chicagotribune--2020-09-05--West Side man charged with looting, accused of attacking 64-year-old

McClellan also was identified as the person who burglarized and looted a business on Aug. 11 , police said .
@ @ @ @ @ at a bail hearing Saturday .

A Lawndale neighborhood man was charged with looting and burglary to a business, and was accused of throwing objects at a 64-year-old victim, Chicago police said.
Richard McClellan, 54, of the 2700 block of West Harrison Street, was charged Saturday with one count each of felony burglary and looting, and misdemeanor simple assault, police said.
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McClellan was arrested Friday afternoon in the 200 block of South Wabash Avenue after verbally assaulting and throwing objects at another man, 64, in the Loop neighborhood.
McClellan also was identified as the person who burglarized and looted a business on Aug. 11, police said. He was scheduled to appear at a bail hearing Saturday.


chicagotribune--2020-09-05--Ex-South Bend cop, whose fatal shooting case roiled Buttigieg campaign, reaches plea deal for on-dut

Ex-South Bend cop, whose fatal shooting case roiled Buttigieg campaign, reaches plea deal for on-duty sex charge

O ’ Neill is scheduled to appear Tuesday before a St. Joseph Superior Court judge on his plea agreement , @ @ @ @ @ serve no jail time and serve two years of probation , although that probation could @ @ @ @ @ .
He would also agree not to seek or accept any public employment , including @ @ @ @ @

A woman is led out of the room during a press conference by Special Prosecutor Ric Hertel on March 6, 2020, in South Bend, Ind., releasing the findings of an investigation into the death of Eric Logan. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A white former South Bend police officer whose fatal shooting of a Black man last year roiled then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge stemming from an alleged on-duty sexual encounter he had a month before that shooting.
A plea agreement filed Wednesday calls for Ryan O’Neill to plead guilty to a ghost employment count, while prosecutors would drop a felony charge of official misconduct and a misdemeanor public indecency charge, the South Bend Tribune reported.
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A probable cause affidavit filed in March with the sexual-encounter charges states that O’Neill was in his police cruiser, in uniform, on May 16, 2019, when he pulled up next to a woman and solicited her for a sex act. O’Neill paid her $20 before that sex act, it states.
A special prosecutor filed those charges against O’Neill, 44, in March after finding that he was justified in the unrelated fatal June 16, 2019, shooting of Eric Logan. O’Neill had said he shot Logan, 54, after he refused his orders to drop a knife while O’Neill was investigating a report of a person breaking into cars.
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The special prosecutor, Ric Hertel, said during a March news conference that evidence showed Logan approached O’Neill with a knife and the officer feared for his safety when he fired two shots, one of which struck Logan in the upper abdomen.
O’Neill resigned weeks after the shooting. The fallout from Logan’s killing presented Buttigieg with some of the toughest moments of his bid to win the Democratic nomination for president.
Buttigieg, who ended his presidential campaign in March, stepped away from the campaign trail and faced angry residents at an emotional town hall in South Bend, a city of about 100,000 residents, a quarter of whom are Black.
South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, left, speaks as Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg listens during a town hall meeting on June 23, 2019, in South Bend. (Robert Franklin/AP)
A federal lawsuit that Logan’s family filed against O’Neill and the city of South Bend accusing O’Neill of using excessive deadly force is pending.
O’Neill is scheduled to appear Tuesday before a St. Joseph Superior Court judge on his plea agreement, which calls for him to serve no jail time and serve two years of probation, although that probation could end early with no violations. He would also agree not to seek or accept any public employment, including as a police officer.
If the judge rejects the plea deal, the case would proceed to trial, according to court documents.
That affidavit filed in March regarding the sexual-encounter charges states that O’Neill faces a ghost employment charge along with the two other counts but does not elaborate. Instead, it cites Indiana’s ghost employment statute, which includes among its descriptions of ghost employment a public employee who accepts property from a government entity for “duties not related” to their job.


chicagotribune--2020-09-05--Five police shootings in Chicago in two months, but no video released on any of them.  Is it taking

Five police shootings in Chicago in two months, but no video released on any of them.  Is it taking too long for the public to see what happened?

“ I think it speaks to the fact that there might be some other consideration that could mean the video @ @ @ @ @ , ” she said .
“ At least having that process within a time certain @ @ @ @ @ , that allows the release where possible , then at least there is much more @ @ @ @ @ the city .

The family of Miguel Vega — father Miguel Vega Sr., from left, mother Maria Vega and brother Erik Vega — speak with members of the news media near the intersection of 18th Street and Blue Island Avenue on Oct. 1, 2020, in Chicago. Miguel Vega was fatally shot by police on Aug. 31 on the 1300 block of West 19th Street. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
After facing withering criticism for withholding video of the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald five years ago, the city of Chicago created what it billed as one of the first written policies that guaranteed release of footage of officers using force.
For the first time, it set up a deadline — 60 days — for making video and other evidence available to the public. Even critics hailed it as an unprecedented shift toward transparency.
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Now some are questioning if the policy is strong enough to restore public trust.
From Chicago’s top cop to the mother of a man fatally shot by police, there is concern that it takes too long to get crucial images and information to the public. There have been at least five people shot by on-duty Chicago cops since July, two of them fatally, yet no video has been released from any of them in a summer when in other cities it has brought closer scrutiny of police actions.
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“When you are talking about, especially, an officer-involved shooting, a community and a city are going to want to have answers,” said Rachel Levinson-Waldman, an expert on policing and technology for the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank based at the New York University School of Law.
“The longer it takes, the more distrust and suspicion a police department is buying itself,” she added. “So 60 days of a community not knowing what happened, and not having access, just seems like a long time to foment frustration.”
‘We’re trying to build trust’
It took a judge’s order for Chicago to finally release video of a white police officer shooting McDonald, a Black teen, 16 times and killing him on Oct. 20, 2014. City officials had repeatedly denied requests for the video until an independent journalist filed a lawsuit to have the footage made public.
The video was released a year after the shooting and sparked immediate condemnation and sustained protests. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, was later convicted of second-degree murder.
In the fallout, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel formed the Police Accountability Task Force that eventually came up with the 60-day release policy. Lori Lightfoot, then the president of the Chicago Police Board, headed the effort.
Before, there had been no set requirements for the department to roll out video from police shootings. Now, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was to release video as it investigated police use of force and allegations of officer misconduct.
After the policy was put into place, the Emanuel administration posted evidence from more than 100 pending investigations of police shootings and other use-of-force incidents involving cops. COPA regularly updates its site with video from new incidents.
The 60-day window was aimed at striking a balance between timely release to the public and preserving the integrity of COPA investigations, which involve interviewing witnesses and evidence collection, including police department videos, as well as video from cameras at private homes and businesses.
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A request for a further 30-day delay can be made by a law enforcement agency. Other cases are withheld if a state law or a court order prohibits the release.
Video from cameras worn by officers or dashboard cameras mounted in squad cars is in the possession of the Police Department, which has on rare occasions released it on its own.
Just this week, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said quicker releases of video could help restore confidence in some communities. “We’re trying to build trust,” he said Monday. “So the sooner we can get the body camera out, I’m more inclined to get it out sooner rather than later.”
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown arrives at a crime scene in the 300 block of North Central Avenue where people were shot on Aug. 19, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Brown made his comments a day after officers shot a 19-year-old West Side man after he allegedly wounded two other officers. The next day, Chicago police from the Near West patrol district shot and killed 26-year-old Miguel Vega on a Pilsen street after shots were fired at the officers as they got out of their unmarked car, police said.
Vega’s mother called for the release of any video of the incident, saying she did not believe the police version and that officials refused to answer questions.
“I want to see those videos of the officers’ body cameras,” Maria Vega demanded hours after her son died. “I want answers from the police and justice for my son. If my son was at fault, I’ll accept it, but it doesn’t make sense right now.”
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Days later, Chicago police shot and killed another man, this time on the Southwest Side after police say he lunged at officers with a knife after being hit with a Taser. The department’s preliminary statement did not say how many officers fired or how many shots were fired. The man died at the scene. No officers were hurt.
‘There has to be communication’
Karen Sheley, director of the Police Practices Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the transparency provided by release of videos is what many civilians have sought for years.
“People who have been impacted by police violence have been concerned about police narratives for decades,” Sheley said. “We are, as a larger community, much more focused and becoming aware of too many of those narratives.”
Since Chicago created its policy, other police departments have moved toward an immediate review process, including New Orleans, which provides footage to state and federal prosecutors within 48 hours and then conducts an internal department review of the video.
Within seven days, the department’s Public Integrity Bureau must give the police chief a written recommendation on whether to release any video. The chief has 48 hours to act.
Although such policies don’t always guarantee release of videos within a certain time frame, they set up a process that the public can understand, Levinson-Waldman said.
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“I think it speaks to the fact that there might be some other consideration that could mean the video is not appropriate to release,” she said. “At least having that process within a time certain, that is fairly short, that allows the release where possible, then at least there is much more information to the community or the city.
“I think having that process in place, where there has to be communication, is significant,” Levinson-Waldman added.
Chicago is more in line with the Los Angeles Police Department, which created a policy in 2018 that mandates release of relevant video within 45 days of the incident.
COPA, in response to questions from the Tribune about the need for a 60-day window, said it was committed to completing a full investigation — including interviews with all witnesses and review of all video — before any release.
The agency noted it has released video ahead of the 60-day period. But a Tribune review of two years of cases on the COPA website showed that most were posted on or just prior to the 60-day deadline.
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Sheley, from the ACLU, questioned why it consistently takes COPA 60 days to complete the work, and said this is further reason for the entire process to be reviewed.
“Memories recede over time. I would hope they are getting those interviews done in the first few days,” she said. “To have a consistent policy of 60 days for everybody suggests there is a delay with the interviews. ... We are definitely at a point where that policy needs to be looked at.
“I would say, yes, that is a long period for the public to wait for valuable information,” Sheley said.
University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman, who specializes in police accountability issues, believes COPA should release videos within days. He said the release should happen at least within 48 hours but no longer than 14 days from the time of the incident.
“The justification for ongoing secrecy with respect to just factual information about what happened on a scene gets pretty close to zero,” said Futterman. “Information ought to be made available promptly.”
That was the approach taken this past week by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who released bodycam footage less than a day after an officer shot and wounded a man in Chicago.
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The footage included images and sound from the bodycam of one of two officers present during the shooting, so it was not complete. The suspect is seen running from an officer. He then passes a second officer, who says, “Hold on, hey, hey.”
The suspect keeps running with what appears to be a gun in his hand. Several shots are heard and the suspect falls. According to the sheriff’s office, the other officer fired the shots. The next day, more footage was released from the bodycams of both officers, this time showing what preceded the shooting.
Dart’s office said in a statement afterward that there is no official policy on release of video evidence, but that the “standing practice” has been to release as much footage as they can in an effort to be “transparent and accountable.”
Partial footage was released initially to “provide as much information as quickly as possible so that the public can have a clear picture of how events unfolded.”
Chicago police have been met by criticism when they have released video soon after a shooting.
The case that drew the sharpest rebuke was the July 2018 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Harith Augustus by a Chicago police officer, which led to violent clashes between officers and protesters.
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Then-Superintendent Eddie Johnson released a snippet of video from an officer’s bodycam in an effort to calm the disturbances. “I have an obligation to this city, to the community and to these police officers to make sure this city is safe and calm,” Johnson told reporters at the time.
But the video, made available less than a day after the shooting, was under a minute and had no sound. Any verbal exchanges between Augustus and police were not captured.
The video appeared to show Augustus break away from officers and move his hand toward his waistband, where he had a holstered gun. That’s when an officer opened fire, striking Augustus as he appeared to run away, according to the video.
This led COPA’s chief administrator, Sydney Roberts, to write Johnson a scathing letter.
“This piecemeal and arguably narrative-driven video release breeds suspicions, which may ultimately undermine COPA’s ability to successfully investigate allegations of misconduct and officer-involved shootings — an outcome inconsistent with the city’s efforts at reform,” Roberts wrote to Johnson.
“The department electing to release video in an effort to quell public concern in this instance has the real potential to undermine the accountability process by establishing a dangerous precedent in which video is released only when it serves to justify the actions of Department members,” it added. “That would be a step backward, not forward, for Chicago’s transparency efforts.”
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Days after Brown talked about a quicker release of video, he released a statement Thursday supporting the current policy and referring further questions to COPA.
“As COPA is responsible for the collection and release of all evidence and materials related to an investigation, we will defer further questions on the video release policy to that department,” it read.
Chicago Tribune’s Laura Presa Rodriguez contributed.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
asweeney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-05--Police: Officers killed man who stabbed cop’s vest, lunged with knife on Southwest Side

According to COPA , the initial stabbing incident happened at 49th Street and LaCrosse Avenue while the suspect was found @ @ @ @ @ , where he was Tased and then shot after “ continuing to attack ” officers @ @ @ @ @ wearing body cameras , with a knife as they were trying to take him into @ @

Police work the scene where an officer shot a man in the 5000 block of West 50th Street in Vittum Park on Sep. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Police say the man had a knife and lunged toward an officer. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A man who stabbed someone and then allegedly stabbed a Chicago police officer in the vest was fatally shot by officers trying to arrest him on the Southwest Side early Saturday, police said.
The identity of the dead man had not been made public yet Saturday afternoon.
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Chicago Lawn District officers were called to the 4900 block of South Lavergne Avenue in the Vittum Park neighborhood about 1:40 a.m. for a call of a person stabbed.
The victim, a man, gave police a description of the suspect, and while officers were still speaking to him, a man approached a supervisor and allegedly stabbed the officer in the vest with a knife, according to Chicago police spokesman Sgt. Al Stinites, who spoke to reporters at the scene early Saturday, and Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) spokesman Ephraim Eaddy.
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Police spokesman Tom Ahern confirmed that was the same man who stabbed the victim.
During a struggle, the sergeant deployed a Taser, which hit the man, but he removed the prongs and lunged toward the sergeant with a knife. That’s when “additional units” fired shots at the man, who was dead on the scene, Stinitis said.
Police work the scene where an officer shot a man in the 5000 block of West 50th Street in Vittum Park on Sep. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Police say the man had a knife and lunged toward an officer. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
It was unclear how many shots were fired and how many times the man was struck.
COPA, which is investigating the incident to determine if the use of deadly force is in accordance with the Chicago Police Department’s policy, released a statement that said two officers fired shots that hit the man.
According to COPA, the initial stabbing incident happened at 49th Street and LaCrosse Avenue while the suspect was found nearby at 49th and Lavergne, where he was Tased and then shot after “continuing to attack” officers, all of whom were wearing body cameras, with a knife as they were trying to take him into custody.
COPA INVESTIGATES FATAL OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING NEAR 49th & LAVERGNE. pic.twitter.com/ptpSrm3x8B — COPA (@ChicagoCOPA) September 5, 2020
COPA will release all body-worn camera and third-party video, 911 calls, report and other material evidence “at the earliest point possible without compromise of the administrative investigation and no later than 60 days from the incident.”
The initial stabbing victim was taken to a hospital, but further information about him was not given.
Preliminary Statement on Police Involved Shooting in the 5000 block of W. 50th St. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/XLl82cfSUm — Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) September 5, 2020
Police recovered a knife, and three officers who were involved in the shooting, who were taken to a hospital for observation, will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-09-06--From wake-up calls to wellness checks, how CPS is trying to make sure no child is left disconnected

From wake-up calls to wellness checks, how CPS is trying to make sure no child is left disconnected as remote learning resumes Tuesday

“ We have been embarking on a pretty aggressive effort to reach out to those families that we know are @ @ @ @ @ Jackson said .
“ ... We started with the families who did not engage in @ @ @ @ @ .
We also identified students from vulnerable populations , justice-involved youth .
We ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ thousands of families to make sure that they know that the first day of school @ @ @ @ @ also see if there are any barriers that will preclude them from coming to school @ @

Eric Cochran, a social worker at Amundsen High School, said he's had "a lot of sleepless nights thinking about certain kids." (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Mather High School counselor Paige Stenzel finally found out through a student’s friend why he’d stopped participating in school: He’d started working a third-shift job to help support his family.
Stenzel decided to email the student with the new information, saying she was sorry if she was breaking anyone’s confidence, but she was worried about him and asked if they could come up with a plan to salvage the semester. There was still time to pass all his classes, she told him.
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“Once he realized he hadn’t ruined his entire life by having bad grades in one semester, he agreed to have a video conference with me, and we sat down and very specifically made a plan, like, ’You’re doing this assignment, you’re ignoring this assignment,’” Stenzel said. “... He’s going to go into his senior year on track to graduate.”
From exhausting phone trees and dropping off Chromebooks to calling police for wellness checks, social workers, counselors and other support staff in Chicago Public Schools have gone to great lengths to track down students who aren’t connecting with their schools during remote learning. They’ve encountered disconnected phone numbers and outdated addresses, and found students through siblings, friends and community partners. Some were missing school because of work or caretaking responsibilities. Others had a parent on a ventilator or a death in the family, temporarily went to a different state or were homeless.
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With a new school year starting remotely on Tuesday, school communities are redoubling their efforts, while also figuring out how to build new relationships virtually with incoming kindergartners and high school freshmen.
More centralized efforts have also involved security officers and family and community engagement specialists for the district, CPS CEO Janice Jackson said at a news conference Friday.
“We have been embarking on a pretty aggressive effort to reach out to those families that we know are hard to engage,” Jackson said. “... We started with the families who did not engage in remote learning in the spring. We also identified students from vulnerable populations, justice-involved youth. We’ve reached out to tens of thousands of families to make sure that they know that the first day of school is next Tuesday, to also see if there are any barriers that will preclude them from coming to school.”
Jackson said staff will also focus on prekindergarten, kindergarten and transition grades, because they’ve seen “some drop-off” among those groups in districts that have already started fall quarter. For any students who don’t log in Tuesday, CPS has an outreach plan.
“We will call those families, but then we will also activate student engagement teams at the school who will be able to go out and knock on doors,” Jackson said.
Low turnout for a counselor’s virtual “freshman connection” program emphasized that the transition between eighth and ninth grades will take extra work this year, Stenzel said.
“Instead of having 100 or 200 kids at freshman connection, you’re getting 50 to 70, and these students have not been here before,” Stenzel said. “Sophomores trust us, sophomores know us, and I am concerned about freshmen reaching out.”
Stenzel said Mather has tried offering incentives for students to stay connected with reasons to come by the school, such as picking up senior class T-shirts.
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Makeup sets and school supplies are picked up at Clay Elementary in Hegewisch. Schools sometimes use giveaways as incentives to bring students in for supplies and distanced school visits. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Outside Clay Elementary on Friday morning, student support manager Chavara Turner gave students cosmetics donated by Ulta and backpacks full of school supplies from Cradles to Crayons. Turner works for Communities In Schools of Chicago, which places 30 full-time staff members in Chicago schools, where they typically work with 40 to 50 students. The nonprofit also partners with more than 100 other schools.
Turner was used to seeing her students in person daily, helping them through times of grief or stress, or guiding them in staying on task and forming decision-making skills. The pandemic prompted more conversations about self-management, she said.
Self-management and awareness was already a goal for one eighth-grade student she’d been meeting with weekly, but he stopped engaging when remote learning started.
The school gave him a Chromebook, but Turner later learned his mom lost her job and they didn’t have internet access. The short-term solution: asking him to go to the school, sit outside, connect to Wi-Fi and submit and download materials. She also started daily calls to wake him up.
She asked, if he dropped out of eighth grade, would he be able to fulfill his goals, like being the first person in his immediate family to graduate from high school? Together, they made a road map for him to catch up and start working on skills he’d need to adapt for high school.
“He just needed someone to remind him to be accountable for himself, remind him this was an opportunity for him to shine,” Turner said.
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Chavara Turner, a student support manager with Communities In Schools of Chicago, gives away makeup sets and school supplies at Clay Elementary in Hegewisch on Friday. At right is student Mia Guerrero. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
In the first two months of the coronavirus school shutdown, CPS was unable to make contact with more than 2,250 students. By the end of the school year, and after the district broadened the definition of “contact” to include students who had logged into a Google platform at least once, that number was 559, with missing data for an additional 405 students.
In the end, Mather marked zero of its nearly 1,500 students “unable to contact.” But any given week, no contact was reported with 11% to 25% of students.
At Amundsen High School, which has a similar number of students, three students couldn’t be reached even once.
“There’s definitely been a lot of sleepless nights thinking about certain kids,” said Amundsen social worker Eric Cochran.
He was relieved recently to learn his part-time colleague would be made full-time. That means they can split the caseload of 149 students who have a required number of social work minutes each week, in addition to anyone else who needs help. He works closely with counselors and teachers, responding to crises or checking in on students who experience loss or trauma. Before, he had about 100 students, when the recommendation is about half that, he said.
The National Association of Social Workers recommends a ratio of 1 social worker for every 250 general education students, or 1 per 50 when they serve students with “intensive needs.”
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In the latest Chicago Teachers Union contract, CPS committed to phasing in a social worker in every school. This year the district has budgeted for hiring 44 social workers, bringing the total to 536.
Beyond working with students individually, Cochran said he typically runs more than a dozen groups, such as one focused on social skills for children with autism and another about anxiety tailored to girls. He encourages everyone to prioritize their mental health.
“We’ve had parents lose their jobs, the stressors have increased, and a lot of our kids have experienced a lot of trauma in their life,” he said. “... COVID has really messed with all our mental health, and we need to make sure to do things to ... try to stay positive, try to cope and handle things appropriately.”
Cochran emphasized that he wants parents to contact counselors and social workers if they ever have concerns about a student.
“Staying connected is really the most important,” he said. “A lot of our high school kids will say, ’Yeah, everything’s fine,’ and they’ll go to their room and they’ll do their own thing, but a lot of times they’re not doing OK.”
Aisha Kinslow, a CPS social worker who splits her time between two elementary schools, said she has a caseload of more than 60 students but works with many more.
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“You’re a social worker for the entire building, a resource for the entire building, staff included if they need help,” she said. It’s a lot to juggle, but she was able to connect with all of her students during remote learning and called each student’s parents at least weekly.
With the social isolation the pandemic has caused, any issues students were already facing have only been magnified, she said.
“It was a hard transition,” Kinslow said. “It’s just a challenge to be creative, to think of, how can I provide the services without being right there?”
She was struck by how many students last spring wanted remote learning to be more engaging and to have more group work. Some were overwhelmed amid distractions at home, while parents of children with autism told her the screen time was too much.
For the fall, she’s planning time-management activities along with the tips and coping skills she reviewed in the spring. With new students, she hopes to start out just getting to know them, introducing herself to a parent, figuring out their goals.
“I’m trying to think about that now, changing my whole outlook of how to provide services to kids during this time,” she said.
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Kinslow said she’s trying to work around parents’ schedules, sometimes adjusting her own, to make it as easy as possible for them to get their children the support they need.
Stenzel at times has found her workdays stretching to 8 or 10 p.m.
“You’re on your computer and you don’t get up, you’re getting a little obsessed with finding a student,” she said. “... It’s a lot of Nancy Drew stuff, but just making the connections.”
Sometimes the case doesn’t get solved: Prior to the pandemic, she worked with one senior on a plan to get back on track to graduate. But since schools shut down in March, she hasn’t heard from him.
“We had a plan, and I lost him,” Stenzel said. “You wonder where your students are and if they’re OK.”
Mather has five counselors, two social workers and a student support manager through CIS Chicago, Stenzel said.
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Stenzel is concerned more students didn’t reach out about their mental health. When students are in school, their peers and teachers see them every day and may notice if something is off. Students can drop in to a counselor’s office. Online, it’s hard to tell if they look OK, she said.
It’s not always clear how many missed online classes should be a red flag. When there’s concern about a student, reaching them can involve all of their teachers, the behavioral health department and school leaders. Stenzel said some of her colleagues used the summer to follow up with recent graduates and make sure they were able to keep their post-high school plans.
“CPS social workers are amazing,” Kinslow said. “I have some of the best colleagues, they’re so smart, they’re so creative. If I have a problem, all I have to do is call a colleague and I’ll figure it out.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com
This article was updated to reflect the finalized number of schools in which Communities In Schools of Chicago will place full-time staff members for the 2020-21 school year.


chicagotribune--2020-09-06--Marchers demand justice for Miguel Vega: ‘My family waits for the Chicago Police Department to show

Marchers demand justice for Miguel Vega: ‘My family waits for the Chicago Police Department to show their face and speak to us’

Erik Vega said his brother was unarmed when he was shot by an officer , and countered information police have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago police have said Vega was shot after officers were fired upon as they got @ @ @ @ @ about 10:45 p.m. Monday .
Officers had been responding to a call of a suspicious @ @ @ @ @ group of five people standing on the sidewalk , the department has said .

Activists lock arms while facing police officers dressed in riot gear during a rally to remember Miguel Vega at the intersection of 18th and South Loomis streets on Sept. 5, 2020, in Chicago. Vega was fatally shot by Chicago police on Aug. 31 in the 1300 block of West 19th Street, as police responded to a suspicious person call. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
More than 100 people marched through Pilsen on Saturday evening to protest the killing of Miguel Vega by Chicago police officers earlier this week, demanding justice and decrying the large police presence stationed around the protest.
The group first gathered at the corner of 18th and Loomis streets, just a couple of blocks from where Vega was shot and killed Monday night in the 1300 block of West 19th Street. They sang and prayed together and chanted Vega’s name.
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“My family waits for the Chicago Police Department to show their face and speak to us,” Erik Vega, a younger brother of Miguel’s, told the crowd.
Erik Vega pauses while addressing activists during a rally to remember his older brother, Miguel Vega, at Plaza Tenochtitlan in the 1800 block of South Loomis Street on Sept. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Erik Vega said his brother was unarmed when he was shot by an officer, and countered information police have released about the shooting. Chicago police have said Vega was shot after officers were fired upon as they got out of their unmarked car about 10:45 p.m. Monday. Officers had been responding to a call of a suspicious person when they noticed a group of five people standing on the sidewalk, the department has said.
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“I am very angry he had to go this way,” Vega said.
The protesters marched east on 18th Street past shops, restaurants and bars, chanting, “Say his name. Miguel Vega.”
Dozens of officers wearing blue helmets and carrying shields lined the sidewalk while protesters marched in the street. Officers on bicycles cycled along, blocking the marchers at cross streets.
Police officers use bicycles to form a barrier during a rally to remember Miguel Vega at the intersection of 18th and South Loomis streets on Sept. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Speakers at the event pointed to the large police presence relative to the crowd and said the protest was peaceful.
“There’s no riot here. Why are you in riot gear?” marchers chanted at the officers as they marched through the neighborhood.
The crowd circled back through the neighborhood and returned to 18th and Loomis, where they crowded in the intersection and offered condolences and cries for justice for Vega’s family members. Police officers blocked protesters from marching farther.
Carmen, who did not give a last name, hugs a relative of Miguel Vega during a rally in his memory at Plaza Tenochtitlan in the 1800 block of South Loomis Street on Sept. 5, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
“Put your f------ baton away,” a marcher cried out as officers flanked the crowd.
The group chanted at officers to release body camera footage of the shooting, and a speaker asked the marchers to turn away from police and instead offer support to Vega’s family.
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Videos of the shooting will be released through the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which is investigating the shooting. The city has 60 days, generally, to make the videos publicly available.
Vega, a father of two, had no record of gun charges. He was the oldest of four and lived with his parents in Calumet City, though he grew up in the Pilsen area on the same block where he was killed, his family said.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-06--Feds: Militia members face gun charges after traveling to Kenosha to see Trump, witness riots and po

Feds: Militia members face gun charges after traveling to Kenosha to see Trump, witness riots and possibly ‘pick people off’

Karmo told FBI agents he and Smith were part of the 417 Second Amendment Militia and planned next to go @ @ @ @ @ to see for themselves what was going on .
Karmo allegedly said that he would @ @ @ @ @ action ” if police were defunded .

Robert A. Cronkleton, The Kansas City Star

Supporters of President Donald Trump wait to see his motorcade pass through Kenosha, Wis., Sept. 1, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times)
KANSAS CITY — Two southern Missouri men who said they traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to see President Donald Trump’s visit and proof of rioting face federal gun charges, according to a criminal complaint.
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin charged 40-year-old Michael M. Karmo and 33-year-old Cody E. Smith with illegally possessing firearms at a hotel near Kenosha, in Pleasant Prairie.
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Karmo told FBI agents he and Smith were part of the 417 Second Amendment Militia and planned next to go to Portland, Oregon, to see for themselves what was going on. Karmo allegedly said that he would be willing to “take action” if police were defunded.
Both men were prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to prior convictions. Karmo has prior felony convictions. Smith has a prior misdemeanor domestic battery conviction and acknowledged regular drug use, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
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A screenshot of an image Michael Karmo and Cody Smity allegedly sent before their arrest. (U.S. Attorney's Office/TNS)/TNS)
Karmo is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Smith is charged with aiding and abetting a felon’s possession of firearms and two counts of possession of firearms and ammunition by a prohibited person.
According to the complaint, the FBI arrested the two roommates from Hartville, Missouri, after law enforcement officials received a tip that the men had traveled to Kenosha armed with firearms allegedly to loot and possibly “pick people off.”
Karmo allegedly told a witness that he was going to Kenosha “with the intention of possibly using the firearms on people,” according to the complaint. The witness feared Karmo “was not in the right mindset to have a firearm” because of his increase in “conspiracy theory talks and other ‘crazy’ political talk.”
The tipster shared photos and text messages from Karmo that showed him holding a rifle with another man holding a shotgun. Karmo sent another photo of a rifle with a drum-style magazine in it with the message, “This is a game changer.”
Protests and violence erupted in the city after a Kenosha police officer shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake in the back seven times, leaving him paralyzed on Aug. 23.
The violence peaked the night of Aug. 25 when two protesters were shot and killed and another was injured. A teenager from Illinois, Kyle Rittenhouse, is facing homicide charges.
[ ‘Boogaloo Bois’ face terrorism charges in Minnesota for allegedly trying to sell silencers to Hamas, offering to be ‘mercenaries’ ]
The FBI had tracked Karmo and Smith and detained them about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in a hotel parking lot.
After receiving consent to search the men’s 2019 Toyota Highlander and hotel room, the FBI found several firearms, a homemade silencer, magazines with ammunition, body armor and other items.
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According to the criminal complaint, the two men left two handguns locked in the glove compartment of their vehicle. After the rally, the men went back to their hotel, with plans to return to Kenosha that night, but FBI agents stopped them, the complaint says.
During questioning, Smith told the FBI they attended a rally for Trump outside a high school in Kenosha. Smith also said they wanted to see proof of rioting. Afterwards, they intended to travel to Detroit, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Karmo told FBI agents he and Smith worked together and had been roommates for about four weeks.
Karmo denied owning any firearms and said he had not shot a gun for many years. He said Smith brought all of his guns. Karmo also claimed he never carried a pistol and that he only brought body armor and a drone on their trip.
The Associated Press contributed


chicagotribune--2020-09-06--Five police shootings in Chicago in two months, but no video released on any of them.  Is it taking


chicagotribune--2020-09-04--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Sept. 4 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

The statement , which has not yet been finalized , is meant to reassure the public that the companies will @ @ @ @ @ of vaccines under political pressure from the Trump administration .
President Donald Trump has pushed @ @ @ @ @ available by October — just before the presidential election — and a growing number of @ @ @ @ @ health experts have expressed concern over what they see as a pattern of political arm-twisting @ @ @ @ @ its efforts to combat the virus .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
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)
The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday there was significant slowdown in the agency’s test reporting earlier this week that it is just catching up with. That resulted in a unusually high daily count of both newly diagnosed cases, 5,368, and tests, 149,273.
State public health officials said the slowdown in data processing was due to the “large volume of COVID-19 testing.” The slowdown only affected the number of tests the state reported having been conducted, and did not affect the reporting of results to people who had been tested, officials said.
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The state also reported 29 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday.
Additionally, Lake County landed on the Illinois Department of Public Health weekly coronavirus warning list on Friday, one of 29 counties the state put on alert leading into Labor Day weekend.
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Suburban Cook County was not on the weekly list, though it had been a week earlier.
Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview this week that Illinois and a half-dozen other states with increasing COVID-19 numbers are at risk for a surge in cases over Labor Day weekend, according to Bloomberg.
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
3:53 p.m.: Illinois employers warn of another round of mass layoffs as some companies make temporary furloughs permanent
An airline catering company and travel plaza operator were among employers warning of layoffs and furloughs in August that will affect 1,980 employees, according to a report by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
That number is down from the prior month’s report, which warned of over 17,000 layoffs in Illinois. The July report included notification of pending layoffs of thousands of United Airlines workers in Illinois Oct. 1. Earlier this week, the Chicago-based airline said it planned to furlough more than 16,000 employees nationally Oct. 1 unless it receives more federal aid.
Sky Chefs, Inc., which provides catering for airlines, said it will lay off 335 workers in Cook County beginning Oct. 1. The announcement is part of a spate of mass layoffs made by travel and hospitality companies.
Read more here. —Katie Surma
2:43 p.m.: With work and school remote, people are moving into Midwestern vacation homes full-time — and paying top dollar for pandemic-friendly features
Home sales and prices are skyrocketing in popular drive-to weekend destinations within a 300-mile radius of Chicago. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves from crisis to chronic, the appeal of a remote, off-the-grid vacation place for getting away from it all has been replaced by homebuyers’ determination to transplant work and school to an airier locale — complete with broadband access.
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Read more here. —Joanne Cleaver
2:33 p.m.: Bus contractors, uniform suppliers, trophy makers: Many Chicago-area companies feel the pain as students start the year from home
With students largely beginning the year from home, school districts are cutting back and canceling services from photographers, bus companies, trophy makers and food service providers. Some vendors have shifted operations, taking first-day pictures outside and creating boxed meals for students attending class remotely this fall in order to weather the financial challenges.
But if remote learning creeps into next year, it might send some companies to the brink of closure.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
1:46 p.m.: Fauci warns that Illinois and six other states are at higher risk for a COVID-19 surge over Labor Day weekend, report says
The nation’s top infectious disease expert warned that Illinois and a half-dozen other states with increasing COVID-19 numbers are at risk for a surge in cases over Labor Day weekend, according to Bloomberg.
“There are several states that are at risk for surging, namely North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview this week, Bloomberg reported. “Those states are starting to see an increase in the percent positive of their testing; that is generally predictive that there’s going to be a problem.”
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Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
1:01 p.m.: Lake County among 29 counties now on Illinois COVID-19 warning list
Lake County landed on the Illinois Department of Public Health weekly coronavirus warning list on Friday, one of 29 counties the state put on alert leading into Labor Day weekend.
Suburban Cook County was not on the weekly list, though it had been a week earlier.
State public health officials attributed a rise in cases and outbreaks in the warning list counties to college parties, bars and clubs, weddings, schools and a lack of physical distancing and mask-wearing in public places.
This week’s list also included Boone, Bureau, Clinton, Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Greene, Henry, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Lawrence, Madison, McLean, Monroe, Pulaski, Randolph, Rock Island, Shelby, Stark, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Warren, Williamson and Will counties.
Public health officials also said some people are refusing to participate in contact tracing efforts to identify those who may have come into contact with an infected person by not providing information on their close contacts or not answering the phone, while others have attributed symptoms to allergies or another cause and have delayed getting tested.
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The Illinois Department of Public Health has been putting counties at a warning level when two or more measurements showing a possible resurgence in coronavirus surpass state thresholds, such as clusters of cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
12:15 p.m.: 5,368 new known COVID-19 cases reported after significant slowdown in test reporting
The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday there was significant slowdown in the agency’s test reporting earlier this week that it is just catching up with. That resulted in a unusually high daily count of both newly diagnosed cases, 5,368, and tests, 149,273.
State public health officials said the slowdown in data processing was due to the “large volume of COVID-19 testing.” The slowdown only affected the number of tests the state reported having been conducted, and did not affect the reporting of results to people who had been tested, officials said.
Officials said it became clear there was a slowdown on Tuesday, when 22,961 daily tests were reported statewide, which is significantly lower than recently reported daily numbers.
Derek Lindblom, the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health testing team, said he’s not concerned about another slowdown because of system upgrades made Thursday.”
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This became clear we needed to do an upgrade to the system, the upgrades that occurred yesterday should give us room to process significantly more tests into the future as we continue to raise the number of tests per day we’re doing in Illinois,” Lindblom said.
There were 47,379 tests reported by the state Monday from the previous 24-hour period, and daily testing numbers have surpassed 50,000 in recent weeks.
The state also reported 29 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday.
The numbers reported Friday raise the totals the state is reporting to 245,371 known cases and 8,143 deaths throughout the course of the pandemic. More than 4.3 million tests have been reported in the state to date.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
12:04 p.m.: Minnesota man who attended Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is first COVID-19 death tied to the South Dakota event
A Minnesota man is the first person known to have died of COVID-19 after attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month. Health officials worried that the 10-day rally could become a superspreader event because it brought together hundreds of thousands of people, many showing little attention to social distancing or mask wearing.
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State health officials in Minnesota confirmed the death, saying the man was in his 60s and had underlying health conditions; he had been hospitalized for several weeks, they said.
South Dakota has seen sharp increases in coronavirus cases since the rally in Sturgis, a small town north of Rapid City in the western part of the state. And cases linked to the rally have been reported in as many as 12 other states; Minnesota alone has confirmed more than 50 cases traced back to the Sturgis rally, officials said.
Read more here. —The New York Times
12:01 p.m.: CPS touts record high graduation rates despite pandemic school shutdown
With Latino students driving the trend, Chicago Public Schools students have reached a record-high five-year graduation rate of 82.5%, district leaders announced Friday.
The rate got a boost in part from a new method used to calculate the percentage of graduates. Under the old methodology, it would have been 80.8%.
”Our charge now is to keep this success going as we embark on this unprecedented school year,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday in announcing the new rates “To every CPS student and parent, I promise you this: We are not sitting this year out. No matter the obstacles ahead, we will continue our march forward until every one of Chicago’s young people finishes high school with a diploma in hand and a plan on what they’re going to do next.”
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The district also announced the 10 high school with the high rates.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
11:44 a.m.: Working from home or out of work? Here’s what you need to know now for next year’s tax season.
Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, next year’s tax season could bring some unpleasant surprises for people whose work life has been upended by office closures and job loss.
Whether working from home or unemployed, experts say taxpayers should take steps now to avoid confusion come tax day.
“It’s kind of a mess,” said Mark Mazur, the director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “The [tax] rules that have been in place for a long time didn’t contemplate the current situation.”
Here’s what to know in order to avoid headaches later on.
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Read more here. —Katie Surma
11:38 a.m.: As CPS begins virtual learning, back-to-school events provide school supplies, even amid burglary setback
On Saturday, Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings in the Englewood area (MASK) and Hyde Park-based Brown Books and Paintbrushes are holding back-to-school events in Chicago. Katie Miller , a volunteer with MASK, said its effort is necessary at a time when so many families are struggling.
The story took a twist now that MASK is also working to recoup losses from a burglary discovered on September 3, which resulted in damaged property and missing school supplies.
Read more here. —Milan Polk
10:51 a.m.: Refrigerated van offers local nonprofit a way to tackle food insecurity worsened by COVID-19
In just the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, food and clothing pantry Care for Real registered more new clients than it did in all of 2019 — and those numbers are not declining, said Nancy Meyerson, board chair of the nonprofit. Almost six months in, she said lines to get food are still up to an hour long. And with dozens of neighborhood food pantries closing, Care for Real has had to pick up the slack, expanding beyond its home base in Edgewater to serve Rogers Park residents through pop-up locations.
“The need right now has grown so quickly,” Meyerson said.
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According to a Feeding America projection, up to 54 million people may be food insecure this year due to the effects of COVID-19, with one in seven Cook County residents experiencing food insecurity at least once in 2020.
Read more here. —Lauren Leazenby
10:19 a.m.: Lake County officials fear holiday gatherings could bring back coronavirus restrictions
As Labor Day approached, Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister worried northeastern Illinois could see some restrictions used to combat the coronavirus pandemic reimposed if this weekend is anything like the days surrounding the July 4 holiday.
With Lake County’s positivity rate sitting at 5.9 percent Wednesday because people are gathering in larger groups without wearing masks or socially distancing, Pfister fears a lack of thoughtful behavior over the Labor Day weekend could bring restrictions not seen since May.
”We were doing well in June, but we had an increase of cases over the Fourth of July weekend,” he said. “With Labor Day coming, people really need to follow three Ws so we don’t have to roll back what we’ve opened up.”
Wearing a mask or face covering, washing hands and watching the distance between others are the “three Ws” Pfister said he continually suggests to people as the universal response to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
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Should there be a significant increase in the positivity rate, the number of deaths, the number of cases per 100,000 persons or some combination of those metrics, he said Lake County could be placed on alert. Grundy, Will and suburban Cook counties already are.
Read more here. —Steve Sadin
9:07 a.m.: Chicago ‘Tamale Guy’ Claudio Velez’s COVID-19 condition is improving, family says his restaurant will reopen soon
Claudio Velez, owner of the namesake new restaurant, Tamale Guy Chicago, remains hospitalized with COVID-19. While his condition cautiously improves, a GoFundMe created for medical expenses will end, and the business will reopen soon.
“My dad has made some positive improvement,” said Osmar Abad, Velez’s oldest son, Thursday night. “He’s still in ICU and still connected to a ventilator, but he made a milestone improvement today. We’re hoping that those continue, and that he’s out of the red zone officially soon.”
Velez sold warm tamales from a familiar red cooler at neighborhood bars on the North Side of the city for roughly 20 years. After the statewide coronavirus stay-at-home order forced the closure of bars and restaurants in March, the city shut down Velez’s continued tamale deliveries due to lack of licensing in May.
Fans raised more than $36,000 through a GoFundMe support campaign that stated, “I don’t know about you, but when life gets back to some kind of normal, I would really like for Claudio and his tamales to be there.”
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Read more here. —Louisa Chu
8:26 a.m.: US unemployment rate falls to 8.4%, though hiring slowing and recovery incomplete
The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in August to 8.4% from 10.2% even as hiring slowed, with employers adding the fewest jobs since the pandemic began.
Employers added 1.4 million jobs, the Labor Department said, down from 1.7 million in July. The U.S. economy has recovered about half the 22 million jobs lost to the pandemic.
Friday’s report added to evidence that nearly six months after the coronavirus paralyzed the country, the economy is mounting only a fitful recovery. From small businesses to hotels, restaurants, airlines and entertainment venues, a wide spectrum of companies are struggling to survive the loss of customers with confirmed viral cases still high.
After an epic collapse in the spring, when the economy shrank at a roughly 30% annual rate, growth has been rebounding as states have reopened at least parts of their economies. Yet the recovery remains far from complete.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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7:47 a.m.: ‘We are preparing for the worst’: Chicago-area hospitals brace for flu and COVID-19 to collide
With a new flu season approaching, Chicago-area hospitals are bracing for a possible onslaught of both flu and COVID-19 patients.
Hospital leaders hope this flu season will be mild, especially because many people are keeping their distance from others, washing their hands more often and wearing masks.
Another hopeful sign: Experts often look to the Southern Hemisphere, which has an earlier flu season than the U.S., for clues about what to expect, and the flu season there has been light.
Still, there are no guarantees.
If cases of the flu and COVID-19 rise simultaneously, there are worries that resources at area hospitals could be squeezed.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
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6:49 a.m.: Park Ridge business owner closes doors for staff ‘mental health day’ after incidents of confrontational customers: ‘We’re not the mask police’
The owner of two Uptown Park Ridge businesses says he was driven to briefly close his doors so employees could take a “mental health day” following a week of issues involving confrontational customers.
Beer on the Wall and Off the Wall Cafe, both located on Main Street, posted messages to customers on Facebook stating that the businesses would be closed on Sept. 1 following what was described as a “rough” week. According to owner Ryan Tracy, the week included two threats against servers who were trying to enforce a no-dog policy on the outdoor patio, a man who wanted to fight the host of a trivia night who had disqualified one of the teams, and confrontations between angry customers.
“Frankly, we’ve had enough of it,” the messages read. “We’re not the mask police, we actually love dogs and each day we make it a priority to send each and every customer home feeling safe about their visit — simple as that. You may have different thoughts on our procedures and that’s fine, but while you’re here, it’s our rules and if we’ve got our backs turned, you can help us by politely addressing your fellow humans if you feel uncomfortable (and then reaching out to us if things escalate).”
Read more here. —Jennifer Johnson
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories from Thursday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-09-07--Teaching to empty classrooms: For some educators, giving lessons from school to students watching fr

Teaching to empty classrooms: For some educators, giving lessons from school to students watching from home ‘helps it look and feel more normal’

“ Being able to teach in the lab , my students can see and hear what I ’ m trying @ @ @ @ @ and begin to develop a skill set , ” Hibner said .
“ They are @ @ @ @ @ they can actually see me operating a machine , and listen to the sound of @ @ @ @ @ being able to teach from the lab is the best way to educate our students @ @ @ @ @ pandemic and are all back together again .
”

Jay Sullivan teaches a remote class in auto mechanics from a lab at Schaumburg High while students follow from home. He said he's thankful to be back in the building for its resources and to connect with colleagues. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
When the abrupt closing of schools last spring turned his living room into his classroom, MacArthur Middle School teacher Joe Behun staged the space by tidying up his coffee table and aiming the camera at a potted plant in the background.
Still, he said, “it just felt wrong doing my job here, even though I was very mindful about what it looked like for my students.”
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Now Behun is excited to be back at the Prospect Heights school, where he delivers his English, language arts and social studies lessons from an empty classroom, with his students restricted to the laptop in front of him.
“For my students, being able to see their classroom, and having a snapshot of school, rather than their teacher’s kitchen or laundry room, helps it look and feel more normal for the kids,” Behun said. “Our classrooms are decorated, and we’re ready to welcome our students back, whenever the pandemic metrics allow us to.”
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When school districts across the Chicago area scuttled plans to reopen school buildings, officials said the last-minute shift to remote learning was imperative to ensure the health and safety of students and teachers.
Many teachers unions applauded the shift, saying that bringing students and teachers together for in-person instruction could be dangerous and even deadly. But the pivot to remote learning was unpopular among many parents who’d hoped for classrooms to reopen. Some parents — as well as President Donald Trump — suggested teachers should be considered essential workers and should instruct from their school buildings.
Schaumburg High School applied technology teacher Jay Sullivan gives lessons in auto mechanics on camera at school while students watch from home. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Now, in some suburban districts, the new school year has begun with a different kind of remote learning: The students are still at home, but the majority of teachers are back in the classroom.
“When I was teaching in my kitchen last spring, someone commented on the Lysol wipes I had on my counter, and I was like, ’Oh, wow, I better pick another spot,’ so I flipped the laptop around so it would face out to my backyard,” MacArthur Middle School math teacher Marilyn Nelson said. “Teaching from home became very limiting, especially as I didn’t have access to my materials, which in my case is 23 years of binders and other stuff.”
At Palatine High School, teacher Mark Hibner is delivering his applied technology lessons this fall from the high school’s manufacturing lab, reaching his students in real time — which educators refer to as synchronized instruction — as the teens join in remote learning classes from their homes.
“Being able to teach in the lab, my students can see and hear what I’m trying to have them learn, and begin to develop a skill set,” Hibner said. “They are fully engrossed in learning when they can actually see me operating a machine, and listen to the sound of it. For me, being able to teach from the lab is the best way to educate our students until we get through this pandemic and are all back together again.”
While school districts including Prospect Heights School District 23 and Township High School District 211 are asking teachers to return to the classrooms to deliver remote lessons to students, some officials, including those at New Trier High School, are letting their teachers decide.
At New Trier — where officials have begun the new school year with remote learning, with plans to gradually bring students back on campus — less than 10% of the high school’s more than 400 teachers opted to begin the first day of school last month in their classrooms in Winnetka and Northfield.
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“The first day of school, there were some teachers on campus, but it was a teacher’s choice, and at their professional discretion,” said Peter Tragos, New Trier’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
The high school plans to a hybrid model later this fall, with a phased-in return for both students and teachers, Tragos said.
“In order for teachers to connect with kids, they need to build relationships, which is really first and foremost,” said Tragos, who said teachers will begin returning to the high school in the coming weeks, setting up their new classrooms prior to the arrival of their students..
Still, some teachers say that even without the students present, having teachers and support staff members return to school buildings defeats the purpose of remote learning.
When Pam Kramer was told she would be delivering remote lessons this fall, the longtime educator said the gnawing fear and anxiety that had haunted her all summer was replaced with excitement about starting the new school year.
But Kramer, 64, who said she has underlying health issues, was dismayed when she learned her remote instruction duties will require her to teach her dual language and gifted students half of the day in her empty classroom at Red Oak Elementary School in Highland Park.
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“No part of my job teaching remote lessons requires me to be in a school building,” said Kramer, who said her request for a health-related accommodation to teach the remote lessons from her home was denied by officials with North Shore School District 112.
Kramer said demanding that teachers deliver instruction from classrooms, even without students, will bring school employees into buildings where they are sharing common spaces, such as bathrooms and lunchrooms, where the virus can easily spread.
“They didn’t give a reason, they just refused my request, which is really insulting,” Kramer said. “It makes me want to ask them, ‘Do you not trust your teachers?’”
But, school district administrators who have asked teachers to deliver remote lessons from the classroom say such decisions were made after careful consideration, and underscore the need to provide a sense of normalcy and security for students, whose lives have been upended since schools were abruptly shut last March.
“We have a hybrid learning, all-hands-on-deck philosophy, and that includes students, teachers and administrators coming back into the buildings, because we all need to be there safely as a collective school district family,” North Shore District 112 Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld said.
After a district survey found that about 87% of parents wanted their children back in school for at least part of the day, officials crafted a hybrid learning plan that brings in groups of students during morning and afternoon sessions for lessons in math and reading, while limiting the number of children in a school building at any given time.
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The plan also incorporates a remote learning component, where children learn online from home, while teachers deliver the lessons from their classrooms.
While school district officials can’t comment on personnel issues involving specific employees, Lubelfeld said teacher accommodation requests are handled on a case-by-case basis and include a careful review of whether a claim falls under Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, the Family and Medical Leave Act or new regulations prompted by the coronavirus.
The district also plans to spend roughly $3.4 million on what Lubelfeld described as coronavirus “risk mitigation,” such as purchasing personal protective equipment and making upgrades to buildings, including $850,000 in recent improvements to the HVAC systems at the district’s school buildings.
“We want our staff to feel as comfortable and safe as possible by mitigating risks, which we can continue to do while also fulfilling our moral obligations to our students,” Lubelfeld said. “One of the greatest risks facing the community in Highland Park and Highwood began last March, when schools were closed, and students lost the structure, routine and predictable routine of school.”
Of course, students are not the only members of school communities who are struggling during the pandemic.
Applied technology teacher Jay Sullivan and Assistant Principal Michele Napier greet students on Zoom from Schaumburg High School's auto lab onn Aug. 28. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Schaumburg High School applied technology teacher Jay Sullivan said that when the campus abruptly closed last spring, he felt bereft over the lack of closure, especially with his graduating seniors.
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“I felt almost despair, that this was their last semester, and not being able to come to a resolution with all of these students I had relationships with was very difficult for me,” he said.
Now, with the start of the new school year, Sullivan is back teaching remote lessons from the high school’s auto lab, as well as enjoying masked and socially distanced chats with his colleagues between classes.
“I was not worried about teaching from my classroom, and I’m just thankful to be back in the building,” Sullivan said. “We have new software, and I’m teaching my students in real time, which feels pretty remarkable.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-09-07--On Labor Day, supporters optimistic about completing Pullman National Monument work: ‘A game changer

On Labor Day, supporters optimistic about completing Pullman National Monument work: ‘A game changer for our community’

“ What we always try to put in perspective is , as the National Park Service says — we ’ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Doig said .
“ So this is going to have to stand the @ @ @ @ @ so even though it ’ s taken a while , I think the long-term benefits @ @ @ @ @ over the next century and beyond .
”

Officials attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the visitor center and factory grounds at Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site on Labor Day in Chicago, Sept. 6, 2021. The Pullman National Monument was established by President Barack Obama in 2015 to preserve and interpret the historic model industrial community that played a pivotal role in the history of the American labor movement. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
A Labor Day celebration is planned Monday to commemorate another stop along the journey of the Pullman National Monument to full-fledged attraction.
State and local officials, as well as project stakeholders, were expected to speak near the clock tower building and sprawling factory grounds, a fitting location for a holiday spurred by the labor movement.
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Monday’s small gathering, more than a century after the 1894 strike and landmark unionization and labor victory of the African American Pullman porters, marks the groundbreaking of more site work under the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which owns surrounding grounds and buildings.
“This is going to set the stage for the visitors who come to Pullman,” said the monument’s superintendent, Teri Gage.
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In February, supporters gathered at Hotel Florence five years after then-President Barack Obama designated the historic neighborhood a national monument. More than $34 million in public and private funds had been raised for the renovation of the clock tower building, once nearly destroyed by arson, and the factory grounds. A $5.8 million contract was awarded to minority-owned Griggs Mitchell & Alma of Illinois to stabilize the tower building and develop the visitors center, the National Park Service announced.
President Barack Obama embraces Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Feb. 19, 2015, before speaking about the designation of Chicago's historic Pullman district as a national monument at Brooks College Preparatory Academy in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune)
That work is now well underway, Gage said, and she’s “cautiously optimistic” about a target grand opening set for late August 2021.
The site has continued to operate through the summer and is still open and accessible to visitors, Gage said. Tours of the Arcade Park area have been shortened and group sizes are limited.
Construction has been moving along, said David Doig, president of developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.
“What we always try to put in perspective is, as the National Park Service says — we’re in the forever business,” Doig said. “So this is going to have to stand the test of time. And so even though it’s taken a while, I think the long-term benefits of that will play out over the next century and beyond.”
And, Doig said, “The real celebration will be next year when we cut the ribbon.”
The renovated Clock Tower and Administration Building in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood is seen through a corroded gate on Feb. 10, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
George Pullman’s namesake neighborhood, once an industrial hub and model town, was long prioritized by supporters who pushed for its revitalization. But even after the site was named a national monument, progress was slow. Industrial waste needed to be cleaned up, more funding was needed and work was delayed after several federal government shutdowns and a state budget standoff.
The February event brought supporters closer to completing the monument’s renovations on high-priority historic buildings, which are estimated to bring 300,000 visitors annually once they’re open to the public.
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Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, said the chance to highlight the monument’s progress on Labor Day was “extremely satisfying and gratifying.”
“The community is growing, but to actually have something of this magnitude happen is really going to be a game changer for our community,” Beale said. “I think people don’t want to be left out of the success story that Pullman has to offer.”
There are always financial challenges, Beale said, but he hopes funding continues to come through on the state and federal levels. But, he said, “It’s not ‘hopefully.’ We’re going to open it next year.”
Planning and design experts tour the historic Pullman factory on April 16, 2015, before a series of public meetings about the project's future. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Colleen Callahan, director of IDNR, said the groundbreaking presents an opportunity to reflect on history and look forward.
“Here we are 126 years later,” Callahan said. “The Pullman car workers walked off the job, went on strike, and that influenced and really foreshadowed our nation’s labor and civil rights movements, as well as the creation of Labor Day itself as a national holiday.”
The progress at the monument feels personal, Callahan said, because her grandpa worked on the Illinois Central Railroad, repairing hotboxes. “It was dirty, greasy work,” she said. “But he kept the trains running.”
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And, Callahan said, “He always wore union-made coveralls, or bibs, and he would point out to me the union label.”
When the visitors center at the clock tower opens, it will include historical exhibits recounting Pullman’s history, Callahan said.
“Not only as a model town, but as that labor mecca.”


chicagotribune--2020-09-07--From death row to model inmate, Renaldo Hudson set free after 37 years. ’I was preparing to die. I w

From death row to model inmate, Renaldo Hudson set free after 37 years. ’I was preparing to die. I wasn’t preparing for this moment.’

“ When my transformation started , you have to understand , I was preparing to die , ” Hudson said @ @ @ @ @ after he arrived at the Chicago ministry where he will begin his new life .
@ @ @ @ @ preparing for this moment … for a chance to be set free .
And , @ @ @ @ @ for me .
My transformation was that I didn ’ t want to die being @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t want to die knowing that no one cared .
”

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Renaldo Hudson, 56, released from Danville Correctional Center earlier in the day, reaches out to hug his attorney, Jenny Soble, upon arriving at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago on Sept. 2, 2020. He spent 37 years in prison and Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted him clemency. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Nearly four decades ago, 19-year-old Renaldo Hudson talked his way into the South Side apartment of a retired carpenter under the guise of fixing a broken light fixture.
Instead, in a drug-fueled robbery plot, Hudson stabbed the elderly man dozens of times, then set his apartment ablaze to hide what he had done. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to die, a punishment later commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
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As time passed, the violent, angry teenager grew into a model prisoner and mentor to other inmates. A grade school dropout unable to read or write when he entered prison, Hudson created a statewide essay contest that resulted in a book, started a prison newspaper and helped develop other rehabilitative programs. Three years ago, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian studies.
Renaldo Hudson stands outside his apartment provided by Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago, after saying goodbye to his friend, Evan Griffith, whom he met while they were on death row. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
His road to redemption began when he still was on death row and culminated last Wednesday when, at 56, he walked out of a medium-security prison in downstate Illinois and became a free man for the first time since 1983. Gov. J.B. Pritzker commuted Hudson’s life sentence to time served in the latest round of executive clemency decisions since the COVID-19 public health crisis began.
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“When my transformation started, you have to understand, I was preparing to die,” Hudson said in a Tribune interview shortly after he arrived at the Chicago ministry where he will begin his new life. “I wasn’t preparing for this moment … for a chance to be set free. And, so, my transformation was for me. My transformation was that I didn’t want to die being good for nothing. I didn’t want to die knowing that no one cared.”
Since March, the governor has commuted the sentences or pardoned about 50 men and women convicted of crimes that date to 1978 and range from cannabis possession to murder, state records show. The Illinois Department of Corrections also has granted the early release of about 2,200 inmates through various means in the past six months.
Pritzker has faced pressure and lawsuits from prison reform advocates urging the release of elderly or ill inmates during the COVID-19 outbreak, which has led to the deaths of 14 inmates. But the governor also has taken heat from Illinois House Republicans, who criticized his administration for releasing some prisoners with violent crimes and for not being more transparent.
Hudson’s attorney with the Illinois Prison Project, Jennifer Soble, cited the pandemic as reason for the emergency clemency request. He has heart disease, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, sciatic nerve damage and vision issues, according to the petition. Soble also argued Hudson’s decades of incarceration and record of achievement merit his release.
Cellmate Santiago Garcia gave this sketch to Renaldo Hudson, 56, the evening before his release from the Danville Correctional Center. (Santiago Garcia )
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx did not object, her office confirmed. And state prison officials have long lauded Hudson’s accomplishments.
Hudson, who admits his guilt and makes no excuses for his crime, said he wants to continue to support prisoners, build more rehabilitation opportunities and show the public many are not a lost cause.
“It would be shameful for me to forget the fact that there’s a lot of good people in prison without a voice,” he said. “I want to use whatever platform I have to say to people, ‘Give us a chance.’”
Turbulent childhood
Hudson had a troubled upbringing, the details of which “puts even the most hyperbolic Dickensian narrative to shame,” his petition said.
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His mother left when he was about 1. Hudson and his siblings grew up in squalor, often without food or supervision. The children were shuffled between relatives’ overcrowded homes on the city’s South Side and the Kankakee area and suffered abuse, including being beaten with planks of wood, belts and electrical cords, according to the petition and trial testimony.
A twin brother, Ronald, fell to his death down a flight of stairs when Hudson was 7. At 15, an older teen brother wounded Hudson during a shooting rampage in which several family members were shot, two of them fatally. William Hudson Jr., 57, is serving a life sentence for the murders, state records show.
Renaldo Hudson dropped out of school after the sixth grade after attending a half-dozen elementary schools. He could not spell simple words, like “apple,” he said.
“I functioned through memorizing things,” he said. “When I went to the store, I would remember the little girl in yellow with the umbrella (to) identify the kind of salt my father wanted me to buy or the different symbols on the rice box. Those are the types of things I used to navigate through life.”
He was homeless by 16, with frequent run-ins with the law, and used alcohol and drugs like PCP and cocaine. Despite his lot in life, Hudson said there is no explanation for what he did next.
‘A horrible death’
In June 1983, Hudson said he occasionally slept at his father’s studio apartment, where his stepmother and an aunt also lived.
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His father, who did odd jobs in the complex to pay rent, had mentioned an elderly neighbor one floor below whose light fixture needed repair. Hudson, convinced the man had a million dollars stashed in his mattress, said he hatched a plan to rob him.
On the evening of June 6, after finishing half a pint of brandy and smoking marijuana laced with cocaine, the 19-year-old Hudson posed as a repairman and attacked Folke Peterson after the 72-year-old World War II Army veteran let him inside his South Shore apartment.
The retired, immigrant carpenter lived alone, public record show. He suffered some 60 stab wounds, which Hudson inflicted over several hours before igniting a fire and going back to his father’s apartment with a few blood-soaked dollar bills and some old watches, silver and other items, according to court records.
Hudson confessed that morning after his aunt discovered some of the stolen property and alerted authorities. His attorneys raised an insanity defense, citing the effects of childhood traumas, psychotropic drugs and untreated mental health problems.
Hudson’s first trial in 1985 ended in a hung jury. He was convicted and sentenced to death after his second trial. He went to prison in 1990, spending nearly 13 years on death row until 2003, when then-Gov. George Ryan commuted all death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011.
Now, Hudson said he remains awash with regret and remorse when thinking about the pain he inflicted.
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“I will not attempt to make excuses,” Hudson said. “It was a horrible, horrible thing. My intent was to rob him and to run away and be happy in my warped mindset at that time. But I can’t excuse my brokenness for a horrible decision that I made.”
He continued, “That’s a difficult thing to realize that you’re the person completely responsible for the death of someone and then such a horrible death.”
A light bulb moment
Hudson said he started to change his mindset in 1994, about four years after arriving on death row.
He was in solitary confinement after throwing scalding water in a correctional officer’s face that September. A conversation with the warden, who called him out for blaming his violent choices on his past, challenging him to do better, resonated with him.
After getting out of the segregation unit, Hudson said another inmate shared a tape of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who posed questions like, “Who are you good for and are you good for nothing?” and asked if anyone would care if he died, Hudson said.
Renaldo Hudson, right, meets Minister Louis Farrakhan, center, at the Stateville Correctional Center in 2004. (Provided by Renaldo Hudson)
“It was a light bulb going off in my head and almost like a bomb just exploded in my heart,” he recalled. “From that moment to this moment, I’ve been striving to say I want someone to care when I close my eyes for the last time.”
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He began a religious conversion, first practicing the tenets of Islam, and eventually Christianity. He taught himself to read and write and learned to paint.
He long ago was moved from a maximum-security prison to a medium-level facility and has not had a disciplinary ticket in more than 20 years, state records show. His clemency petition packet is filled with diplomas, certificates and proof of the leadership roles he held behind bars, including as a chaplain specialist. Hudson earned a high school equivalency degree in 2006 and a college associate degree in 2008, graduating from a community college program in substance-abuse counseling in 2012 and becoming certified as a literacy tutor.
He was behind a 2003 essay contest that asked prisoners to answer the question, “Who am I and what can I do better?” It was made into a book of essays, proceeds from which were donated to the families of murder victims. He next created “Stateville Speaks,” a quarterly newspaper written and published by inmates. And, in 2018, he co-founded a peer mentorship program called Building Block, now with nearly 500 participants.
Renaldo Hudson gives a peer lesson inside Danville Correctional Center earlier this year. (Provided by Renaldo Hudson)
One year earlier, in May 2017, he received his bachelor’s degree.
This past March, in a speech to graduating cadets becoming correctional officers, IDOC chief of staff Camile Lindsay praised Hudson’s achievements, saying, in part, “He came to IDOC and could not read or write and yet he now has a college degree and has transformed his life and the lives of others.”
Hudson gained a wide circle of supporters, including Bill Ryan, a well-known criminal justice advocate and death penalty abolitionist. In a letter to Pritzker in the clemency petition packet, Ryan said Hudson has served his debt to society and is “a beacon of hope for many.”
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Hudson found an unlikely ally in Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins. She became an outspoken victims’ rights advocate following the 1990 slaying of her pregnant sister and brother-in-law in their Winnetka home. Though she also is anti-death penalty, Bishop-Jenkins often opposes early releases and has never supported a clemency request, until Renaldo Hudson.
Both she and Ryan not only wrote letters of support to the governor, they offered Hudson a place to live inside their homes. It was Bishop-Jenkins who drove him from the downstate prison back home to Chicago on Sept. 2.
Second chances
Hudson is living at the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. The nonprofit has a mission focused on restorative justice and helping those affected by violence. He must serve three years of mandatory supervised release.
The Tribune could not locate members of Peterson’s family for comment. None ever objected in Hudson’s appeals and clemency requests, according to court records. Peterson is buried in Iowa, where an older brother lived at the time of the murder. He died in 1997.
Renaldo Hudson reads the different welcome signs after arriving among friends and supporters at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago on Sept. 2, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Hudson knows he cannot fully atone for his crime. He is thankful to the governor, his supporters and the Illinois Prison Project, which Soble said is responsibility for 16 of the recent clemency and pardon orders. He’s especially grateful to her.
Hudson said he is excited to do what may seem to others simple acts, including voting in the upcoming presidential election. He has kept up with the news, especially the civil unrest of recent months. He hopes to reconnect with family, including the imprisoned brother who shot him in 1979. Hudson said he began writing to him long ago and offered his forgiveness.
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Looking back, Hudson said he initially wanted to change simply to be at peace when he was executed. As the decades passed, he allowed himself to feel hope for a future. Asked if he thinks he is deserving of a second chance, Hudson stopped short of answering, not wanting to disrespect his victim’s memory.
Hudson said he will not squander this opportunity. His goals center around helping other prisoners win release and changing the public’s perception that few are redeemable. He is most proud of the young men he mentored to ensure they don’t repeat the mistakes of his youth, and wants to continue sharing an anti-violence message.
“I don’t think I’m more deserving than anyone else,” he said, “and I’m humbled that I have been chosen.”
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-07--On this Labor Day in the midst of a pandemic, our front-line and essential workers are the heroes

In the 18th century , workers had no rights and they were often abused .
The average unskilled American worked @ @ @ @ @ seven days a week just to earn a decent living .
It was commonplace to @ @ @ @ @ 4 or 5 toiling away in the textile mills .
Employers actually preferred children because @ @ @ @ @ , and they could pay them very little and in many cases , no wages @ @ @

Americans often take Labor Day for granted. It is one of those ambiguous holidays that we know has something to do with workers but in modern times has come to symbolize the end of summer.
We use the holiday as a marker for moving from one season to the next, often regrettably. By the time the first Monday in September arrives, it is too late to take that great summer vacation we’ve dreamed about or surprise the kids with a trip to Disney World.
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Labor Day puts us on notice that it is time to get back into the mindset required for nine months of school and work ahead. In other words, it signals the return to normal.
But not this year. COVID-19 destroyed our sense of normalcy. The pandemic stole our summer and much of our spring. The lockdowns and restrictions caused our days to flow one into the other with no real sense of distinction.
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Though summer does not officially end until Sept. 22, Labor Day reminds us that winter is on the horizon. And COVID-19 threatens to hit us just as hard or worse than before.
We tried to make the best of summer with the few opportunities we had, but there is little about it to cherish. There will be fewer backyard cookouts on Monday, and parades and festivals are canceled.
Businesses, crippled by the shutdown and again by looting, are cautiously creeping toward reopening. But thousands of jobs remain in jeopardy. Many are gone for good. The American workplace is unstable and high unemployment has left families at risk.
So this year we should return to observing the holiday’s original purpose — recognizing the American worker. We can start with those who toiled under the most difficult circumstances to help us through the pandemic, often with low wages and little time off.
Our front-line and essential workers are the heroes of this crisis. These unselfish doctors, nurses and other health care workers, grocery store clerks, public transit workers, mail carriers, grocery, meal and package deliverers deserve to be honored Monday.
Even if we just take a moment to say thank you when we’re at the grocery store checkout, it would be a thoughtful acknowledgment.
Of course, these modern-day employees were not the intended beneficiaries of Labor Day when it became an official federal holiday in 1894. It recognized the factory employees, miners, railroad workers who were the essential workers in America’s Industrial Revolution.
It was one of the many ugly periods of our nation’s history, but industrialization also helped America thrive.
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In the 18th century, workers had no rights and they were often abused. The average unskilled American worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week just to earn a decent living. It was commonplace to see children as young or 4 or 5 toiling away in the textile mills. Employers actually preferred children because they were easier to manage, and they could pay them very little and in many cases, no wages at all.
The period gave rise to unions and thankfully, those days are behind us. But when it comes to providing decent wages for many of the people who keep our country up and running in times of crisis, America still lags behind.
Many of the essential workers during the pandemic earn minimum wage, which in some states isn’t enough to keep them out of poverty. That is shameful in a country as prosperous as ours.
Still, over the past few months, these workers rose to the occasion. We could not have filled our pantries without the people who worked overnight stocking grocery store aisles so that when we arrived in the morning, there would be an array of fresh vegetables from which to choose.
For the elderly and those with chronic illnesses who could not risk leaving home, grocery shoppers did all the work, sorting through piles of tomatoes or bananas to choose the perfect ones just as we would have done ourselves. When items were out of stock, they texted photos of possible substitutions and allowed us to choose.
Doctors, nurses and aides left their families behind to attend to the sick in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, even when there were insufficient masks, gowns, gloves and other protective gear to shield them from the virus.
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As the COVID-19 numbers spiked, they worked around the clock. Some stayed in hotels so as not to expose vulnerable relatives at home. Many of them got sick. Some of them died.
Many essential workers depend on public transportation. So bus drivers, train conductors, taxi drivers and ride-share drivers donned their masks and took them wherever they needed to go.
Through it all, mail carriers delivered our letters every day. Amazon, UPS and FedEx brought the packages we ordered online and left them at our door.
Because of these workers, life was a little bit easier for the rest of us during the pandemic. We were able to stay healthy because they put their own health at risk. We can’t forget their sacrifices.
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It is easy to get testy these days, given the strain of the pandemic. We sometimes forget that we owe so much to these workers who often go unnoticed. Sometimes we’re rude.
I have a confession. At the grocery store one day, I snapped at a clerk who summoned me from a long checkout line with a cashier to the self-checkout station. I followed her, thinking she was going to open a new register. But she left me on my own.
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Fearing exposure to the virus by touching keypads and other surfaces, I told her that she should have allowed me to stay where I was. She explained that she was just trying to be helpful and move the line along. I wasn’t rude, but I wasn’t kind either.
I plan to return to the store on Monday to look for her, though I’m sure she won’t remember me. But I will apologize anyway and thank her for her service.
This Labor Day shouldn’t be spent brooding over how awful life has been. It should be about letting people like her know that we never could have made it without them.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-09-07--Man accused of killing girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter held on $1 million bond

Terrance Space , who had been dating Lehlani ’ s mother since February , has been charged with first-degree murder @ @ @ @ @ killing .
Space was allegedly the only person watching the child at his home in @ @ @ @ @ p.m. to midnight Friday when the injuries were inflicted , prosecutors said .

A judge on Sunday ordered a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter held on a $1 million bond.
Lehlani Edwards died of multiple injuries from child abuse, including a lacerated liver, hemorrhaging to the adrenal gland and other internal injuries, according to prosecutors.
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Terrance Space, 23, is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of 3-year-old Lehlani Edwards. (Chicago Police Department)
Terrance Space, who had been dating Lehlani’s mother since February, has been charged with first-degree murder in the child’s killing. Space was allegedly the only person watching the child at his home in the Austin neighborhood from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday when the injuries were inflicted, prosecutors said.
Around midnight Friday, Space called Lehlani’s mother and told her the child would not wake up. The mother came over from her building, where surveillance video shows she had been all night, and called 911.
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Space told his girlfriend he could not be there when the cops arrived, according to prosecutors, and left the home.
Lehlani was transported to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and pronounced dead at 1:21 a.m. In addition to the internal injuries, Lehlani had bruises and scratches on her face, arms and torso, according to the state.
Prosecutors said Space admitted to being alone with the child that night but did not admit to causing the injuries.
Space was unable to appear in bond court Sunday as he was being treated in St. Anthony Hospital for Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a severe skin condition.