of his injuries, he now can’t hold down coffee and other foods because they make him nauseous.
Perez and Tendaji both contend they saw someone else they knew on the ground being held down by an officer’s knee, the same action that led to the death of Floyd.
It was the same protest where Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman alleged he too was beaten by police. While an internal investigation continues in his case, he is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Tendaji told the Tribune she had never seen the police act so brazenly in broad daylight in front of witnesses. She said protesters should have the right to keep fighting against rogue police actions without interference.
“These are armed, trained folks who have a duty to stand down, to make things safe and to calm and to de-escalate situations,” Tendaji said.
Perez said the type of police behavior he witnessed that day goes against the city’s claim that it’s reforming CPD.
Advertisement
“I think we all should just want a police department that follows the rule of law,” he said. “We’re under a consent decree, then you follow what the consent decree says. You cannot do that to protesters.”
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Hinkel contributed.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Thanksgiving weather in Chicago: What to expect next week and the warmest, coldest, snowiest and wet

Thanksgiving weather in Chicago: What to expect next week and the warmest, coldest, snowiest and wettest since 1872

If you need to make some last-minute preparations for the holiday , however , then you might want to make @ @ @ @ @ with you Tuesday night into Wednesday .

Since Thanksgiving doesn’t occur on the same date each year, the temperature and precipitation values can vary dramatically.
Here’s a look back at the warmest, coldest, wettest and snowiest Thanksgiving holidays in Chicago, going back to 1872. Data is from the National Weather Service and was measured at the city’s official recording site, which has been O’Hare International Airport since Jan. 17, 1980. For almost a century prior to that, sites around downtown Chicago, the University of Chicago and Midway International Airport were used to gather definitive weather data.
Advertisement
Warmest
Chicago experienced its warmest Thanksgiving on Nov. 24, 1966, when it was 69 degrees.
In 2022, the high was 54 degrees.
Advertisement
Coldest
Chicago experienced its lowest low Thanksgiving temperature on Nov. 23, 1950, when it was -1 degrees.
In 2022, the low was 35 degrees.
Photos and story about the -1 degree low temperature on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, 1950. As published in the Nov. 24, 1950, edition of the Chicago Tribune. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
Wettest
Rain accumulating in more than 1 inch of precipitation has occurred once since 1872, according to the National Weather Service.
But at least a little bit of rain tends to fall on Thanksgiving — precipitation ranging from a trace to more than an inch has fallen in more than half of the almost 150 years on record.
Snowiest
Since 1872, snowfall of more than a trace has been recorded just 17 times on Thanksgiving.
A record snowfall of 3 inches fell at O’Hare airport on Nov. 27, 1980.
Chicago Tribune, Nov. 28, 1980. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Tribune archives and reporting


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--‘Make yourself happy.’ Christmas trees go up earlier than ever as Chicagoans seek a mood boost amid

‘Make yourself happy.’ Christmas trees go up earlier than ever as Chicagoans seek a mood boost amid coronavirus restrictions.

“ She waited until I left town last year ; right after Thanksgiving , I came home and the whole @ @ @ @ @ said Doran , who is a member of The Q Brothers Collective and typically participates @ @ @ @ @ the holiday season .
This tends to exhaust his holiday spirit , he said .

Jessica Cabe sits with her cat, Gene, next to her Christmas tree at home in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood, Nov. 18, 2020. Cabe said she put up her tree on Nov. 1. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Who gets to say when a Christmas tree is placed too early?
Typically, Jessica Cabe would decorate her tree in late November. A few roommates had politely requested she wait until Thanksgiving, so she agreed.
Advertisement
This year, she is in her own apartment for the first time. So she knew she could indulge herself and put it up as early as she wanted. She planned for the week before Thanksgiving.
But as the 2020 stress mounted, she caved.
Advertisement
“I would have done it earlier, but I love Halloween, so I decided to be somewhat responsible,” the Avondale resident said. The day after, she got to work.
Cabe put on Christmas music and switched her throw pillows to Christmas pillows. She dug out the festive dish towels. She got out an ornament shaped like a merman holding two cats. She made multiple trips to Target.
“In my defense, Target had everything already, so what was I to do?” she said.
Seeking to distract herself from the stressors of the global pandemic and a controversial election, she bought a stocking for herself, with a J, and for her cat Gene, with a G. She bought new lights. She bought a new tree, slim enough to shine in her new space.
“I spent my Sunday listening to Mariah Carey’s Christmas album and just sort of going nuts,” she said.
She even found an Advent calendar.
“Whatever we have control over, make yourself happy,” she said.
Cabe is not alone.
Advertisement
In hopes of a mood boost, many Chicagoans have put up their Christmas tree earlier than usual. Even if it required digging out boxes or getting a fake tree delivered, people said they wanted to lighten a dark year by adding twinkling lights and a festive vibe.
[ Fresh Christmas trees without the hassle — and maybe with a cocktail in hand ]
For Jackson Doran, COVID-19 was the catalyst for their Christmas tree’s debut. The East Irving Park family learned they had been exposed to the virus, and they were quarantining at home with their two small children. His daughter Louise, 3, brought up the subject.
“She was sort of trying to kill the morning, as you do when you have small children, and she just said, ‘Let’s put up the Christmas tree,’ and we laughed and said OK,” he said.
Not only did it fill a few hours, it now is the gift that keeps giving, as their 1-year-old, Harriet, keeps taking ornaments off and putting them back. “So it’s really like repeating the process every day,” he said.
An unforeseen consequence? Daily questions of when Santa is coming.
Usually, he said, his wife, Anne, is eager to begin Christmas festivities.
Advertisement
“She waited until I left town last year; right after Thanksgiving, I came home and the whole house was Christmas-ified,” said Doran, who is a member of The Q Brothers Collective and typically participates in dozens of performances during the holiday season. This tends to exhaust his holiday spirit, he said.
“I push as late as possible. She usually tries to sneak it in right before Thanksgiving. So we’re ... early.”
Facing what might be a bleaker Thanksgiving as officials encourage Chicagoans to limit holiday gatherings, some are opting to decorate earlier to seek comfort.
“If there was any time that I needed a little extra warmth and coziness, it was spending Thanksgiving by myself,” said Jaclyn Jermyn.
Usually, she waits until after Thanksgiving, maybe the first week of December, to welcome Christmas.
This time, as an extra punch, she bought a metallic pink tree. For a feel of home in her Ravenswood apartment, she has a stocking that her grandmother made and asked her mother to send childhood ornaments.
Advertisement
“It’s like having family here without them actually being here,” she said. “I think a little bit of comfort in this time is just so essential.”
Cabe has no regrets, sitting in an apartment surrounded by silver ornaments, twinkling lights and even some wrapped gifts under the tree. In fact, she’s doubled down. Last week, she watched her first holiday movie — “Noelle,” starring Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader.
“I feel great,” she said.
abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Rather than battle through a winter of COVID-19, some Chicago restaurants make a simpler calculation

Rather than battle through a winter of COVID-19, some Chicago restaurants make a simpler calculation: Close until spring

“ I am thinking that it is likely that we ’ ll be closed all winter and we are preparing @ @ @ @ @ to be the case , ” he said .
“ Hopleaf is financially prepared to @ @ @ @ @ or May if need be .
However , if we are still in lock down @ @ @ @ @ are done .
”

Longman & Eagle, the Logan Square restaurant known for whiskey sipping and high-end pub eating, announced Nov. 10, 2020, that it will close for the winter and reopen in the spring. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Longman & Eagle was ready to give pandemic winter a try.
The modern day Logan Square icon, which has cultivated cozy neighborhood whiskey sipping and high-end pub eating as much as any restaurant in Chicago, had launched a pickup and delivery menu in late October with an emphasis on food that traveled well: sandwiches, salads and a few pricier items, including duck leg confit and pork shank bourguignon.
Advertisement
Longman & Eagle’s owners had no interest in attempting indoor service during the COVID-19 pandemic. But with a lean menu and equally lean staff, they believed they could walk the unprecedented tightrope of operating a restaurant through Chicago winter during a global health crisis.
But after just eight days, an asymptomatic staff member tested positive for coronavirus. Longman & Eagle immediately shut down — its second shutdown due to a staff member testing positive during the pandemic — with plans to reopen a few days later.
Advertisement
The bar and dining area at Longman & Eagle in the Logan Square neighborhood on Nov. 16, 2020. “We could have continued to try to struggle through the winter, losing money on a monthly basis, or to keep the cash we have on hand and reopen when there’s a better opportunity to succeed,” said Peter Toalson, one of the owners. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
It quickly became clear, though, that without outdoor seating (too cold) or indoor seating (too cozy), trying to operate solely on takeout and delivery made no sense while the virus raged. On Nov. 10, Longman & Eagle announced on Instagram that it had made “the very difficult decision to close for the time being, probably until early 2021.”
Peter Toalson, one of the restaurant’s owners, said they hope to reopen by March, probably at first with just takeout and delivery, and then with outdoor seating when spring returns.
“We could have continued to try to struggle through the winter, losing money on a monthly basis, or to keep the cash we have on hand and reopen when there’s a better opportunity to succeed,” Toalson said.
With its decision to close, Longman & Eagle joined a growing list of restaurants deciding to sit out a winter in Chicago history shaping up to be like no other. Despite early talk of wild experiments to stay open through the coldest months of the year — dining igloos, fire pits, outdoor heated beer gardens and investment in to-go operations — the costs and mechanics of operating through a winter of COVID-19 is giving plenty of restaurant operators unusually cold feet.
Kelly Schmidt, manager of the inn upstairs from the Longman & Eagle bar, works in the back dining room Nov. 16, 2020. Schmidt was researching decoration ideas for the six rooms at the inn for the holidays. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
In addition to Longman & Eagle, restaurants announcing closures until at least spring have crossed a spectrum of concepts, price points and neighborhoods. Among them are high-end restaurants Michelin-starred Elske and Nico Osteria; upscale casual downtown spots such as The Dearborn and Grant Park Bistro; brewpubs Ballast Point and Revolution Brewing; Paul Virant’s West Loop ode to Japanese okonomiyaki, Gaijin; European-style cafe Cobblestone in Lincoln Square; and a sizable portion of the Boka Restaurant Group, including Bellemore, Cira, GT Fish & Oyster and Lazy Bird.
Winter closures are not limited to restaurants. All museums, music venues, movie theaters, casinos and even Navy Pier, the city’s largest tourist attraction, have been ordered to close temporarily. But many restaurants are deciding it’s in their interest to choose to shutter.
Toalson said he’s far more confident about Longman & Eagle’s long term viability by shutting down for this unique winter — something common in resort towns and summer vacation destinations, but which few Chicago restaurant owners, including Toalson, had ever envisioned.
Advertisement
“I can say with confidence that we’ll be reopening in early 2021 and should be able to reopen strongly as Longman & Eagle as everyone knows it,” he said.
Clean pens, used pens and a thermometer sit at the entrance to Longman & Eagle in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood on Nov. 16, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
He said he’s less sure the business would survive if it tried to stay open. It might have worked. But it also might have been a disaster, bleeding far more money than the restaurant brought in.
The deciding factor, Toalson said, was the prospect of additional shutdowns due to positive tests among staff. Each shutdown costs the restaurant $8,000 to $10,000, he said, when factoring in food lost, then new food bought, cleaning, salaries and benefits while no revenue is coming in.
“Layer that against a lack of income and a couple of those will really get at your bank account,” Toalson said.
Cira restaurant, which is located on a prominent Fulton Market corner inside the Hoxton hotel, is shown Nov. 5, 2020, when the restaurant owners announced it would close for the winter. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Some restaurants made the decision to close for winter early and proactively, such as Ballast Point, whose owner said in mid-October that he would lose less money by paying rent on his Fulton Market space while closed than by paying rent plus operating expenses.
In late October, Revolution Brewing announced it would close its Logan Square brewpub until spring because “the business has not been financially sustainable, the public health crisis is now getting worse and it doesn’t make any sense to just open the windows for fresh air and try to struggle further down this path right now.”
Advertisement
Others have backed their way into the decision, such as Andersonville’s venerable Hopleaf, which, like Longman & Eagle, was at first ready to slog through winter. However, rather than building a business based on delivery and takeout, Hopleaf owner Michael Roper was depending on limited indoor seating and customer willingness to sip beer around a fire pit on his patio.
With restrictions on capacity in place at Chicago restaurants, the bar area at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St. in Andersonville, is empty on Sept. 11, 2020. Owner Mike Roper has since decided to close for the winter. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
But then in late October, after having allowed indoor seating as high as 40% capacity, city officials once again shut down indoor dining. A late burst of warm weather allowed Hopleaf’s patio to stay busy into early November. But a temporary closure due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19 became an indefinite closure until the city allows indoor seating at a minimum of 25% capacity.
Until then, Roper said, “We lose less money by being closed than by being open.”
“I am thinking that it is likely that we’ll be closed all winter and we are preparing as if that is going to be the case,” he said. “Hopleaf is financially prepared to ride this out until April or May if need be. However, if we are still in lock down in the spring, we are done.”
This week, Roper said, he is “mothballing Hopleaf.” That includes shutting down the draft system, turning off most of the restaurant’s 29 coolers and freezers and suspending trash pickup, equipment leases and insurance. Staff was told last week not to plan on working again before spring.
Business model plays a key role in which restaurants decide to stay open this winter. The Boka Restaurant Group, one of the city’s largest and most prominent, closed the restaurants “that didn’t make sense in delivery,” Boka co-founder Kevin Boehm told the Tribune in early November.
Advertisement
Bellemore restaurant, on West Randolph Street in Chicago, is shown Nov., 5, 2020. The Boka Restaurant Group, owners of Bellemore and several other Chicago restaurants, closed the spot until further notice. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Toalson, who is also a partner in the Land & Sea Dept. restaurant group, said that unlike Longman & Eagle, several of his other businesses are well positioned for winter: Lost Lake cocktail bar remains open for delivery and to-go sales, and so do both Parson’s Chicken & Fish locations, which were well oriented for delivery and outdoor business during the pandemic, and which were able to bank money for winter.
“They ended up in much more favorable position,” Toalson said, as compared to Longman & Eagle, where the attraction is an intimate, indoor experience that hasn’t been possible during the pandemic.
One factor that makes a winter closure easier for Longman & Eagle: Toalson and his partners own the building. Not having to worry about rent payments makes shutting the restaurant much simpler, he said.
Elske’s husband-and-wife ownership team, David and Anna Posey, made a similar calculation when deciding in mid-October to close their West Loop restaurant until spring.
“If we didn’t own the building, I don’t think we’d be doing it,” David Posey said.
Elske, known for its outdoor fireplace and inviting seating, had tried to extend patio season “but those things fell through one after the other,” said co-owner David Posey. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
The Poseys had considered trying to extend patio season with awnings and heaters “but those things fell through one after the other,” David Posey said.
Advertisement
Letting go their eight remaining staff members was the hardest part of closing until spring, the Poseys said. Otherwise after weeks of discussing how to handle this winter with their accountant, it was an obvious decision, they said.
A to-go menu worked well during the summer. So did outdoor dining. But relying solely on selling food for takeout could have had catastrophic effects, they said.
“If we hadn’t been busy during winter — and our clientele is on the safer side — you’re paying all those costs and it’s so expensive running a restaurant,” Anna Posey said. “Closing down is allowing us to reopen next year. But if we’d stayed open this whole time, we don’t know what would have happened.”
“This was a more sure thing,” David Posey said.
The Poseys are using the unexpected time off to take a two-month road trip along Route 66 and then north through California to spend the holidays with family.
“It definitely wasn’t in the business plan,” David Posey said.
Advertisement
jbnoel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Madigan speaks out on indictment of key confidant and allies as defense lawyers in bribery case blam

Madigan speaks out on indictment of key confidant and allies as defense lawyers in bribery case blame overzealous prosecutors

“ If there was credible evidence that I had engaged in criminal misconduct , which I most certainly did not @ @ @ @ @ with a crime , ” Madigan said .
“ But I have not , and @ @ @ @ @ is nothing wrong or illegal about making job recommendations , regardless of what people inside @ @ @ @ @ achieve from hiring some of the people who were recommended .
”

Then-Speaker Michael Madigan works the floor as the Illinois House convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan responded Thursday to a new federal indictment alleging key allies orchestrated a bribery scheme with Commonwealth Edison to give contracts and do-nothing jobs to his associates in exchange for favorable action in Springfield.
The speaker released a statement saying that if anyone at ComEd had tried to bribe him, “it was never made known to me.”
Advertisement
“If it had been known to me, it would have been profoundly unwelcome,” Madigan said in the statement. Madigan, the state’s most powerful politician and the longest-running House leader in the nation, has not been charged and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Also Thursday, lawyers for former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker became the latest to blame federal bribery charges on overzealous prosecutors bent on getting Madigan.
Advertisement
“We believe that Mr. Hooker will be found not guilty,” Hooker’s attorney, Michael Monico, said in a written statement. “It is unfortunate that in its zeal to prosecute another, the government has run roughshod over the life of a distinguished and inspiring role model like Mr. Hooker.”
[ Mike Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded ]
The Madigan statement came a day after Hooker and three others — Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Prammagiore, and consultant Jay Doherty — were charged in a 50-page indictment.
As he fights to keep his speakership, Madigan’s response represented his strongest denial to date, as he lashed out at detractors and stood behind making job recommendations over the years.
“If there was credible evidence that I had engaged in criminal misconduct, which I most certainly did not, I would be charged with a crime,” Madigan said. “But I have not, and with good reason because there is nothing wrong or illegal about making job recommendations, regardless of what people inside ComEd may have hoped to achieve from hiring some of the people who were recommended.”
The statement continued:
“Nonetheless, even though I am not alleged to have done anything in my official capacity as Speaker of the House to assist ComEd and have not been accused of any wrongdoing, this investigation has been used as a political weapon by those who seek to have me step down,” it read.
The indictment refers to Madigan only as Public Official A. And while none of the attorneys for the defendants have mentioned Madigan by name, either, their responses to the charges appear to be a coordinated effort to claim prosecutors are using their law-abiding clients as steppingstones to get to the powerful speaker.
Hours after the indictment was announced Wednesday, a lawyer for McClain, Patrick Cotter, issued a similar statement, detailing his client’s impeccable resume and blasting the U.S. attorney’s office for what he claimed was an improper use of bribery statutes.
Advertisement
Cotter said the charges appeared to be “driven by an obvious desire to find some way to criminally implicate a current elected official, who happens to be Mike McClain’s longtime friend.”
“In its zeal to find any evidence of criminal misconduct by that official, the government is attempting to rewrite the law on bribery and criminalize long-recognized legitimate, common, and normal lobbying activity into some new form of crime,” Cotter wrote in the statement.
A spokesman for Pramaggiore, meanwhile, claimed she had “endured months of baseless innuendo and misinformation” and welcomed “a full and truthful accounting of the facts in this matter.”
“She is confident a review will reaffirm her unwavering adherence to the highest ethical standards and finally put to rest the damaging speculation that any actions she took constitute illegal activity,” the Pramaggiore statement read.
Doherty’s attorneys said only that their client was innocent of the charges.
The defense strategy to question the motives of prosecutors was similar to one employed by lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who argued that the U.S. attorney’s office improperly criminalized legal political horse-trading in its effort to take down a sitting governor.
Advertisement
Blagojevich was convicted of a wide array of corruption and given 14 years in prison. He was released in February after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.
The indictment returned Wednesday alleged that beginning in 2011, the defendants “arranged for various associates” of Madigan — including his political allies and campaign workers — to “obtain jobs, contracts, and monetary payments” from ComEd even in instances where they did little or no actual work.
McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a Madigan-favored law firm and lawyer, previously identified in public testimony as Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson, and to accept into ComEd’s internship program a certain amount of students who lived in Madigan’s 13th Ward, according to the charges.
Pramaggiore and McClain also allegedly took steps to have an individual appointed to ComEd’s board of directors at the request of Madigan and McClain, the indictment stated.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
rlong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Nov. 18 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

How is this possible ?
Are Eleanor and her friends hitting the road ?
No .
What McGowan Tracy has @ @ @ @ @ filmed version of last year ’ s show — recorded at the Greenhouse Theater Center @ @ @ @ @ package to sell this year .
The idea is that product-starved arts centers can then @ @ @ @ @ attraction as , in essence , one of their own creations .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ Tracy gets to sell her show all across the country , the pandemic-stricken arts centers @ @ @ @ @ box office without incurring many expenses , and the actors and crew get paid all @ @ @ @ @ need the cash .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
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)
For the latest updates, click here for Thursday’s live blog.
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll topped 11,000 on Wednesday, already meeting a projection the state’s top public health official recently gave for the entire year.
Advertisement
Officials reported 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the state-reported death toll to 11,014 over the course of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 8,922 newly diagnosed and probable coronavirus cases, the first time the daily statewide case tally has dipped below 10,000 since Nov. 5. That sent the statewide known and probable case count past 600,000, with 606,771 cases reported throughout the course of the pandemic.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he is imposing new restrictions in Illinois, limiting capacity at retail shops and shutting down casinos, museums and other indoor entertainment venues.
The targeted restrictions are part of the state’s latest effort to slow the surging coronavirus.
Just ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year, retailers will be under a 25% capacity limit, down from the current 50%. A 50% capacity limit will remain for grocery stores, but big-box chains such as Walmart and Target that include groceries will be subject to the lower limit.
[ New coronavirus restrictions: What will be open, closed, different in Illinois starting Friday ]
In addition to putting restrictions on a variety of industries, Pritzker is pleading with the public to avoid unnecessary gatherings, particularly next week for Thanksgiving.
“This is not a stay-at-home order,” he said. “But the best way for us to avoid a stay-at-home order is to stay home.”
The new measures do not affect schools, and decisions will continue to be left up to local districts. Chicago Public Schools Tuesday announced that it will continue to provide classes through remote learning until after the winter break, but then plans to begin bringing students back on Jan. 11.
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:54 p.m.: As grades and attendance slip, CPS places hopes on schools reopening, citing risk of ‘losing an entire generation of students’
With hard return dates for elementary school students contingent upon the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Public Schools officials are challenged by how to improve on poor attendance rates they saw during the remote fall quarter.
Advertisement
“The consequences here are not theoretical,” said Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade. “Research tells us that if we do not act with urgency, we will be in danger of losing an entire generation of students. It is often said that access to health care should be a fundamental right of all people. Well, the same holds true for a high-quality education.”
During Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting, McDade presented data on attendance and grades for fall quarter, which ended the first week of November. Read more here. — Hannah Leone
5:51 p.m.: COVID-19 now third leading cause of death in Illinois, officials say, as toll surpasses 11,000
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll since the pandemic began topped 11,000 on Wednesday, and the disease is now the third-leading cause of death in the state, behind heart disease and cancer, according to state public health officials.
The 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 reported Wednesday pushed the total to 11,014, already meeting a projection state public health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike gave in late October when she said the state was “on a path to see more than 11,000 COVID deaths in Illinois this year.” Read more here. — Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
4:36 p.m.: A surge in COVID-19 cases has Chicago retailers facing new restrictions, just as holiday shopping season hits
Retailers were starting to see shoppers return to stores this fall. Now, a surge in COVID-19 cases has brought new restrictions, just as Chicago-area stores were gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year.
Starting Friday, Illinois retailers and malls will be limited to 25% of their usual capacity, down from 50%. Grocery stores and pharmacies will be able to operate at half capacity, but big box chains selling some grocery and pharmacy items will also face the tighter limits.
Advertisement
The changes follow stay-at-home advisories announced last week in Chicago and Cook County urging residents to voluntarily remain home as much as possible, which some small business owners worry could become mandatory. Read more here. — Lauren Zumbach and Robert Channick
4:30 p.m.: Warren Township High School District officials skeptical in-person classes will resume Jan. 5; ‘We want to follow the data as it is’
With COVID-19 cases on the rise throughout Illinois, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker announcing the state will be moving back to its Tier 3 mitigation plan, Warren Township High School District 121 still tentatively plans to welcome students back for in-person classes for the second semester on Jan. 5.
However, Superintendent John Ahlgrim and members of the Board of Education suggested this week that chances of that happening are highly unlikely.
”There’s a lot of districts that have already announced that they’re not even going to attempt the two weeks after winter break, just with traveling and then having to quarantine upon return,” board member Tony DeMonte said at the virtually held regular board meeting on Tuesday. “Is (Jan. 5) even realistic? Or is it two weeks from there that’s the more realistic date?”
The meeting was held the same day that Pritzker announced the new mitigation plan, which limits the amount of people that can be in retail spaces, health and fitness centers, offices, bars and restaurants. Read the full story. — Erin Yarnall, Lake County News-Sun
4:27 p.m.: Aurora surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 cases, 150 deaths
Aurora this week surpassed 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and 150 related deaths since the pandemic started, new city data shows.
Advertisement
In the wake of those rising numbers, Mayor Richard Irvin made an emotional plea Tuesday night for residents to take the virus seriously. Read more here. — Steve Lord and Sarah Freishtat, Aurora Beacon-News
3:18 p.m.: Overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, hospitals start converting chapels, cafeterias, parking garages: ‘We’re in trouble’
Overwhelmed hospitals are converting chapels, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hallways, even a parking garage into patient treatment areas. Staff members are desperately calling around to other medical centers in search of open beds. Fatigue and frustration are setting in among front-line workers.
Conditions inside the nation’s hospitals are deteriorating by the day as the coronavirus rages across the U.S. at an unrelenting pace.
“We are depressed, disheartened and tired to the bone,” said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, adding that she drives to and from work some days in tears.
The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 in the U.S. has doubled in the past month and set new records every day this week. As of Tuesday, more than 76,000 were hospitalized with the virus.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Advertisement
1:30 p.m.: Mental health issues more likely to affect communities of color during the holidays: ‘This is the time where people can bottom out’
Public stressors created by the pandemic often worsen for people in the communities most impacted, said Dr. Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Data has shown that people of color for example are more likely to get the coronavirus.
“When we look at this year, racial trauma is a compound stressor,” she said. “You have multiple different stressors in terms of the pandemic that disproportionately affects these communities already at greater risk.”
Multigenerational family households are also more common in Black and Hispanic communities, she said. The pandemic adds pressure in families with members at high risk, creating different levels of burden.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett and Jessica Villagomez
1:15 p.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot to launch new COVID-19 testing site at Midway Airport
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will launch a new COVID-19 testing site at Midway Airport as part of the city’s effort to fight the ongoing surge of coronavirus cases.
The city also will be moving a testing site at Dr. Jorge Prieto Math and Science Academy on the Northwest Side to Charles A. Prosser Career Academy. Lightfoot also will work with Curative, a testing company, to provide materials to make it easier to do testing during cold weather.
Advertisement
The city’s current 7-day rolling average is 2,351, up from 1,853 a week ago. The number of tests administered has gone up to 16,259 from a 7-day rolling average of 14,795.
The city has awarded $14 million in grants to community groups to expand testing and contact tracing, and the city has provided 40,000 rapid tests to community health centers, officials said.
Lightfoot’s testing site at Midway will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., officials said. Other testing sites will remain open at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Gately Park.
“Chicago is setting new testing records every day and it is our highest priority to ensure that testing remains equitably accessible and available to Chicago’s most vulnerable residents,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “We will continue to work with partners and direct resources to the communities who have been hit the hardest by this pandemic.”
—Gregory Pratt
1:13 p.m.: Illinois surpasses 11,000 COVID-19 deaths as officials report another 140 fatalities and 8,922 newly confirmed and probable cases
Illinois' COVID-19 death toll topped 11,000 on Wednesday, already meeting a projection the state’s top public health official recently gave for the entire year.
Advertisement
Officials reported 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the state-reported death toll to 11,014 over the course of the pandemic.
On Oct. 26, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the state was “on a path to see more than 11,000 COVID deaths in Illinois this year.”
Officials also reported 8,922 newly diagnosed and probable coronavirus cases, the first time the daily statewide case tally has dipped below 10,000 since Nov. 5. That sent the statewide known and probable case count past 600,000, with 606,771 cases reported throughout the course of the pandemic.
The new and probable cases reported Wednesday come from a batch of 103,569 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 11.9% for the period ending Tuesday, a slight decline from a day earlier.
The state public health department reported a 12.5% positivity rate on both Monday and Tuesday. The rate surpassed 13% late week after climbing steadily for weeks. A month ago, the statewide positivity rate for cases was 5.3%, and it was 8% as of Nov. 1.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to rise. As of Tuesday night, 5,953 people across the state were in the hospital with the illness, with 1,146 in intensive care units and 547 on ventilators.
Advertisement
—Jamie Munks
11:17 a.m.: Naperville council tells city staff to draft rules making face masks mandatory
A citywide face mask mandate could be in the hands of the Naperville City Council for review as soon as Dec. 1.
Mayor Steve Chirico on Tuesday asked the council if they would consider requiring masks as a means of tamping down the rising number of coronavirus cases.
Council members directed City Attorney Michael DiSanto to gather documentation to be presented at the Dec. 1 meeting on regulations that could be drafted requiring all residents and visitors in Naperville to wear a mask in public.
Chirico said local COVID-19 numbers are staggering, and if face-covering regulations will help reduce it, he’s all for it.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
Advertisement
8:33 a.m.: Not again: Toilet paper limits, empty shelves return as COVID-19 surges
Looking for toilet paper? Good luck.
A surge of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is sending people back to stores to stockpile again, leaving shelves bare and forcing retailers to put limits on purchases.
Walmart said Tuesday it’s having trouble keeping up with demand for cleaning supplies in some stores. Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:54 a.m.: Chicago holds online classes to remind businesses, workers about job protections for those with COVID-19
Chicago’s Office of Labor Standards was set to hold online classes Wednesday and Thursday about job protections for people who stay home from work because of having COVID-19, according to the mayor’s office.
The city’s Anti-Retaliation Ordinance and coronavirus-related public health orders, city residents are required to stay home from work if they have COVID-19 or symptoms of the disease, according to a news release. Employers are barred from “firing, demoting or retaliating in any way against” a worker for being absent from work because of having the coronavirus.
Advertisement
Wednesday and Thursday’s online classes will explain employers' responsibilities and workers' rights under the city’s regulations. The classes are being offered in Spanish and English, and are set for 10 a.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. Thursday.
To sign up for the classes or learn more, check the city’s website: chicago.gov/laborstandards
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine 95% effective, will seek approval for emergency use from FDA
Pfizer says that more interim results from its ongoing coronavirus vaccine study suggest the shots are 95% effective and that the vaccine protects older people most at risk of dying from COVID-19.
The announcement, just a week after Pfizer first revealed promising preliminary results, comes as the company is preparing within days to formally ask U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of the vaccine.
Pfizer initially had estimated its vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, was more than 90% effective after 94 infections had been counted. With Wednesday’s announcement, the company now has accumulated 170 infections in the study — and said only eight of them occurred in volunteers who got the actual vaccine rather than a dummy shot. One of those eight developed severe disease, the company said.
Advertisement
The company has not yet released detailed data on its study, and results have not been analyzed by independent experts.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:30 a.m.: The same holiday show will stream in Chicago, Kansas and Montana — a pandemic-era lesson from Trader Joe’s?
In 2019, a Chicago producer and live-event specialist named Denise McGowan Tracy staged a self-authored holiday show at the Greenhouse Theater Center. The kid-centered production, “Eleanor’s Merry Christmas Wish — The Musical,” played in a theater seating 175 people. It struggled to compete with many other long-established holiday shows in Chicago. The holiday season traditionally is very lucrative but it’s also highly competitive.
For this year, “Eleanor” has returned and expanded her reach. Big time.
She is also on the 2020 holiday docket at the McCain Auditorium in Manhattan, Kan., the Mother Lode Theatre in Butte, Mont., the Appell Center in York, Penn., the Weill Center in Sheboygan, Wisc., and many other locales from Texas to Maine.
How is this possible? Are Eleanor and her friends hitting the road? No. What McGowan Tracy has done is to take a filmed version of last year’s show — recorded at the Greenhouse Theater Center — and created an online package to sell this year. The idea is that product-starved arts centers can then offer their subscribers this holiday attraction as, in essence, one of their own creations. It’s a win-win-win in that McGowan Tracy gets to sell her show all across the country, the pandemic-stricken arts centers get a cut of the box office without incurring many expenses, and the actors and crew get paid all over again just when they need the cash.
Advertisement
Read more here. — Chris Jones
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 some recent stories related to COVID-19.


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--A surge in COVID-19 cases has Chicago retailers facing new restrictions, just as holiday shopping se

A surge in COVID-19 cases has Chicago retailers facing new restrictions, just as holiday shopping season hits

Bigger businesses have been investing in technology that makes waiting less of a pain .
Brookfield Properties malls , including @ @ @ @ @ Center , let customers join a virtual line at some stores so they can shop @ @ @ @ @ their turn to enter .
So do Target and Lululemon , and Best Buy uses @ @ @ @ @ keep lines from forming in stores while customers wait to get help from an employee @ @ @ @ @ .

James Cavicchia, right, with his son Joseph, 12, checks out Christmas gifts he bought at Toys et Cetera store in Hyde Park in Chicago on Nov. 18, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Retailers were starting to see shoppers return to stores this fall. Now a surge in COVID-19 cases has brought new restrictions, just as Chicago-area stores were gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year.
Starting Friday, Illinois retailers and malls will be limited to 25% of their usual capacity, down from 50%. Grocery stores and pharmacies will be able to operate at half capacity, but big box chains selling some grocery and pharmacy items will also face the tighter limits.
Advertisement
The changes follow stay-at-home advisories announced last week in Chicago and Cook County urging residents to voluntarily remain home as much as possible, which some small-business owners worry could become mandatory.
At Bronzeville Boutique, a 30-year-old women’s fashion store on Chicago’s South Side, manager Imani Kutti is concerned the new capacity restrictions will scare away the dwindling ranks of in-store shoppers. The few shoppers who do come in often call ahead to make sure there’s room to navigate and try on clothes, and hours can go by without a single customer.
Advertisement
“Even though we are a small store, it still makes a difference,” Kutti said. “People are being told there can’t be that many customers inside, so they just assume they won’t be able to come here.”
Imani Kutti, 25, store manager of the Bronzeville Boutique in Chicago on Nov. 18, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
It’s one more challenge for retailers trying to recover sales lost when nonessential stores were forced to close their doors in an attempt to control the coronavirus pandemic. Retailers say they are more prepared, with upgraded websites and smoother curbside pickup. Many have started Black Friday deals earlier in November, to spread out crowds over a longer period.
Some say they are already voluntarily operating below the state’s 25% capacity limit. Walmart imposed a 20% cap, or about five customers per 1,000 square feet, in April. Foot traffic rarely reached that level, but the retailer has resumed counting the number of people entering and leaving stores “out of an abundance of caution,” spokesman Casey Staheli said.
J.C. Penney has closed some entrances and exits so employees can keep track of the number of people entering and leaving. Chicago-area stores are fairly large, so social distancing isn’t difficult, spokeswoman Kristen Bennett said in an email
Smaller shops said they haven’t been crowded, but Nancy Stanek, owner of Toys Et Cetera in Hyde Park, said the 25% limit could be an issue during busier days in December. Though she has seen lines of shoppers outside other stores, she isn’t sure her customers would be so patient, especially during a frigid Chicago winter.
She is encouraging people to shop early and “hoping and praying” to avoid another shutdown.
“I have to remain optimistic,” she said. “They’ve taken every other holiday from the kids, they can’t take Christmas away.”
Nancy Stanek, owner of Toys et Cetera store in Hyde Park in Chicago on Nov. 18, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Bigger businesses have been investing in technology that makes waiting less of a pain. Brookfield Properties malls, including Water Tower Place and Oakbrook Center, let customers join a virtual line at some stores so they can shop elsewhere until it’s their turn to enter. So do Target and Lululemon, and Best Buy uses a similar digital queue to keep lines from forming in stores while customers wait to get help from an employee, spokesman Matthew Smith said.
Advertisement
At Maya Papaya & Tony Macarony, a kids' clothing and gifts store in Evanston, owner Simone Oettinger was less concerned about capacity limits, since her store rarely gets more than a handful of shoppers at a time.
“I think people are scared enough they’re staying away,” she said.
The prospect of another full shutdown was far more troubling than the new capacity limits, particularly for smaller businesses worried big-box chains would be able to remain open as essential businesses.
“If you’re going to Target to buy toilet paper and you see a toy, you might as well buy it. … Each sale Target does off a nonessential item is a sale a small retailer is losing,” Oettinger said. “It’s very unfair.”
Others questioned a stay-at-home advisory and capacity restrictions that seemed to encourage stores to remain open while advising their customers to stay away.
“It seems like a cop-out,” said Claire Tibbs, who owns home goods store Humboldt House and kids’ shop Peach Fuzz in Humboldt Park.
Advertisement
If the stay-at-home advisory remains voluntary, rather than mandatory, she thinks small businesses will have a harder time getting financial assistance or convincing landlords to give them a break on rent. Her stores, and others in the community, were already voluntarily operating below half capacity.
Tibbs thinks another mandatory stay-at-home order is likely. But while she expects customers will move to her online store, as they did this spring, being forced to close during the holidays would require tougher decisions about her employees.
The shutdown in March hit during a slow period, when she typically only has one store manager. Going into the holidays, she has five employees, some working part-time.
If retailers have an advantage this time, it’s having gone through the first stay-at-home order this spring. Stores that were blindsided by the sudden loss of in-store traffic have since launched or streamlined low-contact services like curbside pickup and speedier home delivery.
Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have partnered with DoorDash to offer same-day home delivery from 500 stores and Best Buy has a similar partnership with Instacart. Target has made more items available for same-day home delivery and doubled the number of curbside pickup spots.
Smaller retailers upgraded online stores, including Bronzeville Boutique, which kept itself afloat during the pandemic by selling high-fashion masks online and get-out-the-vote T-shirts at Chicago protest rallies. It also began offering free same-day delivery.
Advertisement
At Timeless Toys in Lincoln Square, Scott Friedland added more of his store’s toys to his online shop and has been doing more giveaways and toy demos on social media. Online orders have accounted for about 25% of his sales this year, and he thinks they could hit 50% over the holidays, up from less than 2% during that period last year.
But it’s no replacement for in-store sales, he said.
“As a small toy store, we really rely on customer service, which is lost when you come online,” Friedland said.
Oettinger, at Maya Papaya & Toni Macaroni, plans to launch an easier-to-shop online store by Thanksgiving. “If I don’t, I’m dead,” she said.
Customers are also more prepared and know local shops may have online stores and other services like curbside pickup and in-person or virtual private shopping appointments, said Nancy Cummings, executive director of the La Grange Business Association.
Store owners and local business groups are encouraging shoppers to support neighborhood retailers this season, even if events like Black Friday and Small Business Saturday look different from usual.
Advertisement
The Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce is selling gift cards that can be redeemed at a range of local shops and restaurants, and the La Grange Business Association created a digital catalog featuring some of the top gifts from La Grange. There will be flash sales on Small Business Saturday, but customers can choose whether they want to shop in person or place an order for curbside pickup, Cummings said.
Anderson’s Bookshop, with stores in Naperville and Downers Grove, won’t hold its usual Small Business Saturday parties with treats and author events, but it will still encourage people to shop local. The new 25% capacity limit means shoppers may need to wait in line during busier periods, but event coordinator Ginny Wehrli-Hemmeter thinks people who enjoy browsing in person will be willing to wait.
“If those are the rules, those are the rules,” she said. “I think people are used to the concept nowadays.”
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--‘Summers will never be the same without his raspados’: Veteran Chicago street vendor dies after cont

‘Summers will never be the same without his raspados’: Veteran Chicago street vendor dies after contracting COVID-19

Since May , at least 332 Mexican nationals in the Chicago area are known to have died from COVID-19 , @ @ @ @ @ , because in many instances , neither the family , nor the hospital nor the @ @ @ @ @ consulate .
At least 240 bodies have been repatriated to be buried in their native @ @

Joshua Perez, 16, and Jason Perez, 17, push the raspados cart of their grandfather, Guadalupe Perez, 61, down 26th Street in a procession from his memorial service in Little Village on Nov. 18, 2020. Perez died from the coronavirus. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
For nearly 20 years, Guadalupe Perez sold raspados — shaved ice — every summer outside of a grocery store on 26th Street in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
Lupillo, as his customer and friends called him, was known for using fresh fruit to make the juice to flavor his raspados.
Advertisement
But he won’t be selling raspados next summer. Perez was pronounced dead Sunday at St. Anthony Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner. His family said he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and died on the way to the hospital.
“Summers will never be the same without his raspados,” said his niece Elizeth Arguelles, still in disbelief about her uncle’s death.
Advertisement
Wednesday afternoon his grandchildren pushed his cart, covered in flowers, from the funeral home where they paid their last respects to the corner of Central Park Avenue and 26th, where he used to set up shop.
“We want the community to remember him and see his cart, one last time,” Arguelles said.
Guadalupe Perez shaves ice at raspados cart on 26th Street in Little Village in 2011. (Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune)
Perez. 62, had put his cart away at the end of September, afraid because of the spike in COVID-19 cases, said Alejandro Perez, one of his five children.
But despite taking precautions and staying home, he suddenly fell ill at the beginning of November. Still, neither son nor father thought it was the coronavirus until they were tested and received a positive result, said Alejandro Perez.
“We thought we were both going to make it,” Alejandro Perez said. “I’m just grateful that I was able to care for him the last days of his life, care for him and tell him that I love him.”
Un último recorrido: Don Lupillo Perez’s grandkids pushed his cart one last time down the route he took home after selling his raspados every summer. Family & friends followed as his favorite norteñas played, mourning another COVID-19 victim. pic.twitter.com/yzoggYs1R4 — Laura N. Rodríguez Presa (@LAURA_N_ROD) November 18, 2020
The two shared an apartment in Little Village for nine years. They were inseparable and Perez was “the most hardworking father and sweetest grandfather,” Alejandro Perez said. His four other siblings and their mother live in Puebla, Mexico.
When he called his siblings to break the news of Perez’s death, they broke down. They had called their father almost every day to check up on him. Every time he would tell them that he was feeling better, Alejandro Perez said.
“But that’s because he wanted to be strong and because he was terrified to go to the hospital,” he added.
Advertisement
On Dec. 12, he would have celebrated his 63rd birthday.
Even though he had a hard time breathing, Perez refused to go to the hospital and relied on home remedies because he did not want to get intubated, according to his sister, Claudia Perez. Her brother told her multiple times that he feared contracting the virus because he had diabetes and knew he might not live.
On Sunday, Alejandro Perez and another family member found Perez unconscious in his bedroom. They called 911 and, though he still had vital signs when he was taken by paramedics, his lungs collapsed on the way, said his son.
“This virus has no mercy and it’s taking so many of us. It’s hard to believe he is gone, but I worry that it could get me next,” added Claudia Perez.
Like her brother, she also works as a street vendor and has diabetes. She used to sell tamales every day on a corner on 26th Street.
In the first few months of the pandemic, more than 15 of her clients died from the virus, she said. Her daughter-in-law and her daughter now take out the cart to make sure that she doesn’t come in contact with someone with the coronavirus.
Advertisement
“By now there must be dozens of clients who have passed from coronavirus, loyal customers that I’ll never see again,” she said.
As the family tries to deal with Perez’s death, they are urging others to take care of their elders and those with other chronic illnesses that could make them vulnerable.
Black and Latino communities continue to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Little Village, part of ZIP code 60623, has been one the areas hardest-hit by COVID-19. More than 6,000 have tested positive and 167 have died, according to data from the city.
Arguelles, who has helped her mother sell tamales since she was 9 and is now a community organizer advocating for street vendor rights in Chicago, said she is heartbroken at their loss, but she is also angry.
“I’m furious because again and again, our society doesn’t recognize that these essential workers, many who keep our economy running, are immigrants, many undocumented like my uncle,” she said. “I think about who killed them, and it wasn’t just COVID-19; it was poverty and the system of disinvestment, of oppression.”
“They come here for an American dream, work nonstop every single day, save money and they don’t even get to enjoy it. They won’t even be able to go back to their native land alive.”
Advertisement
Though he was born in Veracruz, Mexico, her uncle moved to Puebla, Mexico and in the late 1990s migrated to Chicago and settled in Little Village. While some of his family is here, most live in Mexico. That’s where he wanted to rest when he died, his sister said.
Hundreds of community members and customers have donated money to help send Perez’s body to be buried in Mexico.
“That’s our only comfort, knowing that we may be able to see him one last time,” said his oldest son, Misael Perez, in a phone call from Puebla.
Javier Maupomé, the consul for protections and legal affairs at the Mexican Consulate in Chicago, confirmed that the consulate is helping the family with the process.
Since May, at least 332 Mexican nationals in the Chicago area are known to have died from COVID-19, but there may be more, because in many instances, neither the family, nor the hospital nor the funeral home report to the consulate. At least 240 bodies have been repatriated to be buried in their native towns.
That’s almost 30% of the total number of repatriations processed by the consulate this year, which has surpassed the number of repatriations in all of 2019.
Advertisement
Misael Perez said that the family is overwhelmed with all the appreciation that people have shown for his father.
“I never realized how loved he was, but he deserves it because he was a good man who was kind and always helped others even if that meant that he will have nothing to himself,” he added.
His father began selling raspados to be able to help bring all of his children to the United States. He was a “happy man,” who always helped others and listened to norteñas, a genre of music from northern Mexico, his children said.
He often had a line of people when selling his raspados. Some of the popular ones were tamarindo and guava.
Omar Ramos, a radio and TV personality in Chicago, would drive his daughter to Little Village to buy raspados from “Don Lupillo.” Her favorite was coconut and he knew that he could always find Perez at his usual spot.
“No one will ever be able to replace him and that corner in Little Village will never be the same without him,” Arguelles said.
Advertisement
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--‘They knew exactly who they were shooting at’: 1 dead, 3 critically wounded — including one of the s

‘They knew exactly who they were shooting at’: 1 dead, 3 critically wounded — including one of the shooters — on West Side

Two of the gunmen then ran into the liquor store and continued shooting — one of them accidentally shooting his @ @ @ @ @ .
The other shooter dragged him from the liquor store and helped get him back @ @ @ @ @ they fled to Mount Sinai , where they dropped off the 32-year-old man , police @ @

Evidence markers are placed next to bullet casings at the scene of a multiple shooting at a convenience store in the 3000 block of West Roosevelt Road on Nov. 18, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
A woman has died and three men, including one of the assailants, were critically wounded Wednesday evening in separate shootings a half-hour apart on the city’s West Side.
Earlier, police said the people shot were considered “victims’' who were shot in a single “targeted” attack in the 3000 block of West Roosevelt Road.
Advertisement
About 4 p.m. in the 400 block South Hamlin Avenue, 21-year-old Catrice Ware and a 29-year-old man were in a vehicle traveling south on Independence Boulevard when a dark-colored car pulled up and somebody inside shot them both, Chicago police said.
Ware, who was shot in the abdomen and leg, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 4:45 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, while the 29-year-old man, shot in the right leg, was also taken to Mount Sinai, where his condition had stabilized.
Advertisement
About a half an hour later, another 29-year-old man was standing with a group of people on the northwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Whipple Street, outside a liquor store, when a westbound silver car pulled up, “stopped right in front” of them, and three gunmen exited and started firing — hitting the 29-year-old in the abdomen, police said.
Two of the gunmen then ran into the liquor store and continued shooting — one of them accidentally shooting his 32-year-old accomplice — police said. The other shooter dragged him from the liquor store and helped get him back into the silver car and they fled to Mount Sinai, where they dropped off the 32-year-old man, police said.
“It appears to be targeted,” Area 4 Deputy Chief Ernest Cato told reporters at the scene of the Roosevelt Road attack. “They knew exactly who they were shooting at.”
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-21--Column: It’s not too late to decide to stay home for Thanksgiving

It may break your heart , and maybe someone else ’ s , not to have the Thanksgiving of your @ @ @ @ @ think of it this way : Sacrifice can be an act of gratitude .
Giving @ @ @ @ @ good is a form of giving thanks .

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 not too late to decide to stay home for Thanksgiving.
It may break your heart, and maybe someone else’s, not to have the Thanksgiving of your plans and dreams. But think of it this way: Sacrifice can be an act of gratitude. Giving up something for the common good is a form of giving thanks.
Advertisement
In the past week, a lot of people have finally made the hard decision to forgo the Thanksgiving they want. Until the past few days, with the holiday knocking louder all the time, they’d held out hope that this Thanksgiving could at least approximate the holidays of memory and ritual.
Then they looked at the data, heeded the warnings and changed their minds.
Advertisement
No need to go over all the data here. We’re numb with COVID-19 data. One number will suffice: 250,000. A quarter million Americans. Dead in only a few months from this treacherously contagious virus.
That fact penetrates a little more every day, along with the understanding that when we travel, the virus does too.
I’ve been hearing heartbreaking Thanksgiving stories all week. Of canceled flights. Canceled hotel reservations. Difficult phone conversations.
One woman wrote to tell me how sad she is that she canceled plans for her 75-year-old mother to join her and her husband for dinner. Now her mom will spend Thanksgiving alone. She worries that she’ll see Facebook photos of other people’s festive family gatherings and “feel like a chump for following the rules.”
Honestly, I’m not sure what I’d do if my mother were still alive and in my Thanksgiving equation, but I do know that erring on the side of safety is not being a chump. It’s an intelligent sacrifice, and sacrifice takes courage.
The decisions we make about how to spend Thanksgiving rarely involve just ourselves. We make them in relation to friends and family who may not see the situation the way we do.
One of my former colleagues — his name is Casey — tells the story of how his sister and parents have planned to rent a house for a week with family members from Illinois and Florida. He thought the idea was dicey and started a family email thread to say so.
“That mostly pissed my sister off,” he says.
Advertisement
Afterward, he did some research. He read that trying to convince people with facts won’t change hearts. So he sent his parents a heartfelt note about friends and co-workers who have lost parents. He told them that’s what he’d be thinking about all week if the Thanksgiving gathering went ahead as planned.
“On Monday morning,” he says, “my typically non-expressive dad sent me one of the most moving messages I’ve ever gotten, saying essentially, ‘Now you know what you put us through as a teenager. We’re staying home. Thanks for pushing.’ ”
It was an uncomfortable discussion but he was glad that he spoke up — not stridently, but out of love.
Canceling may even prove to be a relief. On Thursday, the daughter of a friend called to cancel their small, outdoor get-together.
“I think it’s best,” my friend says. “We all would have been really tense. Which isn’t fun. We’ll Zoom like everyone else.”
No one wants to be shamed or bullied into canceling their Thanksgiving plans, and in some cases traveling and a small gathering may be OK.
Advertisement
But the CDC says stay home. Epidemiologists say stay home. So does decency in the name of the common good. You could call that decency patriotic.
I decided three weeks ago not to join my brother and his family in Colorado, which I’ve done for many years. It made me sad. Still does. But the right thing is often the hard thing.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
The key to turning this difficult choice into something easier is to think creatively. We can ask ourselves: How can I reframe Thanksgiving?
One way would be to turn it into a day of reflection instead of a conventional celebration. Give thanks in a different way. By taking a walk and admiring the world around you. By giving money to a food pantry. By sending a thank-you note or text to someone you care about.
Make this sacrifice for the exhausted and endangered health care workers. Make it for family and friends and strangers. Make it for the future. And for yourself.
Thanksgiving is just one day. It will come and go so fast we’ll barely remember what the fuss was about.
Advertisement
It’s not too late.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MarySchmich


chicagotribune--2020-11-21--Embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan says he’ll be a candidate for reelection in January, claimin

Embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan says he’ll be a candidate for reelection in January, claiming ‘significant support’

“ The decision on the next speaker of the Illinois House will be made at a caucus , after a @ @ @ @ @ facing our state and the qualifications of the candidates , ” Madigan said in a @ @ @ @ @ plan to be a candidate for speaker , and ( on Friday ) I confirmed @ @ @ @ @ support from a significant number of House Democratic caucus members .
”

Then-Speaker Michael Madigan works the floor as the Illinois House convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Friday he will seek another term in charge of the chamber despite a growing loss of support from Democratic legislators who see him as detrimental to the party and their own political livelihoods because of his ties to a ComEd bribery case.
“The decision on the next speaker of the Illinois House will be made at a caucus, after a full discussion of the issues facing our state and the qualifications of the candidates,” Madigan said in a statement Friday. “I plan to be a candidate for speaker, and (on Friday) I confirmed that I continue to have support from a significant number of House Democratic caucus members.”
Advertisement
Madigan made the statement only two days after his longtime friend, lobbyist Michael McClain, was indicted in the ComEd bribery case. Also indicted were Anne Pramaggiore, a former top ComEd and Exelon official; ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker; and former local ComEd consultant Jay Doherty, the former head of the City Club.
Federal prosecutors allege that ComEd engaged in a yearslong scheme to win Madigan’s favor by putting his political friends on the ComEd payroll, hiring interns from the speaker’s Southwest Side 13th Ward, where he has been committeeman for half a century, and placing his candidate on the utility’s board.
Advertisement
Since the indictments, 10 House Democrats said they would not support Madigan’s reelection as speaker when lawmakers convene for the new General Assembly on Jan. 13. They join eight others who had previously said they wouldn’t back Madigan.
Democrats are expected to have 73 members in the new House, and Madigan needs 60 votes to retain the speaker’s gavel. The defections of the 18 lawmakers leave Madigan with only 55 votes.
Madigan’s opponents said they believe there are additional House Democrats who will not support the speaker.
Madigan on Thursday has issued a strongly worded denial of any wrongdoing and lashed out at his critics. But that statement left unclear whether he would seek another term as speaker — something he sought to make clear on Friday.
Madigan has not been charged in the case.
Madigan has held the speakership for all but two years since 1983. He is the longest-tenured state legislative leader in the history of the nation.
rlong@chicagotribune.com
rap30@aol.com