chicagotribune--2020-04-28--What to order in today: Crab cake Benedict at new breakfast spot and grocery on Belmont

Busy brunch restaurant Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club quietly opened a second location about a month after Illinois Gov .
J.B. @ @ @ @ @ .
If that ’ s not ambitious enough , the new cafe can be found @ @ @ @ @ store on the northwest side of Chicago .
Plus the hybrid essential business ( cafe @ @ @ @ @ Belmont Gardens neighborhood opened ahead of schedule to keep as many employees working as possible @

Busy brunch restaurant Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club quietly opened a second location about a month after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed dining rooms statewide. If that’s not ambitious enough, the new cafe can be found inside a formerly troubled grocery store on the northwest side of Chicago. Plus the hybrid essential business (cafe and grocery) in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood opened ahead of schedule to keep as many employees working as possible.
Chef and owner Manny Mejia transformed the old El Mitote storefront market space (previously linked to drug trafficking) that’s bigger than a bodega. The new Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club on Belmont opened April 15, but the only signage you will find is a small sidewalk chalkboard. Mejia offers the same menu as his flagship Hollywood Park restaurant with brunch dishes that span the globe and his cooking experience at M. Henry and Jin Ju.
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Lemon crab cake Benedict with sourdough toast and other brunch dishes by Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club on Belmont Avenue in Belmont Gardens neighborhood of Chicago on April 24, 2020. (Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune)
The Mexican immigrant chef and his team turn out chorizo skillets as well as savory Korean pajeon scallion pancakes and traditional American brunch classics, with eggs cooked to order perfectly every time, plus toast made with house-baked sourdough bread.
Normally I’d never recommend ordering eggs Benedict to-go, because that’s just asking for trouble, but these are not normal times. The lemon crab cake Benedict ($14) with tender crab cakes, verdant sauteed spinach and toasted English muffins, comes topped by precisely poached eggs and creamy hollandaise sauce, plus a bed of potato hash.
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[ RELATED: Crazy to launch a restaurant during the pandemic shutdown? North Shore to-go spot stays on schedule and finds success. ]
It’s a good thing we’re all living in pajamas right now, because you’ll want to curl up for a nap after just one more delicious bite.
You might want to shop for your groceries ahead of time at the attached Mercado de La Manzana. Former waitress Gaby Delgado, now reassigned as a cashier, said she will take your order by phone if you prefer, in English or Spanish, for curbside pickup or their own employee delivery.
Sidewalk chalkboard sign at Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club on Belmont Avenue in Belmont Gardens April 24, 2020 is the only sign announcing the business. (Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune)
Get breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m. and groceries all day. Remember to leave at least a 20% tip in your trunk for what will be seamless curbside service.
4459 W. Belmont Ave., 773-930-3068, facebook.com/pages/category/Restaurant/Bryn-Mawr-Breakfast-Club-on-Belmont-108792037459236


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Facebook will stream a virtual 2020 graduation ceremony with Oprah, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Garner, Li

Facebook will stream a virtual 2020 graduation ceremony with Oprah, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X

On Monday , May 11 , Instagram will kick off daily programming that spotlights graduates ' experiences , like portrait @ @ @ @ @ .
Instagram also will roll out new in-app creative tools and features including a graduation @ @ @ @ @ sticker pack , new AR effects , and a custom hashtag page for # Graduation2020 @ @ @ @ @ and Instagram Stories will launch a graduation theme for music stickers , comprising a list @ @ @ @ @ users share to their stories .

Facebook will celebrate America’s graduating seniors with a live-streaming event next month that will include a commencement address by Oprah Winfrey and a lineup of other celebs.
In addition to Winfrey’s keynote, the May 15 event will feature Miley Cyrus performing her perseverance-themed hit “The Climb.” Celebrities on tap to address the class of 2020 in the live-stream include Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, Awkwafina and Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles; Facebook expects to announce additional guests later.
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“#Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020” will kick off Friday, May 15, at 1 p.m./11 a.m. PT. The multi-hour live broadcast will stream on Facebook Watch (available at facebook.com/facebookapp). Individual segments will be posted to the @Instagram account and participants’ individual handles.
According to Facebook, the ceremony will give shout-outs to individual high schools and colleges in the U.S., state by state, including photos and videos of the class of 2020 and messages from principals and deans.
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Facebook's 2020 graduation event programming is aimed at spurring users to engage with the platform -- so they'll spend more time watching, commenting on and sharing content with their friend groups.
Oprah Winfrey speaks during Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour presented by WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) at Chase Center on February 22, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
"As students head toward graduation, it's not the day they might have imagined -- no processions, no diploma handoffs, no parties," Marne Levine, Facebook's VP of global partnerships, business and corporate development, wrote in a blog post announcing the event. "But graduating is a tremendous achievement, and worth pausing to celebrate even in these circumstances."
The social giant also is enabling grads to host their own digital ceremonies and parties via the Facebook App, with special features including a virtual graduation hub, custom filters, and video chats through its new Messenger Rooms feature.
Facebook and Instagram are set to launch other programming and features in the week leading up to the 2020 graduation live-stream.
On Monday, May 11, Instagram will kick off daily programming that spotlights graduates' experiences, like portrait showcases and senior skip day. Instagram also will roll out new in-app creative tools and features including a graduation countdown sticker, a celebratory sticker pack, new AR effects, and a custom hashtag page for #Graduation2020. In addition, Facebook and Instagram Stories will launch a graduation theme for music stickers, comprising a list of grad-related songs for moments users share to their stories.
“Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020” is being produced by B17 Entertainment, with Rhett Bachner and Brien Meagher serving as executive producers and Jane Mun as showrunner and executive producer.


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Sunny skies expected to give way to severe thunderstorms in Chicago area Tuesday afternoon

Tornadoes , strong winds and some flooding also are possible , according to the National Weather Service .
The storms @ @ @ @ @ area in midafternoon , possibly about 3 p.m. Before the system moves in , Chicagoans @ @ @ @ @ warm and sunny day , with temperatures potentially reaching 70 degrees .
The greatest chance @ @ @ @ @ away from Lake Michigan , beyond the western edge of Cook County , according to @ @ @ @

A pedestrian walks across North LaSalle Street as rain falls in the area on April 28, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Dense fog early Tuesday gave way to sunny skies, but meteorologists warned scattered and at times severe thunderstorms are likely to move into the Chicago area in the afternoon.
Tornadoes, strong winds and some flooding also are possible, according to the National Weather Service. The storms could begin moving into the area in midafternoon, possibly about 3 p.m. Before the system moves in, Chicagoans should be in for a warm and sunny day, with temperatures potentially reaching 70 degrees. The greatest chance for more severe storms is away from Lake Michigan, beyond the western edge of Cook County, according to the weather service.
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A foggy morning at Harrington Park in Riverside on April 28, 2020. (Steven Rosenberg / Chicago Tribune)
“Temperatures will warm up quickly in inland areas today, reaching the lower to even possibly mid-70s. This warmth along with an approaching weather system will provide the potential for mid-late afternoon storms and most likely early to mid-evening storms," the weather service warned.
Forecasters said it was too soon to tell if conditions would align to result in severe weather or tornadoes.
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An approaching weather system will provide the potential for mid-late afternoon storms, and most likely early to mid-evening storms. Some of these storms could be severe, especially in the yellow shaded area. Storms will move out of the area by midnight. #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/mPr1KyFdtP — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) April 28, 2020
“While confidence in storms is high and multiple ingredients are there for severe (weather) including a tornado threat in mainly north central Illinois, confidence is low in whether that will materialize,” according to the weather service.
People should monitor the weather for any alerts or advisories and be prepared to take shelter later in the day, meteorologists said.
For more information and updates, visit the Tribune’s weather page.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Chicago artists and Threadless do their part with custom-designed masks for charity

Under the plan , artists can earn up to 60 % more on sales from their wares through May 31 @ @ @ @ @ their designated proceeds to MedShare or other charities .
Schmidt said the online store is @ @ @ @ @ by the pandemic to launch their own Artist Shops .
They are encouraged to email @ @ @ @ @ threadless.com so the Threadless team can help them set up their own online store .
@ @ @ @ @ help small businesses offset loss of revenue .

Whether they are made from T-shirts, scarves or bandanas, it would appear that masks may be here to stay, even after curves are flattened and people break free from their homes. Local online marketplace Threadless, which sells T-shirts and other merchandise showcasing artist-submitted designs, is making inroads to meet the need by pivoting its efforts to mask creation.
“Masks are looking to be a part of our culture for the foreseeable future so may as well express ourselves a bit through art and design when wearing them,” said Threadless CEO Jake Nickell. “When the CDC released guidelines for wearing cloth masks, we knew our artist community would be clamoring to design them.”
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Threadless.com consumers can buy two-ply, 100% polyester machine-washable face masks (7.5 inches by 4.5 inches; one size fits all). Decorated with customizable art on one side, the reversible, reusable masks run an average $17 each.
A portion of the proceeds from each mask sale is donated to MedShare, a Georgia-based nonprofit that provides supplies and equipment to medical volunteers, hospitals and clinics in the U.S. and abroad. (It is a charity recommended by “Chicago Med” star Colin Donnell, a MedShare contributor since 2018.)
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Threadless launched the community action plan initiative on April 14 and raised $100,000 for MedShare in several days, according to Elizabeth Schmidt, digital marketing director for Threadless. The next goal is $250,000.
“We’re approaching 30,000 total masks sold,” she said. “We just surpassed the $100,000 mark on Tuesday. And as of Thursday, we are at $140,000. I think it’s very possible we can hit that $250,000 mark in another week or two at the most.”
Under the plan, artists can earn up to 60% more on sales from their wares through May 31, and elect to give their designated proceeds to MedShare or other charities. Schmidt said the online store is also encouraging small businesses impacted by the pandemic to launch their own Artist Shops. They are encouraged to email their logo to start@threadless.com so the Threadless team can help them set up their own online store. Schmidt said this avenue can help small businesses offset loss of revenue.
“We’re in the process of working with a few local businesses because they want to be able to give masks to all of their workers that are still working at their restaurants,” Schmidt said.
Here are a few of our favorite mask designs by Chicago artists. Stay healthy out there.
drockett@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Chicago police cite homeowner for crowded weekend house party in viral video after Mayor Lori Lightf

Chicago police cite homeowner for crowded weekend house party in viral video after Mayor Lori Lightfoot says, ‘It goes against all the things we’ve been talking about’ during COVID-19 pandemic

” The city will follow up with the owner of the property and attendees to ensure any health risks that @ @ @ @ @ party are monitored and mitigated .
The Department thanks the surrounding community members and Alderman @ @ @ @ @ this investigation , ” Agostini said .

John Byrne, Jeremy Gorner, Gregory Pratt

Chicago police said they cited a Northwest Side homeowner with disorderly conduct on Monday following a crowded weekend house party that drew nationwide condemnation after video surfaced of attendees packed shoulder to shoulder in violation of social distancing rules.
The citation came on the same day as Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted the large party, which to her looked like “hundreds” of people standing “literally cheek to jowl.”
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“It goes against all the things we’ve been talking about,” Lightfoot said at an unrelated news conference.
Chicago police spokesman Luis Agostini said officers responded to the home early Sunday morning after receiving multiple calls and dispersed about 50 people from the residence. After further review, police followed up and cited the homeowner for disorderly conduct, Agostini said.
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Agostini did not have the name of the homeowner but confirmed the residence depicted in the viral video was in the 2000 block of North Narragansett Avenue in the city’s Galewood neighborhood. The Tribune’s attempts to reach the person listed in property records as the homeowner were unsuccessful.
“Earlier today, the Chicago Police Department confirmed the location where the viral video depicting a house party took place and determined the property was responded to by officers this past weekend,” Agostini said in a statement.
At her afternoon news conference, Lightfoot said police were still investigating the party.
The mayor said “everybody involved in that bears a level of responsibility” for a party she said was “foolish and reckless.”
“Every single person there who put themselves at risk puts the next person and the next person that they come into contact with at risk,” Lightfoot said.
Video reportedly posted from inside the house showed a huge crowd, prompting Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday to criticize the partygoers for “putting everyone around you in danger.”
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said earlier Monday that it was an isolated occurrence, not an indication of widespread flouting of the stay-at-home order meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Still, he said the incident showed “unacceptable behavior.”
“(It’s) a clear violation of the stay-at-home order and will not be tolerated,” Villegas said Monday. “I’m working closely with the Chicago Police Department to investigate this fully. The health and safety of our residents is our priority, most especially during a pandemic.”
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Neighbors living in a townhouse attached to the one where the party was taking place called police after “a strong smell of cannabis” wafted through the heating ducts into their home, said the alderman, who’s Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader.
”The city will follow up with the owner of the property and attendees to ensure any health risks that could have arisen from this party are monitored and mitigated. The Department thanks the surrounding community members and Alderman Villegas for their partnership in this investigation,” Agostini said.
An administrative hearing is set for next month, at which time a fine could be set, Agostini said.
On Twitter over the weekend, Lightfoot also rebuked the people in the video, adding that residents can anonymously submit tips about house parties to Chicago police at http://cpdtip.com and authorities will shut the gatherings down immediately.
“I have seen the video, which shows what appears to be a house party taking place inside a Chicago residence,” she said. “What was depicted on the video was reckless and utterly unacceptable.”
This is not the first instance of reported social distance violations amid the pandemic. Lightfoot said earlier this month that she personally broke up an underage drinking party on the Far North Side of the city. Viral images of St. Patrick’s Day revelers lining the sidewalks of Chicago and spring breakers along the beaches of Florida have incited rage over the last few weeks as the highly contagious virus spread.
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jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Inside the Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari divorce case

The third season of “ Very Cavallari ” kicked off in January with the news that Cavallari had a falling @ @ @ @ @ friend , Kelly Henderson , over Henderson ’ s reaction to tweets from TV viewers @ @ @ @ @ and Cutler seem close , maybe too close .
Tabloids have been reporting this week @ @ @ @ @ to the couple say the split did not stem from Cutler cheating rumors , and @ @ @ @ @ apart .

Jewelry designer Kristin Cavallari said “irreconcilable differences” and “inappropriate marital conduct” led to the demise of her six-year marriage to former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, according to paperwork filed Friday in a Tennessee court.
Cavallari claims that Cutler is “guilty of such inappropriate marital conduct as renders further cohabitation unsafe and improper,” according to the filing. Cavallari did not detail the alleged inappropriate conduct in her filing or in her Sunday statement announcing the split. Her attorney, Rose Palermo, who has been described as Nashville’s “divorce attorney to the stars,” declined to comment.
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Cutler, who was with the Bears from 2009-17, filed for divorce on April 21 in Williamson County, Tenn., where the couple has lived since August 2018, court records show. He is being represented by Helen Rogers, who also represented Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist in his 2019 divorce proceedings. Rogers did not return a Tribune request for comment.
Cutler listed the date of their split as April 21, but Cavallari said in her filing it was April 7, the day they returned to Nashville after spending weeks in the Bahamas, where they were vacationing as the coronavirus spread.
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The couple, who wed in 2013 in Nashville and share three children, also disagree on who has been the primary parent. Cutler, who turns 37 on Wednesday, wants shared custody, while Cavallari, 33, is seeking to have primary custody with Cutler visitation. She is also asking for Cutler to pay child support and health insurance for the children and designate her the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy.
The split comes just weeks after the Season 3 finale of “Very Cavallari,” which followed Cavallari as she opened an Uncommon James store for her jewelry and home goods in the West Loop. Cutler and Cavallari spent Valentine’s Day at the store answering questions from fans who paid $200 a pop. They shared dinner that night at Siena Tavern in River North.
The third season of “Very Cavallari” kicked off in January with the news that Cavallari had a falling out with her former best friend, Kelly Henderson, over Henderson’s reaction to tweets from TV viewers that pointed out that Henderson and Cutler seem close, maybe too close. Tabloids have been reporting this week that “sources” close to the couple say the split did not stem from Cutler cheating rumors, and that the couple just grew apart.
Cutler and Cavallari have given TV viewers a peek into their relationship over 29 hour-long episodes of “Very Cavallari” and a “Christmas” special that was shot in August. A fourth season has not been announced. The audience has never been large — recent episodes have drawn some 300,000 viewers — but a fourth season would probably follow Cavallari to Dallas if she decides to open a store there. This past season pivoted away from Uncommon James drama and focused more on Cavallari’s relationship with Cutler.
Though they come from different worlds — Cavallari enjoys covering Hollywood red carpets for the E! network, while Cutler prefers fiddling with his deer cam — he has seemed increasingly supportive of her career goals since “Very Cavallari” premiered in 2018.
This is not Cavallari and Cutler’s first break-up. They split shortly after getting engaged, only to reconcile and wed. “A few things needed to change, and I knew the only way Jay would see how serious I was, was if I ended the relationship,” Cavallari wrote in her 2016 book “Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making it all Work.”
tswartz@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Chicago cop fires shots at man who pointed gun at them, police say

The incident occurred at 11:55 p.m. Monday in the 0-100 block of West 99th Street in the Fernwood neighborhood on @ @ @ @ @ police said .
The officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert in the area and were @ @ @ @ @ a man approached them .

A Chicago police officer fired shots at a man Monday night after the man pointed a gun at officers while they were talking to a witness, according to police.
The incident occurred at 11:55 p.m. Monday in the 0-100 block of West 99th Street in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said. The officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert in the area and were talking to a witness when a man approached them.
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The man shouted obscenities and displayed a handgun, police said. When he pointed the gun at the officers, one fired shots at the man, but he was not hit by the gunfire
The man ran away and officers chased him, police said. He was caught and taken into custody. A weapon was found at the scene.
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An officer injured his or her hand on a fence during the chase but refused medical treatment, police said. No other injuries were reported.
The man’s name will be released when his charges are finalized, police said.
Check back for updates.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Bail denied for man accused of strangling escort in downtown hotel, using her phone to get money fro

Bail denied for man accused of strangling escort in downtown hotel, using her phone to get money from her clients

As Long tried to convince McFadden to pay her $ 100 , he shoved her away several times and eventually @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Attorney James Murphy said during the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building @ @ @ @ @ McFadden would later tell authorities that during a struggle , Long had attempted to grab @ @ @ @ @ he grabbed it before she did , Murphy said .

After strangling an Ohio woman working as an escort in a downtown hotel, her killer used the dead woman’s phone to pretend she was still alive to extract money from her clients, prosecutors said Monday.
A judge Monday denied bail for Lavarius McFadden, 24, charged with first-degree murder in the death of Elizabeth Long inside the SpringHill Suites hotel in the Near North neighborhood last month.
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Lavarius McFadden, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the March 14, 2020, death of Elizabeth Long, 22. (Chicago Police Department)
McFadden and Long, 22, who was in town working as an escort, went to her room at the hotel at 410 N. Dearborn St. just after 4:30 p.m. March 14, but began quarreling when McFadden said he was unaware that he would have to pay to have sex with her, according to prosecutors.
As Long tried to convince McFadden to pay her $100, he shoved her away several times and eventually strangled her, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said during the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, broadcast on YouTube. McFadden would later tell authorities that during a struggle, Long had attempted to grab a knife, but that he grabbed it before she did, Murphy said.
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McFadden said he took the knife and Long’s cellphone and left the room. Hotel cameras captured McFadden’s arrival to the hotel and his departure with what appears to be Long’s phone in hand, authorities said. Hotel staff later found Long’s body after a friend called to request that her room be checked. Long, of Holland, Ohio, was pronounced dead at 7:03 p.m. that day.
Long’s partially clothed body had bruises on her neck and hemorrhages in her eyes that suggest strangulation, Murphy said. Although an autopsy was initially marked pending a police investigation, the Cook County medical examiner’s office has ruled Long’s death a homicide by undetermined means.
Authorities were able to track Long’s phone to the home of McFadden’s girlfriend in DuPage County, according to Murphy.
The girlfriend, whom authorities didn’t identify, told investigators that she and McFadden used Long’s phone and masqueraded as the victim through a phone app to receive “a couple of hundred dollars” from her clients, Murphy said. Police served a search warrant at the home Saturday, and recovered both Long and McFadden’s phones.
McFadden, of the 1400 block of North Linder Avenue, has a pending domestic battery case in DuPage County, authorities said. He is expected to return to court May 15.


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Chicago nurse told friend she was ‘scared to death.’  Within weeks, she and her son were dead from C

Chicago nurse told friend she was ‘scared to death.’  Within weeks, she and her son were dead from COVID-19, and her husband barely survived.

“ He was selfless , thoughtful and compassionate .
Also , he was really kind , ” Justin said .
@ @ @ @ @ before himself .
If you needed to talk or a shoulder to cry on .
@ @ @ @ @ best advice .
He impacted so many people .
If it was something personal or @ @ @ @ @ would be , they ’ d always go to him and he would always be @ @ @ @ @ and helpful .
’ ’

Josephine Tapiru, 56, with her husband, Luis Tapiru Sr., 59. She, along with their son, Luis Tapiru, 20, died of COVID-19 this month. Luis Tapiru Sr., 59, remains hospitalized, sickened by the virus. (Donna Oduca/Photo courtesy of Donna Oduca)
Josephine Tapiru had been pulling extra shifts, working from 9 a.m. until sometimes 11 p.m., because the North Side nursing home was getting more and more short-staffed as co-workers fell ill.
She kept a close watch on her temperature: still 98. Fine, she thought.
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After clocking out on April 3 from Park View Rehab, Tapiru told a friend her throat was getting sore and she was coughing. She stopped at a drugstore, picked up a bottle of NyQuil and went to bed as soon as she got home.
Sometime that night, she slipped into a coma. The world’s novel coronavirus was beginning to take its terrible toll on her family.
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Tapiru was taken to the intensive care unit at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Her husband would be admitted there within a week. Four days later, their 20-year-old son Luis Jr. was found dead on the couch of their home. Four more days passed and Josephine died, too, without coming out of her coma.
Friends and family waited nearly a week, when Luis Sr. was finally removed from a ventilator, to tell him about the deaths of his wife and son.
The couple’s lone surviving son watched the tragedy unfold from Ottawa, Canada, where most of his close friends and relatives live.
“I can’t be there right now, and that’s the toughest thing,’’ Justin Tapiru, 28, said Friday. “They were feeling fine. I haven’t had time to think or grieve.’’
His brother is one of the youngest people in Illinois to die from the disease. He had played football at Senn High School and seemed healthy, family and friends said. An autopsy found no underlying medical conditions that contributed to his death from COVID-19, a rare finding for someone so young.
Luis Tapiru, 20, and his mother, Josephine Tapiru, 56, both died of COVID-19 this month. (Photo courtesy Donna Oduca)
Josephine had suffered from endometrial cancer, and it was listed as a contributing factor in her death, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was 56.
She and her husband had both worked as caregivers, in private homes and at long-term senior centers, though Luis Sr. had recently been working for a manufacturing company. Josephine Tapiru, a licensed practical nurse, worked at Park View Rehab in Edgewater, a short drive from the family’s high-rise apartment, according to the family.
Like nursing homes across the state, Park View has seen an outbreak of COVID-19 among its residents. Recent state data show at least 22 coronavirus cases there and three deaths, but the posted information is often old and sometimes unreliable.
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It’s also unknown exactly how many health care workers in Illinois have died from COVID-19. Many of the deaths listed by the state do not give the occupation of the person. The state’s best estimate is that more than 2,500 workers have contracted the virus and at least eight have died.
“Good Jesus, it is really hard,” said Josephine Tapiru’s best friend, Joselyn Smith, crying. “I’m still denying it. But we have to move on. So we have to fight and move on. But it’s just hard. I feel like I’m in a trance, that this is not so true. It’s a big loss. It really happened so fast.’’
‘She was scared to death’
On March 21, Josephine Tapiru was looking forward to her regular weekend chat with Smith. Catching up after a busy week was always fun, but this time she shared some disturbing news.
“She was really so upset because one of her officemates was showing some symptoms of the virus,’’ Smith said. “She was mad.’’ Under state health guidelines, you were not supposed to work if you felt ill.
“She was scared to death,’’ said another close friend, Donna Oduca. Workers at the senior center wore masks, she said, but Tapiru was still worried.
While her main job was at Park View, she worked Saturdays at another nursing home. But most of her time was spent at Park View. “She was always there,’’ Smith said.
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On April 1, Tapiru told friends that she was getting more and more worried as others on the staff called in sick and she was working longer hours. On the morning of April 4, her husband and son Luis Jr. went to work and assumed she was sleeping in because she had worked so late the night before.
They checked in later in the day, but Josephine didn’t pick up the phone. Sometime after lunch, Luis Jr. called his father and rushed home to check on her. “My mom won’t wake up,’’ he frantically told Oduca, also a nurse, who lives nearby.
“Call 911,’’ she told him as she headed to the Tapirus’ seventh-floor apartment in the 6800 block of North Kedzie Avenue. Using his CPR training from a job as a camp counselor, the son began chest compressions as Oduca walked in wearing “full PPE,’’ she said.
Josephine remained unconscious as she was taken to St. Francis Hospital. The next day, the hospital called to say she had tested positive for COVID-19 and was on life support. “That was so sad,’’ Oduca said.
[ 12 families, 24 victims: COVID-19 has been especially brutal on these Chicago families ]
‘They found him on the couch’
The father and son, not feeling any symptoms, went back home on April 5. But the elder Tapiru started feeling “weird,’’ he told Oduca. He had a sore throat but no cough. That Monday and Tuesday, he developed a “low-grade fever.”
“Hey, I’m not feeling better,’’ he told Oduca on April 10. Later that day, he was also taken to St. Francis and placed on a ventilator as he, too, tested positive for the virus.
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Oduca and her husband, Cezar, along with other friends and relatives, kept in close contact with Luis Jr., who remained at the family’s home, and Justin. But they soon had trouble reaching Luis Jr. Normally, he would always text or call back.
On April 14, Oduca and her husband called 911. A few minutes later, police called back. “They just said they found him on the couch, and he passed on,’’ Oduca said.
Josephine’s uncle, Lope Santos, in his 80s, had also called 911 that morning and was on his way up to the Tapirus’ apartment to check on Luis Jr. when he saw the police officers, who would not let him in.
“They told me he’d already passed away,’’ Santos said quietly when reached by phone at a North Side senior center where he lives.
Four days later, on April 18, Josephine Tapiru was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital.
For days, family kept the news of the deaths from Luis Sr., who remained on a ventilator and was not allowed visitors. Terrified he would find out on his own, Justin said he broke the news to his father on Thursday via video hookup while his father was with a chaplain, a doctor and a nurse.
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“He was in shock,’’ Justin said. As of Friday night, his father was doing a little better but was still hospitalized. “It’s really tough on his body.’’
A GoFundMe campaign organized by family friends has so far raised twice its goal.
‘Selfless, thoughtful and compassionate’
Justin says he will miss his little brother’s maturity. “He was more of a big brother to me,’’ he said. “When my mom got sick, I was sad and freaking out. I was in shock … and Luis said: ‘You know what? She’s going to pull through this. She’s the strongest woman we know.’
“He was selfless, thoughtful and compassionate. Also, he was really kind,” Justin said. “He always put others before himself. If you needed to talk or a shoulder to cry on. He’d give the best advice. He impacted so many people. If it was something personal or something sad, whatever it would be, they’d always go to him and he would always be there to listen. Thoughtful and helpful.’’
A devotee of video games such as “Call of Duty,” Luis Jr. also loved Twitch, a livestream platform for games. “He was really active in a lot of communities there, he streamed on there,’’ Justin said.
His dream was to become a full-time Twitch streamer. But he had a backup plan: He would get a degree in communications.
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He loved pop music and electronic dance music. One of his favorite groups was Twice. He loved singing and even auditioned for “The Voice’’ a few times, Justin said. He would have turned 21 in June. The brothers never got the chance to make birthday plans.
‘We were like the Three Stooges’
Josephine and Luis Tapiru met in the Philippines and moved to Canada, where they both worked as caregivers. About 13 years ago, they moved to Chicago because “they wanted a better opportunity,’’ Donna Oduca said. Both were praised in local obituaries for the care they gave to the elderly.
Justin said one of his most treasured memories is of his mother when he was around 8. She took him downtown shopping, and they wound up in a Tommy Hilfiger store. “I really liked this shirt, and it was really expensive.’’
Over his dad’s reservations, his mom went ahead and treated him. Then while playing with friends, he spilled food all over it. “My mom laughed it off,’’ Justin recalled. “Oh, it’s OK, it’s fine, we’ll just put it in the washer. It’ll be fine.
“My mom is selfless,’’ he said, sobbing.
She always worked two jobs and only slowed down about a year ago while undergoing treatment for cancer. But she couldn’t wait to get on her feet again. A week or two later, she was back at work.
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Smith said she was like a sister, watching out for her and Oduca. “We were like the Three Stooges,’’ she said.
Smith, 45, an accountant who is working from home these days, recalled the first few weeks of the stay-at-home order. Josephine would call her during her commute and say, “Be careful. Nobody’s out here. It’s scary outside. It’s like a ghost town.’’
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]


chicagotribune--2020-04-27--Insurance giant Aon to cut most employees’ pay 20% as CEO predicts COVID-19 recovery may take years

“ While we hold on to glimmers of hope that the worst of the human impact may have passed , @ @ @ @ @ to play out for months , or even years to come , ” Case said @ @ @ @ @ was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission .

Aon is cutting most employees’ pay 20% in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the global insurance giant prepares for a “significant and sustained economic downturn.”
CEO Greg Case sent a memo to employees Monday outlining the pay cuts and other cost-savings strategies, while laying out a bleak forecast for the global economy in the wake of a “humanitarian tragedy” wrought by COVID-19.
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“While we hold on to glimmers of hope that the worst of the human impact may have passed, the economic consequences are likely to play out for months, or even years to come,” Case said in the memo, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Aon, which shifted its global headquarters from Chicago to London in 2012, generated $11 billion in revenue last year, according to SEC filings. The company had nearly 48,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2019.
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The cost-saving measures include a 20% cut in pay for 70% of Aon’s employees — those whose earnings are above an undisclosed salary floor. The median employee salary last year was $65,497, according to SEC filings.
Chicago-based Aon spokeswoman Nadine Youssef declined to say Monday what the minimum base salary would be for affected employees in the U.S.
Executive officers and board members will reduce their salaries by 50%, the company said.
Aon's former headquarters in Chicago. The company said April 28, 2020, that it is cutting most employees' pay 20% as it prepares for an economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic. (Alex Garcia / Chicago Tribune)
Case, Aon’s CEO since 2005, has an annual base salary of $1.5 million, but last year earned more than $16 million through stock awards and other compensation, according to SEC filings.
The company said it was taking the salary reduction measures to preserve “operational flexibility” and employee jobs, citing projections that one-third of American workers — nearly 47 million people — could lose their jobs before the COVID-19 crisis ends.
“No one at Aon is going to lose their job because of the COVID-19 outbreak,” Case said in the memo.
In addition to the salary reductions, Aon said it will pause its stock buyback plan, but will continue to pay a regular dividend to shareholders.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Video shows new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by o

Video shows new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by officers to tend to the wounded man

In one of the clips , the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman , @ @ @ @ @ in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was @ @ @ @ @ cars of a moving train .
The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ .

Warning: graphic content. New video from a police-involved shooting that wounded a man at a Red Line subway station earlier this year was released on Tuesday. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The independent agency that investigates Chicago police on Tuesday released more than a dozen video and audio clips from a controversial shooting by an officer that wounded a man who had been struggling with her and her partner at a Red Line subway station earlier this year.
While cellphone video was released shortly after the shooting at the Grand Avenue station — with Mayor Lori Lightfoot calling it “extremely disturbing — the new footage provides closer views of the struggle as well as the scramble afterward as officers tended to the man and passengers squeezed by his body on the floor.
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In one of the clips, the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman, 33, on the platform in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was stopped for passing between two cars of a moving train. The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly demanding that he stop resisting.
A Chicago police officer tells Ariel Roman to leave a Red Line train minutes before a struggle ensued and he was shot. (COPA)
“Please let me go,” Roman says. “I didn’t do nothing to you. I didn’t do nothing to you.”
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“Stop resisting,” one of the officers says, repeating it nearly a dozen times.
He then yells, “Shoot him.”
Roman appears to say, “No, no, no.”
The officer says again, “Shoot him.”
The struggle continues, and the female officer draws her weapon and shouts, “Put your (expletive) hands down."
By this time, Roman is standing up and bends to pick up his coat. He appears to stagger toward a railing in the officer’s direction, and a shot rings out. Roman rushes past her partner and runs up the escalator.
Both officers chase him, and a second shot rings out. “Get down,” the officer who fired yells. “Get (expletive) down.”
A station camera shows Roman falling face down at the top of the escalator. The partner appears to use his radio as the one who fired bends over Roman. Their yellow Tasers can be seen bobbing up the escalator behind them.
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The clips also show a quick, heavy response of officers who tend to Roman while paramedics are on the way.
“Where’s all the blood coming from,” one officer asks as they search for the wound.
“Keep breathing, guy,” an officer says. “Hey, man, breathe, breathe, breathe.”
As the officers work on Roman, the partner tells them that Roman kept fighting them. “He started fighting with us. He wouldn’t stop.”
Roman survived his wound and is suing the city and the Police Department.
Reaction to the shooting by city officials was unusually swift and direct, perhaps driven by the availability of cellphone video taken by a CTA customer.
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Charlie Beck, the interim police superintendent at the time, stripped Officers Melvina Bogard and Bernard Butler, the two officers involved in the incident, of their police powers. The shooting is under criminal investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office with assistance from the FBI.
The officers’ conduct is also under the investigation of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which released the 18 videos, mostly of the aftermath of the shooting, along with six police audio transmissions and four police documents, including the official police reports.
“While critical steps remain, COPA’s investigation into the actions of the two officers are ongoing,” the agency said in a statement. “COPA is committed to conducting a full, thorough and objective investigation before reaching a determination of the appropriateness of the officers’ use of force and is also working in coordination with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 Police officers put up crime scene tape at the corner of Grand Avenue and State Street above the CTA Red Line Grand station on Feb. 28, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The shooting on Feb. 28 was arguably among the most explosive videos the CPD has grappled with since the 2014 killing of teenager Laquan McDonald — an incident that resulted in criminal charges and a second-degree murder conviction for Officer Jason Van Dyke.
In Roman’s federal lawsuit, he said he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he was “harassed, chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered and shot twice” without justification by Bogard and Butler. His lawyers say Roman was expected to make a long recovery from being shot in the abdomen and buttocks.
Greg Kulis, one of Roman's lawyers, said some of the new videos from COPA were helpful in understanding what happened to Roman.
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“He is not causing an issue. He’s not pushing people. Not aggressive. Not doing anything,” Kulis said. “There was really no reason that I could see to actually grab him and take him into custody in that form or fashion. It’s true to form as to what we’ve alleged in the (lawsuit), there was no reason to use deadly force.”
Kulis said Roman has since been released from the hospital but may need at least one more surgery.
The shooting happened at a time when the Chicago Police Department had added patrols to the CTA’s train system due to a rise in crime there. The following week, a new unit with about 50 officers was activated to specifically address that crime spike.
While police-involved shootings among Chicago cops have dropped over the years, Kulis said the Feb. 28 incident serves as an example of how officers need to be more aware of what's going on around them before choosing to use their guns.
“I think just traditionally there’s a lot of police officers that just skip past some of their training or don’t get the appropriate training. And they think, ‘OK, so he’s resisted me … or pulled away from me, therefore, I can jump to this level and use deadly force,’” Kulis said.
“God forbid (those bullets) went astray and hit another person,” he said. “That would have been even more of a tragedy than what occurred on that afternoon.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Daywatch: COVID-19 restrictions to ease for nonessential retailers, first UIC nurse dies from virus

Daywatch: COVID-19 restrictions to ease for nonessential retailers, first UIC nurse dies from virus and meet the Readers’ Choice Dining Awards winners

Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc , 53 , died April 23 , 13 days after testing for COVID-19 .
She was a @ @ @ @ @ years , most recently in the neuroscience intensive care unit at UIC .
Pacubas-Le Blanc @ @ @ @ @ eight known health care workers in Illinois who have died after having the coronavirus .
@ @ @ @ @ Association , which created a fundraiser to support her family , she was the first @ @ @ @ @ die after testing positive .

Want Daywatch delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. | Get the top Tribune stories of the day on your smart speaker | Here’s how to get the most out of your Tribune subscription | Got something to say? Join the conversation on our Facebook page
Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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On Tuesday as Illinois officials reported 2,219 new known cases and 144 more fatalities — the highest number in a single day since the outbreak began — bringing the state totals to 48,102 known cases and 2,125 deaths
The death toll from coronavirus in the U.S. on Tuesday surpassed the 58,220 American service members killed in Vietnam, as more than 1 million infections were confirmed, according to Johns Hopkins University
Worldwide, more than 3.1 million cases have been recorded and over 217,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Adams & Son Gardens co-owners Irene Adams, center, her husband Gus Adams, right, and neighborhood volunteer Lionel Santiago, unload plants and flowers from a truck as they prepare to partially open on Friday. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Thousands of vegetables, herb and house plants died after Adams & Son Gardens closed more than five weeks ago to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. But since Gov J.B. Pritzker revised the state’s stay-at-home order, the Humboldt Park shop, which didn’t have to close but chose to, is again receiving truckloads of plants to sell to people who are eager to start gardening while stuck at home.
The changes to the order, which take effect Friday, are expected to generate some sales at cash-crunched businesses. But merchants and many service providers will operate under conditions still considered far from business as usual.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls state representative’s lawsuit over stay-at-home order a ‘cheap political stunt’ and decries judge’s ruling as ‘absurd’
Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc, right, is shown with her son Lawrence, from left, husband, Lawrence, and son, Derrick. Pacubas-Le Blanc, 53, died April 23 after testing positive for coronavirus. She was a nurse at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. (Family photo / HANDOUT)
Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc, 53, died April 23, 13 days after testing for COVID-19. She was a nurse for more than 30 years, most recently in the neuroscience intensive care unit at UIC. Pacubas-Le Blanc is one of at least eight known health care workers in Illinois who have died after having the coronavirus. According to the Illinois Nurses Association, which created a fundraiser to support her family, she was the first nurse at the hospital to die after testing positive.
Dan Gutierrez sits in his Lyons home with a wedding photo featuring his late wife, Angela, on April 13, 2020. A month after her death, someone broke into the home and stole her jewelry, according to police reports. The Bail Project paid the bond of the man charged in the crime. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
During the last three years, The Bail Project and a second nonprofit — the Chicago Community Bond Fund — have paid to release nearly 1,000 pretrial defendants from Cook County Jail. The groups are part of well-funded, nationwide efforts to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release and ensure poor people are not jailed for criminal charges simply because they cannot afford bond.
Tribune reporters were able to identify 162 people charged with felonies whom the charities have bailed out since February 2017. Among them were three people charged with murder, 10 accused of attempted murder, 32 felons allegedly caught carrying a gun and 22 defendants charged with being an armed habitual criminal. More than a fifth of these 162 defendants went on to be charged with new crimes while out on charity-sponsored bond, the Tribune’s investigation found.
Medline Industries in Waukegan on Sept. 28, 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Summoned to the White House last month, Medline Industries CEO Charlie Mills announced the company could rapidly decontaminate used masks at its plant in north suburban Waukegan and send them back to hospitals and clinics across the nation. What he failed to mention is Medline’s process relies on ethylene oxide, a germ-killing gas that researchers have found can damage the brain and raise the risk of breast cancer, leukemia and lymphomas at extremely low levels of exposure.
The charred pepperoni pizza at Pizzeria Portofino. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
We are thrilled today to announce the winners of the Chicago Tribune’s annual Readers’ Choice Dining Awards.
Wait. What? The Tribune is announcing Dining Awards winners when restaurants are closed? We are, indeed, because our restaurants need our support now more than ever, and this group of restaurants deserves to be celebrated right now.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Column: An open letter to the black kids who partied during a pandemic like nobody was watching

That is often the case with young African Americans .
Your societal experiences aren ’ t like those of white @ @ @ @ @ they are just as reckless .
But the stakes are much higher for you .
@ @ @ @ @ behavior are much more severe , and the repercussions can follow you the rest of @ @ @

Dear black kids who attended that house party in Chicago last weekend,
I am not here to scold you. By now, you’ve already heard people from around the world admonish you for such reckless behavior.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot says what you did was “utterly unacceptable.” Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that you have put everyone you come in contact with in danger.
I’ll be more blunt than that. You were foolish and selfish. What you did was shameful. But you knew that when you were doing it, didn’t you?
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That’s why some of you wore masks. That’s why you videotaped the crowded scene from the top of a slightly less crowded staircase, irrationally thinking that you could avoid contracting COVID-19 from that distance. And that’s why you abruptly stopped recording the live video when someone warned that the police might show up — which is exactly what eventually happened.
The bottom line, though, is that you didn’t care. It was the weekend, and you wanted to party.
I get that. House parties are a long-standing part of African American culture in Chicago. Your parents used to hold them in the basement. Your grandparents did too.
I was a party girl myself when I was in my 20s. Had the coronavirus struck back then, the responsible adult Dahleen is adamant that she would never have been among those 50 or so people crammed inside that house. The youthful Dahleen isn’t so sure.
Recklessness often comes with youth. Part of the growing-up process is experimenting and figuring out what’s good for you and what is harmful. We come to those conclusions at different points in our lives. Sometimes, we are forced to choose, long before we are ready.
That is often the case with young African Americans. Your societal experiences aren’t like those of white kids. Of course, they are just as reckless. But the stakes are much higher for you. The consequences of your improper behavior are much more severe, and the repercussions can follow you the rest of your life.
When some people saw that video of you packed into a living room that looked like a crowded nightclub, they saw thugs and gangbangers — though there was nothing about that scene to indicate that you were.
Given the location of the home in Galewood, a racially diverse middle- and working-class enclave on the Northwest Side, some of you likely are more privileged that most. Many of you probably lived nearby, even if the house was rented.
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When people saw you laughing, socializing and reciting lyrics about wearing Gucci boots, while dressed in your clingy, youthful club wear, they didn’t think of you as young people just trying to have a good time. They vilified you.
By now, some of your harshest critics have confused your party with another circulating Tuesday where young people were seen on a video throwing money at a stripper. That wasn’t you, but your behavior was just as disgraceful.
It was just as contemptible as the St. Patrick’s Day revelers who defied social distancing guidelines and celebrated on the streets of the North Side as if they had never heard of the coronavirus. And you were as irresponsible as those college students who flooded the beaches in Florida last month during spring break.
But people didn’t seem as disgusted with those bikini-clad and shirtless beer-drinking young people as they were with you. When that young man told a TV reporter, “If I get corona, I get corona,” some people just wrote him off as a silly kid.
But not you. When you make mistakes, you’re written off as worthless imbeciles. When your video went viral, people shared it around the world, and you became the scapegoat for why COVID-19 is killing more African Americans than anyone else in the country.
There are more societal reasons than anything else for those disproportionate numbers, but you certainly didn’t help matters. You let the entire African American community down.
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You contributed to the spread of the virus in your own neighborhood. If your grandmother, grandfather and other high-risk relatives and friends get sick, we’re going to point a finger at you.
Maybe it isn’t fair, and maybe there is a double standard. Lots of grown-ups aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do either. They’re pushing away the barriers and slipping onto the lakefront. They’re doing their grocery shopping without wearing a mask. And they are still making unnecessary runs to Costco, Sam’s Club and Walmart whenever they feel the urge to get out of the house.
No doubt you love your elders. Some of you probably were raised by your grandmother or an aunt. You would never intentionally hurt them.
Obviously, you weren’t thinking about them when you got all dressed up and walked out the door last weekend. But the reality is that you could kill them, without even knowing that you are carrying a weapon.
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Though you are not immune, young people are less likely to show symptoms of COVID-19 than other groups. Your youthfulness makes you stronger and more resilient. There is so much life ahead of you that you don’t have to worry as much as others about being struck down by a virus for which there is no vaccine or cure.
Police tracked down the owner of the home and cited that person for disorderly conduct. I wish they could track you all down and cite you as well, along with the beachgoers, the funeralgoers, the churchgoers and anyone else who refuses to stay home. Perhaps it would force you to be more careful.
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It’s great that people can now submit anonymous tips to Chicago police at cpdtip.com. It’s one thing if you want to risk your own life, but you have no right to take away the precious time that many older people have left.
Sincerely,
Someone who probably grew up with your grandmother
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--After meeting with Trump, Medline wants FDA approval to sterilize N95 masks with ethylene oxide. Two

After meeting with Trump, Medline wants FDA approval to sterilize N95 masks with ethylene oxide. Two other federal agencies are against it, citing cancer risks for health care workers.

Community groups in Illinois and Georgia condemned the FDA ’ s decision and urged the agency to ban the use @ @ @ @ @ used medical equipment .
If the CDC is concerned about health risks for doctors and @ @ @ @ @ , the groups said , everyone else should be , too .

Summoned to the White House last month with other medical suppliers responding to the severe shortage of protective gear for health care workers, Medline Industries CEO Charlie Mills announced the company had good news.
Northfield-based Medline already was reprocessing 100,000 masks a day used by doctors and nurses on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mills told President Donald Trump and others in the Cabinet Room.
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Though masks typically are certified for one use only, Mills said, Medline could rapidly decontaminate used masks at its plant in north suburban Waukegan and send them back to hospitals and clinics across the nation. The company’s efforts would buy medical workers time while manufacturers increase production of new masks, he said.
“I think that is fantastic,” Trump said later the same day after Mills summarized his plan during the president’s March 29 appearance before the White House press corps.
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What Mills failed to mention is Medline’s process relies on ethylene oxide, a germ-killing gas that researchers have found can damage the brain and raise the risk of breast cancer, leukemia and lymphomas at extremely low levels of exposure.
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 3M, a leading mask manufacturer, strongly discourage the use of ethylene oxide for decontaminating masks, in particular N95 respirators needed by virus fighters. Last week the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded that giving health care personnel EtO-treated masks could be considered a violation of federal workplace standards.
Doctors and nurses protecting themselves from the virus could end up being exposed to a potent carcinogen and neurotoxin, according to the CDC, 3M and OSHA.
“Any use of ethylene oxide (EtO) should be accompanied by studies to ensure no off-gassing into the breathing zone of the wearer as EtO is carcinogenic and teratogenic,” the CDC says on its website. “Chronic inhalation of EtO has been linked to neurologic dysfunction and may cause other harmful effects to the wearer.”
“3M does not recommend the use of ethylene oxide due to significant concerns associated with off-gassing,” the Minnesota-based company declared in an April technical bulletin. (Emphasis 3M’s.)
“The recommendation against EtO ... is based on OSHA’s concern about worker (particularly those wearing decontaminated respirators) exposure to levels of EtO ... a known human carcinogen and teratogen,” the workplace safety agency told its inspectors in an April 24 memorandum.
Mills and other Medline executives remain undeterred. The privately held company is lobbying the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authority to sterilize N95 masks. The masks capture 95% of air particles when properly fitted, effectively shielding workers from the virus.
An approved alternative
Hospitals throughout the country are scrambling to adopt methods that can deactivate the virus in protective equipment.
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One alternative to ethylene oxide already is up and running at another medical device supplier in the Chicago area. Inside a huge tent in a Waukegan parking lot, workers are loading up to 80,000 used masks a day into converted shipping containers and treating them with a vaporized form of hydrogen peroxide, a common household antiseptic.
The FDA endorses the process, developed six years ago by Ohio-based Battelle as part of a federal effort to prepare for pandemics. Battelle and four other companies obtained FDA approval during the past month to use the process to decontaminate used masks.
Lewis Von Thaer, Battelle’s CEO, told the Tribune last week the nonprofit company tested several chemicals and ultraviolet light before settling on vaporized hydrogen peroxide, which effectively cleans masks but is gentle enough they can be treated and reused up to 20 times.
Richard Peltier, a health sciences professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has conducted his own tests. He found no difference in filtration between new masks and those sterilized with vaporized hydrogen peroxide, but questioned the use of ethylene oxide, also known as EtO, for the same purpose.
“Face masks are made of hundreds of thousands of tiny fibers which have an enormous surface area, making them pretty efficient for capturing particulate matter, Peltier said in an email. “That also makes them pretty efficient for retaining EtO.”
“If I were faced with a choice in wearing a mask that just came out of a EtO sterilizer or a surgical mask that doesn’t meet N95 standards,” Peltier said, “I’d take the surgical mask.”
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Industry push
Medline’s bid to sterilize masks comes as the company — along with several of its competitors and the U.S. chemical industry — are pushing the Trump administration to declare ethylene oxide is significantly less dangerous than scientists have concluded.
The Chicago Tribune previously reported that makers and users of the gas have urged Trump appointees to throw out a rigorous, peer-reviewed evaluation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in favor of industry-funded research rejected by two panels of independent scientists.
Amid widespread attention to the need for masks and other personal protection equipment, the chemical industry’s chief trade group is renewing its focus on the use of ethylene oxide as a disinfectant. The chemical mostly is used to produce other industrial compounds.
“#EthyleneOxide is a versatile compound that is used to sterilize nearly half of all medical supplies nationwide, including #PPE used by doctors and hospitals across the country: #COVID19,” read an April 3 tweet from the American Chemistry Council.
Trump administration officials have signaled they are considering the industry defense of ethylene oxide as they draft new safety regulations for the Medline plant in Waukegan and other commercial sterilizers.
The FDA, which regulates medical devices, already allows the use of ethylene oxide to sterilize several types of equipment, including packets of surgical instruments that normally account for the bulk of products Medline fumigates in Waukegan.
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Nearly a month after Mills’ appearance at the White House, Medline says it has collected more than 1 million used masks. Yet it is unclear if any of them have been decontaminated and returned to hospitals treating Americans infected by the coronavirus.
“Medline does not have an Emergency Use Authorization that would authorize it to decontaminate N95 respirators or other personal protective equipment for reuse by healthcare personnel,” an FDA spokeswoman said in an email.
Asked why Medline’s chief executive suggested to Trump that the company already was sending treated masks back into the supply chain, company spokesman Jesse Greenberg did not directly answer the question. “It was the very beginning of our decontamination program,” he said.
Medline has applied for the same emergency authority granted to Battelle. Neither the company nor the FDA would say when the application was filed, declaring the date to be confidential business information.
Greenberg forwarded letters from two customers pleading with regulators to approve Medline’s process.
“The only step holding us back from obtaining these critical components is EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) from your agency,” the identically worded letters to the FDA stated. “Medline shared the filtration performance of the masks after running them through worse case sterilization cycles as well as the residual data that demonstrates the masks are both safe and provide the protection our end users need.”
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The two customers — Integris in Oklahoma and Tuality Healthcare in Oregon — wrote they are “comfortable with the science and safety” involved in Medline’s use of ethylene oxide.
By contrast, several hospitals in the Chicago area told the Tribune they will not use masks decontaminated by Medline, citing guidance from the CDC and 3M.
“Conservation of PPE is critical to keeping our team members safe, and all our PPE standards follow the CDC guidelines for safety and appropriateness,” Advocate Aurora Health said in an email, echoing statements from Amita Health, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
The Cook County Health and Hospitals System said it does not rely on Medline for N95 masks. Northwestern Medicine and Loyola University Medical Center did not answer questions from the Tribune.
A new state law
In response to a new state law, Medline recently overhauled its Waukegan plant to reduce the amount of ethylene oxide released into surrounding communities.
The law is one of several reactions to a 2018 EPA report showing Medline’s neighbors face some of the nation’s highest risks of developing cancer from breathing toxic air pollution.
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As the Illinois General Assembly drafted the law last year, several state lawmakers called for Medline and other sources of ethylene oxide to either move away from densely populated areas or switch to safer alternatives.
Lobbyists for the company and the state’s chemical manufacturers persuaded legislative committees to block the more aggressive measures, enabling Medline to continue using the gas.
The debate is far from over.
Last year the FDA launched an “innovation challenge” intended to nudge sterilization companies to reduce or eliminate use of ethylene oxide. Agency officials continue to work on the campaign, even though they prodded Georgia officials last month to allow a suburban Atlanta plant to reopen, citing the need for protective equipment during the pandemic.
Community groups in Illinois and Georgia condemned the FDA’s decision and urged the agency to ban the use of ethylene oxide to sterilize used medical equipment. If the CDC is concerned about health risks for doctors and nurses exposed to the gas, the groups said, everyone else should be, too.
“They risk their lives, hoping that PPE will keep them safe,” the community groups said in a joint statement. “We must do everything we can to protect them.”
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Chicago Tribune’s David Heinzmann contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Column: Coronachondria, coronacravings and pandemania: A few words to describe our strange new times

Do you diagnose yourself with the novel coronavirus several times a day ?
Is every tickle in your throat a @ @ @ @ @ you find yourself sniffing odd things just to make sure you can still smell ?
@ @ @ @ @ “ covid toes ” only to discover to your dismay that there is such a @ @

Among the many things changed by the sad, eerie moment we’re living in is our vocabulary. We bat around words most of us had never heard or spoken until a few weeks ago.
PPP. PPE. Coronavirus. Covid. Zoom. Zoom fatigue. Coronapocalypse. Covidiot. Doomscrolling. Quarantini.
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Some of our new words are deadly serious, but some, inevitably, are humorous. It’s a human reflex to leaven our grief and dread by laughing about what terrifies us.
In that spirit, I’d like to elaborate on a few of these new words, some of which I’ve coined.
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Coronachondria
Do you diagnose yourself with the novel coronavirus several times a day? Is every tickle in your throat a forecast of doom? Do you find yourself sniffing odd things just to make sure you can still smell? Have you found yourself Googling “covid toes” only to discover to your dismay that there is such a thing?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you may be a coronachondriac, a subset of hypochondriac bred by this legitimately frightening disease.
I have a mild case of coronachondria. So does my friend Lisa.
“I alternately thought I had stomach pains, a sore throat and a headache and obsessed on each symptom,” Lisa recently announced on Facebook. “Now I don’t think I have any of them!”
To chart her health, Lisa wanted a thermometer. The good ones were sold out, so she bought a lesser one. It didn’t work. She bought another. Same.
“So I have two crappy thermometers and feel my forehead with the back of my hand every day and feel like I’m swooning like some old lady in a Victorian-era movie,” she says. “Otherwise, I’m fine.”
But as all coronachondriacs will tell you: Better to be cautious than careless.
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Covidomesticity
“We’ve become 1950s housewives,” my female friends and I have been joking to each other. No disrespect to 1950s housewives — they were our mothers, though in my mother’s case, she never pretended to enjoy the duties associated with the description.
But now here their daughters are, day after day, with a zeal we’ve never experienced, mopping, sweeping, scrubbing, dusting, cooking, sewing, washing windows, organizing kitchen cabinets. One friend painted a closet.
“My house has never been cleaner!” says another.
There’s some satisfaction in these domestic conquests but also the reminder of how hard and time-consuming they can be.
Coronacooking (see also: “covidomesticity”)
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Did you really make yogurt for the first time ever? You bought sourdough starter? You’re growing avocados from pits? Making Facebook cooking videos now that you’ve discovered the joy of turning on the oven?
As for me, I’m suddenly making smoothies from whatever weird ingredients are in the refrigerator. Inventing salad dressings. Making croutons. It had never occurred to me to make croutons, but there I was on a Sunday afternoon Googling “how to make croutons,” which I fear is a sign of …
Pandemania!
For many people, this strange moment has led to a quieter life. For some it’s a reflective, meditative time. For some, it’s immobilizing and depressing.
But not for those in the grip of pandemania!
They’re starting a new business! Cranking away on a novel! Learning a new language! Taking up guitar! Going out to run! And out to run again! They’ve ordered weights online! They’re up at dawn! Eager to Zoom at midnight! They’ve finished six giant jigsaw puzzles! Time for another run!
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In other words, they’re dealing with anxiety their way.
Coronacraving
You never needed a bread box before. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, you have got to have one asap.
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By you, I mean me. Otherwise I’ll have to keep turning stale bread into croutons.
Some of our coronacravings are the result of being home so much that we focus on what would make our confinement easier. My friend Kaarin just bought a vacuum cleaner. When she quizzed her Facebook friends on their pandemic purchases, the answers ranged from ping pong table to ice cream maker to laptop stand.
“Underwear,” says a friend. “I find myself craving new underwear.”
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Whatever the craving, indulging it is a way to create an illusion of control in the coronavirus chaos.
Coronaclock
On the coronaclock, it’s hard to tell what time it is. Time is standing still. Time is racing past. You can’t see what’s next. You remember how things were, but even that’s fading. There is today, only today. And in the quiet moments — when the running, cooking, cleaning and craving stop — we know that’s always been true.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Two charities have bailed scores of felony defendants out of Cook County Jail. Some were soon charge

Two charities have bailed scores of felony defendants out of Cook County Jail. Some were soon charged with new crimes.

While not directly addressing specific cases cited by the Tribune , the two charities said the newspaper was highlighting examples @ @ @ @ @ groups ’ efforts , they say , are beginning to reverse a historic racial injustice @ @ @ @ @ color who are presumed innocent but can not afford bond .
The charities say their @ @ @ @ @ judicial playing field by making it possible for these released defendants to care for their @ @ @ @ @ jobs and prepare their defenses .

Dan Gutierrez sits in his Lyons home with a wedding photo featuring his late wife, Angela, on April 13, 2020. A month after her death, someone broke into the home and stole her jewelry, according to police reports. The Bail Project paid the bond of the man charged in the crime. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Prosecutors charged 34-year-old Christopher Stewart with being an armed habitual criminal last year after the four-time felon was allegedly caught illegally carrying a handgun.
At the time, Stewart’s ex-girlfriend had obtained an order of protection, saying that just days earlier he had shot a pistol into the ground at her 6-year-old son’s birthday party and threatened to kill her. “I should pop you right now bitch,” he shouted, according to her filing.
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A charity called The Bail Project posted $5,000 in cash to release Stewart from Cook County Jail. A month later, Stewart was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly set fire to the ex-girlfriend’s apartment while she was inside. Police rescued her as she hung out of a kitchen window.
Christopher Stewart (Cook County sheriff's office)
During the last three years, The Bail Project and a second nonprofit — the Chicago Community Bond Fund — have paid to release nearly 1,000 pretrial defendants from Cook County Jail. The groups are part of well-funded, nationwide efforts to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release and ensure poor people are not jailed for criminal charges simply because they cannot afford bond.
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The charities contend that the risk to public safety of releasing pretrial detainees is minimal. Many defendants they bailed out were charged with misdemeanors, and the two groups say they have near universal success in helping released defendants abide by court orders and stay out of trouble.
The charities declined to identify the people they have bonded out, citing their organizations’ privacy policies.
But through public records, Tribune reporters were able to identify 162 people charged with felonies whom the charities have bailed out since February 2017. Among them were three people charged with murder, 10 accused of attempted murder, 32 felons allegedly caught carrying a gun and 22 defendants charged with being an armed habitual criminal — a person who has at least two convictions for certain types of dangerous or serious felonies and is then caught with a gun.
More than a fifth of these 162 defendants went on to be charged with new crimes while out on charity-sponsored bond, the Tribune’s investigation found.
Because gun violence continues to plague Chicago neighborhoods, with homicides up 34% and shootings up 27% by mid-March compared with the same time last year, the Tribune also examined all felony gun bonds of $5,000 or above from October 2019 through February. The charities posted bond for more than a quarter of these defendants — a total of 50 such bonds.
Amid the coronavirus crisis, which has killed six jail detainees and infected nearly 500 as of Monday, the two charities have accelerated their efforts by funding the release of at least 200 defendants in recent weeks. The Community Bond Fund also joined other advocates to file a pending federal lawsuit demanding the immediate and wholesale release of Cook County detainees, saying the virus puts all inmates at grave risk.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded in a court filing that mass release of jail detainees could place Chicago residents “at an increased risk of being the victims of serious crimes.” For now, a federal judge has ruled that jail officials should increase testing of detainees and enforce social distancing in the institution.
Chicago crime victims interviewed by the Tribune said they did not know that charitable organizations had paid to bond out the people accused of attacking them and others.
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For example, the Chicago Community Bond Fund put up $10,000 in bond money in October to release Kavell Buchanan while he was awaiting trial on charges of driving a stolen car. Then 18, Buchanan had served time in juvenile detention for three separate aggravated batteries and a robbery.
Kavell Buchanan (Cook County sheriff's office)
Two months after the charity bailed him out, Buchanan was arrested after he allegedly indicated he had a gun while trying to steal a man’s PlayStation 4 Console.
The victim, Enkhbat Batgerel, said he was stunned that the Chicago Community Bond Fund had bailed out Buchanan on the previous stolen vehicle charge. “By a charity? That’s mind-blowing,” Batgerel said. “Do they know his rap sheet, his history, before giving him that type of help?”
The Chicago Community Bond Fund also paid $5,000 in February 2019 to bail out Izarious Cannon, who had allegedly stuck a gun in the face of a supermarket worker and threatened to shoot him if he did not hand over his money and iPhone, records show.
“I am still afraid two years later,” said Milton Berrezueta, whom Cannon allegedly robbed in August 2018. “It’s not good for a charity to free someone, because he’s just going to hurt someone else. It’s awful.”
Cannon went on to be charged in separate felony cases with driving a stolen car and possessing ammunition, and delivery of cocaine and fentanyl. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and awaits trial on drug charges as well as the earlier armed robbery charge.
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While not directly addressing specific cases cited by the Tribune, the two charities said the newspaper was highlighting examples with poor outcomes. The groups’ efforts, they say, are beginning to reverse a historic racial injustice by assisting many people of color who are presumed innocent but cannot afford bond. The charities say their aim is to level the judicial playing field by making it possible for these released defendants to care for their families, return to their jobs and prepare their defenses.
In Tribune interviews, leaders of both charities said they were transparent with the public and donors about the serious felony charges facing many of the detainees they bail out.
Matthew McFarland, a regional operations manager for The Bail Project, said: “I think we represent ourselves accurately. How we represent our efforts and mission are very clear. The message is to help people too poor to pay their own bail.
“We’re charge agnostic,” McFarland added. “We are operating off the presumption of innocence.”
“I think that we are forthright. We’re very clear whenever we’re asked that we don’t make distinctions based on charge,” said Sharlyn Grace, executive director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund.
“Also, many of the charges sound much more concerning to the public than they are in reality, right?” Grace added. “The charge does not mean the person is a threat. The charge does not tell the story of who the person is and it should not be the sole determining factor in how they’re treated pretrial.”
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson gets into his vehicle after helping bond out a Cook County Jail detainee on Dec. 6, 2019. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Both civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson and businessman and political candidate Willie Wilson have been bailing out Cook County Jail detainees for years. But both said in Tribune interviews that they specifically exclude people charged with violent felonies or crimes with guns.
“Society would not appreciate that. That would not be acceptable,” Jackson said.
Said Wilson: “I’m not comfortable helping someone charged with rape or other violence.”
Goal: Eliminate cash bail
Tapping a broad range of donors that include established foundations and religious groups, the Chicago Community Bond Fund and The Bail Project both rent office space in a storefront at 601 S. California Ave. called the Westside Center for Justice.
The two charities share the goal of eliminating cash bail, and they coordinate which bonds to pay so they don’t duplicate cases. But they have distinct histories.
Since its founding in 2015, the Chicago Community Bond Fund has worked exclusively in Cook County and says it has paid about $1.8 million to post bond for more than 300 people. The group’s website refers to bail as “ransom money ... just a stopgap in an unjust and racist system.”
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The Bail Project is a larger national organization that since 2018 has used $23 million to bond out defendants in 21 jurisdictions, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, St. Louis and San Diego. It was only in the past year that The Bail Project turned its focus to Chicago. Since then, it has bonded out more than 600 Cook County Jail detainees, posting $2.16 million in bail money.
“With the largest single-site jail in the United States, the possibility of statewide reform, and pretrial electronic surveillance on the rise, Chicago is a key battleground for the future of pretrial justice in America,” the group’s 2019 annual report stated.
The Tribune discovered the charities’ increasing role in bailing out felony defendants as part of the newspaper’s ongoing reporting on Cook County’s bond reform initiatives championed by Chief Judge Timothy Evans and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Starting in 2017, the courts have lowered or eliminated cash bail for many criminal defendants and dramatically lowered the jail population. The Tribune reported in February that a major study commissioned by Evans to support the reforms had flaws that minimized the number of defendants charged with murder and other violent crimes while out on bail.
Both charities have roundly supported these reforms.
To explore the impact of those reforms, reporters first combed through paper records on thousands of felony bonds of $5,000 cash or above during an eight-month period last year — from February through September — then gathered and analyzed all bonds of those amounts from similar periods in 2017 and 2018 for comparison purposes.
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Bails requiring bonds in those amounts are set for people with the most serious charges and backgrounds — though a small percentage are held without bond while awaiting trial. The reporters also analyzed all felony gun bonds of $5,000 or above from October 2019 through February.
From those records, the Tribune was able to identify the 162 felony defendants with bonds of $5,000 cash or above who were bailed out by the two charities since February 2017. Reporters then reviewed thousands of pages of police and court documents on those cases, and interviewed released defendants, victims and officials.
Even though the larger national Bail Project started working in Cook County only in May of last year, it was responsible for releasing about half of those 162 detainees, the Tribune found.
The charities note that it is judges who determine whether a person is a danger to the community and should be denied bail. “We are not the ones setting the bail,” McFarland said.
Matthew McFarland, a regional operations manager for The Bail Project, appears outside the Cook County Jail on April 3, 2020, where he helped bond out three men. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Both say they have more than 90% success in helping released defendants abide by court orders and stay out of trouble.
The Chicago Community Bond Fund provides referrals to other service agencies once a detainee is released, Grace said. “We’re there to be supportive to the extent that it is needed and wanted. ... We absolutely don’t want to be re-creating some kind of supervision that they’re already under through the courts,” she said.
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The Bail Project said the charity offers freed defendants transportation to the courthouse for hearings and refers them to agencies that provide housing, drug treatment, mental health counseling and employment.
Stewart, writing from the Cook County Jail where he awaits trial in the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, describes The Bail Project’s help as “the best thing that ever happened to me.“
But, he added, "I messed it up.” The Bail Project told him the condition for being released “was to get a job ... go to school and to stay out of trouble and make sure you go to all your court days,” Stewart recalled.
That didn’t happen, Stewart wrote. Now he feels “bad for violating their trust because my intentions was to get out of jail and do the right thing and stuff.”
Stewart’s ex-girlfriend expressed disgust when she learned from a reporter that a charity had posted bond for Stewart.
“They need to do better if they are going to have a charity bail people out,” she said. "That’s wasting money that could have gone to someone who would have done right by it.”
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Jailed last June on a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, Maurio Young said he was delighted when a fellow detainee passed along a business card from The Bail Project. Young recalled how a charity “bail disruptor” interviewed him. "She asked me a lot of things. They had programs set up to rehabilitate you,” he said. “Four days later I was home.”
Four months after The Bail Project paid his $5,000 bond, Young was arrested again on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and cocaine.
The 22-year-old declined to discuss his pending cases but recounted felony convictions that began in 2016 when he pointed a loaded pistol in the face of a man on Oak Street Beach. Young pulled the trigger twice, but the gun misfired. “I thank God every day that it didn’t go off,” said Young, who was sentenced to a year in prison.
Prior to last year’s arrest, Young also had pleaded guilty to drug charges in DeKalb and Cook counties. He is on probation.
Young praised The Bail Project, saying it offered to help him get his state identification card and to possibly help him get a job. “It never happened," he acknowledged. “I was out and I kept backtracking.”
Financial support
Posting bond for people charged with violent crimes might not meet the popular definition of charity. But the IRS in 1976 ruled that it was acceptable for a tax-exempt nonprofit to pay bonds for people accused of crimes, as part of broad efforts to rehabilitate them.
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In their annual reports, media appearances and fundraising pleas, the two bail charities describe jail detainees they have released, highlighting people awaiting trial for nonviolent misdemeanors.
In its 2019 year-end report, for example, the Chicago Community Bond Fund profiled four individuals it bailed out of Cook County Jail: a mother arrested while picking up her 8-year-old son at school, a young woman who was four months from completing her medical training, a father of 5-year-old twins who had a pacemaker and had undergone two triple-bypass heart surgeries, and a skilled tradesman arrested in front of his family. Their charges were not described.
The Bail Project has described freeing incarcerated mothers, political protesters and people charged with minor offenses such as riding a bicycle on the sidewalk.
The Bond Fund, which reported receiving about $675,000 in 2018, lists roughly a dozen donors on its annual reports, but Grace said they give to support the organization’s back-office and staff, not to directly pay bail bonds.
Grace said the pool of money used for bonds comes from small individual donors and also “several large gifts” from anonymous donors whose identities are shielded even from her.
“We don’t have their names,” Grace said. “They come through money managers or ... stock donations. ... We’re required on tax documents to name the people whose identities we have, but there’s other people whose identities we don’t have.”
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Like the Chicago Community Bond Fund, some of The Bail Project’s largest donors are listed as “anonymous.” Among those identified are New York hedge fund investor Michael Novogratz, British billionaire Richard Branson and New York music industry executive Jason Flom.
Also among the financial supporters of The Bail Project was the family foundation of former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner — which did not respond to a request for comment.
Experts in charitable giving said philanthropies should be cautious and transparent when they undertake missions that could put communities at risk.
“I think there’s a very clear difference between bailing out somebody charged with riding their bicycle on the sidewalk and bailing out somebody charged with an offense involving a gun, especially if they have prior convictions,” said Princeton University professor Peter Singer, who has written two books about the ethics of philanthropy. “I can think of better things to do with your charitable dollar."
Jackson said that he and his organization, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, have been posting bail for nonviolent defendants for about 25 years.
“It’s year ’round for us,” he said.
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Jackson said the sheriff’s office provides a list to Rainbow/PUSH of defendants too poor to post bail. “We always ask the sheriff to do vetting,” he said.
Asked if there were types of defendants he will not bail out, he said: “Of course, that’s true. You have to make a judgment.”
Wilson said he also worked with the sheriff’s office, which provided a list of defendants who met Wilson’s criteria. “A lot of the people I helped were in jail for marijuana or for stealing food to eat,” he said.
Told that The Bail Project and the Chicago Community Bond Fund charities are bailing out defendants charged with felony armed robberies, Wilson said: “Everybody has their own conscience. I’m not saying I’m right and they’re wrong. But I use my own money and they use someone else’s. That’s a big difference.”
Thomas Lugo (Illinois Department of Corrections)
West suburban Lyons police Chief Thomas Herion said he was “sickened” to learn from a reporter recently that serial home burglar Thomas Lugo last year was released with $5,000 from The Bail Project. Lugo is listed on the state’s sex offender registry as a “sexual predator,” and police and court records describe him as an admitted drug addict who repeatedly broke into people’s homes, even when they were present.
“He’s a sex offender who will break into individuals’ homes,” Herion said. “All the hard work you do in trying to keep the public safe ...”
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The Bail Project paid for Lugo’s release after he was accused of breaking into the Lyons home of Daniel Gutierrez, a Midway Airport grounds operation worker. Gutierrez had installed a home security camera so he could check on his wife as she underwent chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
A month after her December 2018 death, Lugo allegedly broke into the home and was caught on camera rifling through the home to steal her jewelry, according to police reports.
Lyons police Chief Thomas Herion in his office on April 13, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
“The camera caught him perfectly," said Gutierrez, who added that he was devastated because his wife’s necklaces and other jewelry had sentimental value to him.
While out on the charity-sponsored bail bond, Lugo was charged with breaking into a woman’s car in Berwyn.
Lugo is now in prison while he awaits trial on two burglary cases and a parole violation. He did not respond to a letter sent to the prison seeking comment.
Told by a reporter that a charity had bailed out Lugo, Gutierrez said: "He keeps doing the same crimes over and over again. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
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dyjackson@chicagotribune.com
tlighty@chicagotribune.com
gmarx@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--47-year-old man faces charges for pointing gun at Chicago police officers, police say

Raymond Winston , of Fernwood , was arrested just after midnight Tuesday in the 0-100 block of West 99th Street @ @ @ @ @ the Far South Side , police said .
A Chicago police officer fired shots at @ @ @ @ @ at the officers , pulled out a gun and pointed it at them .
He @ @ @ @ @ shooting .

A 47-year-old man with a history of felony convictions dating back to the 1990s is facing multiple charges after he pointed a gun at Chicago police officers while they were talking to a witness Monday night, according to police.
Raymond Winston, of Chicago, was arrested 12:15 a.m. Tuesday in the first block of West 99th Street in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side, according to police and Cook County prosecutors. A Chicago police officer fired shots at Winston after he shouted obscenities at the officers, pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. He was not injured in the shooting.
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Raymond Winston / Chicago Police Department
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors told a judge five uniformed officers were investigating a Shot Spotter report when they encountered Winston, who was holding a gun in his right hand. Winston pointed his weapon at officers at least three times as he fled from officers, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Winston ran after the officer fired shots, but he was taken into custody after a chase, police said. A Hi-Point 9mm handgun with a heavily defaced serial number was found at the scene.
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Winston faces five felony counts of aggravated assault with a firearm on a peace officer, police said. He also faces felony charges of armed habitual criminal and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.
Citing Winston’s criminal history, which included armed robbery and gun offenses, Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Winston held on $750,000, as well as electronic home monitoring, if he was able to post.
An officer injured his or her hand on a fence during the chase but refused medical treatment, police said. No other injures were reported.
Winston is expected to return to court next week.
William Lee contributed to this report.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Rivian, Ford cancel plans to build Lincoln-branded electric vehicle due to coronavirus

“ Ford has not yet determined when it will resume production in its North American plants , ” Ford spokeswoman @ @ @ @ @ “ We are continuing to assess public health conditions , government guidelines and supplier readiness @ @ @ @ @ is right to resume production .
Meanwhile , Ford and the UAW continue working closely @ @ @ @ @ workforce safe when we do restart our plants .
”

A joint project between Rivian and Ford to build a Lincoln-branded electric vehicle has been canceled as the auto industry struggles to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
While there were never specific details about the product, where it would be built or timing for its launch, the automakers planned to build the new vehicle using startup electric truck manufacturer Rivian’s platform.
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“Given the current environment, Lincoln and Rivian have decided not to pursue the development of a fully electric vehicle based on Rivian’s skateboard platform,” Lincoln said in a statement Tuesday. “Ford Motor Company’s strategic commitment to Lincoln, Rivian and electrification remains unchanged and Lincoln’s future plans will include an all-electric vehicle.”
Ford, which last year invested $500 million in Rivian, said Tuesday the partnership “remains strong,” and the companies continue to work together on an alternative vehicle based on Rivian’s platform.
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Rivian spokeswoman Amy Mast confirmed the project was canceled, but declined further comment Tuesday.
The electric truck startup, which is building its own SUV and truck at a plant in Normal, has already pushed its production launch date back to 2021. Rivian planned to make the first deliveries of preordered vehicles this year.
Rivian is retooling a former Mitsubishi plant and had hired more than 300 employees as it prepared for production. It temporarily shut down the plant and reduced staffing to a skeleton maintenance crew last month during the statewide COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
Founded 10 years ago, Plymouth, Michigan-based Rivian received more than $2.8 billion in investments last year from Ford, Cox Automotive and Amazon, among others. It has an order to build 100,000 custom electric delivery vehicles for Amazon alongside its consumer-focused truck and SUV.
Ford also has struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, halting production at its Chicago Assembly Plant on the city’s Southeast Side. The plant, which makes the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor SUVs, temporarily closed last month and about 5,600 workers were laid off.
“Ford has not yet determined when it will resume production in its North American plants,” Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said Tuesday. “We are continuing to assess public health conditions, government guidelines and supplier readiness to determine when the time is right to resume production. Meanwhile, Ford and the UAW continue working closely on initiatives to keep the workforce safe when we do restart our plants.”
On Tuesday, Ford reported a first-quarter net loss of nearly $2 billion, blaming its poor performance on the health crisis.
With its factories shut down and the economy sputtering, the second quarter looks even bleaker for the automaker, with Ford projecting a $5 billion loss before taxes.
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rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--The latest from editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis

As the coronavirus spreads globally , it has been revealed that some notable people have tested positive for the virus @ @ @ @ @ of most recently reported .

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