chicagotribune--2020-08-06--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,759 new known COVID-19 cases and 30 additional deaths as CPS chan

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,759 new known COVID-19 cases and 30 additional deaths as CPS changes plans for new school year

They said the decision was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents , and that the district will aim to move to a hybrid model , with schools reopened , in the second quarter .
The switch to an all-remote learning plan comes as teachers union leaders were planning to convene the organization ’ s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS didn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
Meanwhile , Illinois health officials Wednesday reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fatalities .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 186,471 and the statewide confirmed death toll is 7,573 .
Davis , 50 , a four-term congressman from Taylorville , said he had been having his temperature checked twice daily .
After his temperature was recorded at 99 degrees , he said he and his wife Shannon took coronavirus tests .
He tested positive and his wife did not , he said .
“ Other than a higher-than-normal temperature , I am showing no symptoms at this time and feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that staff members he worked with this week received negative tests and that his office is contacting people with whom he met during the previous 48 hours , according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines .
“ My wife is a nurse and a cancer survivor , which puts her in an at-risk category like so many Americans , ” he said in a statement .
“ My office and I have always followed and will continue to follow CDC guidelines , use social distancing , and wear masks or face coverings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Democratic Gov .
J.B. Pritzker warned Wednesday that the state faces “ extraordinarily painful ” budget cuts if the federal government fails to provide states with relief funding to make up for tax revenue shortfalls caused by efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic .
Illinois ’ budget for the year that began July 1 is heavily dependent upon federal aid , which would be used to pay back borrowing of up to $ 5 billion under a special program through the Federal Reserve .
In addition , the shift of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July 15 , which was in line with federal action , caused a revenue deficit for the previous budget year , which ended June 30 .
But the issue of federal relief to state and local governments has been caught in a political stalemate in Washington between House Democrats , Senate Republicans and the White House amid negotiations that also include the extension of special unemployment benefits that ended in July .
Joining hundreds of protests by unionized nurses across the country , nurses marched at two Chicago hospitals Wednesday to demand full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action from the federal government .
In Chicago , nurses represented by National Nurses United marched at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and by the University of Chicago Medical Center .
They said they wanted to see full personal protective equipment in their hospitals , including respirators , eye protection , hair and shoe coverings , and gloves and gowns .
The criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union was to be expected , since its leaders came out against reopening schools even before the district proposed it .
But parents around the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted in-person classes to begin again , also emerged as a significant bloc of opposition in the last week — ultimately helping push Chicago Public Schools to start the year remotely instead .
In announcing their switch to an all-remote plan for the start of school , CPS officials cited parent hesitation to reopening as a key motivator , along with the recent uptick in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the city .
Parent frustrations seem to reach a tipping point when CPS initially asked families to indicate by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would opt into the hybrid proposal , which would have rotated smaller groups of children into schools two days per week .
Some parents said they felt constrained to pick the hybrid option because of the lack of details on remote learning .
Dissatisfied with the amount of information from official CPS sources , parents resorted to digging for details themselves as an influx of new members join a CPS parents Facebook group .
As concerns mounted , there were a dozen posts a day trying to piece together information — on issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transmission on public transportation to supports for children in special education programs .
Wednesday ’ s sudden pivot to an all-remote start for the new school year renders that decision moot , for now — leaving some parents relieved but exhausted , if not even more confused on how officials plan for the fall .
Kane and DuPage county officials are warning residents about “ concerning increases ” in COVID-19 activity and said they could take action to limit the spread of the virus , including reinstating limits on some business and social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Wednesday they are meeting most of the COVID-19 targets the state has set .
However , both counties are at what the state considers a warning level for the number of new cases per 100,000 people — DuPage is reporting 73 new cases per 100,000 residents and Kane is reporting 66 , while the state ’ s target is 50 — and health department officials are concerned about recent upticks in COVID-19 metrics , they said in a statement .
They are “ proactively ” evaluating future action , which could include @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reducing capacity at businesses , or scaling back operations such as indoor dining , bars , salons and personal care services , which pose a higher risk of transmission , they said .
5:19 p.m. : ‘ I am feeling that this is the end of my career.
’ Millions of US jobs are gone for good .
Stark evidence of the damage the resurgent viral outbreak has caused the U.S. economy could come Friday when the government is expected to report that the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a brief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus continues to transform a vast swath of the economy , it ’ s becoming evident that millions of Americans face the prospect of a permanent job loss that will force some to seek work with new industries or in new occupations .
If so , that would lead to a slower recovery in the job market than if restaurants , hotels , bars and retail shops were able to fully reopen and recall all their laid-off employees .
Few expect that to happen .
Laura Reber , founder and CEO of Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from nervous parents around the clock in recent weeks , as uncertainty over fall schooling sent many searching for alternative options .
Reber , whose firm of 100 tutors has served Chicagoland students for eight years , said she understands parents ’ frustrations .
Her reassurances to them focus on the fact that , while it might not be an ideal year for education , their students — and their peers across the country — will get through it .
“ The whole nation is going to be in the same boat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s a huge comfort , but if you move to a private school or another district , there ’ s really no guarantee that they ’ re not going to change their plan.
” “ The whole nation is going to be in the same boat , ” she said .
“ Not that that ’ s a huge comfort , but if you move to a private school or another district , there ’ s really no guarantee that they ’ re not going to change their plan.
” With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new school year will begin with remote learning instead of a hybrid plan in Chicago , parents are figuring out how to move forward with the option that best fits their individual , and incredibly varied , needs .
Democratic Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said the Chicago Public School ’ s decision to start the year with all remote learning was a local one and in line with the state ’ s policy of letting school districts control over how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with public health guidance from the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and positivity rates continued on an upward trajectory in the state , it was possible he would order schools closed to in-person learning statewide as he did on April 17 .
“ You ’ ve seen me travel the state encouraging everybody to wear a mask , encouraging local city councils and mayors to impose mitigations locally so that we can bring down the infection rate , bring down the positivity rate because I don ’ t want to go to those statewide , more extreme measures , ” he said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we don ’ t keep our positivity rate down , we obviously would have to consider more serious mitigations.
” 3:53 p.m. : New U. of C. center will collect thousands of X-rays , CT scans to aid with COVID-19 research University of Chicago Medicine will be home to a new , massive database of medical images from COVID-19 patients that researchers can use to better understand and fight the illness , with support from a $ 20 million federal grant .
The images — such as X-rays and CT scans — will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and be open source , meaning they ’ ll be available to researchers around the world .
The mainly virtual center created under the contract with the National Institutes of Health expects to collect more than 10,000 images in its first three months .
The database will speed up the sharing of research on COVID-19 and could help answer questions about how COVID-19 presents in the lungs as well as potential resurgences of the illness , said Maryellen Giger , a professor of radiology and medical physics at University of Chicago .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data as possible in the quickest amount of time , ” Giger said .
“ Nothing like this exists yet.
” 3:28 p.m. : From child care stipends to flexible schedules , companies aim to help parents juggle remote learning and work again this fall Overnight , the COVID-19 pandemic turned her Park Ridge home into an office and a school as she and her husband juggled their careers and the care of their two young daughters .
Worlds collided , work shifted to all hours of the day and night , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ summer , exhausted and fully employed .
For working parents like LaMonica , the pending start of the school year , which brings the anxiety of new teachers , schedules and courses under even the best of circumstances , is looming as a major source of stress .
A growing list of companies are pushing office reopenings to 2021 and many school districts , including Chicago Public Schools , are nixing even a part-time return to the classroom , portending an ongoing work-life family mashup that threatens to derail both career and childhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to monitor their schooling at the same time that you ’ re working full time , ” said Cornelia Grumman , education director at the McCormick Foundation , which focuses on funding support for early childhood development programs .
With most child care centers closed during the pandemic — some perhaps permanently — companies are offering everything from nanny stipends to online activity clubs to keep employees ’ kids engaged and parents productive .
Flexible work schedules have become the new norm , as parents shift between their caregiver , math helper and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A teenager from Cook County was added Tuesday to the statewide total number of deaths reported by the Department of Public Health , suggesting he was one of more than 4,900 Cook County residents who have died from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic .
But the teen didn ’ t die from COVID-19 .
He was added to the list erroneously , representatives of both state and local agencies said Wednesday , one of about 100 instances of deaths that at first were wrongfully attributed to the coronavirus , then removed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to officials .
Natalia Derevyanny , a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner ’ s office , said that five months into the global pandemic , this is the first time she ’ s had to phone Melaney Arnold , a spokeswoman for the state department of public health , about a death being mistakenly added to the running total .
As of Wednesday , Cook County has had 4,904 , deaths attributable to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic , including 2,793 in Chicago .
As of Wednesday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died from the coronavirus statewide .
2:15 p.m. : ‘ I am feeling that this is the end of my career.
’ Millions of US jobs are gone for good .
Stark evidence of the damage the resurgent viral outbreak has caused the U.S. economy could come Friday when the government is expected to report that the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a brief rebound in the spring .
As the coronavirus continues to transform a vast swath of the economy , it ’ s becoming evident that millions of Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loss that will force some to seek work with new industries or in new occupations .
If so , that would lead to a slower recovery in the job market than if restaurants , hotels , bars and retail shops were able to fully reopen and recall all their laid-off employees .
Few expect that to happen .
1:52 p.m. : What we know now about remote learning in Chicago Public Schools this fall With only weeks before the start of the school year , Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across CPS will begin the year with remote learning .
The decision , which they said was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents , poises the district to aim toward a hybrid model in the second quarter .
An exchange of offers Tuesday and a meeting devoted to the U.S .
Postal Service on Wednesday indicates a long slog remains , but the White House is offering some movement in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’ s direction on aid to states and local governments and unemployment insurance benefits .
Multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely agreement are coming into focus .
12:55 p.m. : Touchless entry , ionizing HVAC : In the time of COVID-19 , these 3 new luxury residences are making sure they ’ re outfitted for pandemic life .
It was a happy accident that Parkline Chicago , a forthcoming 26-story complex in the Loop , will feature a “ touchless experience ” for residents upon entry .
As they walk through the front doors , onto the elevator and into their apartment or condo , they won ’ t touch a thing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Parkline and two other new luxury residential developments in Chicago might have planned as a neat detail prior to 2020 , but find to be much more vital in a world grappling with COVID-19 .
Co-working space , rooftop gardens teeming with produce and other amenities are increasingly considered essential for people who are spending more time at home for social distancing reasons .
In the cases of Parkline Chicago , Porte and The Orchard , COVID-19 actually sped up project completion , because most construction was considered essential during the stay-at-home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon to be on the market , these apartments , condos and town homes are a glimpse at what new developments might look like in the time of COVID-19 .
The event is free and scheduled for Sept. 2 , according to a news release .
The museum ’ s Women ’ s Leadership Committee plans to stream it live from a studio and feature a musical performance by Katie Kadan , a Chicago native who was a 2019 finalist on NBC ’ s The Voice , among others .
” While we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person this year , we are excited to take the event virtual and feel it is the best way to continue raising funds to support the museum ’ s important work , ” the committee ’ s president , Juliet Gray , said in the release .
The benefit is the museum ’ s signature event and aims to raise funds “ to combat hatred , prejudice , and indifference , ” and to inspire others to “ speak out for what ’ s right — turning powerful lessons of history into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the release .
The museum recommends donations of $ 200 at the soiree .
Illinois health officials Wednesday reported 1,759 new known cases and 30 additional fatalities .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 186,471 and the statewide confirmed death toll is 7,573 .
Within the past 24 hours , officials report 46,668 tests completed .
University of Chicago Medicine plans to create a massive database of medical images of COVID-19 patients — such as X-rays and CT scans — that researchers can use to help them better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support from a $ 20 million federal grant .
The images will be collected at a new center at the University of Chicago and be open source , meaning the material will be available to researchers around the world .
The center expects to collect more than 10,000 images in its first three months .
” This will speed up the sharing of new research on COVID-19 , answering questions about COVID-19 presentation in the lungs , the efficacy of therapies , associations between COVID-19 and other co-morbidities , and monitoring for potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Giger , a professor of radiology at University of Chicago , said in a news release .
Giger will lead the center along with leaders from the American College of Radiology , the Radiological Society of North America and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine .
Health experts once thought 2020 might be the worst year yet for a rare paralyzing disease that has been hitting U.S. children for the past decade .
But they now say the coronavirus pandemic could disrupt the pattern for the mysterious illnesses , which spike every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scientists say it ’ s possible that mask wearing , school closures and others measures designed to stop spread of the coronavirus may also hamper spread of the virus suspected of causing the paralyzing disease .
`` We just simply do n't know right now , '' said Kimberlin , who is co-leader of a national study to gather specimens from children who develop the paralyzing condition .
The pandemic is dominating public health work right now , but officials are trying to draw attention to the polio-like condition they call acute flaccid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday made a public call for parents and doctors to watch for it , and act .
10:55 a.m. : Joe Biden won ’ t travel to Milwaukee for 2020 Democratic National Convention because of concerns over the coronavirus That 's according to a Democrat with knowledge of the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss planning .
The move is the latest example of the pandemic ’ s sweeping effects on the 2020 presidential election and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that historically have marked the start of fall general election campaigns .
10:45 a.m. : Northwestern football workouts still on hold after a player tests positive for COVID-19 , while Illinois will start camp Thursday As a result of its own strict protocols , Northwestern officials used contact tracing to determine that more than two dozen players needed to be quarantined .
They will need to test negative to be released and cleared for workouts .
“ The decision to begin the 2020-2021 CPS school year remotely during the first quarter is rooted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feedback we ’ ve received from parents and families , ” Lightfoot said in a release .
“ As we build out this remote learning model and seek to establish a hybrid learning model in the second quarter , we will continue to support and collaborate with parents and school leaders to create safe , sustainable learning environments for our students.
” 8:57 a.m. : Will movie theaters survive ?
Cinemark lost $ 170 million last quarter , but it ’ s optimistic .
The third largest movie theater company in the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit this year amid the coronavirus pandemic , but leadership at Cinemark and analysts are optimistic about the prospects of reopening theaters .
Plano , Texas-based Cinemark posted a loss of $ 170 million for the three-month period that ended June 30 , telling investors Tuesday that it 's `` been working diligently to prepare for reopening our theatres within this new operating environment . ''
The company ’ s second quarter results reveal just how deeply the coronavirus pandemic has threatened the movie theater industry .
8:30 a.m. : US companies pulled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ payroll report says U.S. businesses sharply reduced hiring last month , suggesting that resurgent COVID-19 infections slowed the economic recovery as many states closed parts of their economies again and consumers remained cautious about spending .
U.S. firms added just 167,000 jobs in July , payroll processor ADP said Wednesday , far below June ’ s gain of 4.3 million and May ’ s increase of 3.3 million .
July ’ s limited hiring means that according to ADP the economy still has 13 million fewer jobs than it did in February , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s figures suggest that the job market ’ s recovery is stalling and will likely fuel concerns that the government ’ s jobs report , to be released Friday , will show a similar slowdown .
7:27 a.m. : Virgin Atlantic , 49 % owned by Delta , files for US bankruptcy protection Virgin Atlantic , the airline founded by British businessman Richard Branson , filed Tuesday for protection in U.S. bankruptcy court as it tries to survive the virus pandemic that is hammering the airline industry .
The airline made the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court in New York after a proceeding in the United Kingdom .
A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said the bankruptcy filing is part of a court process in the United Kingdom to carry out a restructuring plan that the airline announced last month .
The process is supported by a majority of the airline 's creditors , and the company hopes to emerge from the process in September , she said .
A Virgin Atlantic lawyer said in a court filing that the company needs an order from a U.S. court to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. 6:35 a.m. : Lightfoot , schools and health officials expected to make announcement on public schools Mayor Lori Lightfoot , Chicago Public Schools chief Janice Jackson and city Health Commissioner Allison Arwady were scheduled to make an announcement Wednesday morning regarding the 2020-2021 school year , according to the mayor ’ s office .
The Tribune reported Tuesday that CPS planned to announce as soon as Wednesday that the school district would start the school year with all-remote learning .
The move comes as the Chicago Teachers Union planned to hold a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , in preparation for a possible strike if the Chicago Board of Education were to go through with a plan to begin school in-person , while allowing parents to opt for remote learning .
6 a.m. : As COVID-19 keeps university fall plans in doubt , community colleges see boost as affordable option closer to home In some ways , community colleges are better equipped to weather the coronavirus pandemic than traditional four-year universities .
Unlike larger institutions , community colleges don ’ t rely on revenue from residence halls — which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to campus for fear of getting sick .
And local two-year colleges could become more appealing to families who don ’ t want to pay top-dollar tuition for virtual instruction .
Very few universities are discounting the cost of attendance despite offering most classes online .
Over the summer , several community colleges in Illinois — including College of Lake County , Harper College in Palatine and College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn — reported upticks in enrollment .
Now , the colleges are watching to see if that trend continues for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and dean of enrollment at the education research firm EAB , said the numbers will likely fluctuate until classes start next month and students are forced to make final decisions .
“ If a bunch of students who are committed to four-year schools in the next three weeks say , ‘ You know what ?
I ’ m just not doing that .
I ’ m going to defer for a year ... or I ’ m going to withdraw and reapply a year from now or six months from now , ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bump in community college enrollments , ” Rhyneer said .

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After weeks of defending a proposal to reopen Chicago Public Schools this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson announced Wednesday that the new school year will begin with remote learning instead.
They said the decision was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents, and that the district will aim to move to a hybrid model, with schools reopened, in the second quarter.
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The switch to an all-remote learning plan comes as teachers union leaders were planning to convene the organization’s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS didn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Illinois health officials Wednesday reported 1,759 new known cases and 30 additional fatalities. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 186,471 and the statewide confirmed death toll is 7,573.
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[ What we know now about remote learning in Chicago Public Schools this fall ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ Illinois coronavirus graphs: Here's the latest data on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:22 p.m.: Where things stand in high-level Washington talks on the huge coronavirus response bill
After more than a week’s worth of meetings, at least some clarity is emerging in the bipartisan Washington talks on a huge COVID-19 response bill. Negotiators are still stuck, but still trying.
A combative meeting Wednesday involving top Capitol Hill Democrats and the postmaster general and a souring tone from both sides indicate that a long slog remains, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows threatened afterward that President Donald Trump is exploring options to use executive authority to extend a partial eviction ban and address unemployment benefits.
After some movement Tuesday in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s direction on aid to states and local governments and unemployment insurance benefits, Wednesday’s session offered no breakthroughs or major progress, participants said afterward.
“If we can reach a compromise on these big issues, I think everything else will fall into place. If we can’t reach an agreement on these big issues then I don’t see us coming to an overall deal,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said after the two-hour meeting. “And then we’ll have to look at the president taking actions under his executive authority.”
Multiple issues remain, but some areas of likely agreement are coming into focus.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
7:36 p.m.: Central Illinois Republican US Rep. Rodney Davis says he’s tested positive for COVID-19
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a central Illinois Republican locked in a tough battle for re-election, said he tested positive Wednesday for COVID-19 after holding recent in-district constituent events.
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Davis, 50, a four-term congressman from Taylorville, said he had been having his temperature checked twice daily. After his temperature was recorded at 99 degrees, he said he and his wife Shannon took coronavirus tests. He tested positive and his wife did not, he said.
“Other than a higher-than-normal temperature, I am showing no symptoms at this time and feel fine,” Davis said. He said that staff members he worked with this week received negative tests and that his office is contacting people with whom he met during the previous 48 hours, according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
“My wife is a nurse and a cancer survivor, which puts her in an at-risk category like so many Americans,” he said in a statement. “My office and I have always followed and will continue to follow CDC guidelines, use social distancing, and wear masks or face coverings when social distancing cannot be maintained.”
Davis said he would quarantine at home and canceled public events until he receives a negative test. District offices, he said, would remain open to serve constituents.
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
6:20 p.m.: Pritzker warns of ‘extraordinarily painful’ cuts, job losses if Washington doesn’t provide pandemic relief funding to states
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned Wednesday that the state faces “extraordinarily painful” budget cuts if the federal government fails to provide states with relief funding to make up for tax revenue shortfalls caused by efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
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Illinois’ budget for the year that began July 1 is heavily dependent upon federal aid, which would be used to pay back borrowing of up to $5 billion under a special program through the Federal Reserve. In addition, the shift of the state’s income tax deadline to July 15, which was in line with federal action, caused a revenue deficit for the previous budget year, which ended June 30.
But the issue of federal relief to state and local governments has been caught in a political stalemate in Washington between House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the White House amid negotiations that also include the extension of special unemployment benefits that ended in July.
Read more here. —Rick Pearson and Jamie Munks
6:13 p.m.: Chicago nurses join national day of action over PPE, federal assistance
Joining hundreds of protests by unionized nurses across the country, nurses marched at two Chicago hospitals Wednesday to demand full personal protective equipment in their facilities and action from the federal government.
In Chicago, nurses represented by National Nurses United marched at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and by the University of Chicago Medical Center. They said they wanted to see full personal protective equipment in their hospitals, including respirators, eye protection, hair and shoe coverings, and gloves and gowns.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
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5:56 p.m. Parent opposition helps tip CPS towards an all-remote start
The criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union was to be expected, since its leaders came out against reopening schools even before the district proposed it.
But parents around the city, though more split on whether they wanted in-person classes to begin again, also emerged as a significant bloc of opposition in the last week — ultimately helping push Chicago Public Schools to start the year remotely instead.
In announcing their switch to an all-remote plan for the start of school, CPS officials cited parent hesitation to reopening as a key motivator, along with the recent uptick in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the city.
Parent frustrations seem to reach a tipping point when CPS initially asked families to indicate by the end of this week whether their children would opt into the hybrid proposal, which would have rotated smaller groups of children into schools two days per week. Some parents said they felt constrained to pick the hybrid option because of the lack of details on remote learning.
Dissatisfied with the amount of information from official CPS sources, parents resorted to digging for details themselves as an influx of new members join a CPS parents Facebook group. As concerns mounted, there were a dozen posts a day trying to piece together information — on issues ranging from how CPS would control viral transmission on public transportation to supports for children in special education programs.
Wednesday’s sudden pivot to an all-remote start for the new school year renders that decision moot, for now — leaving some parents relieved but exhausted, if not even more confused on how officials plan for the fall.
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Read more here. —Claire Hao
5:32 p.m.: Kane, DuPage counties warn of increase in COVID-19, caution they could reinstate restrictions
Kane and DuPage county officials are warning residents about “concerning increases” in COVID-19 activity and said they could take action to limit the spread of the virus, including reinstating limits on some business and social activities.
Officials from the two counties said Wednesday they are meeting most of the COVID-19 targets the state has set. However, both counties are at what the state considers a warning level for the number of new cases per 100,000 people — DuPage is reporting 73 new cases per 100,000 residents and Kane is reporting 66, while the state’s target is 50 — and health department officials are concerned about recent upticks in COVID-19 metrics, they said in a statement.
They are “proactively” evaluating future action, which could include restricting the size of social gatherings, reducing capacity at businesses, or scaling back operations such as indoor dining, bars, salons and personal care services, which pose a higher risk of transmission, they said.
Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
5:19 p.m.: ‘I am feeling that this is the end of my career.’ Millions of US jobs are gone for good.
Stark evidence of the damage the resurgent viral outbreak has caused the U.S. economy could come Friday when the government is expected to report that the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a brief rebound in the spring.
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As the coronavirus continues to transform a vast swath of the economy, it’s becoming evident that millions of Americans face the prospect of a permanent job loss that will force some to seek work with new industries or in new occupations. If so, that would lead to a slower recovery in the job market than if restaurants, hotels, bars and retail shops were able to fully reopen and recall all their laid-off employees. Few expect that to happen.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
4:46 p.m.: Alternative school options see surge of interest as COVID-19 prompts districts, including CPS, to go remote
Laura Reber, founder and CEO of Chicago Home Tutors, has been fielding calls from nervous parents around the clock in recent weeks, as uncertainty over fall schooling sent many searching for alternative options.
Reber, whose firm of 100 tutors has served Chicagoland students for eight years, said she understands parents’ frustrations. Her reassurances to them focus on the fact that, while it might not be an ideal year for education, their students — and their peers across the country — will get through it.
“The whole nation is going to be in the same boat,” she said. “Not that that’s a huge comfort, but if you move to a private school or another district, there’s really no guarantee that they’re not going to change their plan.”
“The whole nation is going to be in the same boat,” she said. “Not that that’s a huge comfort, but if you move to a private school or another district, there’s really no guarantee that they’re not going to change their plan.”
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With Mayor Lori Lightfoot announcing Wednesday that the new school year will begin with remote learning instead of a hybrid plan in Chicago, parents are figuring out how to move forward with the option that best fits their individual, and incredibly varied, needs.
Reber’s tutoring business isn’t alone in experiencing a spike of interest. Amid a turbulent time in their students’ education, parents across the region are pondering a variety of alternative schooling options.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
4:35 p.m.: Pritzker warns he could order Illinois schools closed to in-person learning if COVID-19 cases continue on upward trajectory
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Chicago Public School’s decision to start the year with all remote learning was a local one and in line with the state’s policy of letting school districts control over how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with public health guidance from the state.
But he warned that if cases and positivity rates continued on an upward trajectory in the state, it was possible he would order schools closed to in-person learning statewide as he did on April 17.
“That could happen, yes. I don’t want it to happen,” Pritzker said during an afternoon news conference in Chicago.
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“You’ve seen me travel the state encouraging everybody to wear a mask, encouraging local city councils and mayors to impose mitigations locally so that we can bring down the infection rate, bring down the positivity rate because I don’t want to go to those statewide, more extreme measures,” he said. “If it continues to rise and if we don’t keep our positivity rate down, we obviously would have to consider more serious mitigations.”
—Rick Pearson
3:53 p.m.: New U. of C. center will collect thousands of X-rays, CT scans to aid with COVID-19 research
University of Chicago Medicine will be home to a new, massive database of medical images from COVID-19 patients that researchers can use to better understand and fight the illness, with support from a $20 million federal grant.
The images — such as X-rays and CT scans — will be collected at the University of Chicago and be open source, meaning they’ll be available to researchers around the world. The mainly virtual center created under the contract with the National Institutes of Health expects to collect more than 10,000 images in its first three months.
The database will speed up the sharing of research on COVID-19 and could help answer questions about how COVID-19 presents in the lungs as well as potential resurgences of the illness, said Maryellen Giger, a professor of radiology and medical physics at University of Chicago.
“We want to make available as much data as possible in the quickest amount of time,” Giger said. “Nothing like this exists yet.”
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Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
3:28 p.m.: From child care stipends to flexible schedules, companies aim to help parents juggle remote learning and work again this fall
When the state issued its stay-at-home order in March, Gina LaMonica, 39, a partner with Chicago law firm Perkins Coie, had just returned from a work trip.
Overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic turned her Park Ridge home into an office and a school as she and her husband juggled their careers and the care of their two young daughters. Worlds collided, work shifted to all hours of the day and night, and somehow, they made it to the summer, exhausted and fully employed.
“It was very difficult,” LaMonica said. “Those were long days.”
For working parents like LaMonica, the pending start of the school year, which brings the anxiety of new teachers, schedules and courses under even the best of circumstances, is looming as a major source of stress.
A growing list of companies are pushing office reopenings to 2021 and many school districts, including Chicago Public Schools, are nixing even a part-time return to the classroom, portending an ongoing work-life family mashup that threatens to derail both career and childhood development.
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“It is not sustainable to monitor their schooling at the same time that you’re working full time,” said Cornelia Grumman, education director at the McCormick Foundation, which focuses on funding support for early childhood development programs.
With most child care centers closed during the pandemic — some perhaps permanently — companies are offering everything from nanny stipends to online activity clubs to keep employees’ kids engaged and parents productive. Flexible work schedules have become the new norm, as parents shift between their caregiver, math helper and rainmaker roles throughout the extended day.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
2:22 p.m.: Cook County teen added, then removed from statewide COVID-19 death toll, highlighting corrections in daily data release
A teenager from Cook County was added Tuesday to the statewide total number of deaths reported by the Department of Public Health, suggesting he was one of more than 4,900 Cook County residents who have died from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
But the teen didn’t die from COVID-19. He was added to the list erroneously, representatives of both state and local agencies said Wednesday, one of about 100 instances of deaths that at first were wrongfully attributed to the coronavirus, then removed from state data after further review, according to officials.
Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office, said that five months into the global pandemic, this is the first time she’s had to phone Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the state department of public health, about a death being mistakenly added to the running total.
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“This is the first time it’s happened,” Derevyanny said.
As of Wednesday, Cook County has had 4,904, deaths attributable to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, including 2,793 in Chicago. As of Wednesday, the state has confirmed 7,573 people have died from the coronavirus statewide.
Read more here. —Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
2:15 p.m.: ‘I am feeling that this is the end of my career.’ Millions of US jobs are gone for good.
Stark evidence of the damage the resurgent viral outbreak has caused the U.S. economy could come Friday when the government is expected to report that the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a brief rebound in the spring.
As the coronavirus continues to transform a vast swath of the economy, it’s becoming evident that millions of Americans face the prospect of a permanent job loss that will force some to seek work with new industries or in new occupations. If so, that would lead to a slower recovery in the job market than if restaurants, hotels, bars and retail shops were able to fully reopen and recall all their laid-off employees. Few expect that to happen.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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1:52 p.m.: What we know now about remote learning in Chicago Public Schools this fall
With only weeks before the start of the school year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson announced Wednesday that all schools across CPS will begin the year with remote learning. The decision, which they said was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents, poises the district to aim toward a hybrid model in the second quarter.
CPS said it’s also setting out “enhanced standards” for remote learning.
Here is what we know so far. —Jessica Villagomez
12:57 p.m.: Second stimulus check updates: Where things stand in high-level Washington talks on the huge coronavirus response bill
After more than a week’s worth of meetings, at least some clarity is emerging in the bipartisan Washington talks on a huge COVID-19 response bill.
An exchange of offers Tuesday and a meeting devoted to the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday indicates a long slog remains, but the White House is offering some movement in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s direction on aid to states and local governments and unemployment insurance benefits. Multiple issues remain, but some areas of likely agreement are coming into focus.
Here’s a look where things stand based on public and private statements by key players and their staff.
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—Associated Press
12:55 p.m.: Touchless entry, ionizing HVAC: In the time of COVID-19, these 3 new luxury residences are making sure they’re outfitted for pandemic life.
It was a happy accident that Parkline Chicago, a forthcoming 26-story complex in the Loop, will feature a “touchless experience” for residents upon entry. As they walk through the front doors, onto the elevator and into their apartment or condo, they won’t touch a thing.
It’s one of the features that Parkline and two other new luxury residential developments in Chicago might have planned as a neat detail prior to 2020, but find to be much more vital in a world grappling with COVID-19. Co-working space, rooftop gardens teeming with produce and other amenities are increasingly considered essential for people who are spending more time at home for social distancing reasons.
In the cases of Parkline Chicago, Porte and The Orchard, COVID-19 actually sped up project completion, because most construction was considered essential during the stay-at-home order, developers said. Now or soon to be on the market, these apartments, condos and town homes are a glimpse at what new developments might look like in the time of COVID-19.
Read more here. —Lauren Leazenby
12:24 p.m.: Illinois Holocaust Museum to hold annual fundraiser online this fall because of COVID-19
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie announced Wednesday it plans to host its annual soiree virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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The event is free and scheduled for Sept. 2, according to a news release. The museum’s Women’s Leadership Committee plans to stream it live from a studio and feature a musical performance by Katie Kadan, a Chicago native who was a 2019 finalist on NBC’s The Voice, among others.
”While we are sad that we cannot gather in person this year, we are excited to take the event virtual and feel it is the best way to continue raising funds to support the museum’s important work,” the committee’s president, Juliet Gray, said in the release.
The benefit is the museum’s signature event and aims to raise funds “to combat hatred, prejudice, and indifference,” and to inspire others to “speak out for what’s right — turning powerful lessons of history into positive actions today,” according to the release. The museum recommends donations of $200 at the soiree.
Read more here. —Kelli Smith
12:05 p.m.: 1,759 new known COVID-19 cases, 30 additional deaths
Illinois health officials Wednesday reported 1,759 new known cases and 30 additional fatalities. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 186,471 and the statewide confirmed death toll is 7,573. Within the past 24 hours, officials report 46,668 tests completed.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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11:01 a.m.: New University of Chicago imaging center will aid COVID-19 research
University of Chicago Medicine plans to create a massive database of medical images of COVID-19 patients — such as X-rays and CT scans — that researchers can use to help them better understand and fight the illness, with support from a $20 million federal grant.
The images will be collected at a new center at the University of Chicago and be open source, meaning the material will be available to researchers around the world. The center expects to collect more than 10,000 images in its first three months.
”This will speed up the sharing of new research on COVID-19, answering questions about COVID-19 presentation in the lungs, the efficacy of therapies, associations between COVID-19 and other co-morbidities, and monitoring for potential resurgence of the virus,” Maryellen Giger, a professor of radiology at University of Chicago, said in a news release.
Giger will lead the center along with leaders from the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
—Lisa Schencker
11 a.m.: CDC warns coronavirus measures could disrupt detection of rare, paralyzing polio-like disease in children
Health experts once thought 2020 might be the worst year yet for a rare paralyzing disease that has been hitting U.S. children for the past decade.
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But they now say the coronavirus pandemic could disrupt the pattern for the mysterious illnesses, which spike every other year starting in late summer.
Scientists say it’s possible that mask wearing, school closures and others measures designed to stop spread of the coronavirus may also hamper spread of the virus suspected of causing the paralyzing disease.
Dr. David Kimberlin, a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, called it “the million-dollar question.”
"We just simply don't know right now," said Kimberlin, who is co-leader of a national study to gather specimens from children who develop the paralyzing condition.
The pandemic is dominating public health work right now, but officials are trying to draw attention to the polio-like condition they call acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday made a public call for parents and doctors to watch for it, and act.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
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10:55 a.m.: Joe Biden won’t travel to Milwaukee for 2020 Democratic National Convention because of concerns over the coronavirus
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee to accept his party’s White House nomination because of concerns over the coronavirus.
That's according to a Democrat with knowledge of the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss planning.
The move is the latest example of the pandemic’s sweeping effects on the 2020 presidential election and the latest blow to traditional party nominating conventions that historically have marked the start of fall general election campaigns.
—The Associated Press
10:45 a.m.: Northwestern football workouts still on hold after a player tests positive for COVID-19, while Illinois will start camp Thursday
Northwestern football remains in pause stemming from a player’s positive COVID-19 test late last week, a school official told the Tribune on Wednesday.
As a result of its own strict protocols, Northwestern officials used contact tracing to determine that more than two dozen players needed to be quarantined. They will need to test negative to be released and cleared for workouts.
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The Wildcats hope to return to the field by Friday, which is the allowable start date for a contact practice per NCAA rules.
NU is one of six Big Ten schools that has paused its football workouts, joining Ohio State, Maryland, Rutgers, Indiana and Michigan State.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
9 a.m.: Chicago Public Schools shelves hybrid reopening plan, as officials announce remote learning plan for new school year
After weeks of defending a proposal to reopen Chicago Public Schools this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson announced Wednesday that the new school year will begin with remote learning instead.
They said the decision was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents, and that the district will aim to move to a hybrid model, with schools reopened, in the second quarter.
“The decision to begin the 2020-2021 CPS school year remotely during the first quarter is rooted in public health data and the invaluable feedback we’ve received from parents and families,” Lightfoot said in a release. “As we build out this remote learning model and seek to establish a hybrid learning model in the second quarter, we will continue to support and collaborate with parents and school leaders to create safe, sustainable learning environments for our students.”
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Read more here. —Hannah Leone
8:57 a.m.: Will movie theaters survive? Cinemark lost $170 million last quarter, but it’s optimistic.
The third largest movie theater company in the world has taken a nearly $230 million hit this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, but leadership at Cinemark and analysts are optimistic about the prospects of reopening theaters.
Plano, Texas-based Cinemark posted a loss of $170 million for the three-month period that ended June 30, telling investors Tuesday that it's "been working diligently to prepare for reopening our theatres within this new operating environment."
The company’s second quarter results reveal just how deeply the coronavirus pandemic has threatened the movie theater industry.
Read more here. —The Dallas Morning News
8:30 a.m.: US companies pulled back on hiring in July, ADP payroll report says
U.S. businesses sharply reduced hiring last month, suggesting that resurgent COVID-19 infections slowed the economic recovery as many states closed parts of their economies again and consumers remained cautious about spending.
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U.S. firms added just 167,000 jobs in July, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday, far below June’s gain of 4.3 million and May’s increase of 3.3 million. July’s limited hiring means that according to ADP the economy still has 13 million fewer jobs than it did in February, before the viral outbreak intensified.
ADP’s figures suggest that the job market’s recovery is stalling and will likely fuel concerns that the government’s jobs report, to be released Friday, will show a similar slowdown.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:27 a.m.: Virgin Atlantic, 49% owned by Delta, files for US bankruptcy protection
Virgin Atlantic, the airline founded by British businessman Richard Branson, filed Tuesday for protection in U.S. bankruptcy court as it tries to survive the virus pandemic that is hammering the airline industry.
The airline made the Chapter 15 filing in U.S. federal bankruptcy court in New York after a proceeding in the United Kingdom.
A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said the bankruptcy filing is part of a court process in the United Kingdom to carry out a restructuring plan that the airline announced last month. The process is supported by a majority of the airline's creditors, and the company hopes to emerge from the process in September, she said.
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A Virgin Atlantic lawyer said in a court filing that the company needs an order from a U.S. court to make terms of the restructuring apply in the U.S.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:35 a.m.: Lightfoot, schools and health officials expected to make announcement on public schools
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools chief Janice Jackson and city Health Commissioner Allison Arwady were scheduled to make an announcement Wednesday morning regarding the 2020-2021 school year, according to the mayor’s office.
The Tribune reported Tuesday that CPS planned to announce as soon as Wednesday that the school district would start the school year with all-remote learning. The move comes as the Chicago Teachers Union planned to hold a meeting of its House of Delegates next week, in preparation for a possible strike if the Chicago Board of Education were to go through with a plan to begin school in-person, while allowing parents to opt for remote learning.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: As COVID-19 keeps university fall plans in doubt, community colleges see boost as affordable option closer to home
In some ways, community colleges are better equipped to weather the coronavirus pandemic than traditional four-year universities. Unlike larger institutions, community colleges don’t rely on revenue from residence halls — which will plummet if students don’t return to campus for fear of getting sick.
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And local two-year colleges could become more appealing to families who don’t want to pay top-dollar tuition for virtual instruction. Very few universities are discounting the cost of attendance despite offering most classes online.
Over the summer, several community colleges in Illinois — including College of Lake County, Harper College in Palatine and College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn — reported upticks in enrollment. Now, the colleges are watching to see if that trend continues for fall.
Madeleine Rhyneer, vice president and dean of enrollment at the education research firm EAB, said the numbers will likely fluctuate until classes start next month and students are forced to make final decisions.
“If a bunch of students who are committed to four-year schools in the next three weeks say, ‘You know what? I’m just not doing that. I’m going to defer for a year ... or I’m going to withdraw and reapply a year from now or six months from now,’ then I think we definitely could see a bump in community college enrollments,” Rhyneer said.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five stories about COVID-19 from Tuesday.


chicagotribune--2020-08-06--Rapper made ‘derogatory’ video about rival gang members before he was killed. Now Chicago police are

Rapper made ‘derogatory’ video about rival gang members before he was killed. Now Chicago police are bracing for the retaliation.

Weekly was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital , where he was pronounced dead .
His girlfriend , who told police @ @ @ @ @ parked car , was shot twice in the left wrist .
She was taken to @ @ @ @ @ , where she was stabilized .
A 36-year-old man was hit in the back and @ @ @ @ @ in serious condition .

Rosemary Sobol, Jeremy Gorner, Peter Nickeas, Gregory Pratt

LaSheena Weekly, second from left, marches with others down a sidewalk in the Gold Coast after holding a press conference about the death of her son, Carlton Weekly, 26, who performed under the name FBG Duck. Weekly asked for there to be no retaliation shootings after her son was killed in the downtown location earlier in the week. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police were bracing for retaliation shootings on the South Side after a rapper was killed in a brazen Gold Coast attack, possibly because he had recently made a video featuring “derogatory statements” about rival gang members who have died.
Carlton Weekly, 26, who performed under the name FBG Duck, was a member of a Gangster Disciples faction that has been involved in a fierce feud with the Black Disciples on the South Side, according to police.
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Officers in at least four police districts — Wentworth, Grand Crossing, Gresham and Englewood — have been warned to use “extreme caution” because of the “high probability of further violence,” according to an advisory issued by the department.
“Intelligence suggests that both these gangs are in possession of large caliber and high capacity firearms,” it adds.
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The neighborhood where Weekly’s gang faction operates was described as a “high threat level conflict” area. It is roughly bordered by 58th and 66th streets, and St. Lawrence and Calumet avenues.
Weekly was shot Tuesday afternoon while standing in line in front of a high-end clothing store in the first block of East Oak Street, according to police. His family said he had four children under the age of 10.
Two cars, a dark Ford Fusion and a gray Chrysler 300, pulled up and four gunmen jumped out and opened fire about 4:30 p.m., police said.
Weekly was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His girlfriend, who told police she was waiting in a parked car, was shot twice in the left wrist. She was taken to Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital, where she was stabilized. A 36-year-old man was hit in the back and leg and taken to Northwestern in serious condition.
People look on as Chicago police investigate a shooting in the first block of East Oak Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood on Aug. 4, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Weekly’s family described him as a talented musician with a “big heart” who struggled with violence and gang conflicts.
His older brother Jermaine Robinson was shot and killed in a double homicide in Woodlawn on the South Side in 2017, according to police and Weekly’s Apple Music biography. Robinson was also a rapper who performed under the name FBG Brick.
The biography describes other violence in Weekly’s life: “He was stabbed by a girlfriend and (had) multiple rivalries with other gangs and rappers.”
Weekly’s mother LaSheena Weekly declined to comment Wednesday afternoon, except to say, “My son was a legend.”
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His aunt, Sherrie Weekly, was driving from her home in South Bend, Indiana, to be with LaSheena Weekly. “The world lost a good man. He had a big heart and he loved his family and friends,’' Sherrie Weekly said. “He would help anybody. He was truly a good person.’'
Her nephew had several siblings, three of whom have died — including Robinson — and five who live in the Chicago area. He leaves a daughter and three sons. “He was just talented. He had so much to give. He touched so many people’s hearts.’'
But Mayor Lori Lightfoot described Weekly as someone who “fancies himself a rapper but is also a member of a gang.” She said he had been “livestreaming his travels through the city and he was found.”
“What we’re seeing is a manifestation of a larger problem, which is that way too many young men, and particularly young men of color, have access to guns and are willing to use those guns to settle petty grievances,” Lightfoot said. “There’s been an ongoing conflict between his gang and another.”
Weekly had recently made a rap video “where he made derogatory statements toward deceased members of the Black Disciples,” a rival gang, according to the department advisory.
Among those insulted in the video was Odee Perry, namesake of the O-Block faction of the Black Disciples. Weekly belonged to the Tookaville faction of the rival Gangster Disciples, named for a young man killed in the same conflict not long before Perry, according to police.
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If Weekly were killed in retaliation, it would be the latest instance of gang violence linked to rap music in Chicago. While many videos on social media depict Chicago’s street violence and include online threats, documenting a link between a video and a shooting is not as common.
In 2012, Joseph Coleman, an 18-year-old rapper who went by the name “Lil JoJo,” was shot and killed in the Englewood neighborhood. Chicago police investigated whether a war of words between Coleman and other rappers through music or social media led to his killing.
Among his rivals was rap star Chief Keef, who was accused of taunting Coleman in a tweet in the hours after his death. Chief Keef claimed, though, that his Twitter account had been hacked.
In 2015, rapper Young Pappy, whose real name was Shaquon Thomas, was gunned down in the Uptown neighborhood, a week after a video posted online showed him making fun of a rival gang while pretending to hold a gun in his hands.
The 20-year-old Thomas was allegedly part of a Gangster Disciples faction that had been feuding with another of the gang’s factions on the North Side. Prior to his death, Chicago police said Thomas was a target in at least two other shootings in the Rogers Park neighborhood that left two people dead, including a 17-year-old boy at a McDonald’s restaurant and a photographer who was waiting for a bus.
In 2017, a South Side rapper Shootashellz, whose real name was Cedron Doles, was gunned down after taunting gang rivals, some of them already dead, with his rap lyrics. Doles’ death in the Auburn Gresham community ended up being part of an investigation by Chicago police and the FBI into an internal gang conflict within the Black P Stones.
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Chicago Tribune’s Paige Fry contributed.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to revise the location of the shooting.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
pnickeas@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-06--2 seriously wounded in shootings Wednesday on the South Side

Someone approached the victim while he was standing outside , and an argument ensued .
At some point , the @ @ @ @ @ and shot the victim in the stomach area and the right side of his body @ @ @ @

Two people were seriously wounded Wednesday in separate shootings in the Grand Crossing and South Loop neighborhoods, Chicago police said.
The latest shooting happened shortly before 3:30 p.m. in the 7300 block of South Stony Island Avenue. Police said a 72-year-old man suffered a wound to the back, and was taken in serious condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
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Police said the man was inside of a business when a known offender walked up and shot him in the back. The victim and the gunman had prior contact, police said.
Shortly after 1:15 p.m., a man in his 40s, male victim, whose age was shot in the South Loop neighborhood in the 1100 block of South Clinton Street.
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Someone approached the victim while he was standing outside, and an argument ensued. At some point, the person pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the stomach area and the right side of his body, police said.
The victim was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital. The gunman was taken into custody and charges were pending.


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker warns of ‘extraordinarily painful’ cuts, job losses if Washington doesn’

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker warns of ‘extraordinarily painful’ cuts, job losses if Washington doesn’t provide pandemic relief funding to states

Speaking at the James R. Thompson Center , Pritzker announced the state was performing an average of 41,000 tests per @ @ @ @ @ days .
But he said only four of the state ’ s 11 pandemic recovery @ @ @ @ @ rate below 5 % , compared with two weeks ago when 10 of the regions @ @ @ @ @ Chicago and suburban regions are hovering near 5 % , though the Will-Kankakee County region @ @ @ @ @ state data shows .

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned Wednesday that the state faces “extraordinarily painful” budget cuts if the federal government fails to provide states with relief funding to make up for tax revenue shortfalls caused by efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Illinois’ budget for the year that began July 1 is heavily dependent upon federal aid, which would be used to pay back borrowing of up to $5 billion under a special program through the Federal Reserve. In addition, the shift of the state’s income tax deadline to July 15, which was in line with federal action, caused a revenue deficit for the previous budget year, which ended June 30.
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But the issue of federal relief to state and local governments has been caught in a political stalemate in Washington between House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the White House amid negotiations that also include the extension of special unemployment benefits that ended in July.
House Democrats are seeking $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments. Republicans who control the Senate have questioned the need for further aid to states after initial funding was focused on direct coronavirus relief. President Donald Trump has opposed new relief funding, contending it is an attempt to bail out financially mismanaged states and cities run by Democrats.
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At this point, Pritzker said, Democratic and Republican governors across the nation are “all hoping, praying, making calls about it.”
“If the Republicans continue to take the stand that they’ve taken, including the Republicans in the Illinois delegation, against support for local governments and state governments, then we’re going to have to make drastic cuts,” the first-term Democratic governor said.
“This will be painful, extraordinarily painful. And for a federal government that wants, as we all do, to limit the unemployment damage that’s been done across the nation,” the layoffs that would follow such cuts would go beyond government workers to include employees of private companies that provide supplies and services to governments, Pritzker said.
Pritzker’s warning came as public health officials announced 1,759 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, including 30 confirmed deaths. Total reported cases in Illinois stand at 186,471, including 7,573 deaths. The state’s seven-day positivity average remained at 3.9%.
Speaking at the James R. Thompson Center, Pritzker announced the state was performing an average of 41,000 tests per day over the last seven days. But he said only four of the state’s 11 pandemic recovery regions now average a positivity rate below 5%, compared with two weeks ago when 10 of the regions were below that figure. Chicago and suburban regions are hovering near 5%, though the Will-Kankakee County region is exceeding 6%, state data shows.
Earlier on Wednesday, attorney Thomas DeVore filed a petition in downstate Clay County asking a judge to hold Pritzker in civil contempt. DeVore, an attorney who has represented several challenges to Pritzker’s authority under the pandemic, alleged the governor’s continued issuance of emergency orders disregarded a ruling by Judge Michael McHaney that the governor’s power ended July 2.
DeVore is representing Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey, of Xenia, who challenged Pritzker’s executive authority. Bailey was removed from the House during a special pandemic session in May until he was allowed to return after wearing a face mask.
Pritzker called McHaney’s rulings against his executive orders “ridiculous” and noted Will County Circuit Judge John Anderson called the Clay County judge’s findings “bereft of any meaningful legal analysis.”
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Anderson ruled against a group of landlords that challenged Pritzker’s pandemic-prompted moratorium on residential evictions, concluding that “the governor’s disaster declarations and executive orders pertaining to COVID-19 remain in full force and effect.”
rap30@aol.com
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Chicago nurses join national day of action over PPE, federal assistance

The Jesse Brown VA also said in a statement Wednesday that it provides all its employees with PPE in accordance @ @ @ @ @ for Disease Control and Prevention , and has enough supply to meet current demand , @ @ @ @ @ % of its employees now have COVID-19 .

Medical staff from various organizations maintain social distancing at the Cook County Health campus at Polk Street and Damen Avenue as they demand sufficient personal protective equipment on Aug. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Joining hundreds of protests by unionized nurses across the country, nurses marched at two Chicago hospitals Wednesday to demand full personal protective equipment in their facilities and action from the federal government.
In Chicago, nurses represented by National Nurses United marched at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and by the University of Chicago Medical Center. They said they wanted to see full personal protective equipment in their hospitals, including respirators, eye protection, hair and shoe coverings, and gloves and gowns.
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Nurses from Cook County Health, Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, and Community First Medical Center also participated, according to the union.
Brian Kelly, a pediatric intensive care unit nurse at U. of C.’s Comer Children’s Hospital, said he gets one box of N95 masks for each shift — meaning he sometimes has to reuse them when seeing patients.
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He said a number of nurses have bought their own N95 masks out of concern they wouldn’t have a sufficient supply.
“We’re just trying to bring attention to some concerns we have as far as critical staffing issues and PPE supplies and those types of situations that are still a problem at not just our hospital but at all hospitals,” Kelly said.
University of Chicago Medicine said in a statement Wednesday that “all necessary PPE remains immediately available to our frontline employees.”
“UChicago Medicine has been able to carefully steward PPE resources and instructed clinicians working with COVID-19 patients never to reuse disposable masks,” the statement said. “Careful management of PPE has permitted all employees to don a clean mask each time one was needed, decreasing the risk of self-contamination.”
The Jesse Brown VA also said in a statement Wednesday that it provides all its employees with PPE in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has enough supply to meet current demand, noting that less than 1% of its employees now have COVID-19.
Medical staff from different organizations walk the perimeter of the Cook County Health campus as they demand sufficient personal protective equipment on Aug. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Cook County Health Chief Nursing Officer Beena Peters said in a statement: “Our utilization numbers demonstrate that we have maintained adequate PPE supplies throughout the pandemic — often paying triple, quadruple or more than the normal price due to ongoing challenges in the supply chain.”
The nurses in Chicago and nationally also want Congress to pass the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, known as the HEROES Act, which would provide direct payments to individuals and contains provisions related to the Defense Production Act, which could mean more PPE produced domestically.
The union also wants to see the Cook County Jail budget cut and more money instead put toward community mental health, substance treatment and other services on the city’s South and West sides. The Cook County Board recently passed a symbolic resolution that supports diverting money away from law enforcement, following nationwide protests calling for the defunding of police.
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lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Feds charge 3 south suburban family members with child labor trafficking

The indictment does not specify how federal officials became aware of the women ’ s alleged trafficking scheme , but @ @ @ @ @ and her daughters realized the feds were on to them in August 2017 , they @ @ @ @ @ between the homes of third parties for the next 14 months .

An African national and two of her daughters are accused of taking two undocumented West African girls to the United States under false pretenses and forcing them to work in the south suburbs under threat of serious harm.
The three women, all residents of the south suburbs, were indicted last month and arraigned in U.S. District court this week. All three pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to harbor aliens, harboring aliens for private financial gain and forced labor.
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The trafficking scheme dates back to 2014, when Nawomi Awoga, 71, a citizen of Benin and resident of Hazel Crest, brought two girls, ages 12 and 14, from Benin to the U.S. on falsified six-month tourist visas, prosecutors alleged.
The girls, who had left their families to live with Awoga in Benin three months before coming to the U.S., were coached by her to lie to U.S. Customs officials about their family relationships and names in order to obtain visas, according to prosecutors.
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The children traveled to the U.S. with Awoga and two unnamed co-conspirators posing as their parents on Sept. 24, 2014, and spent their first couple months in the country living with Awoga’s daughter, Marina Oke, in Country Club Hills, according to the indictment.
In November of that year, the younger girl moved in with another of Awoga’s daughters, Assiba Lea Fandohan, in Hazel Crest, prosecutors said.
Both girls remained in the country past the expiration of their visas on March 23, 2015, and were forced to work for the three women or face serious harm or the threat of serious harm, according to the indictment.
Oke, 34, forced the older girl to work from September 2014 to August 2017 by telling her that if she did not perform labor and services she or another person would suffer serious harm, prosecutors said.
Awoga and Fandohan, 31, are accused of making similar threats to induce the younger child to work between October 2014 and Sept. 6, 2016, according to prosecutors.
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It’s not clear from the indictment where the children were working, but one of the places Oke is alleged to have harbored the older child is at an unnamed business in Homewood.
According to Illinois Secretary of State records, Oke, who also goes by Marina Fandohan, owns a hair salon in Homewood called Dede’s African Hair Braiding.
A woman who answered the salon’s phone Wednesday hung up on a reporter when asked about Oke’s arrest.
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The indictment does not specify how federal officials became aware of the women’s alleged trafficking scheme, but does say that once Awoga and her daughters realized the feds were on to them in August 2017, they began shuttling the older girl between the homes of third parties for the next 14 months.
The current whereabouts of the alleged trafficking victims was not immediately clear. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter @ZakKoeske


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--CPS backtracks and moves to all-remote learning for fall, but officials say they won’t be ‘cobbling

CPS backtracks and moves to all-remote learning for fall, but officials say they won’t be ‘cobbling things together’ like last spring

Jackson said the decision was not easy or made lightly .
” As an educator , my desire is to @ @ @ @ @ .
For many of our students , school is the safest and most stable part @ @ @ @ @ course , they depend on us for an education , but many of our students @ @ @ @ @ much more .
They rely on us for meals , encouragement and a lot of @ @ @ @ @ take for granted .
”

Hannah Leone, Sophie Sherry, John Keilman, Claire Hao

Carl Von Linne Elementary School, a CPS building, is among hundreds whose students will be learning remotely again this fall, after CPS reversed course and postponed a plan to reopen in September. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
After weeks of defending a proposal to reopen Chicago Public Schools this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson announced Wednesday that the new school year will begin with remote learning instead.
But it will feel different than in the spring, when CPS was “cobbling things together,” Jackson said. Attendance will be mandatory, the district will revert to normal grading, and educators can go to schools and teach in real time from their classrooms, she said.
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“There will be more of a traditional infrastructure that you see in a school setting; we’re going to stand that up in a remote setting,” she said. “... Teachers have to be available throughout the entire day to educate students.”
Jackson said a final plan will be released Friday.
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[ What we know now about remote learning in Chicago Public Schools this fall ]
Officials said the decision to backtrack was based on public health guidelines and feedback from parents, and that the district will aim to move to a hybrid model, with schools open, in the second quarter, which begins Nov. 9.
“In a perfect world, students would be in classrooms more, not less. But, unfortunately, that is not where we find ourselves today,” Jackson said at a news conference announcing the district’s change of course.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced CPS schools will begin the school year with an all-remote model. At left is CPS CEO Janice Jackson. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Having touted their initial hybrid plan, which would have rotated students into buildings two days a week for in-person classes, CPS officials also said all along that they wouldn’t reopen schools unless it’s safe to do so.
Against a backdrop of rising COVID-19 cases in the city, through a series of virtual town halls last week and feedback from parents and students, it became clear families “were not comfortable with the state of the pandemic and the national response,” Jackson said.
The official announcement came the day after word got out that the Chicago Teachers Union was planning on calling its House of Delegates together to consider a possible strike vote because of the union’s skepticism that schools could reopen safely.
Lightfoot on Wednesday said pressure from the union did not influence the decision to go remote.
“As we have now repeatedly said about every decision we’ve made in the context of this pandemic, we have to be guided by the science, period,” Lightfoot said.
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[ ‘Every choice is a sacrifice’: Alternative school options see surge of interest as COVID-19 prompts districts, including CPS, to go remote ]
Yet as reports surfaced late Tuesday of the expected move to remote learning, CTU President Jesse Sharkey tweeted: “A win for teachers, students and parents. It’s sad that we have to strike or threaten to strike to be heard.”
The latest threat came just months after CTU’s battles with the mayor surrounding the 11-day teacher walkout last fall.
This summer, even before CPS announced its tentative hybrid framework, the union had already endorsed an all-remote start to the new school year, and continued to push back against the proposal.
On Wednesday, Sharkey — who days ago said Lightfoot did “not have the guts to close the schools” — congratulated the mayor “for being willing to listen to the concerns of families, educators, community groups and health professionals.”
With one month left before the school year begins, he called for CTU members to be equal partners in improvements to remote learning, family outreach and staff support.
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“We have a long way to go and a short time to get there,” Sharkey said. “CPS must immediately start planning transparently and in partnership with our union to provide every student the educational, social and emotional supports they need to learn and grow.”
[ The school year is starting with many students at home. Some companies are throwing working parents a lifeline. ]
The union is also continuing its campaign for broader community supports that could improve the livelihoods of students and educators, drawing attention to a moratorium on evictions now set to expire Aug. 22.
Parents, who appeared more mixed on the question of reopening, have expressed concerns about the quality of remote learning but also about whether schools could open their doors again safely, even with the 15-student pods that were planned to reduce contact among students and other protocols such as mask-wearing.
Ultimately, only about 20% of Black and Latino families, who make up the majority of CPS students, indicated in a feedback survey that they intended to send their children back to school. District officials said they’re acting on that feedback to improve the remote learning experience.
More than 87,000 parents, students and educators responded to the survey. About 41% of 49,000 elementary school parents and 38% of nearly 20,000 high school parents who responded said they did not intend to send their children back to school when the new year begins Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
CPS continues to struggle to get input representative of the district as a whole. Nearly 30% of parents who responded to the online survey were white, compared with 11% of the student population, according to CPS data.
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CPS also faced growing pressure in recent weeks from union and parent groups to close schools.
But as recently as Tuesday, Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Public Health Department, spoke in support of the tentative reopening plan, saying that if the city’s pandemic numbers looked good, she felt schools could handle in-person learning safely.
Then on Wednesday, she cited the increases in recent weeks of the rolling average number of new cases reported daily in Chicago. That number is now 277.
“The fact that over the last four to five weeks, we’ve added between 80 and 100 (daily) cases and not seen signs of that turning around, makes us concerned as we’re planning ahead for a complicated school district like CPS,” Arwady said. “... We very easily could have that many or more in the month ahead.”
Arwady said the prospect of hitting 400 new cases a day would really mark “a line in the sand for us, particularly around major things like planning to open one of the largest school districts in the country.”
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Health officials have not found significant spread locally in settings that bring children together, such as camps and day cares, Arwady said. About 3,527 children 17 and younger have tested positive for COVID-19 out of more than 62,000 confirmed cases in Chicago, according to city data.
The city was in a “very different place in the arc of the pandemic” when they released the hybrid plan in mid-July, Lightfoot said.
“Make no mistake, here in Chicago we are in a better place than most other areas in the country and in the surrounding area,” the mayor said. “But the fact of the matter is, we are seeing an increase in cases. Combined with the trends that we’re seeing, the decision to start remotely makes sense for a district of CPS’s size and diversity.”
The district and others are working on a plan to support parents who need child care during the day, knowing many are essential workers, and CPS will continue providing grab-and-go meals at schools, Jackson said.
School-based police officers won’t report to campuses during remote learning, according to CPS. The Chicago Police Department manages the officers’ time when they’re not assigned to schools, and CPS won’t be charged for those days, district officials said.
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Parents should expect engagement from teachers “for the entirety of a typical school day,” Jackson said, with more live instruction and accountability. CPS is pushing for more small group instruction for English learners and students with special education plans, and is “encouraging” more office hours to support all students, Jackson said. All teachers will be required to use Google platforms, and principals will evaluate educators similarly to how they would in schools, she said.
“Enhanced standards” for remote learning will also involve more rigorous tracking of attendance and renewed efforts to bridge the digital divide — a huge challenge when roughly a third of the 300,000 students who attend district-run schools were found to lack adequate access to computers or internet after the pandemic forced schools shut in March.
Since then, the district distributed about 128,000 computers and tablets, but officials said Wednesday they will continue to work to provide more as needed.
Despite the district’s efforts, participation in remote learning during the spring varied dramatically for students with different learning needs or racial backgrounds. Only 13% of students in grades one through 12 logged into a Google platform at least three days per week for at least 10 weeks of the remote learning period, with white and Asian students engaging the most.
Katherine O’Brien is a parent and Local School Council member at LaSalle Language Academy, and her husband is a CPS teacher.
“I’m on one level relieved; I’m also really sad,” she said of Wednesday’s announcement. “I think we all really, really wanted the returns to schools. We all wanted something to work out. We also recognize that’s not feasible at this time, it’s not physically safe yet at this point.”
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Despite some disappointment, O’Brien said she’s glad a decision has been made.
“The time that we spent debating this reopening plan that really didn’t feel like it was ready to go, I think it caused a lot of families an excessive amount of anxiety and stress and frustration. I think parents and teachers alike were paralyzed with indecision. They were split trying to plan for multiple contingencies, and doing that for a long time is exhausting,” she said.
Jackson said the decision was not easy or made lightly. ”As an educator, my desire is to always have students in schools. For many of our students, school is the safest and most stable part of their day. Of course, they depend on us for an education, but many of our students depend on us for so much more. They rely on us for meals, encouragement and a lot of other things that some people take for granted.”
As for the impact on fall high school sports, CPS’s executive director of sports administration notified principals, athletic directors and coaches Wednesday that the remote learning announcement “did not impact our plans for summer conditioning or fall sports.”
CPS had already adopted IHSA’s modified schedule for fall sports, and “those sports may proceed as scheduled under the guidelines and precautions we previously released pending any potential public health developments that require a change in our approach,” according to David Rosengard’s memo, released by CPS late Wednesday.
Some high school sports perceived to be at higher risk, such as football and boys soccer, have been moved to the spring, while the lower-risk sports of cross-country, golf, and girls tennis and swimming remain in the fall.
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Bob Geiger, boys cross country coach at Whitney Young Magnet High, said earlier Wednesday he hadn’t yet received any official word on fall sports and was optimistic the season would still take place, noting that, besides the IHSA, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration also approved the resumption of youth sports if safety protocols are followed.
Geiger said he had about 45 boys practicing outdoors for three weeks in small, socially distanced groups. He takes the boys’ temperatures and quizzes them about their health, and so far, he said, none of his runners has tested positive for COVID-19.
He said the safety concerns of a sport like his are distinct from the challenges of bringing children back to crowded school buildings.
“You’re taking a group of 50 boys to a field where they’ll be able to spread out, and yet they can still interact, they’re still getting that social-emotional connection many parents are clamoring for,” he said. “There’s a way to do that safely as opposed to cramming 2,100 students into a school and hoping for the best.”
Jean Casserly, girls tennis coach at Walter Payton College Prep, said Wednesday that IHSA has yet to send her safety guidelines for her sport, so she has crafted her own, including chalking off areas where the girls must stay, masks on, when they’re not playing. She’s still deciding whether each player must have her own designated stash of tennis balls, as some professionals are doing.
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If the season commences as planned, she said, she anticipates the hardest part will be making sure the players, who have not seen one another in months and had their last season cut short because of the teachers strike, do not get too close to one another.
But she was hopeful she could impress upon them the importance of adhering to safety precautions.
“If any one of us gets COVID, we’re going to be shut down,” she said. “This is what we’ll have to do in order to continue.”
Ald. Michael Scott, 24th, who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Education and Child Development, said his children have had their sports seasons canceled and were excited about the hybrid model. But though she desperately wants to go back to school, his soccer-playing daughter understands the science doesn’t allow for that yet, he said.
“As a parent, I was really scared to send my child back to school,” Scott said. “And I know that there are a lot of parents, a lot of teachers, were also afraid of what was going to happen. I think this gives us the opportunity to reset ourselves, to let us understand what the data is showing.”
Democratic Gov. Pritzker said CPS’ decision to start the year with all-remote learning was a local one and in line with the state’s policy of letting school districts control how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with public health guidance from the state.
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But he warned that if cases and positivity rates continued on an upward trajectory in the state, it was possible he would order schools closed to in-person learning statewide as he did on April 17.
“That could happen, yes. I don’t want it to happen,” Pritzker said.
“You’ve seen me travel the state encouraging everybody to wear a mask, encouraging local city councils and mayors to impose mitigations locally so that we can bring down the infection rate, bring down the positivity rate because I don’t want to go to those statewide, more extreme measures,” he said. “If it continues to rise and if we don’t keep our positivity rate down, we obviously would have to consider more serious mitigations.”
Though the hope is to have children back in schools next quarter, Jackson said that will require everyone to do their part to slow the spread of the virus.
“If we want schools to reopen, we have to keep wearing our mask, we’re going to have to practice social distancing, and more importantly we’re going to have to listen to our public health officials,” Jackson said.
Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson contributed.