chicagotribune--2020-08-10--COVID-19 shutdowns create mad dash for ACT, SAT spots as college application season looms

“ We have the ability to drive all that distance , ” he said .
“ We ’ re very @ @ @ @ @ do test prep , to drive six hours or more just to take a test @ @ @ @ @ But for a lot of families that don ’ t have that , what are @ @ @ @ @ ”

Josie Hansen outside her home in Evanston on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. Going into her senior year at Evanston Township High School, she had two ACT exams canceled and was offered a makeup date in Michigan. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
George Pareti is one of the lucky ones. Early one morning next month, the high school senior will make the 75-minute drive from Evanston to Racine, Wisconsin, where, after enduring three earlier cancellations and a nightmarish registration process, he’ll finally take the ACT exam he needs for his college applications.
Funny, though: He doesn’t feel all that fortunate.
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“It’s gonna take a little toll,” Pareti said. “I might not be as sharp as I would be if I could just go over to Evanston and take the ACT.”
When it has come to getting a standardized test score during the onslaught of COVID-19, fate has been cruel to Illinois’ rising high school seniors. They weren’t able to take the SAT at their schools in April, and many ACT sittings were canceled over the spring and summer after test sites, mostly schools, closed their doors.
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That led to a mad dash last week as aspiring test-takers swamped ACT’s website trying to reserve a spot this fall. ACT officials won’t say how many were left in the cold, but judging by social media chatter, the number could be considerable.
“Two hours in queue,” one parent wrote on ACT’s Facebook page. “When (I) got my turn ALL September seats in Illinois and neighboring states are TAKEN. First available date is December!!! Whoever is the genius who came up with this solution should be looking for a new job.”
The bedlam is happening even as colleges seek to assure applicants that standardized test scores will be optional this year. About 350 have made that declaration since the start of the pandemic, including big names such as Northwestern, Notre Dame and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
But parents and students interviewed by the Tribune don’t buy it. They’re still convinced the lack of a good score will be a disadvantage at a competitive school.
“(Colleges) clearly look at everything you send them,” said David Eide, a southwest suburban dad whose son, after appearing to be shut out, managed to get a seat for the ACT. “If you’re able to submit test scores, it’s in your benefit to do that.”
Test optional? Really?
Standardized tests have long been a fraught subject in higher education, with researchers arguing that the scores, which can be boosted through tutoring or multiple attempts, are a better gauge of socioeconomic status than academic ability.
About 1,000 schools had already declared their admissions to be test optional before the pandemic, meaning applicants theoretically won’t suffer for failing to include a score. Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a watchdog group that aims to improve college assessments, said he believes the schools really mean it, but he doesn’t blame parents for being wary.
“That’s how the game was played back in the day when they went to school,” he said.
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He is less confident about colleges that made the switch after the pandemic began, since they have not established a track record. Karen Marks, a former Dartmouth admissions officer turned admissions consultant, said their sincerity probably varies.
“Some institutions will not disadvantage students,” she said. “I think others, even with the best of intentions, have been using this paradigm forever, so asking them to suddenly disregard a data point to which they’ve been giving so much weight is tough. Others might be doing it for the optics.”
Andy Borst, director of undergraduate admissions at the U. of I.‘s flagship campus, which in June placed a one-year moratorium on its testing requirement, said the school is indeed serious: The lack of a test score won’t hurt students when it comes to admission, scholarships or getting into an honors program.
But could an impressive score help? He allowed it might.
“We know that some students have taken the test and are very proud of their test scores, and we didn’t want to say to a student who got a 1500 (on the SAT), ‘Your accomplishment doesn’t mean anything,‘” he said.
That kind of squishiness is what has driven parents and students to continue to clamber after testing opportunities. Mary Ann Maki and her daughter, a senior at St. Charles North, spent eight hours on the phone trying to get a seat for the ACT, only to be told at last that nothing is available in Illinois until February.
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“I’m not sure universities know how sporadic it is for kids to take it,” she said. “Test optional is great, but it’s hard to figure out if universities are really going to look at that as optional.”
Traveling for a test
Some students have gotten spots but will have to take a lengthy road trip. Clay Lindner, a senior at Evanston Twp. High School, said he registered for a September test in Chicago on ACT’s website, only to be transferred to a site in Jonesboro, Arkansas, when it was time to check out.
Similar tales abound, and ACT officials say those last-second shifts were due to a computer bug that has been fixed. But Lindner, taking no chances, grabbed a spot in Louisville, Kentucky, not far from where extended family members live.
“We have the ability to drive all that distance,” he said. “We’re very privileged to be able to do test prep, to drive six hours or more just to take a test and stay with family. But for a lot of families that don’t have that, what are they going to do?”
ACT executive Shane King said the company is dependent on schools to provide testing sites, and as shutdowns swept the country, those sites dried up. The locations booked for September and October are solid as of now, he said, but he can’t guarantee they won’t get canceled, too.
Meanwhile, he said ACT is still trying to add sites, and he advised students to keep checking the website for new openings.
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“We believe with what we have today and will be adding over the coming weeks, it may not be enough, but we are absolutely trying to create as much capacity as humanly possible,” he said.
Some aspiring test-takers have been unimpressed with ACT’s effort, particularly its online appeal for high school juniors to register for later dates so seniors can get their scores. That led to more than 1,500 incredulous and often furious comments on its Facebook page, to which the company responded: “Unfortunately, our system does not allow for priority registration by class.”
SAT alternatives
Josie Hansen outside her home in Evanston on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. Going into her senior year at Evanston Township High School, she had two ACT exams canceled and was offered a makeup date in Michigan. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The SAT, the ACT’s main competitor, has taken a different approach. The College Board, which administers the exam, allowed seniors to sign up early for tests that will resume Aug. 29, and some students interviewed by the Tribune said they were able to get SAT spots when their ACT plans fell through.
One is Evanston senior Josie Hansen, who after two ACT cancellations was offered a spot in Holland, Michigan, a three-hour drive away. She declined, and instead will take the SAT in nearby Wilmette.
Hansen has prepped only for the ACT so far, but said she didn’t expect much trouble making the switch.
“From what I’ve heard the test is pretty much the same; the timing is just different,” she said. “I hope (the studying) won’t all go to waste. We’ll see.”
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Seniors might yet get the chance to take the SAT in their schools. Some districts starting the year with remote learning, such as Naperville District 203 and Palatine-based Township High School District 211, said they’re still planning to offer the test this fall.
If all this effort for supposedly optional tests sounds crazy — particularly when some students have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 after sitting for the exam — the approach taken by Northern Illinois University might be appealing. It has joined the small but growing group of “test blind” schools, meaning from this year forward it won’t consider scores when making admission decisions.
Quinton Clay, the school’s director of admissions, said that should ensure greater equity among applicants. And besides, he said, experience has shown that test results don’t mean all that much.
“Locally, when we looked at students in good academic standing and student graduation rates, standardized test scores were not predictive,” he said.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--How we analyzed Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s record on dropped cases

In its raw form , Foxx ’ s disposition data contains more than 800,000 rows , each containing various details @ @ @ @ @ .
The Tribune used an open-source statistical computing package called R to collapse the data @ @ @ @ @ single row corresponded to a criminal defendant and summarized the outcomes for that case .
@ @ @ @ @ severe charge brought against that defendant , referred to in the data as the “ @ @ @ @

David Jackson, Todd Lighty, Gary Marx, Alex Richards

To compare Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s record of dropping cases against felony defendants to that of her predecessor, fellow Democrat Anita Alvarez, the Tribune analyzed data that Foxx posts online about every resolution of a felony criminal case going back to 2011.
These records contain information on hundreds of thousands of defendants, although identifying information that is typically public — names and criminal case numbers — has been removed.
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For this story, the Tribune analyzed “disposition” data, which documents the final outcome of charges in a case, such as a guilty plea, a finding of not guilty or being dropped entirely.
The Tribune examined cases where charges were “disposed” — or reached an outcome — during Alvarez’s last three years in office, from Dec. 1, 2013, through Nov. 30, 2016, and Foxx’s first three years in office, from Dec. 1, 2016, through Nov. 30, 2019.
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[ Kim Foxx drops more felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney than her predecessor, Tribune analysis shows ]
In its raw form, Foxx’s disposition data contains more than 800,000 rows, each containing various details for a single criminal charge. The Tribune used an open-source statistical computing package called R to collapse the data into a form where a single row corresponded to a criminal defendant and summarized the outcomes for that case. It also specified the most severe charge brought against that defendant, referred to in the data as the “primary” charge.
Reporters focused on charges that resulted in a “nolle prosequi” disposition — using the common Latin legal term for declining to prosecute.
Although many criminal defendants have some charges dropped during legal proceedings, the Tribune looked specifically at cases where prosecutors dismissed every charge against a defendant.
The state’s attorney’s office typically groups cases into one of about 80 broad offense categories such as homicide, armed robbery, narcotics and unlawful use of a weapon. According to officials in Foxx’s office, these offense categories can change during the course of a case, so the Tribune based its analysis on the “updated” offense category rather than the original version. Both are listed in the data.
The Tribune analyzed dismissal rates for Foxx and Alvarez based on the crime category and the felony classification of the defendant’s primary charge.
[ Kim Foxx’s record on dropped felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney, charted ]
Reporters also analyzed conviction rates for Foxx and Alvarez, based on the same three-year periods. Defendants were considered convicted if any single charge against them resulted in a guilty plea, a finding of guilty from a bench trial or a verdict of guilty from a jury trial.
While reporting this story, the Tribune shared its analysis and methods with Foxx’s office, including the R computer code used to generate the newspaper’s findings. The state’s attorney identified no errors in the Tribune’s analysis.
In the vast majority of cases, charges against a defendant were resolved on a single date. But if more than one date applied, the Tribune’s analysis used the earliest date when charges were first disposed. So if some charges in a case were dropped under Alvarez and the rest under Foxx, the Tribune counted the case as being dismissed by Alvarez.
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The analysis also includes some criminal cases where charges were filed during Alvarez’s tenure but resolved during Foxx’s time in office. Foxx’s office suggested that the Tribune’s comparison should be based on the date cases were received by the office, not when they were resolved. That way, the analysis of Foxx’s record would not include cases started under Alvarez.
So the Tribune also conducted a separate analysis based on the date the cases were received, as Foxx’s office suggested. That method eliminated tens of thousands of cases from the examination.
Regardless, the findings were the same: The state’s attorney’s office under Foxx dismissed felony cases at a higher rate than under Alvarez.
Jackson, Lighty and Marx are Tribune reporters. Richards, a former Tribune data reporter, is an assistant professor of journalism at Syracuse University.


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Column: FBG Duck brought a street fight between the ‘have-nots’ into the turf controlled  by the ‘ha

Column: FBG Duck brought a street fight between the ‘have-nots’ into the turf controlled  by the ‘haves’

There will be justice for FBG Duck , but not because he mimicked the life of the “ haves.
” @ @ @ @ @ was still a “ have-not ” who was killed by other “ have-nots ” on @ @ @ @ @ the “ haves .
”

Family and friends of slain Chicago rapper FBG Duck visit Oak Street at Michigan Avenue on Aug. 7, 2020, following his killing on the block last week. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Two opposite worlds inhabited by the “haves” and the “have-nots” collided last week on a glitzy street in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast.
It isn’t often the two paths cross, which makes it easy for the “haves” to forget that violence does not recognize boundaries. Until now, the “have-nots” largely kept to themselves, seemingly content executing their deadly system of street justice within their own distressed communities on the South and West sides.
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There was no need for the “have-nots” to disturb the “haves” with their petty street fights and social media taunts that send hundreds of Black males to their graves each year.
The “haves,” of course, weren’t oblivious to the killings. But no one expected the “have-nots” to penetrate their isolated cocoons tucked far away on the North Side.
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The killing of Chicago rapper FBG Duck, gunned down in broad daylight on Oak Street, the home of exclusive stores like Prada, Christian Louboutin and Dolce & Gabbana, revealed a shocking subculture of violence in our city.
It has little to do with poverty, the underlying cause of many shootings. This lifestyle is all about the pursuit of wealth. Or as the rappers call it, clout.
The “have-nots” long viewed rap music as a path to becoming one of the “haves.” Reaching the heights of a Common or Chance the Rapper, names that command respect and prestige, is as unpredictable and unlikely as winning the lottery.
But within the brutal gang society, young artists who might never make it to the mainstream obtain instant stardom in a mostly underground hip-hop music industry that is fueled by violence and promoted on social media and YouTube.
They perform under names like Lil’ Durk, King Von and MEMO 600. Carlton Weekly, 26, was one of them. His performance name, FBG Duck, refers to his Gangster Disciples music crew, “Fly Boy Gang,” an adversary of acclaimed rapper Chief Keef.
The music that emerged from Chicago streets a decade ago isn’t the traditional rap that originated in New York and California. The local performers are known for drill music, a dark and vulgar subset of hip-hop, promoting murder and retaliation.
They start out performing in dimly lit basements on the South Side, putting hard-core lyrics to soulful beats that tell the realistic story of what it’s like to maneuver through treacherous territories of neighbors controlled by gangs.
As their popularity grows, their YouTube videos can generate 10 million to 50 million views or more. Some go on to sign contracts with major recording labels, allowing exposure to a broader audience through Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music.
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Many have criminal records going back to childhood, adding to their allure. The gang connections that propelled their rise to fame don’t always end once they get a record deal. Chicago’s continuing gang violence, in fact, propels them further.
A few years ago, FBG Duck signed with Sony Music Entertainment. But according to police, he was affiliated with a faction of the Gangster Disciples involved in a long-standing conflict with the Black Disciples on the South Side.
The rapper recently released a music video in which he made derogatory remarks about Black Disciples members who have been killed. Among those he disparaged was Odee Perry, the slain gang member for whom one of the most dangerous areas in Chicago, O-Block, is named. Police believe that made him a target.
The video is too disturbing for those unfamiliar with the gang culture to watch. It is filled with profanity and lewd sexual references. Young men smoke dope and flash large automatic weapons in front of the camera.
It is a lifestyle most Chicagoans could never fully understand, but it represents the reality of many young people who are immersed in violence.
The videos often are shot with a single camera, on location in a home or someone’s yard. Sometimes they include thinly veiled death threats against rivals. Sometimes the rappers acknowledge that their own lives are in danger.
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Weekly certainly must have known that his latest video would draw the attention of his adversaries and lead to retaliation. One of the characteristics of this genre of music is to project a machismo image that appears to defy death.
On the day he was killed, Weekly had been traveling through the city, livestreaming his whereabouts on social media. He created a trail for his killers to follow — something he had boasted in a 2017 interview on the urban news website VladTV that he would never be dumb enough to do.
Around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, as he stood near the entrance of a high-end clothing store, two cars pulled up, two men got out of each vehicle and started firing a hail of bullets. A woman waiting for Weekly in a parked black Mercedes-Benz was injured, as well as a male who was with them.
Weekly’s relatives said he had gone to the store to purchase a birthday present for his son, one of his four children, all under the age of 10.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot described Weekly as “an individual who fancies himself as a rapper but is also a member of a gang.” FBG Duck began his music career at the age of 17 but reached fame with his single, “Slide” in 2018, which led to a recording contract.
Regardless of his status in real life, the most important thing in the world in which FBG Duck lived is image.
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A rapper who is dipping into the world of the “haves” doesn’t buy his kids’ clothes off the sale rack at Macy’s. He shops at an exclusive store that sells $200 Versace T-shirts for 5-year-olds. He flashes rolls of $100 bills in his videos and brags about having $100,000 tucked away in his studio.
His videos offer a window into who FBG Duck was and the culture that created him.
The video “OK” begins with the camera scanning a table full of prescription codeine. He picks up a bottle and pours it into a bottle of Sprite — the formula for a highly addictive drink known on the street as “lean” or “purple drank.”
He speaks about having no one to father him and pondered whether things would have been different if his dad had not always been locked up. He talks about “coming away from seeing rats and roaches” to making music for “the folks who feel helpless.”
He wondered if his older brother, an aspiring rapper who was shot to death three years ago, would be proud of him for making something of himself. The song seemed to forebode his own death.
“Got a call from ‘Lil Bro.’ That n----- trying to kill me. Everything gone be OK.
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“If it ever, ever come down to that day. I put some money in the safe just to make sure my kids and my mama ’em straight.”
In the VladTV interview, Weekly suggested that he was too smart to ever be gunned down. Though he had been shot twice, he saw no need to leave Chicago as other rappers have done when things got too hot.
“I know what to do and what not to do,” he said. “How I move around, I’m safe.
“I’m like a ghost. I can see you, but you can’t see me.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, mostly white Gold Coast residents stood on the streets, many with their dogs on a leash, watching as police surveyed the area.
It was reminiscent of a scene in the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda,” a true story based on the genocide in which up to a million Rwandans were slaughtered over 100 days in 1994. United Nations peacekeepers loaded the white tourists onto a bus to get them out of the country as the rebel fighting intensified.
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As the bus pulls away, the camera focuses on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, peering through the window at the frightened Rwandans left behind. His safety was more important than theirs.
By nightfall, the blood had been washed away from the sidewalk on Oak Street and the shattered glass swept up. Within a few days, there will be no signs of the tragedy that occurred.
For the “haves,” life quickly returned to normal. But for the “have-nots,” normal does not look the same.
In Englewood, Woodlawn and other neighborhoods on the South Side, signs were posted, warning of retaliation. Parents were told to keep their children inside. Many residents spent the weekend behind closed doors with their curtains drawn.
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At a news conference on Oak Street on Friday, FBG Duck’s mother, LaSheena Weekly, said she is sure her son will get justice. She is correct.
Other rappers have been killed on the South Side for similar online taunts — but not on the Gold Coast. In most cases, those shooters were never caught.
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That won’t happen this time. The four gunmen who were brazen enough to get out of their cars and shoot Weekly’s son down in an area full of surveillance cameras eventually will end up behind bars.
There will be justice for FBG Duck, but not because he mimicked the life of the “haves.” It will be because he was still a “have-not” who was killed by other “have-nots” on a street that belonged to the “haves.”
Editor’s note: This column has been updated to revise the location of the shooting.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Kim Foxx drops more felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney than her predecessor, Tribune analy

Kim Foxx drops more felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney than her predecessor, Tribune analysis shows

Foxx could not explain why her office has pursued far fewer escape cases than under Alvarez .
“ We don @ @ @ @ @ policy on escape and so I don ’ t have an answer for you as @ @ @ @ @ be different , other than , again , we ’ re asking our people to @ @ @ @ @ cases where the facts , the law and the evidence support it .
”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to a Tribune analysis that comes amid a growing debate over criminal justice reform.
During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.
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In all, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694 for a similar period under Alvarez.
[ Kim Foxx’s record on dropped felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney, charted ]
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx greets U.S. Rep. Danny Davis on June 4 during an event in the Austin neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Foxx, a Democrat, swept into the state’s attorney’s office in 2016 vowing to reform the criminal justice system and reduce the population of Cook County Jail, which disproportionately holds low-income people of color. She is up for reelection in November.
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In an interview, Foxx did not dispute the Tribune’s findings but said her office’s higher rate of dropped felony cases gives an incomplete picture of her commitment to keeping the public safe. She said her office has dismissed cases against low-level, nonviolent offenders so prosecutors can concentrate on crimes of violence.
“It is always eye-opening to be able to look at our own data and compare it to my predecessor’s past,” Foxx said. “I can’t reconcile what her decision-making was, and how they chose to (dismiss) cases in the past. But I will say that this administration has been clear that our focus would be on violent crime and making sure that our resources and attention would go to addressing violent crime.”
However, the Tribune found that Foxx’s higher rates of dropped cases included people accused of murder, shooting another person, sex crimes, and attacks on police officers — as well as serious drug offenses that for decades have driven much of Chicago’s street violence.
For the three-year period analyzed, Foxx’s office dropped 8.1% of homicide cases, compared with 5.3% under Alvarez, the Tribune found. Under Foxx, the office dropped 9.5% of felony sex crime cases; the rate was 6.5% for Alvarez.
Foxx’s office also increased the rate of dropped cases for aggravated battery and for aggravated battery with a firearm. And under Foxx, the percentage of cases dropped for defendants accused of aggravated battery of a police officer more than doubled, from 3.9% to 8.1%.
Foxx said she has tried to create an office culture where assistant state’s attorneys can openly discuss dropping felony charges if a case has legal problems, pointing to wrongful convictions that have occurred over the years and the dark history of Chicago police detectives torturing people of color to gain false confessions.
“Recognizing the history that we’ve had around wrongful convictions, recognizing our ethical obligations as prosecutors ... requires us to reinforce that people can, if they believe a case is flawed, bring it to our attention, and we will dismiss it if it’s appropriate,” Foxx said.
The most well-known case where Foxx’s office dropped all felony charges was that of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who had been accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago. Prosecutors in 2019 moved to dismiss all 16 felony counts against Smollett. The legal term for this, “nolle prosequi,” means the office was declining to prosecute.
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A Cook County judge last summer appointed former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb as a special prosecutor to investigate whether there was any misconduct in the way Foxx’s office handled the allegations against Smollett. In February a grand jury indicted Smollett on new charges, making allegations nearly identical to the charges dropped by Foxx’s office.
Webb has said he will issue a final report to the court and to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, although no date has been specified. Foxx had opposed the appointment of a special prosecutor, saying it would duplicate the work of the county’s inspector general, who was already looking into the Smollett case.
The Tribune findings are based on data that Foxx’s office posted online showing the outcomes for more than 810,000 charges from 2011 onward. The data shows for each charge whether the defendant entered a guilty plea, was found guilty or not guilty at trial, or had the charge dismissed.
Defendants often face multiple charges in a single case, and it’s common for prosecutors to drop some of the charges before and even during a trial. The Tribune wanted to determine how often the state’s attorney’s office dismissed all charges; the analysis was ultimately based on the cases of about 287,000 defendants.
[ How we analyzed Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s record on dropped cases ]
Detainees wait in the intake area before taking COVID-19 tests at Cook County Jail on May 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
It is impossible to determine from Foxx’s database, which omits names of defendants and their criminal case numbers, how many people were arrested on new charges after their cases were dismissed.
The Tribune also could not use the data to analyze the reasons prosecutors cited for dropping all charges against defendants. That’s because for the time period examined, the information on the reasons is incomplete.
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In her interview, Foxx stressed that she brings a reform-minded philosophy about what constitutes justice and how the resources of her office should be applied. Foxx said she is more selective about prosecuting the strongest, winnable cases.
But the Tribune found that Alvarez actually had a higher overall conviction rate.
Of the felony cases that have been concluded, Alvarez’s office won convictions in 75% during her last three years in office, according to the Tribune’s analysis, higher than Foxx’s 66% in the first three years of her term.
Alvarez, who now works for a global consulting firm, declined to comment for this story.
Looking at outcomes
When police arrest a person in connection with a felony crime such as murder, carjacking, armed robbery or rape, prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether charges should be filed. (Police can directly file charges in some instances, including certain drug cases, without prosecutors’ approval.)
Once a person is charged with a felony, the defendant appears before a bond court judge who determines whether that person should be held in jail or be released before trial, and under what conditions he or she should be released back into the community. The case continues through the court system, where a grand jury files an indictment or a judge determines there is probable cause to let the case proceed.
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The case could end in a number of ways, including a trial. Some defendants charged with less serious crimes are diverted to counseling or treatment programs. Or prosecutors may choose to drop the charges; reasons that can happen include cases when witnesses, police or victims fail to appear in court, or judges disqualify evidence.
In the felony data, narcotics defendants account for about 40% of all criminal cases handled by prosecutors. Foxx has long argued that enforcement of drug offenses disproportionately affects communities of color and that nonviolent drug users are better served outside the criminal justice system.
Indeed, the Tribune found that Foxx’s office dropped more than half of all felony narcotics cases, compared with just over a third for Alvarez.
But the disparity in dismissed cases was especially acute among people charged with the most serious drug crimes — trafficking and other drug manufacturing and delivering offenses categorized as Class X felonies, the most serious class of felony other than murder. Foxx’s office dropped 1 out of every 4 of those Class X drug cases, compared with about 1 out of 9 for Alvarez.
When first told of the Tribune’s finding that Foxx’s office was dropping cases more often, Foxx’s aides suggested the Tribune also look at conviction rates.
When the Tribune did so, the analysis found prosecutors under Alvarez won a higher percentage of felony cases than under Foxx. Even if drug defendants are excluded, Alvarez’s office still had a higher conviction rate, winning 84% of non-narcotics cases to 82% for Foxx.
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Foxx’s office decided to look at conviction rates a different way. Instead of analyzing all 80 criminal offense categories represented in the database, her office selected a group of 34 that officials said represented “serious and violent offender categories.”
Among the categories Foxx’s office did not include in its analysis: felony burglary, narcotics and child pornography.
When asked about those exclusions, Foxx said that when she first came into office Chicago was experiencing a spike in violence and she wanted to focus her attention primarily on prosecuting those crimes.
“I want to be clear, we’re not being dismissive of any of those (other) offenses.” she said. “We’re not in any way saying, by trying to parse the data, about which cases are significant, because to every victim, every offense is significant.”
For the categories Foxx’s office selected, she had a conviction rate of 83%, officials said — higher than Alvarez’s 81%.
A different mentality
The Tribune’s findings add a new element to the debate over criminal justice reforms and public safety in Chicago, which has seen far more killings in 2020 than the more populous cities of New York and Los Angeles.
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As of Aug. 2, the number of people killed in Chicago had hit 450, up 55% from 291 by the same date the previous year. Shootings were up 48%, jumping from 1,220 to 1,804, according to Chicago police numbers.
Foxx said her policies have not led to the recent spike in violent crime, which she noted occurred during a pandemic and time of civil unrest, and that other big cities also have seen increases.
“The fact that we’ve had three years of my policies that have been put in place and over the three years we did not see an increase in violent crime would suggest to me that ... that is not a logical outcome,” she said.
As she has pushed for reforms in the office, Foxx has said residents deserve a prosecutor who is not driven by a win-at-any-cost mentality but “by a persistent quest for justice, in whatever form that takes in a particular case.”
Having defeated three challengers in the Democratic primary in March, Foxx, 48, faces former Cook County Judge Patrick O’Brien in the November general election.
Foxx says she’s seeking another term because she wants to continue reforming the criminal justice system.
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Among the actions she has taken as state’s attorney: not prosecuting people for nonviolent offenses such as minor traffic offenses for failing to pay tickets, declining to prosecute shoplifting as a felony if the stolen merchandise was worth less than $1,000, and diverting drug defendants to treatment and counseling programs instead of prosecuting them on criminal charges.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is flanked by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer Toi Hutchinson in the lobby of Leighton Criminal Court Building during a December 2019 news conference after filing the first motions to clear cannabis convictions. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
On her campaign website, Foxx says she has exonerated 80 wrongly convicted individuals, expunged the criminal records of more than 1,000 low-level marijuana offenders and helped change the bail system.
Along with Chief Judge Timothy Evans and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Foxx has advocated for lowering or eliminating cash bonds for defendants facing a host of charges, including many gun offenses. They have said people should not be held in jail before their trial merely because they are too poor to come up with bail money.
These public officials argue that their changes to the bail system have had no impact on violent crime. But a Tribune investigation earlier this year found that the key study used to support those claims, done by Evans’ office, had flaws that minimized the number of defendants charged with murder and other violent crimes after being released from custody under bail reform.
As more defendants were freed from jail, judges increasingly placed many of them on electronic home monitoring as a condition of their release. Defendants who destroy the ankle bracelet or simply take off can be charged with felony escape.
It’s a charge where the difference between Foxx’s office and Alvarez’s is particularly stark. About 400 people are charged every year with felony escape. During Alvarez’s last three years in office, she dropped a total of 55 such cases, compared with 429 for Foxx.
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Foxx could not explain why her office has pursued far fewer escape cases than under Alvarez. “We don’t have an official policy on escape and so I don’t have an answer for you as to why that number would be different, other than, again, we’re asking our people to be able to proceed on cases where the facts, the law and the evidence support it.”
Matthew Walberg, a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who administers the electronic monitoring program, criticized Foxx’s office for dropping so many escape cases after charges were filed.
“Individuals who commit these types of violations should be held accountable for their actions,” Walberg said.
Jackson, Lighty and Marx are Tribune reporters. Richards, a former Tribune data reporter, is an assistant professor of journalism at Syracuse University. Read about the methodology used in this story here.
tlighty@chicagotribune.com
gmarx@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Looting in the Gold Coast

Looting in the Gold Coast

Groups of people break store windows and loot stores in Chicago 's Gold Coast .

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chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Suspect wounded during police-involved shooting in Englewood; officers face angry crowd

The crowd turned “ very hostile .
Emotions were running high .
They were responding to misinformation , ” Talley @ @ @ @ @ while we were processing the crime scene .
We were holding the line and if @ @ @ @ @ crime scene there , we would have not been there .
”

Officers stand near crime scene tape after an argument erupted between police and residents after Latrell Allen was shot three times by CPD officers after he allegedly fired several rounds at two officers near the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood on Aug. 9, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police shot and wounded a suspect Sunday afternoon in the city’s Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
Speaking with reporters near the scene of the shooting Sunday evening, police Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley said officers responding to calls of a male with a gun found a young man who fit the description near Moran Park in the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue around 2:30 p.m., but he fled from officers.
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“During the foot pursuit, the offender turned and fired shots at the officers. The officers returned (fire), discharging their weapons,” she said. The suspect was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in unknown condition, authorities said.
A weapon was found at the scene, police said.
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More than an hour after the shooting, police and witnesses said a crowd of about 30 people faced off against officers holding a police line near 56th and Aberdeen streets after, according to Talley, someone fed false information to the angry group, including that police shot and wounded a child.
An officer walks past residents toward a crime scene Aug. 9, 2020, after an argument erupted following a police-involved shooting near the intersection of 57th and South Aberdeen streets. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The suspect in custody is a man in his late teens or early 20s, police said.
The crowd turned “very hostile. Emotions were running high. They were responding to misinformation,” Talley said. “It happened while we were processing the crime scene. We were holding the line and if there had not been a crime scene there, we would have not been there.”
During a scuffle, one officer was hit with pepper spray and a second officer suffered a minor shoulder injury, Talley said.
Two people were arrested in connection with the standoff with officers. A police vehicle window also was shattered by a brick, she added. A large number of officers cordoned off streets in nearly every direction until the mood of the crowd cooled off.
Talley, who was recently promoted after serving as commander of the Austin police district, asked for residents in such highly charged emotional confrontations to “take a step back” and beware those trying to stoke anger.
Chicago police have been involved in at least four police-involved shootings in the past couple of weeks, including two incidents where officers were hit by gunfire. Some of this activity is believed to be a result of nationwide protests brought on by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We’ve been having a lot of protests. Some are legitimate protests; others have not been legitimate. This right here has been a direct response to one agitator being on the scene, getting people all worked up, without having the full story,” Talley said.
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“And the only thing we ask people to do is listen.”
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Police-involved shooting in Englewood

Police-involved shooting in Englewood

People and police officers gather on Aug. 9 , 2020 , at the scene of an incident where Chicago police @ @ @ @ @ in the city ’ s Englewood neighborhood on the South Side .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Officers stand near crime scene tape after an argument erupted between police and residents after Latrell Allen was shot three times by CPD officers after he allegedly fired several rounds at two officers near the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood on Aug. 9, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
People and police officers gather on Aug. 9, 2020, at the scene of an incident where Chicago police shot and wounded a suspect in the city’s Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Local artists paint a "Black trans lives matter" mural in Andersonville

If you ’ re the proud owner of a cast-iron pan , then you already know what a good investment @ @ @ @ @ , it can cook just about anything from pancakes to fried chicken , it can @ @ @ @ @ with ease , it ’ s nearly indestructible , it ’ s inexpensive and it @ @ @ @ @ dream .
But if you ’ re just using your pan to cook the occasional @ @ @ @ @ re missing out ; you really can cook pretty much anything in it .

Bailey Funk works on the letter "B" as artists work throughout the day to install a huge street mural reading "Black Trans Lives Matter" on Catalpa Avenue between Clark and Ashland in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood on Aug. 8, 2020. Funk's piece uses hands in the colors of the Black transgender flag. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-08-10--People gather to rally in support of CPAC


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--Downtown access will be restricted 8 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday: What to know about bridge lifts,

Downtown access will be restricted 8 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday: What to know about bridge lifts, buses, trains and travel on expressways and streets

“ Both of us believe this is not an incident that requires the National Guard , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ glove and well with the state police .
They were with us last night .
@ @ @ @ @ .
We ’ re not going to spare resources if we need them , but @ @ @ @ @ that we ’ re prudent in the resources we need .
And again , no @ @ @ @ @ federal troops in Chicago , period , full stop .
”

A city truck blocks Lower Michigan Avenue where the DuSable Bridge was raised to control access to the Gold Coast area of Chicago after rioting and looting occurred in the area early on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
As police activity and unrest subsided in downtown Chicago, emergency officials Monday morning said the city was reopening blocked expressway entrance ramps, restarting Chicago Transit Authority service into downtown, and lowering bridges in time to ward off the worst for commuters.
But in updates to residents about the looting that prompted the emergency measures — aimed at keeping people away from the city center after dark — state and city leaders said access to downtown again would be restricted Monday night and likely indefinitely, according to a statement from the Office of Emergency Management and Communication..
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Bridges over the Chicago River were raised to control access to the downtown area after looting occurred in the early morning of Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Looting, which overnight had been centered in the Streeterville, North Michigan Avenue and Loop areas, died down as authorities worked to reopen after some of the city’s swankiest stores were hit. With daylight, transportation restrictions were eased as the looting let up and authorities turned their attention to briefing residents and coming up with a plan of what will remain closed, and for how long.
The city will use more than 100 “infrastructure assets” that are to be strategically placed to protect commercial corridors and critical businesses “such as grocery stores and pharmacies,” said the statement from Mary May, a spokeswoman for the emergency management and communication office.
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Access to downtown “will be temporarily restricted” beginning at 8 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. May stressed the restricted access, “Is not a curfew. All residents, essential workers and employees whose businesses are located downtown will have access at all times.”
Cook County courts, except bond court, were closed Monday. It wasn’t immediately clear if the courts would remain closed Tuesday. But many of the measures taken early Monday in response to the looting will be the same methods used going forward, officials said.
The expressway closures began in early morning and were ending just before 7 a.m. as police were able to quell some of the unrest, according to Trooper Gabriela Ugarte, an Illinois State Police spokeswoman.
She said the agency started closing expressway ramps about 1 a.m., including the inbound and outbound Ontario feeder ramps as well as all exit ramps from the Kennedy at Division Street to the Dan Ryan at Cermak Road. All ramps reopened at 6:55 a.m.
Under the restricted access guidance Monday into Tuesday, expressway closures will be widespread: All ramps from Roosevelt Road to Division Street will be closed in both directions, officials said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown, at a morning news conference, said they will work to keep the downtown area restricted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for as long as is necessary.
“A heavy police presence will continue throughout the downtown area today and until further notice,” Brown said. “We are also working with other city agencies including streets and sanitation, the CTA, the Department of Transportation and the state police and other agencies in a multilayered plan which will be based on lessons we’ve learned from earlier this summer.”
He said officers will again return to working 12-hour shifts and all days off have been canceled until further notice. Other restrictions announced by May in the emergency management and communications office include local street closures.
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Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue to the north and Interstate 55 to the south. All downtown bridges will be up by 8 p.m. except the following, which will remain down: LaSalle Street; Harrison Street; Ida B. Wells/ Congress Bridge (westbound open only); Lake Shore Drive; Columbus Avenue; Kinzie Street; and Grand Avenue.
During a different news conference Monday, both Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said quick and coordinated efforts involving Chicago police and state police to close expressways helped to contain the magnitude of the looting. Pritzker said state police will continue supporting local authorities as long as is necessary.
Lightfoot, when asked if it is time to call in the National Guard, emphatically denounced such a move as unnecessary.
“Both of us believe this is not an incident that requires the National Guard,” she said. “We work hand in glove and well with the state police. They were with us last night. Those additional resources are available. We’re not going to spare resources if we need them, but we want to make sure that we’re prudent in the resources we need. And again, no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop.”
NotifyChicago: CTA is restoring service, CDOT Bridges and Expressway ramps downtown are now open. Various street closures are in effect throughout loop area. — Chicago OEMC (@ChicagoOEMC) August 10, 2020
The city said “access points” will be available for those who need to enter downtown, including residents and employees of downtown businesses. The access points include: Harrison Street; Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street; Roosevelt Road and Canal Street; Kinzie Street and Halsted Street; and LaSalle Street.
Few details on the access points were provided, beyond who they are for: “Residents, essential workers and employees whose businesses are located within the designated boundaries, individuals who live in the surrounding area and residents engaged in essential activities.”
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“Entrance into the perimeter will be manned by officers with the Chicago Police Department. When arriving at the access points, residents and employees should show identification or proof that they live in the area and/or work in the area,” according to the statement from May.
When talking about the neighborhood protection plan, which employs help from other agencies to stop the looting from expanding to neighborhoods, Lightfoot said she expects “these measures will be in place ... until we know our neighborhoods are safe.”
Details of the plan officials hammered out on Monday were released about 3 p.m.
“We are working on the specifics now … but we want to make sure, obviously, people who work and live downtown have easy access to the downtown area, where we’re going to make sure we do everything we can,” Lightfoot said. “I feel like we’ve got a very robust plan both for the downtown but also as well as the neighborhoods.”
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The CTA also had stopped trains and buses from entering downtown saying service was “temporarily suspended at the request of public safety officials,” but restored service about 8 a.m.
Between 8 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, CTA lines again will stop running into the restricted access area but the plan calls for fewer disruptions to usual service than it did overnight. May said trains won’t run from Fullerton Avenue to 47th Street and east of Halsted Street.
Bus service will not be disrupted, other than some buses being rerouted because of bridge and street closures, May said. For a list of current closures, check the CTA’s website.
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans on Monday ordered the closing of all courts as a result of transportation issues that could prohibit people from making their court date, according to Mary Wisniewski, a spokeswoman for the office of the chief judge.
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However, bond court at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, the Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St., the Juvenile Justice Division and all six municipal districts were scheduled to be held.
Except for bond court, all cases scheduled for Monday were to be continued for 30 days and parties will be notified by the clerk of new court dates, Wisniewski said.
Metra has been operating a modified schedule since the coronavirus pandemic relegated many to working from home. But Tom Miller, a spokesman for Metra, said the first train arrived downtown from the suburbs about 5:30 a.m. and many more arrived before 7 a.m.”There are no changes right now to our service,” Miller said. “It’s a fluid situation, of course, but our trains that have been scheduled to arrive (downtown) have.”
May also said Divvy service will not be available during the restricted hours, from North Avenue to Ashland Avenue and Cermak Road.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
@312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--As Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls for unity, political fallout from latest round of Chicago unrest and c

As Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls for unity, political fallout from latest round of Chicago unrest and continuing violence could linger

“ Literally , the future of Chicago hangs in the balance , I don ’ t think it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
“ If this continues , how can Chicago survive ?
@ @ @ @ @ after Water Tower Place gets boarded up and the for-sale signs go up on all @ @ @ @ @ ?
People who live around there have had their sense of safety badly shaken .
@ @ @ @ @ , by the way .
We count on tax revenue from this area of the @ @ @ @ @ of other programs we count on .
”

Store owners were still sweeping up glass from sidewalks along the Magnificent Mile Monday morning after a night of looting that turned the nation’s eyes to Chicago when Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown went on the offensive.
Not just against the hundreds of people who swept through downtown, ransacking stores and attacking police, but against the prosecutors and judges they said enabled such criminality by not taking a tougher stand against looting during the civil unrest that erupted after George Floyd’s death.
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While the lasting images of the chaotic night will be looters stepping through shattered windows of Louis Vuitton and Nordstrom with armloads of clothes, the political fallout from yet another high-profile debacle could linger. Recent spikes in city violence coupled with unchecked looting could provoke criticism that Lightfoot has lost control of the city.
Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, who represents parts of downtown, said he was on Michigan Avenue from midnight to about 4 a.m., and saw police with very little apparent plan get overwhelmed by the crowds of looters.
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Hopkins criticized Lightfoot for not being prepared after the earlier looting in May and June that followed George Floyd’s death, which sparked nationwide civil unrest.
“The real question today is, where was the strategy? What was the decision making at the highest levels?” Hopkins said. “That means the police superintendent and the mayor, who’s a very hands-on mayor when it comes to these kinds of decisions.”
Hopkins painted a bleak picture for the city if Lightfoot can’t get such criminal activity in and around downtown under control.
“Literally, the future of Chicago hangs in the balance, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that,” he said. “If this continues, how can Chicago survive? What will be left downtown after Water Tower Place gets boarded up and the for-sale signs go up on all the condos near Michigan Avenue? People who live around there have had their sense of safety badly shaken. This is our tax base, by the way. We count on tax revenue from this area of the city to fund all number of other programs we count on.”
[ State’s Attorney Kim Foxx bristles at insinuation her office’s handling of earlier cases emboldened looters ]
For her part, Lightfoot brushed off criticism that her administration was unprepared. and she ripped the alderman.
“Ald. Hopkins has a penchant for letting his mouth run before he actually gets the facts,” Lightfoot said. “I don’t think there’s any reason for me to say anything further.”
“What we need now is not Monday morning quarterbacks and sideline critics. What we need is to come together as a city and have a united strategy and focus,” Lightfoot added. “We’re focused, we’re not going to let the noise of people that like to chatter before they know what the facts are get in the way and that’s all I’ll say about that.”
Following the looting, Lightfoot also faced pressure from Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, who released a statement calling for the National Guard, while Illinois Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, of Bloomington, in a tweet on Monday said “the looting, wanton destruction of property and disregard for public safety we witnessed in Chicago overnight is unacceptable.”
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“I implore our leaders at the city, state and federal levels to do everything they can to ensure those who perpetrated these crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that all measures are taken to ensure our residents and businesses remain safe,” Brady said.
Downstate Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood also called for help from the National Guard.
“Criminals continue to loot & destroy property in Chicago with little consequence. The Governor, Mayor & Cook Co. State’s Attorney are failing to protect IL citizens & businesses. Utilize the National Guard. Accept federal support. Prosecute criminals. Restore the rule of law,” LaHood tweeted.
Criminals continue to loot & destroy property in Chicago with little consequence. The Governor, Mayor & Cook Co. State’s Attorney are failing to protect IL citizens & businesses. Utilize the National Guard. Accept federal support. Prosecute criminals. Restore the rule of law. — Darin LaHood (@RepLaHood) August 10, 2020
Lightfoot rejected calls for the National Guard to patrol Chicago, however, and said she and Gov. J.B. Pritzker don’t believe it’s needed at this time. The city has been working with the state police, she said.
Lightfoot also preemptively criticized President Donald Trump, who has previously threatened to send in federal agents to intervene in Chicago street crime. He recently sent agents to the city as part of Operation Legend, which Lightfoot said she supports as long as it’s operating through U.S. Attorney John Lausch.
“Again, no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop,” Lightfoot said. “I’m sure the president will have his way with this incident but I’m calling upon him to do the things that we do need,” such as making changes to the nation’s gun laws.
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Still, Lightfoot and her administration had defenders following the looting. Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, whose ward stretches from the South Loop through Bronzeville into Washington Park, said Chicago police seemed to be as ready as they could be for the unrest, given that the crowd seemed to quickly organize on social media before descending on downtown.
“The number I heard was 400 police detailed to the downtown area, which seems appropriate,” Dowell said. “I’m more concerned with the fact that certain elements appeared to use the situation in Englewood as a pretext to engage in criminality, targeting certain retailers. When I hear that people had U-Haul trucks, sledgehammers and precision glass cutters, that doesn’t sound to me like it was a spontaneous situation.”
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--31-year-old Chicago man dies after he was pulled from water near Wilmette beach

On arrival , crews found the man had been removed from the water , and CPR was being performed by @ @ @ @ @ Fire Chief Ben Wozney said .

A 31-year-old man who was removed from the water near Gillson Beach in Wilmette on Saturday has died, officials said Monday.
The Wilmette Fire Department responded to a report of a possible drowning victim at the beach around 4 p.m. Saturday.
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On arrival, crews found the man had been removed from the water, and CPR was being performed by lifeguards and a witness, Fire Chief Ben Wozney said.
The man was later identified as Ankit Zutshi, 31, of the 400 block of W. Oakdale, Chicago, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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Zutshi was transported by paramedics to Evanston Hospital, where he died on Sunday, Wozney said.
An autopsy to determine the exact manner and cause of death is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the medical examiner’s office.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--Storms sweep through Chicago area, with high winds downing trees and utility poles

A derecho is a wind storm that stretches more than 240 miles , punctuated by wind gusts of more than @ @ @ @ @ not common but increasingly have threatened the Chicago area in the past decade or so @ @ @ @ @ in 2010 and another in 2014 , meteorologists have said .

Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
High winds and hard rain swept through the Chicago area Monday, ripping off roofs, crashing trees to the ground and causing widespread power outages, but officials said the area generally appeared to have dodged dire warnings of tornadoes and golf-ball-size hail.
The derecho, meaning a long line of storms packing high winds, blew in from Iowa, where winds surpassed 100 mph. It swept east across Illinois and into Indiana, with winds of 40 to 70 mph, the National Weather Service reported.
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The service issued tornado warnings in the Chicago area, and several funnel clouds and rotating clouds were reported, but no twisters and no deaths or injuries were immediately confirmed, weather service meteorologist Bryan Leatherwood said.
“It was still a rather impressive storm,” he said. “We’re getting tons of reports of downed large trees and power lines down, and debris thrown through the walls of houses.”
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ComEd reported that 462,000 of its customers were without power, more than half of them in the Chicago area.
A building under construction partially collapsed in the 1800 block of South Canalport Avenue in East Pilsen, according to the Chicago Fire Department. And the steeple on College Church, across the street from Wheaton College, collapsed, spokesman Joseph Moore said.
People survey the damage to the roof of College Church in Wheaton after a severe storm toppled the steeple at the church across the street from Wheaton College on Aug. 10, 2020. (Mark Hume / Chicago Tribune)
In Chicago’s Lincoln Park, one huge tree toppled over and crashed onto a van on Wrightwood Avenue.
Lucas Seiler, who owns a public relations firm, was working from home and had just received a tornado warning on his phone when the sky took on an eerie green tint and the air cooled suddenly.
“I heard this crackling noise, and down came a huge tree which I loved,” he said. “It’s massive. You can see the roots tore up the brick that was on the ground.”
The tree pinned down a van used by workers renovating a nearby condominium, he said. The lights flickered off and on intermittently. As quickly as the storm came, it passed. “It was over in a matter of minutes,” Seiler said.
In Bronzeville, the south side wall of Pilgrim Baptist Church, 3301 S. Indiana Ave., collapsed into an empty side lot, Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller said.
The church was gutted by a fire in 2006, and church members and preservationists have been trying to raise funds ever since to renovate the structure, designed by architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Recently, it was proposed to be converted into a gospel music museum. Miller said the collapse was unfortunate but he remained hopeful the edifice could still be saved.
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In the Logan Square neighborhood, tree branches plummeted onto power lines, cutting power on several blocks south of Diversey Avenue and east of Kedzie Street.
Kelly Abolt, a Chicago Public Schools educator at Prescott Elementary, surveyed her car parked on Albany Avenue near Schubert Street. Barely visible underneath a wet blanket of green leaves, the car’s windshield was pierced by a huge branch.
“And we have a 6-month old!” the masked Abolt said, noting that they parked on that particular block that morning only because of street cleaning regulations on their own stretch of Albany, near Logan Boulevard.
Emergency management workers in the city and suburbs reported scattered downed trees and utility poles.
Warnings of tornadoes, high winds and severe thunderstorms in the area expired late in the afternoon, but the storms were expected to batter parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana through about 7 p.m.
About 2:40 p.m., a wind gust of 92 mph hit near Dixon, Illinois, with 20 to 30 minutes of winds gusting more than 50 mph, according to the weather service. Just before 4 p.m., the weather service reported, winds reached 72 mph at Midway Airport and 62 mph at O’Hare International Airport.
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O’Hare saw about 175 flights canceled and Midway about 15 by just before 5 p.m.
Near Belvidere, 1-inch hailstones fell about 3 p.m.
By a little before 5 p.m., “much of northern Illinois (had) pockets of damage, with downed trees, debris, and powerlines blocking roadways,” according to the weather service. Multiple roads in Lake County were blocked because of downed trees and power lines, according to the Lake County sheriff’s office.
In the city, the CTA said it was having service disruptions on the Red, Brown and Purple lines because of debris on tracks near Belmont and Loyola avenues, and delays on the Pink and Green lines.
In Naperville, more than 300 homes in one area had power outages, but power was restored to those homes by 5:45 p.m., and major roads remained open, said Kate Schultz, a spokeswoman for the city of Naperville.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said that there might be a few tree limbs lost around Orland Park but “nothing major” or “out of the ordinary” was reported following the storm.
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Park Forest officials posted on the village’s Facebook page that the village had sustained extensive storm damage, including downed trees and power lines, with an estimated half of the village without electricity.
The storm prompted the rescheduling of a Village Board meeting that was to have been held Monday evening.
At least one Lake County home was severely damaged, two people sustained non-life-threatening injuries, dozens of trees came down and thousands lost power Monday afternoon as a storm with 65-mph winds blew through area communities, local officials said based on early damage reports.
With up to an inch of rain forecast, the weather service issued a limited flood risk.
The storm system was paired with humid conditions and a heat index of more than 100 degrees in the Chicago area.
“You can almost wear the air,” said Brett Borchardt, a weather service meteorologist. “This kind of air is like rocket fuel to storms.”
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A derecho is a wind storm that stretches more than 240 miles, punctuated by wind gusts of more than 55 mph. They are not common but increasingly have threatened the Chicago area in the past decade or so, including a double derecho in 2010 and another in 2014, meteorologists have said.
To Logan Park resident Ken Carl, and so many others, the storm was simply the latest round of adversity this harsh year.
“I’ve lived here all my life, since 1956,” said the freelance photographer. “I’ve never felt the sense of uncertainty that I feel now. I think of the odd parallels between 1968 and today. In ’68 you had a flu epidemic, you had the race riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, and then came the presidential election. Odd parallels. Yet I’ve never felt the sense of uncertainty that I feel now.”
As thunder boomed to the east, Carl paused. “But one thing I truly believe? I believe America can continue to move forward and meet the challenges of 2020. These are bad, thunderous times, but who knows — maybe we’ll come out of it all, this entire year, from COVID to the election, for the better.”
For forecast updates, check the Tribune’s weather page.
Chicago Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and Rafael Guerrero and Lake County News-Sun freelance reporter Steve Sadin contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--‘There’s gonna be looting going on’: Long night of unrest follows Englewood shooting

By sunrise , the city had lifted all the downtown bridges except for LaSalle Street , trying to seal off @ @ @ @ @ of the bridges ’ bells tolled throughout an otherwise quiet downtown .
Some people emerged @ @ @ @ @ others continued to stand guard , such as a maintenance worker who stood outside a @ @ @ @ @ .
Nearby , a part from a broken cash register lay on the ground .

Paige Fry, Jeremy Gorner, Peter Nickeas, John Keilman, Sophie Sherry

Damaged windows at the Zara store following early morning looting in downtown Chicago on Aug. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
At 11:07 p.m. Sunday, a Chicago police dispatcher relayed the first indication that chaos was about to return to the city.
“We just wanted to give y’all a heads-up that we got a call from an anonymous individual that there’s gonna be looting going on at 87th and the Dan Ryan,” she said.
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The anonymous caller was correct, but the shopping center break-in was just a taste of what was to come. Within an hour, a caravan of cars headed to the Loop for an early morning looting spree that marked the worst night of unrest in Chicago since the police brutality protests of late May boiled into violence.
Police Superintendent David Brown said officers arrested more than 100 people while 13 officers were injured, including a sergeant struck by a bottle. He said social media posts had encouraged the downtown looting following a Sunday afternoon police shooting in Englewood, but he tried to dispel the idea that this was an organized protest.
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Chicago police officers detain a man at Grand and Wabash avenues in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“Rather, this was an incident of pure criminality. This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city,” he said at a Monday news conference.
It was clear, however, that tensions had reached the danger zone hours before the looting began.
About 2:30 p.m. Sunday, police said, they responded to a call of a man with a gun in Englewood. Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley said the man, later identified as 20-year-old Latrell Allen, fled when approached by officers, only to turn and fire at them. The officers shot back and wounded the man, she said, but authorities could offer no body camera footage to confirm their account.
[ Police shooting of Englewood man reignites political debate and looting as Mag Mile trashed, 13 cops injured, 2 people shot ]
An angry crowd soon gathered in the afternoon heat, as did a massive police response that included SWAT officers and a mobile command unit. Talley said two officers were injured during altercations with bystanders, and a brick shattered the windshield of a police vehicle.
She blamed an “agitator” for spreading misinformation about the shooting and tried to knock down a story that a man who recorded the shooting had his phone confiscated.
“He has his phone,” she said.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Officers stand near crime scene tape after an argument erupted between police and residents after Latrell Allen was shot three times by CPD officers after he allegedly fired several rounds at two officers near the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood on Aug. 9, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
But social media also seethed after the shooting, with some erroneously saying the person shot was 15. And it was online, Brown said, that the looting plan spread.
First, came break-ins at the 87th Street shopping center. Police said they started to get calls around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, and arrested at least two men they said were carrying away merchandise. When a Tribune reporter stopped by Monday, many of the shops had been boarded up.
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Then, at 12:11 a.m., the first report of downtown looting came when a caller reported that the Gucci store on North Michigan Avenue had been broken into. The trickle quickly became a surge.
[ Overnight on the Magnificent Mile: Timeline of what Tribune reporters saw ]
As they had in May, thousands of people flocked to the Magnificent Mile and its surrounding blocks. They smashed in store windows that had been repaired months earlier. They threw large rocks at squad cars and bottles at officers. “F--- 12” was written next to spots that had been scrubbed clean of previous tags.
Four hundred police officers flooded the streets, trying to chase looters away. Some would-be thieves were released if they dropped their take and left, while others were pepper-sprayed or handcuffed. The looters returned as soon as police moved on, and for every person arrested, dozens more walked out of stores with arms or luggage full of stolen goods.
The windows of the Timberland store on North Michigan Avenue were shattered following early morning looting in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Downtown streets were jammed with traffic. Looters jumped out of cars, grabbed what they could and hopped back in. Others took their haul away by foot.
About 2:20 a.m., a squad car rolled up to Water Tower Place. A man started running and the officer chased him around the corner. Moments later, a dozen others ran inside Macy’s before backup officers arrived.
“Get (expletive) out now!” an officer yelled at them.
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Twenty minutes later, officers started to barricade Michigan Avenue. Calls of “shots fired” and “10-1,” or police emergencies, went off on scanners throughout the night.
By sunrise, the city had lifted all the downtown bridges except for LaSalle Street, trying to seal off the area. The sound of the bridges’ bells tolled throughout an otherwise quiet downtown. Some people emerged to tally the damage while others continued to stand guard, such as a maintenance worker who stood outside a looted Walgreens with a hammer. Nearby, a part from a broken cash register lay on the ground.
Meanwhile, sporadic thefts continued. A couple casually walked into an Old Navy, came out with dozens of jeans, dropped them in a vehicle and went back inside.
A man swept the glass on the sidewalk outside a storefront on Delaware Place. A woman wearing a sundress stopped and looked at him and the store.
“Again? Again?” she yelled. “You gotta be (expletive) kidding me!”
[ Downtown businesses on edge after this morning’s looting, vandalism. ‘I feel like we are under attack.’ ]
Not far away, on State Street, Patsy Mullins stepped over broken glass and black jewelry mannequins at her store, Accessorize, while carpenters affixed particle board to the front door.
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“I just don’t know what the next move is going to be,” said Mullins, who has owned the store for nearly 20 years. “I’m out of work. They’ve destroyed everything, they’ve taken all the merchandise that I have to sell. ... This requires an investment of money to rebuild and replenish.”
Mullins and her fiance, Bruce Carey, are African American, and said the looting, opportunistic as it might have been, was a sign of deeper issues that must be addressed.
“We’re Black, we understand that, we face that pressure the same,” Carey said. “But you also understand the systemic conditions that have helped create that. … No kids have summer jobs, all these kids on the street. You’re fed through media, social media, to want materialism. Gucci, Burberry.
“The criminals are taking advantage. This is a way for them to rob, steal, not get caught.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,319 new known COVID-19 cases reported as renters with coronavirus

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,319 new known COVID-19 cases reported as renters with coronavirus-related financial difficulty can now apply for up to $5,000 state grant

When it has come to getting a standardized test score during the onslaught of COVID-19 , fate has been cruel @ @ @ @ @ school seniors .
They weren ’ t able to take the SAT at their schools @ @ @ @ @ ACT sittings were canceled over the spring and summer after test sites , mostly schools @ @ @ @ @

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials on Monday announced 1,319 new confirmed case of COVID-19 and one additional death.
The numbers came after the statewide count surpassed 2,000 in Illinois for two straight days on Friday and Saturday. The state has now reported 195,399 cases overall and 7,637 confirmed deaths.
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Starting Monday, Illinois renters who have been unable to pay their rent due to coronavirus-related financial difficulty can apply for one-time grants of $5,000 through a new state program — and relief for homeowners is next.
On Sunday, Gov. J.B. Pritkzer and other health experts urged residents to embrace wearing face masks or coverings to slow the spread of the virus.
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“In the last few months, research has evolved from the early days of the coronavirus, when it was shown that wearing masks protected others you’re with,” Pritzker said. “Now, study after study after study has shown us that if you wear a mask, it protects you too.”
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: A daily update on key metrics in your area ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ Illinois coronavirus graphs: The latest on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:30 p.m.: As fall classes begin at Notre Dame, campus sees first case of COVID-19 and school president apologizes for social distancing error in group photo
Less than a week after the University of Notre Dame opened its dorms, a returning student tested positive for COVID-19 and six close contacts are under quarantine, despite the school’s extensive efforts to thwart the virus from reaching campus.
Notre Dame shipped thousands of testing kits to students in late July and only allowed students with negative results to come back. The student who fell ill had tested negative before traveling to campus, according to Dr. Mark Fox, deputy health officer for St. Joseph County in Indiana.
“The actual source of exposure hasn’t been identified ... but (it was) somewhere between their pre-matriculation testing and when they became symptomatic here on campus,” Fox said.
With in-person classes beginning Monday, the new case represents just one stumbling block in the Catholic university’s long road to reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. Compared with colleges sticking with online learning this fall, Notre Dame is taking one of the most aggressive approaches in offering face-to-face instruction and moved up its schedule to start earlier this year. How the school performs could serve as a bellwether for other universities.
But students had barely unpacked by the time the university president came under fire for failing to follow the social distancing guidelines he’d been promoting. After the Rev. John Jenkins apparently posed for a group photo with students crowding around him on a lawn, the image circulated on social media and prompted him to apologize. Everyone in the photo seemed to be wearing masks.
“I am sorry for my poor example, and I am recommitting to do my best. I am confident you will too,” Jenkins said in a message to students.
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Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney and Kelli Smith
7:17 p.m.: Highland Park High School worker tests positive for COVID-19 days before freshman orientation, school year starts
A staff member at Highland Park High School has tested positive for COVID-19, school officials announced Sunday, a week before the new school year is scheduled to start.
In an email to parents, students and staff, Principal Deborah Finn said that a staff member tested positive Saturday for the disease, which is caused by the novel coronavirus, and was in isolation. The Lake County Health Department is working to contact others who may have been in close contact with the staff member, Finn said in Sunday night email.
“We are closely working with the Lake County Health Department on contact tracing. The health department will contact the staff member directly and any close contacts will be identified, contacted and provided guidance. If you do not receive communication from school administration or the Lake County Health Department, your student has not been identified as a close contact and can continue to come into the building only for scheduled activities,” Finn wrote.
The staff member is not believed to have had any close contact with students, SD113 spokeswoman Karen Warner told Pioneer Press. Citing privacy laws, Warner declined to give any more details about the staffer.
Read more here. —Alicia Fabbre
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5:22 p.m.: In coronavirus talks, Pelosi holds firm as Mnuchin wants a deal
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not about to blink.
The Democratic leader has been here before, negotiating a deal with the White House to save the U.S. economy, and lessons from the Great Recession are now punctuating the coronavirus talks. With Republicans again balking at big government bailouts, Democratic leaders believe they have the leverage, forcing President Donald Trump into a politically risky standoff over help for millions of Americans.
“It’s impossible to know whether she has overplayed her hand until we see if there is a COVID package,” says Michael Steel, a former top aide to then-Speaker John Boehner.
Monday brought no new talks between Trump’s team and negotiators on Capitol Hill as the president tries a go-it-alone strategy. Over the weekend, he launched a series of executive actions that give the appearance of a White House taking charge but may end up providing little help for ordinary Americans.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
3:33 p.m.: CPS will reduce funding for school resource officers by half and won’t pay for police while schools are closed for remote learning
With the campaign to end school police only gaining traction since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Chicago Public Schools introduced a budget Monday that would cut in half funding for school-based officers.
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CPS had a $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department for the previous school year. But in the coming year, the school district will no longer pay $7.5 million for 48 officers on mobile school units and will receive at least $10.5 million in credit for remote learning days, when officers aren’t assigned to schools, according to CPS budget documents.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said the cost will be pro-rated based on the number of days of in-school instruction. Remote learning will continue in CPS for at least the first quarter of the school year.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
(Updated: 1:04 p.m.) 12:08 p.m.: 1,319 new known COVID-19 cases, 1 additional death
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday reported 1,319 newly-confirmed cases of coronavirus and one additional death, raising the statewide totals to 195,399 known cases and 7,637 deaths since the pandemic began.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate as of Sunday was 4.1%, and as of Sunday night, 1,481 people in the state with COVID-19 were hospitalized. Of those patients, 352 were in an intensive care unit and 138 were on ventilators.
The daily tally of new cases reported on Sunday was slightly higher – 1,382 – after two consecutive days of daily case counts that reached past 2,000.
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On Monday, the state reported 32,353 tests conducted during a 24-hour period.
Daily test totals were higher over the previous few days —– the department reported on Sunday more than 41,000 tests conducted over the previous 24 hours.
On Saturday, the state reported 48,016 tests during a 24-hour period, as well as 2,190 newly-confirmed cases that day. And on Friday, the state reported 46,869 tests during a 24-hour period and 2,084 newly-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
—Jamie Munks
12:18 a.m.: Big Ten officials are nearing a decision on college football, but ‘no votes have been taken at this time’
With the Big Ten football season on life support, some players are speaking out on social media using #WeWantToPlay.
But they face long odds, especially if Dan Patrick’s reporting is true.
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The longtime radio/TV host said Monday that based on information he received, the Big Ten and Pac-12 will cancel their seasons Tuesday. The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence, and the SEC is trying to “buy time” to see if it can play.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
11:46 a.m.: Wisconsin-based Epic Systems backpedals, makes return to office voluntary amid coronavirus concerns
Epic Systems has told its employees they will not be required to return to in-person work on Monday at the health care records company based in Wisconsin.
The company had planned to start a phased approach to bringing employees into work, requiring its employees to return to work in person at its sprawling campus outside of Madison by Sept. 21.
Read more here. —Associated Press
11:14 a.m.: Chicago Public Schools proposes $8.4 billon budget for 2021 as it copes with financial impact of COVID-19
Chicago Public Schools is proposing an $8.4 billion budget for the 2021 school year, according to budget documents released Monday.
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Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, CPS expects revenues to increase this year, in large part because of “substantial levels of federal emergency relief funding to cover emergency expenses and offset previously anticipated revenue increases that will not materialize,” the district said.
The greatest funding stream continues to be local property taxes, which are based on the prior year’s assessments.
Yet that outlook “still does not elevate the district’s revenue collection” enough to provide students with everything they need, and CPS would still require more than $1.9 billion in additional state funding in order to fully fund schools based on the state’s assessment, according to CPS.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
10:27 a.m.: ‘This has been our busiest year’: Crowded Lake County beaches struggle to maintain social distancing
Social distancing is becoming a challenge at Lake County’s beaches as crowds are getting larger after a hot July, and beaches are becoming smaller because of rising Lake Michigan water levels.
Lakefront beaches from Illinois Beach State Park, which stretches from the Wisconsin state like to the northern end of Waukegan, to Highland Park are adjusting their regulations to contend with the coronavirus pandemic and visitors from Chicago where beaches remain closed.
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Officials at the state beach — as well as in Waukegan, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and Highland Park — all said visits to their beaches are more frequent this summer and harder to accommodate because of pandemic-related social distancing.
Read more here. —Steve Sadin
10:26 a.m.: Around the world, the pandemic is wrecking Class of 2020′s hopes for landing a first job
Around the world, young people armed with new degrees, diplomas and professional qualifications are struggling to enter the workforce as the pandemic pushes the global economy into recession. COVID-19 has thwarted hopes of landing first jobs — important for jump-starting careers — as employers cut back graduate recruiting plans or even revoke job offers.
The latest U.S. job numbers Friday underscored the murky outlook: 1.8 million jobs were added in July, a sharp slowdown in employment growth from the month before. It means the world’s biggest economy has regained just 42% of jobs lost to the coronavirus.
Read more here. —Associated Press
9:45 a.m.: Illinois renters can apply for $5,000 grants to cover unpaid rent due to COVID-19 starting today — and homeowners are next
Illinois renters who have been unable to pay their rent due to coronavirus-related financial difficulty can apply for one-time grants of $5,000 through a new state program beginning Monday — and relief for homeowners is next.
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The state will give $300 million in rent and mortgage grants this fall to people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, offering one-time grants of $5,000 for tenants and $15,000 for homeowners. The programs, administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, are funded through federal money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed earlier this year.
Applications for renters are available until Aug. 21. Homeowners can apply for grants Aug. 24-Sept. 4.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
6 a.m.: COVID-19 shutdowns create mad dash for ACT, SAT spots as college application season looms
When it has come to getting a standardized test score during the onslaught of COVID-19, fate has been cruel to Illinois’ rising high school seniors. They weren’t able to take the SAT at their schools in April, and many ACT sittings were canceled over the spring and summer after test sites, mostly schools, closed their doors.
That led to a mad dash last week as aspiring test-takers swamped ACT’s website trying to reserve a spot this fall. ACT officials won’t say how many were left in the cold, but judging by social media chatter, the number could be considerable.
“Two hours in queue,” one parent wrote on ACT’s Facebook page. “When (I) got my turn ALL September seats in Illinois and neighboring states are TAKEN. First available date is December!!! Whoever is the genius who came up with this solution should be looking for a new job.”
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The bedlam is happening even as colleges seek to assure applicants that standardized test scores will be optional this year. About 350 have made that declaration since the start of the pandemic, including big names such as Northwestern, Notre Dame and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
But parents and students interviewed by the Tribune don’t buy it. They’re still convinced the lack of a good score will be a disadvantage at a competitive school.
Read more here. —John Keilman
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are three things that happened this weekend related to COVID-19.


chicagotribune--2020-08-11--As fall classes begin at Notre Dame, campus sees first case of COVID-19 and school president apologi

As fall classes begin at Notre Dame, campus sees first case of COVID-19 and school president apologizes for social distancing error in group photo

With in-person classes beginning Monday , the new case represents just one stumbling block in the Catholic university ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus pandemic .
Compared with colleges sticking with online learning this fall , Notre @ @ @ @ @ the most aggressive approaches in offering face-to-face instruction and moved up its schedule to start @ @ @ @ @ the school performs could serve as a bellwether for other universities .

Less than a week after the University of Notre Dame opened its dorms, a returning student tested positive for COVID-19 and six close contacts are under quarantine, despite the school’s extensive efforts to thwart the virus from reaching campus.
Notre Dame shipped thousands of testing kits to students in late July and only allowed those with negative results to come back. The student who fell ill had tested negative before traveling to campus, according to Dr. Mark Fox, deputy health officer for St. Joseph County in Indiana.
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“The actual source of exposure hasn’t been identified ... but (it was) somewhere between their pre-matriculation testing and when they became symptomatic here on campus,” Fox said.
With in-person classes beginning Monday, the new case represents just one stumbling block in the Catholic university’s long road to reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. Compared with colleges sticking with online learning this fall, Notre Dame is taking one of the most aggressive approaches in offering face-to-face instruction and moved up its schedule to start earlier this year. How the school performs could serve as a bellwether for other universities.
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But students had barely unpacked by the time the university president came under fire for failing to follow the social distancing guidelines he’d been promoting. After the Rev. John Jenkins apparently posed for a group photo with students crowding around him on a lawn, the image circulated on social media and prompted him to apologize. Everyone in the photo seemed to be wearing masks.
“I am sorry for my poor example, and I am recommitting to do my best. I am confident you will too,” Jenkins said in a message to students.
Most students began moving into campus dorms on Aug. 3, according to Notre Dame. The school informed students about the positive case Friday and said it was working to create a public dashboard to show daily case counts. Everyone cleared to return to campus received a testing kit this summer and had to submit a nasal swab for processing. Just 33 students of nearly 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students tested positive, according to the school.
Miguel Hoch, 20, would have been a junior at Notre Dame this fall, but he’s taking a leave of absence because his request to study remotely was denied. Hoch said he was concerned about traveling to Indiana from his home in Houston and didn’t think Notre Dame had implemented enough precautions.
He cited the photo of Jenkins with students as an example of the lax attitude.
“Small mistakes like that are going to get people sick and are going to get professors sick, and people are going to die from it,” Hoch said. “It’s just not an environment I feel comfortable in, and to be forced into that corner is just not OK.”
Though Notre Dame has only confirmed one case on campus, some professors are in contact with students who say they have tested positive, according to Sarah McKibben, a professor on leave this semester.
McKibben, who moderates a Facebook group of 250 faculty members, said that some instructors believe in the school’s ability to avoid outbreaks, while others fear for themselves or their families and weren’t granted the opportunity to teach remotely.
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“I have seen a number of my colleagues, particularly who’ve just arrived or only been here for a few years ... really shocked that the university isn’t taking greater care of them, and that is very sobering and difficult,” she said.
One of the biggest challenges will be controlling behavior off campus. Senior Ian Marx said he’s seen many students trying to adhere to safety protocols, as well as school officials enforcing them in classrooms.
But he said he’s already heard of parties hosted off campus, and the school’s guidance about wearing masks in some settings, such as strolling outside with friends, has been confusing.
Fox, the health director, said it’s too soon to know if the influx of students has resulted in more local cases. The county’s cases, which totaled 3,565 on Monday, have been rising since early July after graduation and Fourth of July parties prompted more people to interact.
Fox said he expects the number of local cases to climb since the community has grown, with people traveling from across the country.
“These are students who haven’t seen their buddies in six months, and the end of last year was weird and so people will be excited to see their friends again, and that may lead to some potential for more careless behavior,” he said. “These first few weeks are going to be the most telling.”