chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Funeral for beloved Chicago 911 dispatcher

The holiday season is n't canceled !
COVID-19 can not stop us from getting gifts for all of our loved @ @ @ @ @ grandparents , single friends and even self-lovers .
Let our 2020 Gift Guide make your @ @ @ @ @ Our editorial staff compiled this report independently .
Tribune Publishing may earn a commission if @ @ @ @ @ one of the affiliate links .

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chicagotribune--2020-11-30--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

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

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 85 new deaths, 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases and 66,980

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 85 new deaths, 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases and 66,980 new test results

Illinois announced 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Monday for a total of 726,304 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 12,278 and 66,980 new test results for a total of 10.5 million @

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


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Here’s what you may have missed over the long Thanksgiving weekend

For all their deprivations and frustrations , these locked-down days and nights have given some people the time and opportunity @ @ @ @ @ desires .
Months ago , when all this began , a 57-year-old man named Andre @ @ @ @ @ job at a downtown hotel .
He decided to tackle something that had been troubling @ @ @ @ @ small child .
“ I wanted to learn to read , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ able to read a book before I die.
” Read the full story .

Who has time to read the Tribune while you’re scarfing down Thanksgiving side dishes, visiting with loved ones over Zoom or Black Friday shopping online?
So here’s a roundup of some of the stories you may have missed over the long holiday weekend.
Also, don’t forget to watch where you park your car. Chicago’s winter parking ban is going into effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday. Here’s what to know to avoid a ticket or getting towed.
And there’s still time to get your questions in for this. The Chicago Tribune is partnering with the University of Chicago to answer readers’ questions with a Facebook Live event on Wednesday. We’ll be asking readers’ questions to University of Chicago Medicine infectious diseases expert Dr. Emily Landon. Click here to find out more.
Walk-up testing at a new COVID-19 testing site opened in employee parking lot B at Midway International Airport on Nov. 24, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The state of Illinois’ plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available puts front-line health care workers first in line to be inoculated, but shifting projections on how many initial doses the state is likely to receive, the various temperature storage requirements for different vaccines and changing federal recommendations make it uncertain exactly how that plan will roll out. Read the full story.
Nkosinathi Gama, 29, from Eswatini, a country in southern Africa formerly known as Swaziland, and Rachel Perkins, 24, a seminarian student at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, in a photo taken by Gama in Eswatini. (Nkosinathi Gama / HANDOUT)
They were a long-distance couple hoping to reunite for the holiday season. An African man and an American woman who fell in love during a religious mission trip. When Nkosinathi Gama flew to Chicago to visit Rachel Perkins last week, they thought everything would go smoothly. But he never made it out of O’Hare International Airport. Read the full story.
People stand outside of the Franciscan Outreach shelter on Nov. 24, 2020, in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
A homeless shelter on Chicago’s West Side is grappling with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, prompting concerns from advocates and organizations as the coronavirus surges nationwide. Read the full story.
Sophomore Ximena Castillo, a graphic design and marketing major, does homework at Dominican University on Nov. 24, 2020, in River Forest, Illinois. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
In Illinois, fewer students have applied for federal and state financial aid since schools closed down in March compared with the same time last year, according to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. That’s a sign low-income students might be abandoning college plans altogether during the pandemic instead of seeking help with tuition. Read the full story.
Visitors enjoy walking trails around the North Pond in Lincoln Park in Chicago on Nov. 19, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Lincoln Park’s North Pond is drying up, shrinking and becoming too shallow to support the wildlife that calls it home. Without intervention, the park will likely lose the pond entirely due to erosion and sediment runoff, according to a conservation group that is launching a bid to save it. Read the full story.
Nortasha Stingley whose daughter, Marissa Boyd-Stingley was killed in 2013, holds a photo of Marissa at her Chicago home on Nov. 20, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
On the day her daughter was shot to death, Nortasha Stingley says she went to the lakefront and thought about giving up and jumping in. But God had another plan, she told herself. It would be seven years of struggling with PTSD and marching for justice with other mothers of slain children before she saw it. Read the full story.
R. Kelly appears during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on Sept. 17, 2019. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Facing the potential of decades in prison, singer R. Kelly is back on lockdown at Chicago’s federal jail because of a new COVID-19 outbreak. His repeated attempts to win release on bond pending trial on federal racketeering charges in New York have been denied. And he still suffers headaches and pain from a recent beating at the hands of a fellow inmate, his lawyers say. He’s in bad shape mentally, says his lead attorney, but his “still hopeful about his case.” Read the full story.
Wayne Antusas, left, and Nicholas Morfin were convicted of murder in the 1995 killing of two 13-year-old girls. (Illinois Department of Correctio / Chicago Tribune handout)
This fall, Cook County prosecutors reversed course on two men accused in a decades-old double murder. The cases were on shaky ground, they said. The judges should throw out their convictions, and in turn prosecutors would drop the charges and the men would be freed. But in an almost unheard of move, the judges disagreed. Read the full story.
Mink look from a pen at a farm near Naestved, Denmark, on Nov. 6, 2020. A mutated form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was found in some animals. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix)
Outbreaks of coronavirus have struck mink farms in Wisconsin and Michigan, but Illinois’ shrinking fur industry so far appears to have remained free of the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Read the full story.
Learning disabilities specialist Karen Wadden Mueller works virtually with a 57-year-old student named Andre as he learns to read on Nov. 12, 2020 in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
For all their deprivations and frustrations, these locked-down days and nights have given some people the time and opportunity to fulfill their dreams and desires. Months ago, when all this began, a 57-year-old man named Andre was laid off from the job at a downtown hotel. He decided to tackle something that had been troubling him since he was a small child. “I wanted to learn to read,” he said. “I want to be able to read a book before I die.” Read the full story.


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Feds allege Mokena woman defrauded state child care assistance program

The indictment was initially filed Nov. 5 and placed under seal , then unsealed Nov. 23 following the filing of @ @ @ @ @ Arrest warrants were issued for the defendants shortly after the indictment was filed .

A Mokena woman who owns day care centers in the south suburbs and Chicago is accused of defrauding a state program that assisted low-income families with child care costs, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago.
The fraud took place over eight years, through this September, and netted more than $6.1 million, according to the indictment.
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The centers’ owner, 41-year-old Aleesha McDowell, used some of the money to buy a car costing more than $85,000 and to put a $257,000 down payment on her house in Mokena, authorities allege.
McDowell owned A & A Kiddy Kollege in Calumet City and Calumet Park, and three locations of Kreative Kidz Academy in Chicago, according to the indictment.
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McDowell is charged with 12 counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Also charged with wire fraud are Sean Blunt, 44, of Matteson, Lauren Coley, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona, Shavon Johnson, 47, of Country Club Hills, Janelle Jordan, 40, of Chicago, Nicole Lacey, 36, of Burnham and Stacy Sims, 43, of Chicago.
Coley, Jordan, Lacey and Sims worked as directors at the five centers, according to the indictment.
McDowell and the others are alleged to have defrauded the Child Care Assistance Program operated by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
The program provides subsidies to child care providers and applicants are required to submit qualifying paperwork such as pay stubs or income verification letters.
In some instances, the defendants filed fraudulent pay stub or income verification information, and falsified information about the number of days and hours children attended the day care centers in order to boost subsidies, according to the indictment.
The government is seeking forfeiture of a 2017 Bentley Bentayga McDowell purchased in early September 2016, allegedly with proceeds of the fraud, as well as a 10,000-square-foot home purchased in July 2017.
Blunt, Jordan, Johnson, Lacey and Sims have made initial appearances on the charges and pleaded not guilty, according to court filings. An arraignment for Coley is scheduled for Wednesday.
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It was not clear whether McDowell had made an initial court appearance. She did not return messages seeking comment.
The indictment was initially filed Nov. 5 and placed under seal, then unsealed Nov. 23 following the filing of a motion by prosecutors. Arrest warrants were issued for the defendants shortly after the indictment was filed.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Wind, not snow, the main event of weather system battering Chicago, forecasters say

“ This is going to be a pretty long duration , well into the evening .
And it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ kind of thing where it ’ s dumping heavily at any one time , it @ @ @ @ @ a longer accumulation of really light amounts , ” he said .
“ From now @ @ @ @ @ could see anywhere from 1 to 5 inches , mainly over Indiana .
”

A surfer rides big Lake Michigan waves at 57th Street Beach in Chicago on Nov. 30, 2020. The National Weather Service issued a lakeshore flood advisory for the Cook County shoreline. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Forecasters Monday extended the expected duration of lake effect snow that was expected to coat northwest Indiana with as much as 5 inches of snow — but they still don’t expect more than half an inch to fall in Illinois.
The system that moved through overnight could prompt lake effect snow well into Monday night, said Eric Lenning, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
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“It’s likely we’ll see some off and on flurries or light snow throughout the day. It doesn’t look like we’re in for any kind of serious accumulation on the Illinois shore. Throughout the next 24 hours, we could see probably up to half an inch here,” he said.
More noteworthy than the dusting of snow that fell Monday morning, Lenning said, has been the 30 mph wind, which could potentially gust as strong as 45 mph before the system moves through.
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“The wind is going to be the more impactful element of this,” he said.
By about 11 a.m., high waves driven by the wind caused the Chicago Park District to close the lakefront trail between Oak and Ohio streets.
#ChiLFTAlert: Due to high waves, the lakefront trail is closed from Oak St. to Ohio St., until further notice. Barricades have been placed on site. For updates, please stay connected to our social media and website at https://t.co/SWzDWbd1sj pic.twitter.com/N51g7bjpGK — Chicago ParkDistrict (@ChicagoParks) November 30, 2020
While snowfall totals were not yet available, he said it remained possible parts of Indiana could still get the multiple inches of snow the area was promised, although it will take longer to accumulate.
“This is going to be a pretty long duration, well into the evening. And it’s not going to be the kind of thing where it’s dumping heavily at any one time, it’ll be more of a longer accumulation of really light amounts,” he said. “From now to this evening some places could see anywhere from 1 to 5 inches, mainly over Indiana.”
By about 9:30 a.m., the majority of snow falling was in southern Cook County, the weather service said.
“The most persistent snow showers were occurring along the Cook Co. shoreline and the ... state line,” it said. “Snow showers will continue through midmorning across these areas.”
Lenning said it was difficult to determine where bands of snow will form when it comes to lake effect snow, calling them “transient” and “unpredictable.”
Meteorologists also said the temperature will be a little warmer Tuesday but still just below average, with highs in the upper 30s and lows in the mid-20s. With the possible exception of some flurries Thursday, the rest of the week should be dry.
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“It looks relatively quiet for good portions of the rest of the week,” said meteorologist Todd Kluber. “Maybe we have another system moving through Thursday night into Friday. It looks a little close to us, so we’re going to keep our eye on that one.”
Check back for updates and visit the Tribune’s weather page for more.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Big waves pound lakefront

Big waves pound lakefront


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Chicago police search for gunman who killed 16-year-old boy in South Loop parking garage

Police said the gunman was in his late teens or early 20s .
A witness told police she saw two @ @ @ @ @ , get into a dark car and speed west on 8th Street .
They remained @ @ @ @ @ police said .

A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot about 2:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in a parking garage in the 800 block of South Wabash Avenue in the South Loop neighborhood, according to Chicago police. (Paige Fry/Chicago Tribune)
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the face and killed early Monday while sitting in a parked SUV in a South Loop parking garage, according to Chicago police.
The boy was in the front passenger seat of a BMW in the 800 block of South Wabash Avenue about 2:30 a.m. when someone wearing a black ski mask approached and fired at the boy, police said.
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The teen was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Officers said they found a .40-caliber handgun in his waistband.
Police said the gunman was in his late teens or early 20s. A witness told police she saw two males run from the garage, get into a dark car and speed west on 8th Street. They remained at large Monday morning, police said.
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Investigators recovered shell casings at the scene and were checking for surveillance footage.
Person shot at 8th/Michigan. Scene from the Wabash side. Ambo just left. #ChicagoScanner https://t.co/bectOcvRck pic.twitter.com/BLO78Jc3NF — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) November 30, 2020
Tape inside the garage. pic.twitter.com/dGoexQKBZn — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) November 30, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--City dismissed red light camera tickets against Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s security detail

Mayor Lori Lightfoot 's vehicles drive through a red lights .
Many red light violation citations were issued and then @ @ @ @ @ Chicago )


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--U.S. Justice Department alleges Hinsdale violated Fair Housing Act over effort against sober living

U.S. Justice Department alleges Hinsdale violated Fair Housing Act over effort against sober living house

Trinity founder and executive director Michael Owens said a minimum number of residents are needed in a group home for @ @ @ @ @ are key to the living arrangement ’ s effectiveness .
The average stay is 90 @ @ @ @ @ at different times .
If the capacity is too limited , there may be times @ @ @ @ @ people would be living in the house at once , not a sufficient number to @ @ @ @ @ he said .

Trinity Sober Living formerly owned this house in Hinsdale to provide housing for men recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. (Kimberly Fornek / Pioneer Press)
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Hinsdale, claiming its attempt to stop a sober living house from operating in the village violates the Fair Housing Act.
The lawsuit is the latest development in the struggle between Hinsdale and Trinity Sober Living LLC, which in July 2019 opened a group home where up to 10 men recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction could live and receive support with a full-time house manager, about a block from the village’s downtown.
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Hinsdale officials argued its zoning code did not allow the sober living home, at 111 N. Grant St., in single-family residential districts, because it was a commercial use.
But that determination “would have effectively precluded any group home or supported housing for persons with disabilities from operating in single-family residential districts in the village,” states the Justice Department’s complaint, which was filed in federal court Wednesday. In most group homes, the residents pay rent and the agency operating the home is paid for the care, services and supervision provided at the home.
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Alcoholics and recovering alcoholics are subject to protection under the Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities acts, according to information on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ and U.S. Department of Justice’s websites.
On Nov. 13, after learning the United States planned to file a lawsuit against the village, the complaint says, Hinsdale changed its position and maintained the sober living house is not allowed, not because it’s a commercial use, but because the village zoning code prohibits more than three unrelated persons from living in a single-family house.
Again, the Department of Justice states in its complaint, that would effectively exclude most group homes for persons with disabilities.
“For example,” the complaint states, “under Illinois law, group homes for persons with mental illness or intellectual disabilities may serve up to eight residents.”
Trinity founder and executive director Michael Owens said a minimum number of residents are needed in a group home for the support and accountability that are key to the living arrangement’s effectiveness. The average stay is 90 days, with residents transitioning at different times. If the capacity is too limited, there may be times when only two or three people would be living in the house at once, not a sufficient number to rely on for support, he said.
Village President Thomas Cauley, Jr., said Wednesday he does not comment on pending litigation.
Neighbors of the Trinity Sober Living home in Hinsdale contacted the village president in July 2019 with concerns about the men who would be living there.
The village attorney and members of the village staff met with Owens, who gave them a tour of the sober living house and answered their questions.
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According to the Justice Department’s complaint, the village attorney, Lance Malina, suggested Owens request a reasonable accommodation to the village zoning laws under the Fair Housing Act.
On Aug. 4, 2019, village officials held a meeting with the residents to explain what was happening with Trinity and on Aug. 5, 2019 sent residents a letter stating, “the Village is prepared to take any and all actions necessary to enforce the Village’s zoning code, under which this proposed use is not permitted.”
On Aug. 7, 2019, Trinity’s attorney emailed a letter to Hinsdale’s attorney asking the village to waive its three-person limit on the number of unrelated individuals who can live together as a family and treat Trinity Sober Living as a single-family use. Trinity specifically requested this as “a reasonable accommodation” per the federal Fair Housing Act.
“The letter cited extensive legal authority for the proposition that group homes and sober living homes like Trinity were entitled to reasonable accommodations under the FHA, notwithstanding their commercial aspects,” the complaint states.
The next day, Aug. 8, 2019, Hinsdale filed a lawsuit against Trinity in the Circuit Court for DuPage County to enforce its zoning code.
In November 2019, Trinity filed a lawsuit against Hinsdale in federal court, claiming the village’s efforts to prevent Trinity from operating the home for recovering alcoholics and addicts violated the American with Disabilities and Fair Housing acts. That suit is proceeding through the court, Trinity and Hinsdale officials said.
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The U.S. Justice Department maintains the village staff did not forward Trinity’s request for accommodations to the Hinsdale Village Board, nor did they say they were considering such accommodations.
The justice department is asking the court to declare Hinsdale’s actions violate the Fair Housing Act and order the village to take “affirmative steps” to comply with the law. In addition, the complaint asks the court to require Hinsdale pay monetary damages to Trinity and the residents of the home, and pay a civil penalty.


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Mayor Lori Lightfoot's ride

Mayor Lori Lightfoot's ride


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Chicago’s winter overnight parking ban begins Tuesday. Here’s how to avoid getting ticketed or towed

Chicago’s winter overnight parking ban begins Tuesday. Here’s how to avoid getting ticketed or towed.

Cars left parked on the designated streets hinder snowplowing and salting services .
Snow can build up next to parked @ @ @ @ @ impeding traffic flow , according to the city .
Both parking bans were implemented to @ @ @ @ @ happened in 1967 and 1979 when Chicago came to a traffic standstill due to major @ @

Chicago's winter overnight parking ban kicked in on Dec. 1, prohibiting parking on 107 miles of main streets from 3 to 7 a.m., regardless of snow, until April 1. (Network Video Productions) (Network Video Productions/Chicago Tribune)
It’s the time of year when you need to think twice about claiming that open spot on the street.
The city’s winter overnight parking ban began at 3 a.m. on Dec. 1. Parking is prohibited on 107 miles of main streets from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. — regardless of snow — until April 1, 2023. Another 500 miles of streets prohibit parking after two inches of snow or more falls, no matter the time of day or the date.
Two hundred forty two cars were towed on the first day of the ban this year — up from 200 towed on the same date in 2021.
Pay attention to street signs
(City of Chicago)
Cars left parked on the designated streets hinder snowplowing and salting services. Snow can build up next to parked cars on these routes impeding traffic flow — especially for buses and emergency vehicles — according to the city. Both parking bans were implemented to prevent recurrences of problems that happened in 1967 and 1979 when Chicago came to a traffic standstill due to major snowstorms.
Twenty-three inches of snow, the largest single snowfall in Chicago history, covered the city and suburbs in the blizzard of 1967. Abandoned vehicles made even major streets and highways impassable. (Tribune archive photo)
Motorists who ignore these seasonal parking bans will be towed and face at least a $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and storage fees of $25 per day.
How to find out if your vehicle has been towed
Call 3-1-1 to determine your vehicle’s location and the address of the impound lot, if you suspect your vehicle has been towed by the city of Chicago.
Frank Kuhlmann picks up his car at a city auto pound on the west side of Chicago. His car, and those of many others, were towed as the winter overnight parking ban kicked in. (Alex Garcia)
Vehicles in violation of the ban will be towed to Auto Pound #2 (10301 S. Doty Ave.) or Auto Pound #6 (701 N. Sacramento Blvd.). Both locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The city’s Streets and Sanitation department has additional tips on what to do to retrieve your vehicle from an impound lot.
Sources: City of Chicago; Chicago Tribune reporting


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--A 1-year-old disappeared when his mother and uncle were killed in Riverdale. Now police are searchin

A 1-year-old disappeared when his mother and uncle were killed in Riverdale. Now police are searching for the child’s father.

With the help of Illinois State Police , Riverdale police on Friday issued a statewide Amber Alert when K ’ @ @ @ @ @ in the early morning hours , ” according to a social media post from Riverdale @ @ @ @ @ , however , the missing child was dropped off at a police station and the @ @ @ @ @ although it wasn ’ t clear where or how the child was left , or @ @ @ @ @ from that police station that could aid the investigation .

Hours after two people were slain in Riverdale this weekend and a 1-year-old boy was kidnapped, authorities said the child was dropped off at a police station, unharmed.
Police now are searching for the boy’s father, who remained on the lam Sunday and is considered by investigators a suspect in the double homicide of the boy’s mother and uncle, authorities said. Reached by phone Sunday, a Riverdale detective said the department is limiting the release of information, and he would not provide an update on the case.
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With the help of Illinois State Police, Riverdale police on Friday issued a statewide Amber Alert when K’marion Hebron was abducted “in the early morning hours,” according to a social media post from Riverdale police. Around 5 p.m., however, the missing child was dropped off at a police station and the alert was called off — although it wasn’t clear where or how the child was left, or whether there is surveillance footage from that police station that could aid the investigation.
Officers earlier had been called to the 14000 block of South Tracy Avenue in Riverdale, where a man and a woman were found, apparently shot to death.
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Damien Beal, 27, of Chicago, and his 26-year-old sister, Jessica Beal — K’marion’s mother who lived in the Tracy Avenue home — were pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A Saturday autopsy determined both suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, the medical examiner’s office said.
Amber Alert Canceled – Child “Safely Located” Amber Alert notification An Amber Alert has been issued after a double... Posted by Riverdale Police Department on Friday, November 27, 2020
A relative of Jessica and Damien Beal said the family did not want to comment Sunday. It was not immediately clear who K’marion was living with.
In their investigation, Riverdale police quickly narrowed their focus to K’marion’s father.
“The suspect in the case has been identified as Clarence Hebron, 32. He is described as a Black male, standing 5-foot-6 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes,” according to a post on a Riverdale police social media page.
Hebron was said to be driving a 2009 silver Dodge Caravan with Illinois license plate CA96676, it said.
Hebron has a lengthy criminal history with felonies in Cook County dating to 2005, court records show.
He had been charged with reckless homicide following a fatal traffic crash in Englewood in April 2019, according to published reports. Authorities maintained Hebron was speeding away in an attempt to elude police when his vehicle struck that of Dana Hubbard, 32, who was treated at the University of Chicago Medical Center and died about a week later.
Hebron pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated fleeing and driving with a revoked license, records show.
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He had been held in jail until this July, when he was released on bond.
In 2009, he had been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being charged with a homicide that was pleaded down to a second-degree murder charge, records show.
On at least two occasions he attempted to elude police and faced the Class X felony that would deem him an armed habitual offender, records show.
Anyone with information about the case or Hebron’s whereabouts should call the Riverdale Police Department (708) 841-2203.
Chicago Tribune’s William Lee contributed.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-11-29--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Nov. 26-29 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: New cases fall to lowest single-day total in more than month, but o

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: New cases fall to lowest single-day total in more than month, but officials worry about holiday spike

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After several days of lower COVID-19 infections during the holiday weekend, Illinois saw a significant jump Tuesday as health officials announced 12,542 newly confirmed and probable cases.
They also reported 125 additional deaths. That brings the state’s total since the pandemic began to 738,846 new and probable cases and 12,403 fatalities.
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Later on Tuesday, Dr. Allison Arwady said the city of Chicago expects to begin rolling out vaccines for health care workers later this month and could provide them to lower-risk residents in spring and children by summer.
The first distribution of vaccines will go toward Chicago hospitals and health care workers, possibly by the third week of December, Arwady said. The city’s also working with long-term care facilities in the city on vaccines, she said.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7 p.m.: What you need to know about when and how Chicago schools will welcome students back
In the new year, Chicago Public Schools plans to start reopening schools, beginning with students in prekindergarten and special education clusters and phasing in upper elementary grades. The district released a reopening guide just before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Here’s how it addresses some common questions. —Hannah Leone
5:55 p.m.: CDC to shorten guidance for quarantining after COVID-19 exposure to 10 days, 7 with a negative test
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19, as the virus rages across the nation.
According to a senior administration official, the new guidelines, which are set to be released as soon as Tuesday evening, will allow people who have come in contact to someone infected with the virus to resume normal activity after 10 days, or 7 days if they receive a negative test result. That’s down from the 14-day period recommended since the onset of the pandemic.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the policy change has been discussed for some time, as scientists have studied the incubation period for the virus. It was discussed Tuesday at a White House coronavirus task force meeting.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:10 p.m.: US panel says 1st COVID-19 vaccine shots go to health care workers, nursing homes
Health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line when the first coronavirus vaccine shots become available, an influential government advisory panel said Tuesday.
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The panel voted 13-1 to recommend priority be given to those groups in the first days of any coming vaccination program, when doses are expected to be very limited. The two groups encompass about 24 million Americans out of a U.S. population of about 330 million.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5 p.m. (updated): McConnell now says he’s sticking with scaled-back COVID relief bill
Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he’s largely sticking with a partisan, scaled-back COVID-19 relief bill that has already failed twice this fall, even as Democratic leaders and a bipartisan group of moderates offered concessions in hopes of passing pandemic aid before Congress adjourns for the year.
The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after President-elect Joe Biden called upon lawmakers to pass a downpayment relief bill now with more to come next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resumed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about a year-end spending package that could include COVID relief provisions. Key Senate moderates rallied behind a scaled-back framework.
It’s not clear whether the flurry of activity will lead to actual progress. Time is running out on Congress’ lame-duck session and Donald Trump’s presidency, many Republicans won’t even acknowledge that Trump has lost the election and good faith between the two parties remains in short supply.
McConnell said his bill, which only modestly tweaks an earlier plan blocked by Democrats, would be signed by Trump and that additional legislation could pass next year. But his initiative fell flat with Democrats and a key GOP moderate.
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“If it’s identical to what (McConnell) brought forth this summer then it’s going to be a partisan bill that is not going to become law,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who joined moderates in unveiling a $908 billion bipartisan package only hours earlier. “And I want a bill that will become law.”
Democrats declined to release details of their concessions to McConnell.
Read more here. —Associated Press
4:45 p.m.: How to get a fast, affordable COVID-19 test in Chicago area
As many as one in five Americans traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday, and all of them should be tested for COVID-19, according to top U.S. health officials.
That has some Chicago-area testing centers expecting larger crowds this week.
“We’re watching closely and believe that today will be busy,” Heather Keirnan, a nurse and vice president of operations for Northwestern Medicine Immediate Care, said Tuesday.
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So how can you navigate an already stressed system — and get the most convenient, affordable and reliable COVID test possible?
If you have a primary care doctor, start there, Keirnan said.
Read more here. —Nara Schoenberg
4:38 p.m.: Known for never closing, Omega Restaurant in Niles shuts down temporarily due to COVID-19 pandemic
The ongoing pandemic has shut down — temporarily — a popular Niles restaurant known for never closing.
Omega Restaurant, which offered 24-hour service seven days a week at 9100 W. Golf Road, locked its doors Nov. 29 and will remain closed until February, owner Tom Konstantopoulos said.
“The reason we closed was so we can be here next year, so we can minimize the losses,” he explained. “We’re not closing for good, we’re not going anywhere. We had our best year last year in 2019 and we were doing great, but then the pandemic came and kept chopping away at us.”
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Unable to provide indoor dining due to the state’s current restrictions, Konstantopoulos said staying open for carryout and delivery “doesn’t make sense” financially. A message shared with customers on the restaurant’s Facebook page stated, “the reality is that we cannot maintain operations, compensate our employees what they deserve and survive without indoor seating.”
Government assistance helped the restaurant survive the first indoor dining shut-down in the spring, Konstantopoulos said, but this fall, there has not been a second COVID-19 relief package approved by the federal government.
Read more here. —Jennifer Johnson
2:25 p.m.: 8 states including Ohio added to ‘red’ category in Chicago’s travel quarantine order
More of the country will be under Chicago’s most severe category for its travel quarantine order, city officials announced Tuesday while bracing for a post-Thanksgiving surge.
The same 46 states and Puerto Rico remain under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s travel quarantine order for those returning to Chicago, but as of Friday, eight of them will be bumped up to the “red” classification that mandates a two-week quarantine. Only travelers from Maine, Vermont and Hawaii have no additional safety requirements.
Those added to the red category on Friday will be Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. They will join Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming to make a total of 19 red states.
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Twenty-seven states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico are in the next level, orange, while the lowest stage, yellow, has three states.
Chicagoans should still avoid travel to any of the red or orange states, public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady reiterated in a Tuesday press conference. She had urged residents to avoid Thanksgiving travel and other traditional plans during her last travel order update two weeks ago, around when the city was seeing as many as one in 15 people with active COVID-19 infections.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
1:50 p.m.: Chicago could get vaccines in December, give to lower-risk residents and children by next spring and summer
The city of Chicago expects to begin rolling out vaccines for health care workers later this month and could provide them to lower-risk residents in spring and children by summer, public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday.
The first distribution of vaccines will go toward Chicago hospitals and health care workers, possibly by the third week of December, Arwady said. The city’s also working with long-term care facilities in the city on vaccines, she said.
Two companies have produced vaccines that look to be more than 90% protective, Arwady noted, and federal officials will consider approving them later this month.
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The city anticipates initially getting between 20,000 to 25,000 doses of vaccine and continuing to get regular allotments from the government, she said.
“We are ready to accept whatever amount of vaccine we receive,” Arwady said.
Pharmacies will be doing “strike teams” to help deliver vaccines to long-term care facilities, she said.
Arwady also said it’ll likely be “later in the spring” when the city will be able to more broadly spread vaccines to people who are at lower-risk, and the summer for children, but that is up in the air depending on vaccine production and how well trials do.
But she noted, at the start, there won’t be enough for all health care workers to get immediate vaccinations.
Read more here. —Alice Yin and Gregory Pratt
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1:15 p.m. (updated): Illinois coronavirus daily case tally jumps back above 12,000, with 125 more deaths also reported
Illinois public health officials on Tuesday announced 12,542 newly confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a significant jump after several days of lower numbers.
Officials have voiced cautious optimism over the past week about a flattening of statewide coronavirus numbers after weeks of steady growth, and the higher number of cases reported on Tuesday is likely due, at least in part, to a testing lag over the holiday weekend.
The daily case count was last above 10,000 on Thanksgiving Day and has been below 8,000 since Friday.
The state also reported 125 deaths of people with COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the statewide death toll to 12,403. The state has reported 738,846 known and probable cases throughout the course of the pandemic.
The cases reported Tuesday came out of a batch of 116,081 tests conducted over a 24-hour period. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 10.4% for the period ending Monday.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
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1:05 p.m.: Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths nearly double during November
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana has nearly doubled for November from a month earlier as health officials continue adding to those reports and the state’s coronavirus-related hospitalizations remain at their highest point during the pandemic.
The Indiana State Department of Health added 142 deaths to the statewide toll with its daily update on Tuesday. Most of those deaths occurred over the past week with a reporting lull from local officials over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Locally, Lake County has reported 475 fatalities including six new deaths in Tuesday’s reporting. While Porter County showed one new fatality Tuesday, the state dashboard shows a total of 91.
Marion County shows the most deaths with 15 new ones for a total of 885, according to the state.
Those boost Indiana’s coronavirus deaths during November to at least 1,416 people — surpassing the previous monthly peak during April by nearly 400 and almost double October’s total of 732 deaths.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Tuesday also signed an extension of the state’s public health emergency through Dec. 31. Under authority from that emergency, the governor has issued the statewide mask order and limits on crowd sizes based on the county risk level of coronavirus spread.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
12:35 p.m. (updated): Bipartisan group of lawmakers pitch $908 billion bill as Biden urges Congress to pass down payment on COVID-19 relief
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is putting pressure on congressional leaders to accept a split-the-difference solution to the protracted impasse over COVID-19 relief in a last-gasp effort to ship overdue help to a hurting nation before Congress adjourns for the holidays.
The group includes Senate centrists such as Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who hope to exert greater influence in a closely divided Congress during the incoming Biden administration.
In Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect Joe Biden called on lawmakers to approve a down payment on COVID relief, though he cautioned that “any package passed in lame-duck session is — at best -- just a start.”
The proposal hit the scales at $908 billion, including $228 billion to extend and upgrade “paycheck protection” subsidies for businesses for a second round of relief to hard-hit businesses like restaurants. It would revive a special jobless benefit, but at a reduced level of $300 per week rather than the $600 benefit enacted in March. State and local governments would receive $160 billion, and there is also money for vaccines. It does not include a second round of stimulus checks, the New York Times reported.
Earlier, larger versions of the proposal — a framework with only limited detail — were rejected by top leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. But pressure is building as lawmakers face the prospect of heading home for Christmas and New Year’s without delivering aid to people in need.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
11:53 a.m.: Column: A parting love letter to City Lit, my favorite bookstore in Chicago, on its final day of business
On a chilly Thursday evening in 2017, City Lit bookstore in Logan Square transformed itself into an apothecary.
Sales associates were bibliotherapists, tasked with prescribing literature to heal what ails us — lovesickness, loneliness, a sense of impending doom. Local writers (including me) were invited to read passages from books they found curative. (I chose “The Interestings,” by Meg Wolitzer.) A portion of the sales that night went to 826CHI, a nonprofit that supports creative writing programs for Chicago students.
It was a small and unforgettable evening, the sort of quiet magic that only happens, really, in a bookstore. People talking and laughing and wondering about stories, ideas, history, fate.
A neighborhood bookstore is a gift, and City Lit was an incomparable one — small enough to remain intimate, large enough to hold both standards and surprises; staffed by generous experts; filled with cross-legged kids during weekend storytimes and curious grown-ups during evening author readings. It has been my favorite bookstore in Chicago.
And now it’s closed. Tuesday is the last official day of business, though its doors haven’t been open for browsing or events since March 14.
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Read more here. —Heidi Stevens
11:33 a.m.: Giving Tuesday and holiday donations can bring scammers; the pandemic makes it worse.
It’s officially the season to be jolly, and for many people, that involves giving back through monetary donations.
Most people tend to give a bulk of their donations between now and the end of the year, with days like Giving Tuesday being a big one for charities. But these days often bring higher chances of charity fraud, especially while in the midst of a pandemic.
“Charities get about 30% of their revenue from (Giving Tuesday) and end of the year,” said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. “Everybody is trying to make their donations before the end of the year for tax purposes — and the scammer knows that. … There’s always an increase of charity fraud this time of year because there’s also an increase in consumers donating to charities.”
The pandemic has only exacerbated the likelihood of becoming a victim of charity fraud. In his 33 years at the bureau, Bernas said scams have never been as rampant as they are now.
“With the pandemic, everybody’s trying to help as much as they possibly can; they know people are in need. Unfortunately, with COVID-19, it forces everybody online and the scammer goes toward where the money’s at as well,” said Bernas. “For scammers, this is a field day for them.”
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Diligently researching an organization before deciding to donate to it can be integral to wading off charity fraud, said Bernas. Ask for information on where the money goes, and don’t wait until the last minute; be proactive in your giving and find an organization meaningful to you, he said.
Read more here. —Christen A. Johnson
8:44 a.m.: Esports arena for professional video game competitions planned for Chicago’s Near South Side
Professional video game players could compete in front of large crowds on the Near South Side if a local real estate developer’s unique, post-pandemic vision comes to fruition.
Scott Greenberg, best known for Chicago hotels such as the Wit in the Loop and the EMC2 hotel in Streeterville, wants to build a $30 million esports venue called Surge near the Stevenson Expressway.
The 106,000-square-foot venue at 2500 S. Wabash Ave. would serve food and drinks from three large kitchens, and include an arena large enough for 800 spectators to watch top players compete, Greenberg said.
“What we’re doing is not like anything else in the world, as far as esports stadiums,” said Greenberg, president of Lincolnshire-based ECD Co.
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ECD’s partner on the project is Chicago-based virtual reality company MassVR, which had a smaller esports venue in Old Orchard shopping mall in Skokie before it closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
During COVID-19, video games mostly have been limited to players’ homes, creating a boom for the industry. But the development of vaccines is bringing hope that large gatherings can safely resume in 2021.
Read more here. —Ryan Ori
6:15 a.m.: Evanston students auction time and talents to save Gyros Planet, a struggling restaurant feeding thousands of hungry families
A group of Evanston Township High School students and alums is rallying around a family business near their school in the sort of gesture that lights the way for all of us.
Gyros Planet and Taqueria, down the block from ETHS, has been a gathering spot for students and neighborhood families since wife-and-husband team Erika Castro and Pablo Sanchez bought the storefront from its previous owners and reopened it in March 2019.
In April, shortly after the restaurant’s one-year anniversary, Castro and Sanchez started handing out a few dozen free meals each day, hoping to fill the hunger gap caused by the coronavirus pandemic. At first, they took turns packing and delivering free food to their customers — customers they’d known and loved for months — who would call and tell them about their needs. (Sick family members. Furloughs. Layoffs. No health insurance.)
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Soon they couldn’t keep up with the deliveries, so they set up a table every day from 11 a.m. to noon and filled it with meals for people to come by and pick up. Their goal was to give away 100 free lunches a day — no small task for a restaurant with a dwindling bottom line and no employees besides Castro and Sanchez to help with the cooking and assembly.
Read more here. —Heidi Stevens
6 a.m.: Chicago Park District to approve smaller budget for 2021 amid $100 million loss in revenue during the pandemic
The Chicago Park District will vote Wednesday on its 2021 budget, as it attempts to keep its head above water after a $100 million loss in revenue during the pandemic and an ongoing pension crisis.
The proposed $481.8 million budget is a drop from last year’s $487 million budget, which included a modest tax increase for homeowners and followed a new labor agreement for the district’s workers.
At last month’s Park District meeting, Superintendent Michael Kelly addressed challenges posed by the “daunting circumstances” of the pandemic in a video recorded at Gately Park, the new 139,000-square-foot track and field facility on the South Side.
“In prior years, the annual budget would highlight program expansion, it would detail plans for new and renovated facilities, and the overall growth of opportunities,” Kelly said. “The glaring difference in 2021 over previous years are the extreme mitigation efforts that we will implement to remain on sound financial footing.”
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Kelly highlighted the Park District’s quick pivot to online programming as one way the district has met the challenges of the pandemic. He also said the district was able to keep necessary capital projects on track, including shoreline protection work after severe storm damage, and construction projects like the beach house at the South Shore Cultural Center and the Gately facility.
But the district suffered a $100 million loss in revenue in the last year, Kelly said, in part from program fees and special events disappearing.
Read more here. —Morgan Greene
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chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Daywatch: City shuts down 300-person party, watchdog says legislation put ComEd over public good, an

Daywatch: City shuts down 300-person party, watchdog says legislation put ComEd over public good, and Chance the Rapper decamps to suburbs

Since restrictions on indoor service at restaurants and bars and tighter crowd limits went into effect on Oct. 30 , @ @ @ @ @ shut down five businesses for one day and closed four others until they have a @ @ @ @ @ In addition , the city said it has issued 20 citations and 54 “ orders @ @ @ @ @ , restaurants and other businesses .

Good morning, Chicago. On Monday, Illinois health officials announced 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 85 additional fatalities. The case numbers were lower than in recent weeks — but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus spread is slowing. Health experts warned it’s likely because fewer people got tested over Thanksgiving weekend and many testing sites curtailed their hours.
Meanwhile, the U.S. may be weeks away from getting its first coronavirus vaccine approved for adults, but when will it be approved for children? Here’s what experts say.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Experts answer your COVID questions | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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The City of Chicago released this altered photo they said shows an illegal party early Sunday morning in the basement at 1612 W. Division Street in Wicker Park with about 300 people and with “no social distancing and no face coverings.” (City of Chicago)
Officials enforcing coronavirus orders shut down a party attended by about 300 people in Wicker Park over the weekend and earlier this month cited a business for hosting a party with more than 600 attendees, the city of Chicago said in a news release.
Since restrictions on indoor service at restaurants and bars and tighter crowd limits went into effect on Oct. 30, the city said it has shut down five businesses for one day and closed four others until they have a reopening plan in place. In addition, the city said it has issued 20 citations and 54 “orders to correct” to bars, restaurants and other businesses.
A ComEd headquarters building Friday, July 17, 2020 in the 3400 block of North California Avenue in Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Legislation at the heart of the bribery scandal that has ensnared House Speaker Michael Madigan as well as former Commonwealth Edison executives enhanced the utility’s bottom line but failed to produce promised benefits for consumers, according to a report released Tuesday by Illinois PIRG, a public interest advocacy group.
Chef Ryan McCaskey at Acadia in the South Loop on Dec. 13, 2012. (Alex Garcia / Chicago Tribune)
According to text messages shared with the Tribune, Ryan McCaskey, Acadia’s chef and owner, promised employees that a planned going-away party would be an “extra naughty” affair. He said he would supply dollar bills to tip the strippers.
Cook County detainee Devin Hodge, center, introduces a pit bull named Sarge to Ald. Raymond Lopez during Tails of Redemption graduation ceremony at Cook County Jail in 2019. Inmates were paired with a shelter dog for about eight weeks in the program. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
A Chicago alderman who long championed the city’s anti-puppy mill ordinance has reversed his position and wants to lift a key restriction on pet shops, a move that comes after he received donations from a Lincoln Park store owner whose business sells primarily purebred and designer dogs.
Kirsten Corley and Chance the Rapper attend the Ralph Lauren fashion show during New York Fashion Week in 2018. (Rob Kim/Getty Images)
Chance the Rapper and his wife, Kirsten Corley Bennett, have decamped to the suburbs and are renting a recently built, five-bedroom mansion in north suburban Bannockburn for $19,000 a month.


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Chicago Park District to approve smaller budget for 2021 amid $100 million loss in revenue during th

Chicago Park District to approve smaller budget for 2021 amid $100 million loss in revenue during the pandemic

Kelly highlighted the Park District ’ s quick pivot to online programming as one way the district has met the @ @ @ @ @ He also said the district was able to keep necessary capital projects on track , @ @ @ @ @ severe storm damage , and construction projects like the beach house at the South Shore @ @ @ @ @ facility .

The Chicago Park District will vote Wednesday on its 2021 budget, as it attempts to keep its head above water after a $100 million loss in revenue during the pandemic and an ongoing pension crisis.
The proposed $481.8 million budget is a drop from last year’s $487 million budget, which included a modest tax increase for homeowners and followed a new labor agreement for the district’s workers.
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At last month’s Park District meeting, Superintendent Michael Kelly addressed challenges posed by the “daunting circumstances” of the pandemic in a video recorded at Gately Park, the new 139,000-square-foot track and field facility on the South Side.
Chicago Park District Superintendent Michael Kelly and Mayor Lori Lightfoot attend a news conference in 2019 announcing the Chicago Fire's return to Soldier Field. (Camille Fine / Chicago Tribune)
“In prior years, the annual budget would highlight program expansion, it would detail plans for new and renovated facilities, and the overall growth of opportunities,” Kelly said. “The glaring difference in 2021 over previous years are the extreme mitigation efforts that we will implement to remain on sound financial footing.”
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Kelly highlighted the Park District’s quick pivot to online programming as one way the district has met the challenges of the pandemic. He also said the district was able to keep necessary capital projects on track, including shoreline protection work after severe storm damage, and construction projects like the beach house at the South Shore Cultural Center and the Gately facility.
But the district suffered a $100 million loss in revenue in the last year, Kelly said, in part from program fees and special events disappearing.
The district anticipates a further $8.8 million decrease in revenue for park fees and a decrease of $1.6 million in revenue for managed assets, which account for a larger portion of revenue, including hits in harbor and parking fees.
The park district was able to keep necessary capital projects on track, including the beach house at the South Shore Cultural Center. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
To make up for losses, across the Park District, various departments are making cuts, Kelly said.
There will be an $8.7 million decrease in salary and wages; the district plans to eliminate 94 vacant full-time equivalent roles in 2021. The year also includes three shutdown days and a hiring freeze through June.
The district has said there will not be any layoffs. And, for taxpayers, there will not be a property tax increase, the district’s main source of revenue.
Pension expenses will increase by $9.4 million for a total of $43 million as part of a ramp-up of payments. The fund is about 29% funded, according to the Park District.
“Let’s face it, pandemic or not, we are in this pension predicament,” Kelly said.


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Column: Third annual Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive begins as coronavirus-driven food insecur

Column: Third annual Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive begins as coronavirus-driven food insecurity surges

The next five highest donors from each group will receive a video of me saying whatever they want me to @ @ @ @ @ someone who enjoys the columns , I ’ ll give them a shoutout and share @ @ @ @ @ .
If you know someone who can ’ t stand me , I ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ water in my face and then I ’ ll recite whatever you want me to @ @ @ @ @ caveat here is that I won ’ t say anything violent , racist , homophobic @ @ @ @ @ to anyone who isn ’ t me .
But if you want me to profanely @ @ @ @ @ done ! )

Volunteers Donna Calvin, from left, Laverne Lewis and Dr. Javette Orgain take out apples from boxes from the Greater Chicago Food Depository in the parking lot of Trinity United Church of Christ on May 1, 2020. Approximately 500 boxes of nonperishable items and bags with produce were given away. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
It’s officially the holidays, that magical time of year when I ask all readers to remember the one truth that binds us: I am a Grade-A dumb-dumb.
Some have phrased it more eloquently, calling me a loser, a liberal (expletive) and a veritable rainbow of other colorful terms. Such reminders of my own ineptitude and loathsomeness inspired me a couple years ago to launch the Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive.
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It’s a way for folks to put their money where my terribleness is and donate to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a virtual fundraiser that lets people give money under one of two team names: RexStinks or RexRocks. The donations, every cent, help people throughout Cook County who are facing food insecurity, a critical issue that has sadly grown worse this year as people reckon with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The food drive is a fabulous way for people who rightfully dislike me to quantify their disgust, and for the lost souls who like me to show their devotion. It points every individual’s opinion about my opinions in the same direction, and the only possibly injury is to my ego, so calloused by years of mean tweets that it no longer feels pain.
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When I launched the first food drive in 2018, I assumed the RexStinks team would prevail and we might raise a couple thousand bucks. That drive wound up raising more than $100,000. And the RexRocks team won, which seemed ridiculous.
Workers help distribute food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Sept. 29, 2020, at the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation's food distribution site in the 7900 block of South Halsted Street in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The second food drive also raised more than $100,000. And again, the RexRocks team won, a result I thoroughly disagreed with.
For those who think I’m a dingus, here’s hoping the third time’s a charm, because today officially begins the third annual Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive, a Chicago holiday tradition unlike any other.
I’ll get to the nuts and bolts of the drive in a moment, but first let me remind everyone what the Greater Chicago Food Depository does and why your donations are desperately needed this year.
The organization has been around for 41 years and now works with more than 700 groups and programs, ranging from food pantries to shelters to soup kitchens.
In fiscal year 2020, the Food Depository distributed the largest amount of food in its history — more than 93 million pounds, or about 77.5 million meals. To put that in perspective, an 18-wheeler weighs about 80,000 pounds. So the total weight of food the depository sent out to pantries and soup kitchens throughout the area is roughly the weight of 1,162 tractor-trailers.
“I don’t have even the words to describe what we’ve seen and what continues to go on all across the community,” said Kate Maehr, the Food Depository’s executive director. “At the very beginning of the pandemic we saw an almost immediate surge.”
For several weeks in June, visits to Chicago-area food pantries were 150% higher than they had been in January. Earlier this fall, visits were 50% higher than the beginning of the year, but Maehr said the numbers are rising again.
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“In the last month, and with the surge in the virus and the new circumstances we find ourselves in, the need has gone up again,” she said. “Once again, more people are showing up. Once again the lines of cars are long. The distributions are happening in cold, wet weather, and the fact that people are lined up for blocks and blocks tells you how great the need is.”
Adding to this year’s problems, the food supply chain has been volatile and prices have increased. The depository saw its food costs from July to September rise more than 130% over last year.
So let’s see if we can make a difference and help people in our communities, friends and neighbors, who are struggling to make ends meet. A donation of $10 dollars can provide 30 meals. A donation of $9.25 buys a case of pasta. You can donate two cases of peanut butter for $26.
To motivate folks, I’ll repeat the core offer of the Insult-A-Columnist Holiday Food Drive. If the RexStinks team wins, I’ll write a column insulting myself in ways few could imagine. If the RexRocks team wins, I’ll write a column about myself so glowing and praise-filled it will cause my critics to keel over with nausea.
But there’s more.
I’ll sit down for a Zoom chat/excoriation with the top five donors from each team. If you like me, we can chitchat and solve all the world’s problems. If you don’t like me, we can talk and maybe find some common ground, or you can yell at me for 10 or 15 minutes. Either way is fine!
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The next five highest donors from each group will receive a video of me saying whatever they want me to say. If you know someone who enjoys the columns, I’ll give them a shoutout and share a piece of valueless wisdom. If you know someone who can’t stand me, I’ll have a family member splash water in my face and then I’ll recite whatever you want me to recite. (The only caveat here is that I won’t say anything violent, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic or generally offensive to anyone who isn’t me. But if you want me to profanely insult myself, consider it done!)
Greater Chicago Food Depository officials will reach out to the top 10 donors from each team, so your email information — for setting up a Zoom call or sending a video message — will come to me ONLY if you give the depository permission.
We’ll run the food drive through Dec. 31. You can donate at this link: http://myfooddrive.org/#InsultRex. I encourage you to share this column and that link with as many people as possible.
Let’s see if we can end a seriously bad year by doing some serious good.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com