chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as state

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as state says 4 counties are at ‘warning level’

After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths , state health officials said Friday four counties are at a “ warning level ” for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus .
A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health , with all new confirmed deaths from Cook , DuPage or Winnebago counties .
The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day , 1,624 new infections .
Counties at warning levels are those identified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for increased COVID-19 cases .
The warnings don ’ t necessarily change a region ’ s lockdown level , but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding “ personal and family gatherings , as well as what activities they choose to do , ” according to a state news release .
“ As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work , the single best thing you can do to help our state is wear a mask everywhere you go , ” Gov .
J.B. Pritzker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ navigate back-to-school shopping , unsure if kids are learning in the classroom or on the couch After switching to virtual learning this spring as the coronavirus pandemic spread , many schools still are figuring out what classes will look like this fall .
On Thursday , Lopez ’ s school said it would only offer remote learning to start , a week after sharing a draft plan that gave students the option to attend class in person one day a week .
“ I ’ m a person who loves to shop for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard to look at them , ” Jocelyn Lopez said .
“ Should I spend my money to buy supplies I won ’ t use ?
I don ’ t know what to do.
” Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches likely will get a late start on back-to-school shopping , the retail industry ’ s second-biggest shopping period after the holidays .
Shopping lists , too , will look different : Children learning at home may not need lunchboxes and uniforms , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The pool first closed July 9 after two lifeguards tested positive for the coronavirus .
After the facility was deep-cleaned and disinfected , the pool reopened July 15 but closed again the same day , after three more lifeguards reported testing positive .
Now , after another round of sanitization and new staff safety protocols , the Glenview Park District pool is expected to reopen Saturday with reduced daily hours from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m .
Hundreds of Plainfield District 202 teachers joined forces to rally outside district headquarters this week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan to start the new school year with remote learning until in-person instruction can be done safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
Dawn Bullock , president of the Plainfield teachers union , said there are “ too many unanswered questions ” for educators to begin the school year with in-person learning , especially given that COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide .
“ We are all wearing masks and social distancing six feet apart at this rally for safety reasons , but to show the school board what it would look like if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fall , ” said Bullock , leader of the Association of Plainfield Teachers .
“ I ’ d give it about 20 minutes before one student says to another , ‘ That ’ s a really cool mask .
Can I try it on ?
’ ” Bullock said .
“ How can we deliver quality instruction when students can ’ t toss a ball to each other , have to sit six feet apart with masks on , and have to give up all their comforts , like group activities and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book.
” The Thursday morning rally was launched after the District 202 school board on Monday voted down a return-to-learning plan that would have started the year with remote learning and was supported by a majority of the union members .
3:43 p.m. : Bears training camp , set to be held in Lake Forest for first time in decades , will not be open to spectators It ’ s not an unexpected move given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , but local leaders and residents were looking forward to the first training camp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in decades .
In a letter to season ticket holders , Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips said players have already started reporting to the first training camp set to be held in Lake Forest since 1983 .
However , with the new NFL health and safety guidelines in place because of the COVID-19 outbreak , all teams will have closed camps this season .
“ While the energy and excitement from the fans that we have enjoyed during camp for many years will be missed , the health and safety of everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote in the letter .
“ We look forward to fans returning to camp in 2021.
” 3:13 p.m. : As districts make back-to-school plans , Northwest Indiana parents are ‘ going back and forth ’ whether to keep their kids home Parents and guardians across Northwest Indiana have been grappling with the decision to send their children back to in-person classes amid the global pandemic as classes are scheduled to begin in mid-August .
As numbers of COVID-19 cases in Northwest Indiana are on the rise and districts release plans , many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed their minds multiple times on the decision regarding the 2020-2021 school year .
While some have decided to return to in-person learning , other parents like Erica Bizon — who has a second and third grader in the School Town of Highland — have opted to keep their children at home to do online school .
Bizon said she expected her kids to want to return to school , but found the opposite .
” I have to wait until there ’ s a vaccine , ” Bizon , who is immunocompromised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot younger , so they don ’ t understand … they just didn ’ t want to go back because they don ’ t want to wear masks all the time.
” 2:21 p.m. : Extra $ 600 unemployment aid expires as the coronavirus poses new risks to parts of the Midwest and South As public health officials warned Friday that the coronavirus posed new risks to parts of the Midwest and South , enhanced federal payments that helped avert financial ruin for millions of unemployed Americans were set to expire — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states to catch them .
Since early in the pandemic , the federal government has added $ 600 to the weekly unemployment checks that states send .
That increase ends this week , and with Congress still haggling over next steps , most states will not be able to offer nearly as much .
McDonald ’ s will offer masks to customers who don ’ t have one .
If a customer declines to wear one , their order will be expedited and they will be guided to a designated pickup spot a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 82 % of McDonald ’ s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are in states or areas that require facial coverings for customers , including Illinois , but “ it ’ s important we protect the safety of all employees and customers , ” the company said .
After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths , state health officials said Friday four counties are at a “ warning level ” for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus .
A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with all new confirmed deaths from Cook , DuPage or Winnebago counties .
The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day , 1,624 new infections .
In Cook County , a woman in her 60s , three women in their 70s , one man in his 70s , four women in their 80s and four women in their 90s died .
The DuPage County deaths were three women in their 90s and one woman more than 100 years old .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in her 90s died in Winnebago County .
The state reported 1,471 people in Illinois hospitalized as of Thursday night with COVID-19 .
Hospitals saw 325 of these patients in intensive care units , with 115 patients on ventilators .
Patients with reported cases range from under one year old to more than 100 years old .
Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases .
The warnings don ’ t necessarily change a region ’ s lockdown level , but are meant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and residents regarding “ personal and family gatherings , as well as what activities they choose to do , ” according to a state news release .
LaSalle County had coronavirus cases contracted because of family and social gatherings , young people going to bars and inconsistent mask requirements .
The county also saw more cases reported by people younger than 29 .
Peoria County is also had an increase in people younger than 29 getting COVID-19 , and outbreaks related to gatherings and travel to Florida , Iowa , Texas and Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents traveling to Missouri and Iowa , states identified as COVID-19 hotspots .
Outbreaks also happened following large social events , health care exposure , and travel to worship and youth sports , according to state officials .
Randolph County saw cases related to bars not complying with mask and social distancing guidelines , crowded places and parties among households — including one party with more than 200 people , officials said .
Counties with 50 or more new cases per 100,000 people or death numbers increasing more than 20 % for two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the state .
The agency said seven-day test positivity rates above 8 % can contribute to warnings .
1:27 p.m. : Durbin says Senate Democrats ’ proposal for new coronavirus relief would send more money to schools The Senate Democrat proposal for the next coronavirus relief package would build on the CARES Act to provide almost $ 430 billion for education and childcare with $ 175 billion earmarked for K-12 schools , Democratic U.S .
Senator Dick Durbin and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said Friday .
Jackson is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Senate Democrat proposal “ but we ’ re hoping it is as much or more than we received through the CARES funding , ” she said at Friday ’ s press briefing .
Jackson said the district is in the process of finalizing its operating budget for the upcoming school year but will need support from the federal government to balance the budget .
” Those additional resources are going to be the difference between what kind of supports we can put in place to ensure students are safe when they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Durbin said Congress has “ an active debate underway as to how much money will be included for schools , ” but Democrats “ will take what we can get where we can get it.
” He said he wants “ to get that number as high up as possible because I know many of these school districts are facing real shortfalls.
” Republicans , who hold the majority in the Senate , are proposing $ 105 billion for education , with $ 70 billion directed to primary and secondary education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funding incentives to schools reopening for in-person instruction , has been delayed due to infighting but will be released next week .
House Democrats passed a $ 3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in May , with $ 90 billion set aside for elementary , secondary and higher education .
The bill also provides $ 1 trillion to state and local governments , some of which can be used for schools .
Last week , CPS announced a hybrid learning approach for most students as its preliminary plan for the fall .
The plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beefing up cleaning procedures and increasing access to technology and internet , though CPS has not specified how much the plan is projected to cost .
12:51 p.m. : Laptops , desks , and lots of hand sanitizer .
How back-to-school shopping looks different this year .
Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches will likely get a late start on back-to-school shopping , the retail industry ’ s second-biggest shopping period after the holidays .
Shopping lists , too , will look different : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lunch boxes and uniforms , but could require tech tools and desks .
And everyone is worried about tracking down enough disinfecting wipes .
Illinois health officials Friday announced 1,532 new known cases of COVID-19 , a day after announcing the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day with 1,624 new infections on Thursday .
That brings the total number of cases in the state to 168,457 .
Chicago has not yet lifted its COVID-19 restrictions to allow fans at sporting events .
But as the Bears prepare for the possibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time the season starts , their social-distancing plans will require reduced capacity at Soldier Field .
In the event some fans are allowed , the Bears will offer single-game tickets to season ticket holders first .
There will be no multi-game packages .
11 a.m. : Waukegan schools to start with remote learning , uncertain when in-person classes will resume : ‘ We ’ re not going to rush ’ The plan takes the district ’ s 16,000 students from remote learning on computers or with packets , to two hybrid stages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ learning to being in school every day .
The initial phase could last for a long time .
The Illinois Department of Public Health , Central Management Services and the Illinois Emergency Management are overseeing the distribution of the masks .
State employees who work at agencies , boards and commissions will receive the masks .
Face coverings and social distancing is required when state workers return to their jobs , the release said .
“ As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work , the single best thing you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wear a mask everywhere you go , ” Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said .
“ But if an infected individual is wearing a face covering , it can help prevent the droplets from their mouth or nose from reaching others around them , ” Ezike said .
State employees will not receive medical grade face masks because they are reserved for health care workers , the release said .
The cloth face masks were received from a private source through the Federal Emergency Management Agency .
9:24 a.m. : Gloves may do more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protecting you from COVID-19 People want to debate whether wearing a mask works against COVID-19 , but the CDC says it ’ s the gloves you should take off .
The CDC and the European CDC have both released guidelines stating that glove use isn ’ t a necessary preventive tactic when it comes to COVID-19 .
CDC guidelines say gloves “ will not necessarily protect you from getting COVID-19 and may still lead to the spread of germs.
” 7:25 a.m. : Parts of lakefront trail reopen after repairs , beaches , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ North stretch of Chicago ’ s lakefront trail closed because of erosion damage was reopened Friday morning , but Chicago Park District beaches and lakefront parking lots remain closed , according to the mayor ’ s office .
Reopening Friday was a stretch of the Lakefront Trail between Ohio and Oak Streets ; other parts of the trail , from Fullerton Parkway to North avenues and from 43rd to 51st Streets , are still being repaired , requiring bicyclists , runners and walkers to share the trail as repairs are completed , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. , with those on the path asked to stay in constant motion as part of the COVID-19 restrictions .
7:13 a.m. : Racing resumes at Arlington racecourse with no spectators , but jockeys grateful to be riding Spectators were not allowed in and the grandstand was empty , except for staff and members of the media .
Face coverings were mandatory and those who could attend had to have their temperature taken before they could enter the racecourse .
6:39 a.m. : Tightening of bar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service restrictions goes into effect Friday Bars , restaurants , fitness clubs and businesses that provide personal services in Chicago will be under tighter control starting Friday , as part of an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus .
Chicago bars that don ’ t sell food won ’ t be able to serve alcohol indoors starting Friday , and bars and restaurants that do serve food will have to restrict the number of people at a table to six under the new restrictions .
Since the city allowed restaurants to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 25 % capacity , with only 10 people allowed at tables .
In line with Illinois at large , the city ’ s seen a recent uptick in the number COVID-19 cases , which city officials said triggered the new restrictions .
Also included in the changes effective Friday are fitness centers , which are now restricted to 10-person classes .
5 a.m. : MLB players get tested for COVID-19 every other day .
But is this diverting resources from the rest of us ?
As Major League Baseball opened its unprecedented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to bring back America ’ s pastime mid-pandemic hinges on rigorous COVID-19 testing , with thousands of players and staff to be routinely checked for the new coronavirus .
Yet some medical experts are questioning the ethics of dedicating mass testing to professional sports amid a national shortage of tests and laboratory resources , which has driven up wait times for results and made it more difficult for the general public to get tested .
“ With the massive testing challenges we are facing as a nation , it seems hard to justify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sports , ” said Dr. Neel Gandhi , infectious disease expert and associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health .
5 a.m. : Chicago ’ s Chinatown restaurants reopen slowly as fear of the coronavirus still lingers Chinatown in Chicago was hit first and hard by the coronavirus .
Not so much by the virus itself , but fear of the unknown .
Masks had sold out and Lunar New Year events were already canceled by the time the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows confirmed cases have remained relatively low in the Chinatown area compared with ZIP codes with the highest numbers in Chicago .
Business has still dropped dramatically .
Most restaurants have tried to stay open — some never stopped serving bubble tea , bao and dumplings for takeout and delivery .
The few bars — all karaoke — went dark until recently .
Less than half of the restaurants have reopened for indoor dining and hardly any have room for outdoor dining .
As restaurants and bars across the city reopened indoor service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cautious .
Owners , employees and customers follow the news on Chinese media , for better or worse .
They hear from family and friends in China on WeChat about what might be coming next .
It ’ s becoming increasingly clear , however , from falling case numbers there and rising numbers here , that we ’ re defining our own destiny in this country .

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths, state health officials said Friday four counties are at a “warning level” for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus.
A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with all new confirmed deaths from Cook, DuPage or Winnebago counties. The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day, 1,624 new infections.
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Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases. The warnings don’t necessarily change a region’s lockdown level, but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding “personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do,” according to a state news release.
The four counties all saw outbreaks of coronavirus recently related to various risk factors, according to state officials.
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Also announced today, Illinois state employees will receive two cloth face masks to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines for returning to work.
“As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work, the single best thing you can do to help our state is wear a mask everywhere you go,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Schools reopening tracker: What suburban Chicago districts are planning for the fall ]
[ 20 questions about assessing your COVID-19 risk at restaurants, gyms and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Friday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:05 p.m.: Stressed-out parents navigate back-to-school shopping, unsure if kids are learning in the classroom or on the couch
Jocelyn Lopez, a rising senior at Round Lake High School, usually gets an early start on back-to-school shopping. This year, she’s made just one purchase: a planner for tracking her schedule and assignments.
Classmates told her she was crazy, she said, “because what is there to plan?”
After switching to virtual learning this spring as the coronavirus pandemic spread, many schools still are figuring out what classes will look like this fall. On Thursday, Lopez’s school said it would only offer remote learning to start, a week after sharing a draft plan that gave students the option to attend class in person one day a week.
“I’m a person who loves to shop for school supplies, but it’s hard to look at them,” Jocelyn Lopez said. “Should I spend my money to buy supplies I won’t use? I don’t know what to do.”
Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches likely will get a late start on back-to-school shopping, the retail industry’s second-biggest shopping period after the holidays. Shopping lists, too, will look different: Children learning at home may not need lunchboxes and uniforms, but could require tech tools and desks.
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Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
5:52 p.m.: Flick Aquatic Center in Glenview to reopen after closing twice due to lifeguards contracting COVID-19
After closing, reopening and then closing again, due to staff members testing positive for COVID-19, Flick Aquatic Center is scheduled to again reopen Saturday.
The pool first closed July 9 after two lifeguards tested positive for the coronavirus. After the facility was deep-cleaned and disinfected, the pool reopened July 15 but closed again the same day, after three more lifeguards reported testing positive.
Now, after another round of sanitization and new staff safety protocols, the Glenview Park District pool is expected to reopen Saturday with reduced daily hours from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Read more here. —Kaitlin Edquist
4:55 p.m.: Plainfield teachers latest to demand remote learning for safe start to the new school year
Hundreds of Plainfield District 202 teachers joined forces to rally outside district headquarters this week, demanding that the school board approve a plan to start the new school year with remote learning until in-person instruction can be done safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Dawn Bullock, president of the Plainfield teachers union, said there are “too many unanswered questions” for educators to begin the school year with in-person learning, especially given that COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide.
“We are all wearing masks and social distancing six feet apart at this rally for safety reasons, but to show the school board what it would look like if we were to bring students back in the fall,” said Bullock, leader of the Association of Plainfield Teachers.
“I’d give it about 20 minutes before one student says to another, ‘That’s a really cool mask. Can I try it on?’” Bullock said. “How can we deliver quality instruction when students can’t toss a ball to each other, have to sit six feet apart with masks on, and have to give up all their comforts, like group activities and sitting on the floor reading a library book.”
The Thursday morning rally was launched after the District 202 school board on Monday voted down a return-to-learning plan that would have started the year with remote learning and was supported by a majority of the union members.
The board voted 3-3 for the proposed plan, with the measure failing to pass due to the tie vote, officials said.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
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3:43 p.m.: Bears training camp, set to be held in Lake Forest for first time in decades, will not be open to spectators
Lake Forest officials are taking a philosophical approach to Friday’s announcement that training camp for the Chicago Bears will not be open to the public as originally planned.
It’s not an unexpected move given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but local leaders and residents were looking forward to the first training camp set to be held in Lake Forest in decades.
In a letter to season ticket holders, Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips said players have already started reporting to the first training camp set to be held in Lake Forest since 1983. However, with the new NFL health and safety guidelines in place because of the COVID-19 outbreak, all teams will have closed camps this season.
“While the energy and excitement from the fans that we have enjoyed during camp for many years will be missed, the health and safety of everyone remains our highest priority,” Phillips wrote in the letter. “We look forward to fans returning to camp in 2021.”
Read more here. —Daniel I. Dorfman
3:13 p.m.: As districts make back-to-school plans, Northwest Indiana parents are ‘going back and forth’ whether to keep their kids home
Parents and guardians across Northwest Indiana have been grappling with the decision to send their children back to in-person classes amid the global pandemic as classes are scheduled to begin in mid-August.
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As numbers of COVID-19 cases in Northwest Indiana are on the rise and districts release plans, many parents, like Sally Ceiga, have changed their minds multiple times on the decision regarding the 2020-2021 school year.
”I kept going back and forth for two weeks,” Ceiga said. “It was awful.”
While some have decided to return to in-person learning, other parents like Erica Bizon — who has a second and third grader in the School Town of Highland — have opted to keep their children at home to do online school. Bizon said she expected her kids to want to return to school, but found the opposite.
”I have to wait until there’s a vaccine,” Bizon, who is immunocompromised, said. “They’re a lot younger, so they don’t understand … they just didn’t want to go back because they don’t want to wear masks all the time.”
Read more here. —Hannah Reed
2:21 p.m.: Extra $600 unemployment aid expires as the coronavirus poses new risks to parts of the Midwest and South
As public health officials warned Friday that the coronavirus posed new risks to parts of the Midwest and South, enhanced federal payments that helped avert financial ruin for millions of unemployed Americans were set to expire — leaving threadbare safety nets offered by individual states to catch them.
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Since early in the pandemic, the federal government has added $600 to the weekly unemployment checks that states send. That increase ends this week, and with Congress still haggling over next steps, most states will not be able to offer nearly as much.
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:19 p.m.: McDonald’s to require masks at restaurants, delays reopenings another month
McDonald’s will require customers to wear face coverings at its restaurants, joining other large businesses that are tightening rules as COVID-19 cases mount across the country.
The Chicago-based fast food giant also said Friday that it will delay for another 30 days the reopening of dining rooms that remain closed.
The mask requirement takes effect Aug. 1.
McDonald’s will offer masks to customers who don’t have one. If a customer declines to wear one, their order will be expedited and they will be guided to a designated pickup spot a safe distance from other customers.
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Nearly 82% of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are in states or areas that require facial coverings for customers, including Illinois, but “it’s important we protect the safety of all employees and customers,” the company said.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
2:04 p.m.: 4 counties are at a ‘warning level’ for COVID-19 because of outbreaks
After announcing more than 1,500 new known coronavirus cases and 19 confirmed deaths, state health officials said Friday four counties are at a “warning level” for COVID-19 because of outbreaks of the virus.
A total of 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases were disclosed Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with all new confirmed deaths from Cook, DuPage or Winnebago counties. The new numbers came a day after officials announced the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day, 1,624 new infections.
Officials also reported 44,330 new tests in the preceding 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate was 3.4%.
In Cook County, a woman in her 60s, three women in their 70s, one man in his 70s, four women in their 80s and four women in their 90s died. The DuPage County deaths were three women in their 90s and one woman more than 100 years old. One woman in her 60s and another woman in her 90s died in Winnebago County.
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The state reported 1,471 people in Illinois hospitalized as of Thursday night with COVID-19. Hospitals saw 325 of these patients in intensive care units, with 115 patients on ventilators. Patients with reported cases range from under one year old to more than 100 years old.
Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases. The warnings don’t necessarily change a region’s lockdown level, but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding “personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do,” according to a state news release.
The four counties all saw outbreaks of coronavirus recently related to various risk factors, according to state officials.
LaSalle County had coronavirus cases contracted because of family and social gatherings, young people going to bars and inconsistent mask requirements. The county also saw more cases reported by people younger than 29. Peoria County is also had an increase in people younger than 29 getting COVID-19, and outbreaks related to gatherings and travel to Florida, Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin.
Adams County saw outbreaks related to residents traveling to Missouri and Iowa, states identified as COVID-19 hotspots. Outbreaks also happened following large social events, health care exposure, and travel to worship and youth sports, according to state officials.
Randolph County saw cases related to bars not complying with mask and social distancing guidelines, crowded places and parties among households — including one party with more than 200 people, officials said.
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Counties with 50 or more new cases per 100,000 people or death numbers increasing more than 20% for two weeks in a row are at risk, according to the state. The agency said seven-day test positivity rates above 8% can contribute to warnings.
Counties at risk also can include those with: more than 80% if intensive-care beds occupied; 20% weekly increases in COVID-19-related emergency room visits; and 20% increases in weekly coronavirus hospitalizations.
Read more here. —Sydney Czyzon
1:27 p.m.: Durbin says Senate Democrats’ proposal for new coronavirus relief would send more money to schools
The Senate Democrat proposal for the next coronavirus relief package would build on the CARES Act to provide almost $430 billion for education and childcare with $175 billion earmarked for K-12 schools, Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said Friday.
Jackson is unsure how much money CPS would receive from the Senate Democrat proposal “but we’re hoping it is as much or more than we received through the CARES funding,” she said at Friday’s press briefing.
Jackson said the district is in the process of finalizing its operating budget for the upcoming school year but will need support from the federal government to balance the budget.
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”Those additional resources are going to be the difference between what kind of supports we can put in place to ensure students are safe when they return in the fall,” Jackson said. Durbin said Congress has “an active debate underway as to how much money will be included for schools,” but Democrats “will take what we can get where we can get it.” He said he wants “to get that number as high up as possible because I know many of these school districts are facing real shortfalls.”
Republicans, who hold the majority in the Senate, are proposing $105 billion for education, with $70 billion directed to primary and secondary education. The Republican bill, which ties funding incentives to schools reopening for in-person instruction, has been delayed due to infighting but will be released next week. House Democrats passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in May, with $90 billion set aside for elementary, secondary and higher education. The bill also provides $1 trillion to state and local governments, some of which can be used for schools.
Chicago Public Schools joined a federal lawsuit on Tuesday fighting federal guidance announced in June that requires public school districts to either share coronavirus relief funding with private schools or limit money to only public schools with a significant proportion of low-income students.
Under this rule, CPS estimates it would lose approximately $10 million of the $205 million it expects from the CARES Act. $503 million was allocated for Illinois schools total.
Last week, CPS announced a hybrid learning approach for most students as its preliminary plan for the fall. The plan includes hiring 400 additional custodial staff, beefing up cleaning procedures and increasing access to technology and internet, though CPS has not specified how much the plan is projected to cost.
The Chicago Teachers Union, which strongly opposes reopening schools for in-person instruction in the fall, estimated it will cost anywhere between $450 million to $1.7 billion to open CPS schools safely.
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—Claire Hao
12:51 p.m.: Laptops, desks, and lots of hand sanitizer. How back-to-school shopping looks different this year.
Families still figuring out whether their kids will be learning in classrooms or on couches will likely get a late start on back-to-school shopping, the retail industry’s second-biggest shopping period after the holidays.
Shopping lists, too, will look different: children learning at home may not need lunch boxes and uniforms, but could require tech tools and desks. And everyone is worried about tracking down enough disinfecting wipes.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
12:09 p.m.: 1,532 new known COVID-19 cases, 19 additional deaths
Illinois health officials Friday announced 1,532 new known cases of COVID-19, a day after announcing the highest daily total of new cases since Memorial Day with 1,624 new infections on Thursday. That brings the total number of cases in the state to 168,457.
Officials also reported 19 additional confirmed fatalities Friday, bringing the statewide death toll to at least 7,367. The state also announced 44,330 new test results.
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—Chicago Tribune staff
11:47 a.m.: Bears cancel all season-ticket packages for 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns
The Chicago Bears will not have season-ticket packages for the 2020 season, the team announced in a letter Friday morning.
Chicago has not yet lifted its COVID-19 restrictions to allow fans at sporting events. But as the Bears prepare for the possibility that fans could be allowed in by the time the season starts, their social-distancing plans will require reduced capacity at Soldier Field.
In the event some fans are allowed, the Bears will offer single-game tickets to season ticket holders first. There will be no multi-game packages.
Read more here. —Steve Sadin
11 a.m.: Waukegan schools to start with remote learning, uncertain when in-person classes will resume: ‘We’re not going to rush’
Waukegan public school students will start the 2020-2021 school year Aug. 17 learning remotely as part of a four-step plan eventually returning them to complete face-to-face studies in their classrooms.
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Administrators of Waukegan Unit Community School District 60 unveiled a four-pronged plan during a virtual Board of Education meeting Thursday to reopen their 15 elementary schools, five middle schools and the three campuses of Waukegan High School.
The plan takes the district’s 16,000 students from remote learning on computers or with packets, to two hybrid stages with a combination of face-to-face and virtual learning to being in school every day. The initial phase could last for a long time.
Read more here. —Colleen Kane
10:38 a.m.: State employees to be given cloth face masks
Illinois state employees will receive two cloth face masks to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines for returning to work, according to a Friday news release.
The Illinois Department of Public Health, Central Management Services and the Illinois Emergency Management are overseeing the distribution of the masks. State employees who work at agencies, boards and commissions will receive the masks. Face coverings and social distancing is required when state workers return to their jobs, the release said.
“As more of our economy reopens and Illinoisans returns to work, the single best thing you can do to help our state is wear a mask everywhere you go,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
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IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reminded workers that they can spread COVID-19 up to two days before they show symptoms.
“But if an infected individual is wearing a face covering, it can help prevent the droplets from their mouth or nose from reaching others around them,” Ezike said.
The CMS developed guidelines for state workplaces after surveying agencies, commissions and boards, the release said.
State employees will not receive medical grade face masks because they are reserved for health care workers, the release said. The cloth face masks were received from a private source through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Implementing a face covering policy is a simple yet effective way to protect your workers and customers,” said Alicia Tate-Nadeau, IEMA director.
—Sydney Czyzon
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9:24 a.m.: Gloves may do more harm than good when it comes to protecting you from COVID-19
People want to debate whether wearing a mask works against COVID-19, but the CDC says it’s the gloves you should take off.
The CDC and the European CDC have both released guidelines stating that glove use isn’t a necessary preventive tactic when it comes to COVID-19. CDC guidelines say gloves “will not necessarily protect you from getting COVID-19 and may still lead to the spread of germs.”
Gloves can trick the wearer into complacency, said Allison Bartlett, associate medical director of the Infection Control Program Pediatric at the University of Chicago. She said gloves are not a substitute for good hand hygiene.
Read more here. —Lauren Leazenby
8:30 a.m.: Optimism fades that jobs lost during pandemic will return
Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts.
It’s a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought they’d be temporary. Now, 47% think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
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That translates into roughly 10 million workers who will need to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:25 a.m.: Parts of lakefront trail reopen after repairs, beaches, other lakefront amenities still closed
A Near North stretch of Chicago’s lakefront trail closed because of erosion damage was reopened Friday morning, but Chicago Park District beaches and lakefront parking lots remain closed, according to the mayor’s office.
Reopening Friday was a stretch of the Lakefront Trail between Ohio and Oak Streets; other parts of the trail, from Fullerton Parkway to North avenues and from 43rd to 51st Streets, are still being repaired, requiring bicyclists, runners and walkers to share the trail as repairs are completed, according to a news release.
The trail is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with those on the path asked to stay in constant motion as part of the COVID-19 restrictions.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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7:13 a.m.: Racing resumes at Arlington racecourse with no spectators, but jockeys grateful to be riding
Arlington International Racecourse opened for the season Thursday with eight horse races and empty stands.
Spectators were not allowed in and the grandstand was empty, except for staff and members of the media. Face coverings were mandatory and those who could attend had to have their temperature taken before they could enter the racecourse.
For Tony Petrillo, president of Arlington International Racecourse, opening day felt “a little bit strange but it feels really good.”
Read more here. —Karie Angell Luc
6:39 a.m.: Tightening of bar, restaurant, fitness club, personal service restrictions goes into effect Friday
Bars, restaurants, fitness clubs and businesses that provide personal services in Chicago will be under tighter control starting Friday, as part of an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Chicago bars that don’t sell food won’t be able to serve alcohol indoors starting Friday, and bars and restaurants that do serve food will have to restrict the number of people at a table to six under the new restrictions. Since the city allowed restaurants to reopen, they’ve been restricted to 25% capacity, with only 10 people allowed at tables.
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In line with Illinois at large, the city’s seen a recent uptick in the number COVID-19 cases, which city officials said triggered the new restrictions.
Also included in the changes effective Friday are fitness centers, which are now restricted to 10-person classes.
—Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: MLB players get tested for COVID-19 every other day. But is this diverting resources from the rest of us?
As Major League Baseball opened its unprecedented 2020 season this week, the plan to bring back America’s pastime mid-pandemic hinges on rigorous COVID-19 testing, with thousands of players and staff to be routinely checked for the new coronavirus.
Yet some medical experts are questioning the ethics of dedicating mass testing to professional sports amid a national shortage of tests and laboratory resources, which has driven up wait times for results and made it more difficult for the general public to get tested.
“With the massive testing challenges we are facing as a nation, it seems hard to justify committing any capacity for something optional like sports,” said Dr. Neel Gandhi, infectious disease expert and associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.
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Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
5 a.m.: Chicago’s Chinatown restaurants reopen slowly as fear of the coronavirus still lingers
Chinatown in Chicago was hit first and hard by the coronavirus. Not so much by the virus itself, but fear of the unknown. Masks had sold out and Lunar New Year events were already canceled by the time the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city was announced on Jan. 24. Data now shows confirmed cases have remained relatively low in the Chinatown area compared with ZIP codes with the highest numbers in Chicago.
Business has still dropped dramatically. Most restaurants have tried to stay open — some never stopped serving bubble tea, bao and dumplings for takeout and delivery. The few bars — all karaoke — went dark until recently. Less than half of the restaurants have reopened for indoor dining and hardly any have room for outdoor dining.
As restaurants and bars across the city reopened indoor service four weeks ago, Chinatown has remained cautious. Owners, employees and customers follow the news on Chinese media, for better or worse. They hear from family and friends in China on WeChat about what might be coming next. It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, from falling case numbers there and rising numbers here, that we’re defining our own destiny in this country.
Read more here. —Louisa Chu


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Black-led groups rally to defund police at site of 2016 Freedom Square Occupation, near Homan Square

The problems described in the pieces published by The Guardian include denying detainees access to their lawyers as well as @ @ @ @ @ any information about the whereabouts of their clients and loved ones for hours .
The @ @ @ @ @ and led to calls for demonstrations .
But lawyers said such problems have been a @ @ @ @ @ Department for decades , not one particular to Homan Square .

Black-led groups lead a rally to defund police across from the Chicago Police Department Homan Square facility onJuly 24, 2020. The rally commemorates the 2016 Freedom Square Occupation. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Activists and protesters took to the streets again Friday afternoon on the West Side with two very different messages.
One demanded the defunding of the Police Department and for tax money to be invested in other resources while the other included prayers and urged residents and police to work together to tackle crime problems.
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Both demonstrations happened within the Harrison patrol district, which leads the city in homicides with 55 through Sunday, 13 more than the same period last year, official Chicago police statistics show.
Black-led groups lead a rally to defund police across from the Chicago police Homan Square facility, July 24, 2020. The rally commemorates the 2016 Freedom Square Occupation. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
By 4 p.m. hundreds of people gathered at a vacant lot in the 1100 block of South Homan Avenue, known as Freedom Square, setting up tents and offering food, clothes and other services for free.
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A half-hour earlier across the street, there was a police presence at a facility known as Homan Square, where Chicago police store evidence and recovered property. Some officers still work from there, assigned to units such as narcotics, forensics and gang intelligence.
Freedom Square began as a protest in 2016 where people from several activist groups camped out for 40-plus days to protest the Chicago Police Department’s Homan Square facility, where some, including a British newspaper, claimed abuse occurred.
One attendee, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, said she understands that the concept of defunding police concerns some people.
“That can be scary for people,” she said. “Especially when many people equate safety being to police.”
But Reynolds-Tyler said less money should be allocated to police and more money dedicated to public health, clean water, mental health services and housing in Chicago’s more impoverished areas.
Damon Williams, an organizer and member of the Black Abolitionist Network, agreed with Reynolds-Tyler.
“The same places where shootings are happening are the same places where the most schools have closed down, the same places where we’ve seen displacement, where we’ve seen food apartheid, where we’ve seen a closing of mental health facilities,‘' Williams said. “The resources people need to survive.”
Homan Square became controversial when a British newspaper published a series of articles in 2015 alleging that the Chicago Police Department used the facility as a “CIA-style interrogation black site” where detainees would disappear for hours. Experienced criminal defense and civil rights attorneys disputed the allegation.
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The stories had gone viral online and led to calls for demonstrations. But lawyers said such problems have been a widespread issue with the Police Department for decades, not one particular to Homan Square.
Friday’s protest, which comes one week after protesters and police clashed in Grant Park, injuring both protesters and officers, was organized by the Black Abolitionist Network and several other activist groups,
“This horrific facility symbolizes how policing as a system is oppressive and abusive and should push us to demand new structures,” said Williams. “Freedom Square, as a space grounded in love and community, aims to be the antithesis of state violence, a place to imagine and build healthier relationships between human beings.”
By 7:15 p.m., activists began spilling into the street and were on the move, marching south through the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, about 3 miles away and in the same patrol district, residents on a Humboldt Park block held an event centered around police and residents working together to tackle crime problems within the community.
The anti-crime event was held in the 1000 block of North Harding Avenue. That area drew negative attention nationally five years ago when 7-year-old Amari Brown was shot and killed a block over on July 4, 2015, while he was celebrating Independence Day with his family.
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A small group of people pass an vacant lot during a prayer walk on the 1000 block of North Harding Avenue in Chicago, July 24, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
On Friday, the event on Harding, between Thomas Street and Augusta Boulevard, featured a group of about 10 people from the area, including the block, who recited prayers as they walked up and down the block with some Chicago police officers. A few onlookers sat on their front porches. Others did landscaping work on a dirt patch. Another walked past the marchers and the group wished him well.
“Every cop ain’t bad. We all know that,” the block club president for Harding exclaimed to the group as they gathered in a circle before another marcher led the group in a prayer for police officers. “But you know, so we just need to pray for our officers. They get tired. You know what I mean? The stigma that’s on them. What they’re fighting.”
One of the officers who marched with the group expressed gratitude to the marchers for their support.
“We know when we’re out there, we can tell people are praying for us,” the officer told the marchers.
One marcher, Patricia Carrillo, runs a block club a few blocks away near Augusta and Monticello Avenue, the site of an alleged heroin-dealing operation that led to about 18 people getting arrested in the last few weeks by Chicago police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. At least one block over there on North Monticello needed a police presence earlier this year to block off the street to curb drug-dealing and the violence that can come with it.
On Friday, Carrillo said at the Harding prayer walk event that life along the stretch of Monticello has gotten better since law enforcement made the drug busts.
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“Now it’s like, ‘Wow!' All my neighbors from over there are happy,” she said. “When they come outside they’re like, ‘Oh my God. This is so much better.‘”
“We always call the police,” she said. “We cannot go against them. Never.”
Harding’s block club president, who declined to be identified for this story out of safety concerns, has seen the value in working with the police to make her block safer. She and other residents have contacted their police commander and alderman for the neighborhood for help in getting drug dealers away from their homes.
“When I moved here ... people started showing up selling drugs and I’m like, ‘Whoa, what are you doing? Move around.’ And it became very violent,” said the Harding block club president. “But then I began to pray.”
Inez Washington, who has lived on the block for about 30 years, agreed.
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“I want my police and I don’t want to defund them,” she said, as she and other marchers stood not far from Thomas and Harding. “This corner was terrible. It was awful. We couldn’t even stand up here ... Things are definitely changing for the better.”
jaanderson@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--The Spin: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago’s Columbus statues ‘temporarily’ removed | CPD blasted f

The Spin: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago’s Columbus statues ‘temporarily’ removed | CPD blasted for slow pace of police reform | Ex-Madigan campaign worker seeks to change Illinois’ political climate with new PAC

Lightfoot ’ s abrupt move in the dark of night was an about-face for the mayor , who has opposed @ @ @ @ @ Italian explorer on the grounds that it would be erasing history .
Lightfoot also said @ @ @ @ @ “ a formal process to assess the monuments , memorials , and murals across Chicago @ @ @ @ @ develop a framework for a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city ’ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot is joined by CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson to announce a preliminary reopening framework for Chicago Public Schools during a press conference at CPS Headquarters, Friday, July 17, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered a middle-of-the-night removal of two Christopher Columbus statues, including one downtown that was at the center of a violent clash last week between protesters and the police. While Lightfoot said her decision was intended “to protect public safety” it also carries a bit of mystery.
She tweeted this morning that statues of the explorer in Grant Park and in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood were “temporarily” removed “until further notice.” So they’ll be back? The mayor’s office didn’t answer my question about that.
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Whatever the case, it underscores the power of activists who have taken to the streets to demand symbolic and systemic changes in government and society, amid a new chapter of this nation’s civil rights movement. Activists around the country point to the Italian explorer’s mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492.
The mayor is facing another threat of legal action, my Tribune colleague Dan Hinkel writes, over the Chicago Police Department, as a lawyer for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Friday blasted the city for falling behind on court-mandated reform.
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And earlier today, I spoke with ex-campaign worker for House Speaker Michael Madigan who has launched a political action committee that serves as her attempt to change Illinois’ political climate after federal prosecutors detailed an alleged Commonwealth Edison bribery scheme that has implicated one of Illinois’ most powerful and longest-tenured politicians.
Welcome to The Spin.
Crews remove the Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park in the early hours of Friday, July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
My Tribune colleagues, who first reported the news about the statue, wrote: “Hoping to avoid another high-profile confrontation between police and protesters like the clash that happened last week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the statues of Christopher Columbus removed from Chicago’s Grant and Arrigo parks early Friday.
“Not all Italian American leaders in Chicago are on board with the decision, but it has received the blessing of key politicians including Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato. By taking the statues down in the middle of the night, Lightfoot drew criticism from those who believe she caved to activist demands.”
Lightfoot’s abrupt move in the dark of night was an about-face for the mayor, who has opposed taking down statues of the Italian explorer on the grounds that it would be erasing history. Lightfoot also said the city would soon announce “a formal process to assess the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicago’s communities, and develop a framework for a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity.”
Reaction: Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, whose ward includes parts of downtown, said the mayor decided to remove the statue “unilaterally,” my Tribune colleagues reported last night.
Far Northwest Side Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, blasted the move on social media calling it a reaction to the “ignorance of the socialist cancel culture yet no immediate action has been taken to fight crime, lower homicides, reopen and save businesses — those have all been slow rolled.”
Southwest Side Ald. Ray Lopez, 25th, a regular mayoral critic, also tweeted, “What has become of Chicago? We have a mayor forced into submission by anarchy & mob-rule? No more public process, official discourse, or on-the-record debate.”
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Northwest Side Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, praised activists, saying they forced the issue, while also criticizing Lightfoot. In a tweet, she wrote “It’s coming down because of the activism that has led to this moment. Indigenous, Black and Brown people have been fighting for so long to see this happen. It’s also a balancing act, the Mayor just accepted Federal Agents from Trump.”
Marching on the mayor’s home turf: Hours before the statues were taken down, protesters gathered near Lightfoot’s Logan Square home to criticize the police. Drawing loud cheers, hugs and applause, an activist informed the crowd over a megaphone that Lightfoot would be removing the statue.
Alaina Hampton standing with her attorneys on March 22, 2018, in Chicago announces a federal lawsuit against the Illinois Democrats and Speaker Michael Madigan. Hampton, an ex-campaign worker, reached a legal settlement with Madigan’s political committees in November.
Days after federal prosecutors here publicly unveiled a criminal complaint charging ComEd in an alleged “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies, a fed-up Alaina Hampton — once a campaign worker for the House speaker’s political operation — set up the Majority Justice Movement PAC with a stated purpose of “working to elect more ethical and accountable elected officials,” according to the state election board.
It shouldn’t be lost on people that the PAC’s acronym — MJM — also is the speaker’s initials.
Hampton said she is digging through state election board filings — the reports candidates and elected leaders submit regularly, listing who has donated to their campaigns and how much — and on Monday will “start calling through to legislators who have taken money from ComEd and asking them to donate that money to this PAC,” she told The Spin earlier today.
She acknowledges she decided to do it once the case came to light and that, no doubt, her past troubles with Madigan’s political operation also fueled it: Hampton, a onetime campaign worker, filed a federal lawsuit in 2018 accusing Madigan’s political operations of retaliation after she reported inappropriate behavior by Kevin Quinn, a veteran aide whom the speaker has ousted.
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Hampton, an ex-campaign worker, reached a legal settlement with Madigan’s political committees in November.
The settlement was announced shortly after the Tribune reported that Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain, an ex-lobbyist for ComEd, had orchestrated for some current and former ComEd lobbyists to give Quinn contracts after Madigan fired him amid scandal.
Documents laying out the federal prosecutor’s case against ComEd made clear that the nexus of the federal investigation into the utility and Madigan’s operation is McClain. Read my full story here.
The former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore steps down from Motorola’s Board: She abruptly exited as head of the utility’s parent company last fall, as details began emerging about the federal probe of ComEd’s lobbying activities at the Illinois State Capitol. Crain’s has the details here.
Then-interim Superintendent Charlie Beck, center, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot sit for group photos with the newest members of the Chicago Police Department prior to the graduation ceremony at Navy Pier on Dec. 18, 2019. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s Dan Hinkel writes: Mayor Lori Lightfoot faces another threat of legal action over her management of the Chicago Police Department, as a lawyer for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Friday blasted the city for falling behind on court-mandated reform.
Attorney Alicia Weber said during a federal court hearing conducted by phone that her office would seek court intervention if the city failed to promptly show a plan to catch up on the requirements of the consent decree, a broad court order designed to change the way the troubled police force treats people. Weber noted that the city has moved sluggishly to enact changes, missing more than 70% of its deadlines in the first year under the order.
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A private lawyer hired by the city, Allen Slagel, said the Lightfoot administration is committed to reform and would share a plan to make up ground by the end of the month.
Both protesters and the union representing Chicago police officers have pointed the finger at each other over abusive behavior at the protests. Read the full story here.
Joggers and bicyclists use the reopened the Lakefront Trail in Chicago on June 22, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois health officials on Friday announced 1,532 new known cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 168,457 and the statewide death toll to 7,385 since the start of the pandemic, my Tribune colleagues are reporting. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.4%.
The latest figures come as state health officials announced that four Illinois counties are considered to be at a “warning level” for COVID-19. Adams, LaSalle, Peoria and Randolph all “saw outbreaks associated with business and risky behavior,” officials said.
Counties at warning levels are those identified as having two or more risk factors for increased COVID-19 cases. The warnings don’t necessarily change a region’s lockdown level, but are meant to be a guide for local officials and residents regarding “personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do,” according to a state news release. Read the the latest on the outbreak in Illinois here.
A man checks information in front of a Illinois Department of Employment Security facility in Chicago on April 30, 2020. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
Earlier this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the Illinois Department of Employment Security — the headache-inducing unemployment office dealing with a record number of applications as the pandemic weakens the economy — had uncovered a fraud scheme impacting the state’s federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) programs. It’s apparently happening in other states, too.
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Reminder from the state: PUA provides federally funded unemployment benefits for those not traditionally covered by a state’s regular unemployment insurance program, including the self-employed.
Republican criticism of Democrat Pritzker has grown louder over IDES’ cumbersome filing system and an inability for applicants to reach someone when they have an issue with their unemployment application; the offices have been closed amid the pandemic. Pritzker has repeatedly said he inherited the problem and is working to fix it, but recently called the effort “vexing.”
During a video conference with reporters today, a group of Illinois Republican elected leaders discussed problems at IDES. During the course of the discussion, one lawmaker said a Downstate U.S. congressman reached out to her after he was sent paperwork along with a debit card to make purchases, even though he didn’t apply for benefits.
“One of my constituents is Congressman Mike Bost. Mike received a letter as well as a bank card and immediately called my office ... and immediately report it to the (state’s unemployment) fraud unit and we’re learning now it’s almost impossible to get through to the fraud unit,” said state Rep. Terry Bryant, of Murphysboro.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos will hit the virtual campaign trail for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden this weekend: The Moline Democrat will be part of a roundtable discussion tomorrow about building up the caregiving and education workforce, according to the Biden campaign.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
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Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--More legal action threatened over slow pace of Chicago police reform; hearings planned for allegatio

More legal action threatened over slow pace of Chicago police reform; hearings planned for allegations cops abused protesters

Though the activists called for immediate action from the city , Slagel responded to their attorneys Friday afternoon in a @ @ @ @ @ decree calls for the parties take a three-month period to try to resolve their differences @ @ @ @ @ according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Tribune .
Slagel wrote that @ @ @ @ @ meet with the activists ’ lawyers but added that the allegations “ in many ways @ @ @ @ @ city to evaluate them .
”

Police block the street leading to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's home on Thursday, July 23, 2020, while protesters rally in support for activist Miracle Boyd and defunding the Chicago Police Department. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot faces another threat of legal action over her management of the Chicago Police Department, as a lawyer for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Friday blasted the city for falling behind on court-mandated reform.
Attorney Alicia Weber said during a federal court hearing conducted by phone that her office would seek court intervention if the city failed to promptly show a plan to catch up on the requirements of the consent decree, a broad court order designed to change the way the troubled police force treats people. Weber noted that the city has moved sluggishly to enact changes, missing more than 70% of its deadlines in the first year under the order.
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“The city owes the public a transparent, realistic assessment of when it can meet its obligations under the consent decree,” she said.
A private lawyer hired by the city, Allen Slagel, said the Lightfoot administration is committed to reform and would share a plan to make up ground by the end of the month.
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“We are cognizant that some deadlines in the consent decree have been delayed or missed,” he said.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. came amid increasingly loud complaints about police behavior during nearly two months of local protests sparked by the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in late May.
And those grievances are likely to continue to surface, as former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, who is monitoring the city’s progress on the consent decree, on Friday announced online listening sessions Aug. 19 and 20 to let people speak about police treatment of protesters. Her announcement came as she continues to work on a report on alleged abuses during the demonstrations.
Information on how people can participate will soon be posted on her monitoring team’s website, she said.
Hickey’s announcement came a day after a coalition of activist groups sent Lightfoot’s lawyers a letter decrying what their attorneys described as the Chicago Police Department’s “brutal, violent, and unconstitutional tactics that are clearly intended to silence protesters.” The letter from groups including Black Lives Matter Chicago also was filed in court as the groups threatened legal action related to the consent decree.
The lawyers for the groups that sent the letter accused officers of abuses including clubbing protesters over the head with batons and seriously damaging the teeth of 18-year-old activist Miracle Boyd. In another example, the letter alleged that officers downtown on May 30 inflicted “massive head trauma” on one woman and then pepper-sprayed another who tried to help her.
The letter went on to accuse police of using degrading language about women and homophobic slurs. It stated that one officer yelled at protesters, “Wait ‘til I get my badge off, you (expletive anti-gay slur).”
The letter accused officers of violating both department policy and the consent decree.
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That court order is one of the most substantive consequences of the protests that erupted in late 2015 after the release of video of white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. That spurred a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that excoriated the police in January 2017 as poorly trained, badly supervised and prone to excessive force. The report helped make way for the consent decree.
The activists’ letter called on Lightfoot’s administration to bar cops from using force against peaceful protesters. The lawyers also demanded the city punish cops who abuse protesters and avoid arresting people on minor charges. Activist groups have alleged that protesters were held for long periods without access to lawyers, and the letter called on the police to promptly allow arrestees to use phones and talk to attorneys.
The letter asked the city to make the changes voluntarily but threatened to seek court enforcement under the consent decree. The activist groups vowed a separate lawsuit if they were not allowed to push for the changes under the decree.
Though the activists called for immediate action from the city, Slagel responded to their attorneys Friday afternoon in a letter noting that the consent decree calls for the parties take a three-month period to try to resolve their differences before seeking court intervention, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Tribune. Slagel wrote that the city was willing to meet with the activists’ lawyers but added that the allegations “in many ways lack specificity sufficient for the city to evaluate them.”
The letter says, “The city is, of course, also concerned about legitimate allegations of police misconduct during the recent unrest (which included peaceful protests, but also looting, violence, and destruction of property).”
A lawyer for the activists, Northwestern University law professor Sheila Bedi, said during the court hearing, “Unless the city takes immediate action, CPD’s violence against protesters is going to continue unabated.”
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Joel D’Alba, a lawyer for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police union, chastised the activist groups for failing to mention the dozens of cops he said had been hurt during the demonstrations.
The filings added to the accumulating drift of court papers stemming from the protests. On Thursday, as federal agents prepared to come to Chicago with the stated goal of stopping violence, activist groups sued federal officials to prevent the kinds of civil rights violations alleged during protests in Portland, Oregon.
dhinkel@chicagotribune.com


Corrections and clarifications

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Everyone in @ @ @ @ @ live up to this code of conduct .
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· The headline on a Page 2 item Friday about a book of Tribune music articles referred to a different book that was not included in the article text.
The Tribune regrets the error.
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Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
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chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Man killed in Evanston shooting near CTA Howard Street station identified as 20-year-old from Glenvi

Man killed in Evanston shooting near CTA Howard Street station identified as 20-year-old from Glenview

A 21-year-old Evanston man was also shot , suffering a graze wound to the head apparently from the same attack @ @ @ @ @ man was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where he was treated and released @ @ @ @

Evanston police investigate a fatal shooting on West Howard Street near the CTA Howard Street station in Evanston on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The man who was shot and killed near the CTA Howard Street Station in Evanston early Thursday morning has been identified as a Glenview resident, police announced Friday.
Brian Carrion, 20, of the 10200 block of Dearlove Road, Glenview, was shot around 1:15 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Howard Street.
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He was pronounced dead shortly after Chicago Fire Department paramedics arrived on scene and attempted to treat him, according to Evanston police.
The shooting happened near the Howard Street CTA Red Line station, but officials said it did not take place inside the station.
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Evanston police investigate a fatal shooting on the 300 block of Howard Street near the CTA Howard Street station in Evanston on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Howard Street marks the border between Chicago and Evanston.
A 21-year-old Evanston man was also shot, suffering a graze wound to the head apparently from the same attack, police said. The man was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where he was treated and released, police said.
An initial investigation found that the shooting happened after a dispute on the street near Marshfield Avenue and Howard Street, according to police.
As of Friday evening, no arrests have been made.
Evanston police encourage anyone with information about the investigation to call detectives at 847-866-5040 or Text-A-Tip to CRIMES (274637), starting the message with EPDTIP.
Claire Hao contributed.
kedquist@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter: @kaitlinedquist


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Plainfield teachers latest to demand remote learning for safe start to the new school year

“ I get that parents are looking to get back to normal , because we all crave it , but @ @ @ @ @ right now is not the answer , ” Bullock said .
“ I know some @ @ @ @ @ the kids go back to school , everything would be wonderful .
But there would @ @ @ @ @ back , no high-fives ... and what happens when our kindergartners are really excited to @ @ @ @ @ and they can ’ t even see their teacher ’ s face , because she @ @ @ @ @ ?
”

Vehicles blow their horns as dozens of members of the Plainfield School District 202 teachers union and supporters rally to demand remote leaning in the fall. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Hundreds of Plainfield District 202 teachers joined forces to rally outside district headquarters this week, demanding that the school board approve a plan to start the new school year with remote learning until in-person instruction can be done safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dawn Bullock, president of the Plainfield teachers union, said there are “too many unanswered questions” for educators to begin the school year with in-person learning, especially given that COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide.
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“We are all wearing masks and social distancing 6 feet apart at this rally for safety reasons, but also to show the school board what it would look like if we were to bring students back in the fall,” said Bullock, leader of the Association of Plainfield Teachers.
“I’d give it about 20 minutes before one student says to another, ‘That’s a really cool mask. Can I try it on?‘” Bullock said. “How can we deliver quality instruction when students can’t toss a ball to each other, have to sit 6 feet apart with masks on, and have to give up all their comforts, like group activities and sitting on the floor reading a library book.”
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The Thursday morning rally was launched after the District 202 school board on Monday voted down a return-to-learning plan that would have started the year with remote learning and was supported by a majority of the union members.
The board voted 3-3 for the proposed plan, with the measure failing to pass due to the tie vote, officials said.
Hundreds of Plainfield School District 202 teachers and supporters rallied for remote learning to continue this fall. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Plainfield School District 202 teachers union members and supporters protest against a reopening of schools. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Bullock said starting the year in remote learning would give the district needed time to make sure students and staff have the “safest possible environment” when they do return to in-person instruction at the district’s 17 elementary schools, seven middle schools, four high schools, preschool and academy.
“I get that parents are looking to get back to normal, because we all crave it, but sending students back to school right now is not the answer,” Bullock said. “I know some parents have this vision if the kids go back to school, everything would be wonderful. But there would be no pats on the back, no high-fives ... and what happens when our kindergartners are really excited to meet their first teacher, and they can’t even see their teacher’s face, because she’s wearing a mask?”
“There isn’t a teacher who doesn’t want to be in the classroom, but we need to err on the side of caution,” Bullock added.
Teachers in districts around the country are pushing back at plans to reopen schools in the fall. The Chicago Teachers Union has called for remote learning to continue, in conflict with Chicago Public Schools’ draft plan for a hybrid of remote and in-school learning.
The District 202 Board of Education will meet in special session at 7 p.m. Monday to discuss and vote on the proposed “Return ’20” plan for reopening schools this fall.
The district says on its website: “District 202 administration and staff are creating plans for tentatively reopening school on August 19th based on state guidelines and directives issued June 23, 2020. We will continue to update families through the summer on that work.”
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Residents can watch the virtual meeting on Zoom and email comments until 5 p.m. Monday. For more details, visit: psd202.org/.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Man cleared in 1957 slaying of Sycamore girl wins $300K settlement from Seattle. Cops there arrested

Man cleared in 1957 slaying of Sycamore girl wins $300K settlement from Seattle. Cops there arrested him after DeKalb County reopened case.

A new prosecutor in DeKalb County found flaws in the case , determined McCullough ’ s alibi was solid and @ @ @ @ @ t have committed the crime .
He asked another judge to throw out the conviction @ @ @ @ @ .
McCullough sued officers in Illinois and Seattle over allegations of “ pervasive misconduct .
@

Jack McCullough walks out of Judge William Brady's courtroom at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, Ill., on April 22, 2016, with Crystal Harrolle, an investigator with the public defender's office. Brady formally dismissed a murder case Friday against McCullough, a retired Washington state police officer, who a prosecutor says was wrongly convicted in the 1957 killing of a 7-year-old Sycamore girl, but he put off a decision on whether to appoint a special prosecutor. (Danielle Guerra / Daily Chronicle)
Seattle — The city of Seattle has paid $300,000 to settle a lawsuit filed against the Police Department and detectives who helped investigate and arrest a Seattle man accused in the abduction and murder of a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957.
Former Washington police Officer Jack McCullough, now 78, was arrested by Seattle police in 2011 after Illinois prosecutors and detectives claimed to have new evidence implicating McCullough in the murder of Maria Ridulph, who disappeared in Sycamore, Illinois. Her remains were found in 1958 near Galena, Illinois, the Seattle Times reported.
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McCullough was convicted in DeKalb County in 2012 of murder, infant abduction and kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison.
Maria Ridulph of Sycamore. (Chicago tribune archive)
A new prosecutor in DeKalb County found flaws in the case, determined McCullough’s alibi was solid and concluded that McCullough couldn’t have committed the crime. He asked another judge to throw out the conviction and all charges were dismissed. McCullough sued officers in Illinois and Seattle over allegations of “pervasive misconduct.”
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The city of Seattle, representing now-retired detectives Cloyd Steiger, Irene Lau and Michael Ciesynski, settled in May. McCullough settled with the other defendants for a total of $445,000.
Police Department spokesman Detective Mark Jamieson said he couldn't comment because the individuals were no longer employed there.
Steiger, now working at the Washington State attorney general’s Homicide Investigation Tracking System, said Wednesday he believes McCullough “killed that little girl,” and that the case was influenced by “small-town politics and corruption” in Illinois.
At the time of the girl’s disappearance, her 8-year-old friend said they had been playing in a yard when a man named “Johnny” asked to give them a piggyback ride. The friend went inside for a moment, and when she returned, Ridulph was gone.
McCullough was a neighbor at that time, but he had been cleared by authorities before a renewed effort was launched to solve the case.


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Seeking to ‘protect public safety,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot removes Christopher Columbus statues overni

Seeking to ‘protect public safety,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot removes Christopher Columbus statues overnight from Chicago parks ‘until further notice’

“ We took this step in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police , and to @ @ @ @ @ pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner , ” Lightfoot said @ @ @ @ @ This step is an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space @ @ @ @ @ public dialogue about our city ’ s symbols .
It also will allow us to @ @ @ @ @ they are most needed — particularly in our South and West Side communities .
”

Gregory Pratt, Sophie Sherry, Armando L. Sanchez, Kori Rumore

The Christopher Columbus statue is transported after being removed in Grant Park in the early hours of July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Hoping to avoid another high-profile confrontation between police and protesters like the clash that happened last week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the statues of Christopher Columbus removed from Chicago’s Grant and Arrigo parks early Friday.
Not all Italian American leaders in Chicago are on board with the decision, but it has received the blessing of key politicians including Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato. By taking the statues down in the middle of the night, Lightfoot drew criticism from those who believe she caved to activist demands.
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Later Friday morning, Lightfoot said in a series of tweets that the statues were removed “until further notice.”
“We took this step in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, and to efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner,” Lightfoot said in the tweets. “This step is an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols. It also will allow us to focus public safety resources where they are most needed — particularly in our South and West Side communities.”
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Last night, after consultation with a variety of stakeholders, the City temporarily removed the Christopher Columbus statues in Grant Park and Arrigo Park until further notice. — Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) July 24, 2020
Lightfoot’s abrupt move in the dark of night was an about-face for the mayor, who has opposed taking down statues of the Italian explorer on the grounds that it would be erasing history. Lightfoot also said that the city would soon announce “a formal process to assess the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicago’s communities, and develop a framework for a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity.”
Crews arrived at Grant Park sometime around 1 a.m. and began the process of bringing down the monument honoring Columbus a little afterward. A couple dozen people cheered from across the street and passing cars honked as the statue came down at about 3 a.m.
The Christopher Columbus statue is transported after being removed from Grant Park in the early hours of Friday, July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
It was not immediately clear where the statues were taken. Reports from television stations showed the statue in Arrigo Park, 801 S. Loomis St., in Chicago’s historic Little Italy neighborhood, was removed a few hours after the downtown statue.
Unlike its unceremonious departure from Grant Park in front of a relatively small crowd of people, the Columbus statue was dedicated nearly 87 years ago to considerable fanfare. Thousands of people turned out for the dedication, on Italian Day during Chicago’s second World’s Fair, A Century of Progress, according to Tribune archives and the Chicago Park District.
But its creation was nonetheless controversial.
In 1932, Illinois’ State Board of Art, in reviewing sculptor Carlo Brioschi’s models, announced, “This statue is so bad it should not be put on public display.” Several days later, however, board members admitted it was the pedestal they objected to — not the statue. The piece, a gift of Italian Americans living in Chicago and Cook County, was dedicated on Aug. 3, 1933.
A woman argues with bystanders before crews remove the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park early on Friday, July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The monument was again singled out in 1963 when a Tribune reader complained to the paper that a likeness of Benito Mussolini, former Italian prime minister and leader of the country’s National Fascist Party, was one of four bas-reliefs included in the statue’s base. Amerigo Brioschi, the sculptor’s son, told the Tribune the relief was only an allegorical figure representing the Roman symbol for strength and unity.
The 9-foot-tall bronze Columbus statue at Arrigo Park was created for and displayed in the Italian Pavilion at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Following that World’s Fair, the statue was placed in a niche above the entrance to the Columbus Memorial building at State and Washington streets. That’s where it stood until the structure was demolished in 1959.
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It spent much of the 1960s stored flat on its back in a yard outside the Joseph Lumber Co. on the city’s Northwest Side after the Loop building it had been installed on following the fair was demolished.
“We’ll find a place eventually,” said James Murray Haddow, then the vice president of the Municipal Art League of Chicago, in a 1965 interview with the Tribune. “He is too good looking to be lying where he is lying.”
Then-state Rep. Victor Arrigo, an Italian American lawyer, spearheaded a campaign to raise $25,000 to move the statue to Loomis Street in Little Italy. The statue was dedicated on Oct. 12, 1966 and the park was renamed for Arrigo following his death in 1973.
In Arrigo Park on Friday morning, red, green, and white ribbons representing the Italian flag had been tied around fencing where the Columbus statue once stood. Some neighborhood residents expressed their displeasure with the mayor’s decision.
Pasquale Gianni said he felt as if the Italian community had been robbed of a piece of its culture. Gianni, who said he’s a lifelong Chicago resident and member of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and the Italian American Human Relations Foundation, does not live near Taylor Street but has many family members who do. He said the Columbus statue was an important part of the neighborhood.
“They’ve (neighborhood residents) been expressing a sense of deep sorrow that they can no longer walk their children to school and look over at the icon and the symbol that for their entire lives has meant so much to them,” Gianni said. “Through the contributions, the suffering, the blood, sweat and tears of their parents and grandparents who came here as immigrant peoples and saw Columbus as a beacon of hope, a symbol of coming to a new world in search of something new.”
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“They’ve been robbed of a piece of their heritage and their upbringing,” Gianni added.
Gianni said he hopes the mayor will soon select a time and date when the statute can return to Arrigo Park.
The removal of the statue in Grant Park capped off an evening that was surreal at times. Late Thursday, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara made his way to the downtown statue wearing an “Italia” T-shirt. He hung out, talking with cops, criticizing Lightfoot and promising there would be a pro-police protest there on Saturday even if the statue stayed in place.
He also got into debates with anti-Columbus protesters, some of which grew heated.
Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, whose ward includes parts of downtown, said the mayor decided to remove the statue “unilaterally.”
Among the city’s prominent Italian American politicians supporting Lightfoot’s move was Sposato, 38th, who said the statues should continue to be displayed prominently but added that he believes it was appropriate to take them down for now.
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“I support the mayor in her difficult decision out of our concern for public safety, including the protection of police officers and citizens of all neighborhoods,” he said in a statement. “I support her decision to TEMPORARILY remove those statues from harms way, so as not to create a distraction and divert police resources from the issues of lawlessness, anarchy and domestic terrorism facing our beloved city and nation.”
A bloc of socialist aldermen, including Alds. Daniel La Spata, 1st; Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th; Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd; Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th; and Jeanette Taylor, 20th; released a statement praising the move:
“We applaud the news that two monuments to white supremacy have come down in Chicago. Chicago’s Christopher Columbus monuments have been removed — and will stay that way — because of the Indigenous, Black, and Brown Chicagoans that have been fighting for so long to make this happen. We thank the activists and organizers who put their bodies on the line to make this happen, and we commit to continue to work towards replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and dismantling white supremacy in all it’s forms.”
But Northwest Side Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, posted on Facebook: “I have never been more disappointed, not only for the removal of a city statue, but the cowardly fashion in which it was removed in the middle of the night.”
I have never been more disappointed, not only for the removal of a city statue, but the cowardly fashion in which it was... Posted by Alderman Anthony Napolitano on Friday, July 24, 2020
“The American way to remove the Christopher Columbus statue should have been a discussion, debate and decision made by the City Council,” Napolitano wrote. “The city didn’t just lose a statue on the sneak last night, it lost its sense of decency and American soul!”
The removal also drew comparisons from Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, to former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s midnight bulldozing of Meigs Field in March 2003. Lopez later took to Twitter with his criticism of Lightfoot’s decision.
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“What has become of Chicago? We have a mayor forced into submission by anarchy & mob-rule? No more public process, official discourse, or on-the-record debate,” tweeted Lopez, a frequent Lightfoot critic. “The lesson learned is that if you want action from Lightfoot, show up en mass at her house & she will cave every time.”
What has become of Chicago? We have a mayor forced into submission by anarchy & mob-rule? No more public process, official discourse, or on-the-record debate. The lesson learned is that if you want action from Lightfoot, show up en mass at her house & she will cave every time. — Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) July 24, 2020
Protesters marched downtown last Friday then headed into Grant Park, where a group of people attempted to take down the statue, similar to what’s happened in other cities across the country.
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But chaos followed the protest as officers and demonstrators clashed around the statue. At least 20 complaints of police brutality were filed against Chicago cops, including one involving activist Miracle Boyd, who said a police officer hit her in the face during the skirmish, knocking out at least one of her teeth.
Lightfoot and police leaders blamed a group of protesters wielding black umbrellas and shields for inciting what they called “anarchy.” Lightfoot also said she isn’t happy with officers who may have mistreated protesters or reporters.
A worker closes up fencing after the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed by the city at Arrigo Park on Friday, July 24, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s statues of the explorer have become the center of a heated controversy for Lightfoot, who also has rejected calls to rename the Columbus Day holiday.
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Columbus has been condemned by activists around the country who point to the Italian explorer’s mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492.
Earlier in the evening, protesters gathered near Lightfoot’s Logan Square home to criticize the police. Drawing loud cheers, hugs and applause, an activist informed the crowd over a megaphone that Lightfoot would be removing the statue.
The Tribune first reported news of the mayor’s plans to remove the Grant Park statue.
Rodriguez Sanchez traveled downtown to watch the statue’s removal and shared her thoughts on Twitter.
It’s coming down because of the activism that has led to this moment. Indigenous, Black and Brown people have been fighting for so long to see this happen. It’s also a balancing act, the Mayor just accepted Federal Agents from Trump. https://t.co/cwlBxz2vja — Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez 🌹 (@RossanaFor33) July 24, 2020
“It’s coming down because of the activism that has led to this moment,” she wrote. “Indigenous, Black and Brown people have been fighting for so long to see this happen.”
The Tribune’s Pete Nickeas contributed.
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gpratt@chicagotribune.com
ssherie@chicagotribune.com
krumore@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Man digs up WWII artillery shell in Brighton Park backyard

The resident called police when he came upon the 75 mm shell at his home in the 3000 block of @ @ @ @ @ officers contacted the department ’ s bomb squad , which then moved the shell to @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Tom Ahern .

A Chicago resident found an artillery shell from World War II in his backyard Wednesday. (Chicago Police Department)
A man dug up a World War II artillery shell Wednesday in his Brighton Park backyard and called police, who sent out explosives experts to investigate and then destroy it, according to police.
The resident called police when he came upon the 75 mm shell at his home in the 3000 block of West 38th Place. District officers contacted the department’s bomb squad, which then moved the shell to another location, said police spokesman Tom Ahern.
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The bomb squad did an X-ray on the shell and determined it was likely live. Artillery shells contain explosive fillings.
“He wasn’t quite sure what it was and he did the right thing,” Ahern said.
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Bomb squad officers destroyed the shell in a safe manner, he said.
Explosives — including artillery shells, fireworks and the like — are illegal in Chicago, said Ahern, adding that bomb squad members did a preliminary investigation as to the source of the shell. Chicago police did not provide additional details Friday.
Ahern encouraged residents to call police if they find potential explosives. He said people should clear the area and not inspect objects themselves.
“I’m sure that it’s happened before where there are leftover remains from wartime that occasionally surface, and they’re disposed of accordingly by the experts,” Ahern said.
sczyzon@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-24--Another man stabbed in Chicago’s Grant Park

Earlier this month , 58-year-old Aaron A. Curry was found slain , the blade of the knife still lodged in @ @ @ @ @ a mattress at the same address on the south end of Grant Park .
The @ @ @ @ @ confiscated nearby , according to a police report .

For the second time this month, a man was found stabbed in Grant Park.
This time, the victim survived.
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An “unknown'' assailant was riding a Divvy bike and stopped when he spotted the victim, a 53-year-old man on a bench, sleeping in the 1100 block of South Michigan Avenue about 6:40 a.m. Friday, police said.
After stabbing him multiple times, the victim jumped up and the suspect fled on the Divvy. The 53-year-old was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition.
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Earlier this month, 58-year-old Aaron A. Curry was found slain, the blade of the knife still lodged in his shoulder, laying on a mattress at the same address on the south end of Grant Park. The handle of the knife was confiscated nearby, according to a police report.
Officers were called there about 9 a.m. July 9, when a woman told police she had seen him on the ground in the same spot for a third day in a row.
Curry, whose address was listed at a Chicago shelter, suffered stab wounds to his neck and back and died of multiple sharp force injuries and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The woman told police she had seen him Tuesday and Wednesday, before deciding to call police Thursday, July 9.
Police have not made any arrests in either attack.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com