chicagotribune--2020-07-10--AJ Freund’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, faces up to 60 years in prison at sentencing for murder of 5-y

AJ Freund’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, faces up to 60 years in prison at sentencing for murder of 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy

When AJ was born , the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took the infant into custody because his @ @ @ @ @ body .
The couple regained custody of him when he was 20 months old .
@ @ @ @ @ that but left AJ at the mercy of his abusive parents .

JoAnn Cunningham leaves courtroom 302 after a status hearing with Judge Robert Wilbrandt at the McHenry County Courthouse on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Woodstock. In December she plead guilty to killing her 5-year-old son, AJ Freund. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, 2020. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The morning that 5-year-old AJ Freund was reported missing, police said, they noticed that the door to his room locked from the outside with a sliding chain. The windows were screwed shut. Inside the room were mouse droppings.
His mother, JoAnn Cunningham, claimed she put her son to bed the night before, and the next morning he was gone.
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She had actually beaten AJ to death days earlier, prosecutors said. His body was discovered wrapped in plastic and buried in a remote area 7 miles away from his home in Crystal Lake.
Faced with extensive evidence against her, Cunningham pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in December, after eight months of denial. After once pleading for the public to help find the son she had killed, Cunningham will submit her fate to a judge Thursday.
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Prosecutors will seek the maximum available sentence of 60 years in prison. While Illinois no longer allows the death penalty, a 60-year sentence served at 100% likely would amount to life in prison for the 37-year-old Cunningham.
Andrew "AJ" Freund, playing with toy cars, during a family event in McHenry County. (Family photo)
AJ’s tragic story gained national attention after his parents reported him missing April 15, 2019. A break in the case came when the FBI and Crystal Lake police checked the iPhone of AJ’s father, Andrew Freund, and found an online search for “child CPR” at 3 a.m. April 15, prosecutors said.
When questioned, Andrew Freund told investigators AJ had died the night of April 14 after Cunningham was hitting him and forced him into a cold shower. AJ was put to bed, but that morning the couple found the boy dead, and Freund later buried him.
At the plea hearing, prosecutors submitted an 11-page statement outlining the extensive evidence against Cunningham, and the abuse, both physical and verbal, she inflicted on her son.
Prosecutors disclosed a video from Cunningham’s phone dated March 27, 2019, which shows Cunningham choking AJ against a bathroom wall and screaming in his ear after he threatened to get her in trouble. When AJ told her, “I just don’t want a family,” she replied, “You don’t have one.”
The report also cited AJ’s autopsy, which found he died of multiple blows to the head, with cuts and bruises across his body and limbs, and marks on his face matching a detachable shower head. He also had inhaled blood into his lungs.
Andrew Freund, 61, was also charged with murder. Freund told investigators that Cunningham beat the child, but he failed to stop it. Under Illinois law, prosecutors have indicated, that would make both of them accountable for murder.
Andrew Freund’s attorney, Henry Sugden, said he was working for a plea deal in his client’s case.
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 Police investigators carry evidence-gathering supplies out of a home on Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake, April 19, 2019. Five-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund, who lived at the house, has been reported missing. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Cunningham has two other sons and a daughter, who was born while Cunningham was in jail after being charged with killing AJ. Cunningham’s children were the subject of at least 10 child abuse hotline complaints.
When AJ was born, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took the infant into custody because his mother had heroin in her body. The couple regained custody of him when he was 20 months old. DCFS repeatedly investigated incidents after that but left AJ at the mercy of his abusive parents.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said prosecutors would present evidence to support the maximum sentence, including victim impact statements from family members.
One of Cunningham’s attorneys, Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos, declined to comment.
The hearing will likely be held in the county’s largest courtroom, with social distancing and masks required for those attending, and a video camera streaming live coverage to an overflow room in the courthouse.
In the aftermath of AJ’s death, three child welfare employees who worked on the case no longer have their jobs.
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Investigator Carlos Acosta and his supervisor, Andrew Polovin, were recommended for dismissal, and either fired or quit after an internal disciplinary process by DCFS. Acosta is a member of the McHenry County Board.
A third worker, Kathleen Gold, who investigated a hotline complaint involving AJ from March 21, 2018, resigned.
A report by the DCFS inspector general found, “It was because of the indifference and incompetence of the department’s child protection investigators and supervisor that the opportunity to alter this family’s disastrous course was missed.”
Partly in response to the tragedy, DCFS has since increased its budget, training and hiring, adding more than 200 staff members.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Illinois coronavirus graphs: 7,144 deaths, 151,767 confirmed cases, 1.91 million tests, 4.04% positi

Illinois coronavirus graphs: 7,144 deaths, 151,767 confirmed cases, 1.91 million tests, 4.04% positivity rate for Chicago area

Illinois announced 1,317 new cases of COVID-19 Friday , the second day in a row with more than 1,000 casts @ @ @ @ @ new deaths and the results of 32,987 tests .

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


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Chicago bars and restaurants must close by midnight  to help prevent COVID-19 spread

“ Closing early is definitely going to affect us at all locations , some more than others , ” he @ @ @ @ @ simply adjust and evolve as we always have .
It will be interesting to see @ @ @ @ @ will more permanently impact our dining and entertainment habits in the long term and what @ @ @ @ @ if folks become accustomed to going out earlier rather than later in the evening .
@

The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago on Friday was tightening hours for any establishments that serve alcohol, requiring them to close at midnight to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, as officials announced 17 businesses have been cited for violating restrictions since June 3.
The city already had restricted alcohol sales in restaurants and bars, requiring them to stop serving at 11 p.m., with stores that sell alcohol for offsite consumption required to end sales at 9 p.m.
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“While the vast majority of establishments are following regulations and taking important preventative steps, this directive will minimize the spread of COVID-19 by preventing late-night congregating that could occur after the cutoff of alcohol sales,” according to a news release from the mayor’s office.
Several restaurant and bar owners contacted for comment said the midnight go-home directive would not have an impact since alcohol sales had already been shut down by 11 p.m. But Nick Kokonas, co-owner of The Alinea Group, lamented the change.
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[ Coronavirus-inspired dish at Alinea draws backlash. Chef Grant Achatz explains his intent. ]
“This (midnight closing) will further stress the already fragile nature of a business that usually does 350 people on a Friday or Saturday night and can now only do 60,” Kokonas said in an email. The Alinea Group operates several Chicago restaurants, including Alinea and Next, which have yet to reopen for on-premise dining, and AIR: Alinea in Residence, a rooftop pop-up that opened recently.
The group has announced its famed cocktail bar, Aviary, will reopen, but when asked if the change would affect that plan, Kokonas said: “Every single part of the operations except the To Go sales are day to day.” Tock, the reservation platform, pivoted to add Tock To Go, and online takeout ordering service, during the early days of the pandemic shutdown.
“The only thing I’m confident about past Saturday is To Go,” Kokonas said. “Everything else is quite literally day to day. The field and rules and pandemic are changing every day.”
[ 19 Chicago restaurants are opening or reopening as industry continues to emerge in coronavirus era ]
Mike Roper, owner of Hopleaf, one of Chicago’s most popular beer bars, said the new closing time will have some impact on bars, but not much.
“Some places are letting people linger,” Roper said. “Some are probably letting people order a few drinks before 11 so they can keep drinking for a while. We have found that our crowd dwindles early so we stop serving food and drink at 9 and are clearing the house at 10. With our limited staff it keeps the hours down and focuses our open hours on peak demand times.”
Daniel Alonso, founder and managing partner of Bonhomme Hospitality, which operates several Chicago restaurants including two locations of Beatnik, plus Celeste and the recently launched Mama Delia, a reconcept in the former Black Bull space, applauded the change.
“It’s the right move,” Alonso said via email. “I’d rather we remain open overall, operating for a few less hours a day now, to prevent and control the spread of COVID proactively than have to close completely again.”
“Closing early is definitely going to affect us at all locations, some more than others,” he said. “We will simply adjust and evolve as we always have. It will be interesting to see if the earlier closing times will more permanently impact our dining and entertainment habits in the long term and what the societal impact will be if folks become accustomed to going out earlier rather than later in the evening.”
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Restaurants that serve liquor can only do curbside pickup or delivery after midnight and those that don’t serve liquor aren’t held to the same restrictions.
The city also announced that since June 3, when restaurants could reopen for outdoor service, the city has issued 81 warnings and 17 citations to businesses, ordering the immediate closure of one business, after conducting 483 investigations following 1,112 complaints.
Fines for violating reopening regulations can be up to $10,000 and the immediate closing of a business.
Phil Vettel and Josh Noel contributed to this article.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--‘Person of interest’ held but shooter at large following exchange of gunfire with Chicago police in

‘Person of interest’ held but shooter at large following exchange of gunfire with Chicago police in East Garfield Park neighborhood; no one injured

Immediately after this , officers were able to take a person into custody who wasn ’ t the shooter but @ @ @ @ @ person was being interviewed by detectives , but no charges have been filed .

Police exchanged gunfire with someone Friday morning in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, but no one was injured and the person who fired shots at police was still being sought Friday afternoon, a police spokesman said.
The exchange of gunfire happened about 7:40 a.m. Friday in the 700 block of North Trumbull Avenue, according to police.
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SWAT members remained on the scene Friday afternoon, “out of an abundance of caution,” to make sure “that there’s no suspects left in the area,” because the shooter was still at large, said police spokesman Tom Ahern.
No one was hurt during the shootout, which included several bursts of gunfire.
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“Multiple rounds were fired at and by the police,” Ahern said.
Shortly before 8 a.m., officers were conducting a narcotics investigation outside when they encountered a gunman who began firing at officers. “They returned fire,‘' Ahern said, adding that there were no “hits.”
Immediately after this, officers were able to take a person into custody who wasn’t the shooter but was possibly involved. This person was being interviewed by detectives, but no charges have been filed.
On Friday afternoon, SWAT members and evidence technicians remained on the scene processing the multiple shell casings that were recovered.
Officers were also going door to door interviewing neighbors to see if they saw or heard anything and to retrieve any surveillance video or cellphone video, Ahern said.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Overnight storms cause extensive wind damage, power outages in Elgin, Libertyville

High winds “ knocked down some tree branches , knocked down some trees onto power lines and various other communication @ @ @ @ @ people ’ s yards and on the sidewalk , that was the extent of the @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Couple other roads were blocked , but we had our public works crew @ @ @ @ @ into this morning to make sure people could get to where they needed to go @ @

Overnight storms downed tree limbs and caused power outages along north Douglas Avenue in the Spring Douglas Historic District of Elgin on July 10, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After a stretch of days in the Chicago area with temperatures topping 90 degrees, Thursday storms were supposed to bring a reprieve from the dry heat. But heavy rain and wind gusts caused widespread damage to trees and power lines in some suburbs Thursday night.
Around 52,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were affected by the storms, according to a ComEd social media post early Friday. By 10 a.m. Friday, more than 8,000 customers were still experiencing outages, according to the ComEd outage map.
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Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago-area office, said his office received reports of wind damage in Elgin and South Elgin. Ogorek said another swath of damage was reported along a line from Palatine to Libertyville.
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Ogorek said there were no thunderstorms forecast for Friday, though there’s a “very small chance we could see a severe thunderstorm or two” Saturday in the southwest part of the Chicago area.
Winds in the Elgin and Libertyville areas on Thursday were about 50 mph, enough to knock down the average tree, Ogorek said. It is also the threshold for issuing a severe thunderstorm warning, he said.
Photos taken by Tribune staff in Elgin showed numerous trees downed throughout the city, especially in the Spring Douglas Historic District. Storms most greatly affected neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area, according to an Elgin news release.
Bob Wilson carries broken branches out to the street after a tree limb fell on the picket fence in front of his family's home along the 600 block of Douglas Avenue in Elgin on July 10, 2020. Many trees were down in the Spring Douglas Historic District in Elgin. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Elgin city crews started responding to calls for service around 7 p.m. Thursday, the news release said. Elgin emergency services received more than 300 calls, mostly for storm issues, and Elgin 311 received more than 100 calls for forestry services, according to the news release.
The Elgin release didn’t specify how many trees were felled or damaged in the storm.
Michael Pakosta, Libertyville deputy fire chief, said high winds came through town a little after 8 p.m. Thursday.
High winds “knocked down some tree branches, knocked down some trees onto power lines and various other communication lines, trees down in people’s yards and on the sidewalk, that was the extent of the damage,” Pakosta said. “Couple other roads were blocked, but we had our public works crew working throughout the evening and into this morning to make sure people could get to where they needed to go.”
Pakosta said the department received about 20 calls related to the storm between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. About 120 Libertyville residents were still without power as of Friday morning, according to Pakosta.
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Libertyville will have neighboring communities assist with storm damage pickup due to the volume of the damage, according to a Libertyville news release.
According to Ogorek, a weather phenomenon called a microburst caused the storms in Elgin and Libertyville on Thursday night. When thunderstorms form, air rises into the thunderstorm cloud, Ogorek explained. A strong enough updraft can suspend precipitation in the cloud, he said.
“Eventually over time, the amount of precipitation in that cloud builds up until that updraft can no longer hold it,” Ogorek said. “At that point, you can get basically a burst of precipitation falling to the ground. When it hits the ground, it spreads out and can produce gusty winds that can down trees if it’s strong enough.”
People should take shelter indoors if they see lightning or hear thunder, Ogorek advised.
“Make sure you’re not outside, where you can be susceptible to dangerous lightning and even hail,” he said. “Definitely don’t want to be standing underneath a tree during a thunderstorm because of the possibility of strong winds knocking it down or lightning striking it. When thunder roars, head indoors.”
Check the Tribune’s weather page for forecast updates.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Chicago Catholic schools to require masks, temperature checks when students return this fall

School employees also will need to adhere to the indoor mask requirement .
Students younger than 2 years old do @ @ @ @ @ , the school system announced .
Other students can only remove their masks during some @ @ @ @ @ recess , but must stay distant from one another .

Kindergarteners answer questions from transplant nurse Vanessa Flores as she visits St. Pius V Elementary School in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood during career day at the school on Jan. 28, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
When more than 70,000 students who attend Roman Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago return to in-person classes this fall, they’ll be required to wear masks indoors and get temperature checks before entering their building each day, under plans announced Friday.
Students also must adhere to designated pickup, drop-off and walking routes, and they will remain in assigned cohorts with the same classmates throughout the day, according to a news release. Catholic schools in the archdiocese, which covers Cook and Lake counties, possibly will have scattered start dates ranging from August through early September, a spokesman said.
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“We believe that in-person instruction is the best way to benefit our students and are committed to providing that instruction in a safe manner,” said Jim Rigg, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools.
The details came after Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, announced last month that fall classes would happen in person. The school system decided to switch to online instruction March 13 to combat the spread of coronavirus.
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Families can still choose for their children to continue online learning this fall, the archdiocese said in the release.
“We have worked hard to provide a reopening plan that recognizes the great benefits of in-school instruction and still expresses our commitment to the preservation of human life,” Cupich said.
School employees also will need to adhere to the indoor mask requirement. Students younger than 2 years old do not need to wear masks, the school system announced. Other students can only remove their masks during some activities, including lunch and recess, but must stay distant from one another.
Temperature checks will happen each day when students enter their school buildings. Parents also are asked to check their children’s temperature each day.
Students with symptoms or diagnoses of COVID-19 will need to quarantine and get medical help before returning to school.
The plan was devised by the archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Schools, which worked with a COVID-19 task force that consisted of state and local officials, medical experts, priests, parents and principals, the release said.
The archdiocese said there is a possibility its schools would close again if the state sees a “significant rise” in coronavirus cases.
sczyzon@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--PPP loans were meant to help small businesses save jobs amid the pandemic. So why does official data

PPP loans were meant to help small businesses save jobs amid the pandemic. So why does official data show thousands of recipients retained zero jobs?

Those discrepancies seem to be the result of inconsistent data reporting .
Though loan applications asked for the number of @ @ @ @ @ and lenders could provide data on jobs retained upon submitting the applications to the government @ @ @ @ @ that businesses provide that information , said Small Business Administration spokeswoman Jessica Mayle .
Businesses @ @ @ @ @ the jobs data in order to receive loan forgiveness because they will have to show @ @ @ @ @ have and how much they paid them , she said .

Quest Food employees left, Maria Velazquez and Angela Cesareo unload packaged meals to be placed into individual paper bags for distribution to low income students at a drive-thru set up at Maine West High School in Des Plaines on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
When Quest Food Management Services was approved for a forgivable federal loan to help it preserve jobs during the pandemic, the Lombard-based company, which supplies meals to schools throughout the Chicago area, was so grateful that it issued a news release celebrating its ability to keep more than 830 people employed.
But data released Monday by the Small Business Administration detailing who received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program did not tie any jobs to Quest’s $5.3 million loan. Like tens of thousands of other loan recipients listed in the official government data, the line item for “jobs retained” at Quest was listed as 0.
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In fact, Quest’s loan was one of about 20 $5 million to $10 million loans awarded to Illinois companies that listed zero jobs retained.
For a program meant to help small businesses preserve jobs amid government-mandated shutdowns and the general economic upheaval caused by COVID-19, those zeros can look alarming. In many cases they are also wrong — raising questions about the reliability of the data showing how billions in taxpayer dollars are being used.
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[ 27,412 Illinois companies got PPP loans of more than $150,000: Search our database ]
Quest Food President Nicholas Saccaro said the loan money allowed the company to call back 832 employees who were furloughed when schools shut down, restore the full hours of 250 employees who had been working reduced schedules and keep paying their health benefits. He said the company reported those numbers in its loan application, but they didn’t show up in the government’s tally.
“We spent every single penny on employee pay,” Saccaro said. “We didn’t use a penny of it on anything but payroll.”
Quest Food employee Diana Dietze stores meals into a tray for distribution to low income students at Maine West High School in Des Plaines on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The Paycheck Protection Program, launched April 3, offered loans up to $10 million to help small businesses maintain payroll, hire back employees and cover rent and other overhead as the nation faced mass layoffs and spiking unemployment. The loan will be forgiven if 60% is used on payroll over the course of 24 weeks. As of June 30, 4.9 million PPP loans worth $521.5 billion had been approved nationwide, including 202,000 worth $22.5 billion in Illinois.
But more than 550,000 recipients, including more than 9,500 in Illinois, were listed in the official government data as having retained zero jobs. Nearly 50,000 of those recipients nationally, and nearly 1,000 in Illinois, received loans of more than $150,000.
While some companies may not plan to use the money for payroll, in which case they must pay it back, several Illinois companies contacted by the Tribune said their PPP loans were used to retain jobs despite the data suggesting otherwise.
[ From museums and restaurants to law firms and supermarkets, thousands of Chicago-area businesses got PPP loans worth $1 million or more ]
Those discrepancies seem to be the result of inconsistent data reporting. Though loan applications asked for the number of employees a company has, and lenders could provide data on jobs retained upon submitting the applications to the government, it was not mandatory that businesses provide that information, said Small Business Administration spokeswoman Jessica Mayle. Businesses will be required to provide the jobs data in order to receive loan forgiveness because they will have to show lenders how many employees they have and how much they paid them, she said.
The data gaps concern government accountability groups. Taxpayers need to feel confident their money is being used as intended, said Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog based in Washington, D.C.
“It’s really important for government, particularly when they’re handing out cash, to make sure we get all the information, particularly on the front end because that’s when people will be most forthcoming rather than relying on getting it on the back end,” Ellis said.
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Employers that availed themselves of the program should also be forthcoming about why they need the money and how they plan to use it, said Ellis, whose own organization received $175,000 in PPP loans to retain nine jobs.
“If a company truly is not retaining any employees, the question is, Why did you get the loan and when will you pay it back?” he said. “And it has to be asked of the banks, Why did you approve these loans if it didn’t say how many jobs would be retained?”
[ Which parts of the Chicago area got the most PPP loans? Check out this ZIP code analysis. ]
More than 5,400 banks were involved in processing PPP loans. In Illinois alone, 230 lenders were responsible for loans that showed zero jobs retained in the government data, according to a Tribune analysis. Celtic Banking Corp., based in Salt Lake City, was behind 20% of them. The bank did not respond to a request for comment.
Quest Food employees package meals for distribution at Maine West High School in Des Plaines on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Saccaro, at Quest Food, said he was surprised to see his loan among those reporting no jobs retained, but figures it was a glitch that may be tied to the fact that the company has more than 500 employees. PPP loans are meant for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, but food and hospitality companies were able to count each physical location separately.
Quest, which operates in 90 schools as well as some higher education institutions and corporations, saw revenues plunge 85% when Illinois mandated school closures in mid-March to stem the spread of COVID-19.
The PPP money allowed the company to pay its workforce for the rest of the school year, and as a result of keeping them engaged during that time Saccaro is optimistic he can bring everyone back in the fall, even if schools are operating at reduced capacity.
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BMO Harris, which processed Quest’s application, is working with the Small Business Administration to address any errors as quickly as possible, said BMO spokesman Patrick O’Herlihy. As of Friday, the error had been corrected with the government, the bank said.
BMO was involved in 2% of the Illinois loans that reported zero jobs retained, according to a Tribune analysis.
The questionable jobs retention data has added to the scrutiny of whether PPP money went to businesses that need it most. Though 85% of the loans were for less than $150,000, some big loans went to big-name businesses that likely could access commercial loans.
Chicago-based real estate brokerage Baird & Warner was among the bigger fish to get a loan and had zero jobs retained listed in the government data. But the company submitted paperwork listing 413 jobs to be covered by the loan, according to Marty Bozarch, chief financial officer. He isn’t sure why that data was missing but chalks it up to a glitch.
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Eighty percent of Baird’s $5.8 million loan went to covering the salaries of all full-time staff in its brokerage, title service and mortgage services businesses, who support more than 2,400 real estate agents and loan officers in the area, Bozarch said in an emailed statement. The rest was used for operating expenses, including rent for its 30-plus office locations.
A.M. Castle, an Oak Brook-based distributor of steel and other metals, got $10 million in PPP loans, and was also listed in the government data as retaining zero jobs even though a company spokesman said its application indicated retention of 580 jobs. The company, which is public, qualified for the loan under a rule that defines a small business based on net worth and net income rather than number of employees. The retained jobs are across its 11 U.S. locations.
The Chicago law firm Much Shelist, which has 180 employees, was another recipient of a large loan with no jobs listed as being retained. The loan allowed it to keep all of its employees, many of whose daily responsibilities were substantially diminished by remote working, said managing partner Mitchell Roth.
“We have been able to maintain salaries for our attorneys and professional staff, as well as pay rent for our office space that has been closed since mid-March,” Roth said in an email. “We care deeply about our employees and our community, and the loan has been instrumental in helping us take care of our Much family, preserve our culture and continue to provide the same levels of service to our clients.”
R.J. O’Brien & Associates, a large futures brokerage based in Chicago, had no jobs retention number attached to the PPP loan it received, also in the $5 million to $10 million range. It declined to provide any information beyond the following statement:
“Amidst the early days of the pandemic, and with information available to us at the time, RJO determined that applying for loans under the SBA Paycheck Protection Program was a prudent course of action to support the economy and use the funds in accordance with the Program to remain at full employment,” said the statement from Jim Gabriele, senior managing director and chief financial officer. “RJO has been and continues to be financially strong, fully operational, and in compliance with all regulatory requirements for the benefit of our customers and employees.”
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Quest Food employees Kerri Creachbaum, from left, Diana Dietze, Maria Velazquez and Angela Cesareo, package meals for distribution to low-income students at Maine West High School in Des Plaines on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Ralph Martire, executive director of the Chicago-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, blames the flawed data on sloppy federal reporting requirements and the highly decentralized application process. Relying on thousands of lenders allowed loans to be processed more quickly during a critical time, but it also meant different banks may have asked applicants different questions.
“The decentralization is not good from an accountability standpoint,” Martire said. “It’s doomed to not be very transparent and not give you much information.”
Still, he thinks the overall program was beneficial and used properly by small businesses that needed it. While the government should clean up the reporting rules, he said, he doesn’t want the program’s flaws to discourage another stimulus package as the economy continues to reel and people continue to lose jobs.
“I would hate to see the critiques of the misuse of this money by a few businesses get in the way of a better shot in the arm that the economy certainly needs,” Martire said. “The program could just be designed better.”
While some of the curious data likely results from erroneous or missing reporting, the risk of bad actors taking advantage of the system is high when such a large government program rolls out so quickly.
To root out fraud, the federal government in April announced that all loans in excess of $2 million will be reviewed after submission of the loan forgiveness application. Borrowers have to acknowledge in their forgiveness applications that the funds were used appropriately, and if not the government may pursue recovery of loan amounts or civil or criminal fraud charges, Mayle said.
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Already some indictments have been handed down for improper use of PPP funds. A Georgia man who was approved for more than $2 million to keep people employed at a trucking company has been charged with bank fraud after he allegedly used the money to pay child support, buy jewelry, and lease a Rolls-Royce.
While the government will keep an eye on the bigger fish, banks also monitor suspicious activity and sometimes a tipster, like a former employee, alerts authorities to shady use of funds, said Nekia Hackworth Jones, a former U.S. assistant state’s attorney and fraud investigator who now leads the white-collar defense and government investigations practice in the Atlanta office of law firm Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough.
Hackworth Jones said a unique aspect of the Paycheck Protection Program was that it was based on an honor system. The documentation requirements that banks received from the Small Business Administration were much more lenient than they are for other SBA programs, she said.
She expects accountability to come at the back end with the loan forgiveness applications and audits. She is advising clients to put their PPP loans in a separate bank account, spend the money via electronic means so there is a record of where it went, and keep documentation readily available.
Hackworth Jones said she has noticed a high level of coordination between government agencies to investigate PPP loans.
“It can give the taxpayers some degree of comfort that the government is trying to keep its eye on the ball,” she said.
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Jonathon Berlin and Jennifer Smith Richards contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--45-year-old man killed in hit-and-run crash in East Garfield Park

The man was walking north in the 500 block of South Sacramento Boulevard around 2:55 a.m. when he was hit @ @ @ @ @ east on Congress Parkway , according to police .

A 45-year-old man was fatally struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run crash in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early Friday.
The man was walking north in the 500 block of South Sacramento Boulevard around 2:55 a.m. when he was hit by a light-colored SUV heading east on Congress Parkway, according to police.
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The driver did not stop and the SUV and had not been located, police said.
The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead, according to police. Harrison Area detectives and the police major accidents unit were investigating.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened July 9 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

With the motto “ Always ready , always there , ” members of the Guard are used to being called @ @ @ @ @ home or overseas .
But never in its history has it been put to the @ @ @ @ @ , Neely said , as members responded to the high-risk coronavirus pandemic and walked a @ @ @ @ @ protests without overstepping their role .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois announced 1,018 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the first time the state’s new daily cases topped 1,000 since June 5. The tally brought the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois to 150,450.
The high number of cases came with a record high number of test results released: 36,180.
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Earlier Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s task force on Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery recommended the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus, according to a copy of the group’s final report.
The group notes that COVID-19 has hit Black and Latino communities harder than white counterparts “and laid bare structural disparities in health outcomes, underlying health conditions, access to basic necessities, and safety net support.”
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Also Thursday, district officials announced Chicago Public Schools students could start summer sports programs as soon as Monday. Practices are to prepare for the “potential return” of high school sports come fall, and allow for voluntary no-contact workouts of up to five hours, according to a letter to CPS families.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Illinois is in phase 4 of its reopening plan. Here’s a guide to what’s allowed. ]
[ How to assess your COVID-19 risk when going out in public: Use this chart ]
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Here’s what’s happening Thursday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:35 p.m.: Coronavirus-inspired dish at Alinea draws backlash. Chef Grant Achatz explains his intent.
The 3D rendering of the novel coronavirus — with its grey exterior and bright red spikes — has inspired incarnations as breads, cakes, burgers, beers and plushies around the world, a reaction that uses grim humor to help us cope with a horrible threat. But the products have received mixed reactions.
Some people find them humorous, a source of levity during a bleak situation, while others have decried the practice, saying the products are tasteless and insensitive, considering the virus has already killed more than half a million people worldwide and 134,000 people in the United States.
Alinea, the renowned Chicago restaurant, found itself among the ranks of food and drink purveyors under fire after a photo of an amuse bouche inspired by the virus surfaced online.
AIR: Alinea In Residence is facing backlash for its coronavirus-lookalike amuse bouche. (The Alinea Group)
Served at the restaurant’s new rooftop pop-up AIR: Alinea in Residence, the dish visually resembles a computer rendering from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the novel coronavirus, complete with a gray viral envelope, colored by coconut ash, and red spike proteins, made from freeze-dried raspberries. Those who saw the dish online criticized it for being insensitive and tone-deaf.
Grant Achatz, chef and co-owner, said while people who dined at the pop-up enjoyed the dish, the public impact didn’t match the intention behind his creation, and he regrets not speaking out about it sooner.
The backlash on Instagram began earlier this week. David Baker posted a screenshot of a tweet on Instagram that included a photo of the dish, calling it “shameful.” (Baker has been in the restaurant industry for 14 years and previously worked at Roister, a sister restaurant to Alinea, for three years before an amicable departure.) The post now has hundreds of likes and comments.
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“Considering the current state of the country and the restaurant industry as a whole, I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to the victims, their families, their diners and the restaurant industry,” Baker wrote in an email. “People are losing their lives, people are losing family members. Restaurants are closing across the country, and this is the so called ‘art’ that they believe we need to experience right now? Unacceptable. This is not an Alinea caliber dish.”
Read more here. —Grace Wong
6:38 p.m.: IHSA to change its new guidelines following increase in COVID-19 cases
Less than a week into phase four of its Return to Play plans, the Illinois High School Association informed member schools on Thursday that the current guidelines will be revised due to an increase in cases of COVID-19 among student-athletes.
The IHSA will “modify” the guidelines in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health, according to a news release. The plan for phase four had been approved by the IDPH on July 3 and went into effect Sunday.
The IHSA indicated in the news release that the upcoming changes will limit physical contact and require a greater usage of masks. Teams will not be allowed to compete against other schools in most sports, including 7-on-7 football.
Read more here. —Daily Southtown staff
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6:25 p.m.: Illinois Municipal League says new state rule could deprive some municipalities of federal coronavirus aid
The Illinois Municipal League is calling on the state to change a new rule governing how federal coronavirus aid money is distributed, arguing it’s burdensome and unnecessary and could result in federal funding being stripped from local governments in Illinois.
The rule, filed last week by the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, is more restrictive than federal guidelines on the relief money and would allow the state to reallocate local funds, which would “strip local governments of much-needed federal dollars,” Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole said Thursday.
The rule allows local governments to recoup federal dollars for medical expenses, including establishing temporary medical facilities to increase the treatment and testing capacity for COVID-19; public health and payroll expenses; and other coronavirus-related expenses that are “reasonably necessary to the function of government.”
Local governments have until Nov. 1 to submit all reimbursement requests to the department, and any funds that were allotted but not claimed by that date “may be reallocated to other units of local government based on need,” the rule states.
“They will reallocate those dollars, and instead of them going to Peoria or Quincy or Decatur or Springfield or Rockford or Carbondale, they’ll go to another community that is a state priority, versus a local priority within those specific communities,” Cole said at a news conference in Springfield.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
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5:35 p.m.: Who gets a vaccine first? US considers race in COVID-19 plans.
Federal health officials are already trying to decide who will get the first doses of any effective coronavirus vaccines, which could be on the market this winter but could require many additional months to become widely available to Americans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an advisory committee of outside health experts in April began working on a ranking system for what may be an extended rollout in the United States. According to a preliminary plan, any approved vaccines would be offered to vital medical and national security officials first, and then to other essential workers and those considered at high risk — the elderly instead of children, people with underlying conditions instead of the relatively healthy.
Agency officials and the advisers are also considering what has become a contentious option: putting Black and Latino people, who have disproportionately fallen victim to COVID-19, ahead of others in the population.
In private meetings and a recent public session, the issue has provoked calls for racial justice. But some medical experts are not convinced there is a scientific basis for such an option, foresee court challenges or worry that prioritizing minority groups would erode public trust in vaccines at a time when immunization is seen as crucial to ending the pandemic.
“Giving it to one race initially and not another race, I’m not sure how that would be perceived by the public, how that would affect how vaccines are viewed as a trusted public health measure,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, a group represented on the committee.
Read more here. —The New York Times
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4:12 p.m.: American Writers Museum has reopened on Michigan Avenue — come have all these writers for yourself
The American Writers Museum has reopened to the public. Its second-floor space on Michigan Avenue was back in business July 3, having been closed since mid-March by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, said director of operations Christopher Burrow, the pace of visitors has been slow, with between 10 to 20 through the door on any particular day. But that can work in your favor if you come.
“Right now, it’s almost like the museum is yours while you’re here,” he said Thursday.
The museum, devoted to writing, the written word and those who write them, first opened in 2017 and occupies the full second floor of the building; its 11,00-square-foot space is divided into galleries but there are no separate rooms. Burrow says he misses the school groups that used to come on field trips, and fans of writers with their passions.
For example?
“Well, Edgar Allan Poe fans are legion,” Burrow said. “Or once we had an exhibit up for Philip K. Dick and a science fiction fan was so mad we didn’t have Bradbury.”
Read more here. —Doug George
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3:40 p.m.: Big Ten is moving to conference-only schedule for all fall sports because of COVID-19 concerns
The Big Ten has canceled nonconference competition in all fall sports and will face only conference opponents — if the 2020 seasons are played at all — because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a release Thursday afternoon, the Big Ten said it made the decision based on medical advice and after monthslong conversations among conference presidents and chancellors, athletic directors and medical experts. Details for the sports — football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross-country, field hockey and women’s volleyball — will be released at a later date.
“We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority,” the Big Ten statement said. “By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic.”
Some of the most significant nonconference football games wiped off the schedule include Michigan at Washington on Sept. 5, Ohio State at Oregon on Sept. 12, Miami at Michigan State on Sept. 26 and Wisconsin against Notre Dame on Oct. 3 at Lambeau Field.
The football scheduling changes affect 28 FBS opponents and eight FCS opponents. The financial ramifications for some programs, which receive payouts for scheduling Big Ten opponents, could be crushing.
Read more here. —Shannon Ryan
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2:38 p.m. (updated 3:15 p.m.): More than 1,000 new known COVID-19 cases reported for first time in more than a month
Illinois announced 1,018 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the first time the state’s new daily cases topped 1,000 since June 5. The tally brought the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois to 150,450.
The high number of cases came with a record high number of test results released: 36,180.
Also announced Thursday were 20 deaths from COVID-19.
—Chicago Tribune staff
2:30 p.m.: Chicago Public Schools student athletes can start summer workouts next week, but with COVID-19 precautions
Chicago Public Schools students could start summer sports programs as soon as Monday, district officials announced Thursday. But there will be no locker room talks or parents mingling around the soccer field.
The practices are to prepare for the “potential return” of high school sports come fall, and allow for voluntary no-contact workouts of up to five hours, according to a letter to CPS families from Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade and Executive Director of Sports Administration David Rosengard.
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Although CPS “continues to plan for potential in-person instruction,” with plans for the fall not yet released, the district is weighing extracurricular activities that could take place following current public health guidelines, according to the letter.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
2:11 p.m.: COVID-19 might spread through the air indoors, according to WHO
The World Health Organization is acknowledging the possibility that COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions — after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so.
In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.”
The researchers, along with more than 200 others, appealed for national and international authorities, including WHO, to adopt more stringent protective measures.
WHO has long dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus is spread in the air except for certain risky medical procedures, such as when patients are first put on breathing machines.
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In a change to its previous thinking, WHO noted on Thursday that studies evaluating COVID-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and fitness classes suggested the virus might have been spread in the air.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:41 p.m.: 17 Chicago restaurant openings and reopenings as industry continues to emerge in coronavirus era
Though restaurants in the state have been allowed to reopen for on-premise dining for weeks, some were not ready to emerge right away. But as phase three and now phase four of the reopening from the coronavirus shutdown have unfolded across Chicago and the suburbs, more are launching, many of them with new menus, patios, redesigned dining rooms and in at least one case, an entirely new concept.
On top of that, restaurateurs are getting more comfortable with the idea of opening in a pandemic-stressed economy, opening new places including Baye’s Little Bakery, The Elm and Uncooked.
Here’s a look at 17 restaurants that have opened, or re-opened, in the last week or so, and a few more that are on the horizon.
Read more here. —Phil Vettel
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11:37 a.m.: Chicago’s Field Museum reopens to public July 24
The Field Museum will reopen to the public later this month, admitting members beginning July 17 and the public on July 24, the museum announced Thursday.
Chicago’s home for dinosaurs, research and natural history has been closed for four months by the COVID-19 pandemic. Already open on the lakefront Museum Campus is the Shedd Aquarium, which opened July 3, and still closed is the Adler Planetarium.
In the announcement, the Field in particular promoted its new “Apsáalooke Women and Warriors” exhibition, which opened a day before the museum’s closure in March. Described as the Field’s first major exhibition curated by a Native scholar, it focuses on “the history, values, and beliefs of the Apsáalooke people of the Northern Plains, also known as the Crow.”
The Field Museum was the third best-attended indoor Chicago museum in 2019, with about 1.5 million visitors, behind the Shedd and the Art Institute, which remains closed. The Chicago History Museum announced Wednesday it will reopen Friday.
Read more here. —Doug George
9 a.m.: Lightfoot’s COVID-19 recovery task force: Boost spending in areas hit hardest by virus to fight poverty, racism
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s task force on Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery recommends the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus, according to a copy of the group’s final report.
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The 104-page document released Thursday, assembled by a task force chaired by Lightfoot and former President George H.W. Bush’s onetime chief of staff, Sam Skinner, recommends the city pursue a series of big goals that have long eluded Chicago leaders.
[ Read: The Chicago Recovery Task Force Advisory Report ]
Chief among them is a series of recommendations aimed at fighting poverty and entrenched racism. The group’s report notes that COVID-19 has hit Black and Latino communities harder than white counterparts “and laid bare structural disparities in health outcomes, underlying health conditions, access to basic necessities, and safety net support.”
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
6:25 a.m.: Chicago History Museum reopens July 10 with free tickets
The Chicago History Museum will reopen its doors to the public July 10 and will offer free admission through the end of the month, the North Side museum announced Wednesday.
As Chicago’s principal home devoted to the city’s past and stories, its building on the edge of Lincoln Park has been shut by the COVID-19 pandemic since mid-March. It will reopen at reduced capacity, with timed entries and a maximum of 275 visitors at a time, and following the State of Illinois Phase 4 guidelines for museums.
In the announcement, the CHM also highlighted a few special exhibitions on display:”Millions of Moments: The Chicago Sun-Times Photo Collection” is a new debut, with images from the newspaper’s archives that “document monumental events and everyday occurrences of life in Chicago,” according the the announcement. Included are photos of racial relations and strife, Chicago and national politics and sporting events, some that were never published. The exhibit has been set up so viewers can social-distance.
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“Cityscapes” is a new installation that lets visitors experience large-scale panoramic images from the CHM collection chronicling Chicago’s growth from 1858 to 2019. Additionally, “Modern by Design: Chicago Streamlines America” has been extended until Jan. 3, 2021.
Read more here. —Doug George
6 a.m.: As museums and zoos reopen, Chicago’s children’s museums find themselves sidelined
As museums around Chicago begin to reopen, tentatively, they say they’re mindful of the State of Illinois Phase 4 guidelines that spell out conditions specifically for them: Limited to 25% occupancy, must have plans to limit congregations of people. Then there’s this part: Any hands-on or interactive exhibits should be closed or the interactivity shut off.
For children’s museums, that’s the equivalent of telling them to take their ball and go home.
“All we are is interactive,” said Dave Judy, marketing director for Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview.
The three major children’s museums in the area — the Kohl, DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville and Chicago Children’s Museum on Navy Pier — have been closed since mid-March by the COVID-19 pandemic, like all museums and cultural institutions. And like all those institutions, they’ve been feeling the loss both to their sense of mission and to their bottom line.
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When Shedd Aquarium reopened to the public last week at reduced occupancy, museum officials said even though the new ticket revenue would be welcome, the Shedd would still be operating at a daily loss.
Children’s museums don’t have even that limited option. As nonprofits, they’re hoping area philanthropists will take note.
Read more here. —Doug George
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five things that happened Wednesday related to COVID-19.
Despite President Donald Trump’s push for nation’s schools to reopen this fall, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the decision should be local.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls for national mask mandate and COVID-19 containment strategy in congressional testimony.
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The retail bankruptcies and store closings just keep coming. For some merchants, the pandemic was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Illinois National Guard coronavirus testing mission to wind down, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces.
Cook County to start dividing up ‘much-needed’ $51 million in federal CARES Act funding to suburbs hardest hit by coronavirus pandemic.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--2 wounded in River North shootout involving concealed carry holder

The shootout happened when the 22-year-old legal gun owner was driving east on Superior and two white sedans boxed him @ @ @ @ @ of one of the sedans and started shooting , hitting the woman , according to @ @ @ @ @ owner fired back , hitting the 23-year-old , who had been in one of the @ @ @

A woman who was in a car with a concealed carry holder was shot by someone who attacked the couple and another man was wounded when the gun owner returned fire early Friday in the River North neighborhood, according to police.
The 21-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and arm in the attack about 2:55 a.m. in the 100 block of West Superior Street and was taken in fair condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
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The 23-year-old man shot by the concealed carry holder was wounded in the leg, dropped off at Lurie Children’s Hospital after being taken there in a private vehicle, then transferred to Northwestern, where he also was in fair condition, according to a police media notification.
The shootout happened when the 22-year-old legal gun owner was driving east on Superior and two white sedans boxed him in before someone got out of one of the sedans and started shooting, hitting the woman, according to police. The legal gun owner fired back, hitting the 23-year-old, who had been in one of the other cars.
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The couple drove off, but the people in the sedans found them, and at least one of the sedans sideswiped the couple’s car, police said. The couple’s car then hit a building in the 100 block of West Huron Street and stopped on the sidewalk.
It wasn’t clear where the sedans went after the crash, but only the wounded man was in custody and Belmont Area detectives were seeking the other attackers.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Daywatch: Chicago air dirtier in July than LA, a look back at the Illinois National Guard’s historic

Daywatch: Chicago air dirtier in July than LA, a look back at the Illinois National Guard’s historic mission and Alinea’s COVID-19 dish draws backlash

Still , many questions remain unanswered .
How many games will be played ?
How many positive cases will force @ @ @ @ @ game or its season ?
Will a champion be rewarded ?
Here ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ of the Big Ten ’ s decision — especially on college football .

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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Chicago seen from the South Shore neighborhood on a muggy, hot and humid afternoon July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
After missing out on cleaner air during the coronavirus lockdown, the Chicago area just suffered its longest streak of high-pollution days in more than a decade.
Air quality has been so poor, the entire Chicago area ended up dirtier than notoriously smog-choked Los Angeles during the beginning of the month, according to a Tribune review of federal data.
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Unusually hot, sunny weather in the Midwest contributed to Chicago’s dirty air. Here are 4 charts to help explain the recent heat wave.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks with Sam Skinner after presenting the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force Advisory Report at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago on Thursday, July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s task force on Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery recommends the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus, though it’s unclear how the city would pay for it amid significant financial woes.
The 104-page document released Thursday recommends the city pursue a series of big goals that have long eluded Chicago leaders.
Airman Katia Campos of Chicago, a member of the Illinois National Guard, works at the COVID-19 testing site at South Suburban College in South Holland on July 2, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Never in its nearly 300-year history has the Illinois National Guard been put to the test more than this year, Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard Neely said, as members responded to the high-risk coronavirus pandemic and walked a fine line assisting police at protests without overstepping their role.
Now as the spread of COVID-19 slows in Illinois, the Guard’s historic mission is winding down.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren speaks about the cancellation of the men's tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The Big Ten has canceled nonconference competition in all fall sports and will face only conference opponents — if the 2020 seasons are played at all — because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, many questions remain unanswered. How many games will be played? How many positive cases will force a team to cancel a game or its season? Will a champion be rewarded? Here’s a look at the ripple effect of the Big Ten’s decision — especially on college football.
AIR: Alinea In Residence is facing backlash for its coronavirus-lookalike amuse bouche. (The Alinea Group)
The 3D rendering of the novel coronavirus — with its grey exterior and bright red spikes — has inspired incarnations as breads, cakes, burgers, beers and plushies around the world, a reaction that uses grim humor to help us cope with a horrible threat. But the products have received mixed reactions.
Alinea, the renowned Chicago restaurant, found itself among the ranks of food and drink purveyors under fire after a photo of an amuse-bouche inspired by the virus surfaced online.


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--25 years after deadly heat wave, COVID-19 gives Chicago a new summer foe

“ What ’ s concerning during this pandemic is we don ’ t know how effective some of those strategies @ @ @ @ @ heat deaths ) can be , ” said Olga Wilhelmi , a research scientist at @ @ @ @ @ Research who is studying the intersection of COVID-19 and extreme heat .
“ Do cities @ @ @ @ @ , and are people willing to use them ?
”

Madeline Buckley, Kelli Smith, John Keilman

The most notorious heat wave in Chicago was the deadly July 1995 stretch that killed more than 700 area residents. On July 13, 1995, Chicago's high temperature for the day reached 104 degrees. A 101-year-old woman gets help after being overcome by the heat Aug. 13, 1995, after an electrical fire knocked out power in her apartment building. (Walter Kale, Chicago Tribune)
Dr. Cory Franklin was the head of medical intensive care at Cook County Hospital during an unforgettable five days in July 1995, when a “crisis in slow motion” swamped the emergency room.
A freakishly severe heat wave turned the city into an inferno, sending hordes of people to the hospital and more than 700 to the morgue. Franklin recalled treating a roofer whose body temperature hovered around 111 degrees, the highest he had ever seen (incredibly, the man survived).
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Memories of that hellish week are stirring again 25 years later, but this time with a twist: A lingering heat wave is colliding with a pandemic, producing new risks whose gravity has yet to be determined.
“Very often very severe situations sneak up on you,” Franklin said.
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The scene in the parking lot of the Cook County Institute of Forensic Medicine as police wagons arrive to drop off the bodies of people who had died in the heat wave on July 17, 1995. The bodies were kept in refrigerated trucks until they could be processed in the morgue. (Jose More/Chicago Tribune)
The summer of 2020 has trapped Chicago between two scourges. In one corner, a deadly virus that can be easily transmitted in crowded indoor settings, especially when cooling systems are just recirculating virus-pocked air. In the other, a heat wave with the potential to kill.
Government officials have learned many lessons since 1995, and with preventive measures now in place, Cook County usually sees just a handful of heat-related deaths each year. But some worry COVID-19 could upset that progress.
The pandemic has forced people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus, and some experts say fear of contracting the disease could keep them there even as their houses and apartments grow dangerously hot.
“What’s concerning during this pandemic is we don’t know how effective some of those strategies and measures (to combat heat deaths) can be,” said Olga Wilhelmi, a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who is studying the intersection of COVID-19 and extreme heat. “Do cities make them available to use, and are people willing to use them?”
Record heat, record deaths
On July 12, 1995, after days of continuous rain, a musty heat spread across the Chicago region and temperatures soared with a record-high heat index of about 126 degrees.
Air conditioners quickly sold out. Thousands took to Lake Michigan for solace in the cool water.
Chicago police Officer Charles Henson of the Englewood District is shaken after removing a heat victim's body from an apartment where two people died on July 17, 1995. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)
The heat index climbed well past the level required to trigger the city’s emergency heat plan. But instead of raising an alarm, city leaders waited three days before warning residents.
“We all have our little problems but let’s not blow it out of proportion,” said then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. “It’s hot. ... Let’s just all work together and calm down.”
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Within days, hundreds of decomposed bodies were piled into the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Overloaded with work and out of space, officials had to enlist volunteers to carry bodies from police wagons into refrigeration vans donated by Taste of Chicago.
“We had all of our people working, and many of them doing things that they didn’t normally do,” recalled Edmund Donoghue, who was Cook County’s chief medical examiner in 1995.
Most afflicted by the severe heat were the elderly, poor and minority populations, many of whom lived in homes where the cooling system, if it existed at all, was inadequate.
Chicago police officers remove the body of man at the Sutherland Hotel in the 4600 block of South Drexel Boulevard on July 18, 1995. Officials said the death was linked to the extreme heat. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)
“These were people whose lives could’ve been saved had they been given access to air conditioning and power earlier,” said Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at New York University and author of the book “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.”
He added: “In the poor, segregated neighborhoods, especially on the South Side and the West Side, the suffering was overwhelming, and the death rate was enormous.”
Although the elderly accounted for most of the victims, there were exceptions. On July 14, as the temperature rose to an unbearable degree, a home-based day care provider took a group of children to the movies and McDonald’s before returning home and accidentally leaving two of the kids — Geno Rouse and Kenneth Brown — in her van for two hours.
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The children died. The day care provider faced criminal charges and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Geno’s mother, Atondra Rouse, now a 58-year-old Chicago Public Schools teacher, said she recalls her son’s death every time she gets in a hot car.
“Even with the air on, I have to roll down my windows,” she said. “I have to have air coming in.”
Heat meets COVID
The 1995 heat wave ebbed after five days, leaving an estimated death toll of 739 people. But its impact lived on, as Chicago officials crafted an emergency heat response, implemented outreach efforts for seniors and established telephone banks to prevent future heat disasters.
“It got the politicians and public health people to realize that something like this could be a major emergency,” Franklin said.
Donoghue said the main takeaway was the importance of air conditioning.
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Workers from the Cook County medical examiner's office move a body on July 18, 1995, to one of the refrigerated trucks that were being used for overflow storage outside the Cook County Institute of Forensic Medicine at Harrison and Leavitt streets. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
“Nobody who had an air conditioner who used it died,” he said. “So where we saw deaths were with people who either didn’t have air conditioning, or had it but didn’t want to turn it on because it was too expensive to pay the electricity bill.”
That is a particular concern in COVID-ravaged 2020, when thousands of city residents have lost their jobs. In the face of the pandemic, Chicago has announced a bill relief program for water and sewer, services it controls, but not power, which is provided by ComEd.
The utility did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment.
Elise Gout, research associate with the energy and environment team at the Center for American Progress, said extreme heat, like COVID-19, reveals structural inequities, and the combination compounds them.
“The idea of forcing these families to make a choice between the security of their homes in a pandemic and finding a cooler area is unacceptable,” she said.
Dr. Emily Landon, a COVID-19 expert at University of Chicago Medicine, said air conditioning can present its own problems, noting a theory that the pandemic has flared in the Sun Belt because people are avoiding scorching summer temperatures by congregating in cool but poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
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Many of the victims of the 1995 heat wave left no family or were indigent. Of the 68 unclaimed bodies that county workers are shown burying here, 41 died of heat-related causes. (John Smierciak / Chicago Tribune)
But while it’s safer to be outside — heat and humidity create an inhospitable atmosphere for the virus, she said — Chicago’s beaches and public pools remain closed for fear of attracting dangerously large crowds. Landon said she still thinks that’s a good idea.
“Those crowded pool scenes from Memorial Day, I think we all agree we don’t need to try that right now,” she said.
No heat alarm — yet
For now, the situation seems to be under control. Officials at Cook County Health and Loretto Hospital said they aren’t seeing many heat-related emergency room visits, and as of Friday afternoon, Cook County had not recorded any deaths associated with high temperatures.
Simone Mitchell-Peterson of the social service agency Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly said her group is conducting hundreds of well-being visits, and has been able to provide enough fans and air conditioners to keep people at home.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure their needs are met so they can stay cool and comfortable where they reside,” she said.
For those who do need to seek relief, city officials have pledged to keep cooling centers safe with social distancing and mask policies.
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Demand so far appears to be manageable: A Tribune reporter found no one at a cooling center in Bronzeville Thursday afternoon despite scalding temperatures, while just a handful of people were seated in an icy meeting room in an East Garfield Park community service center.
They watched the news on a wall-mounted TV or dozed in chairs set roughly 6 feet apart. A 33-year-old woman who declined to give her name had a suitcase full of her belongings by her side; she said she has been transient for several months, living in shelters and hotels due to family problems.
She said she has been nervous about contracting COVID-19 as she moves between shelters and temporary living spaces. But now there is another foe to dodge.
“It’s scorching,” she said through her mask.
The National Weather Service says that after a few days of mild relief, 90-degree days will return midweek. Meanwhile, state officials on Friday announced 1,317 new COVID-19 infections, the highest total Illinois has seen in a month.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com
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jkeilman@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--To open CPS schools, teachers union has demands — but does the city have to meet them?

“ Particularly where something is changed , the union can demand to bargain the impacts of that change , and @ @ @ @ @ down with them in good faith ... before the school district can implement any change @ @ @ @ @ “ And it can be a bit of a contest to sort of determine when @ @ @ @ @ as much as they can , ( but then ) the employer does have broad @ @ @ @ @ operations of schools .
”

Before they return to classrooms during a rapidly evolving pandemic, Chicago Public Schools educators have a list of demands they want met — from small enough class sizes to a nurse and social worker or counselor in every school every day.
Most Chicago Teachers Union members who responded to a recent survey said they “should not or might not” return to classrooms in the fall without a detailed plan and certain resources in place, including remote learning options for vulnerable students and staff members; an indoor mask requirement; a student transportation plan that includes Chicago Transit Authority buses and trains; and computers and internet for every pupil.
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While it’s not yet certain if in-person classes will resume this fall, the district already has committed to some measures on CTU’s list in the event that they do. That includes mandatory face coverings, providing a limited set to students and staff members, daily temperature checks, making hand sanitizer available throughout buildings, and cleaning and disinfection protocols.
But class size and flexibility for vulnerable students and school employees are especially pressing demands, said Michelle Gunderson, a first grade teacher at Nettelhorst Elementary.
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A member of the state’s Transition Advisory Workgroup that came up with guidance released last month for returning to classrooms, Gunderson said she was proud of the panel’s work, but also disappointed with some of its final language, such as a call for social distancing “as much as possible.” In her view, it should have been “social distancing, period.”
“It felt watered down in the end,” she said, but noted the difficulty in coming up with guidance for a state where some small counties have recorded few COVID-19 cases while others had thousands. Whenever schools do open, she said, not only will parents have to decide whether to send children, but teachers will have to decide if they feel safe coming to school.
And though she contributed to the state guidance, Gunderson said she’s aware of the remaining challenges. Recently, when she took measurements in her classroom and tried to visualize a school day, it was tough to envision 6- and 7-year-olds controlling themselves in a limited space and wearing masks for a seven-hour-day, which she said CPS has not ruled out.
The state guidance calls for face coverings indoors, gatherings limited to 50 people or fewer, stringent schoolwide cleaning, and symptom screenings and temperature checks for anyone entering a school. It also suggested schools stagger start times or alternate remote learning days with in-person classes for different groups of students.
But the state left it up to each of Illinois’ 852 school districts to settle on its own reopening plans.
“Back when we were working on the state guidance and things were looking good in Illinois, we were (looking at) the possibility of beginning with children so we could form relationships with the understanding that at any minute we may have to shift into remote schooling,” Gunderson said. “I think when we look at the new statistics nationally, the tables might be changing now.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said an announcement on schools would be coming “soon,” as CPS is working on various contingency plans. And Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady on Friday told reporters an announcement about schools would be coming next week, according to published reports.
The discussion comes as President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are pushing for schools across the country to reopen this fall.
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CPS announced on Thursday that summer sports programs could resume as soon as Monday under careful conditions, while summer school remains virtual. District leaders also have said that once guidelines are approved, schools will create individual plans, with input from local school councils and parent groups.
As CTU and city officials continue to negotiate, with nearly two months to go before the traditional start of school, parents are growing increasingly anxious to know what to expect for their children in September.
“There’s a lot of anxiety being built up because people have no idea what the district is going to do,” said Troy LaRaviere, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association.
Many principals want more from CPS, including a process for checking people in and out and the staffing to make it work, including nurses, he said. They also want better ventilation in some schools, where he said it can be “hard enough to breathe without a mask.”
On a phone call Friday, the majority of about 40 principals said they thought school should start remotely in the fall, with clear criteria for moving to a hybrid model, LaRaviere said. Even then, many administrators are medically vulnerable, and exposure to hundreds of children plus staff members would put them at great risk, he said.
In a prior CPAA survey, more than half of about 500 school leaders who responded said they have a high-risk condition or live with someone who does.
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University of Illinois labor professor Bob Bruno said the district may have to negotiate with teachers over their demands that involve working conditions because the last academic year ended in remote learning situations, so a return to school would be considered “a change in status quo.”
“Particularly where something is changed, the union can demand to bargain the impacts of that change, and the employer has to sit down with them in good faith ... before the school district can implement any change,” Bruno said. “And it can be a bit of a contest to sort of determine when the parties have bargained issues as much as they can, (but then) the employer does have broad prerogative to make decisions about operations of schools.”
An 11-day Chicago teachers strike in the fall ended bitterly.
Yet, for a while when the coronavirus hit the city, the union and CPS tried to put on a united front. In early March, when a classroom aide at Vaughn Occupational High School became the first known case in the school district and the sixth in the state, they worked together to coordinate a response.
But while the Vaughn community was still in a 14-day period of home quarantine, the two sides were back at odds, with the CTU making public demands for all schools in the district to close as the pandemic continued to spread.
When Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced schools statewide would close starting March 17 if they had not already, just hours after Lightfoot said she had no plans to close schools, union leaders praised the governor’s leadership.
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Conflicts have since surfaced over CPS’ remote learning grading policy, disparities in digital access throughout the city, and conditions for reopening school buildings.
Though the district can set policy for grading pupils, the union has the right to bargain its impact, such as how grades factor into teacher evaluations, Bruno said. Class size is a similar issue.
“I don’t know if we have the legal right to ask for class size, but we have the health and safety right,” Gunderson said, pointing to a “safe and healthy work environment” clause in the union’s contract.
Gunderson said it’s too early to expect the district to have final plans for the fall, but it’s fair to expect it to be inviting CTU to the table more than has happened and to start getting public input on its proposals.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a wait-and-see approach from a teacher standpoint or principal standpoint because acting brashly doesn’t make any sense right now,” Gunderson said. “But I do think it’s time for CTU leadership and CPS leadership to come to the table and start talking about possibilities.”
Rather than reopen the contract, Gunderson suggested an official memorandum of understanding could be a peaceful resolution.
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CPS officials on Friday said they have “been engaged in regular discussions with CTU leadership as we work to develop a draft framework for a potential return to classrooms.” CPS is “committed” to bargaining with CTU on how reopening schools will affect members, but adamant the contract won’t be reopened.
At a news conference in May, when asked about the union wanting to bargain over the impact of COVID-19 and class sizes, Lightfoot cut off the question.
“That’s not gonna happen. That’s not gonna happen,” Lightfoot said. “We’re not reopening the bargaining agreement. Of course, as always, CPS is in regular dialogue with the CTU. ... We’ll be in conversation with them, but we’re not tearing up the collective bargaining agreement that we just forged last fall. There will be plenty of time for discussion, but first and foremost we are going to be guided by what the public health data tells us and hopefully we’ll have a constructive conversation with the CTU leadership.”
To that, CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told the Tribune the union wasn’t trying to reopen contract talks, but to bargain over the pandemic’s impact.
“Going back into a dangerous workspace would quintessentially be something to bargain about. ... We get to bargain over working conditions, we get to bargain over the impact of COVID-19,” Davis Gates said.
While the teachers contract phases in additional nurses and social workers so that every school has them by the time it expires, union members are calling on CPS to speed up that staffing, Davis Gates said.
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Still, Davis Gates said union officials were surprised when Arwady was quoted in news stories on Friday saying that information on the return to school would come next week. Davis Gates said CTU leaders have been meeting with CPS on a weekly basis, but few details and no full proposals had been exchanged.
“This should not be a fight, this should be an opportunity for collaboration. It’s clear to the CTU that the real enemy in this is Donald Trump and his merry band of science deniers. If we can agree that’s our real enemy ... we should be working together.”
The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt contributed.
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--McHenry man accused of hitting 20- and 13-year-old relatives with blunt ends of rifle, machete

Brengman , who is a relative of the two but does not live at the home , reportedly forced his @ @ @ @ @ with the rifle and machete , according to the release .
The two told deputies @ @ @ @ @ at them , accused the man of stealing a cellphone from him and then attacked @ @

A McHenry man faces multiple felonies after authorities say he forced his way into the home of relatives armed with a rifle and a machete and hit the 20-year-old man and 13-year-old girl who lived there.
The 20-year-old man was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life threatening following the incident, which occurred Friday morning in the 25400 block of West Route 173 in unincorporated Antioch, according to a news release.
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The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in the release that the man had been struck several times with the blunt end of the machete and the barrel of the rifle by Russell D. Brengman, 52, of the 4900 block of Pioneer Road, McHenry.
Brengman is also accused of hitting the 13-year-old girl with the rifle, but she did not require hospitalization, according the release.
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Brengman, who is a relative of the two but does not live at the home, reportedly forced his way into the house armed with the rifle and machete, according to the release. The two told deputies he then pointed the rifle at them, accused the man of stealing a cellphone from him and then attacked them.
Brengman was not at the house when deputies arrived, according to the release. He was located by deputies at a construction worksite in the 26200 block of West Channel Avenue in unincorporated Antioch where he was arrested without incident.
Deputies also found both the rifle and machete, which were collected as evidence, according to the release.
Brengman faces two counts of home invasion, class x felonies; two counts of aggravated domestic battery, class 3 felonies; aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a class 4 felony; and possession of a firearm without a state FOID card, a class 4 felony.
He remains in the Lake County Jail pending an initial court hearing Saturday morning.


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--Porter County GOP establishes new social media rules after offensive comment about a Black Lives Mat

Porter County GOP establishes new social media rules after offensive comment about a Black Lives Matter protest posted on GOP page

“ They saw the post , they found it irresponsible , childish and not representative of what we want on @ @ @ @ @ removed it , ” Simpson said , adding he knows who made the post , @ @ @ @ @ been taken care of , too .
They ’ re on a short leash .
@ @ @ @ @ approved before it ’ s put up .
”

The Porter County Republican Party has put more oversight in place for its social media after an offensive post this week about a Black Lives Matter protest that has since been taken down, a party official said.
The post, on the Valparaiso Republicans’ Facebook page, was for a news story about a car hitting two protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in Bloomington following the attack of a Black man there in an incident involving a noose, said Michael Simpson, the party chair, who called the post “inappropriate.”
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The issue, Simpson said, wasn’t the news story, which was legitimate, but the statement above it, which read, “Life Hack: If you don’t stand in the road and attempt to swarm innocent motorists, your likelihood of being hit by a car goes down 1000x.”
A screenshot of the post taken before it was removed shows it garnered a handful of shares and at least 10 emoji responses.
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About nine people comprise a social media team for the party, a group that includes party leadership and whose responsibilities include maintaining editorial and administrative control of social media accounts, Simpson said.
The offensive post, which Simpson said he never saw, was pulled about one hour after it went up by a member of the leadership team who spotted it.
“They saw the post, they found it irresponsible, childish and not representative of what we want on the pages, and they removed it,” Simpson said, adding he knows who made the post, “and that’s been taken care of, too. They’re on a short leash. Now stuff has to be approved before it’s put up.”
The statement that accompanied the news story “was just inappropriate. Hitting people with your car is wrong,” Simpson said, adding the post isn’t something he or Republican Party and elected officials believe in.
“People get overzealous and we have to make new rules about how things get put up on pages,” he said.
In late May, Democrat Robert Allison, then representing District 3 on the Chesterton Town Council, was embroiled in a controversy involving comments he made on Facebook that suggested using snow plows to take out protesters at a Hammond rally against racial injustice and police brutality.
Allison’s Facebook comments were made May 30. He reportedly apologized later on Facebook though that post was later deleted. Members of the town council denounced the post and Allison resigned June 5.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--Chicago Heights boy, 12, drowns in Lake Michigan during family visit to Gary

Rescuers pulled Jarail C. Lee Jr. , from the water at about 6:24 p.m. , a little more than an @ @ @ @ @ under the water and did not resurface .
Lee was identified by the Lake County @ @ @ @ @ pronounced dead at the scene at 7:13 p.m .

A 12-year-old Chicago Heights boy drowned Thursday at Marquette Park Beach in Gary while visiting the beach with family, according to officials.
Rescuers pulled Jarail C. Lee Jr., from the water at about 6:24 p.m., a little more than an hour after the boy disappeared under the water and did not resurface. Lee was identified by the Lake County Coroner’s office and pronounced dead at the scene at 7:13 p.m.
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Gary Police responded to Marquette Beach at 598 Grand Blvd., in Gary at about 5:09 p.m. after a call for a child in the water, according to Lt. Dawn Westerfield, public information officer for the Gary police.
Multiple agencies responded along with the Gary Police and Fire departments and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department aerial and marine units and rescue divers from a number of local police departments.
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Gary Mayor Jerome Prince was at the west end of the beach at the time with his grandchildren picking up debris from the day. He said there were lifeguards on duty at the scene and emergency personnel responded in a timely manner.
“It’s a really tough situation. I send my condolences to the family from myself, my family and the entire city of Gary,” Prince said. “I am thankful for the additional support of the first responders from adjacent communities,” Prince said.
The boy is the 16th person to drown in Lake Michigan so far this year, according to Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. GLSRP has tracked drownings throughout the five Great Lakes since 2010.
So far in 2020 there have been 30 Great Lakes drownings and four victims that were taken to the hospital and listed in critical condition or condition unknown. It is not known if these drowning victims survived.
“Once again Great Lakes drownings are on a record pace when compared to previous years,” Benjamin said. “At this pace we will likely have 100 Great Lakes drownings in 2020.”
The water was relatively calm Thursday, though that is expected to change for the weekend. He said if the current forecast for Friday night to Sunday holds true, Lake Michigan will have high and turbulent surf, especially at the south end of the lake.
--Carrie Napoleon


chicagotribune--2020-07-11--Oak Park and River Forest High School to terminate police officer position, use funds for social wor

Oak Park and River Forest High School to terminate police officer position, use funds for social worker

“ There is no data , ” board member Gina Harris said .
“ They ’ ve been in the @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m highly concerned about that .
This is not a new subject .
@ @ @ @ @ formal complaints filed against the SROs , but repeatedly students have come to us and @ @ @ @ @ intimidated , targeted and policed .
That is not a new statement .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ ve had someone in the building for 20 years and we don ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ fall into our code of conduct .
”

The Oak Park and River Forest High School board voted to terminate its school resource officer contract, which will save the district about $150,000. Officials say those funds will be reallocated to hire a new social worker specializing in restorative practices and trauma-informed care. (Steve Schering / Pioneer Press)
After voting to eliminate its school resource office position July 9, the Oak Park and River Forest High School board will look to reallocate the cost savings to hire a new social worker.
Board members voted 6-1 to terminate the school district’s existing intergovernmental agreement with the village of Oak Park, which placed a uniformed police officer inside the high school. The position was first created more than 20 years ago in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo.
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The action removes the school resource officer’s $155,162.62 salary, which administrators say will now be used to hire a social worker or psychologist trained in trauma-informed care and restorative practices.
Administrators had recommended a 100-day moratorium on having an officer in the building this fall while officials gathered data to determine the value of this practice.
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Some board members, however, expressed concern that there was already a lack of data for a position that has existed for more than two decades.
“There is no data,” board member Gina Harris said. “They’ve been in the building for 20 years. I’m highly concerned about that. This is not a new subject. There may have not been formal complaints filed against the SROs, but repeatedly students have come to us and said they feel threatened, intimidated, targeted and policed. That is not a new statement. I’m highly concerned we’ve had someone in the building for 20 years and we don’t have any data on how they fall into our code of conduct.”
Board member Jackie Moore agreed, saying now is the time to reimagine what the school is supposed to be in terms of social justice, restorative practices and an atmosphere of equity.
“I’ve struggled with this my entire time on the board,” Moore said. “I’ve never understood, given the data, that the initial reason for having an SRO in schools had to do with school shootings and a need for safety. There is no evidence a police officer in school has prevented a school shooting. If the goal is to have a better relationship with police, that’s putting a lot of pressure on our students, especially our students of color who’ve talked to us about trauma.”
Some on the board worried the sight of a uniformed, armed police officer, as well as a police car parked outside the building’s main entrance, could be a trigger to some students.
“The police said they have no problem with an officer being in plain clothes with their gun concealed,” superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams said. “They really didn’t want to move the car out front. [Police say] it acts as a deterrent to someone coming in and causing harm.”
Pruitt-Adams, who joined OPRF in 2016, observed that she has not heard one complaint from a student or parent about an SRO during her tenure.
Board president Sara Dixon Spivy said she and her Black stepson have had nothing but good interactions with the school’s SRO, but found portions of the agreement problematic for OPRF.
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“We can’t choose our SRO and we have little to no control over what professional development the SRO has,” Spivy said. “It’s largely voluntary on their part. I really struggle with $155,000 a year going toward an employee we have no real managerial abilities over.”
Board member Craig Iseli, who cast the lone no vote against terminating the contract, said he would have preferred administration’s suggestion for a moratorium to gather more data on the SRO position before making a final decision.
“I personally believe students building relationships with law enforcement is important,” Iseli said. “I feel this school is a good place to do that. I also know there are many people who disagree with me on that.”
In previous conversations with the village, Pruitt-Adams said the school will be reimbursed SRO costs for half of March, April and May, as the school building has been closed due to COVID-19.
With the SRO contract now canceled, administrators will work to create a new social worker job position, with its estimated costs. That information is expected back in front of the school board sometime in August.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
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Twitter: @steveschering


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Suspect held but shooter at large following exchange of gunfire with Chicago police in East Garfield

Suspect held but shooter at large following exchange of gunfire with Chicago police in East Garfield Park neighborhood; no one injured