chicagotribune--2020-05-14--Looking for a swing set to occupy the kids during the pandemic? You might be out of luck.

It has been one of the busiest , and most unusual seasons in the 53-year history of Fenceworks , perhaps @ @ @ @ @ Guy on 41.
” The family-owned business earned that sobriquet at its former Highland Park @ @ @ @ @ hoops , trampolines and playground equipment lined U.S. Highway 41 for decades .

When Illinois hit the one-month mark of the stay-at-home order last month, Chicago attorney David Barrett did something he never would have dreamed of before COVID-19 — he bought a backyard trampoline.
Living 24/7 in a Glencoe house with his wife and three “spirited” children under age 10 changed his perspective.
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“We were desperate for anything to take a couple hours of the day and keep our kids safely entertained,” said Barrett, 37.
While Barrett and his wife have spent each day working at makeshift offices on opposite ends of a hallway, their children have been bouncing off the walls of their north suburban home.
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Mike Harrison, top, owner of Pro Assembly and Set-Up, and Jeremy Gardien install a trampoline on May 12, 2020, in Glencoe. Harrison said his company is very busy setting up trampolines and playsets for homeowners. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
On Tuesday afternoon, salvation arrived in the back of a white van, as a two-man crew expertly assembled a 10-by-17-foot trampoline in Barrett’s backyard, tucked in by a fence and a blossoming pear tree, while the family watched from a safe perch on a raised deck above.
“I wouldn’t peg us as trampoline people, necessarily — I don’t think we were four months ago — but we have three kids ages 9, 7, 5, and without a lot of avenues, we’re going to need to double down on home entertainment,” Barrett said.
The Barretts may be social distancing, but they are far from alone. Orders for swing sets, pools and trampolines are through the roof, as stay-at-home morphs into play-at-home for increasingly restless families.
But with supply chain disruptions and a massive surge in demand, outdoor recreational equipment may be as scarce as toilet paper.
“You can’t find a trampoline anywhere,” said Lindsey Wells, 39, vice president of Fenceworks, the Northbrook-based company that sold its last trampoline in stock to Barrett. “It’s crazy.”
It has been one of the busiest, and most unusual seasons in the 53-year history of Fenceworks, perhaps better known as “The Guy on 41.” The family-owned business earned that sobriquet at its former Highland Park location, where its basketball hoops, trampolines and playground equipment lined U.S. Highway 41 for decades.
The showroom, which moved to Northbrook three years ago, was packed in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic hit home in Illinois, Wells said, with customers trying to stay ahead of anticipated shutdowns.
Fenceworks closed its showroom after Illinois enacted a stay-at-home order March 21, temporarily restricting nonessential businesses in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. But that didn’t slow sales, Wells said, with phone orders picking up the slack.
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“It’s up exponentially,” Wells said. “People realized that the playgrounds are closed, that their kids are out of school and they need to get them active and outside.”
Mike Harrison, owner of Pro Assembly and Set-Up, installs a trampoline in Glencoe. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Such recreation is not cheap, with wood play sets averaging between $2,500 to $3,000, and vinyl sets running about $5,000 to $5,500, Wells said. A bigger obstacle right now, however, is simply finding them.
Swing Kingdom, the Pennsylvania manufacturer of the vinyl sets, was closed by the COVID-19 pandemic until May 1. The PlayNation wooden swing sets are made in China, where the virus also disrupted the supply chain. Customers put 50% down and must wait until June or July for the sets to arrive.
New buyers — and there are still plenty, Wells said — can reserve trampolines, which run $1,600 to $2,600, with a $100 refundable deposit. But they will have to wait until July or August for delivery.
“Basically, no one is getting anything in May,” Wells said. “Initially, people were really thrown off and disappointed. Everyone now is really understanding.”
Sales are on a record pace at Rainbow Play Systems of Illinois, whose stores in Vernon Hills and Naperville also closed in March. Since then, about 90% of the business has been done over the phone, and business has been good.
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“By the end of the month, we’re going to be where we were all of last year,” said Tim Johnston, 53, owner of the Chicagoland territory for South Dakota-based Rainbow Play Systems.
The wooden play sets, which are also made in China, average between $3,000 and $4,000. They are stocked in a massive facility at Rainbow’s national headquarters, with about a four-week wait for most orders, Johnston said.
On Tuesday alone, Johnston sold 21 swing sets for a total of about $75,000. He expects to hit $2.5 million in sales by the end of May.
Johnston, who has owned the Illinois Rainbow business for about four years, has nearly three decades in the swing set game. He’s never seen a year like this one.
“Like any other business, we have up years and down years,” Johnston said. “You take advantage of the good years when you can.”
The only downside for Johnston this year is that he can’t get any trampolines.
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David Barrett, left, along with his kids, Nicola, 5; Julian, 7; and Sebastian, 9, watch as a trampoline is installed in their yard May 12, 2020, in Glencoe. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Swing sets aren’t the only backyard business booming during the COVID-19 crisis.
With some predicting that public swimming pools in Illinois will not open at all this year, Ken Hagenbaumer, 75, who has owned Pool & Spa Works in southwest suburban New Lenox for more than 40 years, has never seen a spring selling season like this.
His showroom is closed, existing customers are buying pool supplies for curbside pickup “like a McDonald’s sandwich,” and an influx of potential customers are deciding if this is the summer to take the plunge on a new pool.
“It’s unusual,” Hagenbaumer said. “A lot of lookers, a lot of people asking questions, a lot of interest. They’re just trying to investigate whether or not it’s something they would want to do.”
Hagenbaumer sells about 45 pools a year, including above ground, in-ground and hybrid varieties. Above ground pools start at about $25,000 for an 18-foot round pool, while in-ground pools cost $40,000 or more.
Sales are flat this year, but inquiries are up 25%, he said, especially for above ground pools, which could be set up within two weeks — pending local permitting. An in-ground pool ordered now wouldn’t be finished until at least July.
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“We are getting a lot more interest in our above ground market, because they want to do something temporary,” Hagenbaumer said. “Because the pools are not opened and nobody knows what they’re going to do this year.”
A Cincinnati native, Barrett moved his family to Glencoe five years ago, where his father-in-law built their house. They are located about a half block from village’s quaint downtown, Writers Theatre and Friends Park, a usually bustling playground frequented by families with young children.
“Part of the reason we wanted to live so close to town is we wouldn’t have to have one of those giant jungle gyms in the backyard,” Barrett said.
The playground is now closed, and a long summer is looming.
Barrett looked into installing a pool, but the village nixed it, based on his small lot size. He then turned warily to the trampoline, despite memories of flinging about dangerously on unenclosed and unattended versions during his own “reckless” youth.
Three weeks later, the trampoline took its place in their yard, rising to its full glory — topped by a small basketball hoop — in less than an hour.
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Beyond familial sanity, Barrett justifies the $2,500 price tag in savings from his daily Metra commute, downtown lunches and other expenses not incurred while working from home.
“It will be money hopefully well-spent,” Barrett said.
Chicago Tribune’s Lauren Zumbach contributed.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-14--Chicago’s lakefront will remain closed, but here are the industries that Mayor Lori Lightfoot says a

Chicago’s lakefront will remain closed, but here are the industries that Mayor Lori Lightfoot says are on track to expand or reopen during next phase

“ Any reopening has to be done in a way that puts residents ’ health and safety first and foremost @ @ @ @ @ “ This is something we all want to see happen .
But the mayor was @ @ @ @ @ it , and it should only be reopened when there are safety protocols in place @ @

A woman runs on a trail near West Wilson Drive on Chicago's lakefront near Montrose Harbor on Feb. 23, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s lakefront will remain closed, but several industries are on track to expand their services or reopen when the city reaches the next phase of its reopening plan, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday.
It’s unclear when the city’s lakefront might reopen. But in a virtual speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, Lightfoot warned that the next six to 12 months are likely to include managing new outbreaks, as has happened in Georgia, South Korea and Singapore, and said progress will continue to be slow.
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She also warned that the public’s continued adherence to stay-at-home social distancing rules will be key to making progress.
“Reopening will be like slowly turning on a dimmer, not flipping a light switch,” Lightfoot said.
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[ Mayor Lori Lightfoot lays out ‘five-star’ plan for reopening Chicago. Here's a closer look. ]
The industries that are currently on track to expand include those that are essential to providing basic needs and fighting the COVID-19 crisis, including grocery stores, emergency health care services, public transportation and social services, Lightfoot said.
The second are industries with built-in social distancing and where protective gear is part of usual operations, including nonemergency but important medical procedures, Lightfoot said.
It also includes construction and manufacturing previously halted, which will resume with health protocols in place, Lightfoot said.
In the next phase, Lightfoot said she wants to reopen child and adult care services, with a focus on essential workers.
This includes industries such as child care, which will resume operations with a focus on essential workers.
The city also will expect to reopen parks and library programming with strict health protocols, Lightfoot said.
Chicago is working to determine how best to reopen restaurants, retail, and salons — things that, the mayor said, “make us feel human."
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
A Lightfoot spokeswoman said the city could not estimate when the earliest reopening date for the lakefront may be.
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North Side Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, whose ward includes a long stretch of lakefront in the Edgewater neighborhood, said he respected Lightfoot’s decision to close the trail and beaches.
“Any reopening has to be done in a way that puts residents’ health and safety first and foremost,” Osterman said. “This is something we all want to see happen. But the mayor was right when she initially closed it, and it should only be reopened when there are safety protocols in place.”
And Lincoln Park Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd, said lakefront aldermen are talking to the mayor’s office about ways to safely reopen. “But one thing on which the aldermen are unanimous: People need to demonstrate that they will be responsible,” Smith said.
“We all agree everybody should be wearing a face covering all the time, and until that becomes more popularly accepted, none of these ideas will work when on a typical day 30,000 people are on the trail and 100,000 are on it on a nice summer weekend,” Smith said.
Lightfoot’s announcements mark the latest guidelines she’s provided for potentially reopening the city.
Last Friday, Lightfoot laid out a five-phase plan that layers additional standards for rates of infection and testing capacity on top of the state rules Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled earlier. As with Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan, Lightfoot’s framework sets a high bar for returning to normalcy.
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[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
Lightfoot can’t set looser standards than the statewide ones laid out by the governor, but she can tailor them to the city. Her plan is “specifically designed for Chicago’s residents and businesses, and encompassing a clear, data-driven five-phase process," she said.
Under Lightfoot’s plan, the city also would need to be able to test 135,000 residents per month, with positive rates decreasing below 15% of those tested in the community and at least 14 days of declining rates of new cases, on average. Positive rates of below 30% would be needed in “congregate” settings such as nursing homes, shelters and jails, according to the Lightfoot plan.
Those standards are stricter than what Pritzker laid out last week for his statewide plan. The governor called for positive rates at or below 20% and an increase in the positive rate of no more than 10 percentage points over 14 days.
Chicago is currently in what the city calls phase two of its recovery, a period Lightfoot’s plan dubs “stay-at-home.”
Before moving into phase three, labeled “cautiously reopen,” the city would need to see a decline in the COVID-19 case rate over 14 days and a declining rate of new cases, stable or declining rates of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, fewer than 1,800 coronavirus patients in hospital beds, fewer than 600 coronavirus patients in ICU beds, and fewer than 450 coronavirus patients on ventilators, Lightfoot said.
In her speech on Wednesday, Lightfoot noted the city’s “far along” in dealing with hospital capacity but “have a ways to go” on case rate and testing positivity rates.
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Still, the mayor said, the city is not yet ready to reopen the lakefront.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-14--13-year-old boy shot in his home in Washington Park on South Side

The boy was shot in the left thigh around 1:30 a.m. in the 5300 block of South Calumet Avenue in @ @ @ @ @ police said .

A 13-year-old boy was hit by a bullet in his South Side home early Thursday when someone opened fire outside, according to Chicago police.
The boy was shot in the left thigh around 1:30 a.m. in the 5300 block of South Calumet Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood, police said.
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He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition.
Police said no one was in custody.


chicagotribune--2020-05-13--Bulldog suspected in attack that left Fox Lake woman dead to be euthanized

The other two dogs will potentially be released to Urso ’ s relatives if they want them , Goering said @ @ @ @ @ t , the dogs would be released to a rescue group and anyone with interest @ @ @ @ @ referred to it for a legal adoption .

The bulldog thought to have fatally mauled its owner Saturday in Fox Lake will be humanely euthanized, a Lake County spokeswoman said.
An autopsy confirmed that Lisa Urso, 52, died of injuries caused by at least one of her three dogs, Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said, calling the situation “absolutely a tragedy.”
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It’s not possible to know for sure that only the one dog attacked Urso, but only that dog had a history of biting, Cooper said. Two bulldogs had blood on them; a third dog did not have blood on it.
Urso was found Saturday on the back porch of her home at 622 Knollwood Road, said Fox Lake Police Chief Jimmy Lee, who described the scene as “gruesome.” It appeared she escaped the house after being attacked, but her injuries were extensive.
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Urso’s home has an Ingleside mailing address, but sits within the municipal boundaries of Fox Lake.
A Lake County ordinance requires Animal Control to hold the dogs for a minimum of seven days, spokeswoman Hannah Goering said. The plan is to hold all three dogs until Monday since the seventh day lands on a weekend.
Lake County Animal Control will not recommend the bulldog named Blue, the one involved in April biting incidents and believed to be the cause of its owner’s death, to be placed in a home, Goering said. Instead, the dog will be euthanized.
That dog bit the owner’s boyfriend twice in April -- once on April 13 and then again on April 21 -- which resulted in the dog being taken and housed temporarily by Lake County Animal Care and Control, Lee said. Urso requested her dog back from Animal Control.
The dog’s owner had identified Blue as a French bulldog to Animal Control following the April 13 incident, Goering said. When Animal Control took possession of the dog after the April 21 biting, the agency identified the dog as a French bulldog and bulldog mix, in part because of its size.
The dog weighs about 55 pounds, Cooper said.
The other two dogs will potentially be released to Urso’s relatives if they want them, Goering said. If they don’t, the dogs would be released to a rescue group and anyone with interest in the dogs would be referred to it for a legal adoption.
This story has been updated to correct a reference to the breed of the dog involved.


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--‘Everything we did was to predict the next outbreak.’ Yet scientists at Northwestern and elsewhere w

‘Everything we did was to predict the next outbreak.’ Yet scientists at Northwestern and elsewhere weren’t prepared for COVID-19.  Why?

“ People are going to know what the word ‘ coronavirus ’ means for the rest of their lives , @ @ @ @ @ The attention is there .
Now it ’ s going to be , ‘ I @ @ @ @ @ happen again.
’ Let ’ s get the legislators to say , ‘ You know @ @ @ @ @ like HIV was , and we have an entire institute for HIV at NIH .
@ @ @ @ @ funding increases to infectious diseases and pandemics so we ’ re prepared better next time @ @ @

More than a decade ago, a center was founded at Northwestern University as a rapid-response operation against infectious disease.
But funding for coronavirus research across the country was sporadic — a boom when epidemics like MERS hit, a bust when they were under control. Some promising drugs never made it out of the laboratory as funding waned.
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Now, researchers with the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases are rushing to find an effective treatment for COVID-19, making up for lost time against a disease that has already killed more than 300,000 people around the world, including more than 86,000 in the United States.
And they hope they’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
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“I think we’re making substantial strides,” said Karla Satchell, director of the center who is a professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Drug discovery is a slow process, and our hope is that we can do something in time to help this round of the pandemic. But at the very least, we can do enough that this won’t happen again.”
One researcher funded through the center is working on modifying a drug originally approved to treat hepatitis C. It isn’t on the market anymore because it was replaced by more efficient therapies, but it could be adjusted fairly quickly to disrupt how the coronavirus replicates itself.
Purdue University biochemistry graduate student Emma Lendy talks with Andy Mesecar, one of the leading scientists identifying protein targets for potential COVID-19 drug therapies, on campus at Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 30, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Others at the center, which coordinates research at eight universities, are reviewing past work on drugs that showed potential against the SARS epidemic in 2002 and the MERS outbreak in 2012. Both diseases are also caused by coronaviruses.
At some point, though, scientists with the center and across the country hope to break new ground as future threats loom.
“You can make a lot of movement fast, based on what you know," Satchell said. “But at some point, you hit a wall where you have to discover new things.”
‘Know where to start’
Andy Mesecar needs a weekend off.
An expert in biochemistry and gene therapy, he’s worked seven-day weeks for the last few months, racing to find a drug for patients with COVID-19 while teaching at Purdue University and submitting frequent reports to the National Institutes of Health. The center at Northwestern has funded his work since 2018.
Mesecar has a manuscript under review in a scientific journal on how a drug approved to treat hepatitis C could be modified to potentially treat COVID-19. His is one of the leading labs in the center studying coronaviruses, and he and his team have dedicated nearly two decades to the research.
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With a background in biochemistry and structural biology, Mesecar started out as an assistant professor at the University of Ilinois at Chicago, studying enzymes that could fight cancer. He got into infectious diseases after the anthrax attacks in the weeks after 9/11. Then, he pivoted to studying enzymes that could be used against SARS when it surfaced in November 2002.
“My training in structural biology allows me to work on any diseases that go around,” Mesecar said. “I can apply it to any disease and do so rapidly.”
The bulk of coronavirus research — both through the center and across the country — began during the SARS epidemic and continued through the MERS outbreak less than 10 years later. At the time, hardly anything was known about coronaviruses, Satchell said, so researchers sprinted to learn its basic biochemistry and how it entered the body and replicated itself.
Remdesivir, the latest promise in treating COVID-19, was shown in animal studies to be effective against both MERS and SARS. But it was not approved for human trials until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and is just now being distributed to some patients across the country after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized its emergency use.
During the basic science phase of drug discovery, scientists are looking for inhibitors to stop the virus. This is where Mesecar’s research lies.
When researchers identify the genetic sequence of a protein or enzyme that is essential to the virus’s replication, they then look for a compound that blocks it, called the inhibitor. The compounds are developed into a drug that not only lasts long enough in the body to kill the virus but is also nontoxic. Only then can it move to animal trials and, eventually, human trials.
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At Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, Andy Mesecar, one of the leading scientists identifying protein targets for potential COVID-19 drug therapies, points to an image of an atomic model of the coronavirus main protease bound to an FDA-approved drug. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
When the NIH put out a call for grant proposals during the SARS outbreak, Mesecar was part of a group that focused on development of inhibitors that could be used to treat the disease. They were given five years of funding. When the money ran out, he was faced with the question of how to continue his work. No one was getting infected with SARS anymore, so the incentive for more research faded away and, with it, the money.
When MERS emerged in 2012, Mesecar’s team switched to this new coronavirus, publishing papers that shared their discovery of compounds that worked against it. He and his team were among the first to predict that the next coronavirus outbreak would come from bats, the suspected origin of COVID-19. “Everything we did was to predict the next outbreak,” he said. “What we wanted to do was to have compounds that could rapidly move toward the particular coronavirus strain that emerged.”
They worried their research would meet the same end as their SARS research — and they were right. Again, interest and funding declined.
To continue their work, they scoured for small amounts of funding that they could pool. But even three years ago, they didn’t have enough to support a single person fully. In 2018, Mesecar’s lab started to get funding from the center at Northwestern.
But the lull in funding across the country had already done its damage. No clinical trials of the compounds had been done by the time the pandemic hit.
“Nothing ever got out of the laboratory (for SARS),” she said. “There’s no treatment for COVID-19 that is specific to this virus and this infection, and the research tracking it really seems like it just ended. Most papers, they’ll have dates on them from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2009, and then the literature just goes blank. It picks up again around 2014 with regards to MERS.”
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‘You get stretched’
It’s ultimately up to the NIH to determine which basic science research should go forward. Should it continue funding research for a disease such as SARS with no known cases anymore, or allocate money to something else, like studying drug-resistant bacteria that still kills thousands of people?
And with new viruses surfacing all the time, how does NIH ensure there is enough money for what is needed most? “You get stretched,” Mesecar said.
A Biosafety Level 2 lab at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 30, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
As the coronavirus spread at an alarming rate, the NIH was allocated $1.78 billion for research on the novel coronavirus, including $1.5 billion to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is funding the work at the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases.
Drug therapies for Ebola, influenza, yellow fever and other viruses are now being reviewed for their potential against COVID-19, according to the NIAID. Investments are being made on more rapid testing of vaccines and antibody-based therapies.
“It is also important to note that SARS-CoV-2 emerged in 2019,” the agency said in a statement. “While NIAID supports the development of broad-spectrum therapeutics to be prepared for such an event, it is difficult to understand whether a drug is effective against a certain virus until that virus emerges.”
But Satchell, Mesecar and others point to earlier warnings. In 2015, the World Health Organization said coronaviruses were one of the top emerging health threats and likely to cause major epidemics. And in 2017, a paper was published in PLOS Pathogens by experts studying coronaviruses in horseshoe bats in China who emphasized the need for “preparedness for future emergence of SARS-like diseases.”
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Mesecar said researchers could have studied the effects of certain compounds on animals so they could be more quickly developed when new viruses appeared. This was the key to remdesivir reaching patients now. “We’re not as far behind as we could be because of the love and ingenuity of scientists who want to pursue and learn about it,” he said.
The coronavirus field is undergoing a rapid change, with many new researchers and much more money. Half the supplemental funding the center got from NIAID went to Mesecar’s drug discovery unit — which “was not particularly well-funded and short-staffed,” Satchell said — and the other half went to other labs that are a part of the center.
Satchell and others hope some of these people will want to stay in the field to prepare for the next public health threat. She’s seen this effect during the tuberculosis crisis, anthrax attacks and SARS, and she believes the COVID-19 pandemic will yield similar results.
“Let’s go for a good drug. Not a vaccine but a universal vaccine,” Satchell said. “Let’s understand a little more about immunology; let’s understand how this virus engages the immune system in the host response.”
She said treatments for HIV improved because of “consistent dedication” to develop therapies, and that needs to be the attitude going forward in coronavirus research too.
“People are going to know what the word ‘coronavirus’ means for the rest of their lives,” Mesecar said. “The attention is there. Now it’s going to be, ‘I never want to have this happen again.’ Let’s get the legislators to say, ‘You know what, coronaviruses are nasty like HIV was, and we have an entire institute for HIV at NIH. Maybe we should think about funding increases to infectious diseases and pandemics so we’re prepared better next time.' "
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gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--COVID-19 hitting hardest in Chicago ZIP codes already struggling with deadly threat of gun violence

“ Even as somebody who is as immersed in violence reduction as I am , I wasn ’ t as @ @ @ @ @ health argument until COVID hit , ” Lee said .
“ The emergency nature of @ @ @ @ @ globally put us into crisis mode .
We have not thought of crime as an @ @ @ @ @ We have kind of become numb to the level of violence in Chicago , as @ @ @ @ @ hope is the lessons from fighting COVID carry over .
”

Sylvia Hardy keeps a face mask lowered while standing in her front porch in the 700 block of South Kilbourn Avenue on May 9, 2020, in Chicago. Hardy's grandson, 15-year-old Demetrius Hardy, was fatally shot at the front porch on April 8, 2020, and her youngest son, Dennis Glover, 28, was also fatally shot at the front of the home on Dec. 26, 2013. The 60624 ZIP code, where she lives, has among the city's highest reported cases of COVID-19 and rates of gun violence. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
On a recent Saturday morning at Springfield Avenue and Wilcox Street, residents wearing masks walked dogs past blooming red tulips. A family stepped onto their porch with laundry bags stuffed with clothes to start a day of chores, just as a neighbor across the street arrived home with sacks of groceries.
Even with a blue and white Chicago police squad car idling nearby, it was hard to tell in that still, quiet moment that the neighborhood is at the crossroads of two massive public health crises.
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By the end of April, gun violence and the COVID-19 pandemic had claimed nearly the same number of lives in the West Side ZIP code. Eight men and one teenage boy had been shot and killed, while 11 others, mostly men, had suffered deaths blamed on the coronavirus.
A Tribune analysis of crime and COVID infection data by ZIP code over roughly a month showed the highest rates of infection are happening in communities that also have high rates of crime and violence, such as Garfield Park, Austin, West Englewood and Lawndale.
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An evidence marker next to daffodils at the scene where Sylvia Hardy’s grandson, 15, was shot and killed on South Kilbourn Avenue, April 8, 2020, in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
“It’s prostitution. It’s drugs. Gun violence, and it’s the COVID-19,” said West Garfield Park resident Sylvia Hardy, who over 28 years has lost all of her three sons to violence and, recently, a 15-year-old grandson, who was shot and killed in April.
“If that don’t take out a community," she said, her voice trailing off. "I mean, you looking the devil in the eye when you see all this. A person don’t have a chance.”
The spread of the virus, of course, launched a sweeping public health response: Social distancing and stay-at-home requirements were imposed. Masks were distributed, along with public information flyers on how people could protect themselves.
Politicians, academics and experts describing violence as a preventable disease is hardly a new concept in Chicago, and perhaps to some the overlapping of ZIP codes was tragically predictable. But some are hopeful that the efforts to protect Chicago from a global pandemic can also spark a similar public health response in the city around violence.
“Chicago needs to take a public health approach to the problem of violent crime,” former interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck wrote last month, amid the COVID-19 emergency. “Just as we universally sought to halt the progression of COVID-19, the people of Chicago should take the same approach to ending the gunfire that plagues too many of its neighborhoods. Violence in Chicago is everyone’s problem, just as COVID-19 is not just the concern of the elderly or the sick.”
A double hit
Within a month of the pandemic’s onset, a troubling fact quickly emerged: Infection in Chicago’s African American communities was disproportionately higher than it was for white residents, with a death rate that was six times greater.
And for anyone who follows Chicago’s struggles with violence, the story had a familiar ring to it. These same communities have, for years, borne the brunt of the city’s problem with gun violence.
The Tribune examination of both COVID-19 cases and crime data found a handful of communities that are fighting high rates of both the new virus and persistent violence, including homicides, robberies and shootings.
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The analysis included Illinois Department of Public Health infection data, Chicago police crime data, and census records, all broken down by ZIP code. The newspaper looked at the correlation between the data sets two times, once in early April and once last week.
Members of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, a fraternal organization, hand out free face masks to residents in the 4000 block of West Monroe Street, May 9, 2020, in Chicago. The 60624 ZIP code, has among the city's highest reported cases of COVID-19 and rates of gun violence. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The 60624 ZIP code, primarily the Garfield Park communities, for example, ranked third in the rate of infections among the city’s roughly 50 most-populated ZIP codes as the coronavirus was emerging. It also has Chicago’s highest violent crime rate of 6.2 per 1,000 residents.
The ZIP code containing much of Austin, which ranked fourth in infection rate during the period examined, also had the fourth highest violent-crime rate of 4.0 incidents. The ZIP code for much of West Englewood has a violent crime rate of 4.2, while ranking sixth for its infection rate.
The data also showed that the 60624 ZIP code has a high narcotics crime rate of 11.1 incidents per 1,000 residents. The second highest, Austin, had a rate of 3.2.
As Chicago has come to grips with the reality that the coronavirus is taking its greatest toll in minority neighborhoods, officials have attributed the disparity in infections to decades-old inequities in jobs and health care, leaving black Chicagoans with higher baseline rates of the underlying conditions that make the virus more deadly.
And some of the same realities affect the rates at which neighborhoods suffer with gun violence, experts told the Tribune. Young people growing up in extreme poverty and unstable housing, who lack health care, education and access to jobs, become vulnerable at an early age to being swept up in street violence.
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“This is what inaccessibility to gainful employment and quality education means,” said David Stovall, a professor of African American Studies and Criminology, Law & Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “If you have someone who has been historically dispossessed (of jobs, housing or education), most crimes are done for survival. Often the narrative is they are bad people. We don’t take into account, this is a bad situation."
The focus on the belief that neighborhoods are full of bad people, Stovall said, steers solutions away from solving underlying problems and too far toward law enforcement. In Chicago, he said, that has led to overpolicing and civil rights abuses in these areas.
Beck, a nationally respected police leader credited with helping reduce crime dramatically in Los Angeles, bluntly acknowledged Chicago’s history of segregation and its economic fallout in his assessment of the city.
“The racial and economic divide in Chicago is staggering,” he wrote in a Tribune essay. “This leads to an enforcement and victimization rate in communities of color that eclipses their more well-off neighbors by a factor that should concern us all.”
Leaders going back to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. have warned against systemic injustice for years, said the Rev. Marshall Hatch, who himself has watched from his pulpit at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park as generations fell victim to the violence and addiction.
And now he is seeing the newest threat, COVID-19, take hold.
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With it has come a further cycling downward. Job losses, a lack of adequate housing during stay-at-home directives, and the loss of loved ones, will likely make it worse, he said.
“We were already under stress," said Hatch, who lost his sister to the pandemic. “We were already quarantined socioeconomically. This just adds another layer of anxiety. All of us are bracing for a potentially long, long, hot, hot summer.”
The violence epidemic’s toll
Like all Chicagoans, West Garfield Park resident Sylvia Hardy has adjusted to a new normal, staying at home to stay safe and, sadly, grieving the loss of friends to COVID-19.
Hardy’s loss to violence has happened far more slowly, unfolding over three decades.
“All my children died, as a matter of fact, in the order that they were born,” she explained to the Tribune in a phone interview.
Hardy’s first loss was in 1992 when her oldest son Demetrius, 20, was shot near where the United Center now stands while he was getting something out of a car. Then, Hardy’s middle son, Lavelle, 30, was fatally stabbed in 2010 in a domestic incident.
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In 2013, another son, Dennis, 28, was gunned down in front of her home in the 700 block of South Kilbourn Avenue. Then, last month, Lavelle’s 15-year-old son, also named Demetrius, was shot and killed on her porch, again in front of her.
“I felt the pain of all three of my children again," said Hardy, who is retired from work as a recovery specialist. "I don’t know if you ever experienced like, you have a wound that hasn’t healed. And someone takes a nail, and just hit that wound, and hit it, and hit, and hit it, you know?”
While African American men are dying from COVID-19 complications at higher rates than any other group in Chicago, gun violence poses a particular threat to young black males in Chicago.
Between 2014 and 2019, 3 out of 4 gun-related homicide victims in Chicago was an African American male, according to data from the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Their average age was 28.
Dr. Garen Wintemute, an epidemiologist and emergency room physician who runs the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California at Davis, said homicides by firearms among African American males is one of the most concentrated public health problems he is aware of.
That disturbing fact, however, points to solutions, Wintemute said, saying evidence-based policies and programs need to be considered.
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“The risk is very tightly concentrated, which means we can focus immense resources on a small population and make an immense difference,” he said.
‘Bold, audacious plans’
Ulysses Polk, 66, ambled down the front stairs of his apartment near Springfield and Wilcox to clear out the back of his car.
It was a gray, blustery day, but the drug sellers were active over on Adams Street, waving to passing cars. One vehicle ripped through the neighborhood in front of Polk, the tires screeching.
“That’s what they do,” said Polk, a retiree and lifelong West Side resident. “The younger generation, they don’t care. They figure in their mind they’re dying anyway.”
Polk said he thinks society and families need to be a little more strict with kids when they are younger. He doesn’t understand why some as young as 11 and 13 are out late at night.
And while he appreciates the Chicago police squad car that typically is posted at the corner, he knows it just pushes the trouble to other blocks.
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For years Chicago has been chasing its crime problem around the same neighborhoods, never quite able to get a grip on it, like other large cities have. And in the meantime, corners such as Springfield and Wilcox have remained problem spots for decades.
That’s why some say the inequities the pandemic is exposing should spur change and new visions.
“This is the moment to rebuild and infuse these neighborhoods — that have constantly been on the losing end — with bold, audacious plans," said Rami Nashashibi, founder of the Inner-Muslim Action Network, a Southwest Side community organization that runs a health center and also provides housing and jail and prison re-entry services. It reminded him of another time ambitious plans were undertaken. "This is a moment for a Marshall Plan investment.”
Lessons from COVID-19?
Though Chicago is still battling high rates of violence, the ground game on reduction already has changed in the past four years.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot created both an Office of Violence Prevention and an Office of Equity and Racial Justice, putting a new focus on both crime and disparities across the city.
A citywide violence-reduction strategy that now covers some 20 neighborhoods was developed in a partnership between a network of nonprofit social service organizations, with key funding provided by the city’s philanthropic leaders.
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The effort includes victim support, jobs and cognitive behavioral therapy. It also put 165 full-time outreach workers on the street to do direct intervention with gang members, with part-time workers added in the summer to cover the city’s hot spots.
And in fact, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, it was street outreach teams who were among the first to respond, mixing hand sanitizer and working sources to find PPE to pass out to residents, along with food boxes and information flyers about the virus.
Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Susan Lee said the pandemic forced city agencies, along with civic and community groups, to spring into action quickly to address the outbreak, momentum she’d like to see continue with violence reduction.
“Even as somebody who is as immersed in violence reduction as I am, I wasn’t as persuasive in making that public health argument until COVID hit,” Lee said. “The emergency nature of this virus and the spread globally put us into crisis mode. We have not thought of crime as an emergency or a crisis. We have kind of become numb to the level of violence in Chicago, as if it normalized. My hope is the lessons from fighting COVID carry over.”
Chicago Tribune’s Paige Fry and David Jackson contributed.
asweeney@chicagotribune.com
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jmahr@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--Chicago-area transit may look different this summer, with social distancing and the end of rush hour

`` The way people commute and the way people use public transit is going to have to dramatically change , @ @ @ @ @ said .
`` Employers are really going to have to rethink how they want employees @ @ @ @ @ when they want employees to come to work , and how flexible they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ .
”

A person rides the Metra Electric District line, May 11, 2021, in Chicago. With some coronavirus pandemic restrictions lifted, some people may be returning to public transit. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The packed rush hour train and bus were until recently common features of urban life.
But the daily ritual of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers, silently grousing about backpacks while looking down at your phone and waiting for your stop, may not be repeated until the new coronavirus has been eradicated.
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Ridership has dropped precipitously on Metra, CTA and Pace, as it has on public transportation systems around the country. Just at the CTA, ridership is down 80%. When riders do return — and that process is expected to take much longer than how fast they fled — the experience is likely to be different.
"The way people commute and the way people use public transit is going to have to dramatically change,” CTA President Dorval Carter said. "Employers are really going to have to rethink how they want employees to come to work, when they want employees to come to work, and how flexible they’re going to have to be.”
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A CTA passenger wearing a face mask and exits a train at the Roosevelt station, May 14, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Among the possibilities: transit agencies altering schedules to avoid crowded trains, buses running frequently throughout the day instead of being concentrated at rush hour, and employers staggering work hours to ease crowding on public transportation, transit experts say.
It also could mean, at least temporarily, more cars on the roads, and more people using bikes or scooters to get to work. Former commuters may be afraid of getting back on trains and buses, so transit agencies will have to demonstrate the systems are clean and safe, according to transit experts and officials.
The CTA, for instance, is looking at new technologies like ultraviolet light to augment its current cleaning processes.
Posters on the CTAremind riders to stay six feet apart. The state also mandates wearing face masks in crowded areas, like public transit. But during Wednesday’s CTA board meeting, Carter said the agency “can’t police common sense.” Riders are responsible for their own safety, he said, and should not board a bus or rail car if it’s too crowded.
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Ridership hasn’t declined in the same way everywhere. Metra, which relies heavily on commuters, has seen ridership drop 97%, compared with CTA’s 80% and 67% at Pace.
Even within the CTA, ridership patterns differ, reflecting demographic differences within Chicago, with many Loop-bound "L" commuters staying home while many essential and lower-income workers still ride transit to work.
CTA officials noted that ridership is down 90% on the Brown Line, and at Loop "L" stations, but hasn’t dropped as much on South Side "L" routes or on buses, particularly major routes coming from the South and West sides. Crowding still happens on buses, and though the CTA has added buses to create more capacity, it isn’t easy to predict when and where it’s going to happen, Carter said.
The CTA is boarding bus passengers from the rear doors in order to protect bus drivers, and Carter sees that continuing “in the foreseeable future.”
One way to encourage riders to use transit outside of rush hour is to charge lower fares during off-peak periods, said Audrey Wennink, transportation director for the Metropolitan Planning Council, a research group.
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While transit agencies have not publicly discussed lowering fares for off-peak weekday hours, CTA is not charging fares on buses that lack Ventra card readers at the rear door. Most buses don’t have them, so most bus trips are free.
Wennink said cities need to encourage biking. A new public scooter program, still being planned by the city, also could play a role, she said.
“We don’t want this to be a turning point of more driving, and going backwards in terms of equity and safety and sustainability,” Wennink said.
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Transit agencies and governments also need to make it an easy choice for riders to wear masks, said Ben Fried, communications director for TransitCenter, a New York-based research and advocacy foundation. In Seoul, South Korea, for example, where there has been only a 30-40% drop in transit ridership, buses contain hand sanitizer and mask dispensers.
“When the pandemic response is strong and transmission rates are low, the ridership effect is not as severe as we’ve seen in the U.S.,” Fried said.
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Transit agencies need to make sure they communicate with riders about service changes and how they’re keeping the system clean, and get input from riders about what they need, said Kyle Whitehead, spokesman for the Active Transportation Alliance, which advocates for transit riders, bicyclists and pedestrians.
While agencies grapple with a path forward, they are dealing with the severe economic consequences of lost ridership. The CTA, Metra and Pace could see almost $1 billion in revenue losses this year, according to the Regional Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees transit budgets.
The $2.2 trillion federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act is providing $1.4 billion to the RTA, but that may not be enough to cover revenue losses, which transit officials believe will extend into 2021.
The American Public Transportation Association sent a letter to Congress last week requesting another $23.8 billion in COVID-19 transit funding to address additional cost and revenue shortfalls.
Stephen Schlickman, a transportation funding and finance consultant, said there are two variables for transit going forward — a fear of COVID-19, which could keep people off transit, and a lack of financial resources to sustain existing levels of transit.
He said the CARES Act funding will “barely" get transit through the year unless agencies start to reduce service levels.
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“If they don’t do that, then existing levels for service, with some haircuts, should continue through the summer, but there will be a cliff that they will fall off toward the end of year or early next year," Schlickman said.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--Daywatch: Chicago on track for Pritzker’s reopen plan, virus hits ZIP codes struggling with violence

Daywatch: Chicago on track for Pritzker’s reopen plan, virus hits ZIP codes struggling with violence hardest and White Pines Resort closes

Like so many families in Chicago and beyond , Dick Cagney has made countless memories over the years at White @ @ @ @ @ retreat nestled in a state park roughly 100 miles west of the city .
But @ @ @ @ @ the news that came like a gut punch to so many of White Pines ’ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s longtime owner , Beth George , said she has no choice but to @ @ @ @ @ because of the prolonged shutdowns tied to the pandemic .

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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Illinois officials also announced 3,239 new cases of COVID-19 and 138 additional deaths on Thursday, bringing the overall number of known cases to 87,937 and the statewide death toll to 3,928
With more than 1.4 million infections and nearly 85,000 deaths, the U.S. has the largest outbreak in the world by far
Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 4.4 million and killed over 302,000, according to Johns Hopkins University
The House will vote Friday on another rescue bill that would pump almost $1 trillion to state and local governments, renew $1,200 cash payments for individuals and extend a $600 unemployment benefit
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during the daily news briefing regarding the coronavirus pandemic on May 3, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-area residents yearning for a professional haircut or a shopping trip were given a glimmer of hope Thursday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the region is now on track to move to the next phase of his reopening plan on May 29.
There’s no guarantee, but the seven-day average of positive coronavirus tests dipped below 20% as of Monday, putting Cook County and eight surrounding counties in line to join the three other regions of the state in meeting all the benchmarks to move forward to phase three of Pritzker’s five-phase “Restore Illinois" plan.
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Jack Montemagni, 88, laughs with a fellow bar patron after the two shared a hug at Papa's Blue Spruce Resort pub, May 14, 2020 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
For the first time in weeks, Matt Kealy opened the doors to his gastropub in downtown Janesville, Wis., Wednesday night, pouring beers for a dozen of his most loyal customers from the bar’s 24 taps.
The impromptu reopening came courtesy of conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court who had just struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide stay-at-home order that since March had shuttered businesses and banned public gatherings to guard against the spread of COVID-19.
Sylvia Hardy keeps a face mask lowered while standing in her front porch in the 700 block of South Kilbourn Avenue, May 9, 2020, in Chicago. Hardy's grandson, 15-year-old Demetrius Hardy, was fatally shot on the porch April 8, 2020, and her youngest son, Dennis Glover, 28, was also fatally shot in front of the home on Dec. 26, 2013. The 60624 ZIP code, where she lives, has among the city's highest reported cases of COVID-19 and rates of gun violence. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
By the end of April, gun violence and the COVID-19 pandemic had claimed nearly the same number of lives in a West Side ZIP code. Nine men had been shot and killed, while 11 others, mostly men, had suffered deaths blamed on the coronavirus.
Purdue University biochemistry graduate student Emma Lendy talks with Andy Mesecar, one of the leading scientists identifying protein targets for potential COVID-19 drug therapies, on campus at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, April 30, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Researchers with the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases are rushing to find an effective treatment for COVID-19, making up for lost time against a disease that has already killed about 298,000 people around the world, including around 85,000 in the United States. And they hope they’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
The resort's restaurant was a popular spot for guests and locals alike. (White Pines Resort)
Like so many families in Chicago and beyond, Dick Cagney has made countless memories over the years at White Pines Resort, a rustic retreat nestled in a state park roughly 100 miles west of the city. But on Wednesday, Cagney heard the news that came like a gut punch to so many of White Pines’ loyal guests: The resort’s longtime owner, Beth George, said she has no choice but to close and file for bankruptcy because of the prolonged shutdowns tied to the pandemic.


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--Chicago area now on track to move to next phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan on May 29

At the beginning of the week , Pritzker had said the northeast region was not on track to advance to @ @ @ @ @ end of month because of a higher percentage of positive tests .
In addition to @ @ @ @ @ , a region must have no overall increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-like illness , @ @ @ @ @ ICU beds and ventilators available to handle a 14 % surge in patients .

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)
Chicago-area residents yearning for a professional haircut or a shopping trip were given a glimmer of hope Thursday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the region is now on track to move to the next phase of his reopening plan on May 29.
There’s no guarantee, but the seven-day average of positive coronavirus tests dipped below 20% as of Monday, putting Cook County and eight surrounding counties in line to join the three other regions of the state in meeting all the benchmarks to move forward to phase three of Pritzker’s five-phase “Restore Illinois" plan.
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“Every region is poised, if it maintains the metrics that it’s at now, to move into phase three in a few short days,” Pritzker said during his daily news briefing. “I mean, literally, we’re talking about 14 days.”
The forward progress still could be derailed by a surge in positive tests for the coronavirus, or if hospitals or intensive care units become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
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To move forward the share of people testing positive for the coronavirus must be at or under 20% and increase no more than 10 percentage points over a 14-day period.
At the beginning of the week, Pritzker had said the northeast region was not on track to advance to the next phase at the end of month because of a higher percentage of positive tests. In addition to the requirement on positivity rate, a region must have no overall increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-like illness, and have enough hospital and ICU beds and ventilators available to handle a 14% surge in patients.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during the daily news briefing regarding the coronavirus pandemic on May 3, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
The news that the Chicago area may advance along with the north-central, central and southern Illinois regions comes as the governor continues to face political pressure and legal challenges over his stay-at-home order, which has been in effect since March 21.
The reopening plan, unveiled May 5, has faced pockets of criticism across the state, particularly in the suburbs and downstate, where some elected officials and others are pushing to reopen the economy more quickly. Pritzker again urged patience.
“The reason that we’re all hanging on for those 14 days, watching the metrics, is because we want to make sure we do it in a way that keeps the most number of people safe from the virus,” Pritzker said.
Data compiled by the Illinois Department of Public Health coupled with statistics from Johns Hopkins University showed Cook County now leading the nation in reporting positive coronavirus cases, ahead of Queens County in New York, which has been the center of the East Coast virus hot spot.
State health department statistics showed Cook County now reporting 58,457 positive cases, 34,341 of them in Chicago. Queens County listed 57,178 cases in numbers Johns Hopkins reported Thursday. Those numbers are tempered by a large population difference — Cook County, with more than 5 million residents, is well over twice as big as Queens County.
At Thursday’s briefing, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced 3,239 new cases of COVID-19 and 138 additional deaths. That brings the overall number of known cases to 87,937 and the statewide death toll to 3,928 since the pandemic began.
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Results from 22,678 tests were reported in the previous 24 hours, bringing the number of specimens tested since the outbreak began to more than 500,000.
Ezike said the state has been able to increase its testing, which leads to a corresponding increase in people testing positive for the virus, but cautioned that any numbers are far below the actual number of people with the coronavirus because not everyone is being tested.
“The number of cases that we’re identifying is proportional to the number of tests, and we’ve increased our cases because we’ve increased the amount of testing we’ve done, and we hope to keep doing that,” she said. “So, you actually will see more cases because we will continue to ramp up our testing.”
If the numbers maintain their current course, a much wider range of businesses and activities would be allowed to reopen, under certain restrictions, and gatherings of 10 or fewer people for any reason could resume on May 29 as the four regions move into the third phase of Pritzker’s plan.
Manufacturing, offices, retailers, and barbershops and salons could reopen, with capacity limits and other restrictions. Face coverings would still be required. Fitness and health clubs would also be able to offer one-on-one training and outdoor classes, while limited child care and summer programs could operate. Teleworking will continue to be “strongly encouraged."
Schools would continue to conduct remote learning, and stores would have to follow capacity limits set by health officials.
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Because Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has her own reopening plan, which has some requirements that are stricter than those in Pritzker’s plan, it’s unclear what changes would be seen in the city if the region moves to the next phase.
In a statement, Lightfoot’s office did not address questions about the governor’s time frame or testing goals but urged the public to continue staying at home.
If all four regions do advance later this month, it would be at least another 28 days until any can move ahead to Phase 4, when dine-in service could resume at restaurants, under new safety precautions, and gatherings of 50 people or fewer could resume, among other changes.
The fifth and final phase, when conventions, festivals and sporting events could resume, won’t come until there’s a vaccine, treatment or widespread immunity to COVID-19.
Despite the signs of progress, Pritzker continues spending a portion of each daily briefing defending his plan against criticisms that it moves too slowly and groups together regions that are too large.
Illinois Senate Republican leader Bill Brady of Bloomington on Thursday sent a letter to Senate President Don Harmon calling for a public hearing on the governor’s plan when lawmakers return to Springfield next week for a three-day special session.
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“I have heard members from both caucuses suggest this plan should be vetted and revised,” Brady wrote to the Oak Park Democrat. “I also believe this should be done in a public setting, which can be undertaken using available technology and social distancing protocols when we convene in Springfield.”
Pritzker said during his briefing — held for the fourth straight day via videoconference from his Gold Coast home, where he’s self-isolating after a staffer tested positive for COVID-19 late last week — that he hopes to receive clearance from Department of Public Health to join lawmakers in the capital city. But he dismissed the idea of a hearing on the reopening plan, saying the idea “sounds like grandstanding to me.”
“Leader Brady has my number,” Pritzker said. “I speak with him quite frequently. So there’s no lack of communication. He knows where I stand. I’ve answered questions. My staff has answered questions that his members have had. We’ve responded by giving data and information whenever asked, so I’m not sure what he’s missing out on."
A group of House Republicans from the Springfield area held a videoconference earlier Thursday continuing their party’s criticisms of the governor’s reopening plan.
“The governor continues to mislead people, to say that we want to just swing doors wide open,” Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer of Jacksonville said. “That’s not what we’re asking. We’re asking for a way to start opening the economy so that businesses can slowly and responsibly do this. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that a business will have to swing the doors wide open and have to do what they have to do to survive.”
GOP lawmakers also continued to criticize the Pritzker administration’s handling of the deluge of unemployment claims flowing from the economic slowdown triggered by the virus and the steps taken to slow its spread.
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The Department of Employment Security said Thursday that new claims for unemployment benefits have leveled off in the past two weeks.
The department processed 72,671 new initial claims for regular unemployment benefits during the week ending May 9, bringing the total processed since March 1 to 1,076,461.
Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Gregory Pratt contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--Coronavirus confusion reigns in Wisconsin as some bars, restaurants and tourist attractions can reop

Coronavirus confusion reigns in Wisconsin as some bars, restaurants and tourist attractions can reopen and others are shut down

“ We had about four hours there where we were open , and about a dozen people popped down , @ @ @ @ @ sudden the world is back to the way it was again , ” said Kealy @ @ @ @ @ pub drafthouse in November .
“ So , we told everyone it was time to @ @ @ @ @ now we ’ re back to square one again .
It ’ s kind of @ @ @

Bill Ruthhart, John Keilman, Jessica Villagomez

Jack Montemagni, 88, laughs with a fellow bar patron after the two shared a hug at Papa's Blue Spruce Resort pub, May 14, 2020 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
For the first time in weeks, Matt Kealy opened the doors to his gastropub in downtown Janesville, Wis., Wednesday night, pouring beers for a dozen of his most loyal customers from the bar’s 24 taps.
The impromptu reopening came courtesy of conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court who had just struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide stay-at-home order that since March had shuttered businesses and banned public gatherings to guard against the spread of COVID-19.
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As Kealy chatted with customers a little before midnight, last call came sooner than he planned when local county health officials posted on Facebook that they had issued their own stay-at-home order to replace the state’s.
“We had about four hours there where we were open, and about a dozen people popped down, and then all of the sudden the world is back to the way it was again,” said Kealy, who opened his new pub drafthouse in November. “So, we told everyone it was time to go, we left and now we’re back to square one again. It’s kind of frustrating."
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Frustration and confusion reigned in Wisconsin on Thursday as the state’s residents woke up to a patchwork of local health orders in the nation’s only state with no coronavirus restrictions in place — not even for vulnerable nursing homes.
Wearing a protective mask and a bandana, Mary Kleim, 72, walks by a group of pedestrians not wearing face masks while crossing the street May 14, 2020, in Lake Geneva, Wis. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Bars and restaurants in Milwaukee are closed, but they’re open in suburban Waukesha. Tourist destinations in Wisconsin Dells are still shuttered as the four local counties discuss what to do next while hotels and bars in Lake Geneva welcomed back visitors.
Amid the fallout of the court’s decision, Wisconsin’s notorious political divide remained on full display. A dejected Evers was left to voice his disappointment while Republican legislative leaders took a victory lap that included a cameo from President Donald Trump, who tweeted with approval that Wisconsin had scored “another win” and that “the place is bustling!”
The Great State of Wisconsin, home to Tom Tiffany’s big Congressional Victory on Tuesday, was just given another win. Its Democrat Governor was forced by the courts to let the State Open. The people want to get on with their lives. The place is bustling! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
“The governor’s office can no longer keep our economy closed under a one-size-fits-all statewide order,” state Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said in an online video to constituents. “I am excited to see this reopening occur after weeks of hearing from friends, neighbors and local business owners about the stress this order had placed on their livelihoods."
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, the two GOP leaders who sued the governor’s administration, held a phone call with Evers on Thursday morning to discuss possible COVID-19 rules the state might draft to replace the stay-at-home order or to implement should the state’s cases surge. The call ended with no agreement to do so.
At a conference table in the governor’s office in Madison, Evers expressed dread at the likelihood of more COVID-19 cases and deaths, declaring that the “Supreme Court may have changed the rules for how we operate, but it sure the heck didn’t change how viruses operate.
“This virus has killed more than 400 of our family members, friends and neighbors and thousands more across our state are sick, and because of the court’s decision, many more people could get sick and overwhelm our hospitals," Evers said, as he urged Wisconsinites to stay home and practice social distancing. “Just because Republicans said it can be a free-for-all, that doesn’t mean we have to throw good judgment out the window.”
As for Trump, Evers said Wisconsin had been following the president’s own guidelines for reopening the country, including a consistent decrease in COVID-19 cases and increased testing.
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“Apparently he doesn’t think much of the criteria metrics he sent out several months ago,” Evers said of the president. “He’s abandoned that.”
‘Land of Lincoln visitors’
Not long after the court ruling, the phones at Harbor Shores on Lake Geneva finally started ringing more often.
The hotel overlooks the tranquil lake that is a Midwestern tourism magnet, and while it has remained open as an essential business during Evers’ “safer at home” order, only a few of its 108 rooms have been occupied. That could change dramatically as soon as this weekend, when general manager Tammie Carstensen said she expects more than a quarter of the hotel to be full.
“We’re so excited to see people and welcome them with traditional Wisconsin smiles,” Carstensen said. “I’m a hugger. I hug all my guests; that’s just how I am. (Not doing that) is going to be the biggest adjustment for me.”
Harbor Shores has installed devices in its ventilation system that are meant to kill viruses. It also is letting rooms sit idle for three days after a guest checks out before housekeepers clean them to minimize the chances of infection.
At the Oakfire restaurant, operations manager Paul Meckler said he was delaying opening until May 20 to make sure sufficient health and safety measures are in place. The staff is moving tables 6 feet apart, installing hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the property and setting up the host stand outside to minimize a pileup of customers.
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“I think it will be consistently busy,” he said. “I think you’ll have some folks who will want to stay home and some who are itching to get out.”
Nearby at Papa’s Blue Spruce Resort, customers were welcomed back by owner Joan Ward, who called it a “scary” morning because of the uncertainty about how to reopen. She said she took several safety precautions, including limiting the bar’s capacity to 25 people.
Ward said she had been planning to open a new restaurant on April 19, just weeks after the stay-at-home restrictions took effect.
“We got really scared. We had put out quite a bit of money on all our new state-of-the-art restaurant equipment and supplies and, you know, had to come to a complete stop,” Ward said, adding that she needed to reopen “because we were down to our last pennies in our bank account.”
“I didn’t know, do I close my bank account, my business bank account?” she said. "So it’s been rough.”
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The Cornerstone Shop and Gallery reopened Wednesday after some modifications. Owner Karin Bennett said she closed one of the two entrances and stationed a greeter at the other to encourage social distancing and offer $1.50 face masks to customers, though she’s not requiring they wear one.
The store sells clothing, jewelry and other items patrons might handle, so Bennett said her staff will disinfect items with UV wands after a customer passes through. Clothing someone tries on but doesn’t buy will be moved off the floor for 24 hours, or steamed on the spot if another customer wants to buy it without waiting, she said.
“We have been calling customers and we’re getting a pretty good sense that we’re ready to live our lives again,” Bennett said. “We know there will be risks until there’s a vaccine, but you can’t crawl in a hole and live in fear.”
The decision to allow businesses to reopen rested with officials in Walworth County, a rural Republican stronghold of former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Carlo Nevicosi, deputy director of Walworth County Health and Human Services, said the agency agreed to let businesses reopen because it was confident they will do what is necessary to operate safely.
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“It’s a healthy outlook that they’re approaching it cautiously,” he said. “We’re going to put our faith in them."
Stephanie Klett, president and CEO of VISIT Lake Geneva, said she had no specific economic forecast of how the region might fare this summer, but thought it could do well if people from the Chicago area decide to stay close to home for their vacations rather than get on an airplane.
The Dairyland Brew Pub in Appleton, Wis., opens to patrons following the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision to strike down Gov. Tony Evers' stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic on May 13, 2020. (William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent)
Despite Illinois having higher infection rates than Wisconsin, she said businesses will still be happy to see patrons from the state.
“We love our Land of Lincoln visitors,” she said. “We can’t wait to see their license plates here.”
The governor was far less enthused when asked about Lake Geneva and other tourist attractions reopening.
“That is going to be a big deal. We will have people coming from Minnesota and Michigan and Illinois to Wisconsin because we have opened haphazardly and without much thought,” Evers said. “That is going to be a problem for us because all the surrounding states have a higher percentage per capita of COVID-19, and it will bring an increase for us.”
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‘We’re not looking for a handout’
Unlike Walworth, many other counties near the Illinois border issued their own stay-at-home orders, including Racine County and Rock County (which is home to Beloit and Janesville). The city of Milwaukee, all the Milwaukee County suburbs, Dane County (which includes Madison) and Brown County (which includes Green Bay) all issued orders consistent with the restrictions Evers had put in place. And then there’s Kenosha County, which issued its own stay-at-home order only to withdraw it late Thursday night.
Rock County administrator Josh Smith said officials there chose to put out a stay-at-home order even though local case numbers were starting to improve as a way to "more smoothly transition into the ‘new normal’ following the Supreme Court’s decision.” He also noted the county remained among the highest in the state in per capita cases of the virus.
At his Janesville gastropub Thursday afternoon, Kealy said he understood why individual counties quickly clamped back down after the Supreme Court ruling. But he said it was obvious to him that the conservative-leaning court would toss out the stay-at-home order, and he wished Rock County would have been prepared with an order that allowed businesses to gradually reopen instead.
“We’re not looking for a handout, we’re not looking for a loan to dig ourselves deeper in debt — we’ve already taken out a second mortgage on our home, we’ve drained our savings and we took out the bank loan,” Kealy said. “We’re just looking for the opportunity to work hard, get back to work and we think we have a safe manner in which we can do so.”
Within an hour of the court’s decision Wednesday night, social media posts showed patrons jammed shoulder to shoulder in bars from Platteville to Port Washington celebrating with beers. Kealy said he purposefully did not advertise when he reopened and instead welcomed a dozen regulars who had been taking out curbside orders and inquired about coming in.
“I respect their option to open, because I’ve lived in their shoes and felt the pain and the struggle of the last few months, seeing employees struggling to get unemployment, and just watching your bank accounts dwindle away,” Kealy said of the bars that opened with gusto and no social distancing. “It’s good to see that people are going to come back out, but it’s my job to keep my staff safe.”
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In Kenosha, Sazzy B’s restaurant fielded phone calls, emails and social media messages from patrons Wednesday night after the court ruling, inquiring if they would reopen. The restaurant chose to stay closed and to continue offering carryout and delivery.
“We didn’t want to be a part of the gray area of opening. We want to make sure everything is safe,” manager Kurt Schrader said. “We don’t want to push any boundaries.”
The Tribune’s Dan Hinkel and Armando Sanchez contributed.
bruthhart@chicagotribune.com
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
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jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--COVID-19 was found in semen of recovered patients. Is it a sexually transmitted disease?

“ When you have the coronavirus , and if someone ’ s having sex and the woman gets it , @ @ @ @ @ he was breathing and coughing on her , '' asked Streicher , `` or did @ @ @ @ @ had it in his semen ?
Unless you identify it in her vaginal tissues and @ @ @ @ @ ”

The virus that causes COVID-19 can be present in the semen of patients who have the coronavirus, as well as those recovering from it, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.
Fifty men were enrolled in the study’s testing, however only 38 were able to provide a semen sample.
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Twenty-three of the participants who were able to provide a semen sample recovered from their COVID-19 infection. Two of these recovered patients had COVID-19 in their semen, which is particularly noteworthy, the study said.
The other 15 patients “were at the acute stage of infection,” and of this group, four patients had the virus causing COVID-19 in their semen.
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Because the study size is small, authors of the study acknowledged more research has to be done.
“This study is limited by the small sample size and the short subsequent follow-up,” the study said. “Therefore, further studies are required with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen.”
Dr. Lauren Streicher, founder and medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause, said there’s not enough information yet to determine if COVID-19 can be sexually transmitted.
“Being identified in sperm is not the same as it being a sexually transmitted infection,” said Streicher. “The only way to know that, after intercourse, is to also identify it in vaginal tissues or cervical tissues by culture.”
You can’t give someone a sexually-transmitted infection like gonorrhea or chlamydia, for example, from a respiratory root, explained Streicher. So if two people are together and one person gives it to the other one, you know it has to be sexual since there’s no other way to get it, she said.
“When you have the coronavirus, and if someone’s having sex and the woman gets it, did she get it because he was breathing and coughing on her,” asked Streicher, “or did she get it because he had it in his semen? Unless you identify it in her vaginal tissues and secretions, who knows?”
But just because it hasn’t been determined yet, doesn’t mean there’s zero chance of the coronavirus being transmitted sexually.
“It’s in the semen, so it’s possible that it might be sexually transmitted, but that has not been documented,” said Streicher. While you should be practicing safe sex anyway, “if someone is concerned, then in addition to masking their face, they need to mask his penis.”
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Because the study sample was small, there also can’t be a determination of how common or rare it is to find COVID-19 in semen. If you want to be extra careful so you can keep having that quarantine sex, Streicher says be sure to stay protected.
“Because we know that it’s spread from close contact, most people that are swapping semen are also swapping spit,” said Streicher. “For the concerned person, mask on the top and bottom.”
chrjohnson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--How graduating high school seniors are being celebrated

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot , also apparently known as Madam Mayor ( where ’ d she get those shoes ?
@ @ @ @ @ internet .
Lightfoot , and her awesome social team , made a TikTok and danced @ @ @ @ @ , ” better known as the viral “ Renegade ” song , to announce and @ @ @ @ @ first virtual high school graduation — with the one and only Oprah Winfrey delivering the @ @ @ @ @ is set for mid-June .

Christen A. Johnson, Kasondra Van Treeck

Anya Pierce sets up a graduation sign at the home of one of the Evanston Township graduating seniors on May 11, 2020. The Evanston Township High School Boosters are gifting signs to all the students in the Class of 2020, and the staff was delivering the signs to each senior's home. (Brian OMahoney / Pioneer Press)
The coronavirus pandemic has made high school seniors miss out on some of life’s most memorable moments: prom, senior nights at spring sporting events, graduation, college acceptance day and so much more.
Throughout the state, and the country, many folks are taking advantage of our new virtual lifestyle to honor the class of 2020. Whether it be with a virtual prom featuring some of the generation’s favorite stars, or a special social media shoutout from Chicago’s mayor, people are doing whatever they can to show graduating high school seniors some love.
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Below are some of our favorite ways that the class of 2020 has been recognized and celebrated.
Family car of a Mundelein High School graduate. (Janice Carrier)
Family car of a Mundelein High School graduate. (Janice Carrier)
Mundelein High School honored its seniors with yard signs, among other things, but one family took it a step further by painting their car for their graduate.
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Maine West celebrated its seniors each Friday for more than a month. (Brett Clark / HANDOUT)
Maine West High School tied ribbons around the trees at the school, created a flag display on the field — one for each senior — in the front of the school, and faculty and staff personally delivered caps, gowns and gifts to the seniors.
I've always said that if I were to get on @tiktok_us it had to be for something REALLY special. Today is the day. Get ready. https://t.co/YVCt5h1dLx pic.twitter.com/2h9DtvdMRE — Mayor Lightfoot #StayHomeSaveLives (@chicagosmayor) April 30, 2020
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, also apparently known as Madam Mayor (where’d she get those shoes?) once again graced the internet. Lightfoot, and her awesome social team, made a TikTok and danced to the song “Lottery,” better known as the viral “Renegade” song, to announce and celebrate the city’s first virtual high school graduation — with the one and only Oprah Winfrey delivering the commencement address. The ceremony is set for mid-June.
Seniors at Lane Tech High School took a new approach to the classic yearbook using Instagram. The students sent in a photo of themselves, their plans post-graduation and a fun fact about themselves.
An Instagram yearbook was just one way seniors at Holy Trinity High School were honored. The school also hosted an event in lieu of prom to celebrate the seniors’ prom looks and give out senior superlatives and more. Teachers made deliveries of 2020 senior paraphernalia and gave out lawn signs. A livestream of a robing and awards ceremony will take place May 22. For graduation, which is set for May 30, the school will host a car processional in the parking lot that will also be livestreamed.
Seniors at Kenwood Academy High School have also done a senior yearbook on Instagram, with many students announcing they’ll be attending renowned historically black colleges and universities, such as Howard University, Grambling State University and Clark Atlanta University, among others.
The Instagram yearbooks have been a big trend, with Whitney Young also honoring 2020 classmates with college decisions on the social channel.
Von Steuben Metropolitan High School was another to honor the class of 2020 with an Instagram yearbook. Seniors were also able to submit a senior quote.
NBA superstar LeBron James hosted a one-hour TV special, with notable guests, called “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020” on May 16.
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TeenVogue hosted a virtual prom May 16. There were special performances and celebrities, as well as live DJs and more.
CLASS OF 2020, we respect the grind! 💯👨🏽🎓🧑🏻🎓👩🏿🎓 To help lift your spirits, we’re slangin diplomas! 🥂😛

Just fill in the blank on the degree that matches your hustle or nominate a friend & REPOST w/ the hashtag #FENTYBEAUTYUNIVERSITY for a chance to win some Fenty Beauty! pic.twitter.com/3ojGvwSBnE — Fenty Beauty (@fentybeauty) May 3, 2020
Rihanna’s beauty company, Fenty Beauty, gave out digital diplomas to recognize all the hard work the class of 2020 put in this year.
Libertyville High School honored its seniors with yard signs and travel mugs.
Similarly, Prospect High School in Mount Prospect had staff members make socially distanced deliveries of custom yard signs to members of the senior class.
Main South High School gave signs to its “resilient class of 2020.”
UIC College Prep sent an encouraging and cheery video message congratulating seniors who’ve made a decision about their post-secondary plans.
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Evanston Township High School gave its seniors a shoutout on Instagram, and set the football field clock to 20:20. The school’s boosters also gifted the graduating class with custom yard signs that were hand-delivered.
Deerfield High School used its mascots to send love and congratulations to the graduating class.
New Trier High School seniors were honored with a banner on a viaduct.
Noble Street College Prep’s senior council sent a surprise announcement to classmates, sharing that the school is paying for everyone’s personalized yearbook.
The social studies faculty at Glenbrook North High School sent a touching picture montage to seniors expressing how much they miss and love the graduating class.
Want to share how you’re honoring your seniors? Send an email to chrjohnson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--StreetWise vendors face empty streets and empty pockets amid COVID-19: ‘Things are hard for everybod

StreetWise vendors face empty streets and empty pockets amid COVID-19: ‘Things are hard for everybody. Think how hard it is for those in the streets to survive.’

Davis , 57 , reminisced this week about the entertainment venues and the customers they drew for StreetWise vendors like @ @ @ @ @ pandemic shut them down .
He has been selling the Chicago news magazine , which @ @ @ @ @ and income for people experiencing homelessness or other financial difficulties , for 19 years .
@ @ @ @ @ or at least , he did .

StreetWise vendor Lawrence Anthony uses an older issue of the publication and a poster with his face on it to appeal to customers during the coronavirus pandemic. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Cubs games were always a solid bet for StreetWise vendor Danny Davis, who could usually walk away with up to $400 from selling papers outside Wrigley Field.
Working outside United Center for Bulls or Blackhawks games was a little less profitable, but decent. Still, nothing paid out like a certain blockbuster musical downtown.
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“I tell you something I really miss,” he said. “The ‘Hamilton’ show. I ate off that show for 2 ½ years. If I worked two shows, I was guaranteed at least $400 a day.”
Davis, 57, reminisced this week about the entertainment venues and the customers they drew for StreetWise vendors like him, before the coronavirus pandemic shut them down. He has been selling the Chicago news magazine, which provides a source of work and income for people experiencing homelessness or other financial difficulties, for 19 years. He knows the business — or at least, he did.
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But those guarantees are no more, thanks to COVID-19.
“With the pandemic, it’s like you have to count pennies — make sure you don’t spend this to take care of that, because you never know,” Davis said. Davis now relies on his Postmates job with an assist from StreetWise (with food and stimulus money) to help him pay his $600 monthly rent in Englewood.
Fewer workers coming to the Loop means fewer people buying the StreetWise publication, so the nonprofit — part of an international network of street papers — is finding new ways to help vendors like Davis stay afloat.
The organization has pivoted to be solely online during the pandemic, said CEO Julie Youngquist. Instead of selling physical copies, vendors are out promoting digital sales and connecting with customers through laminated placards posted on or around their usual selling site.
Customers who see the sign can donate to their specific vendor through the Venmo app (@Streetwise) using the vendor’s badge number, or by subscribing online to do the same and receive the publication digitally. Vendors then come into the StreetWise office to pick up their donated money.
As the COVID-19 outbreak worsened, StreetWise launched a fundraising campaign March 18 in anticipation of a spike in layoffs.
“It is very precarious for many of these women and men who have come back from episodes of homelessness,” Youngquist said. “They are on the fringes, and not making $200 a week is the difference between sleeping in a (single-room occupancy) room for a week, or sleeping on the street, or asking to do some couch surfing. So, we’re really holding on tight.”
Streetwise vendor Lawrence Anthony, left, uses a personal approach to get pedestrians like Ted Griffiths to stop, talk and hopefully purchase a Streetwise subscription or use Venmo to make a donation while standing at Jackson and Dearborn in Chicago on May 8, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Lawrence Anthony, 65, is homeless and has been selling StreetWise on and off since 1994. For the past two years, he has been selling the publication six days a week on the corner of Jackson Boulevard and Dearborn Street, in front of the Monadnock Building. A good day for him typically meant he pocketed $100-$110.
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He’s nervous about selling papers these days, since he has existing health conditions and hasn’t been tested for COVID-19. But he has to eat, Anthony said, so he may as well sell. But his bottom line has been hit hard.
“Since everything has been closed down in the Loop, I’m lucky if I make $25,” he said. “It’s bad. I’ve never seen anything like this before. And just because you have regular customers, that don’t mean that you’re going to get something. You just have to be patient.”
Despite the downturn in cash flow, Anthony said he thinks the pandemic has helped bring out people’s humane side. Vendor Gregg Cole, 56, agreed. He said that since the stay-at-home order was put in place, he has actually “been able to get ahead,” selling StreetWise in Lincoln Square on weekdays, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., since December.
StreetWise vendor Gregg Cole, 56, promotes the digital sale of the publication in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on May 8, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“I’ve been very fortunate that I’m in an area that still has moving traffic,” he said. “The neighborhood has taken care of me very well. Customers have shown me a lot of love, and I don’t take them for granted. Let’s all get through this together and stay safe.”
Vendor Keith Hardiman, 58, said he has been selling StreetWise on Lake Street and Michigan Avenue for a decade, and while it has been really hard for the past two months, he has put up a poster with his face on it to let customers know he’s still here — and still in need of help.
StreetWise has helped him keep a roof over his head, Hardiman said, and when he doesn’t have anything to eat, he can go to the nonprofit’s new State Street office and pick up some food.
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Efforts to provide for the needs of StreetWise vendors are ongoing, Youngquist said. Because the nonprofit merged with the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago in March, a grant is available for vendors to do 2020 Census outreach, she said. But no date has been set on when that will happen.
“That will be a first opportunity — like a first get-back-to-work opportunity where maybe (vendors) aren’t selling magazines, but maybe this is a replacement source of revenue,” Youngquist said.
Until then, Hardiman is praying every day will be a good day.
“Everybody is just a paycheck away from being where I’m at,” he said. “Things are getting hard for everybody. And if they were hard for people that were working, think how hard it is for those out there in the streets to survive.”
drockett@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-15--Column: Honey the duck just had her babies. A U. of C. professor is working hard to keep them safe.

A few weeks ago , I wrote about Jerry Coyne , 70 , a renowned evolutionary biologist and U. of @ @ @ @ @ the past three springs , he has taken care of a duck he named Honey @ @ @ @ @ to the campus pond to breed .
When Honey reappeared for the fourth year , @ @ @ @ @ school had been closed due to the pandemic , he ’ d be denied the @ @ @ @ @ her traveling companion , whom he named Dorothy .
He sent a plaintive letter to @ @ @ @ @ asking for permission .
He got it .

The population of ducks at the University of Chicago's Botany Pond has increased dramatically, with 17 new ducklings, some of which are seen on May 13, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The day Honey’s newborns waddled over to Botany Pond at the University of Chicago was as action-packed as an Avengers movie.
Death-defying leaps from tall buildings! Violent feuding! A fired gun! All of that soon to be followed by the arrival of the devil bird.
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But before we get to this episode of “Honey, the Professor and the Pandemic,” a recap.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Jerry Coyne, 70, a renowned evolutionary biologist and U. of C. professor emeritus. For the past three springs, he has taken care of a duck he named Honey, who has repeatedly come to the campus pond to breed. When Honey reappeared for the fourth year, Coyne feared that because the school had been closed due to the pandemic, he’d be denied the chance to tend her and her traveling companion, whom he named Dorothy. He sent a plaintive letter to the school’s leaders asking for permission. He got it.
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That was where we left the story back in March.
Soon afterward, the two expectant mothers made nests on high ledges outside the neo-Gothic windows of the Erman biology building.
Dorothy built hers on the pond side of the building, above a cushion of grass where her newborns could safely land when they jumped, which they did on May 5.
Honey, however, built her nest on the other side, 30 feet above concrete. This made Coyne anxious. He can’t bear the idea that a duckling would die on his watch.
Jerry Coyne, evolutionary biologist and University of Chicago professor emeritus, feeds ducks at the University of Chicago's Botany Pond on May 13, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
“I don’t have any kids, and I’ve developed a paternal instinct towards these ducks,” he says. “It’s what keeps me going during the pandemic. I can’t save human lives, but I can save ducklings.”
So Coyne was relieved when the university agreed to put a trampoline under Honey’s window, and on May 7, a little after 6 a.m., her babies leapt from the ledge.
One, two, three, four. Nine baby ducks in all plopped safely into the trampoline. Coyne, who was watching, quickly turned his worry in a new direction: Would Honey be able to find her way safely to the pond?
Sure enough, she did, briskly navigating the short walk around the building and through some foliage, her brood in tow.
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As Honey made the trek, Coyne bent down and added a 10th duckling to the parade, one he’d named Cuthbert. The day before, Cuthbert had fallen from the ledge and Coyne took him home for safekeeping, letting the duckling rest on his chest as he stretched out in a chair reading “The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield.”
All in all, a happy ending. Until Honey got to the pond.
“As soon as Dorothy saw another brood come in the pond,” Coyne says, “she went straight for Honey and they had an epic fight. As they were fighting, there was a fluffy mass of peeping ducklings, freaking out.”
Sensing danger to the ducklings, Coyne reached for his Super Soaker gun. He aimed. He squirted. The fight broke up.
But within a couple of days, three babies had died, probably a consequence of all the splashing, including one to whom Coyne gave CPR.
“It was very sad,” he says, but he took comfort in knowing he saved another by warming it with a space heater and blotting it with Kleenex.
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And that’s how things stood when I visited Botany Pond a couple of days ago. Coyne sat propped against a tree, wearing a mask and holding a canister of duck food.
“It’s not nearly as peaceful as it was last time you were here,” he warned. “That’s because they have babies now.”
To Coyne’s amazement, the broods have been mixing. Honey and Dorothy continue to fight, and most of the babies prefer Honey, the tougher of the pair.
Coyne is less mellow, too, and as attuned to threats as any duck mother.
He worries about the blue heron that has appeared at the pond — “they eat ducklings” — and he dubbed it "the devil bird.” From a video monitor in his office, he can see when the heron approaches the pond and rush down to shoo it off.
And there are the male ducks who harass Honey and Dorothy.
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“When one becomes really nasty,” he said, “I break out the Super Soaker.”
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Another menace? Humans. Coyne is glad to see people stop by to admire the ducklings, but gets distressed by the ones who feed them, especially the ones partial to rice crackers, chia seeds and Doritos.
The other day a dog owner let her dog off leash, allowing the dog to dart into the water.
“I almost blew a gasket,” Coyne said.
Coyne realizes his work to protect the ducks verges on obsession, and he’s taken some heat for interfering with nature. But he’s proud of the fact that before he started taking care of Honey, most of the ducklings born at Botany Pond died. Now nearly all survive long enough to fly away.
We all seek comfort in the chaos of the pandemic, and taking care of ducklings is Jerry Coyne’s.
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“Our social lives are shot to hell,” he said, “so I have my social life through ducks. Some people say they’re just ducks. But they’re highly evolved, extremely complex. Even the babies carry in their tiny brains a complete map of their mother’s calls. That’s my joy, saving their lives. I guess their joy is getting lives.”
mschmich@chicagotribune.com