chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago; Lake and McHenry

Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago; Lake and McHenry counties added to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned

“ They ’ re different from what we ’ ve experienced across the state .
Commissioner Arwady talks about this @ @ @ @ @ The biggest challenge that we ’ re facing in Chicago right now is people in @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ We can ’ t stress enough , you are not safe in @ @ @ @ @ not let down your guard .
Dr. Arwady and I came out last week and @ @ @ @ @ long and hard about who you ’ re inviting into your home .
”

Dan Petrella, Gregory Pratt, John Byrne, Jamie Munks

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)
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening coronavirus-related restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
“We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together," Lightfoot said.
Advertisement
"Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.”
Earlier Wednesday, Pritzker had defended his decision to tighten restrictions in Chicago and most other regions of the state as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise once again.
Advertisement
“It’s happening everywhere, and it’s happening across the state of Illinois. Chicago hasn’t been immune from that,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago.
As a result, the governor said, the city will be subject to the same set of rules as other regions that have hit the state’s bench marks for coronavirus test positivity rates and hospitalizations that trigger a partial rollback of economic reopenings.
By midday, the state announced Lake and McHenry counties will become the eighth of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan to be under tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
State health officials also announced 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday. In all, there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois.
With 51 additional fatalities also reported, the statewide death toll stands at 9,619. The statewide rolling seven-day positivity rate hit 6.7% as of Tuesday, up a full percentage point from a week earlier. It was 3.4% at the beginning of the month.
At his daily COVID-19 briefing Wednesday afternoon, Pritzker said he and Lightfoot “had a great meeting.”
“The mayor and I talk frequently, and we’re always very frank with one another,” he said.
While saying she would not fight Pritzker’s order, Lightfoot did not outright endorse the move, and she encouraged residents to go out and dine in at restaurants while they still can.
Advertisement
“I can’t stress enough to folks, please support your local restaurants in every form. Takeout. You’ve got today and part of tomorrow for dining in,” Lightfoot said. “But they need our help now more than ever, and we want to do everything we can to be supportive of them.”
Lightfoot’s recent public stances on the role restaurants and bars play in the spread of the virus have been whiplash-inducing.
Last week, the mayor and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady held a news conference to sound the alarm on rising case rates, and put the blame squarely on private get-togethers among family and friends in Chicago homes where Lightfoot said people were letting their guards down and taking off their masks.
Interactions among people in bars, restaurants and gyms didn’t really seem to be driving the spike in cases, the mayor said then.
But later last week, the mayor and her health commissioner made an about-face while announcing tougher restrictions on bar and restaurant hours of operation and liquor sales times. “Nothing against the bars, but it is a source of spread,” Arwady said.
On Wednesday, Lightfoot was asked about her views on the virus’s spread and said, “Things are nuanced here in Chicago.”
Advertisement
“They’re different from what we’ve experienced across the state. Commissioner Arwady talks about this on a daily basis. The biggest challenge that we’re facing in Chicago right now is people in their homes,” Lightfoot said. “We can’t stress enough, you are not safe in your home, you cannot let down your guard. Dr. Arwady and I came out last week and really encouraged people to think long and hard about who you’re inviting into your home.”
Although Lightfoot was quick to criticize Pritzker’s moves, she’s also facing pressure from bars and restaurants to ease some of her own restrictions, which in some ways are tougher than the governor’s. While the state rules dictate bar and restaurant service must end at 11 p.m., the mayor has ordered liquor sales to end at 9 p.m. and for the establishments to close at 10 p.m.
Lightfoot encouraged Chicago businesses to apply for Pritzker’s $220 million in business interruption grants and repeated the boilerplate instructions on how to safeguard against the virus.
“You must wear a mask. You must social distance. You must take all the precautions that are necessary to limit the amount of people that you’re around because those are the only things that are going to get us through this until we have a vaccine,” she said. “The governor and I are 100% aligned on those issues.”
As Pritzker’s administration has reimposed tougher restrictions in regions from suburban Cook County to southern Illinois, he’s faced renewed criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his use of executive power.
Pritzker on Wednesday defended the measures he has taken as “effective," citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume.
Advertisement
However, both of those regions — Will and Kankakee counties and the Metro East area near St. Louis — are back under tighter restrictions as of Wednesday. And the northwest corner of the state has seen its positivity rate continue to rise, triggering the next level of restrictions, including a 10-person cap on gatherings.
Among sources of opposition were the state’s Republican legislative leaders.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, whose southwest suburban district is now entirely subject to the restaurant and bar restrictions, said during an online news conference Wednesday morning that he had spoken with Lightfoot earlier in the day.
“This is her economy as much as it is the governor’s,” said Durkin, who has known Lightfoot socially for years. "The restaurant owners and business owners are barely hanging on by a thread throughout the state, but especially in Chicago and the surrounding communities because they’ve lost office workers on their lunch breaks, tourists enjoying a nice evening out.
“People who have built their businesses for decades are watching them disintegrate right before their eyes, forced into a government-mandated bankruptcy.”
In a separate news conference Wednesday, Illinois Senate GOP leader Bill Brady criticized Pritzker for “an absolute lack of transparency” around his orders during the pandemic. Brady, of Bloomington, proposed that the Senate convene a committee hearing “where the governor would present his findings, and exactly why they believe that the closure of restaurants is necessary.”
Advertisement
“One of the questions that we’ve asked, given literally minutes of notice that he’s going to mitigate an area, is where’s the data, where’s the transparency?” Brady said during a Zoom news conference. “How do we tell our constituents that you’re making decisions that are right when we really don’t know, because we haven’t seen a robust contact tracing program put in place in a timely fashion? And we need that information.”
Pritzker has shown a willingness to adjust his plans in the past. His original statewide stay-at-home order, issued in March, gave way in May to a four-region reopening plan. In July, he adjusted to the current 11-region plan, a move long advocated by Republican lawmakers.
But one roadblock to negotiations may be the reluctance of critics to accept the evidence cited by Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health to support their assertion that restaurants and bars are a significant source of coronavirus transmission.
Republican state Rep. Brad Stephens, who also is mayor of Rosemont, a suburb known for its dining and entertainment district, said contact tracing data cited by the state doesn’t definitively show where people contracted the virus. It could just as easily happen at a big-box store as at a restaurant, Stephens said.
Under state rules, masks are required at retailers but not while customers are eating or drinking in restaurants or bars.
Stephens said the Rosemont health department doesn’t have the capacity to enforce the prohibition on indoor dining and bar service.
Advertisement
“This is an order from the governor, and that’s something that the governor is going to have to enforce,” said Stephens, who was appointed to a vacant House seat last year and faces a tough challenge on Nov. 3 from well-funded Democratic opponent Michelle Darbro, a Chicago firefighter and paramedic.
During his briefing Wednesday, Pritzker said one of the problems that’s helping perpetuate the recent rise in cases is local leaders who aren’t doing their part to ensure compliance with his executive orders. The Illinois State Police have stepped up enforcement efforts, issuing misdemeanor citations to four businesses in central and southern Illinois.
Like Stephens, Durkin questioned the data and science behind Pritzker’s restrictions. He pointed to contact tracing data from the DuPage County Health Department, previously cited by the Illinois Restaurant Association, that shows a small share of outbreaks in the west suburban county have been tied to restaurants and bars.
Chris Hoff, director of community health resources at the DuPage County Health Department, said last week that the department’s data has been widely misconstrued in arguing against restrictions on restaurants and bars.
While it’s true only a small percentage of outbreaks have been connected to specific eating and drinking establishments, only about 15% of the county’s more than 22,000 cases at the time had been tied to any specific location through contact tracing.
“All of this information is based on those interviews with people, which means that information is only as good as the information we can get,” Hoff said.
Advertisement
Even when people do participate, it’s often difficult to pinpoint where they contracted the virus, he said.
“We know that the environments that promote transmission are indoor settings where there are large numbers of people who spend extended periods of time together without masks,” Hoff said. “And so bars and restaurants definitely fit the bill, along with a lot of other indoor venues."
In arguing for his restrictions, Pritzker has pointed to statewide contact tracing data that show restaurants and bars as the second most common place people report as having been during the key period before and after testing positive for the virus. But the only information his office has released only goes through late September, before the current surge took off.
On Wednesday, he said the Department of Public Health would make more contact tracing data available online by early next week.
The only regions where the state has not yet introduced firmer rules are three in central Illinois, though those areas have all had climbing positivity rates too. The west-central Illinois region that includes Springfield could be the next to see the state close indoor dining and bar service.
That region reached a positivity rate at or above 8% for a second consecutive day. If its rate holds at that level for one more day or rises, it would trigger the stricter measures in Pritzker’s reopening plan, and the governor could announce new restrictions for that region as early as Thursday.
Advertisement
The east-central region that includes Champaign-Urbana also reached the 8% threshold on Wednesday, when the saliva tests from the University of Illinois flagship are removed from the regional data.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Dad charged after son, 13, confessed to accidentally shooting brother, 9

Three days later , the 13-year-old boy told authorities during a forensic interview that his 5-year-old sister brought out one @ @ @ @ @ guns and shot their brother , prosecutors said .
But the girl told authorities during @ @ @ @ @ eldest boy retrieved both guns and that her brothers were playing with them when Ashton @ @ @ @ @ said .

After first implicating his own grandmother and later his 5-year-old sister in the fatal accidental shooting of his 9-year-old brother, authorities said a 13-year-old boy confessed that he actually did it while they played with their father’s legally owned firearms.
A Cook County judge ordered the father, Adrien Lipscomb, 38, released on a personal recognizance bond on a felony child endangerment charge Wednesday, three weeks to the day from when his son Ashton was found lying motionless and bleeding in the family’s duplex-style home in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue.
Advertisement
Ashton suffered a gunshot wound to the head on Oct. 7 while he and his siblings were being watched by his grandmother, who lived in the apartment below, prosecutors said during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube. The boy was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police recovered a revolver and a .40-caliber Glock near the children and an unloaded rifle under the bed, according to prosecutors. Adrien Lipscomb had left the home to take the children’s mother to the hospital, authorities said.
Advertisement
As police worked the scene, Lipscomb returned home, Assistant State’s Attorney Jocelyn Schieve told the court. The 13-year-old — with his father watching — initially said his grandmother accidentally shot his brother.
Three days later, the 13-year-old boy told authorities that his 5-year-old sister brought out one of their father’s guns and shot their brother, prosecutors said. But the girl told authorities the eldest boy had retrieved both guns and that her brothers were playing with them when Ashton was accidentally killed, Schieve said.
The 13-year-old then confessed to accidentally shooting his brother while they played with the handguns.
Prosecutors charged the father with two counts of child endangerment, but dropped one charge during the hearing. Authorities said he legally owned the weapons.
Lipscomb’s attorney, Andrew Gable, pushed for his release from jail, noting that his client turned himself in to authorities, was cooperative and had no criminal background.
In releasing Lipscomb, Judge Mary C. Marubio said she didn’t believe the father was a flight risk. “This is a profoundly tragic and heartbreaking case,” the judge said. “There is profound carelessness to this offense but certainly no acute criminality that Mr. Lipscomb suffers from.”
Lipscomb is scheduled to return to court next week.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Convicted killer of police Cmdr. Paul Bauer sentenced to life in prison for 2018 downtown shooting

But Legghette ’ s attorney maintained that he shot in self-defense — that he did not know the person who @ @ @ @ @ cop .
He was even expected to testify in support of that theory , but @ @ @ @ @ declined to take the stand .
That decision blew a hole in any self-defense argument @ @ @ @ @ have testified as to what happened at the bottom of the stairwell that day .

Shomari Legghette, 47, gestures as he walks out of the courtroom on Oct. 28, 2020, after being sentenced in the first-degree murder of Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The day Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer’s official portrait was taken, his teenage daughter Grace recalled fondly, he brought home copies to show his family, happy and proud that he had managed not to blink.
“Everyone that knew my dad knew he blinked in every photo ever,” she said from the witness stand in a Cook County courtroom Wednesday.
Advertisement
After Bauer was killed in February 2018, that portrait of him — square-shouldered, with a wide smile under sharp eyes — was everywhere. On the front page of newspapers, on every TV station, taped into dozens of storefront windows.
“Now, after seeing that picture too much, it doesn’t even look like him,” Grace said, seated across the room from Shomari Legghette, who was convicted of killing her father in a Thompson Center stairwell in the middle of the day. Not long after the teen spoke, Legghette was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
Advertisement
“I always had an optimistic approach to life,” she told Judge Erica Reddick, who would hand the sentence down. “The death of my dad and grandma during 2018 turned that around. My life isn’t optimistic anymore. The good guys didn’t win."
Grace Bauer, the daughter of late Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer, make an impact statement as Shomari Legghette, 47, is sentenced in his murder trial. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The sentence for Legghette, 47, was mandatory by law, as a jury had convicted him in March of killing a police officer in the course of his duties.
The verdict came just a few days before the courts largely shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sentencing, months later, was held under strict conditions. Bauer’s family and supporters, wearing blue, sat several feet apart from each other in the gallery. Judge Reddick wore a mask and thick white gloves, and her bench was enclosed in plexiglass.
Prosecutors said Bauer was killed after officers patrolling Lower Wacker Drive approached Legghette because he appeared to be urinating in public. Legghette declined to speak with them, and then fled.
Bauer, on duty and downtown for a meeting with aldermen after attending training for handling mass shootings, heard a radio call of a fleeing suspect and spotted Legghette running nearby moments later, authorities said.
Bauer chased Legghette to the top of a stairwell outside the Thompson Center and attempted to detain him, authorities said. The two struggled and ended up on a landing below, where Legghette fired the fatal shots.
The daytime slaying of a ranking police leader while on duty in the middle of the Loop had stunned Chicago.
But Legghette’s attorney maintained that he shot in self-defense — that he did not know the person who was chasing him was a cop. He was even expected to testify in support of that theory, but at the last minute, declined to take the stand. That decision blew a hole in any self-defense argument, as only Legghette could have testified as to what happened at the bottom of the stairwell that day.
Advertisement
A jury took less than three hours to convict him.
Legghette did, however, rise to speak on his own behalf at his sentencing Wednesday, saying police and prosecutors colluded to frame him.
“This unfortunate calamity stemmed from racial profiling disguised as a street stop,” he said. “Due to the magnitude of this case and the misconduct that circulated around it, corruption was purposely orchestrated to mislead the public, the jurors, and this courtroom by fabricating documents, withholding material evidence, planting egregious evidence.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 82 Officers salute outside the Near North District station Feb. 13, 2020, during a memorial for Cmdr. Paul Bauer, who was killed in 2018. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
In particular, Legghette alleged that another officer responding to the scene had fired shots down the stairwell at Bauer — a persistent rumor at the time of the shooting that no evidence has actually borne out.
In a statement after the sentencing, Bauer’s family said they briefly thought Legghette may have apologized during the hearing. “But no, he still hasn’t accepted responsibility for killing Paul.”
Erin Bauer, the commander’s widow, was the hearing’s first witness. She spent her time on the stand describing “the way Paul lived, not the way he died.”
Advertisement
He had a sweet tooth, she said, and enjoyed the occasional cigar. He always had perfect hair. He was always reading, sometimes two books at a time, and always carried his library card in his wallet. He wanted to work at a bookstore after retirement, she said. He was a conscientious cleaner, she said, and since his death she has been trying to keep their house up to his standards.
During the 2011 blizzard that shut down Chicago, Bauer left on the spur of the moment to go push stranded cars off of Lake Shore Drive, his wife testified. Once he happened to drive past a building on fire, and ran inside to wake up each inhabitant.
“When he knew everyone was out safely, he drove off, never giving anyone his name,” Erin Bauer said. “He was like an angel on Earth.”
By contrast, prosecutors said, Legghette was a “human crime wave," carrying illegal body armor, a gun and an ice pick-type weapon. He also was carrying drugs, they said.
Defense attorney Scott Kamin said that the body armor and guns were simply Legghette’s “uniform,” for his daily life as a drug dealer, and reiterated that Legghette didn’t know Bauer was a police officer when he fired the shots.
“He sees somebody in civilian clothes, somebody who’s chasing him, grabbing him,” Kamin said. “At that point (he) uses his uniform. To protect himself.”
Advertisement
After the sentencing, John Catanzara, president of the union that represents rank-and-file Chicago police officers, said the life sentence was not sufficient.
“I wish the death penalty was still in effect in Illinois,” he told reporters. “(Legghette) showed no remorse, he showed arrogance, still making excuses, why waste taxpayer dollars to keep him alive any longer than necessary?"
Bauer’s family took a much less aggressive tone.
“We are relieved that Paul’s killer has been sentenced to natural life in prison and that he’ll never be able to cause this pain to another family,” they wrote. “Justice will never truly be served, though, because his killer is still here, but Paul isn’t.”
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--COVID numbers prompt stoppage of indoor restaurant and bar service in Lake, McHenry counties; ‘We si

COVID numbers prompt stoppage of indoor restaurant and bar service in Lake, McHenry counties; ‘We simply need to stay in'

When he learned of mitigation imposed by the state , Cunningham said he was saddened because the numbers which caused @ @ @ @ @ did not come from his city , North Chicago or Zion .
He wants all @ @ @ @ @ to curb the virus .

Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes questions from the press, during his daily update of COVID-19 cases in Illinois, in the Blue Room of the Thompson Center, Tuesday Oct., 20, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Lake County residents will no longer be able to dine indoors at a restaurant, gather inside at a bar or congregate in groups of more than 25 as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday because of surging cases of COVID-19 in Lake and McHenry counties.
Those restrictions and others are part of mitigation imposed Wednesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health because of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in those two counties comprising the state’s Region 9.
Advertisement
Pritzker imposed the restrictions because the positivity rate of Region 9 was 8.4%, giving it a seven-day rolling average of more than 8%, according to a news release from the Lake County Health Department and the McHenry County Department of Public Health.
Until the region averages a 6.5% positivity rate or less for a three-day period, the restrictions will remain in place, according to the release.
Advertisement
Mark Pfister, the executive director of the Lake County Health Department, said the last time the county was at a 6.5% positivity rate was Oct. 12. It was 4.9% Sept. 23, marking a 71% jump in just over a month.
The mitigation imposed by the state did not surprise him.
“We’ve been expecting this because of the rising number of cases, and we’ve been watching the increase in the positivity rate,” Pfister said. “There’s no one location where this is stemming from. It’s businesses, schools, private and public gatherings and multi-generational households.”
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said he encourages children to refrain from trick-or-treating Saturday, and look for safer ways to enjoy Halloween.
“We should have essential movement only,” he said.
Along with wearing masks, socially distancing by staying at least six feet away from others and frequently washing hands, Pfister said cooperating with contact-tracers will help reduce the spread of the virus
When he learned of mitigation imposed by the state, Cunningham said he was saddened because the numbers which caused the surge in the region did not come from his city, North Chicago or Zion. He wants all residents to redouble their effort to curb the virus.
“I am beyond disappointed,” Cunningham said. “We have to keep wearing our face coverings, keeping our social distance and washing our hands, so this mitigation can be removed. We simply need to stay in.”
Advertisement
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart said the she was “frustrated and disappointed” about the mitigation procedures imposed by the state. While she advocates hand-washing, social distancing and mask-wearing, she is concerned about the economic impact.
“We all have to do these things to help keep us and our friends safe,” she said. “I’m concerned about our businesses that will suffer in our county and our region.”
Along with practicing the three Ws of washing hands, watching distance kept from others and wearing masks, Pfister said people should start refraining from unnecessary travel, either near or far. They should stay away from large gatherings, especially indoors. He warned against travel sports.
“People should stay at home as much as possible to reduce the community spread,” Pfister said. “We hear about people going to Wisconsin and Indiana (for sports events,) traveling in one car with people who live outside their home. You need to know who is outside your bubble.”
Along with no indoor eating at restaurants, outdoor dining must close by 11 p.m., all tables must be six-feet apart, no one can stand or congregate while waiting for a table, multiple parties cannot occupy the same table and reservations are required, according to the release.
Outdoor bar service must also cease at 11 p.m., according to the release. Patrons must sit at tables, no bar stools are allowed, ordering or congregating at the bar is prohibited, dancing or standing indoors is forbidden, multiple parties cannot sit together and reservations are necessary.
Advertisement
Meetings, social events and gatherings are limited to the lesser of 25 persons or 25 percent of the overall room capacity, according to the release. Gaming facilities and casinos are under the same capacity restrictions, must close at 11 p.m. and abide by the rules for restaurants and bars when they apply.
These restrictions do not apply to schools or polling places, according to the release.


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--As state halts indoor dining in Chicago, a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure. Its desig

As state halts indoor dining in Chicago, a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure. Its designer wants to build more, but needs financial backing.

“ This is going to help me a lot , ” Cruz said , noting that indoor dining was shutting @ @ @ @ @ governor ’ s orders .
“ We ’ re a small business ; we ’ @ @ @ @ @ for six years already , and we ( have ) 10 employees total .
The @ @ @ @ @ , I had to lay off almost all of them and only had three people @ @ @ @ @ , I don ’ t think I ’ m going to lay off as many @ @ @ @

Although Bridgewater Studio didn't win the Winter Design Challenge, they were able to take their work and help Azul 18 with its outdoor dining problem. (Eric Cup / HANDOUT)
Finding creative ways for restaurants and bars to serve guests outside might be a vital means for establishments to survive the winter, especially after Illinois moves to shut down indoor dining in Chicago and suburban Cook County this week.
The city’s outdoor dining design contest netted 600 entries, with officials selecting three winners to receive $5,000 for proposals vetted for their feasibility and practical application.
Advertisement
Eric Cup and his McKinley Park custom manufacturing company Bridgewater Studio were not one of winners, but they were sure their ideas could be rapidly deployed across the city. So last week, they got together with Azul 18 in Pilsen and constructed the first version of their design.
Now, Cup is looking for corporate sponsors to financially support the project and restaurant partners interested in having the design executed at their business.
Advertisement
“I thought (the Winter Design Challenge) was a good idea, but I really feel that something has to happen now,” Cup said. “A sense of urgency to mobilize on this is just vital for these people to survive the next few months. ... We don’t need a perfect solution, we need a good solution now.”
[ Confused about outdoor dining? Here’s a breakdown of the rules and guidelines. ]
The concept of the structure is relatively simple. It uses temporary construction scaffolding, which provides structure and support, and wraps clear vinyl around it, leaving a path open through the structure. There’s some lighting inside the space, to make it feel more inviting, and heaters can be installed throughout. At Azul 18, they set up 75 feet of partially enclosed outdoor space, which fit six tables, seating 24 people total, and five patio heaters.
Although Bridgewater Studio didn't win the Winter Design Challenge, it was able to take its design and help Azul 18 with outdoor dining options. (Eric Cup)
“Summer finished and we were going to close the patio down,” said Jose Cruz, owner of Azul 18. “These guys just came like angels and were like, ‘We’re going to do it at no cost to you, to show the city of Chicago that this is a good idea.’”
Cup lives in Pilsen and frequents the restaurant. Cruz said the entire process took three days, and he was surprised at how quickly it came together. With the structure in place, every table was full last weekend, he said.
“This is going to help me a lot,” Cruz said, noting that indoor dining was shutting down Friday, per the governor’s orders. “We’re a small business; we’ve been here in Pilsen for six years already, and we (have) 10 employees total. The last time the virus started, I had to lay off almost all of them and only had three people working. With this patio, I don’t think I’m going to lay off as many as before."
The project, which Bridgewater Studios paid for, should be durable enough to last five months and cost $15,300, including the patio heaters. But Cup said he recognizes that most small restaurants like Azul 18 can’t afford to spend even $1,000 on an outdoor dining solution, which is why he hopes generous donors and corporate sponsors will financially support the project. If enough money can be raised, restaurants could be awarded the structures for free through a lottery system.
“Our goal is to provide these at no cost to (the restaurants),” Cup said. “This needs to be one of those things where people who have greater resources have to invest in keeping these small places alive.”
But even if the project doesn’t get fully funded — their goal is $250,000, which should be able to fund 20 or 30 restaurants — Cup said he believes the work his team has put into the project has been worth it, because they were able to help at least one restaurant.
Advertisement
“We’re a small business, we get this. We’re struggling, and honestly everybody is,” Cup said. “I think that the more that people get involved with practical solutions in their communities and help people out, the better the chance we have as a country to get through this together.”
To donate or to apply as a recipient for this project, visit winterpatio.com.
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential rac

Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential race’s final weeks

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election , both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Starting in September , Biden abandoned his monthslong @ @ @ @ @ in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at @ @ @

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election, both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have ramped up their campaign travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Starting in September, Biden abandoned his monthslong virtual campaign from his basement in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at some events.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Here’s a look at the campaign trail stops made by Trump, Biden and running mates since Sept. 1.
Campaign trail tracker
Tap or click on a dot to see details of the stop.
Don’t see the map? Some mobile browsers disable it. Try this link.


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas, homemade altars for Day of the Dead: ‘T

Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas, homemade altars for Day of the Dead: ‘The love never dies, we celebrate their life’

Now recovered from the virus , Miguel Rodriguez ’ s immediate family plans to gather on Sunday to thank God @ @ @ @ @ with the pain but also to pay homage to those who are gone .
They @ @ @ @ @ are planning to make his favorite dishes and drinks .

Camila De La O, 16, smiles while holding one of her family dogs, Coco, in front of her family's elaborate ofrenda, or home altar, spanning the living and dining rooms, on Oct. 23, 2020, in Chicago. Camila and her mother, Rosa Lilia De La O, decorate their home to remember relatives and friends who have died, as part of the annual Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holiday. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
When she was growing up, as the Day of the Dead approached Sophia Irizarry would help her grandmother set up an altar in their living room to remember and honor their loved ones.
Putting up the ofrenda was a celebration in itself, she recalls. Her grandmother would look at old photos and reminisce about those who had died, telling her tales of the old times and decorating the altar with their favorite dishes, cempasuchil flowers and lots of catrinas — skeletal figures associated with the holiday.
Advertisement
Dia de los Muertos, celebrated Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, and coinciding with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the Roman Catholic calendar, was her grandmother’s favorite holiday, she said.
Sophia Irizarry, of Chicago, created an ofrenda to honor her grandmother, Ramona Fuentes, 82, who died from COVID-19 in June. Sophia said it was her grandmother who taught her to make the ofrenda because Day of the Dead was her favorite holiday. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Her grandmother, Ramona Fuentes, taught her that “It’s a time full of nostalgia, but at the same time, gratefulness for everything that each person left in the world,” she said.
Advertisement
This year, Irizarry had to set up the ofrenda on her own. Her grandmother unexpectedly died from COVID-19 complications June 10 at age 82. Now her photo adorns the top of the ofrenda, just as photos of many other people who have died from the virus are a part of ofrendas for other Mexican American families this year.
COVID-19 cases in the Latino community continue to grow at a faster rate than any other ethnic group in Illinois, according to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the most recent information from the city of Chicago portal.
The De La O family’s ofrenda at their home in West Lawn has three new portraits this year, all of people who died from COVID-19 complications, and the family expects to add pictures of at least 10 more family friends who also died of coronavirus, said Camila Del Carmen De La O.
“It’s a reminder of how fragile life is,” she said. “But it also keeps the hope alive because we will never forget them and maybe we will see them again one day.”
Camila Del Carmen De La O, 16, points to relatives' photographs arranged on an elaborate ofrenda on Oct. 23, 2020, in Chicago. Camila and her mother, Rosa Lilia De La O, decorate their home to remember relatives and friends who have died. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
De La O, 16, asked her mother if she could create an elaborate ofrenda to honor her grandmother a few years back after learning the meaning of ofrendas and the significance of Dia de los Muertos.
Ever since, the altar has been growing from a buffet table in the dining room to the living room and foyer. Dozens of catrinas, candles and papel picado, colorful paper flags, surround the photos of their loved ones for almost a month.
The photo of her grandmother, Maria Del Carmen Landin, who died a month before Camila was born in 2004, stands out. Camila never met her, but thanks to the tradition that her grandmother passed down, Camila feels she remembers her.
“They never leave us, they’re always here with us,” said her mother, Rosa Lilia De La O. “I’m proud that she does this because it’s part of our culture, my family, and she keeps them alive.”
Advertisement
Camila Del Carmen De La O, 16, straightens a cross placed on an elaborate ofrenda on Oct. 23, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Camila De La O felt compelled to grow her ofrenda this year “because we’ve lost so many Latinos to this virus,” she said. Working on the ofrenda has empowered her Mexican American identity after she spent her years up to high school going to a public school in Bucktown where the Latino enrollment was declining year by year.
“We learn to accept death and overcome grief with love,” she said.
Creating an ofrenda is an essential part of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. It’s now a growing holiday in the United States after the Disney movie “Coco,” which brought the world of the spirits and the significance of the celebration and its ceremonies to a diverse audience.
For the first time this year, Jennifer Sosa asked her three brothers and her father for help to create an ofrenda for her mother, Sandra Valle, 50, who died May 27 of COVID-19 complications after two weeks in the hospital.
The Dia de los Muertos ofrenda honoring Sandra Valle, who died of COVID-19 complications in May, at her family's home in Pilsen on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Valle was active in the Pilsen community as an immigrant rights activist and advocated for bilingual classes for students and information for parents at Cooper Elementary, Orozco Language Academy and Benito Juarez high school, said her son Terry Sosa.
The altar in front of their home is adorned with certificates that Valle received throughout her life. The family has asked those who knew Valle to stop by to see it and to drop off any items that remind them of her.
Advertisement
“She wanted a better future, not just for us, but everyone else,” said Terry Sosa, as he carefully placed a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe on a stand near the photo of her mother.
“If it wasn’t for coronavirus, my mother would still be here,” said Jennifer Sosa, while holding her daughter in her arms. “It’s taken so many people from us and I’m afraid that many more will die.”
Valle used to take care of Jennifer Sosa’s 2-year-old while she worked every day. Now Jennifer Sosa hopes to keep her mother’s legacy alive through the ofrenda so that the child can also learn from the “strong and independent mother.”
Jennifer Sosa and her family create a Dia de los Muertos ofrenda to honor their mother, Sandra Valle, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Valle was a cheerful woman who suddenly and unexpectedly fell ill, Jennifer Sosa said. She loved cumbia dancing and pipian, a green mole sauce dish that Terry Sosa made for her. She also feared getting sick and tried to take all the precautions necessary to avoid getting infected.
“But it happened,” Terry Sosa said.
“We do this today, not only to pay homage to my mother and honor those who have passed, but it is also a reminder for our community to take this (pandemic) seriously and be careful,” he added.
Advertisement
The Rodriguez family’s celebration of the holiday is more heartfelt this year. Patriarch Miguel Rodriguez died of COVID-19 in May at a Hammond hospital, only two weeks after turning 50.
His wife, Laura Melia Rodriguez, baked pan de muerto, the traditional bread for Dia de los Muertos, to decorate the ofrenda she and her children created for him.
Miguel Rodriguez appreciated celebrating the life of those who had died because he was raised a religious man, his wife said. The small but elaborate ofrenda stands in the living room of the family’s ranch house in Chicago Heights, next to the black couch where he used to sit.
The altar celebrating Miguel Rodriguez is adorned with sugar skulls and Mexican marigolds. Monday afternoon, Crystal Rodriguez and other family members gathered to decorate the skulls as her mother baked the bread.
As they deal with their pain, celebrating Day of the Dead brings the family peace and unites them, said Crystal Rodriguez, 26.
Miguel Angel and his sister Crystal Rodriguez chat as their mother, Laura Rodriguez, makes Pan de Muertos at their home in Chicago Heights on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Her father was on a ventilator for nearly a month before they had to make the excruciating decision to have him taken off life support when doctors gave them no more hope.
Advertisement
“We all fought and prayed a lot, but it was his time,” Laura Melia Rodriguez said. “This is what he would have wanted from us: to remember him with joy, as he would have remembered others.”
Overcome with emotion, Crystal Rodriguez recalled the day her father was disconnected from the ventilator. It was about the same time that she and her mother recovered from COVID-19. Both suffered from pneumonia while her father was in the hospital. At least 15 other members of their family members were also infected.
On May 31, at 3 p.m., Miguel Rodriguez’s family gathered in the parking lot of the hospital to pay respects to the father of three and say goodbye from afar. At his burial, a mariachi sang his favorite songs.
“It was a big fiesta because the love never dies, we celebrate their life," Crystal Rodriguez said.
Now recovered from the virus, Miguel Rodriguez’s immediate family plans to gather on Sunday to thank God for the strength to deal with the pain but also to pay homage to those who are gone. They have scheduled a Mass and are planning to make his favorite dishes and drinks.
At Camila De La O’s home, the family also plans to have an intimate feast on Monday, before putting away their altar until next year.
Advertisement
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect year for the death of Maria Del Carmen Landin; she died in 2004.
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laura_n_rod


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--‘Giving condolences is not enough.’ Hadiya Pendleton’s mom urges people to turn in guns as Chicago p

‘Giving condolences is not enough.’ Hadiya Pendleton’s mom urges people to turn in guns as Chicago police announce recovery of 9,000 weapons this year.

“ She was 15 years old .
She was the 42nd person to be killed so far that January .
@ @ @ @ @ .
I buried her on Feb. 9 .
The sad part is that giving condolences @ @ @ @ @ enough , ” she said , urging people to “ understand the importance of gun @ @ @

A woman carries a heart-shaped memorial into the Greater Harvest Baptist Church before the funeral for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton on Saturday. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune)
The mother of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old girl whose shooting death in 2013 sparked a national outcry, appeared with Chicago police brass Wednesday as they announced the recovery of 9,000 guns in the city so far this year.
While Cleopatra Cowley Pendleton called the number “amazing,” she emphasized that “when you’re a victim of violence, gun violence in particular, the numbers you remember are very different.”
Advertisement
Cleopatra Cowley Pendleton wipes tears after the Chicago Park District board in 2015 approved renaming a South Side park in honor of her daughter Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed in January 2013. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)
“She was 15 years old. She was the 42nd person to be killed so far that January. She had a 10-year-old brother. I buried her on Feb. 9. The sad part is that giving condolences for those numbers is not enough,” she said, urging people to “understand the importance of gun turn-ins.”
Chicago police officials have repeatedly blamed the spike in violence this year on the prevalence of guns on the streets. This year is on pace to be deadlier than 2016, which was the most violent year in Chicago in 20 years.
Advertisement
Of the 9,000 guns seized or turned in, nearly a third came from some of the most violent police districts in the city.
In the Harrison District on the West Side, 1,112 guns were recovered, according to First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter.
The South Side’s Englewood District had 903 guns recovered, and the Gresham District was close behind with 821, Carter said. He said there has been a 1% drop in gun turn-ins, which he blamed on the pandemic.
“Each of these weapons have the potential to take a life,” Carter said.
Also appearing at the news conference was anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes, who asked for a moment of silence for those who have lost their lives to gun violence. “We as a community have to help and step up,” Holmes said, urging people to call 911 to turn in a gun.
Cowley pleaded for people to give police any information they have about a crime. “Any opportunity to be the voice for my deceased child, I will take it,” she said.
Data kept by the Chicago Tribune shows there have been at least 3,474 shootings and 645 homicides so far this year. In 2016, there were nearly 780 homicides for the entire year, the most since 796 were recorded in 1996.


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Antibody drug tested in Cook County may be helpful to some COVID-19 patients, results show

Scientists have surmised that monoclonal antibodies would be more effective earlier in the course of the disease , and that @ @ @ @ @ the case .
Another recently released study found the Eli Lilly drug had no benefit @ @ @ @ @ be hospitalized — results that brought the research to a halt .
Most of those @ @ @ @ @ the antiviral drug remdesivir .

A new antibody-based drug shows promise in treating outpatients who have mild to severe COVID-19, according to initial results of research conducted in part at Cook County Health and Northwestern University.
Patients given the drug were hospitalized or visited the emergency room less often than those given a placebo, Cook County Health officials said. The patients receiving the drug also showed improvement within two to six days, a shorter disease course that is not only good for patients but also may reduce the amount of time a person is infectious, helping protect other people.
Advertisement
The drug, manufactured by Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc., was tested on 452 outpatients at 24 medical institutions across the country, including Cook County’s vast public health system and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Most of the 14 patients who took part at Cook County Health were Latino or Black, populations that have been hit especially hard by the disease.
The results of the continuing study, which is being run by Eli Lilly, were published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Advertisement
The drug, administered through a one-time infusion, includes the replicated antibodies of one of the first patients in the United States to survive COVID-19. It’s classified as a monoclonal antibody treatment, the same type of medication given to President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the disease and which he described as “a cure.”
The drug in the Eli Lilly trial was formulated using a single antibody. The drug Trump received was made by Regeneron and involves two antibodies.
Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease expert who led the arm of the Eli Lilly research conducted at Cook County Health, made it clear that the drug is a treatment, not a cure.
“Our hope has been that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly," Huhn said. “While a vaccine is still necessary, this drug therapy has the potential to prevent bad clinical outcomes and complications of COVID-19.”
Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease physician at Stroger Hospital, poses for a portrait on May 4, 2020, outside of Cook County Health in Chicago. (Raquel Zaldivar / Chicago Tribune)
Scientists have surmised that monoclonal antibodies would be more effective earlier in the course of the disease, and that so far appears to be the case. Another recently released study found the Eli Lilly drug had no benefit for patients sick enough to be hospitalized — results that brought the research to a halt. Most of those patients also were treated with the antiviral drug remdesivir.
“There’s a more compelling argument to administer antibodies early on, before our own bodies generate their own immune response," Huhn said.
The results released Wednesday found that 1.6% of outpatients given the Eli Lilly drug needed to be hospitalized or visit an emergency room, compared with 6.3% of patients who received a placebo. The drug worked by reducing the amount of virus in people’s bodies, the study determined.
The study’s findings also indicate better outcomes among high-risk patients — defined as patients 65 or older or morbidly obese patients who were at least 35 years old. In that population, 4.2% who received the drug were hospitalized, compared with 14.6% who got the placebo, Huhn said.
Advertisement
Further phases of the Eli Lilly research will include testing a medication that contains an additional cloned antibody on COVID-19 patients who are considered at high risk of becoming seriously ill.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received the combination Eli Lilly drug when he was being treated for COVID-19.
Both Eli Lilly and Regeneron have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization to use the drug on sick patients outside of trial settings.
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Texas tightens to a toss-up between Biden and Trump: Track the race for president in key battlegroun

Texas tightens to a toss-up between Biden and Trump: Track the race for president in key battleground states

Of those , 218 electoral votes are in states rated as likely or solidly Democrat and expected to vote for @ @ @ @ @ electoral votes are tied to states rated as likely or solidly Republican and expected to @ @ @ @

Bill Ruthhart, Chad Yoder, Jonathon Berlin

Going into Tuesday’s voting, the list of battleground states that President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were fighting for was a long 13. By the end of the night, that list had shrunk to a half-dozen.
By Wednesday morning, all eyes were on three familiar battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Propelled by the late counting of votes from Democratic strongholds, Biden had taken a lead in Michigan and Wisconsin by late morning Wednesday, while Trump remained in front in Pennsylvania with hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding.
Regardless of where those states land, the margin in the race to 270 Electoral College votes promises to be thin. Here is a look at results in hand so far from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as some of the other battlegrounds that have been projected already or are closer to projection.
Also included here are final FiveThirtyEight polling averages for those states — polling that, as in 2016, proved to underestimate Trump’s sway with voters.
Those polls had Biden up 8.2 points nationally, for example. In key Midwest states, Biden led Minnesota by 9.3, Wisconsin by 8.2 and Michigan by 8 points. Trump won states where he was leading — Iowa, Texas and Ohio.
State by state


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Biological mom, man held after 7-year-old taken from Chesterton facility: police

“ Both children involved in this situation are club members and were inside the building , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ a call on his cell and went into the program area where his younger sibling @ @ @ @ @ his brother with him and ran outside .

A juvenile involved in an abduction from the Duneland Boys and Girls Club Wednesday morning opened the rear doors of a van during a police pursuit and waved his hands at officers as if gesturing for help, Chesterton police said.
The incident began to unfold around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday when police were sent to the club, at 521 W. County Road 1100 North, when police responded to an alleged kidnapping of a 7-year-old boy, Chesterton Police Chief David Cincoski said in a release.
Advertisement
Witnesses told police an older juvenile ran into the building, grabbed the boy and fled, getting into a white van.
In a statement, Alison Martin, vice president of philanthropy for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, praised the work of the police and staff members at the club.
Advertisement
“Both children involved in this situation are club members and were inside the building,” she said. "The older child received a call on his cell and went into the program area where his younger sibling was located. He took his brother with him and ran outside.
“A staff member followed the children. This staff member reacted quickly and instructed another staff to call the police immediately when he realized they were running toward a waiting vehicle,” she said.
Additional witnesses were able to provide updates on the direction and path of travel for the van until officers made contact with the vehicle.
Despite multiple police cars with activated lights and sirens, the van failed to stop and was pursued north on County Road 200 West, north and west on Verplank Road and west on U.S. 20, Cincoski said.
The driver began to operate recklessly in an attempt to elude officers, including driving into oncoming lanes of traffic on U.S. 20.
“During the further pursuit of the vehicle, officers readily observed a juvenile open the rear doors of the van while it was in motion and waving his hands at officers as if gesturing for help,” Cincoski said.
The vehicle came to a stop on its own west of Indiana 149.
A woman who was driving and a man who was a passenger were detained for questioning. The two juveniles were rescued from the van and were not injured.
Advertisement
The investigation to this point revealed that the woman, reportedly a resident of New Hampshire, is the biological mother of the juveniles but the juveniles were recently removed from her care and placed in a foster home for prior, unrelated reasons, Cincoski said.
The investigation is ongoing and the juveniles have been safely placed back into the care of the Department of Child Services. Charges may be forthcoming depending on the course of the investigation, Cincoski said.
Chesterton police were assisted by the Burns Harbor and Porter police departments, as well as the Porter County Sheriff’s Department, during the course of the apprehension and investigation.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--EPA says it has finished cleanup at Superfund site near Gary/Chicago International Airport

By December 1976 there were more than 14,000 containers of chemical waste on the patch of land where the Midwest @ @ @ @ @ was known as Midco I at 7400 W. 15th Ave. A fire there on Dec. @ @ @ @ @ toxic fumes across Northwest Indiana .
Midco I relocated to 5900 Industrial Highway across from @ @ @ @ @ took a new name , Midwest Industrial Waste Disposal Co .
It is known as @ @ @

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it has completed its cleanup at Midco II near the Gary/Chicago International Airport, a designated toxic Superfund site since 1986.
“This administration is keeping its promise to pick up the pace of Superfund cleanups -- projects that languished under previous administrations,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede said in a release. “Cleaning up Superfund sites brings real environmental benefits to places that have suffered environmental degradation while also helping move them forward economically.”
Advertisement
The airport is expected to reuse the site, according to EPA documents.
The cleanup at Midco II, 5900 Industrial Highway, included consolidating and covering contaminated soil and sentiment on-site, addressing soil vapors and treating contaminated groundwater. The EPA will continue to monitor groundwater until it meets federal drinking water standards, the agency said.
Advertisement
The site includes a 7-acre disposal area with contaminated groundwater, 4 acres of contaminated sentiment with more groundwater contamination, according to EPA records.
It’s bordered in the northwest by a former auto salvage yard, northeast by a drainage ditch and railroad, east and southeast by vacant, filled in land owned by the Gary-Chicago Airport Development Zone, and in the south and southwest by Industrial Highway, that borders the airport, according to agency documents.
Residential homes are a mile southeast in Gary, it said.
When groundwater meets federal standards, EPA will delete Midco II from the National Priorities List, when “no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment,” it said.
“EPA has placed special emphasis on deleting sites and portions of sites to demonstrate to communities that cleanup is complete,” according to a release.
In fact, the Trump administration completed the fewest cleanups of toxic Superfund sites last year than any administration since the program’s first years in the 1980s, figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency indicated in February.
Midco II is the second of a pair of former Gary industrial waste dump sites listed on the EPA Superfund program’s National Priorities List, reserved for the nation’s most toxic sites.
By December 1976 there were more than 14,000 containers of chemical waste on the patch of land where the Midwest Solvent Recovery company operated what was known as Midco I at 7400 W. 15th Ave. A fire there on Dec. 21, 1976, spewed toxic fumes across Northwest Indiana. Midco I relocated to 5900 Industrial Highway across from Gary Regional Airport. It took a new name, Midwest Industrial Waste Disposal Co. It is known as Midco II.
Advertisement
According to the EPA, by the time of a fire in August 1977 at Midco II, there were an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 toxic waste drums, including 125 containing cyanide. The EPA closed and fenced the site in 1981. From 1984 to 1989, it removed and disposed of all wastes, dug up and disposed of contaminated soil and waste from the sludge pit and filter bed.
The Associated Press contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Woman who told police her baby was in stolen SUV is charged with filing a false report

But when police detectives confronted Sade Owens that evening with details that her son Jaden was found safe along with @ @ @ @ @ a babysitter — and that the babysitter reported she ’ d dropped all three children @ @ @ @ @ said the home caregiver admitted her son wasn ’ t in the vehicle , adding @ @ @ @ @ advised that police would find her vehicle faster if she told them her baby was @ @

For hours, Chicago police searched the city for a 7-month-old boy after his mother claimed he had been in an SUV that was stolen while she dashed into a convenience store on the Southwest Side.
They finally found him safe — with a babysitter where Sade Owens had dropped him and her two other children off earlier Monday. She told officers she filed the false report because “some lady” had told her police would find her stolen car faster if she said her baby was inside.
Advertisement
Owens, a 30-year-old home caregiver, could be heard sobbing Wednesday during her bail hearing, broadcast on YouTube, after a judge ordered her held on $5,000 bail on a felony charge of false reporting.
Judge Mary C. Marubio noted how police “jumped into action” to find the missing child, deploying canine units and a helicopter.
Advertisement
“This is an incredibly expensive search for this child, for this baby,” the judge said. “So while we consider that no one was harmed, there is a harm to a community when police resources are misdirected — and misdirected on such a grand scale.”
Sade Owens (Chicago Police Department)
Owens told police she left the boy in a gray SUV when she went into a convenience store in the 2700 block of West 71st Street early Monday afternoon, police said. When she returned, the SUV was gone.
Investigators found that someone drove the SUV north on California Avenue. They found it two hours later in the 1400 block of South Keeler Avenue but did not find the child. Police released photos of the boy in an endangered missing person alert.
Prosecutors said Owens became “evasive with officers,” later giving them incomplete information about the location of her other two children and their babysitter. Owens gave detectives the wrong address to her babysitter, but they were eventually able to find the correct apartment building and apartment, prosecutors said.
When the babysitter opened the front door, investigators immediately saw the boy sitting on the couch, authorities said.
The babysitter said Owens had dropped all three children off that morning and was supposed to pick them up at 5 p.m., prosecutors said. When Owens didn’t return, the babysitter said she was unable to contact her. The boy’s 7-year-old brother identified the baby by name.
Owens' court-appointed attorney said the mother of three was homeless and living in a shelter while working full-time as a caregiver. She is scheduled to return to court next week.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Kamala Harris pitches ‘Kim Foxx is smart on crime’ message in robocall to Cook County residents

Foxx is running for a second term against O ’ Brien and Libertarian candidate Brian Dennehy .
She took over @ @ @ @ @ after defeating incumbent Anita Alvarez in the 2016 election as the city reeled from the @ @ @ @ @ police murder of Laquan McDonald .
Although she has come under fire for her office @ @ @ @ @ Jussie Smollett case as well as this summer ’ s multiple looting rounds in Chicago @ @ @ @ @ nationally and in Illinois have endorsed her .

Some Cook County residents will be hearing from Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on why the former prosecutor thinks state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s progressive vision is the right choice for voters this November.
In a robocall scheduled to be sent out this week, the U.S. senator from California ramps up her February endorsement of the Democratic incumbent and defends the county’s top prosecutor’s record in reforming criminal justice, Foxx’s campaign announced Wednesday. She portrays Foxx as a bulwark against Republican President Donald Trump’s policies, which the state’s attorney’s office has sued the administration over, in a bid to parlay any resentment of Trump in the deep-blue county into enthusiasm for Foxx.
Advertisement
“As a former prosecutor I know firsthand that the state’s attorney is a position that has the power to change lives,” Harris says in the recording. “And this is exactly what Kim Foxx has done in her four years in office. Kim has used her position to stand up to Donald Trump’s policies and protect our communities.”
A campaign spokesman for Foxx’s GOP challenger Patrick O’Brien tried to distance him from Trump on Wednesday, saying that the candidate has never met or sought the president’s support.
Advertisement
“Last-ditch tactics like this tell us that Kim Foxx is rightfully concerned that she will lose this race,” Brad Goodman wrote in a statement. “Kim Foxx can line up as many robocalls from politicians outside of Cook County as she wants, but Cook County voters know the truth about her record: Under Foxx, crime is up, prosecutions are down, and families and neighborhoods are less safe.”
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
The support from one of the most high-profile Democrats in the country comes the day after downtown Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly, a surrogate for Harris' running mate Joe Biden, revolted from his party to endorse O’Brien. Reilly knocked Foxx for what he said was a “revolving door” in the criminal justice system because of suspects not being held accountable.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, left, and challenger Patrick O’Brien. Chicago Tribune photos
Harris doesn’t see it that way, according to her robocall. She says Foxx’s office has both fought violent crime while overturning a spate of wrongful convictions that have dragged down Cook County’s reputation as a place where miscarriages of justice run rampant. Meanwhile, she appears to draw from Foxx’s attack that O’Brien is part of an old guard of prosecutors that leans toward locking up offenders without addressing the root causes of crime.
“Kim Foxx is smart on crime,” Harris says. “We cannot go back to the old ways of criminal justice that harmed our communities. We need her in office to continue making Cook County a model of reform.”
Foxx is running for a second term against O’Brien and Libertarian candidate Brian Dennehy. She took over as state’s attorney after defeating incumbent Anita Alvarez in the 2016 election as the city reeled from the video release of the Chicago police murder of Laquan McDonald. Although she has come under fire for her office’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case as well as this summer’s multiple looting rounds in Chicago, politicians with name recognition nationally and in Illinois have endorsed her.
O’Brien, who was a Cook County Circuit Court judge and assistant state’s attorney before switching parties, is campaigning on a core message that residents have been fearing crime more than they have in years and that he will be a voice for victims. In addition, he has the backing of Chicago police’s largest union, which has given him the maximum campaign contribution and is door-knocking on his behalf.
On a local level, Chicago City Council’s progressive and Black caucuses reaffirmed their support for Foxx after Reilly’s snubbing on Tuesday.
Advertisement
“Elected officials that switch political parties and lack commitment to Democratic values are careless,” the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus wrote in a Wednesday statement condemning Reilly’s endorsement. “Chicago and Cook County cannot afford to go back to the ways of yesteryear with the lackluster leadership of Pat O’Brien. We must continue to look forward and reelect Kim Foxx, someone who cares and understands the needs of our communities.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @byaliceyin