chicagotribune--2020-08-22--Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax: Here’s what you need to know

Opponents to the amendment say the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic makes it the wrong time to move ahead @ @ @ @ @ .
The state budget shortfall raises the potential that graduated rates would be raised , @ @ @ @ @ to collect more money through a graduated rate tax .
According to Jason Heffley , @ @ @ @ @ , which opposes the change .
“ Taxes are already too high in Illinois and @ @ @ @ @ to push a massive tax hike when small businesses and working families are hurting .
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Illinois voters in November will be deciding on an issue that will impact both the state’s financial future and their own pocketbooks: an amendment to the state Constitution that would replace Illinois’s flat-rate income tax with a graduated-rate structure.
Why change the way income is taxed? And how would the new rate affect what residents end up paying?
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Here is your one-stop guide to the proposed amendment: Where it came from, how it’s proposed to work and who will ultimately be affected.
What’s a graduated-rate income tax?
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Illinois now has a constitutionally mandated flat-rate tax that taxes all personal income at the same rate of 4.95%.
Under a graduated-rate income tax, different levels of wages are taxed at different rates. Proponents say higher income taxpayers should bear a greater tax burden than lower income taxpayers. Opponents say a graduated tax hurts business owners and job creators and makes them the target of future tax hikes. Raising taxes across the board under a flat tax is more difficult to do, they say.
How does a graduated rate tax work?
When a state imposes a graduated income tax, it separates the pay scale into a number of fixed income brackets and determines a different tax rate for each bracket, called a marginal rate.
These brackets apply to every individual taxpayer’s income — the first bracket of your income will be taxed at the lowest rate, the second bracket at the second lowest rate, and so on. Ultimately, one’s average tax rate will be lower than their final marginal rate.
Do any other states do this?
Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia impose graduated-rate income taxes. The federal government also uses a graduated rate structure to determine federal income tax.
Illinois is one of nine states that still imposes a flat income tax, along with Indiana and Michigan.
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What are the brackets and rates?
Under tax rates approved by the General Assembly, the tax rate would drop to 4.75% for the first $10,000 of income for single and joint filers. Income between $10,000 and $100,000 would be taxed at 4.9%, and the rate would remain at 4.95% for income between $100,000 and $250,000.
From there, single filers would be 7.75% for income between $250,000 and $350,000, and 7.85% for income between $350,000 and $750,000. Joint filers would be taxed at 7.75% on income between $250,000 and $500,000, and 7.85% on income between $500,000 and $1 million.
After that, all income for single filers that make over $750,000 or joint filers that make over $1 million annually will be taxed at 7.99%.
The governor also proposes increasing the current property tax credit by 1 percentage point, from 5% to 6%. He would create a per-child tax credit of up to $100 for individuals earning less than $80,000 and joint filers earning less than $100,000.
The corporate tax rate would increase from the current 7% to a flat rate of 7.99%, matching the top personal rate.
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How will this impact what I pay?
Under the rates approved by legislators in 2019, Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax plan would lower the average tax rate for all taxpayers earning less than $250,000 annually, which amounts to 97% of Illinois wage earners.
[ Illinois income tax calculator: How would Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposed graduated income tax affect you? ]
The 3% of Illinois residents who earn over $250,000 annually will pay more in taxes under Pritzker’s proposed plan.
Of the 3% who would see higher tax rates under Pritzker’s plan, 85% live in Cook County and the five collar counties, which are home to about two-thirds of the state’s population.
[ ZIP code breakdown shows where the money is in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax plan ]
Why change our taxes in the first place?
Illinois has long faced financial problems under Republicans and Democrats and the economic woes have only been exacerbated by actions to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The state started the budget year with a $3.4 billion deficit, $8.5 billion in unpaid bills and an unfunded public employee pension liability of $137.2 billion.
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Pritzker has said the state’s tax system is structurally inadequate to meet required spending. His plan is the graduated rate tax, which would raise about $1.4 billion for the rest of the current budget year and $3.4 billion over a full 12 months.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the Hyatt hotel fortune, is spending $56.5 million of his own money to back what he calls a “Fair Tax,” contending “it’s wrong that I would pay the same tax rate as someone earning $100,000 or, even worse, pay the same tax rate as someone earning $30,000.”
What will Pritzker do if the amendment doesn’t pass?
If the graduated-rate income tax does not pass in November, Pritzker’s proposed options include cutting state spending on education, public safety and social services by 15% or raising the flat tax rate to 5.95% for Illinois taxpayers.
What’s the argument from opponents of the amendment?
Republicans and pro-business groups are fighting the proposal, which they contend will make it easier for lawmakers to raise rates, with middle-class taxpayers eventually also getting taxed at high rates.
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What role does COVID-19 play in this issue?
State spending on COVID-19 relief has deepened Illinois’s preexisting budget strain. Pritzker projected a $2.7 billion shortfall for the budget year that ended on June 30 with a $6.2 billion hole for the new budget year that began July 1.
At an April news conference, the governor stressed that the graduated tax is “needed now more than ever” to alleviate the working and middle classes, provide public services and deal with new budget hits throughout the continued pandemic.
Opponents to the amendment say the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic makes it the wrong time to move ahead on a major tax change. The state budget shortfall raises the potential that graduated rates would be raised, or income brackets lowered, to collect more money through a graduated rate tax. According to Jason Heffley, executive director of Ideas Illinois, which opposes the change. “Taxes are already too high in Illinois and now is the worst time to push a massive tax hike when small businesses and working families are hurting.”
[ COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout adds emotional element to battle over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax plan ]
When and how would this graduated rate income tax take effect?
Since the Illinois Constitution mandates a flat-rate income tax, the Pritzker administration must pass a constitutional amendment to impose a graduated-rate income tax.
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Last year, the General Assembly agreed to put a proposed constitutional amendment before voters as a referendum question in the general election on Nov. 3 that would remove the state’s flat-rate tax requirement.
In order for Pritzker’s tax reform to go into effect, the amendment requires approval by 60% of those who vote on the issue, or a simple majority of the total votes cast, in the November 2020 election.
If the amendment is approved, the new graduated-rate tax structure passed by legislature will take effect on January 1.
How do I vote on the tax amendment?
If you’re registered to vote in Illinois, the amendment will be on your ballot for the Nov. 3 general election. You can vote in-person at your local precinct or by mail-in ballot.
[ Voting by mail in Illinois this year? Read this first. ]
If you are a U.S. citizen, will be 18 by Election Day and have been a resident of Illinois for at least 30 days before Nov. 3, you can register to vote in Illinois.
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Check your registration or register to vote online here.
vsturm@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-22--Twin hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico? It would be the first time in history it’s happened.

Tropical Storm Laura is coming in from the Atlantic to the east and Tropical Storm Marco is coming from the @ @ @ @ @ forecast to be virtually side-by-side in the Gulf as by Monday — if the National @ @ @ @ @ afternoon prediction holds .
Laura is more likely to become a hurricane , but Marco @ @ @ @

This wind animation by Ventusky shows what the merger of Tropical Storms Laura and Marco would look like in the Gulf of Mexico.
The tropics are coming together to form a potentially historic moment in the Gulf of Mexico.
Two storm systems are making their way to the Gulf and both could develop into hurricanes. If they do, it would be the first time in the history of record keeping it’s happened.
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Tropical Storm Laura is coming in from the Atlantic to the east and Tropical Storm Marco is coming from the western Caribbean. They are forecast to be virtually side-by-side in the Gulf by Monday — if the National Hurricane Center’s Friday afternoon prediction holds. Laura is more likely to become a hurricane, but Marco could as well.
The latest from the NHC calls for the potential for TWO tropical systems in the Gulf of Mexico early next week. It is too soon for specifics on location and magnitude of impacts, but it is important to continue to monitor progress over the coming days. https://t.co/meemB5uHAR pic.twitter.com/IXBTrj6KCj — National Weather Service (@NWS) August 21, 2020
“If it were to occur, it would be the first time on record,” Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University said. “It’s going to require a best/worst case scenario for that to occur.”
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South Florida is expected to escape the brunt of Laura as the storm brushes the north coast of Cuba and skirts past Key West, the hurricane center said Friday.
[ RELATED: Here's the latest on Tropical Storm Laura and its potential impact on Florida ]
But the Gulf coast from Texas to the Panhandle of Florida are watching for a potential hurricane double-whammy next week.
It’s not uncommon for multiple storms to exist at the same time in the tropics. It is highly unusual, however, for them to make landfall on the same stretch of coast at around the same time.
The last time two named storms were in the Gulf of Mexico was June 18, 1959, when Tropical Storm Beulah coexisted with another storm that was not named.
On Sept. 5, 1933 at 4UTC, 2 named storms made landfall along the Gulf Coast simultaneously: Cuba-Brownsville as a Cat. 3 #hurricane near Brownsville & Treasure Coast near Cedar Key as 55kt tropical storm. Here's the US Weather Bureau daily weather map (valid 8am ET) that day. pic.twitter.com/t6YNBipCDT — Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 20, 2020
And in 1933, a Category 3 hurricane made landfall near Brownsville, Texas, around the same time a tropical storm was striking near Cedar Key, Florida, on the other side of the Gulf.
But two hurricanes — at the same time and so close together — would be a first.
To be sure, there is still a lot of uncertainty if it will even happen. Confidence in the path and intensity of Tropical Storm Laura is low because of its potential to make landfall in Puerto Rico or Hispaniola, which could weaken or completely break apart the storm, Klotzbach said.
Tropical Depression 14 could also weaken if it makes landfall in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.
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“There is a lot of uncertainty because we are talking about events happening on Monday or Tuesday,” Klotzbach said. “There’s even more uncertainty than usual given possible land interactions with Laura.”
If they both do form, the Gulf of Mexico is expansive and it’s unlikely that the storms will get close enough together to impact each other. But it they did, some strange things could happen.
One possibility is a phenomenon known as the Fujiwhara effect. When that happens, the stronger storm steers the weaker storm and the two begin to orbit around each other until they either merge or spin off in different directions.
Or the stronger storm could simply wipe out the weaker one with its wind shear.
In very rare occasions, the two systems combine to form a stronger storm.
Joel Cline, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said he doesn’t believe any of those possibilities will happen with the two current storms.
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Klotzbach agrees. “It kind of remains to be seen if they will be close enough to cause that to happen,” he said. “Even if they manage to both get to the Gulf has hurricanes, they may not be super close together.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-21--Is Chicago tourism done until 2021? Facing fewer visitors and the possibility of losses, some venues

Is Chicago tourism done until 2021? Facing fewer visitors and the possibility of losses, some venues are closing early.

The Chicago Athletic Association hotel has shut down again , with plans to reopen in the first quarter of 2021 @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s considering winding down its seasonal boat tours early .
And on Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ would close Sept. 8 until the spring .
Industry leaders say the effect of the @ @ @ @ @ the local economy .

Kate Sorensen, foreground, and her friend Victoria Freire, right, who is visiting from Boston, ride a Wendella Sightseeing Co. tour boat Aug. 21, 2020, on Lake Michigan. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s tourism season may wrap up early as hotels and some city attractions, struggling with fewer visitors and revenue losses, consider shutting down for the remainder of the year.
The Chicago Athletic Association hotel has shut down again, with plans to reopen in the first quarter of 2021. Wendella Sightseeing Co. said it’s considering winding down its seasonal boat tours early. And on Tuesday, Navy Pier announced it would close Sept. 8 until the spring. Industry leaders say the effect of the early closures will ripple through the local economy.
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Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said Navy Pier’s closure is a “precursor to other tourism entities.”
“As in the case with Navy Pier, they tried to reopen but the math doesn’t add up. We’re heading into the winter months, and it won’t make sense for some of these places to stay open,” he said.
Navy Pier is seen from a Wendella Sightseeing Co. tour boat on Aug. 21, 2020. The popular Chicago tourist attraction is planning to close for the season on Sept. 8, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Jacobson said social distancing recommendations, which are likely to continue through the end of the year, and the coming colder weather will make it harder to attract travelers. Chicago’s quarantine rules regarding states with high infection rates further hinders hotels’ chance to rebound, he said.
“It won’t surprise me if they don’t open until next year. Some might choose not to reopen until the demand is there. Hotels might be losing more money to stay open,” Jacobson said.
Some hotels have lost about 50% of their revenue from group and business travelers, and without those visitors, the costs of operating a hotel become too high, Jacobson said.
More than 140 trade shows scheduled to take place at McCormick Place have canceled since March because of the pandemic. Those shows would have brought a collective 1.4 million visitors and accounted for an estimated 1.3 million hotel room nights, according to McCormick Place officials.
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The Chicago Athletic Association reopened in June after a weekslong shutdown. But the hotel retreated from those plans and closed July 22.
Chicago Athletic Association hotel at 12 S. Michigan Ave. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
In an emailed statement, Patrick Hatton, the hotel’s managing director, cited the cancellation of the Chicago Marathon and conventions through 2020, the current restrictions on restaurant occupancy and event size, and the prolonged international travel restrictions as reasons for the shutdown.
The hotel won’t accept reservations until after March, Hatton said.
Meanwhile, hotels like the Palmer House Hilton, one of Chicago’s oldest and largest hotels in the Loop, remain closed.
Hilton Worldwide said in a statement it plans to reopen as “travel restrictions are lifted and business demands increase,” but the hotel chain declined to say when that would be.
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The drop in visitors follows nine consecutive years of tourism growth in Illinois, according to the state’s Office of Tourism and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Last year, Illinois saw more than 120 million visitors, the agency announced Friday. Those tourists spent a record $43.1 billion, the agency said, citing figures from the U.S. Travel Association.
“While it’s unrealistic to expect the same results in 2020, we are looking forward to safely welcoming travelers back to Illinois and rebuilding our industry,” Karla Flannery, deputy director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, said in a news release.
Some small signs of life have come back to the downtown area after weeks of no visitors and empty streets.
Pedestrian activity on State Street in the Loop was down by 66.7% for the week ending Aug. 9 compared with the same week last year, according to the latest data from the Chicago Loop Alliance. That’s an improvement from May and June, when pedestrian activity was down by more than 84%.
Though the hospitality industry is starting to see an uptick in regional and local travelers, businesses say it’s not nearly enough to stay open.
Craig Wenokur, tour guide and vice president of Wendella Sightseeing Co., conducts a tour on Lake Michigan, Aug. 21, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Wendella is considering ending its boat tours early this year, said Andrew Sargis, chief of operations for Wendella’s Chicago Water Taxi service. Wendella announced last month that it won’t resume its Water Taxi service, which shut down in March, until next spring.
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Wendella didn’t shut its architectural cruises and other leisure tours down last winter because the weather was so mild.
But this year, the company plans to suspend operations at the end of December like it usually does, or sooner given the pandemic-related drop-off in tourism.
The onset of cooler weather, which will make it difficult for Wendella to accommodate social distancing, is also a factor.
“In the winter, the open deck becomes less desirable. We’ve been able to do it in the summer and maintain a 6-foot social distance. … With current social distancing recommendations expected to last until the winter, it’ll be hard to operate and keep everyone spaced out inside,” he said.
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Uncertainty about when business travel might pick up or when large gatherings can resume is also creating challenges for McCormick Place and its workers.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates McCormick Place, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Marriott Marquis Chicago and the Wintrust Arena, has laid off and furloughed 2,602 employees across its business units, spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty said.
An additional 379 employees, including the Authority’s CEO and other senior leadership, have been asked to curtail their work weeks and are being paid less as a result, she said.
McCafferty said the convention venue has been quiet in the past few months, but expects a strong demand once local public authorities give the green light on large gatherings.
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“Once it is safe, we expect a pent-up demand. We hear that virtual meetings are no substitution for large in-person meetings,” she said.
Jacobson, with the state’s hotel association, said the closures paint a stark picture for the tourism industry for the remainder of the year.
“Tourism is a top employer for the city. We can’t afford if they go out permanently,” he said.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--Defund the police rally steps off from Whitney Young High School on Chicago’s Near West Side

“ Media at large , you have done an absolutely abysmal job , appalling job at covering what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
“ You ’ re not showcasing that we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ It doesn ’ t matter what we do .
It doesn ’ t matter that @ @ @ @ @ beat by CPD and didn ’ t do nothing .
Y ’ all still have @ @ @ @ @ I did .
”

Whitney Young Magnet High School freshman Amari Sails, 13, speaks Aug. 22, 2020, as activists prepare to march from the school to the Fraternal Order of Police building on West Washington Boulevard calling for a defunding of the Chicago Police Department, CPD school resource officers out of schools and a number of other things. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
More than 400 people marched on the Near West Side, calling for the removal of Chicago police officers in Chicago Public Schools and to demand that police be defunded.
The demonstration began with several speeches about 6 p.m. outside of Whitney Young High School, 211 S. Laflin St., which is near the Chicago Police Academy, 1300 W. Jackson Blvd. Several groups organized the protest, including Black Lives Matter Chicago, GoodKids MadCity, Blck Rising, Chicago Freedom School, Black Youth Project 100 and others.
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Speakers expressed how even though Whitney Young is considered a top academic school in the city, Black students still feel unsafe with police presence there and would rather have the funds dedicated to more counselors and other resources. The issue is even greater at other schools that have less resources than Whitney Young.
Chicago police officers in riot gear block West Washington Boulevard as activists march from Whitney Young Magnet High School to the Fraternal Order of Police building on Washington, calling for a defunding of the Chicago Police Department, CPD school resource officers out of schools and a number of other things on Aug. 22, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Jalen Kobayashi, an organizer with GoodKids MadCity, kicked off the speeches by criticizing how Chicago media has covered their protests but has instead focused on looting.
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“Media at large, you have done an absolutely abysmal job, appalling job at covering what’s going on in the city,” he said. “You’re not showcasing that we’re having revolutionary joy. ... It doesn’t matter what we do. It doesn’t matter that I got my a-- beat by CPD and didn’t do nothing. Y’all still have something to say about what I did.”
Kobayashi, 19, was one of about 24 people who were arrested last week after a downtown protest escalated to violence, resulting in injuries of both protesters and officers.
In his speech, Kobayashi, who attended Whitney Young, pointed out how the high school was named after a civil rights activist, but the school “is only appealing to the interests of the affluent white kids.”
This is Alyson Godbolt with a new organization called Healing Every Revolutionary Chicago: pic.twitter.com/1ITv1GWppl — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 23, 2020
Naira, an organizer with Blck Rising, said she received a concussion from police last week during the downtown protest. She spoke about how most of the people who were arrested last week were white women but those charged with felonies were Black men.
“There’s this whole idea that it’s protesters against the world, protesters against everybody else. Like we’re the bad guys and everybody else are the good guys, but people who are sitting at home listening to this, watching this ... we’re not free because of y’all. We’re free because of us.”
Amari Sails, a 13-year-old rising freshman at Whitney Young, said she’s experienced too much racism at her school. She spoke about how counselors at her school try to help them get into colleges but don’t help them emotionally or with their well-being.
“Police have done nothing for me,” she said.
“I got into this school, thinking, hey maybe I’ll have a chance,” Sails said. “What’s it worth when I’m too scared to ask an SRO (school resource officer) to move out of a space in the library so that I can complete an assignment because my hands are shaking?”
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Whitney Young’s Local School Council recently voted 8-5 to keep officers at the school.
[ CPS schools that voted to oust officers tend to be whiter. One critic said that reflects a ‘racist ... belief that Black students deserve to be policed.’ ]
After several speeches, they stepped off about 7:30 p.m., marching east and chanting, “Defund, divest, throw those pigs in a well. The whole d--- system is guilty as h---.”
They were stopped by a line of officers wearing helmets and holding shields at North Bishop Street and West Washington Boulevard, near a Fraternal Order of Police lodge. One woman, wearing a shirt that said “Bikers for Trump,” stood between the line of police and protesters with a sign reading, “Back the blue.”
They hit open a pig dressed as an officer pinata, and then played “WAP” by Cardi B and danced.
Protesters started marching from the high school around 7:30 p.m. They’re currently stopped by a line of police with helmets on and shields up at Bishop/Washington. Police are blocking the way toward the FOP Chicago Lodge 7. #ChicagoProtest #ChicagoScanner pic.twitter.com/9uT3PYHBxU — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 23, 2020
There’s a woman in between protesters and police holding a “Back The Blue” sign. pic.twitter.com/LFjUe9ehxV — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 23, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--With late summer cases stubbornly high, Illinois faces a ‘perfect storm’ of COVID-19 risk this fall,

With late summer cases stubbornly high, Illinois faces a ‘perfect storm’ of COVID-19 risk this fall, researcher says

“ What worries me is if you have that big reservoir of circulating cases and then you get some of @ @ @ @ @ start to come , and then you ’ re also returning kids to universities and @ @ @ @ @ up in the community , it ’ s just kind of like a perfect storm @ @ @ @ @ an interview with the Chicago Tribune .
“ You set yourself off on the wrong @ @ @ @ @ what ’ s going to be a difficult fall and winter .
”

Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
If Illinois doesn’t bring its steadily rising coronavirus numbers down quickly, it is among the areas of the country facing a “perfect storm” of risk factors for transmitting the highly contagious disease this fall, according to a Philadelphia medical research center that is tracking COVID-19 in hundreds of counties nationwide.
The combination of some schools returning to in-person instruction, Labor Day travel and cooler fall weather would all be piled on top of a steady uptick in Illinois’ statewide test positivity rate over the last several weeks, said Dr. David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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“What worries me is if you have that big reservoir of circulating cases and then you get some of those colder fall days that start to come, and then you’re also returning kids to universities and schools and the mixing goes up in the community, it’s just kind of like a perfect storm,” Rubin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “You set yourself off on the wrong foot as we go into what’s going to be a difficult fall and winter.”
Rubin’s warning about the fall and winter echoes what other experts have been predicting for months.
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The state has endured a late summer uptick in a number of metrics, with daily case counts topping 2,000 several times in August, for the first time since late May. The statewide seven-day average test positivity rate stood at 4.3% as of Thursday, only a month after it had been whittled down to 3%.
That uptick could be particularly poorly timed heading into fall, when Rubin predicts the wave of the pandemic in the U.S. will shift back north.
“The seasonal aspects of this virus, people have sort of written them off because of what happened this summer. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t seasonal effects,” Rubin said.
“Some of the quiet that you’ve had in Chicago relative to the spring is that seasonal effect,” he said. “And when you go back into the colder months, if we’re sort of traveling or mixing the way we are now at the same kind of complacency, it’s a different type of transition in summer with those warm humid temperatures.”
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, warned last week that “this is precisely the time that we have to act.”
“The truth is, we are better than most states, that’s true today. But we are going in the wrong direction. The country as a whole, for four weeks in a row, the positivity rate has declined,” Ezike said at a coronavirus news conference in Chicago last week. “For four weeks in a row for Illinois, the positivity rate has increased. … We want to prevent from getting into a very bad spot. We want to be proactive and not be chasing our tail as it spirals out of control.”
The patterns aren’t unique to the Chicago region or Illinois — other northern cities like Boston, Seattle and Minneapolis are also seeing similar trends, Rubin said.
Rubin said the level of social distancing that’s required to reduce transmission “is much, much greater in the wintertime,” and there may come a point in the fall where “it’s going to be a lot safer to be in Miami than it’s going to be in the Northeast or upper Midwest.”
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And as influenza season begins to pick up, hospitalization rates are likely to rise once again, as it may be difficult at first to differentiate between patients who have COVID-19 and those with other illnesses that present with similar symptoms, Rubin said.
In an interview with the Tribune, Ezike said public health officials will be pushing hard for the flu shot to be “so widespread, higher than we’ve seen in previous years, just to try to minimize the number of flu illness cases that we’re dealing with.”
“We’ve really not seen the combination of flu and COVID, and we surmise that it will be worse than either of them individually,” Ezike said. “And so that’s why our large, large emphasis, since we don’t actually have the COVID vaccine but we will have the flu shot, we will be pushing that just incessantly, to anybody over 6 months of age, anyone who doesn’t have an absolute contraindication.”
PolicyLab is tracking COVID-19 data for hundreds of counties, an area with roughly 80% of the nation’s population. Researchers use case data to project future virus trends in these areas based on factors such as social distancing practices and weather estimates.
Earlier this month, the research center issued guidance for reopening schools, recommending that a community with a positivity rate of 9% or higher should hold remote learning only.
On Friday, the state Department of Public Health indicated that some cases of the coronavirus that are connected to schools are beginning to be reported.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker has repeatedly warned that the rules could be tightened in regions that see an upsurge in cases, and on Tuesday the Metro East region outside St. Louis became the first in the state to have additional, stricter rules placed on gathering sizes, restaurants and bars after exceeding a state-set positivity rate threshold.
The entire state moved into the fourth phase of Pritzker’s five-phase reopening plan on June 26, and Pritzker has said it will take a vaccine, an effective COVID-19 treatment or a sustained period of time with no new cases to reach phase five.
In phase four, gatherings are capped at 50 people. A number of other states have higher limits on gatherings, but Rubin suggested 50 may still be too many.
“Gathering is how the virus spreads,” Rubin said. “So there’s a lot of room in Illinois to go down on gathering size.”
In Metro East, the stricter rules place a 25-person gathering cap, or 25% of a room’s overall capacity.
Twenty of the state’s 102 counties are now on a state warning list, and Pritzker said last week that “troubling trends” are being seen in the region that includes Will and Kankakee counties, as well as the southern Illinois region.
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The state health department has said cases have been traced to a range of settings including weddings and parties, bars, businesses, out-of-state travel and long-term care facilities.
Pritzker said last week his administration’s strategy is to tailor any stricter rules it imposes on regions to what appears to be fostering its spread there.
“We were at 2.6% statewide at one point, which is a very good number, and then we moved into phase four, things opened up more and guess what’s happening — the numbers are going up,” Pritzker said last week. “So now we’re trying a more scalpel-like approach to make sure that we’re providing mitigations within the regions.”
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,893 new cases, six additional deaths reported Sunday

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Public Health officials on Sunday reported 1,893 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths.
That brings the state’s total to 220,178 cases and 7,880 fatalities. There were 54,351 tests reported, a day after the state set another testing record with 56,766 tests.
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If Illinois doesn’t bring its steadily rising coronavirus numbers down quickly, it is among the areas of the country facing a “perfect storm” of risk factors for transmitting the highly contagious disease this fall, according to a Philadelphia medical research center that is tracking COVID-19 in hundreds of counties nationwide.
State health officials on Friday said 20 counties are now considered at a warning level for COVID-19, and that cases of the virus connected to schools are beginning to be reported.
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Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Public Health acknowledged Friday that the agency did not investigate nursing home complaints of neglect and abuse for nearly 3½ months during the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came a month after the the agency fire the state’s top nursing home regulator without explanation and disciplined another.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
With late summer cases stubbornly high, Illinois faces a ‘perfect storm’ of COVID-19 risk this fall, researcher says
If Illinois doesn’t bring its steadily rising coronavirus numbers down quickly, it is among the areas of the country facing a “perfect storm” of risk factors for transmitting the highly contagious disease this fall, according to a Philadelphia medical research center that is tracking COVID-19 in hundreds of counties nationwide.
The combination of some schools returning to in-person instruction, Labor Day travel and cooler fall weather would all be piled on top of a steady uptick in Illinois’ statewide test positivity rate over the last several weeks, said Dr. David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“What worries me is if you have that big reservoir of circulating cases and then you get some of those colder fall days that start to come, and then you’re also returning kids to universities and schools and the mixing goes up in the community, it’s just kind of like a perfect storm,” Rubin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “You set yourself off on the wrong foot as we go into what’s going to be a difficult fall and winter.”
Rubin’s warning about the fall and winter echoes what other experts have been predicting for months. The state has endured a late summer uptick in a number of metrics, with daily case counts topping 2,000 several times in August, for the first time since late May. The statewide seven-day average test positivity rate stood at 4.3% as of Thursday, only a month after it had been whittled down to 3%.
That uptick could be particularly poorly timed heading into fall, when Rubin predicts the wave of the pandemic in the U.S. will shift back north. Read more here. —Jamie Munks
Trump announces plasma treatment authorized for COVID-19, a treatment that has had inconclusive results
President Donald Trump on Sunday announced emergency authorization to treat COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma — a move he called “a breakthrough,” one of his top health officials called “promising” and other health experts said needs more study before it’s celebrated.
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The announcement came after White House officials complained there were politically motivated delays by the Food and Drug Administration in approving a vaccine and therapeutics for the disease that has upended Trump’s reelection chances.
On the eve of the Republican National Convention, Trump put himself at the center of the FDA's announcement of the authorization at a news conference Sunday evening. The authorization makes it easier for some patients to obtain the treatment but is not the same as full FDA approval.
The blood plasma, taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and rich in antibodies, may provide benefits to those battling the disease. But the evidence so far has not been conclusive about whether it works, when to administer it and what dose is needed.
In a letter describing the emergency authorization, the chief scientist for the FDA, Denise Hinton, said: “COVID-19 convalescent plasma should not be considered a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additional data will be forthcoming from other analyses and ongoing, well-controlled clinical trials in the coming months.”
But Trump had made clear to aides that he was eager to showcase good news in the battle against the virus, and the timing allowed him to head into his convention with momentum. He and aides billed it as a “major” development and used the White House briefing room to make the announcement. Read more here. —The Associated Press
Great Wolf Gurnee water and adventure park reopening with masks requirements, temperature checks
With a smaller staff, half the capacity and new safety measures, Gurnee’s Great Wolf Lodge is set to reopen Monday, allowing families into its water park and adventure area for the first time in five months after the coronavirus forced it to close.
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“With all of the guidance that the government and CDC has given, we feel confident that we’re able to open safely to our pack and our guests,” said Nadine Miracle of Grayslake, the Gurnee location’s general manager.
In addition to the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the resort and indoor water park can learn from the experience of sister properties and observations of other facilities in the region.
Nearby Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, an outdoor water park, opened about a month ago with thermal imaging scans and masks required outside of the pools and waterslides. The Six Flags Great America theme park remains closed. In Wisconsin Dells, where Great Wolf has another location, the well-known Noah’s Ark Waterpark, which is outdoors, closed after two employees tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a story published by The Associated Press. It will not reopen until next year, according to the park’s website.
Great Wolf Lodge Illinois in Gurnee will be limited to about 50% of its capacity, with only 208 rooms in use at the 414-room property. Read more here. —Karie Angell Luc, Lake County News-Sun
Unemployment benefits: Here’s who will get Trump’s $300 boost in coronavirus aid and when
Two weeks have passed since President Donald Trump announced that he would sidestep a congressional stalemate to deliver $400 in extra weekly benefits to tens of millions of unemployed Americans — a short-term fix meant to replace the $600-a-week emergency federal supplement that expired last month.
Since then, as more details of the plan — known as Lost Wages Assistance — have emerged, so have problems with finding the funding and getting it to the hands of those who need it. What is now clear is that the federal supplement is $300 a week, not $400. And by Thursday, only one state, Arizona, had started paying out.
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Here is what we know. —The New York Times
COVID-19 testing returned 9 positive cases for the Bears — but it was later determined all were false positives
The Chicago Bears pushed back Sunday’s morning practice to the afternoon after Saturday’s COVID-19 tests indicated nine players or staff members were positive — results that later proved to be false positives.
“This morning we learned yesterday’s Covid-19 testing identified nine players/staff as positive,” the club said in a statement. “We followed additional NFL-NFLPA testing protocol and confirmed all nine results as false positives. Out of an abundance of caution, we postponed this morning’s practice to this afternoon.”
The team was scheduled to begin practice at 9:20 a.m. An updated schedule indicates practice will now start at 1:30 p.m. The team is scheduled to have a day off from practice on Monday. About an hour after a security guard at the front of Halas Hall turned away media after 8 a.m., the league released a statement revealing testing irregularities for other teams. Read more here. —Brad Biggs
Lake County charter fishing operators continue recovering financially from COVID-19 closures; ‘People were afraid to come fishing’
Shuttered during the weeks that are typically the busiest of warm weather fishing season, Lake Michigan charter boat captains are still hoping to recapture revenue lost to COVID-19 before the cool weather arrives.
“People were afraid to call,” said charter captain Rich Boren of Wadsworth who operates Renegade Charters at North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, located in Illinois Beach State Park. “People were afraid to come fishing.”
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May is typically the busiest month of their fishing season, but the pandemic created by the coronavirus changed that. And Winthrop Harbor-based captains said it was especially hard because they couldn’t even access their boats when Illinois Beach State Park closed for social distancing safety measures imposed by state order, said charter captains Josh Slawkin of Hinsdale and Caleb Weiner of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Read more here. —Karie Angell Luc, Lake County News-Sun
Saturday
House approves bill to reverse USPS changes, send $25 billion to boost agency ahead of election
With heated debate over mail delays, the House approved legislation in a rare Saturday session that would reverse recent changes in U.S. Postal Service operations and send $25 billion to shore up the agency ahead of the November election.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi had recalled lawmakers to Washington over objections from Republicans who dismissed the action as a stunt. President Donald Trump railed against mail-in ballots, including in a Saturday tweet, and urged a no vote. He has said he wants to block extra funds for the Postal Service.
“Don’t pay any attention to what the president is saying, because it is all designed to suppress the vote,” Pelosi said at the Capitol.
Pelosi called the Postal Service the nation’s “beautiful thread” connecting Americans and said voters should “ignore” the president’s threats.
The daylong session came as an uproar over mail disruptions puts the Postal Service at the center of the nation’s tumultuous election year, with Americans rallying around one of the nation’s oldest and more popular institutions. Millions of people are expected to opt for mail-in ballots to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Read more here. —The Associated Press
17 additional deaths and 2,356 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday
Illinois health officials on Saturday announced 2,356 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional fatalities and the statewide death toll to 7,874 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials reported 56,766 new tests in the last 24 hours. That total represents another statewide testing record. The statewide seven-day positivity rate stands at 4.3%.
Since the start of the pandemic, 218,285 people in the state have been infected, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. 3,649,685 tests have been performed in total.
Read more here. —Chicago Tribune staff
Naperville reports bumps in cases, hospitalizations
Naperville had 198 active cases of COVID-19 on Aug. 19, the highest number reported since the pandemic started in March, according to data on the city’s coronavirus dashboard.
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The number eclipsed the record 164 active cases registered on May 24 and had remained below that number until this month, data shows. The low point was June 28, when there were just 47 known active cases.
Since then, however, the active case numbers have been going back up, breaking the record on Aug. 14 when there were 177 cases and topping it again two days later with 198, data shows.
Active cases are those in which the person has had the virus for 14 days or less, meaning they are believed to be infectious and able to pass it to others, according to the dashboard.
The number of patients being treated for the virus at Edward Hospital in Naperville has also been slowly creeping back up. After having just four people hospitalized for treatment on July 27, the number was 14 on Aug. 21, the hospital reported.
According to the most recent data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, DuPage County is seeing a 4.4% test positivity rate and Will County is seeing 7.1% test positivity.
Read more here. —Erin Hegarty
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In case you missed it...
How Notre Dame could be a cautionary tale for other college campuses trying to reopen
As the university outside South Bend, Indiana, scrambled to shift classes online for at least two weeks in an effort to salvage in-person learning this semester, its predicament could be a cautionary tale for other colleges inviting students back this fall. Read more here.
An effective COVID-19 vaccine is the great hope. How do we get there?
As COVID-19 continues to ravage the world, much attention is focused on one great hope: a safe, effective and widely available vaccine that would allow people to again embrace friends, go back to work and ditch that lurking feeling of dread. Getting there won’t be simple. Read more here.
A COVID-19 vaccine still hasn’t emerged — but some are already wary of it
As scientists across the globe race to create a COVID-19 vaccine that is safe and effective, the American public appears sharply divided when it comes to the prospect of getting vaccinated against the new virus, which has so far infected roughly 5.5 million and killed more than 172,000 in the United States. Read more here.
Is Chicago tourism done until 2021?
Chicago’s tourism season may wrap up early as hotels and some city attractions, struggling with fewer visitors and revenue losses, consider shutting down for the remainder of the year. Read more here.
CPS fall plan includes full days of remote and live learning, but prompts CTU grievance
Chicago Public Schools had barely released its fall remote learning plan when the Chicago Teachers Union announced it had filed grievance over the guidance that union President Jesse Sharkey said was made “without imagination or input from teachers.” Read more here.
Back to school: Here’s what some kids are saying
As Chicago’s youths prepare for the upcoming school year, the Tribune asked students of all ages, from across the city and suburbs, how they’re feeling. Here’s what they said.


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--Why a Chicago police officer’s accidental death struck a chord with Chinese Americans: ‘A lot of res

Why a Chicago police officer’s accidental death struck a chord with Chinese Americans: ‘A lot of residents feel so vulnerable’

They said they hope the initiative will inspire Chinatown to reach out to its neighbors .
“ Communities of color @ @ @ @ @ , they should work together , ” Lin said .
“ In the past when @ @ @ @ @ do win .
”

A person walks by the former Won Kow Restaurant on Wentworth Avenue in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood on July 16, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
In a summer of pandemic and unrest, the accidental death of Chicago police Officer Xu Meng resonated deeply among those of Chinese descent here and across the country.
A hardworking father and husband. One of their own.
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And a cop at a time when the community felt threatened by rising anti-Chinese hate and were depending more and more on officers such as Meng, even as police nationwide were being widely scrutinized for brutality.
A fundraiser for Meng’s family was carried widely on Chinese social media and has collected more than three times what was sought.
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“Chinatown, because it’s so isolated, a lot of times people are more like, ‘We need to protect our own,’ ” community organizer Consuela Hendricks said. “A lot of residents feel so vulnerable.”
When Meng, 36, died in early June, the South Side neighborhood had suffered through months more of lost revenue than other business sectors, had grieved after two recent homicides, had faced racial backlash from the pandemic and was bracing for a summer of protests and possible looting.
Chicago police Officer Xu Meng at the Asian Law Enforcement Association picnic in an undated photo. (Henry Lai)
Friends say Meng, a 22-month department veteran, had been working 12 straight days of 12-hour shifts during June protests when he and his wife were found unresponsive in their Albany Park home on June 10. Dangerous levels of carbon monoxide were found in the home and his car was still running inside the attached garage, according to investigators.
Meng and his wife were taken to Swedish Hospital in critical condition. Meng died, but his wife survived. Their 5-year-old son was at day care at the time.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Meng died of carbon monoxide poisoning and ruled his death an accident. According to organizers of the fundraiser, his family believes Meng was so exhausted by his work that he forgot to turn off the car.
Meng’s funeral and the Police Department’s ceremony for fallen officers were held in early July, but donations continue to pour in from across the globe. The association set a goal of $50,000, but as of last week around $179,000 had been collected.
Henry Lai, a Chicago police officer and president of the Asian American Law Enforcement Association, center, and other members load cars with boxes of food to help Chicago's Asian American population outside the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels on May 12, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Many of the donations are small, $20 or $50. People have expressed not only sorrow for the family but praise for police officers.
Henry Lai, the head of the police association that spearheaded the fundraiser, believes the overwhelming response is “the result of all the community work we’ve been building over the years, it’s not overnight. All the hard work we have done, they appreciate it.”
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Hendricks said this trust is built on close relationships with police officers through personal friendships and participation in Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy meetings.
Lai noted that members of the association come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and speak the languages of Asian neighborhoods across the city. “They see us, they feel comfortable, they trust us,” he said. “I think they know they’re safe when they see us.”
This includes when Chinatown’s shops saw a drop in business in February as some people blamed Asian Americans for the pandemic and sometimes openly attacked them. Members of Lai’s association helped deliver food to senior citizens afraid to leave their homes.
An empty Wentworth Avenue in the normally bustling Chinatown neighborhood of Chicago on April 1, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The same month, two men of Chinese descent were killed in a robbery in Chinatown. Hundreds attended vigils for the slain men, some wearing shirts and holding signs that read “Asian Lives Matter.”
The fundraiser for Meng’s family blamed his death on his “extreme fatigue and exhaustion from serving and protecting our community from criminals, looters and rioters,” referring to the June protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
During this time, a neighborhood watch group and a local gun club patrolled the Chinatown area, according to another community activist, Angela Lin. She said residents feared the street protests would be like the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings following Rodney King’s death when the Koreatown neighborhood was burned.
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“There was a lot of action of working with the police, people arming themselves to do what they said was protect Chinatown,” Lin said. “There were a lot of pictures that I saw of Chinese community members and leaders with police.”
Angela Lin, right, and Consuela Hendricks, two organizers confronting anti-Blackness in various neighborhoods across the city including Chinatown, McKinley Park and Pilsen, near Washington Park in Chicago on July 26, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
On the GoFundMe page, Meng was described as a hardworking family man, which resonated with many Chinese Americans, according to David Wu, board president of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community.
But Wu said the community is “not always good at speaking out and has always been hopeful that just working hard, serving our family, serving our communities, doing well at work is good enough.”
This has left some in the community feeling frustrated, according to Lin. “They believe Asian American issues are overlooked,” she said.
Lai agreed: “Everybody talks about everybody else except us.”
That frustration is reflected in some of the feelings about Meng’s death, with some going as far as “saying no one’s marching for him,” Hendricks said.
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In challenging times, Chinese Americans rallied to support Meng and each other. Hendricks and Lin said they hope to see the community come together to support other communities as well.
Through their non-profit People Matter, Hendricks and Lin lead discussions about racism and provide social services to underserved populations, inspired by their own experiences and observations. One of their projects is called “Tackling Anti-Blackness in the Chinatown Community.”
They said they hope the initiative will improve relations between Chinatown and its neighbors.
“Communities of color should give it a try, they should work together,” Lin said. “In the past when they work together, they do win.”
chao@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--6 out-of-town protesters arrested near Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home where protesting has been

6 out-of-town protesters arrested near Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home where protesting has been effectively banned

The arrests come days after the Tribune first reported that police no longer were allowing protests near Lightfoot ’ s @ @ @ @ @ wasn ’ t immediately clear whether these were the first such arrests since the directive @ @ @ @ @ in a July email but a spokesman said he was not aware of others .
@ @ @ @ @ have been arrested by uniformed officers assigned to her home .

Police block the street leading to mayor Lori Lightfoot's home while protesters rally in support for activist Miracle Boyd and defunding the Chicago Police Department on July 23, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Authorities said six people were arrested during a protest Saturday night near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home, where protesting has been made virtually impossible through enforcement of a residential protesting ban.
Four women and two men were taken in custody and charged with misdemeanor counts of residential picketing in the 3400 block of West Wrightwood Avenue after officers were called about 10:30 p.m. to disperse the group, police said.
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Those arrested live in New York, Washington, Arkansas and Pennsylvania and have since been released, authorities said Sunday morning. One of the women also was issued a citation for violating a city ordinance about loud music or amplified sound.
The arrests come days after the Tribune first reported that police no longer were allowing protests near Lightfoot’s Logan Square home. It wasn’t immediately clear whether these were the first such arrests since the directive had been communicated to officers in a July email but a spokesman said he was not aware of others. The protesters are believed to have been arrested by uniformed officers assigned to her home.
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Chicago police have since repeatedly blocked protesters’ access to the block with groups of officers and barricades, which a local First Amendment attorney said was on “questionable constitutional grounds.” Police have often kept protesters contained at the nearby corner of Kimball and Wrightwood avenues.
Lightfoot has argued that the police presence is justified given the threats she and her family have faced. She also maintains that comparisons to how previous mayors were protected would be unfair because “this is a different time like no other.”
“I’m not going to make any excuses for the fact that, given the threats I have personally received, given the threats to my home and my family, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure they’re protected,” Lightfoot said last week. “I make no apologies whatsoever for that.”
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-08-23--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--2020-08-23--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 @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

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--2020-08-23--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6 new deaths, 1,893 new confirmed cases and 54,351 new test resul

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6 new deaths, 1,893 new confirmed cases and 54,351 new test results

Illinois announced 1,893 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Sunday for a total of 220,178 .
The state also announced 6 @ @ @ @ @ of 7,880 and 220,178 new test results for a total of 3.7 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--2020-08-23--More than 400 people join march to call for removal of police in Chicago schools


chicagotribune--2020-08-22--4 dead, 20 wounded in overnight shootings, police say

Police said the victim and another man , 32 , were on a porch when someone exited a black vehicle @ @ @ @ @ direction .
The older victim suffered a wound to the head and abdomen , and @ @ @ @ @ scene .
The second victim was hit in the abdomen and leg , and was @ @ @ @ @ Chicago Medical Center , where he was listed in critical condition , police said .

Four people are dead and 20 people were wounded in shootings from 6 p.m. Friday to early morning Saturday, Chicago police said.
The latest homicide happened about 7:25 a.m. Saturday, when police responded to the 2500 block of South Trumbull Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood. There, they found a 43-year-old Esteban Campos, Jr. with a gunshot wound to the head and multiple wounds to the body. Campos, of the 5400 block of South Mozart Street, was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, where was pronounced dead at 8:42 a.m.
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While Campos was being transported, another man, 30, showed up at Stroger Hospital with a wound to the left arm. He told police when he heard shots, he took off running from Trumbull Avenue.
About 5 a.m. on the West Side in the South Austin neighborhood., a man was found unresponsive outside in the 100 block of North Mayfield Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead.
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Police said there were no witnesses.
Shortly after 2 a.m., a 33-year-old man was fatally wounded while he was on a porch of a residence in the South Chicago neighborhood in the 8500 block of South Burley Avenue.
Police said the victim and another man, 32, were on a porch when someone exited a black vehicle and fired shots in their direction. The older victim suffered a wound to the head and abdomen, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim was hit in the abdomen and leg, and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, police said.
Shortly before 12:15 a.m., three people were shot, one fatally, in the South Austin neighborhood in the 800 block of North Lorel Avenue.
Police said the three victims were outside when someone exited a black Jeep Cherokee and opened fire, striking them each. A 26-year-old man suffered wounds to the neck, chest and leg. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
A 37-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman were both shot in the leg, and were both taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition, police said.
In other shootings:


chicagotribune--2020-08-24--Man shot overnight on Eisenhower Expressway, police say

The shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m. on the outbound lanes near Ashland Avenue , police said .
One man was @ @ @ @ @ to Stroger Hospital in serious condition .

Illinois State Police troopers investigate a shooting that occurred on the outbound Eisenhower Expressway near Ashland Avenue in the early hours of Aug. 24, 2020, in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
One man was seriously injured after a shooting that occurred on the Eisenhower Expressway early Monday, according to Illinois State Police, which is investigating.
The shooting happened about 2:15 a.m. on the outbound lanes near Ashland Avenue, according to a statement from state police. One man was shot multiple times and he was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition but officials said his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
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Police diverted outbound traffic at Ashland Avenue about 4:10 a.m. and ramps to Interstate 290 were closed from Paulina Street to Damen Avenue, with traffic returning at Western Avenue, officials said.
Anyone who witnessed the shooting should call state police at 847-294-4400.
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Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-08-24--Daywatch: City paid businesses less than promised for looting damage, Illinois faces ‘perfect storm’

Daywatch: City paid businesses less than promised for looting damage, Illinois faces ‘perfect storm’ of virus risk and Chicago tourism may be done until 2021

Under pressure to offer solutions as Chicago reeled from days of widespread looting earlier this summer , Mayor Lori Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ way for small businesses that had been ransacked .
City Hall would spend $ 10 @ @ @ @ @ Together Now ” fund , ask philanthropists to chip in more , and funnel the @ @ @ @ @ first-term mayor said had been “ most affected over the last few days .
”

Want Daywatch delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. | Get the top Tribune stories of the day on your smart speaker | Here’s how to get the most out of your Tribune subscription | Got something to say? Join the conversation on our Facebook page
Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Illinois Public Health officials on Sunday reported 1,893 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths
Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan divides the state into 11 regions. Here’s a breakdown of what it means.
COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area
Christine Tran, center, owner of Hip Hop Nails, stands inside her shop, which is beginning to take customers by appointment only, on Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. Her shop was looted and emptied of most supplies last May 31. Tran said she lost about $30,000 and received only $1,000 from the city fund. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Under pressure to offer solutions as Chicago reeled from days of widespread looting earlier this summer, Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised help was on the way for small businesses that had been ransacked. City Hall would spend $10 million to create the “Together Now” fund, ask philanthropists to chip in more, and funnel the cash to shop owners the first-term mayor said had been “most affected over the last few days.”
But records obtained by the Tribune show the Lightfoot administration only paid out a fraction of what the mayor promised to businesses damaged during the civil unrest that followed the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
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A delegate shows support for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)
The Republican National Convention that kicks off Monday will be held largely in a virtual digital setting just as the recently completed Democratic convention. Unlike the Democratic convention, where states’ delegates were told to stay home as former Vice President Joe Biden was nominated for president, Republicans are allowing 336 delegates to actually go to the host city, representing the 50 states, plus territories.
Illinois GOP State Chairman Tim Schneider and Richard Porter, the state’s Republican National Committeeman, will attend. Demetra Demonte, the state’s Republican National Committeewoman, had planned to go but opted out for family health reasons. That leaves the rest of the 67-member delegation, all pledged to President Donald Trump’s renomination based on the state’s March 17 primary results, in a bit of quandary.
A family with face masks walks past Chicago Public Schools headquarters in downtown Chicago, July 22, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
If Illinois doesn’t bring its steadily rising coronavirus numbers down quickly, it is among the areas of the country facing a “perfect storm” of risk factors for transmitting the highly contagious disease this fall, according to a Philadelphia medical research center that is tracking COVID-19 in hundreds of counties nationwide.
A person walks by the former Won Kow Restaurant on Wentworth Ave. in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood on Thursday, July 16, 2020. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
In a summer of pandemic and unrest, the accidental death of Chicago police Officer Xu Meng resonated deeply among those of Chinese descent here and across the country. A hardworking father and husband. One of their own.
And a cop at a time when the community felt threatened by rising anti-Chinese hate and were depending more and more on officers such as Meng, even as police nationwide were being widely scrutinized for brutality.
Kate Sorensen, foreground, and her friend Victoria Freire, right, who is visiting from Boston, ride a Wendella Sightseeing Co. tour boat Aug. 21, 2020, on Lake Michigan. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s tourism season may wrap up early as hotels and some city attractions, struggling with fewer visitors and revenue losses, consider shutting down for the remainder of the year. Industry leaders say the effect of the early closures will ripple through the local economy.


chicagotribune--2020-08-24--Illinois Republicans sense momentum against Democrats but uncertain how to deliver their message

“ If you look at what ’ s going on around the country , you ’ re seeing that many @ @ @ @ @ having these issues are in Democratic-controlled hands and they ’ re just letting their cities @ @ @ @ @ re letting the citizens , the taxpayers , live in fear because they refuse to @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ Yes , law and order is going to be a big part @ @ @ @ @ ”

For Roger Claar, who retired at the end of July as Bolingbrook’s mayor after a tenure he proudly touts as 33 years, eight months and seven days, the planned trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, was “going to be my big swan song” to politics.
For the longtime member of Illinois’ GOP State Central Committee, it was to have been his last Republican National Convention after at least eight previous trips — a last chance to buy “shirts, hats, salt shakers, whistles, buttons, banners” and other memorabilia for his vast collection.
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“I’m obviously going to miss the chance to get the latest and greatest and be the only kid on your block that owns it,” the 74-year-old Claar said.
But in the age of COVID-19 and a variety of fits and starts, the Republican National Convention that kicks off Monday will be held largely in a virtual digital setting just as the recently completed Democratic convention.
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Unlike the Democratic convention, where states’ delegates were told to stay home as former Vice President Joe Biden was nominated for president, Republicans are allowing 336 delegates to actually go to the host city, representing the 50 states, plus territories.
Illinois GOP State Chairman Tim Schneider and Richard Porter, the state’s Republican National Committeeman, will attend. Demetra Demonte, the state’s Republican National Committeewoman, had planned to go but opted out for family health reasons.
That leaves the rest of the 67-member delegation, all pledged to President Donald Trump’s renomination based on the state’s March 17 primary results, in a bit of quandary. Unlike the state’s Democrats, who met virtually for a rally session before each night’s prime-time festivities, the state GOP delegation’s schedule has become a work in progress.
“I have no idea what to expect,” said Illinois Senate Republican leader Bill Brady of Bloomington, an at-large delegate. “I’ll be getting together with some colleagues to watch the convention and we’ll talk and see. But I just have no idea what to expect out of this, given the framework.”
Other delegates said they are attempting to organize convention “watch parties” and Porter, en route to Charlotte, said “you can put together Zoom meetings in 15 minutes, so I do think at the end of the day there will be some of that.”
It’s a far cry from four years ago when Republicans gathered in Cleveland and Corey Lewandowski, dumped as Trump’s campaign manager but working to put himself back in the future president’s good graces, told Illinois GOP delegates: “Change is coming, people, and the Trump train is big and long and it is a freight train and it’s going to run over you.”
The uncertainty among Illinois delegates this time is emblematic of a convention planned for Charlotte, then shifted to Jacksonville, Florida, by Trump because of his dissatisfaction over pandemic crowd restrictions in North Carolina, then moved back to Charlotte as Florida became a hot spot for the coronavirus.
Last week, the Illinois GOP advised that it was organizing no events open to the media for convention week, but that may be changing.
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Already political underdogs in a decidedly blue state, holding no statewide offices and serving as the minority party in a veto-proof Democratic legislature, the GOP had fears of seeing its ranks further diminished in legislative and congressional offices in November due to the controversial Trump.
But Republicans in the state have gained a modicum of momentum in recent weeks when House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also is the state Democratic Party chairman, was implicated in an alleged federal bribery scandal involving ComEd and Democratic infighting began over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handling of looting and violent protests in Chicago amid racial strife.
“The Republican Party is really getting charged up over all the things going on in Illinois, not just the Chicago issues but the political issues, Springfield issues,” Claar said. “That’s getting people hyped up.”
Those issues — combatting corruption and a law-and-order agenda — would have provided a daily outreach message for state Republicans at a normal convention, where delegates and media would gather for the daily caucus breakfast of hotel scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.
Now, Republicans are scrambling to keep any momentum and deliver messaging particularly aimed at voters in the suburban collar counties that were once reliably Republican but have shifted ever increasingly toward Democrats.
After looking to the national party and campaign for guidance, the state GOP is planning a series of Facebook Live events for delegates over the week, featuring prominent national Republican speakers, to amplify the national party’s nightly theme.
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While Republicans overall are looking to make their convention more positive than Democrats and use more live events, they also note that Illinois has national relevance in pointing to the problems of a state under one-party Democratic rule.
“I can’t say that we’re not losing anything by not (assembling),” said state Rep. John Cabello, a delegate from Machesney Park, a suburb of Rockford where he is a police officer. “But I also think we’re not going to let the momentum slip away.”
Cabello, part of the Trump campaign leadership team in Illinois as he was four years ago, said he expects the national message of the president in support of law enforcement and cracking down on violent protests in major cities will resonate in the suburbs — particularly among suburban women who are a key voting demographic.
“If you look at what’s going on around the country, you’re seeing that many of these places that are having these issues are in Democratic-controlled hands and they’re just letting their cities be looted. They’re letting the citizens, the taxpayers, live in fear because they refuse to do anything,” Cabello said. “Yes, law and order is going to be a big part of the Republican platform.”
Trump, who has made Chicago’s problems with violent crime a frequent talking point, acknowledged how a law-and-order agenda would play in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday.
“And you talk about suburbia. You know, we’re all saying about suburban women. The fact is, they’re going to really want to support me, because we’re for law and order. We’re for safety and security. And Biden is not. It’s just incredible,” Trump said.
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Then there’s Madigan, the nation’s longest-serving statehouse speaker, who has served since 1983 with the exception of two years in the mid-1990s when Republicans had control of the House. Madigan was implicated in a nearly decadelong scheme involving ComEd, which agreed to pay $200 million in fines and cooperate with investigators over what federal prosecutors allege was an effort by the utility to gain Madigan’s favor by providing jobs and contracts to his allies.
Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied advancing any legislation for illicit purposes. But he has been facing growing calls among Democrats to step down from his governmental role, his party role or both.
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Madigan has long been a target of Republicans, fueled most recently by GOP legislative ad campaigns four years ago funded by then-GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, a wealthy equity investor.
But Rauner, who also largely self-funded the state GOP, lost after a bungled first term and has taken his money with him. That makes the use of free convention-week media to promote a message more valuable.
“We see what is going on here in this state with the corrupt politics,” Cabello said. “I think the Republicans are coming out with the very good answer and that is a special (legislative) session, structural reforms to deal with this ethical reforms, and I think the Republicans will be stronger for it tomorrow than today.”
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For the convention’s four-night prime-time show, Trump is expected to make nightly appearances from different locations.
Monday is scheduled to mark the renomination of the president, Tuesday will feature remarks from first lady Melania Trump from the Rose Garden, Wednesday is scheduled to feature remarks from Vice President Mike Pence from Fort McHenry in Maryland, and the convention concludes Thursday with Trump’s acceptance speech from the White House.
Porter acknowledged after watching some of the Democratic convention that a virtual convention can lack the “oomph” that people are used to from seeing Trump rallies with in-person crowds.
“There’s something about the live electricity that was lost in the DNC convention. So I’m really hoping our team is looking at that and saying, ‘Wow, how can we add some electricity?‘” Porter said. “The intensity is there. I think we ought to capture that.”
As for Claar, who hosted Trump as a presidential candidate at a fundraiser at the village’s Golf Club and faced an ultimately unsuccessful reelection challenge because of it, he said he’ll miss the camaraderie and parties that “build to a crescendo of momentum.”
Yet in some ways his thoughts have moved on past the convention.
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“You know, somewhere there’s a container ship full of Democrat and Republican paraphernalia that somebody’s trying to figure out just how they’re going to unload it,” Claar said.
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chicagotribune--2020-08-24--Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged $10 million to businesses damaged by looting. The city paid out far les

Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged $10 million to businesses damaged by looting. The city paid out far less, records show.

“ The violence and destruction we saw take place against our communities , serve to steal the dreams and the @ @ @ @ @ and in some instances it stole the few sources of food and medicine for our @ @ @ @ @ ” Lightfoot said at a June 5 news conference in the parking lot of a @ @ @ @ @ “ That ’ s why we immediately embarked on developing this fund to help our @ @ @ @ @ ”

Christine Tran, center, owner of Hip Hop Nails, stands inside her shop, which is beginning to take customers by appointment only, on Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. Her shop was looted and emptied of most supplies last May 31. Tran said she lost about $30,000 and received only $1,000 from the city fund. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Under pressure to offer solutions as Chicago reeled from days of widespread looting earlier this summer, Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised help was on the way for small businesses that had been ransacked.
City Hall would spend $10 million to create the “Together Now” fund, ask philanthropists to chip in more, and funnel the cash to shop owners the first-term mayor said had been “most affected over the last few days.”
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“The violence and destruction we saw take place against our communities, serve to steal the dreams and the livelihoods of business owners, and in some instances it stole the few sources of food and medicine for our families across our city,” Lightfoot said at a June 5 news conference in the parking lot of a Jewel-Osco in West Woodlawn. “That’s why we immediately embarked on developing this fund to help our neighbors and businesses recover.”
But records obtained by the Tribune show the Lightfoot administration only paid out a fraction of what the mayor promised to businesses damaged during the civil unrest that followed the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
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Just $232,760 in grants were approved for 77 Chicago businesses, records show. The city determined 120 businesses that applied weren’t eligible and said another 300 or so applications were incomplete.
And though Lightfoot announced the grants July 31, some of the money wasn’t sent out until Aug. 20, after the Tribune asked City Hall about the concerns of business owners who said they hadn’t been paid yet.
Christine Tran, owner of Hip Hop Nails, shows photos of the damage to her shop from looting on May 31, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
A top Lightfoot aide said the purpose of the fund morphed because there wasn’t enough demand for $10 million in looting relief that would have met the city’s stringent requirements. Instead, the city also distributed about $6 million from the fund to businesses that suffered losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The city did the right thing and we’re being nimble,” said Samir Mayekar, the deputy mayor for economic development.
Mayekar dismissed the distinction between the so-called infrastructure grants for businesses damaged by looting — which is how Lightfoot pitched the program — and the businesses that got “operational” grants for coronavirus losses.
“Go talk to the 1,500 businesses that got operational support as well and ask them if they differentiate,” Mayekar said.
South Side Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, said she felt hope standing at the Jewel store with Lightfoot as the mayor announced the fund for looted businesses. In the weeks since, that hope has vanished, Taylor said.
“I’m always excited on initiatives to help small business owners and the little people, but I’m also twice as disappointed that we haven’t given out enough money,” Taylor said. “We could have helped a whole lot more businesses.”
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That disappointment is shared by some business owners who said they were frustrated by the small amounts awarded and confused by the process.
Christine Tran said she lost at least $30,000 in equipment and carefully curated nail polishes when looters hit her Chatham nail salon, Hip Hop Nails.
“They took everything,” she told the Tribune. “Whatever they can take, they took it.”
Anxious to recoup some of those damages, Tran applied but received only $1,000.
“It helps just a little bit, but it’s not enough,” Tran said. “I wish we can get some more.”
Grant restrictions
About two weeks after Lightfoot introduced the Together Now fund, the city began accepting applications.
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Businesses damaged in the looting that followed Floyd’s killing were eligible to apply for infrastructure grants of up to $10,000 to cover physical damage that wasn’t covered by insurance or to pay insurance deductibles. Lost merchandise wasn’t eligible.
Businesses seeking grants due to COVID-19 losses were eligible for up to $4,000 if they lost a quarter or more of their annual revenue because of the pandemic.
The city allowed businesses to apply for both.
Veleese Kilpatrick looks at nail samples while Kevin Long, right, works on her left hand at Hip Hop Nails in the Chatham community on Aug. 18, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Records show officials put numerous other restrictions on Together Now applicants. To be eligible, businesses must not have more than 100 full-time employees or owe more than $2,500 in unpaid fees, services or other costs to the city.
The city also required applicants to provide their business license or 501(c)(3) approval, bank or tax statement, insurance claims or repair quotes.
Business owners seeking infrastructure grants were told to provide a “cost estimate for damage,” with “broken window, door, security gates, interior walls, or building mechanicals” given as examples, a copy of the online application shows. The businesses also were asked to select a range for their damage, from under $5,000 to more than half a million, though the fund would pay far less than that even under the most generous award.
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Asked if the city’s standards could’ve been different, Mayekar said that would’ve been an invitation for “waste, fraud and abuse.”
Even with tight standards, Mayekar said, the city received “many many fraudulent applications.” A city spokesman estimated the number at 75 to 100.
Mayekar said he didn’t know if the city reported suspected fraudulent applications to police or law enforcement. A spokesman later said City Hall didn’t because “it did not seem to rise to the level of criminal activity.”
The help that city officials ultimately gave applicants was generally small. Of the businesses that received infrastructure money, 31 were given $1,000 or less.
Payouts to damaged businesses ranged from $230 for a downtown nail spa to $10,000 for eight businesses. The average award for “infrastructure” grants was roughly $3,000, city records show. The city also paid about 60% of infrastructure grant recipients an additional $4,000 in operational grants, which amounted to $192,000 divided among 48 businesses, records show.
Veteran South Side Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, said the $232,000 specifically paid for the looting damage “infrastructure” grants is “not even a drop in the bucket.”
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“The money that’s being given is nowhere close to what’s needed to get them back on their feet,” Beale said.
Businesses were allowed to start applying for another round of Together Now funds starting Friday, but only if they’ve suffered losses due to the virus. Businesses that previously received $4,000 operational grants are no longer eligible to apply, however.
Business owner frustration
Several business owners applauded the city’s intention but found the results lacking. Insurance didn’t cover all of their looting losses.
Chella Holcomb said she prides herself on being a Black business owner in Bronzeville, where she grew up. She said she founded Luv Handles, a custom gift and event-planning shop, not just as a means to support herself and her family but to serve as a pillar in her community.
A fire broke out on May 31 and swallowed up her entire store. What the flames did not touch ended up being submerged in water. Chicago police are still investigating the cause of the fire, which a spokesman said began inside a building on that block that had been looted.
“It just changed my life,” Holcomb said. “It not just financially draining, it was emotionally draining, knowing that I don’t have my store I built from the ground up.”
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Holcomb said she lost at least $80,000 in infrastructure, equipment and merchandise and is unsure whether her insurance will cover most of the damages. She said she applied for a Together Now grant and was mystified when she only received $1,000.
“I hate to be ungrateful, but I definitely didn’t think they’d only give me $1,000,” she said. “We need help. But I don’t want to be an angry person either, so I try to put more energy into myself instead of blaming (city officials) because they didn’t do it.”
Abimbola Akinbode said she was looking forward to reopening her West Rogers Park store, Olaidebola Beauty Supply, in June after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic led to a brief closure. But the very day she restocked all her beauty supplies, she got a call about 9 p.m. that looters had struck. She walked into a scene that seemed out of a “strange land,” she said.
In the subsequent weeks, Akinbode said she had to lay off her employees and now works with a co-owner. She estimates the looters swiped 70% of her products, amounting to at least $25,000 in damages, after smashing in her front door.
Akinbode balked when she was told the final amount the city had awarded her was $305.
“What’s $305 going to do?” Akinbode said. “It’s not going to even get us nowhere. It’s not even the amount that will fix the glass. It makes us feel bad.”
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Khalid Mehmood said he has run his sports apparel store, Stop & Buy Sports in Roseland, for more than 20 years. He fears it won’t ever be the same after it was looted the afternoon of May 31.
“That’s a place I feed my family with,” Mehmood said. “It means to me everything.”
Mehmood said his business looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Beyond the broken front gate and windows were rows and rows of cleaned-out racks inside the store. The total damages amounted to more than $200,000, Mehmood said.
Mehmood applied for the Together Now fund and was informed he will receive a $1,000 infrastructure grant in addition to a $4,000 operational grant, he said.
As of Thursday, Mehmood said he hadn’t yet received the actual payment. He also said the amount is “nothing.”
“The city is very behind. They’re just promising in the media, that’s it,” Mehmood said. “My heart is broken.”
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ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-24--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,893 new cases, six additional deaths reported Sunday


chicagotribune--2020-08-25--State GOP chair: Republicans are party of law and order, Democrats a party of lawlessness

“ There ’ s gamesmanship here .
They ’ re already starting to try to poke the finger at the @ @ @ @ @ course is so absurd because as if the post office did such a fabulous job @ @ @ @ @ 30 years .
But to blame them now , ( Democrats are ) already trying @ @ @ @ @ somehow there ’ s a Trump conspiracy to stop this , or to create this @ @ @ @ @ system is designed to be fraudulent .
That ’ s what ’ s so wrong @ @ @ @ @ said .

A Republican National Convention delegate waves to other delegates before the convention Aug. 24, 2020, in the Richardson Ballroom at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. (David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer)
Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider used the first day of the GOP’s national convention to declare Republicans as a party of law and order and Democrats one of promoting lawlessness in citing incidents of violent protests and looting in Chicago.
Speaking from Charlotte, North Carolina, where a pandemic-limited number of delegates renominated President Donald Trump on Monday, Schneider and the state’s Republican national committeeman, Richard Porter, also sided with Trump that the mass mailing of unrequested ballots in some states in response to coronavirus concerns was fraudulent. Porter called it “an abusive manipulation of the system.”
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Schneider, appointed during former one-term GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner’s term to chair the state’s Republicans, blasted Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for receiving police protection at her home in the enforcement of a residential ban on protesting while downtown businesses have suffered from looting.
“The lawlessness in Chicago, with the rioting and the protesters — peaceful protest is one thing — (but) rioting and looting and then allowing the mayor of Chicago to barricade her four blocks around her and protect her with 150 police and then not protect our downtown and our Loop and our Magnificent Mile,” Schneider said in touting his belief Trump could win Illinois, a state he lost by 17 percentage points to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
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“I think what this election comes down to is a Republican Party that’s law and order, a Democrat Party that’s lawlessness,” he said.
Lightfoot has argued that the police presence is justified given the threats she and her family have faced.
Porter said Republicans need to convey that they believe “Americans are fundamentally good and we believe that the people and property of Illinois and Chicago need to be protected.”
“That’s the basic duty. It’s a very fundamental act that good government is supposed to be doing. But that’s not happening. It’s not happening in Chicago. It’s not happening in Minneapolis or Portland or Seattle.”
Porter contended Republicans believe in the golden rule and in “loving they neighbor.” Democrats, he said, “they take the golden rule and turn it on its head. They want to change thy neighbor. They don’t like their neighbors. They have a very dark view of America and our history. It’s a fundamental difference.”
Republicans convened in limited numbers less than a week after Democrats finished a virtual national convention. In casting Illinois’ 67 delegate votes from the state’s March 17 primary to Trump, Schneider cited Illinois as the “home of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, and the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.”
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After the roll call, which concluded the convention’s official business, Trump visited the event hall and contended the only way he would lose the election would be because of fraudulently cast mail-in ballots.
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Schneider and Porter sought to point out the difference between applications for a mail-in ballot sent upon voter request and actual ballots being sent to voters in some states.
“It’s a live ballot where someone can just sign it, fold it and send it back. That’s the problem,” Porter said.
“There’s gamesmanship here. They’re already starting to try to poke the finger at the post office, which of course is so absurd because as if the post office did such a fabulous job and everything for the last 30 years. But to blame them now, (Democrats are) already trying to set it up that somehow there’s a Trump conspiracy to stop this, or to create this fraud, when the whole system is designed to be fraudulent. That’s what’s so wrong about this,” he said.
Illinois legislators in May opted not to conduct a statewide mail-in ballot program. Instead, local election officials sent out approximately 5 million mail-in ballot applications to people who voted in the 2018 general election, 2019 municipal election and this year’s primary. The law was largely opposed by Republicans.
To combat fraud, Illinois law requires those filling out a mail-in ballot to sign the external envelope containing their sealed ballot inside. That signature is used to determine the authenticity of the voter.
As the Illinois Republican leadership touted Trump’s reelection efforts on Monday, two key former state Republicans emphasized they would be voting for Democrat Joe Biden instead.
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Just hours before the convention kicked off, the Biden campaign released a list of 27 former Republican members of Congress endorsing the former vice president, including Ray LaHood, the former Republican congressman from Peoria who served as U.S. secretary of transportation in the Obama administration. LaHood’s son, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, also a Peoria Republican, is an honorary state chair for Trump’s campaign in Illinois.
Also on Monday, former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar said he would vote for Biden. The endorsement of the former governor, who served from 1991 to 1999 and for 10 years as secretary of state before that, first was reported by Politico.
“I had hoped when he got elected, he’d kind of grow into the job. I think it’s been a very unfortunate four years — there’s a lot more turmoil than there needed to be,” Edgar, a moderate Republican originally from downstate Charleston, told the Tribune. “He doesn’t act like a president — his character is lacking. The presidents of the past, none of them have been perfect, but this is unusual.”
The Tribune’s Lisa Donovan contributed.
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bruthhart@chicagotribune.com