chicagotribune--2020-09-13--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Sept. 12-13 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

“ We were the second state in the United States by a few hours , I think , to put @ @ @ @ @ if we needed to do that , the answer is , it worked , ” @ @ @ @ @ an interview earlier this month about the state ’ s response to the pandemic at @ @ @ @ @ It works , and so if we had to do that , and again we @ @ @ @ @ but if we had to do that , I would not hesitate .
”

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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 on Sunday announced 1,462 new known cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 261,371 and the statewide death toll to 8,309.
On Friday, the state reported that DuPage County is on Illinois' latest list of counties that have reached a “warning level” for a resurgence of COVID-19. The ever-changing weekly list this week covered 30 counties the state said had reached two or more bench marks that indicate the virus is spreading there.
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Meanwhile, attendance for the first day of Chicago Public Schools' remote fall quarter this week varied from a low below 42% to a high of 100% at each of more than 500 district-run schools.
Citywide, 84.2% of students at district schools attended a remote learning class on Tuesday, increasing to 88.5% on Wednesday and 90.2% on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
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And in vaccine news, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the U.K., Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume.
Though it would not disclose information about the patient’s illness for reasons of participant confidentiality, an AstraZeneca spokesman said earlier this week that a woman had developed severe neurological symptoms that prompted the pause in testing.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
Coronavirus vaccine-makers keep safety details quiet, alarming scientists
The morning after the world learned that a closely watched clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine had been halted last week over safety concerns, the company’s chief executive disclosed that a person given the vaccine had experienced serious neurological symptoms.
But the remarks were not public. Instead, the chief executive, Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, spoke at a closed meeting organized by J.P. Morgan, the investment bank.
AstraZeneca said Saturday that an outside panel had cleared its trial in Britain to begin again, but the company still has not given any details about the patient’s medical condition, nor has it released a transcript of Soriot’s remarks to investors, which were reported by the news outlet STAT and later confirmed by an analyst for J.P. Morgan.
Another front-runner in the vaccine race, Pfizer, made a similarly terse announcement Saturday: The company is proposing to expand its clinical trial to include thousands more participants, but it gave few other details about its plan, including how it would determine the effectiveness of the vaccine in its larger study.
It is standard for drug companies to withhold details of clinical trials until after they are completed, tenaciously guarding their intellectual property and competitive edge. But these are extraordinary times, and now there is a growing outcry among independent scientists and public health experts who are pushing the companies to be far more open with the public in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 193,000 people in the United States.
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Read more here. —The New York Times
1,462 new known COVID-19 cases and 14 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 1,462 new known cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 261,371 and the statewide death toll to 8,309 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 46,890 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.7%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
As President Trump played down COVID-19 threat in public, health experts' alarm was growing
Public health officials were already warning Americans about the need to prepare for the coronavirus threat in early February when President Donald Trump called it “deadly stuff” in a private conversation that has only now has come to light.
At the time, the virus was mostly a problem in China, with just 11 cases confirmed in the United States.
There was uncertainty about how the U.S. ultimately would be affected, and top U.S. officials would deliver some mixed messages along the way. But their overall thrust was to take the thing seriously.
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“We’re preparing as if this is a pandemic,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Feb. 5. “This is just good commonsense public health.”
Trump, however, had a louder megaphone than his health experts, and in public he was playing down the threat. Three days after delivering his “deadly” assessment in a private call with journalist Bob Woodward, he told a New Hampshire rally on Feb. 10, “It’s going to be fine.”
Trump’s acknowledgment in Woodward’s new book “Rage” that he was minimizing the severity of the virus in public to avoid causing panic has triggered waves of criticism that he wasn’t leveling with the American people.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Closed doors, virtual services and lawsuits: Here’s how the pandemic has affected religion in Chicagoland
One recent Sunday morning, the Rev. Manuel Dorantes stood at the altar of St. Mary of the Lake, looking out into the pews. He couldn’t see faces, only eyeballs, face masks and a mostly empty sanctuary.
But before the service began, someone from the parish’s hospitality and reopening committee made an announcement:
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“To ensure the safety of everyone participating in today’s liturgy, please keep your mask or facial covering on … refrain from physical contact during the sign of peace, refrain from holding hands with individuals not in your party during the Lord’s Prayer, and receive communion with open hands.”
For at least the near future, this is the new normal for in-person worship — social distancing, face masks and sanitizing.
Read more here. —Javonte Anderson
Saturday
2,121 new known cases and 22 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials Saturday announced 2,121 new known cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 259,909 and the statewide death toll to 8,295 since the start of the pandemic.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Six months into the pandemic, downtown Chicago is a humbled giant. Can it get back on its feet?
Six months after the COVID-19 pandemic first shook Chicago, the city’s once-mighty downtown — with its towering skyscrapers, glamorous shops and glittering public spaces — is a humbled giant, taking only tentative steps toward recovery.
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Depressed by two waves of looting that stunned Chicago, foot traffic on and around the Magnificent Mile shopping district was less than half what it usually is. Occupancy rates for downtown apartments are the lowest they’ve been in 18 years.
As tumultuous as the last six months have been, what happens in the next six — from the presidential election to the possible development of a coronavirus vaccine — could do even more to determine whether downtown reaffirms its role as the undisputed hub of a region of nearly 9.5 million people, the largest metro area in the Midwest.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin, Ryan Ori and Lauren Zumbach
Number of COVID-19 infections rising in the Dakotas, bringing impassioned debates about personal freedom versus masks
Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic.
The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota, as the city council considered requiring face coverings in businesses. The city was forced to move its meeting to a local arena to accommodate intense interest, with many citizens speaking against it, before the mask requirement ultimately passed.
Amid the brute force of the pandemic, health experts warn that the infections must be contained before care systems are overwhelmed. North Dakota and South Dakota lead the country in new cases per capita over the last two weeks, ranking first and second respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
AstraZeneca and Oxford University to resume coronavirus vaccine trial that was paused due to a reported side effect in a participant
Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the U.K.
In a statement, the university said in large trials such as this “it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety.”
It said that globally some 18,000 people have received the vaccine as part of the trial.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Friday
The first COVID-19 patients in Illinois faced stigma, bigotry. But experts say their contributions to science taught the US much about the virus.
She was known as Patient 1.
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The Chicago woman in her 60s had traveled on Christmas Day to Wuhan, China, where she cared for her elderly father who had fallen ill to a mysterious, undiagnosed respiratory sickness.
After returning to Chicago in mid-January, her own symptoms emerged: fever, cough and fatigue, followed by nausea and dizziness.
While hospitalized for pneumonia, she became the first patient in Illinois and the second in the nation to test positive for the novel coronavirus, a new and little-understood illness that would soon burgeon into an international pandemic, sickening millions and altering all aspects of daily life across the globe.
Her husband, who had not gone to China, also tested positive days later, marking the first documented case of person-to-person transmission in the United States.
What medical experts learned from that local couple — through lengthy interviews, rigorous coronavirus testing and analysis of so many of their specimens — helped shape much of the nation’s earliest knowledge of the virus, which would later be called COVID-19.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
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Dr. Anthony Fauci says life won’t return to normal until deep into 2021
The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday that normal times won’t replace America’s long coronavirus nightmare until deep into 2021, explaining that it will take months to widely administer a vaccine.
The 79-year-old immunologist said he continues to expect a vaccine to be available by the beginning of 2021.
“But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021,” Fauci told MSNBC. “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021.”
Read more here. —The Los Angeles Times


chicagotribune--2020-09-13--New details emerge in killings of prominent Oak Park attorney couple found stabbed in their home

On April 13 , the family members , who do not live in the area , asked Jones and Johnson @ @ @ @ @ who does live in the area , to visit their home in the 500 block @ @ @ @ @ a well-being check , the report said .
The godson found the front door closed @ @ @ @ @ he went inside at about 7:30 p.m .

Attorney Leslie Ann Jones, left, and her husband, fellow attorney Thomas Johnson, were found dead inside their Oak Park home on April 13. The case remains unsolved. (Don Sorsa)
Months after a husband and wife were found dead inside their Oak Park home, new details have become known about the slayings. Both spouses were prominent Chicago-area attorneys.
Autopsy reports recently released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office shed light on how the bodies were discovered and the extent of the stabbings. The killings have not yet been solved.
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According to a police report included in the file, family members of Thomas E. Johnson, 69, and Leslie Ann Jones, 67, wanted to check on them after not hearing from the couple for about four days.
On April 13, the family members, who do not live in the area, asked Jones and Johnson’s 20-year-old godson, who does live in the area, to visit their home in the 500 block of Fair Oaks Avenue for a well-being check, the report said. The godson found the front door closed, but unlocked, and he went inside at about 7:30 p.m.
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Just inside the front door, the godson discovered Jones' body lying on the stairs, while Johnson was found in an upstairs bedroom lying on a bed, the report said.
Friends and neighbors gather in the 500 block of Fair Oaks Avenue in Oak Park for a vigil for Thomas E. Johnson and Leslie Ann Jones on April 15. The couple was found dead two days earlier after a wellbeing check at their home. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The godson called Oak Park police, and paramedics rushed to the home. A doctor from Loyola University Medical Center pronounced the couple dead at 7:47 p.m.
An Oak Park police detective wrote that night in the documents that he had “limited information” regarding Jones and Johnson because forensic technicians were still processing the scene and speaking with family members when the report was filed.
The detective did report the home did not appear to be ransacked, and said Johnson’s wallet was found on the bedroom floor with its contents scattered.
First responders also located the couple’s dog alive in the home, and paw prints from the dog and footprints from a person were “visible in the residence,” the report said.
The report states Johnson was stabbed multiple times in the head, neck and shoulder area, while Jones was stabbed multiple times in the head, chest, shoulder and arms. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death for both as “multiple sharp force injuries,” ruling both deaths homicides.
The couple were both graduates of Harvard Law School, and were partners in the downtown law firm of Johnson, Jones, Snelling, Gilbert & Davis. Jones, who also had degrees from Yale, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, specialized in health care, civil rights and real estate law, while Johnson worked on issues of social justice and corporate accountability, litigating cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Johnson was particularly well-known for his work as a hearing officer for the Chicago Police Board. Last year, he oversaw the hearings for four officers accused of covering up the investigation into the 2014 Laquan McDonald shooting. He presided over the hearing of an officer who shot and killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier during a confrontation with LeGrier in 2016.
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Johnson also used to watch over young people from single-parent homes who were part of wrestling and baseball programs in the Chicago area.
Jones was also known for her charitable efforts, particularly with the Oak Park Area Arts Council and Hephzibah Children’s Association.
This report may be updated if additional information becomes available.
Chicago Tribune reporter Madeline Buckley contributed to this story.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--School buses, shipping containers and car hops: Winter Design Challenge nets more than 600 entries t

School buses, shipping containers and car hops: Winter Design Challenge nets more than 600 entries to extend outdoor dining in Chicago

“ This design challenge is just one lever that needs to be pulled to support our hospitality community , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ s only so much a municipality can do .
We ’ re going to @ @ @ @ @ but we also need federal support with more relief .
We really hope Washington will @ @ @ @ @ s no silver bullet .
We don ’ t want to convey that this is @ @ @ @ @ s an important part of the recipe , but we need several other ingredients and @ @ @ @ @ to help .
”

Domes like these at City Winery on the Riverwalk in Chicago, pictured April 6, 2018, have already been used to stretch the outdoor dining season. Many proposals in the Winter Design Challenge involve variations on that theme, including tents, domes and igloos. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
After submissions for the Winter Design Challenge closed on Labor Day, Samir Mayekar, deputy mayor for Neighborhood & Economic Development, found himself surprised by the sheer volume of entries. More than 600 plans from 13 countries aim solve the problem of outdoor dining come winter and its unforgiving cold, wind and snow.
The submissions, the response to the city of Chicago’s challenge announced in late August, come from restaurant workers and owners, designer firms and architects, and everyday citizens. They’re heavy with heated tables, tents or geodesic domes, wintry versions of Taste and apps. (All are available for public viewing on the website of IDEO, a global design and consulting firm in partnership with the city, along with BMO Harris Bank and the Illinois Restaurant Association.)
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Among the ideas:
Container alley: Calls for refurbishing shipping containers, then parking them on the street in front of restaurants.
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Carhop dining: Draws inspiration from the vintage car hop, where diners can eat in their cars at allocated parking lots, and meals would be brought out to an assigned number.
Magic school bus: Proposed turning unused school buses into micro-restaurants, allowing them to be a dining room or a mobile restaurant.
Leaf-blowers = win: Several entries were clearly jokes, some wonderfully comical, some snarky. One of the funniest: Leaf-blowers = win, which suggested the utilization of at least six leaf blowers to blow away the cold and snow, and “could also blow away the rona I guess.” Accompanied with the entry was a helpful drawing.
These four entries, plus another 639, must face a multilayered review process on the way to a $5,000 cash prize to three winners. The first step is making sure the plans are feasible and practical while meeting the criteria. Judges will then determine if the remaining ideas can abide by city and fire codes before presenting the finalists to a final jury made up of the planning commissioner, the transportation commissioner, chefs, restaurant owners and restaurant workers.
“The reason why we’re moving so quickly is because we know that winter is coming and it’s so vital that we get these ideas launched and piloted over October," Mayekar said.
Many of the other proposals include technology-oriented solutions, such as heated tables or geodesic domes with refined heat and ventilation systems. Others proposed shutting down public spaces to host restaurants for a rotating food festival or bringing back car hops. Many were variations on ideas of heated private spaces (such as igloos and domes already in limited use in Chicago), repurposing parks and developing apps to encourage people to continue eating outside.
Using cubicles from empty downtown office buildings, school buses and shipping containers were popular suggestions, with some proposals suggesting cubicles be reused as dividers between guests, school buses host single parties, and shipping containers be turned into restaurant pop-ups. However, many of these raise the question of how small restaurants can afford them or in the case of the shipping container idea, where to put them.
A key design principle is making sure the finalists are not only scalable for large and small establishments, but also cost effective for businesses already struggling from the impact of the pandemic. Mayekar said they are looking to bring on corporate sponsors to come in and help support the build outs.
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Despite all the submissions and potential for solutions, Mayekar said this is just part of the city’s attempt at helping alleviate the many obstacles the hospitality industry is facing. He hopes that the announcement of the various ideas will help usher in a cultural change, accompanied by relevant marketing, to encourage Chicagoans to “step out of hibernation mode and embrace the outdoors in the winter.”
“This design challenge is just one lever that needs to be pulled to support our hospitality community,” Mayekar said. “There’s only so much a municipality can do. We’re going to do everything we can, but we also need federal support with more relief. We really hope Washington will deliver that. ... There’s no silver bullet. We don’t want to convey that this is the answer. It’s an important part of the recipe, but we need several other ingredients and we need stakeholders in Washington to help.”
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--Man tries to save neighbor by crawling through smokey hallway during downtown high-rise unit fire

He came out a third time and saw other neighbors in the hallway who were trying to get off the @ @ @ @ @ leave .
He let them inside his home and onto the balcony .
He continued @ @ @ @ @ between his door and his neighbor ’ s .

A fire occurred in a 32nd floor unit in a high-rise, located at 400 E. Randolph St. Two people were seriously injured. (Chicago Fire Department)
David Kuta thought about his next-door neighbor when he opened the front door of his 32nd-floor condo on the Near East Side and saw thick smoke rolling across the ceiling early Tuesday.
The man was older and used a motorized wheelchair. Kuta said he took a few steps toward his neighbor’s door but the smoke engulfed him. He went back inside, put a wet rag on his face and ventured back out. This time he crawled on the floor and reached the door, calling out, “Is there a fire? Can you get out?”
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“He’s saying, ‘Get me out of here,’ ” Kuta said, “but I couldn’t do anything.”
The smoke was suffocating and Kuta said he retreated to his condo, put on swimming goggles and used his phone’s flashlight to help see down the hallway because the overhead lights weren’t any help.
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Other neighbors had left their units by this time but couldn’t get off the floor, so Kuta said he let them inside his home and onto the balcony. Then he again struggled to make the 15 feet between his door and his neighbor’s. “The smoke was more than I could have ever imagined,” Kuta, 46, said. “I never thought it could’ve been that bad.”
Kuta said he made it to his neighbor’s door again, but still couldn’t open it. He backed out and went inside his condo. Making a fourth try, he opened his door and saw firefighters standing in the hallway. They told him to keep his door shut and open the windows. Kuta also put a wet towel at the bottom of the door frame.
A 77-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, then transferred to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, according to Chicago police. Four other people — three men and a woman — were taken to Northwestern in fair condition. One pet died.
Firefighters responded to the 40-story building at 400 E. Randolph St. about 12:30 a.m., according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt. An emergency medical services plan 2 was ordered, sending at least 10 ambulances to the scene.
The fire was contained in one unit and put out at 1:24 a.m., Merritt said. The fire spread throughout the unit, so it was not immediately known where it began. Police said the cause appeared to be electrical.
Kuta said he was relieved to hear firefighters were able to get to his neighbor. The two often saw each other at the building’s pool and chatted about the Bears or the Cubs.
“It was scarier than I thought,” he said. “I just didn’t know it could get that bad that fast.”
Kuta and the other neighbors stood on his balcony, covered in soot, as they watched firefighters spray down his neighbor’s unit and break out the windows.
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He and his wife considered taking an air mattress to his office for the night, but he didn’t think he would get much sleep anyway.
As they waited for smoke to clear, firefighters came and checked on them. Kuta told him he inhaled a lot of smoke.
“You should get checked out,” a firefighter told him.
He headed downstairs.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--Huge win or missed opportunity? Community activists, politicians and retailers debate Chicago ban on

Huge win or missed opportunity? Community activists, politicians and retailers debate Chicago ban on flavored vaping products.

“ I hear about all the chemicals and problems with it , '' she said .
“ They ’ re @ @ @ @ @ I know some people who used them regularly and they had problems with them ; @ @ @ @ @ hospital for lung problems because of it . ''

Flavored vaping liquid and devices are shown for sale at Cloud Vapor Lounge in Chicago's Logan Square on Sept. 10, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
One disposable cigarette made of 1.3 milliliters of vegetable glycerin, glycol, nicotine and a combination of natural and artificial flavors can taste like freshly spun cotton candy or crisp green apples.
For as little as $3, a disposable can last up to 400 inhales, depending on the size of the inhale, and — unlike nicotine cigarettes — is packaged in a lean automatic device, often colored and labeled with its corresponding flavor.
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Sergio Mendieta, 18, first tried vaping as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. In high school, it seemed like most everyone vaped.
“I know it’s not healthy, and I know people that are addicted to it,” Mendieta said. “I don’t buy my own stuff. If my friends are doing it, I’ll do it, but some people get stuck on it."
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Jeff Trout, manager at Cloud Vapor Lounge in Logan Square, talks Sept. 10, 2020, about Chicago's campaign to end the sale of flavored tobacco products. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Undeterred by current city regulations, Mendieta added that his friends often go to neighboring suburbs like Homewood to get products from local vape shops.
“Those places don’t really care,” he said as he fixed the wheels of his skateboard. “Vaping has just been a thing since freshman year.”
In June, Ald. Matt O’Shea, backed by a coalition of clergy, community organizers and elected officials, proposed an ordinance to ban all flavored tobacco products in Chicago. On Wednesday, the City Council passed a watered-down version of the original proposal, restricting only flavored vaping products.
Under the ordinance, Chicagoans can still purchase flavored cigarettes such as menthols but can no longer purchase a menthol-flavored vape, for example.
“Vaping is not illegal, nor is the sale of the non-flavored or tobacco-branded vaping products. What is banned is any additional type of flavoring — products like Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream, Fruity Pebbles, Sour Gummy Worms, as well as the more traditional mint or menthol vape products. I consider this a huge win for the children of Chicago,” O’Shea said.
Some community members and health professionals are disappointed the City Council didn’t go further, while some retailers believe the ordinance goes too far.
Phoenix A. Matthews, associate dean for equity and inclusion in the college of nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago said the failure to address all flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, is particularly harmful to communities of color in the city.
“The moment was now and leadership turned away from this issue,” Matthews said. “Chicago really has missed an opportunity to reduce health inequality in Chicago.”
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Tobacco companies have been marketing menthol to young people and African Americans for decades.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 out of 10 African Americans ages 12-17 who smoke use menthol cigarettes. Ninety-three percent of Black adults who smoke started by using menthol cigarettes, compared with 44% of white adults. The CDC has also reported that Black Americans have the highest burden of tobacco-related deaths in the country.
Flavors like menthol are especially popular because of their smooth flavor and ease to inhale, said Matthews, who uses the pronouns they/them.
“Smoking is a harsh thing to do,” Matthews said. “Menthol is the perfect flavoring if you want to bring in new smokers. It has a property that cools the throat and reduces the harshness of the smoke, making it easier.”
Last year, Massachusetts became the first state to enact a ban on all flavored tobacco. Last week the state of California, the largest state economy in the country, passed a comprehensive flavored tobacco ban that included not only flavored vaping products but menthol cigarettes as well.
During last year’s fall veto session, Illinois state lawmakers considered legislation that would ban flavored tobacco products throughout the state, but the issue stalled.
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Bishop Larry Trotter, the senior pastor of Sweet Holy Name Church in South Chicago and one of the community leaders leading the call for the ban, said vaping and flavored tobacco use among young people is one of the main issues facing his ministry.
“Adults use it too, but the tobacco flavoring kids talk about sounds like something you can get out of a candy shop,” Trotter said. “It causes young people to start thinking about enjoying a cigarette.”
Flavored vaping liquid and devices are shown for sale at Cloud Vapor Lounge in Logan Square. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Marketing and availability of the products have become of growing concern in Chicago, said Ald. Stephanie Coleman, who co-sponsored the ordinance.
“We’re attracted to colors and flavor and fun, but it’s actually fatal to our kids,” Coleman said.
Hannah Curry, 17, said she has never vaped flavored tobacco, but her friends do because of the cheap price and availability of disposable e-cigarettes.
“I hear about all the chemicals and problems with it," she said. “They’re still easy to get. I know some people who used them regularly and they had problems with them; my friend was in the hospital for lung problems because of it."
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In 2020, 85% of high school students and 74% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time, according to the CDC. About 1 of every 5 high school students reported in 2020 that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days — a decrease from 27.5% in 2019.
E-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among youth since 2014. The majority of youth e-cigarette users started on a flavored product.
A February Food and Drug Administration ban only targeted reusable vaping devices like Juul but did not place restrictions on disposables. In July, the FDA said it was cracking down on disposables in an effort to “act against illegally marketed tobacco products amid the public health crisis of youth e-cigarette use in America,” according to the agency.
This comes as some studies show people who vape are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. According to a Stanford study released in August, teenagers and young adults who vaped were five to seven times more likely to be infected by the coronavirus than those who did not use e-cigarettes.
Flavored tobacco products can be consumed in many forms including: cigars, hookah (water pipe) tobacco, smokeless tobacco (dip, chew, snuff, and snus), and e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems, according to the FDA.
In Illinois, people must be at least 21 to buy tobacco, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapes.
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Distinguishing between teens and adults who purchase and consume the products has become a topic of disagreement.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, a trade group advocating on behalf of the retail, restaurant and fitness industries in Illinois, discussed the ordinance with officials but was “not in a position to remove our opposition to the final ordinance," Tanya Dawood, vice president and general counsel for the association, said in a statement.
The retail association supported the ban of all flavored vaping products except tobacco and menthol flavors, which Dawood said are some of the least attractive flavors for teens.
“We asked to keep those two products for sale in the city so that we don’t send all of our adult vaping customers across the border,” Dawood said. “Considering the economic crisis we are facing, we believe that continuing to sell menthol-flavored vaping products presents a reasonable compromise. You address the teen public health crisis and preserve products that are clearly marketed to adults.”
Dawood added that retailers are targeted by the ordinance and that teens who vape can get products from sources other than gas stations or convenience stores, for example.
“More work could have, and should have, been done to reach the middle,” she said. “The city should use its efforts to focus on educating young people to make better health choices. Instead, small business just gets more regulation from City Hall.”
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Some tobacco and vape shops across the city are now struggling to come to terms with the implications of the ordinance. Jeff Trout, a manager at Cloud Vapor Lounge in Logan Square, said the decision will likely mark the “downfall of the vaping industry in Chicago.”
Trout said many of his clients are adults who turn to flavored vape juice or flavored tobacco to transition from and quit smoking.
“There is a problem with kids using that needs to be addressed, but to what degree does that come at the expense of responsible adult smokers?” he said.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--6 months of COVID-19: Timeline of the outbreak and how politics, sports, entertainment and the econo

6 months of COVID-19: Timeline of the outbreak and how politics, sports, entertainment and the economy changed

Six months have passed since the hectic weeks when most of life as it was before COVID-19 shut down .
@ @ @ @ @ and work , school , sports and entertainment all radically transformed as the pandemic became @ @ @ @ @ everything .
Of course , before Gov .
J.B. Pritzker shut down the state , @ @ @ @ @ shut some things down again ; before case counts , positivity rates , N-95s , @ @ @ @ @ words entered the public vocabulary , coronavirus was already spreading around the globe with a @ @ @

Six months have passed since the hectic weeks when most of life as it was before COVID-19 shut down. Spring gave way to summer and work, school, sports and entertainment all radically transformed as the pandemic became the driving force behind nearly everything. Of course, before Gov. J.B. Pritzker shut down the state, instituted a reopening plan and shut some things down again; before case counts, positivity rates, N-95s, nasal swabs and other new words entered the public vocabulary, coronavirus was already spreading around the globe with a devastating impact.
The virus exacted a frightening toll with more than 29 million cases 900,000 deaths worldwide as of Sept. 14, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins. In Illinois, 8,314 have lost their lives and 262,744 have been confirmed with the virus.
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Starting at a live fish market in Wuhan, China, outbreaks hit across Europe, the Mideast and the U.S. Countries shut down, opened up and shut down again.
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Here are key points in the outbreak of COVID-19 in Illinois, the U.S. and the world, in politics, education, business and sports.
2019
January 2020
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--Aurora police investigating body found at Phillips Park

Police were called to the scene in the 1000 block of Ray Moses Drive around 8 p.m. Monday by a @ @ @ @ @ saw the body , according to officials .

Aurora police began a death investigation Monday evening after a man was found dead at Phillips Park, officials said.
Police were called to the scene in the 1000 block of Ray Moses Drive around 7:30 p.m. Monday by a person in the area who saw the unresponsive man, according to officials. Paramedics performed CPR, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Detectives found no obvious signs of trauma and the body was taken by the Kane County Coroner’s Office which will perform an autopsy Wednesday to determine the cause of death, officials said. The man has not been publicly identified pending notification of next of kin.
Police are asking anyone with information about the death to call the Aurora Police Investigations Division at 630-256-5500.
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mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--Judge who appointed special prosecutor in Jussie Smollett case loses Cook County Democrats’ backing;

Judge who appointed special prosecutor in Jussie Smollett case loses Cook County Democrats’ backing; he calls it ‘retaliation’ while party says it’s based on his record

Toomin , who is asking voters throughout the county to vote for retaining him , presided over an effort to @ @ @ @ @ the case of the actor accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago @ @ @ @ @ live .
Toomin said he believes the effort to bounce him from the bench stems @ @ @ @ @ Dan Webb to look into why the state ’ s attorney ’ s office dropped @ @ @ @ @ Smollett last year .

Judge Michael Toomin speaks following the swearing in of former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb during a status hearing concerning actor Jussie Smollett at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Aug. 23, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
As the Jussie Smollett case boiled over last year, Judge Michael Toomin appointed a special prosecutor to look at how Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office handled the controversial case, saying it had been botched.
On Monday, the Cook County Democratic Party, which is chaired by Foxx ally Toni Preckwinkle, took the relatively rare step of voting not to endorse Toomin for retention on the Nov. 3 ballot.
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The move set off a political firestorm. Toomin called it “retaliation.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it sure looked like payback. But the Democratic leaders who dumped Toomin pointed to what they said was his outdated approach to juvenile justice, finding him “imperial” and “obstructionist” as they declared it was time for him to retire.
Adding another layer of intrigue to the proceedings was the revelation that last month, someone may have posed as Toomin and tried to withdraw him from the retention ballot without his knowledge, Toomin and state officials said.
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Toomin, who is asking voters throughout the county to vote for retaining him, presided over an effort to name a special prosecutor in the case of the actor accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago, where he used to live. Toomin said he believes the effort to bounce him from the bench stems from his decision to appoint Dan Webb to look into why the state’s attorney’s office dropped all 16 felony charges against Smollett last year.
“What this appears to be is retaliation for some perceived failing of my service as a presiding judge, and retaliation means in this case a blatant rejection of the overruling conflict of judicial independence,” Toomin said. “It just seems like it was preordained, that this was the way it was supposed to be, and they arrived with the result that they wanted to. And that’s wrong.”
The Cook County Democratic Party automatically had endorsed all judges for retention up until 2018, when the judicial retention committee was formed. Cook County judges are typically retained by voters, but Monday was the first time the party publicly rejected a retention bid from Toomin, who was last up for election in 2014 and assumed his current post in 2010.
Lightfoot, a political rival of Preckwinkle who has supported Foxx, said at an unrelated news conference on Monday that she thinks it’s important to have good “independent judges.” The situation with Toomin has her “deeply concerned,” she said, and “the optics of this are terrible.”
“It looks like retaliation,” Lightfoot said.
The committee also voted to not endorse the retention bid of Judge Mauricio Araujo due to multiple sexual harassment allegations. The Democrats, however, did pass a motion to recommend the retention of 60 other judges, including Judge Jackie Portman-Brown, who was disciplined after video showed her holding onto a young girl and marching her into lockup this year.
Two Chicago aldermen, Brendan Reilly and Tom Tunney, voted against not endorsing Toomin.
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Eamon Kelly, chair of the party’s judicial retention committee, however, said during Monday’s virtual meeting that the investigation was spurred by a bar association finding that Toomin was “unqualified” to lead the Juvenile Justice Division and entailed interviewing attorneys, child advocates, Toomin and Chief Judge Timothy Evans.
“(Advocates) universally opposed Judge Toomin’s retention as presiding judge on the grounds that he lacked the appropriate temperament to lead the juvenile justice courts, is obstructing efforts at reforming the juvenile justice courts and pursues an outdated approach to juvenile justice,” Kelly said.
In 2018, Toomin faced backlash from Preckwinkle, who also is the Cook County Board president, and others after declining to follow a county ordinance that barred youths 12 and younger from being sent to juvenile detention. Two 12-year-old boys with gun charges on their records had been placed on electronic monitoring, but were ordered to detention after they repeatedly damaged their monitors and ran away.
Toomin ruled that the boys would remain confined there, saying they were a threat to society and to themselves, and the county law provided no “viable alternative” to their incarceration. State law, which allows children as young as 10 to be locked up, trumps the county ordinance, he ruled. A state appellate court agreed with him last year, drawing disappointment from Preckwinkle because the confinement of young children can lead to mental health problems, she said at the time.
“I am hopeful that we can work to secure further alternative programming and services for children to lessen the impact of detention, further lower its use, and help prevent further system involvement for ones so young,” Preckwinkle said at the time.
Kelly said that based on Toomin’s leadership over the Juvenile Justice Division, the committee determined it was time for him to retire.
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“My review focused on Judge Toomin’s role as the presiding judge of the juvenile courts, a role which he has played for the last 10 years,” Kelly said. “It is incumbent on us to review him based on the assignment he currently occupies and presently intends to continue to observe.”
Toomin had written last year that Foxx botched the Smollett case, which suffered “unprecedented irregularities,” by handing the reins to her top deputy after recusing herself due to contact with a member of Smollett’s family.
Webb has since concluded that Foxx and her subordinates abused their discretion and misled the public but did not commit crimes, but Toomin recently ruled that Webb’s full report cannot be publicly released. Meanwhile, Webb’s special grand jury charged Smollett again with six counts of disorderly conduct. The criminal case is pending before Judge James Linn.
Preckwinkle chimed in after the vote to acknowledge the “tough” decision made by the committee.
“Let me just tell you: This is not going to be easy,” Preckwinkle said. “We’re in a battle here. But I think, as someone said earlier, it’s important to do the right thing. And we’re trying hard.”
Betsy Clarke, president of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, said she believes Foxx’s reelection bid had nothing to do with Monday’s vote. As a longtime juvenile justice advocate, Clarke said Toomin demonstrated where he stands on the issue when he decided to lock up the two 12-year-old boys.
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“It’s important that justice be tempered with mercy and compassion and consistently. He has shown more of a propensity for punishment,” Clarke said. “I would urge the electors to look at this recommendation that is based upon the juvenile justice advocacy community and follow it.”
Pat O’Brien, Foxx’s Republican opponent in the November general election, was quick to attack the Democrats' motives.
“I’m quite surprised that the Democratic Party would single him out to not give him their support,” O’Brien said in a phone interview. “This seems — because I can’t think of a reason which would be legitimate — to be punishment for having appointed Dan Webb to investigate Kim Foxx, who is the protege of the head of the county party, Toni Preckwinkle.”
Foxx’s election campaign spokeswoman Alex Sims declined to comment.
Toomin, who maintains he oversees a court that pushes for keeping children out of jail when possible, said he is not fazed by the abrupt shunning.
“Without it, it’s not going to deter me,” Toomin said about the endorsement. “You’d like all the support and help that you can get when you’re running for office, but I’m not going to be persuaded to change my outlook. And I feel that I can succeed.”
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Toomin on Monday also elaborated on emails provided by the Illinois secretary of state’s office showing that a state employee sent withdrawal paperwork to someone she believed to be the judge.
That person, who used a Comcast email address, emailed back Aug. 31 and asked her to “Kindly confirm receipt of my Withdrawal of Declaration of Candidacy.”
The Comcast email address is not Toomin’s, the judge told the Tribune on Monday.
“I never did (withdraw), and then this thing came up where now I’m involved in some grand intrigue,” he said. “Either a great plan or just somebody playing a joke. It wouldn’t have been a joke if whoever did this was successful and I end up not knowing until I’m already off the ballot.”
The secretary of state employee called Toomin after receiving that email, asking him if it was legitimate.
“She called me and she said, ‘Did you decide to withdraw and did you send me this email?’ I said, ‘no not at all.’”
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Toomin said that earlier this year he did consider withdrawing his name from the retention ballot, and received the paperwork from the secretary of state’s office via a physical letter. But he ultimately decided to stay in the race.
The Secretary of State Police are looking into the matter, according to a spokesman.
Toomin’s judicial career stretches back to 1980, and he has had an influential role in several marquee Cook County cases.
He appointed a special prosecutor to investigate whether clout played a role in the investigation of the death of a young man killed in a drunken confrontation involving a nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
He presided over the county trial of Black P Stones and El Rukn leader Jeff Fort, ultimately sentencing him to 75 years behind bars. And he oversaw the unprecedented second trial of infamous mob hit man Harry “The Hook” Aleman, whose first acquittal was voided after its judge was found to be on the take.
In addition, Toomin served on the state appellate court, and chaired a committee tasked with revamping the way death penalty cases were handled in Illinois.
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In his years presiding over adult felony cases at Cook County’s criminal courthouse, he earned the affectionate nickname “The Toominator,” and had a reputation as a careful, conscientious and somewhat conservative jurist.
In 2010, he was named presiding judge of the juvenile division, which he described as “one of the jewels of the circuit court.”
“I think we recognize that these young kids have potential and they can be saved and become productive citizens,” he told the Tribune at the time.
Toomin since came under criticism from some juvenile advocates, and this year insiders at juvenile court grumbled that he was slow to adapt to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tribune first reported in May that Toomin made himself the sole arbiter of whether a juvenile had a chance at arguing for release from the detention center, where the virus could potentially gain a fierce foothold.
Only Toomin decided whether a case could be placed on the docket for a hearing; the cases at first were accepted or rejected with little apparent logic and sometimes without any explanation in writing, defense attorneys said.
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After reporters raised questions, Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office announced he would sign an order mandating that all juvenile detention reviews would have a chance to be heard in court.
Toomin was tasked with deciding whether to appoint a special prosecutor in the Smollett case only after Criminal Division Presiding Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. stepped aside last year. The former appellate judge who requested the special prosecutor argued that Martin could not make a fair ruling since his son, LeRoy III, is a rank-and-file county prosecutor. Martin rejected that assertion outright, but transferred the matter to Toomin to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
ayin@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-15--U.S. attorney’s office gives legislative panel investigating Madigan the green light to call witness

U.S. attorney’s office gives legislative panel investigating Madigan the green light to call witnesses

“ We wanted to check with the U.S. attorney ’ s office about whether they would have any objection to @ @ @ @ @ testify , or calling any of those other individuals who are part of that deferred @ @ @ @ @ state Rep. Tom Demmer , a Republican from Dixon .
“ And they informed us @ @ @ @ @ objection to us calling those individuals .
”

House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, stands while Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first State of the State speech before a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate at the State Capitol in Springfield on Jan. 29, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Springfield — The U.S. attorney’s office gave state lawmakers probing the conduct of House Speaker Michael Madigan the green light to call the speaker and others to testify, members of the committee said, but the parameters for the investigative panel’s inquiry were immediately the subject of partisan disagreement.
Tensions have flared along party lines since the inception of the six-member House special investigative committee, raising questions about how it can effectively investigate the powerful politician who has presided over the House for decades.
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The committee officially launched its inquiry last week in light of allegations by federal prosecutors that Commonwealth Edison engaged in a “yearslong bribery scheme” to gain favor with Madigan, who also chairs the Illinois Democratic Party.
One of the first tasks for the panel, which has equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, was consulting with U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office to determine whether the legislative investigation would interfere with an ongoing federal corruption probe.
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Democratic Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Republican Rep. Tom Demmer, who were on a call with the prosecutors office on Monday, agreed the panel was given approval to seek testimony “from whoever we choose,” Welch said Monday night.
Welch said the office “requested we refrain from seeking any materials or testimony related to the (deferred prosecution agreement) that is still confidential or anything in the possession of the federal government. In other words, we can call witnesses but we can’t really ask them any questions.”
Demmer’s takeaway from the call was that the committee would be less restricted, saying prosecutors said they wouldn’t turn over their files to the committee but wouldn’t be opposed to the panel speaking to and seeking information from witnesses.
“They would decline to turn those documents over to us, which, frankly, is expected. That’s what we’ve seen in previous instances of this committee, and not something that we were believing they would do.
"Our request to them was not necessarily for — give us all your information. Instead, it was, we would like the special investigative committee to be able to talk to and request information from individuals who we think have that. And they had no objection to that.”
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to a request seeking comment.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin invoked a seldom-used House rule that triggered the disciplinary proceeding two weeks ago. Madigan, Durkin’s political rival, has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied doing anything untoward in regard to ComEd.
Madigan issued a statement on the committee’s creation before Republicans had a chance to announce it, decrying it as a “political stunt.
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At the panel’s first meeting last week, Demmer and his Republican colleagues, Reps. Deanne Mazzochi and Grant Wehrli, submitted a voluntary witness list that included Madigan and several other people who have been implicated in the federal investigation, including former ComEd executives and lobbyists.
Welch said the committee’s primary first priority would be to touch base with the U.S. attorney’s office, which Mazzochi suggested was merely an effort to bring the proceedings to a halt.
Welch said he was following precedent set by the last House special investigating committee to get this far in the process, in 2012. That committee was convened to look into then-state Rep. Derrick Smith, who was indicted on charges of accepting a $7,000 bribe.
Following Welch and Demmer’s call with Lausch’s office on Monday, Welch initially declined to specify what was discussed and said a forthcoming letter to “memorialize the call” would be made public.
He followed up with a written statement contending Republicans were playing politics by going public with details of the call before that letter was released.
“As a committee we agreed we would take no actions that could interfere with the work of federal prosecutors,” Welch said. “Today myself and Rep. Demmer spoke with the U.S. Attorney and agreed we would put our request in writing and they would respond. But once again my Republican colleagues have disrespected the process for political gain.”
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Once the U.S. attorney’s office issues its response letter as a follow-up to Monday’s phone call, the committee will schedule its second meeting, Welch said.
The committee is looking into whether there are grounds to discipline Madigan in light of prosecutors' agreement with ComEd, which is paying a $200 million fine.
The charge Durkin entered at the committee’s first meeting asks its members to consider whether Madigan “engaged in conduct unbecoming to a legislator or which constitutes a breach of public trust … including engaging in a bribery scheme, an extortion scheme, conspiracy to violate federal and state laws among other misconduct and misuse of office.”
Authorizing a charge would require support from at least one Democratic member of the committee, as it would take a majority vote by the six-member panel.
Welch said Monday he was unclear what level of participation Madigan planned to take in the process, but that the speaker will be “invited to participate every step of the way.”
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-14--13-year-old boy arrested in connection with armed robbery at Naperville Riverwalk park, police say

The teen reportedly approached a juvenile about 5:15 p.m. while the victim was sitting with friends at Fredenhagen Park in @ @ @ @ @ Street , Naperville police said .
He pointed at what appeared to be a handgun @ @ @ @ @ s cash and then fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of money @ @ @ @

A 13-year-old Lisle boy has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery he allegedly committed Sunday in a park along the Naperville Riverwalk.
The teen reportedly approached a juvenile about 5:15 p.m. while the victim was sitting with friends at Fredenhagen Park in the 300 block of Washington Street, Naperville police said. He pointed at what appeared to be a handgun, demanded the victim’s cash and then fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
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The 13-year-old who matched the description of the suspect was found by police a short distance away and taken into custody.
Charges against the juvenile are pending, police said, and the incident remains under investigation.
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Anyone with additional information is asked to call 630-420-6666 and ask for the Investigations Division.
subaker@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-18--Chicago’s history of systemic racism blamed for nearly 9-year life expectancy gap between Black and

Chicago’s history of systemic racism blamed for nearly 9-year life expectancy gap between Black and white residents in new report

“ It is about a broad vision of health .
It is about the decisions we make as a city @ @ @ @ @ as a society , '' she continued .
“ And I think the pandemic always @ @ @ @ @ there is tension and where there are cracks .
We have the opportunity to fight @ @ @ @ @ the opportunity to recognize that this moment is a point where we should talk honestly @ @ @ @ @ gotten to the point where we are in Chicago with this kind of racial life @ @ @ @

The Chicago skyline appears in July. A newly released report detailed a nearly nine-year life expectancy gap overall between the city's Black residents and white residents. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
A growing life expectancy gap between Black and white Chicagoans has a stark and clear cause, city health officials said in releasing a report on the issue Thursday: decades of segregation and systemic racism.
The report, titled “Healthy Chicago 2025,” detailed a nearly nine-year life expectancy gap overall between Black residents and white residents. Chronic disease is the largest contributor, according to the document, with the city’s endemic gun violence as the second-leading reason for the disparity.
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The release of the report, which was being finalized in April, was delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a public health emergency that itself revealed the high costs of Chicago’s segregation. Daily public health reports showed how the pandemic was racing through Black and Hispanic communities, killing and infecting residents there at higher rates than in white neighborhoods.
City Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwardy, who led the city’s effort to confront the pandemic and released Thursday’s report, said the disparities exposed by COVID-19 should be a powerful rallying cry to the city to finally have some honest conversations about how the systemic racism has been costly in other ways.
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“For me this moment is about raising our public health voice. It is about recognizing that right now people are paying attention to public health in ways they have not for decades. … It’s helping people recognize that health is not just about the care in the doctor’s office,” Arwady said at a virtual conference to launch the report.
“It is about a broad vision of health. It is about the decisions we make as a city, as a country, as a society," she continued. “And I think the pandemic always is going to highlight where there is tension and where there are cracks. We have the opportunity to fight about this or we have the opportunity to recognize that this moment is a point where we should talk honestly about how we’ve gotten to the point where we are in Chicago with this kind of racial life expectancy gap.”
The report follows two previous “Healthy Chicago” analyses of health outcomes for Chicagoans. Previous reports noted the racial disparity and the life expectancy gap, but the plan released Thursday by the city made pointed observations about the role racism has played in the outcomes.
“The five-year plan seeks to address social conditions that have been created by decades of segregation and systemic racism, the effects of which are laid bare by COVID-19,” according to a statement from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The virtual conference to release the report included a videotaped statement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who acknowledged that the nine-year gap was for the city overall. The difference in life expectancy between some neighborhoods is double that, she said.
"This is unjust, unacceptable but also preventable,” Lightfoot said, before asking, “What can we do to create a Chicago where every resident has access to the resources they need?”
Arwady, in her presentation, said the gap can be closed if the city addresses not only chronic disease and gun violence, but also mental health, infant mortality and addiction. And she pointed to the resources needed to do that, including access to healthy foods, quality health care and housing and having safe spaces for residents "to live, work and play.”
Lastly, she said all of this requires input from “multicultural" groups, economic opportunity, public accountability and fair laws. She then asked those watching to envision a city where all Chicagoans have a safe house and good food, where they breathe healthy clean air and have a “trusting relationship with the police.”
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Policing did not dominate the conversation, though several of the recent, high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans around the country were mentioned at various points.
In fact, the Chicago Police Department’s relationship with the city’s Black community is one of the most prominent expressions of Chicago’s racist history, according to many critics. A Department of Justice investigation into the department concluded in 2017 that Chicago police had engaged in decades of civil rights abuses. The department is currently undergoing widespread reforms.
More recently, during the Chicago teachers strike, Lightfoot faced sharp criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union over the number of nurses and social workers in Chicago public schools, staffing that was seen as critical to educational outcomes and for health care access in minority neighborhoods.
In the end, an agreement was reached to hire more nurses and social workers, with schools prioritized based on need.
The panel of community speakers made clear that fixing root problems of racism would touch on even more than these major systems.
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One spoke of the community-led economic plans to open a coffee house and other businesses in his neighborhood and of securing money to make physical repairs at the local library and use it as a community asset for seniors. Another said his company offers free financial planning and a loan program for employers, who are also paid weekly so that they have more financial liquidity.
“I think it starts with understanding what are the determinants of health, and knowing that with a stable economic engine in your household ... that allows you to have greater opportunities to start working on the other issues like housing or wealth creation,” said Julian Posada, founder and president of LiftUp enterprises, a for-profit holding company that focuses on both economic and social outcomes in low-income communities.
“We start from, ‘How do we make business decisions based on dignity?’” Posada said.
The health assessment was led by the Chicago Department of Public Health, along with a coalition of 40 stakeholders representing a broad spectrum of Chicago’s public health system and community groups.
Dr. David Ansell, who has worked on the West Side of Chicago for more than 40 years and wrote a book about the life expectancy gaps he witnessed, said in an interview Thursday that the report was notable because of its unsparing focus on the role systemic racism has played in causing the premature deaths of Black residents from everything from heart disease to gun violence.
“It was a book written out of frustration that we were never going to improve health if we didn’t get to the root problem,” Ansell, chief equity officer at Rush University Medical Center, said of “The Death Gap.” A video presentation from Ansell was shown at the community forum Thursday.
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”The city has embraced this narrative," he said. "It’s a tremendous advance, I think, in the city of Chicago, that this has been named and also that solutions have been named.”


chicagotribune--2020-09-18--The Spin: Pritzker administration to meet with pot stakeholders | White Sox clinch playoffs, Mayor L

The Spin: Pritzker administration to meet with pot stakeholders | White Sox clinch playoffs, Mayor Lightfoot tweets support | Biss running for Evanston mayor

“ ‘ I think that ’ s part of the discussion we ’ re having with CPD around the 2021 @ @ @ @ @ every year , and kind of , what is the right number of officers that @ @ @ @ @ to meet all of their operational needs , ’ Park said .
‘ And we @ @ @ @ @ ’ s vacancies across the city , to be honest , as we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” Read more here .

Following a number of complaints over the state’s marijuana licensing process, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is planning to meet with some of the stakeholders involved.
It’s no secret that Chicago’s facing an enormous $1.2 billion COVID-19-induced budget shortfall next year. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to shrink that gap may include leaving some jobs at the Police Department unfilled, her administration told a City Council panel today.
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Daniel Biss, a former Democratic candidate for governor, is looking for another executive branch job in politics, this time as the mayor in Evanston.
And, the White Sox clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 12 years today, no doubt bringing at least a little 2020 joy to a fan base that includes the mayor of Chicago.
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Welcome to The Spin.
Newly sworn-in Chicago police officers at the department's graduation and promotion ceremony Sept. 4, 2019, at Navy Pier. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s John Byrne: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot will consider slowing down the replacement of retired Chicago police officers or leaving some positions unfilled next year to reduce the Police Department’s massive personnel budget as the city tries to fill a huge COVID-19-induced budget shortfall, officials said Thursday.
“Lightfoot herself talked about police budget cuts being on the table, along with all other parts of city government, when she gave a speech last month to lay out a nearly $800 million budget deficit for this year and a $1.2 billion chasm for next year.
“At a Thursday City Council hearing on the Police Department’s budget, city Budget Director Susie Park gave some more idea about how that might work.
“‘I think that’s part of the discussion we’re having with CPD around the 2021 budget, as we do every year, and kind of, what is the right number of officers that they need to accomplish and to meet all of their operational needs,’ Park said. ‘And we’re looking at everyone’s vacancies across the city, to be honest, as we’re putting together the 2021 budget.’” Read more here.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker leaves following his budget address to a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate on Feb. 19, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Robert McCoppin: “Amid a flurry of complaints that the marijuana licensing process is flawed, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office announced Wednesday that his team will meet with those affected to address the issue.
“‘The Governor’s office is currently working to schedule meetings with interested stakeholders, however, meeting dates and times have not been finalized,’ Pritzker’s press office wrote in response to a Tribune inquiry. ‘The goal of the Governor and the administration is to take time to ensure that the process is fair and equitable.’
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“Just 21 of some 700 applicants qualified for a lottery to determine who will get 75 new recreational marijuana retail licenses. Since the finalists were revealed early this month, state regulators said they have indefinitely delayed the lottery to review objections.
“State Rep. La Shawn Ford said the governor’s office will meet with lawmakers who’ve objected to the process, including members of the Black and Latino caucuses. Many of the finalist companies involve politically connected or big-money businessmen, including former Chicago police Superintendent Terrence Hillard, and restaurant owner Phil Stefani, which critics say flies in the face of the program’s goal of adding marginalized newcomers to the largely white-owned industry.” Read the rest of the story here.
* U.S. attorney John Lausch issues guidance for House committee investigating Speaker Michael Madigan
Daniel Biss chats during a TV news interview before speaking at a town hall gathering at La Catrina Cafe in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood on March 12, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From Pioneer Press’ Genevieve Bookwalter: “Former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss plans to mount a run for Evanston mayor, he confirmed Thursday.
“Biss, who ran in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary where he finished second to eventual winner J.B. Pritzker, has been a resident of Evanston since 2006.”
* Former lawmaker Maggie Crotty to resign as Bremen Township supervisor, officials say
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President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden (AP)
From The Associated Press’ Aamer Madhani: “President Donald Trump was quick to spike the ball in celebration when the Big Ten announced the return of fall football at colleges clustered in some of the Midwest battleground states critical to his reelection effort, declaring, ‘I’m the one who got football back.’
“‘It is a moment that could help Trump on the margins in key states such as Pennsylvania, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin where schools are now scheduled to play their first games less than two weeks before Election Day,’ said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist.
“Left unsaid is that the 14 schools in the Big Ten all have opted to scale back in-person learning and pleaded with students to stop parties and congregating in large groups as the U.S. death toll from the virus nears 200,000.” Read the rest here.
* 42 Wisconsin football players and staff members — 29 since Sept. 1 — test positive for COVID-19 as the Big Ten prepares for its season
* Wisconsin senator exposed to COVID-19, cancels appearance with Trump
* U.S. judge blocks ‘politically motivated’ Postal Service changes that slowed mail nationwide
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* First volume of Barack Obama’s memoir coming after Nov. 3 election: ‘My take on what I got right and the mistakes I made’
Chicago White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez (74) celebrates his RBI double to take a 4-3 lead on the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning Sept. 17, 2020, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s LaMond Pope reports: “The Chicago White Sox are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2008 after beating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field.” Full story here.
Mayor Lightfoot’s made it clear she’s a big White Sox fan and has been a season-ticket holder.
After she won the mayor’s race in April 2019, she went to Guaranteed Rate Field and threw out the first pitch at the White Sox home opener.
This past March, right after the statewide coronavirus stay-at-home order started, Lightfoot was in a series of lighthearted public service announcements encouraging residents to stay home amid the coronavirus crisis. In one scene, Lightfoot was seen watching the final out of the 2005 World Series before making a bet with the viewer.
“Tell you what, if my White Sox win, you’ve got to stay home,” she said, and as Juan Uribe throws to Paul Konerko for the final out, she pumped her arms in celebration.
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Today, after the Sox clinched going to the playoffs, Lightfoot tweeted: “Clinched. #ChangetheGame.”
Later, the mayor tweeted: “Best team since 2005. Let’s get the same result. Go Sox!”
Best team since 2005. Let's get the same result. Go Sox! https://t.co/WqN6OauEhj — Lori Lightfoot (@LoriLightfoot) September 17, 2020
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