chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Coronavirus is striking American mink farms, but Illinois’ shrinking fur industry has so far escaped

Coronavirus is striking American mink farms, but Illinois’ shrinking fur industry has so far escaped the virus

Mink raised on farms to become fur coats or hats have become a recent source of coronavirus worries .
A @ @ @ @ @ virus , which causes COVID-19 , was found in some animals in Denmark and prompted @ @ @ @ @ deaths of the nation ’ s entire population of 17 million mink out of concern @ @ @ @ @ humans and be resistant to vaccines .

Outbreaks of coronavirus have struck mink farms in Wisconsin and Michigan, but Illinois’ shrinking fur industry so far appears to have remained free of the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
An agency spokeswoman said that as of mid-November, two farms in Wisconsin — the nation’s largest mink-producing state by far — have detected the coronavirus in their animals, as have a dozen in Utah and one in Michigan.
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For now, though, no Illinois producers have reported finding the virus in their animals.
Mink raised on farms to become fur coats or hats have become a recent source of coronavirus worries. A mutated form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was found in some animals in Denmark and prompted the government to order the deaths of the nation’s entire population of 17 million mink out of concern the disease could jump to humans and be resistant to vaccines.
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Mink look from a pen at a farm near Naestved, Denmark, on Nov. 6, 2020. A mutated form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was found in some animals. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix)
Nearly 3 million animals were killed before the cull was suspended amid questions of its legality.
The U.S. mink industry is much smaller than Denmark’s — it produced only 2.7 million pelts last year at an average price of $21.90 — and the USDA spokeswoman said no nationwide cull is being contemplated.
“We believe that quarantining affected mink farms in addition to implementing stringent biosecurity measures will succeed in controlling (the virus) at these locations,” she said.
Illinois was once a leading producer of mink pelts, with much of the industry centered in McHenry County. But the business dwindled in recent years as global overproduction and softening demand caused prices to drop: The state last year produced only 33,000 pelts, just over 1% of the nation’s total.
The state’s mink industry tends to make news only when activists break in and release the animals; the last episode appears to have happened in 2013, when two men from Los Angeles freed 2,000 mink from a farm in Morris.
The farmer’s name was not included in court records, and the man named in press accounts could not be reached for comment.
Other Illinois mink farmers did not respond to the Tribune’s requests for comment about their efforts to prevent the coronavirus. Two whose farms are in McHenry County said they’re no longer in the business.
Though the government has found no coronavirus cases among Illinois mink, the farms do not receive much oversight. State and federal law do not require them to get a license, and Illinois officials said reporting disease falls to the veterinarians who care for the animals.
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Dr. William Sander, a professor of veterinarian medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said mink producers have no motive to keep outbreaks quiet.
“Because of how quick a lot of these big farmers are being affected they’ll want to try to utilize state resources, so it’s to their benefit to reach out,” he said.
Wisconsin agriculture officials said they learned about their outbreak from a veterinarian who works with the two affected farms, which remain under quarantine. Nearly 5,500 mink died from the disease, a small fraction of the state’s total population (it produced more than 1 million pelts last year).
Despite the concerns in Denmark over animal-to-human transmission, the USDA said there is no evidence that has happened in the U.S., though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing a study on that subject.
The CDC last week published a study from Denmark that concluded the disease, once introduced by a human worker, can spread quickly with mink showing few outward signs of the illness.
While the researchers found no sign of spread outside the farms, they reported that “there appears to be some risk of virus transmission to persons working with infected mink as well as for their contacts and thus, indirectly, for the public.”
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Fur Commission USA, the mink industry’s trade group, pointed to a statement in which it downplayed the possible risks to human health and anticipated that a vaccine for mink would be available by the spring, before the next “crop” of baby mink, or kits, is due.
A spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, however, said the possibility of viruses that can jump from animals to people will remain a concern wherever industrial farming is practiced.
“It just poses an enormous risk to the workers, to the communities beyond these operations,” she said. “The pandemic has driven home to us that it doesn’t take long for a problem that starts in one of these small communities to affect the rest of the world. Viewed from a public health standpoint alone, this is very serious and should cause us to rethink our use of animals for products where you really don’t need them.”
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 66 new deaths, 7,574 new confirmed and probable cases and 77,130

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 66 new deaths, 7,574 new confirmed and probable cases and 77,130 new test results

Illinois announced 7,574 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Friday for a total of 705,063 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 12,029 and 77,130 new test results for a total of 10.29 million @

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Two die in Old Irving Park house fire

Two die in Old Irving Park house fire

Construction for Vista Tower topped out April 26 , 2019 , as concrete for the 101st floor was poured .
@ @ @ @ @ what is soon to be the city 's third-highest skyscraper .
Sales of its condo @ @ @ @ @ 1 million to $ 17 million .

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Firefighters work the scene of a house fire in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. An 86-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were found in the house and brought outside, where they were pronounced dead at the scene by fire personnel, according to police. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Elderly husband and wife die in Northwest Side house fire

Firefighters work the scene of a house fire in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue in the Old Irving @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 , in Chicago .
An 86-year-old man and 76-year-old woman were found in @ @ @ @ @ , where they were pronounced dead at the scene by fire personnel , according to @ @

Firefighters work the scene of a house fire in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. An 86-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were found in the house and brought outside, where they were pronounced dead at the scene by fire personnel, according to police. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
An elderly couple died in a fire Thanksgiving night in their house in the Old Irving Park neighborhood, officials said, a blaze that may have been linked to the woman smoking a cigarette while using supplemental oxygen to help her breathe.
Firefighters work the scene of a house fire in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue in the Old Irving Park neighborhood on Nov. 26, 2020, in Chicago. An 86-year-old man and 76-year-old woman were found in the house and brought outside, where they were pronounced dead at the scene by fire personnel, according to police. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Firefighters responded to a 911 call from a neighbor who saw flames in the window of the house in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
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The couple’s daughter was able to get out of the house and declined medical attention, Langford said.
After controlling the fire that tore through the frame house, firefighters found the body of the 87-year-old man on the second floor. The woman was discovered in the front of the house on the first floor, where the fire started, Langford said.
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A damaged home on Nov. 27, 2020 in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue, where two people died in a fatal Thursday night fire. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
“The woman was known to smoke, and to use supplemental oxygen,” Langford said.
Oxygen can cause a fire to grow and spread more quickly than it otherwise would, he said.
The house was gutted by the flames. A house next door suffered siding damage because of the radiant heat from the fire.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Chicagoans aid Central American hurricane victims

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Pastor Omar Lindley of Transformation Church International in Chicago, rolls out boxes of clothing, hygiene supplies and water for the people of Mexico, Honduras and other countries in Central America to help those affected by recent hurricanes. Boxes were stacked outside and loaded onto trucks. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Thanksgiving weather in Chicago: The warmest, coldest, snowiest and wettest since 1872

But at least a little bit of rain tends to fall on Thanksgiving — precipitation ranging from a trace to @ @ @ @ @ fallen in more than half of the almost 150 years on record .

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-27--Column: The BEST Christmas cookie recipe in the world. And some thoughts on frosting, which is all t

Column: The BEST Christmas cookie recipe in the world. And some thoughts on frosting, which is all that matters.

So what happens is this : You make Christmas cookies .
Your friends and neighbors also make Christmas cookies .
@ @ @ @ @ their Christmas cookies under the guise of kindness , but really they ’ re just @ @ @ @ @ so they can access their kitchen tables .
You do the same to them .
@ @ @ @ @ family secretly dislike your own Christmas cookies , you refuse to touch the ones from @ @ @ @ @ and I quote , “ They ’ re just not as good as the ones @ @ @ @

Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to talk seriously about Christmas cookies.
“But, Rex,” you say, rudely assuming we’re on a first-name basis. “I haven’t even finished my leftover turkey, and it’s still November.”
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SILENCE, PERSON I CREATED IN MY MIND! It’s never too soon to talk about Christmas cookies. Of all the holiday comestibles, none engender more passion than frosted sugar cookies in festive holiday shapes.
If you Google “Christmas cookies,” your laptop will explode. If you Google “best Christmas cookie recipe,” your phone will sprout an arm and slap you in the face.
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Every publication in America is constitutionally required to hold an annual holiday cookie contest (it’s a lesser-known part of the First Amendment), and a full 75% of all internet content is now just lists titled “10 Great Christmas Cookie Hacks.”
So don’t you dare harrumph or accuse me of prematurely addressing this issue. It’s always relevant.
Now let’s get down to business. I will share the most amazing Christmas cookie recipe in the known world, but first we need to have an honest discussion about these delicacies.
For starters, nobody actually likes Christmas cookies. They are a marginally effective and slightly more couth tool for eating frosting, and they never come out looking the way we envision.
We see pictures of lovingly decorated holiday cookies, detailed with precisely placed sprinkles and different colors of frosting spread without a hint of smearing. Then we set out to make our own, sometimes with our children or other family members, and the resulting cookie array resembles a reindeer and snowman triage unit.
An attempt at a Grinch looks more like the titular character of the upcoming film “Shrek Barely Survives a Tragic Industrial Accident.” The angels’ wings keep breaking off, making them look like armless humans with inexplicable torso indentations.
It’s frustrating and moderately grotesque, yet we do it, in part because it’s tradition, but largely because we want to eat frosting. In an ideal world, we would just eat frosting on a spoon and forgo the cookies entirely, but for reasons I can’t understand, sitting around the fireplace spooning frosting from a jar has never been widely viewed as festive, or socially acceptable.
I read about the history of Christmas cookies on the History channel’s website. (I only trust television-network-based historical research.) Turns out Christmas cookies were created in the Middle Ages, and repressed frosting prudes of the time crafted a narrative that they are a delicious holiday tradition.
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The History channel report said “ingredients like sugar, lard and butter” were expensive for medieval cooks: “Only on the most important holiday could families afford treats like these, which led to a baking bonanza to prepare for Christmas. And unlike pies or cakes, cookies could be easily shared and given to friends and neighbors.”
Which leads us to the next aspect of Christmas cookie culture we need to address. As much as each of us, deep down, dislikes Christmas cookies, there’s one thing we dislike even more: other people’s Christmas cookies.
The medieval sickos who came up with this whole racket made sure homemade cookies were “shared and given to friends and neighbors.” That’s likely because every recipe, without fail, makes approximately 34 million cookies.
So what happens is this: You make Christmas cookies. Your friends and neighbors also make Christmas cookies. They bring you some of their Christmas cookies under the guise of kindness, but really they’re just trying to offload baked goods so they can access their kitchen tables. You do the same to them. Even though you and your family secretly dislike your own Christmas cookies, you refuse to touch the ones from friends and neighbors because, and I quote, “They’re just not as good as the ones we make.”
It’s the circle of Christmas cookie life. Don’t blame me, blame those folks in the Middle Ages. They could’ve invented the hand-carved Yule Frosting Spoon and made a tradition out of families sitting around a vat of frosting, passing the spoon from oldest to youngest. But they went with thin, brittle sugar cookies.
What can we do? We’re stuck with this tradition, and resistance is futile.
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So with that, I present to you THE most amazing Christmas cookie recipe in the known world:
1) Mix together whatever ingredients you want, mainly butter and sugar. It doesn’t really matter because in the end, it’s just going to taste like frosting on some kind of sweet-ish cracker thingy.
2) Coat countertop — and the floor, and quite possibly the dog or cat — with flour and begin rolling dough so it’s thin enough to be cut into shapes that will tear when you lift them onto a cookie sheet. Repeat this step 15,000 times or until all dough or patience is used up.
3) Bake cookies for either 6 minutes, at which point they’ll be undercooked, or 7 minutes, at which point they’ll be overcooked. Again, it doesn’t matter. These are frosting delivery vessels, nothing more.
4) While the cookies cool, go to the basement with a jar of frosting and a spoon, making sure to slip at least once on the flour that spilled on the floor. Discreetly consume spoonfuls of frostings.
5) Return to kitchen for “the fun part” and decorate the cookies with frosting, sprinkles, weird silver balls and colored sugar.
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6) Laugh with your family at the atrocities you’ve created, comforted in the knowledge that the neighbors will be over soon with a tin full of something even worse.
And there you have it, folks. Tradition.
Enjoy your holiday frosting, via whatever delivery method you prefer.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tests positive; 7,873 new confirmed an

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tests positive; 7,873 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 108 additional deaths reported Saturday

“ We ’ re coordinating with the ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ) , which has been changing @ @ @ @ @ , which is fine , we want to make sure we get their expertise .
@ @ @ @ @ level of complexity because the vaccines aren ’ t all going to be the same @ @ @ @ @ require this -94 degrees to be stored .
Some will not require that but will @ @ @ @ @ ” Pritzker said during one of his daily coronavirus briefings .
“ And so all @ @ @ @ @ into account in terms of the timing , the amount of preparation .
”

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, click here for Monday’s live blog.
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,178 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 57 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 720,114 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 12,193 since the start of the pandemic.
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Meanwhile, the state of Illinois’ plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available puts front-line health care workers first in line to be inoculated, but shifting projections on how many initial doses the state is likely to receive and other factors make it uncertain exactly how that plan will roll out.
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said that the U.S. may see “surge upon a surge” of the coronavirus in the weeks after Thanksgiving, and he does not expect current recommendations around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas. Fauci also said that it’s “not too late” for people traveling back home after Thanksgiving to help stop the spread of the virus by wearing masks, staying distant from others and avoiding large groups of people.
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Here’s what’s happening on Thanksgiving weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
7,178 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, 57 deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,178 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 57 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 720,114 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 12,193 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 62,740 tests reported. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 12.1%.
Illinois teachers say COVID-19 struggles are mounting and they’re ‘acutely worried about the safety and well-being’ of students
The escalating COVID-19 crisis is placing enormous burdens on Illinois teachers that could worsen an already critical teacher shortage in Illinois, public policy experts say.
The warning was based on a recent report from a researcher with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, who found that teachers and administrators across the state are struggling on the job and at home because of COVID-19 stressors, which officials say could hurt teacher retention.
“The work of teachers and schools was significantly altered by the pandemic,” Meghan Kessler, an assistant professor of teacher education at the University of Illinois at Springfield and the author of the report, said in a Tuesday statement.
“Many of those changes, and the uncertainty that comes with them, will persist for the foreseeable future,” Kessler said. “In addition to intense professional challenges, teachers are coping with the stress that all families face during this pandemic around access to child care, maintaining their health and finding time for their loved ones. As the state faces significant budget shortfalls, teachers also fear that the resources they need to do their jobs will be reduced.”
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
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From food pantries to parking lot Wi-Fi, public libraries evolve during COVID-19 pandemic
When Illinois’ latest COVID-19 mitigation rules went into effect recently, public venues from casinos to museums were ordered to shut down as the virus continues its ruthless spread. One notable exception, though, was public libraries.
The decision on whether to stay open remained with them, and while many have concluded that the risk is too high, others say they’re going to stick it out, and not just for the book lending.
“It’s not enough to offer self-service,” said Megan Millen, executive director of the Joliet Public Library, which has curbed some services but is staying open. “In our community, a lot of people need our close-up assistance on how to fill out a job application or an unemployment application.”
Libraries, especially during times of crisis, have long been far more than just places where people can check out books and DVDs. With their high-speed internet connections, meeting rooms and massive depositories of information, print and otherwise, they are a beacon to those needing assistance or companionship.
That has changed during the pandemic. Libraries across the state closed for months after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his stay-at-home order in March, and though many reopened during the summer, some services remain diminished or unavailable for fear of transmitting the virus.
But libraries have made creative adjustments in these strange times, boosting their Wi-Fi signals so patrons can use the internet in their cars, expanding their curbside pickup services and offering all manner of virtual programming.
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Read more here. —John Keilman
Chicago nurse treating COVID-19 patients gets Thanksgiving phone call from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris: ‘I know that it’s personal for you’
University of Chicago Medical Center nurse Talisa Hardin held her phone in front of a cozy fireplace as she stared at the familiar but perhaps unexpected face on the screen: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
During the video call on Thursday, Harris thanked Hardin for tirelessly treating COVID-19 patients — for “everything you do every day,” according to a video posted on Harris’ Instagram account.
“I wanted to see you to say, ‘Happy Thanksgiving,’ " Harris says in the video as a loose ear bud dangles against her turtleneck. “I’ve been reading about you and just all that you do in service of so many people.”
Harris wrote that she and her husband called Hardin and other front-line workers “to thank them for everything they have done in the fight against COVID-19. We won’t be able to get through this without them.”
She also told Hardin, “I know it’s personal for you and I know ... it requires mental and emotional and physical and spiritual energy and power that you give to it, so thank you.”
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Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
Saturday
With no action by Washington, governors and state lawmakers race to offer COVID-19 aid as daily count of new US cases tops 200,000 for first time
Faulting inaction in Washington, governors and state lawmakers are racing to get pandemic relief to small-business owners, the unemployed, renters and others whose livelihoods have been upended by the widening coronavirus outbreak.
In some cases, elected officials are spending the last of a federal relief package passed in the spring as an end-of-year deadline approaches and the fall COVID-19 surge threatens their economies anew. Democrats have been the most vocal in criticizing President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Senate for failing to act, but many Republican lawmakers are also sounding the alarm.
Underscoring the need for urgency, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States reached 205,557 on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – the first time its daily figure topped the 200,000 mark. Its previous daily high was 196,000 on Nov. 20.
The total number of cases reported in the U.S., since the first one in January, has topped 13 million.
Read more here. —Associated Press/Report for America
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Cook County sheriff has coronavirus, according to his office
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from his office.
Dart, who has served as sheriff since 2006, received the results on Friday after being tested on Tuesday, the release said. He is experiencing symptoms of the virus as he recovers at home.
He last reported to work on Nov. 19, and began feeling symptoms the following day, according to the release. Dart then “immediately self-quarantined,” the release said.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
7,873 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 108 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Saturday announced 7,873 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 108 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 712,936 and the statewide death toll to 12,137 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 79,055 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 10.1% for the period ending Friday.
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—Chicago Tribune staff
Friday
Coronavirus numbers could fluctuate after Thanksgiving, but don’t be fooled, health experts say
The coronavirus testing numbers that have guided much of the nation’s response to the pandemic are likely to be erratic over the next week or so, experts said Friday, as fewer people get tested during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and testing sites observe shorter hours.
The result could be potential dips in reported infections that offer the illusion that the spread of the virus is easing when, in fact, the numbers say little about where the nation stands in fighting COVID-19.
“I just hope that people don’t misinterpret the numbers and think that there wasn’t a major surge as a result of Thanksgiving, and then end up making Christmas and Hanukkah and other travel plans,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a professor at George Washington University and an emergency physician.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Coronavirus is striking American mink farms, but Illinois’ shrinking fur industry has so far escaped the virus
Outbreaks of coronavirus have struck mink farms in Wisconsin and Michigan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. For now, though, no Illinois producers have reported finding the virus in their animals.
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Mink raised on farms to become fur coats or hats have become a recent source of coronavirus worries. A mutated form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was found in some animals in Denmark and prompted the government to order the deaths of the nation’s entire population of 17 million mink out of concern the disease could jump to humans and be resistant to vaccines.
Read more here. —John Keilman
7,574 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 66 deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Friday announced 7,574 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 66 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 705,063 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 12,029 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 77,130 tests reported in the previous 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 12.2%.
It was the first day since Nov. 4 that fewer than 8,000 cases were reported, though it was likely due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Black Friday online sales could top $9 billion as shoppers in Chicago area and elsewhere stay home to buy gifts amid pandemic
Albert Edillor, 39, of Skokie, remembers years when lines for Black Friday deals stretched around store parking lots.
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Instead, there were a few dozen shoppers waiting outside a Walmart in Niles when the store opened this morning, with employees reminding them to keep a shopping cart between each group.
Black Friday long has been considered the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season but in recent years, merchants have welcomed smaller crowds as they put more deals online and began offering discounts earlier in the week of Thanksgiving.
This year, with the coronavirus pandemic leaving both stores and shoppers wary of crowds, discounts were advertised even earlier in the week and retailers skipped the Thanksgiving and Black Friday “doorbuster” deals of years past.
Despite less foot traffic, sales are expected to increase between 3.6% and 5.2% this year, totaling at least $755.3 billion, according to The National Retail Federation, a trade group.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach and Abdel Jimenez
Illinois’ plan for COVID-19 vaccine distribution puts front-line health care workers first, but many details still up in air
The state of Illinois’ plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available puts front-line health care workers first in line to be inoculated, but shifting projections on how many initial doses the state is likely to receive, the various temperature storage requirements for different vaccines and changing federal recommendations make it uncertain exactly how that plan will roll out.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week the state will “be ready to go, we believe, as soon as those vaccines hit the ground,” as promising developments about coronavirus vaccine effectiveness continue to trickle out from studies by drugmakers. But he made clear the many challenges of distributing a long-awaited vaccine that could put an end to restrictions that have upended life and commerce in the state.
“We’re coordinating with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), which has been changing its recommendations along the way, which is fine, we want to make sure we get their expertise. There’s also a level of complexity because the vaccines aren’t all going to be the same. Some are going to require this -94 degrees to be stored. Some will not require that but will have different temperature requirements,” Pritzker said during one of his daily coronavirus briefings. “And so all of that should be taken into account in terms of the timing, the amount of preparation.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday that the initial doses of a vaccine could be available as soon as next month, although it will be next year before shots are available for the general public.
The state in October laid out the framework for how it intends to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine with top priority going to the “critical workforce” that provides health care, staff and residents in long-term care and assisted living facilities, and essential workers outside the health care industry.
Projections of the number of doses the state will receive are “constantly in flux,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who in one week gave dramatically different estimates.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
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Before COVID-19, low-income college students often struggled to stay in school. The pandemic has only made it harder
Low-income college students face myriad challenges as they try to continue their education despite pandemic-related setbacks.
Some students have withdrawn from school because of changing economic circumstances, problems with online learning or difficulty connecting to virtual student services.
According to U.S. census data from August, nearly 7 million people said they canceled college plans for the fall because their income had changed during the pandemic and they could no longer pay.
Overall undergraduate enrollment at U.S. colleges is down about 4.4%, with the greatest declines seen in community colleges and among first-year students, according to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse. While the NSC does not break the numbers down by socioeconomic status, nontraditional and low-income students typically favor community colleges.
In Illinois, fewer students have applied for federal and state financial aid since schools closed down in March compared with the same time last year, according to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers need-based grants to college students. That’s a sign low-income students might be abandoning college plans altogether instead of seeking help with tuition.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
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Here’s how to get through seasonal affective disorder during a pandemic
With our days growing shorter and the temperatures dropping, the time for seasonal affective disorder is here.
Sometimes referred to as the winter blues, seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression that occurs during the winter months.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans have reported an increase in anxiety and depression. With added levels of stress, more people may experience SAD this year.
Experts say daily exercise and reaching to people every day can help. Find out more about dealing with the disorder here. —Hannah Herrera Greenspan
Thursday
Health officials report 12,022 new confirmed and probable cases and 131 more deaths
Illinois health officials on Thanksgiving announced 12,022 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 131 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 697,489 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 11,963 since the start of the pandemic.
Americans risk traveling over Thanksgiving despite warnings
Millions of Americans took to the skies and the highways ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring gasoline on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household.
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Those who are flying witnessed a distinctly 2020 landscape at the nation’s airports: plexiglass barriers in front of the ID stations, rapid virus testing sites inside terminals, masks in check-in areas and on board planes, and paperwork asking passengers to quarantine on arrival at their destination.
While the number of Americans traveling by air over the past several days was down dramatically from the same time last year, many pressed ahead with their holiday plans amid skyrocketing deaths, hospitalizations and confirmed infections across the U.S.
Some were tired of more than eight months of social distancing and determined to spend time with loved ones.
“I think with the holidays and everything, it’s so important right now, especially because people are so bummed out because of the whole pandemic,” said 25-year-old Cassidy Zerkle of Phoenix, who flew to Kansas City, Missouri, to visit family during what is traditionally one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Dead mink infected with a possible mutated form of COVID-19 resurface from graves after burial in Denmark
Some of the thousands of mink culled to minimize the risk of them re-transmitting the new coronavirus to humans have risen from their shallow graves in western Denmark after gases built up inside the bodies, Danish authorities said Thursday.
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“The gases cause the animals to expand and in the worst cases, the mink get pushed out of the ground,” Jannike Elmegaard of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said. He said it affected “a few hundred” animals.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Virus surge, once in the nation’s middle, gains steam all around
What started as a Midwestern surge has grown into coast-to-coast disaster.
Over the last two months, rural counties and midsize cities in the Great Plains and Upper Midwest have been the main drivers of the dizzying growth in U.S. coronavirus cases.
But the virus appears to have entered a new phase in recent days: The reason the country is continuing to break case records has less to do with North Dakota and Wisconsin than it does with swift resurgences of the virus in cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix and with first-time spikes in smaller cities away from the nation’s middle, like Cumberland, Maryland.
“Our people are tired,” said Maggie Hansen, chief nursing executive at Memorial Healthcare System in south Florida. “They’re tired, and they don’t see an end in sight.”
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Read more here. —The New York Times
Their teeth fell out. Was it another COVID-19 consequence?
Earlier this month, Farah Khemili popped a wintergreen breath mint in her mouth and noticed a strange sensation: a bottom tooth wiggling against her tongue.
Khemili, 43, of Voorheesville, New York, had never lost an adult tooth. She touched the tooth to confirm it was loose, initially thinking the problem might be the mint. The next day, the tooth flew out of her mouth and into her hand. There was neither blood nor pain.
Khemili survived a bout with COVID-19 this spring, and has joined an online support group as she has endured a slew of symptoms experienced by many other “long haulers”: brain fog, muscle aches and nerve pain.
There’s no rigorous evidence yet that the infection can lead to tooth loss or related problems. But among members of her support group, she found others who also described teeth falling out, as well as sensitive gums and teeth turning gray or chipping.
Read more here. —The New York Times
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No Thanksgiving reunion for couple after man barred from U.S. visit by Customs officers at O’Hare
They were a long-distance couple hoping to reunite for the holiday season.
An African man and an American woman who fell in love during a religious mission trip.
Nkosinathi Gama is a 29-year-old man from Eswatini, a country in southern Africa that was formerly known as Swaziland. Rachel Perkins is a 24-year-old seminarian student at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.
They thought everything would go smoothly. Why wouldn’t they?
Gama had his visa, a return ticket and a negative COVID-19 test. Plus, Gama had visited the U.S. last year without a problem.
Read more here. —Javonte Anderson
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COVID-19 outbreak at Chicago homeless shelter points to coronavirus surge dangers, advocates say
A homeless shelter on Chicago’s West Side is grappling with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, prompting concerns from advocates and organizations as the coronavirus surges nationwide.
The Franciscan Outreach shelter, 2715 W. Harrison St. in Lawndale, had 55 of its 140 guests test positive for the virus last week, according to Richard Ducatenzeiler, executive director of Franciscan Outreach.
A majority of those who tested positive are asymptomatic, and about 20 of the most vulnerable people were transferred to an isolation wing set up by A Safe Haven, Ducatenzeiler said. The rest were isolated in the shelter’s southern dormitory.
“We’re not designed to serve as an isolation center, so it’s definitely not a perfect setup,” Ducatenzeiler said. “They’re still having to walk through common spaces in order to go to the restroom or take a shower, and trying to control that at all times becomes difficult.”
Read more here. —Kelli Smith
Chicago State’s Lance Irvin, a 2-time cancer survivor, isn’t coaching in person this season because of the health risks COVID-19 presents
Chicago State basketball coach Lance Irvin was supposed to be in Champaign on Wednesday for the season opener.
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Instead he was home in Chicago, watching the Cougars take on Ohio on television and taking notes.
As a two-time cancer survivor, Irvin decided to step back this season, understanding that coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic raises health risks he isn’t comfortable taking.
“I’ve been through a lot,” Irvin said. “I’m trying to be smart. What I’m doing is for the health and well-being of myself and my family. I’m going with the advice of my doctor. I’m in such good shape, but we don’t want to see, if I get a serious virus, how my body will deal with it.
“It wouldn’t be smart. I was in the room when they said, ‘He’s got a 50% chance of making it.’ “
Read more here. — Shannon Ryan
Splitting 5 to 4, Supreme Court blocks New York coronavirus restrictions on houses of worship
As coronavirus cases surge again nationwide the Supreme Court late Wednesday barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus.
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The justices split 5-4 with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. It was the conservative’s first publicly discernible vote as a justice. The court’s three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Have a question about COVID-19? University of Chicago’s Dr. Emily Landon will answer readers’ questions Dec. 2 on Facebook Live.
The number of COVID-19 cases is rising, along with worries and concerns: Am I doing all that I can to stay safe from the coronavirus? Why did I test positive if I wore a mask and isolated? I haven’t been infected though I’m not taking any precautions, so is this even real? It can be hard to keep up with the news with so many new developments.
That’s why the Chicago Tribune is partnering with the University of Chicago to answer readers’ questions with a Facebook Live event Dec. 2. I’ll be asking readers’ questions to University of Chicago Medicine infectious diseases expert Dr. Emily Landon in hopes of quelling some of those concerns. If you have a question you haven’t been able to find an answer to, now is your chance to be heard.
The link to the Facebook Live stream will go live on our Facebook page Dec. 2. Also, our written Q&A is continuously updated, so if you have a question that we haven’t answered yet there, send it to the Tribune here.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Ferrari hits concrete barrier, flips and catches fire on Lake Shore Drive; 2 injured

Shortly before 12:45 a.m. , a 22-year-old man was driving in the northbound lane in the 1000 block of North @ @ @ @ @ the car struck a barrier and flipped over before catching fire , police said .

Two men were injured early Saturday morning after the driver of a Ferrari hit a concrete barrier and the vehicle flipped on its roof, before catching fire on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago police said.
Shortly before 12:45 a.m., a 22-year-old man was driving in the northbound lane in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive, when the car struck a barrier and flipped over before catching fire, police said.
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The driver and a 20-year-old male passenger were both taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where they were listed in good condition, police said.
No other injuries were reported.


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Male victim fatally wounded in shooting in South Chicago neighborhood

The victim , whose age was not immediately known , was in the 9000 block of South Commercial Avenue about @ @ @ @ @ shots , then felt pain .
He was taken to South Shore Hospital where he @ @ @ @ @ police said .

A male victim was pronounced dead after being shot Saturday afternoon in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
The victim, whose age was not immediately known, was in the 9000 block of South Commercial Avenue about 2:15 p.m. when he heard shots, then felt pain. He was taken to South Shore Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Chicago police said.
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No one was in custody for the fatal shooting, and detectives were investigating.
dawilliams@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Off-duty Chicago police officer uses tourniquet to save man who broke out glass window to escape bla

Off-duty Chicago police officer uses tourniquet to save man who broke out glass window to escape blaze in Old Town apartment building

Hanlon , a Town Hall district tactical team officer who has been with the department for almost six years , @ @ @ @ @ saw a man punching out a small window .
The man then dove out of @ @ @ @ @ ground several feet below to escape the fire , seriously injuring his arm .

Chicago police Officer John Hanlon was running an errand around noon on his off day Monday when he saw a plume of black smoke billowing from a North Side apartment building.
Hanlon, a Town Hall district tactical team officer who has been with the department for almost six years, then heard glass break and saw a man punching out a small window. The man then dove out of the window and onto the ground several feet below to escape the fire, seriously injuring his arm.
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Chicago police Officer John Hanlon speaks during a press conference at the 19th District in Chicago on Nov. 23, 2020. Officer Hanlon helped a fire victim while he was off-duty by applying tourniquet to the victim's fractured arm before the victim could be transported to a local hospital. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The blaze had broken out in a building in the 500 block of North Avenue in the Old Town neighborhood.
The officer pulled his car into a lot across the street from the building, which was enveloped in smoke, and was able to render aid until emergency crews arrived.
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“I ran across the street to help him but there was a small fence dividing us,” Hanlon said, speaking of the lifesaving incident Saturday from the North Side’s Town Hall district.
Another good Samaritan boosted the man over the fence while Hanlon ran back to his car to retrieve a first aid kit that he keeps in his personal vehicle, he said.
When he returned, Hanlon noticed the man appeared to have broken his arm and had several serious cuts after falling about 6 feet through the window.
“Even without having gone to medical school, it was very clear his bone was broken in multiple places,” Hanlon said.
But most concerning were the cuts, where blood was gushing from the man’s arm.
Hanlon tied a tourniquet from the first aid kit around the man’s arm, and the bleeding slowed. He stayed until paramedics arrived, and the man, who survived, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tests positive for COVID-19

Dart , who has been sheriff since 2006 , received the results Friday after being tested Tuesday , according to @ @ @ @ @ experiencing symptoms of the virus as he recovers at home .

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release from his office.
Dart, who has been sheriff since 2006, received the results Friday after being tested Tuesday, according to the release. He is experiencing symptoms of the virus as he recovers at home.
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Sheriff Tom Dart visits Division 16, the Cook County Jail's isolation and quarantine facility for detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Chicago May 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
He last reported to work on Nov. 19, and began feeling symptoms the following day, the release said, and then “immediately self-quarantined.”
Dart does not know where he contracted the virus, according to the release.
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As of 5 p.m. Friday, 267 people detained at Cook County Jail were positive for COVID-19, including five who are being treated at area hospitals, according to the sheriff’s office. Another 126 employees were positive.
The sheriff held a news conference outside the jail on Nov. 12 to warn people to follow COVID-19 guidelines as cases began to rise again in Illinois and across the country this fall.
Last week, the sheriff’s office announced it was halting in-person visits at the jail because of rising coronavirus cases in the Chicago area after resuming them in an outdoor setting in June.
In Illinois, health officials on Saturday announced 7,873 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 108 additional fatalities across the state.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 108 new deaths, 7,873 new confirmed and probable cases and 79,055

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 108 new deaths, 7,873 new confirmed and probable cases and 79,055 new test results

Illinois announced 7,873 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Saturday for a total of 712,936 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 12,137 and 79,055 new test results for a total of 10.37 million @


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--3 dead, 2 others wounded in city violence since Friday afternoon on the West and South sides

A 20-year-old woman was driven to Little Company of Mary Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder .
@ @ @ @ @ 20 , was taken to the same hospital with a wound to the right foot @ @ @ @ @ in fair condition , police said .

Three people are dead, and at least two others have been wounded in shootings on the South and West sides since Friday afternoon, Chicago police said.
The latest fatal shooting happened shortly after 6 a.m. Saturday in the 3100 block of West 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood, police said.
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A 33-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body in a drive-by shooting. The gunman was inside of a black vehicle, police said. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning.
Shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday in the 3900 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, a 27-year-old man was fatally shot after he suffered a wound to the chest, police said.
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He was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was identified as Terrence Goodlow of the same block where he was fatally wounded, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m., a 25-year-old man was near a commercial business in the 2900 block of West Fulton Avenue, when a vehicle approached and someone inside fired shots, hitting the victim multiple times in the body. He was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
Hours later in the Brainerd neighborhood on the South Side, two women were shot in the 9400 block of South Laflin Street, police said.
The victims were inside of a vehicle when shots were fired and they were struck.
A 20-year-old woman was driven to Little Company of Mary Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. The other victim, also 20, was taken to the same hospital with a wound to the right foot. Both women were listed in fair condition, police said.
No one was in custody for any of the shootings, and detectives were investigating.


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Work, classes, financial aid — and now COVID-19: Life as a poor college student has only gotten toug

Work, classes, financial aid — and now COVID-19: Life as a poor college student has only gotten tougher during the pandemic

“ I don ’ t feel comfortable going to a cafe or anything currently , ” said Castillo , 20 @ @ @ @ @ expose her relatives to COVID-19 .
The laundry room is “ not the best , @ @ @ @ @ I would prefer to be outside with my dogs because I like sitting in nature @ @ @ @ @ way too cold for that right now .
”

When Ximena Castillo needs to focus on her college coursework, she walks down the hall from her basement apartment in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood and settles into her new study spot: the laundry room.
No one bothers her there. It’s quiet and the temperature is comfortable — until, that is, one of her neighbors needs to wash or dry a load.
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But Castillo, a junior at Dominican University in River Forest, still prefers working there than in the small unit she shares with her parents, which is full of distractions. She used to live on campus, but she moved home after the coronavirus pandemic erupted and doesn’t have her own bedroom anymore.
Sophomore Ximena Castillo, a graphic design and marketing major, does homework at Dominican University on Nov. 24, 2020, in River Forest, Illinois. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
“I don’t feel comfortable going to a cafe or anything currently,” said Castillo, 20, who worries she could expose her relatives to COVID-19. The laundry room is “not the best, but not the worst. I would prefer to be outside with my dogs because I like sitting in nature, but it’s way too cold for that right now.”
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Finding a setting conducive to schoolwork is just one of the myriad challenges low-income college students face as they try to continue their education despite pandemic-related setbacks.
Some students have withdrawn from school because of changing economic circumstances, problems with online learning or difficulty connecting to virtual student services.
According to U.S. census data from August, nearly 7 million people said they canceled college plans for the fall because their income had changed during the pandemic and they could no longer pay.
Overall undergraduate enrollment at U.S. colleges is down about 4.4%, with the greatest declines seen in community colleges and among first-year students, according to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse. While the NSC does not break the numbers down by socioeconomic status, nontraditional and low-income students typically favor community colleges.
In Illinois, fewer students have applied for federal and state financial aid since schools closed down in March compared with the same time last year, according to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers need-based grants to college students. That’s a sign low-income students might be abandoning college plans altogether instead of seeking help with tuition.
“For our low-income students, they are obviously struggling with their education and helping out with their families,” said Jacqueline Moreno, an executive staff member at ISAC. “It’s not entirely different from what low-income students face when they are first-generation college students in any year — it’s just exacerbated right now, and people are paying more attention.”
Unlike in families where going to university is expected, Moreno said, low-income and first-generation college students often feel guilt for pursuing higher education and not immediately entering the workforce to help with household bills.
Castillo, a graphic design major, is trying her best to stay on track. She’s refinanced her student loans, received help from her school’s COVID-19 relief fund and taken on extra jobs to put toward her tuition.
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Her mom, who works at a Little Caesars, and her father, a construction worker on medical leave prior to the pandemic, don’t make enough to cover the cost but have always encouraged her to pursue higher education, though they didn’t go to college.
But between picking up shifts as a hostess at a University Village restaurant and trying to complete her coursework, Castillo is often exhausted. She’s still more than $2,000 behind on school payments and can’t register for spring classes until she puts forward more money, she said.
Ximena Castillo checks orders on a register during her shift as a hostess and busser at a restaurant in the University Village neighborhood on Nov. 25, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
At the same time, her shifts at the restaurant have dried up as business slows due to the pandemic and the ban on indoor dining. Castillo used to work up to five days a week at Bar Louie but is now lucky if she gets scheduled for one.
“It’s a lot on my plate,” said Castillo, who went to George Westinghouse College Prep in East Garfield Park, part of Chicago Public Schools. “I feel like either my work suffers or my school suffers, and it’s so hard.
“For a while I was juggling two jobs on top of school, and I felt like I was drowning. No sleep. Constantly on energy drinks and coffee just to get by. And it was so unsatisfying because I would do my best at everything and get half done.”
‘It went downhill this semester’
Taking time off from college was not part of Jony Estrada’s plan. Though he was nervous about starting classes this fall at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Estrada had been eager to study economics and wanted to minor in finance.
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The 21-year-old, however, began to feel overwhelmed with virtual learning and the amount of coursework. The large class sizes didn’t help — Estrada said he grew anxious waiting for professors to reply to emailed questions — and he struggled to connect with UIC tutors when he tried to reach them by phone.
“I never considered taking a gap year until this year, when this whole pandemic started,” said Estrada, who lives in the West Elsdon neighborhood, near Midway Airport, with his parents. “It went downhill this semester. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a new student and I’m not familiar with how things work around here or just because of the work.”
Estrada earned his associate degree from Loyola University Chicago over the summer and participates in a program through the nonprofit Bottom Line, which helps low-income and first-generation students reach college and obtain a degree.
While Estrada hoped to continue making progress this semester, he felt staying in school would negatively affect his mental health, so he dropped his four classes just before midterms.
Chris Broughton, executive director of Bottom Line’s Chicago operations, said most of the 1,500 students in his programs are sticking with school even though they don’t like online classes.
“About 85% or more of our students are staying enrolled in college and trying to persist and navigate this new remote learning environment, even though it’s been a challenge,” he said. “Students are generally feeling dissatisfied and not enjoying that experience in the way they envisioned.”
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For now, Estrada hopes to get an internship in a business-related field as he decides whether to return to UIC in the spring. He’s not sure if he should wait until next year, when there might be a better chance for in-person learning to resume.
“I will graduate because that’s my goal also ― to get a diploma, to get a bachelor’s degree ― but I think right now I need a little break,” he said. “I just don’t think I’m ready for this semester.”
Deepening inequities
While anecdotes of students delaying college abound, the Illinois Board of Higher Education is trying to prevent students from pausing their studies.
As part of a new campaign called “Stay the Course,” IBHE is publicizing data that shows “a significant percentage” of students who take gap years never complete college. The trend is especially prevalent for low-income students, rural students and students of color, the campaign says.
“Almost all of the new jobs created since the 2008 recession require some kind of credential beyond high school,” the IBHE campaign says in social media posts and online messages.
According to one NSC study, only 10.5% of roughly the 1.6 million students who had dropped out of Illinois colleges returned to school between 2013 and 2018. Across all states, only 13% returned, and fewer graduated.
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But today, as the pandemic enters its ninth month and a new wave of infections triggers statewide restrictions, some of the obstacles can seem insurmountable.
Jermaine Lash, who attended City Colleges of Chicago, is also taking this semester off because of problems with his financial aid.
Lash, 21, of Englewood, said he is seven credits away from earning an associate degree in business administration from Richard J. Daley College, one of the community college network’s campuses. But complications with his Federal Pell Grant, assistance that goes to undergraduates with exceptional financial need, have prevented him from enrolling in fall classes.
Lash’s advisers at One Million Degrees, an organization that helps Illinois community college students, said his predicament is especially difficult because he must deal with virtual student services at CCC during the arduous process of verifying his financial records.
Part of the holdup: Lash’s mother recently died from health issues unrelated to the pandemic, and he can’t access her tax documents, Lash said.
“I feel like it would be 10 times better if I could just talk to them in person,” Lash said. “Then they’ll get a better understanding and help guide me to the right path on figuring out a solution.”
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Until then, Lash is working in the deli at a Jewel-Osco close to downtown. He hopes the paperwork will be sorted out in time for spring classes but worries he might need to skip next semester too.
“I just want to finish this. I like college,” he said. “I went ever since I got out of high school. ... Ever since then, I’ve never taken a break or anything. So now this is something new to me. ... It doesn’t really feel right.”
As a whole, Illinois community colleges are enduring a major hit from the pandemic, with enrollment plunging nearly 14% this fall, according to data from the Illinois Community College Board.
While IBHE hasn’t released fall enrollment figures for the state’s public universities, the NSC estimates overall college enrollment in Illinois dropped by 6.4%.
The gap indicates how the pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-income communities of color, said Lisa Castillo Richmond, managing director of the Partnership for College Completion, a Chicago nonprofit. She’s concerned the pandemic will further deepen inequities in higher education.
“Our community colleges serve our most vulnerable students,” she said. “They serve much greater proportions of low-income students, first-generation students, African American students and Latinx students.”
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The number of students seeking financial aid through state and federal grants has also dropped off since the pandemic closed schools in March, a sign that college may seem out of reach for some.
As of mid-November, the state’s need-based Monetary Award Program had received 8% fewer applications from eligible students compared with the same point last year, according to ISAC.
For the 2021-22 school year, applications from MAP-eligible students have dropped by 9%, though it’s still early in the cycle. Submissions only opened Oct. 1.
‘Students will work their tails off’
During the pandemic, Dominican University has seen a “dramatic increase” in financial aid appeals, which students can file when there’s a change in their economic situation.
For many, that’s due to a family member losing a job, health care costs and other unforeseen expenses, said Victoria Spivak, assistant vice president of student enrollment services and director of financial aid.
“Dominican serves a very high-needs population,” she said. “We are over 50% Pell eligible. ... We also serve a significant number of undocumented students.”
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In response to financial aid appeals, Dominican provided additional institutional aid and also distributed money made available to students through the federal coronavirus relief program. Students can use those grants to pay for pandemic-related expenses including food, housing and technology. So far, Dominican had awarded nearly $1.5 million in such grants, a spokeswoman said.
Broughton, of Bottom Line, said his organization also doled out more than $160,000 to help students with groceries and other emergency expenses over the last 10 months through a new fund.
But for students like Castillo, the struggle continues. Her mom lost two weeks of wages, she said, after someone at Little Caesars contracted COVID-19 and she had to quarantine due to the exposure.
Ximena Castillo wipes down glass doors and handles during her shift as a hostess at a restaurant in the University Village neighborhood on Nov. 25, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Castillo has more time to study since her shifts at Bar Louie have been reduced, but she’s anxious she won’t have enough money to pay down her balance in time for spring classes.
Students can’t register for courses if they owe $1,000 or more in unpaid fees, said Mark Carbonara, Dominican’s director of academic advising and first-year experience, who’s been helping Castillo look for more scholarships.
“Our students will work their tails off — second and third shift ― in order to pay for college,” but those jobs are disappearing because of COVID-19, he said.
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While it’s nerve-wracking to wait, Castillo said she remains hopeful she’ll come up with money to attend next semester. She said the adversity will make her a stronger person in the end.
“I just remind myself how lucky I am to even have the opportunity to go to school,” she said. “I know a lot of people in my neighborhood who didn’t have the same opportunities as I did.”
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--2 in custody after stolen vehicle crashes in Belmont Central neighborhood

Two people were taken into custody after a stolen vehicle they were in struck a parked vehicle and flipped onto @ @ @ @ @ the Belmont Central neighborhood , Chicago police said .

Two people were taken into custody after a stolen vehicle they were in struck a parked vehicle and flipped onto its side Friday night in the Belmont Central neighborhood, Chicago police said.
Shortly after 11:30 p.m., a Honda CRV was eastbound in the 5600 block of West George Street, when it struck a vehicle and ended up on its side.
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The driver and a male passenger were arrested after officers discovered the vehicle was stolen, and one of the men had a handgun, police said.
Charges were pending.


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Arrest after 7 years finally gives South Side mother hope for justice for her slain daughter. ‘I jus

Arrest after 7 years finally gives South Side mother hope for justice for her slain daughter. ‘I just kept saying, thank you, Lord.’

Reed was placed in a photo lineup and the driver of the car identified him as the shooter .
Detectives @ @ @ @ @ in the car to identify him as well , but they could not be located @ @ @ @ @ .
About four years later , detectives caught up with a second victim , who @ @ @ @ @ Reed .

Nortasha Stingley whose daughter, Marissa Boyd-Stingley was killed in 2013, holds a photo of her daughter at her Chicago home, Nov. 20, 2020. Police have arrested a suspect in her daughters murder. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
On the day her daughter was shot to death, Nortasha Stingley says she went to the lakefront and thought about giving up and jumping in.
But God had another plan, she told herself. It would be seven years of struggling with PTSD and marching for justice with other mothers of slain children before she saw it.
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Earlier this month, Stingley learned that Reginald Reed, a man from her old neighborhood of Park Manor, had been arrested and charged with killing her 19-year-old daughter, Marissa Boyd-Stingley.
“I just kept saying, thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord, after I heard the news,” Stingley said. “I know this is only the beginning, I still have to face the trial.”
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Community members listen to Mothers Against Senseless Killings activist Nortasha Stingley at a news conference in 2019. (Camille Fine / Chicago Tribune)
But she has made it this far and now there is finally hope. “I don’t think the police would have gotten him after all this time if they didn’t think it was him.”
Her daughter was killed on June 25, 2013, just blocks from her home after a night at the lake with new friends. Boyd-Stingley and four other people were riding in a car when Reed’s black SUV pulled alongside at 73rd Street and King Drive, according to prosecutors.
Reed, alone in the SUV, began to look inside their car and two of the people asked him what he wanted. When he didn’t answer, someone said, “Right, with your cockeyed ass,” apparently referring to Reed’s misaligned left eye, prosecutors said.
Reed pulled out a gun and fired several times at the car, hitting everyone inside. Boyd-Stingley, sitting in the middle of the back seat, was the only one killed.
Nortasha Stingley whose daughter Marissa Boyd-Stingley was killed in 2013, holds a photo of her daughter at her Chicago home on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
After the shooting, Stingley heard that the person who killed her daughter had a “cocked-eye,” and she knew a man called “Rico” in her neighborhood who fit that description. She passed that information on to detectives, who came across Reed after a search of the neighborhood. In court documents, investigators said Reed’s left eye is misaligned.
Reed was placed in a photo lineup and the driver of the car identified him as the shooter. Detectives wanted the other three victims in the car to identify him as well, but they could not be located, according to court documents. About four years later, detectives caught up with a second victim, who viewed a lineup and identified Reed.
Another three years passed before Reed was taken into custody on Nov. 5, the same day Stingley had gone to her old neighborhood with flyers and balloons she released for her daughter.
She was later confronted by a woman in the neighborhood woman who told her the police had the wrong man.
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“She told me he was a nice man who sometimes helped her with her children and had kids of his own and dogs he cared for daily,” Stingley said. “I told her, ‘Well … he wasn’t nice the day he killed my baby.’ … If it wasn’t, I would apologize and say let him go, I don’t want to harm anyone who is innocent.”
Stingley said she lost more than 40 pounds as she dealt with the grief and the trauma, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder four years after the slaying. She’s living in the East Woodlawn area now and said she’s feeling “peaceful.”
“I am more in line with my spirituality, I’ve learned how to control myself, and my spirit is peaceful,” she said when asked how things have changed. “God is good. … He’s just good.”
Reed’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 30. Stingley said she’ll be watching.
dawilliams@chicagoribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Facing potentially decades in prison, R. Kelly ‘hopeful’ despite jail beating, COVID-19 lockdown

Greenberg said it adds up to the “ worst possible ” scenario for the defense team , which has been @ @ @ @ @ with Kelly to go over any of the tens of thousands of business and travel @ @ @ @ @ to them so far by prosecutors .

A courtroom sketch shows defense attorneys Ashley Cohen, from left, and Jennifer Bonjean with singer R. Kelly at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. (Cheryl Cook / Chicago Tribune)
Embattled singer R. Kelly is to go to trial on federal racketeering charges in New York in just four months, but already he’s feeling the squeeze.
Facing the potential of decades in prison, Kelly is back on lockdown at Chicago’s federal jail because of a new COVID-19 outbreak. His repeated attempts to win release on bond pending trial have been denied. And he still suffers headaches and pain from a recent beating at the hands of a fellow inmate, his lawyers say.
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“Mentally, he’s probably in as bad of shape as I’ve seen him,” Kelly’s lead attorney, Steven Greenberg said last week. “His mood at this point is certainly still hopeful about his case, but I think on some level he’s just very beaten down physically and mentally.”
Tuesday will mark Kelly’s 500th day in federal custody — a clock that started ticking when he was arrested by federal authorities on July 11, 2019, while walking his dog outside his home in the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago.
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The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn alleged Kelly and his associates ran a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual contact, then isolated and threatened them to keep them under control and prevent them from going to authorities.
A separate indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Chicago alleged the singer conspired with two former employees to rig his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by paying off witnesses and victims to change their stories.
Kelly, 53, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in the New York case alone. The Chicago federal charges carry the potential of decades more in prison, and Kelly is also facing criminal sexual abuse charges filed in Cook County in February 2019.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said he intends to set a trial date for the federal Chicago charges during the next status hearing on Dec. 16.
Meanwhile, after three previous trial dates in New York had to be scuttled because of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has reset Kelly’s trial for April 6, when potential jurors will be questioned in the courthouse’s large ceremonial courtroom about their answers to questionnaires that will be sent out in March.
Last month, Donnelly dealt a blow to the defense by granting prosecutors’ request to keep jurors anonymous, a move often reserved for gang or terrorism cases.
In her ruling, Donnelly noted Kelly was alleged to have “secured witnesses’ silence, and in at least one instance to have suborned perjury, through bribes, blackmail, threats and intimidation.”
Donnelly also cited allegations that during Kelly’s 2008 trial — which ended in acquittal — Kelly instructed an associate to “make contact” with one of the jurors and tell them that Kelly “was a ‘good guy.’ ”
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“In short, empaneling an anonymous jury is appropriate given the seriousness of the charges, the defendant’s history of obstructing the judicial process, the potential for juror intimidation and the intensity of media attention given to this case,” Donnelly wrote in her ruling.
Having a trial date adds urgency to Kelly’s trial preparation, which his lawyers say has been hampered because prosecutors have yet to turn over key evidence identifying alleged victims and witness statements.
Making matters worse, the Metropolitan Correctional Center where Kelly has been housed is back on lockdown with a new COVID-19 outbreak.
In recent weeks, the number of infected inmates has risen from just one to 101 as of Friday — or about 16% of the total population, according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons statistics. In addition, 22 staff members at the MCC are currently positive for the coronavirus.
No deaths among inmates or staff at the MCC have been reported since the pandemic began in March.
Greenberg said it adds up to the “worst possible” scenario for the defense team, which has been unable to meet at length with Kelly to go over any of the tens of thousands of business and travel records and other documents tendered to them so far by prosecutors.
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The lockdown means Kelly has had limited access to email. When they can secure an in-person meeting, his attorneys have to endure a lengthy screening process and try to set up in a tiny room with only one small table to lay out documents, Greenberg said. Adding to their woes is that Kelly can’t read or write, he said.
“The logistics of it are impossible,’ Greenberg said. “(Kelly) is illiterate. We need to sit down and go through the evidence page by page with him. And we need hours and hours to do it.”
Greenberg said he also worries about his own health and that of his co-counsel and staff.
“I’m pretty sure prosecutors wouldn’t want to wade into that place day after day,” Greenberg said. “Why should we have to jeopardize our health? If I wanted to be in a dangerous profession I wouldn’t have gone to law school, I would’ve been on ‘The Deadliest Catch.’ ”
Although Kelly has so far managed to avoid contracting the virus, the jail has proven to be a dangerous place for such a high-profile defendant. The beating Kelly suffered at the hands of a fellow inmate three months ago left him with a serious and diagnosed concussion that “he hasn’t recovered from,” Greenberg said.
Court records show the attacker, convicted Latin King gang member Jeremiah Shane Farmer, was able to slip away from an MCC employee on Aug. 26, enter Kelly’s cell and beat him in the head while Kelly was in the lower bunk. The attack stopped only after a jail security officer pepper-sprayed Farmer, an incident report filed in court stated.
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Farmer, 39, claimed in court filings he committed the attack “in hopes of getting spotlight attention and world news notice to shed light on” wrongdoing by the government. He also was angered by repeated lockdowns at the jail that he blamed on Kelly’s celebrity status.
Farmer was sentenced in October to life in prison racketeering conspiracy conviction that included his role in the 1999 double-murder of two businessmen in Hammond.
Greenberg and his co-counsel, Michael Leonard, had asked to question Farmer about the attack under oath in an attempt to get Kelly released on bond.
But Leinenweber denied the move, saying “release from custody is not the appropriate remedy for such a wrong.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--City revises plans on emergency mental health responses, will fund pilot that does not include polic

City revises plans on emergency mental health responses, will fund pilot that does not include police

In addition to the pilot , the city will also move ahead with its own plan for co-responder teams which @ @ @ @ @ as well as a paramedic and a mental health professional to respond together on calls @ @ @ @ @ Health began looking at that plan months ago , studying about eight different departments around @ @ @ @ @ concluding that it was safer to have a police officer present at an emergency call @

City officials have revised their plans for a new citywide response on emergency mental health calls to include non-police responder teams, an idea pushed hard for several months by activists and community leaders.
The plan for the so-called mobile crisis teams of clinicians and paramedics — without police — will now be part of a $1.7 million alternate response pilot to launch next year under the newly approved city of Chicago budget, city officials told the Tribune.
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Activists, however, expressed immediate skepticism about how well thought out the plan is, and how committed officials really are to removing police from crisis response in the city.
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“The fight for a publicly funded and operated mental health crisis response system, without police, will continue and only grow stronger beyond this budget cycle,” a statement on behalf of the organizations and activists read. “We will continue to push for a compassionate, trauma-informed mental health crisis-response system … because this is what Chicagoans need and deserve.”
Under the new budget, $1 million has been allocated for the Department of Public Health to pay for the pilot, officials said. The rest of the money will come from the other public safety budgets.
In addition to the pilot, the city will also move ahead with its own plan for co-responder teams which do include police officers, as well as a paramedic and a mental health professional to respond together on calls. The Department of Public Health began looking at that plan months ago, studying about eight different departments around the country, and ultimately concluding that it was safer to have a police officer present at an emergency call.
But the movement to shift emergency mental health response away from police and toward clinicians has gained considerable steam amid the national conversation on policing. It is estimated that 1 in 4 fatal police encounters are with people experiencing a mental health crisis.
A police response to those in crisis — with sirens, uniforms, flashing lights and weapons — can escalate a situation. The issue is often escalated in communities of color, where distrust of police remains high.
The non-police pilot the city will now fund has the support of some 50 groups in the city. The groups modeled their plan off a program in Eugene, Oregon, demanding that Chicago set up a separate emergency telephone option — a 211 line — for residents to call for help with nonviolent crises.
Teams of paramedics and clinicians would then launch out of the city’s community health clinics.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, sponsored the ordinance, telling public health officials during budget hearings in early November that she considered it an “emergency” to get police out of mental health response.
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Earlier this week, the city added the idea to an ordinance that also creates the co-responder model which does include police, saying the police department, advocates, clinicians and the community would work together to test each model’s effectiveness.
But the organizers are not persuaded that starting both plans together is the right move, pointing to a lack of specificity around how both concepts will launch.
“The language was undefined and unclear,” said Arturo Carrillo, director of violence prevention and health initiatives at the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, who has also helped lead organization efforts around the non-police idea.
And left out of the plans was the 211 line, which tells Carrillo that the city will continue to over-rely on the police.
“Police-first response is going to be the default,” he said. “The paradigm is not changing. People are calling 911 and police are still responding.”
Chicago Public Health Department Deputy Commissioner Matt Richards said the 211 line is not part of the new plans because officials still want any potential health-related emergency to be routed through 911 center. Richards insisted the crisis response teams would also be utilized, launched immediately to respond to calls that do not indicate a high level of risk.
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“It’s defining which type of calls are appropriate to each model,” Richards said.
Under the pilot, the teams will be established in a handful of districts, based on volume of calls for mental health service, he said.
The $1.7 million will also pay for three clinicians to work inside the city’s 911 center to assist with calls that have a mental health component, something that health department officials hope will ensure the right team is dispatched to a call, Richards said.
“To avoid police taking over, you have clinicians involved in the beginning,” he said.
Richards said the new responder models are part of a larger effort to push mental health services to the places where there are people in need.
For example, the Department of Public Health also announced support for a new social service program that does medical outreach on the city’s transit lines.
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Chandra Matteson, nurse practitioner with The Night Ministry, delivers sandwiches on CTA Blue Line trains early in the morning of April 22, 2020. Social service agencies have reported an uptick in the number of homeless people sheltering on CTA trains during the pandemic. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
During the pandemic outreach teams from The Night Ministry, a social service organization that targets the homeless population, fanned out to deliver direct care on train platforms along the Red and Blue lines, two of the Chicago Transit Authority’s busiest. The team, which includes a medical practitioner, was able to provide immediate medical care, conduct COVID-19 screenings and also refer passengers for services.
Richards said the city sees the program as a way to maybe reach people before they even need to call 911.
“We know the crisis system is not set up to address a person’s underlying social and health care needs,” he said.
Night Ministry Senior Vice President Erin Ryan said the organization has partnerships with clinics that provide psychiatric care and that outreach teams can also assist people with other behavioral or social services crises, such as substance abuse.
“Our programs are really designed to reach those who are disconnected and who are not getting served in the traditional system,” Ryan said.
asweeney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-28--Pandemic provides latest snag in state’s long-simmering efforts to sell Thompson Center

“ COVID in and of itself put a freeze on deal activity , even for properties where folks know there @ @ @ @ @ ” said Jim Costello , a senior vice president at Real Capital Analytics .
“ @ @ @ @ @ which means real estate professionals aren ’ t getting on planes and looking at properties @ @ @ @ @ of the market , it ’ s still up in the air how bad this @ @ @ @ @ impact last another three years ?
No one knows the answers to those questions .
@

People walk outside the mostly empty Thompson Center on July 19, 2023, in Chicago’s Loop. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Count the state of Illinois’ plan to line up a buyer for the James R. Thompson Center by the end of 2020 as another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
A little-noticed provision in legislation the General Assembly passed during its abbreviated, pandemic-focused special session in late May pushed back the timeline for the state to find a buyer for its controversial Loop headquarters by more than a year.
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The state now has until April 5, 2022, to reach an agreement with a buyer for the 1.2 million-square-foot glass-and-steel structure, though the legislature could grant another extension.
“Although the overall project schedule has been impacted by COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services is moving forward with the sale of the James R. Thompson Center,” spokeswoman Marjani Williams said in a statement.
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The agency plans to ask for proposals from developers in the first quarter of the new year.
But what kind of responses the state will receive is an open question.
When Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill in April 2019 to authorize the sale of the Helmut Jahn-designed building, Chicago was in the midst of a real estate boom. But COVID-19 has led to a significant slowdown in property sales, and the shaky U.S. economy is making developments difficult to finance.
Chicago-area commercial property sales, including development sites, totaled almost $8.6 billion through October of this year, down 36.8% from the same period last year, according to real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics.
Nationally, commercial sales volume was down 39.7% in the first 10 months of 2020, according to the New York-based firm.
“COVID in and of itself put a freeze on deal activity, even for properties where folks know there’s a market,” said Jim Costello, a senior vice president at Real Capital Analytics. “No one is traveling, which means real estate professionals aren’t getting on planes and looking at properties. Aside from the mechanics of the market, it’s still up in the air how bad this will be. Will the impact last another three years? No one knows the answers to those questions.”
For properties in Cook County, such as the Thompson Center, investors also are concerned about potential increases in property taxes, Costello said.
Those factors could make complex deals such as a Thompson Center redevelopment even more difficult to take on now, he said.
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“A complicated project with a lot of challenges, the only way I’m going to do it right now is at a really low price, because I’ve got to put a lot of money into it,” Costello said.
Like the building itself, the proposed sale of the Thompson Center, named after former Gov. James R. “Big Jim” Thompson, who died in August at age 84, has a troubled history.
Former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner pushed for years to sell the building, and lawmakers even counted on $300 million in revenue from the proposed sale in the final state budget of his single term — a gimmick that was papered over by a surprise tax windfall in April 2019.
After taking office in early 2019, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed using state assets to infuse cash into the state’s severely underfunded pension systems. While the Thompson Center was one obvious candidate, the new governor put together a task force to study other opportunities and make recommendations.
Nearly two years later, with the state facing a nearly $4 billion budget hole this year due to COVID-19 and the failure of Pritzker’s proposed graduated-rate income tax plan, the pension task force has yet to produce any public recommendations.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh declined to comment on when the group will finish its work.
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While the Thompson Center has had its share of detractors and fans since opening in 1985, its location in the heart of the city’s central business district could ultimately prove enticing to developers. To the chagrin of preservationists, who consider the building an iconic example of postmodern architecture, state officials have said they have no preference whether new owners tear down the existing structure.
The long-term plan involves relocating the state government’s downtown workforce. The state also has expressed interest in taking a partial ownership stake in either the redeveloped Thompson Center site or whatever new office space is secured for state workers, a move that could generate an ongoing revenue stream that could be dedicated to the pension funds.
The state last year selected Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors for a three-year, $3.8 million project management contract to oversee the sale process.
The Thompson Center’s prime location comes with some drawbacks and potential obstacles.
The state estimated last year that the building needs $325 million in repairs, and whoever buys the building would have to negotiate with the city and the CTA over maintaining operation of the Clark/Lake station that occupies part of the building.
While the state has had initial discussions, “ultimately, the purchaser will decide the planned use of the site and enter into an agreement with the city of Chicago and the CTA to maintain the operations of the Clark & Lake station,” Williams said.
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City approval also will be needed for any zoning changes a developer might seek for the site.
There’s also a master lease for the retail space in the building’s glass-enclosed atrium and lower-level food court that doesn’t expire until 2034. Officials said last year that the state was evaluating its legal options with regard to the master lease, currently held by Boston’s Winthrop Realty Trust and Chicago’s Marc Realty. It’s another issue that may be left up to the buyer to resolve.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
rori@chicagotribune.com