chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Family marks missing Griffith woman’s 49th birthday as search continues; Dushawna Glover disappeared

Family marks missing Griffith woman’s 49th birthday as search continues; Dushawna Glover disappeared May 16

“ My mom and I were at a gas station in Gary until 3:30 a.m. ( May 24 ) , @ @ @ @ @ on the tape was someone who was asking for money , ” Sharmeshia Brooks , @ @ @ @ @ few from San Antonio , Texas , to help her mother , Celeste Glover , @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t have the concept to ask for help , though , so even @ @ @ @ @ people think it looks like her , it isn ’ t .
”

Family and friends of missing Griffith woman Dushawnda Glover gather in to celebrate her birthday and search for clues of her whereabouts on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Over Memorial Day weekend in 2019, Dushawna Glover’s family did for her birthday what she liked best and hosted a barbecue.
The drinks flowed and the family danced and laughed as Glover took it all in, her aunt, Geraldine Giddeon said. Her May 26 birthday was her favorite day, in fact, and there was no one else she’d have rather been with than her family.
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On Tuesday, family members gathered a few feet from the Griffith apartment from where she went missing May 16 with a sheet cake decorated in red roses and cupcakes for the little ones. Intermittent downpours throughout the afternoon kept them from their task: searching for the now 49-year-old in and around an industrial park not a mile from where she lived.
Kenny Glover, cousin of missing Griffith resident Dushawnda Glover, reaches into his car for cupcakes and cake as family of the missing woman gather to celebrate her birthday on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Family members and police officers alike have sifted through countless hours of surveillance tape in and around the area searching for the differently abled woman, Glover’s niece, Vertice Seals, said Saturday. Tips have come in from as far away as downtown Gary, which the family said she’d have never gotten to on foot.
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“My mom and I were at a gas station in Gary until 3:30 a.m. (May 24), and the woman we saw on the tape was someone who was asking for money,” Sharmeshia Brooks, Glover’s niece who few from San Antonio, Texas, to help her mother, Celeste Glover, said Saturday. “Dushawna doesn’t have the concept to ask for help, though, so even though I’m sure people think it looks like her, it isn’t.”
A birthday cake sits on a table as family of missing Griffith resident Dushawnda Glover celebrate her birthday and search the area for new clues of her whereabouts on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Between following up on every lead and bringing the family together for their own searches is taking its toll in a big way, Brooks said. At one point early Saturday, Brooks tapped on the shoulder of a woman in front of her in the line at a gas station and launched into her speech about Dushawna and if the woman had seen her.
She was so exhausted, she didn’t realize the woman in front of her was her sister, Vertice Seals.
“I was looking at her like, ‘Really? We’re doing this?’” Seals said.
Perhaps the most affected by Dushawna’s disappearance is Celeste Glover, with whom Dushawna was staying until the family opted to place her in independent living. For her, there is no way Dushawna couldn’t be alive, Seals said.
“Our mom is a fighter, but she’s in denial. She has a lot of guilt, even though we were doing what we thought was right for (Dushawna),” Seals said. “Me, I’m hoping for the best.”
Children peek at a birthday cake during a family gathering in honor of missing Griffith woman Dushawnda Glover's birthday on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
On Tuesday, other family members wondered how it was that no one could’ve noticed Dushawna in the 10 days she’s been missing.
“Everyone’s so caught up in their lives, they didn’t a woman looking like she’s tired or hungry?” said Kiana Glover, a cousin from East Chicago. “Any normal person would be like, ‘Are you OK?’ because you can see she’s not on our level. It doesn’t make sense.”
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Griffith Police, along with officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, are planning to resume the search for Dushawna Glover along the Little Calumet River Wednesday or Thursday, Griffith Police spokesman Sgt. Jim Sibley said Tuesday.
Dushawna Glover was last seen between 6 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. May 16 walking in an industrial complex near the Tri-Union Express Trucking company sign in the 1900 block of Lafayette Court, Griffith Police spokesman Cmdr. Keith Martin said previously. A second person on May 18 contacted police to confirm they also had seen Glover in the area; video from that employee’s business showed Glover walking northbound from River Road and Indiana Avenue into a lowland wooded area at about 6 a.m. May 16 before disappearing from view, Martin said.
A flyer for missing Griffith resident Dushawnda Glover is taped to a door on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, as family of the missing woman gather to celebrate her birthday and search for new clues on her whereabouts. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Martin said the department deployed an officer on an all-terrain vehicle along River Road and the Little Calumet River, where the officer discovered a white flip-flop sandal matching what Glover was said to be wearing just a few hundred feet from where she was last seen.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit, the Hammond Police Department drone unit, members of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources using a boat and all-terrain vehicle, and officers of the Canadian National Railroad searched the area all day May 18, but flooding on the property hindered the search, Martin said. Officers will resume the search once conditions are less dangerous, he said.
The Griffith Police aren’t ruling out that Glover could have left the area and ask that any information should be given by calling 911 or by contacting Griffith Police Detective Al Tharp at 219-924-7503, Ext. 252.
Griffith Police brought out its K-9 units Saturday, and they caught Glover’s scent up to the Public Storage storage complex at 1915 N. Cline Ave. before it went cold. The Indiana State Police issued a Silver Alert for her Saturday; the Lake County Sheriff’s Department also sent up a helicopter, but aviation officers were unable to find her.
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Glover was living in a Tradewinds-owned apartment building in the 100 block of 35th Court just two weeks before she went missing. Family members said she’d been morning her mother’s recent death.
Dushawnda Glover is described as 5 feet tall, 180 pounds and soft spoken, police said. She is said to be wearing a white shirt or jacket and blue jeans.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Chicago releases rules for restaurants to reopen, but no date yet

The city of Chicago Tuesday released details that restaurants will need to follow to be permitted to reopen during the @ @ @ @ @ Lori Lightfoot did not expound on her announcement Friday that opening could happen some time @ @ @

Megan Canty works the pick-up window at Chicago Board Game Cafe, 1965 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago Tuesday released details that restaurants will need to follow to be permitted to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. But Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not expound on her announcement Friday that opening could happen some time in June.
The broad rules require:
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Contactless pickup available and contactless payment encouraged
Employees required to wear face coverings at all times, face coverings for guests required when not seated.
Outdoor dining permitted* following standard social distancing requirements. (The details: Application process pending; dining areas considered outdoors include rooftops, rooms with retractable roofs and indoor spaces where 50% or more of a wall can be removed via the opening of windows, doors, or panels provided that dining tables are within 8-ft from such openings.)
Employees and diners encouraged to maintain 6 feet physical distancing.
Visual signage posted throughout facilities regarding hygiene, social distancing, proper PPE and more.
Employees frequently disinfect facilities.
[ Here's what the next phase of Chicago's reopening plan will look like for childcare facilities and some other industries ]
The report released by the city included more detail:
Spacing: Tables would need to be 6 feet apart. Barriers are required between tables when that distance is not possible. Some Chicago restaurants have already talked about using bookcases or Plexiglas.
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Barriers would also be required at counters and registers when distancing is not possible.
Areas where patrons or employees line up must be marked with distancing guidance.
No big parties: Tables will be limited to six people. Any area where people may gather (lounge areas, etc.) can have no more than 10 people. Plus no planned events with more than 10 people.
Employee screening. Staff is encouraged to self-identify symptoms and stay home if they’re sick. Before they enter the restaurant, employees must self-screen for symptoms, including temperature over 100 degrees, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath and a loss of taste or smell.
Cleaning: Restaurants must throughly clean and sanitize their spaces before opening and during business.
Supply disposable items when possible, including menus, containers condiments, and sanitize those items that are not disposable, such as tables and chairs. Menu boards or digital menus are encouraged.
Self-serve food and drink stations are out.
Workplace. Proper ventilation is stressed according to CDC guidelines.
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Counter and bar seating is out. But allowed at sushi bars and diner counters, but with 6-feet of spacing.
Other regulations covering testing, training, third party visitors and more can be found here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Racist, gang graffiti left on Naperville park property over the holiday weekend denounced by city of

Racist, gang graffiti left on Naperville park property over the holiday weekend denounced by city officials, local groups

“ At no time and in no way is this behavior condoned , ” Chirico said on Facebook .
“ @ @ @ @ @ as a community in recent months to address this head-on , and we have more @ @ @ @ @ like these can be solved when the community and the police work together .
”

City and park officials and community groups denounced the racist graffiti spray painted over the Memorial Day weekend on a divider between Cantore Park and Welch Elementary School near Route 59 on Naperville's south side. (Dianne McGuire)
Racist and gang graffiti scrawled on a Naperville park partition over the Memorial Day weekend was condemned Tuesday by local officials and community groups.
The words “white pride," gang symbols and derogatory messages to police were spray painted sometime between Sunday evening and 6:45 a.m. Monday on a large Naperville Park District divider that separates Cantore Park from adjacent Welch Elementary School on Leverenz Road, east of Route 59.
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Park district Executive Director Ray McGury said park crews temporarily covered the partition Monday until the graffiti could be removed permanently Tuesday.
McGury, who also is serving as acting park district police chief, denounced the vandalism and racist messages, which are driven by hatred and ignorance.
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“I live in this community. I raised my kids in this community," McGury said in a statement. "I, along with my fellow Napervillians, have no toleration for this … none.”
The vandalism comes less than a week after the Naperville City Council adopted a resolution stating the city “denounces all acts of racism, intolerance and unlawful discrimination and will not tolerate them of any kind.”
The council’s action was provoked by a woman who called Asian residents supporting a ban on selling recreational marijuana in Naperville “roving carpetbaggers” as well as several other racist incidents over the last two years.
Gang graffiti was painted on one side of a Naperville Park District partition in Cantore Park in Naperville over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. (Dianne McGuire)
Naperville Neighbors United, a community group that encourages discussions of racial issues and promotes inclusion, said in a statement that it “strongly denounces the hateful symbols” and supports the city’s resolution that “celebrates the diversity of our community.”
“We commit to supporting our community and providing a safe space to foster courageous conversations,” the statement said.
The Parent Diversity Advisory Council of Indian Prairie School District 204 also issued a statement, saying it will continue to speak out on behalf of equity and diversity and will not "tolerate acts of hate.”
The neighborhood near Cantore Park and Welch Elementary is diverse. According to demographic data from the Illinois Report Card for the elementary school, 48% of Welch students are Asian, 31% are white, 9% are black, 8% are Hispanic, 3% are mixed race and 1% are American Indian.
Mayor Steve Chirico Tuesday repeated a message Tuesday that he’s expressed many times in response to racial incidents in the city: racism in any form is unacceptable.
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Gang messages left on a structure in Cantore Park in Naperville over the Memorial Day weekend were removed Tuesday by the Naperville Park District. (Dianne McGuire)
“At no time and in no way is this behavior condoned,” Chirico said on Facebook. “We have made great strides as a community in recent months to address this head-on, and we have more work to do. Cases like these can be solved when the community and the police work together.”
Naperville police Chief Robert Marshall said his department is actively investigating the crime.
“Spray painting phrases like ‘white pride,’ gang symbols, and other inappropriate phrases is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Marshall said in statement.
“Cases like these are often solved when the community and the police work together to identify those responsible,” he said.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Naperville Crime Stoppers at 630-420-6006 or www.napervillecrimestoppers.com. Tips can be left anonymously and still receive an reward of up to $1,000 if the informations lead to a suspect’s arrest.
McGury said he’s personally adding $500 to the Crime Stoppers reward.
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Information also can be provided by calling the Naperville Police Department’s Investigations Division at 630-305-5276.
subaker@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 4,923 deaths, 113,195 confirmed cases, 786,794 tests,  14.5% positivi

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 4,923 deaths, 113,195 confirmed cases, 786,794 tests,  14.5% positivity rate for Northeast region

As the coronavirus spreads and local , state and national governments work to contain and mitigate the outbreak , the @ @ @ @ @ .

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


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--CPD honors high school graduate

CPD honors high school graduate

The Chicago Police Department honors 18-year-old high school graduate Jadiyah Davis on May 26 , 2020 .
Davis has been @ @ @ @ @ s Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy ( CAPS ) .
Because of COVID-19 and no traditional @ @ @ @ @ visit from police Superintendent David Brown and a police vehicle parade .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Chicago police Superintendent David Brown congratulates high school graduate Jadiyah Davis, 18, on her high school graduation day after a police vehicle parade in front of her home in Chicago on May 26, 2020. Davis has been active in the department’s Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS). Because of COVID-19 there was no traditional ceremony. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Police Department honors 18-year-old high school graduate Jadiyah Davis on May 26, 2020. Davis has been active in the department’s Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS). Because of COVID-19 and no traditional ceremony, she received a visit from police Superintendent David Brown and a police vehicle parade.


Corrections and clarifications

· On Tuesday ’ s Weather page , a chart about 90-degree days in May had two errors .
The @ @ @ @ @ average , 90-degree days occur every two weeks in May .
The average is one @ @ @ @ @ two years .
Also , the correct chart information is that there were no 90-degree @ @ @ @ @ .

· On Tuesday’s Weather page, a chart about 90-degree days in May had two errors. The graphic incorrectly said that on average, 90-degree days occur every two weeks in May. The average is one 90-degree day in May every two years. Also, the correct chart information is that there were no 90-degree days in 2014 or 2015.
· The May 24 Lucky Day Lotto evening numbers were incorrect in the May 25 newspaper. The correct numbers are 12, 14, 19, 23, 43.
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· An item in the today-in-history feature in the May 24 edition had the incorrect years for when Jane Byrne was mayor of Chicago. She served from 1979 to 1983.
· A caption on Page 1 Saturday was incorrect in describing the North Side’s Rosehill Cemetery parade. The American Legion Tattler Post 973 was the organization in charge of the parade, with the observance done virtually this year.
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The Tribune regrets the errors.
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
To report an error, fill out this form.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Summer camps are canceling and parents are scrambling: The search for sitters who embrace social dis

Summer camps are canceling and parents are scrambling: The search for sitters who embrace social distancing

Tina Reynolds-Tyler has been setting aside money she would have been spending on day care to pay for someone who @ @ @ @ @ Tessa using Montessori principles .
Extended family is chipping in too .
Whoever gets the @ @ @ @ @ to strict social distancing rules the family has set up , despite not living with @ @

Four-year-old Tessa Reynolds-Tyler sits on the porch with her mother, Tina Reynolds-Tyler, right, and aunt, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, as they interview Micquel Hart, not seen, as a potential in-home teacher for Tessa at their home May 24, 2020, in Chicago. The coronavirus pandemic has both women working from home, but not enough time to focus on Tessa, so they are seeking help for the summer. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
It’s the question that has vexed Chicago-area parents for months: With no school, uncertainty about camps and parents working remotely, who’s watching the kids this summer?
Many families have found themselves scrambling for options to keep children entertained and the coronavirus at bay.
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Skokie resident Rebecca Abraham hired a sitter with her best friends to create a minicamp for the families’ combined four children between the ages of 3 and 6.
All four parents have erratic schedules. Abraham is a nurse in an intensive care unit in a medical system in the northern suburbs, where her husband, Anub, is a doctor. Her best friends, a doctor and an architect who live a block away, also are busy.
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Their original plan was to send their kids, who are best friends, to summer camp at the park district in Skokie, but this year, they opted out.
“We said, ‘We’re going to need child care when school closes. Let’s split child care and we’ll help each other out on our days off,'" Abraham said.
The families brought a sitter into their isolated fold. The sitter moves between the families’ two houses, depending on the parents’ harried schedules and the kids’ quarantine activities.
Sometimes the kids do sleepovers, and almost always eat meals together. Once school ends, the kids and their sitter will shift from what they call “pandemic mini-school" to “pandemic mini-camp.” The families hope a summer of activities for their children will keep them away from screens.
“My parents sent a sandbox,” Abraham said. “At least it’s different, because when the kids switch houses, it’s not as boring as being trapped in your house for eight weeks. Now they’ve been trapped in two houses for eight weeks.”
Abraham and her friends aren’t the only parents creating “do-it-yourself” summer camps, cobbling together activities and hiring “camp counselors” who might be sitters, nannies or unemployed camp counselors.
“It’s a thing,” said Elizabeth Harz, CEO of Sittercity, an online platform that matches people looking for caregivers with those who can provide the care. From April to May, the company has seen a tenfold increase in the number of child care queries. Many reference summer camps being closed, she said.
"With day cares closed, coaches without teams and camps shuttered, all of these folks who are used to working with children are now on the market,” Harz said.
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They are ripe for the picking by desperate parents who, after more than two months on lockdown with their children, need a summer break.
Parents are willing to pay more for child care these days, according to Sittercity. And caregivers aren’t afraid to ask.
Abraham said her summer nanny will make $30 per hour, split between the two families. “I want her to know she’s valued,” she said.
Photographer Lori Sapio said the sitter she hired to create a backyard camp for her three kids is charging $2 more than during the school year. The 18-year-old sitter will spend the summer days playing games, doing arts and crafts on Sapio’s back deck and swimming with the kids, ages 7, 5 and 2, in the family’s pool.
The sitter is an only child, Sapio said, so she and her parents will remain in isolation, only mixing with Sapio’s family.
Sisters Trina and Tina Reynolds-Tyler are looking for a nanny to care for Tina’s 4-year-old daughter Tessa at their Bronzeville home this summer.
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The sisters, who are raising the child together, plan to offer the nanny $20 an hour.
Tina Reynolds-Tyler has been setting aside money she would have been spending on day care to pay for someone who will spend the summer teaching Tessa using Montessori principles. Extended family is chipping in too. Whoever gets the job also has to agree to strict social distancing rules the family has set up, despite not living with them.
Families say the scariest part of bringing camp to their homes this summer will be ensuring that the person they’ve hired is as serious as they are about social distancing.
Software executive Emily Basque is rehiring a Chicago Public Schools aide to drive her 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter an hour outside of the city on weekdays to find less populated places for them to run and play.
Basque said she has had a lot of conversations with her kids and the aide about social distancing. “I trust her to keep track of my kids and I really trust my kids,” she said.
Meanwhile, summer camp operators are waiting for guidance.
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Josh Sutter, who runs a four-week camp called Summer City Adventures in Old Town, said he is “stuck waiting for” answers from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Sutter said he already slashed the number of activities and outings he usually plans for campers, and the counselors are on edge, waiting to see if they’ll have a paying job for the summer. A third of families already enrolled in the camp still plan on coming, Sutter said. Another third said they’ll likely withdraw and the rest remain undecided.
Sutter hasn’t called off camp yet because that would put him and his employees in a “very big financial hole,” he said, declining to say how much. Rent at the facility where he hosts the camp in Old Town increases annually and families may be expecting refunds or tuition rollovers for next year if he cancels.
“Camp is vital for any working family,” he said. “It’s just a big holding pattern. I’ve been fielding questions left and right and I’m tired of saying ‘we don’t know yet.’”
Ally Marotti contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Federal judge rules Florida ex-felons can vote despite fines or fees

“ Today ’ s ruling by U.S District Judge Robert Hinkle finally clears up an argument that should not have @ @ @ @ @ Florida League of Women Voters said in a statement .
“ The voters were clear @ @ @ @ @ 64 % of the electorate voted in favor of Amendment 4 , which restored the @ @ @ @ @ ex-felons not convicted of murder and felony sexual assault .
But after the passage of @ @ @ @ @ Legislature , via SB 7066 , sought to ensure that ex-felons , without the means @ @ @ @ @ obligations , would essentially endure a lifetime ban on voting .
”

\A federal judge’s ruling Sunday opens the door for hundreds of thousands of ex-felons to be able to vote in Florida despite owing fines and fees.
Pending an appeal from Gov. DeSantis, the ruling on Amendment 4 by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee is potentially one the largest expansions of the voter franchise in Florida history, and it comes just months before the state could play a deciding role in the November election for president.
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Hinkle ruled that a law passed by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis was unconstitutional because “the State of Florida has adopted a system under which nearly a million otherwise-eligible citizens can vote only if they pay an amount of money. ... Many do not know, and some may not be able to find out, how much they must pay.”
The judge called the law a “pay-to-vote system.”
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Hinkle’s order requires state election officials to allow ex-felons to request an advisory opinion on how much they owe, placing the burden on state officials to seek that information from court systems. If there’s no response within three weeks the applicant should not be barred from registering to vote, the ruling said.
“Today’s ruling by U.S District Judge Robert Hinkle finally clears up an argument that should not have taken place,'' the Florida League of Women Voters said in a statement. “The voters were clear in 2018 when more than 64% of the electorate voted in favor of Amendment 4, which restored the constitutional right to vote to ex-felons not convicted of murder and felony sexual assault. But after the passage of Amendment 4, the Florida Legislature, via SB 7066, sought to ensure that ex-felons, without the means to pay back all financial obligations, would essentially endure a lifetime ban on voting.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday the case would be appealed.
Matthew Isbell, who runs the MCI Maps website devoted to political mapmaking and analysis, said it was unclear what political effect the ruling would have this year if it is upheld.
“Yes, you’ll have an uptick in some registration,” Isbell said. “You will see a maybe a quick surge, like how there was a boost right after the amendment passed before everything kind of got put on hold by the Legislature’s law. But how far does that go? That’s what’s up in the air.”
It’s also uncertain which party would benefit the most, even as Isbell said there was a lot of “wishful thinking” among Democratic activists.
But even a relative handful of votes can make all the difference in Florida. George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes in 2000 over Al Gore, and the 2018 Senate race between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and then-Gov. Rick Scott was decided by 10,033 votes, or 0.13%.
This year, both Republican President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, his presumptive Democratic opponent, are looking to Florida to put them over the top to victory.
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The trial stems from a lawsuit by progressive and voting rights groups claiming the fines and fees requirement in SB 7066 was racially discriminatory and the equivalent of a “poll tax” banned by the U.S. Constitution.
That controversial bill was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by DeSantis in 2019. Felon voting rights advocates had claimed the amendment was self-implementing and did not need any action by the Legislature.
Hinkle had already issued an injunction in October that allowed the 17 plaintiffs to vote but did not extend it to all former felons who had an inability to pay fines and fees until this latest ruling. His ruling on Sunday made it apply to all ex-felons.
The number of ex-felons affected by the ruling is unclear. The byzantine record-keeping among 67 counties and 20 circuit courts has been a key issue in the lawsuit, with attorneys arguing many ex-felons had no idea how much they owed and couldn’t feel safe swearing on a registration form that they no longer owed money.
Daniel Smith, a researcher at the University of Florida, contended as part of the lawsuit that as many as 775,000 out of the 1.4 million total ex-felons in Florida owed fees and fines. Orlando Resident Desmond Meade, who originally pushed for Amendment 4 along with his Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, has estimated the number was somewhere between 400,000 to 600,000.
Amendment 4 is vague about the issue of fines and fees, stating only that “voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence, including parole or probation.”
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Supporters had long said fines and restitution would be considered part of a former felon’s sentence he or she had to complete, including at a panel sponsored by the Orlando Sentinel in October 2018.
Amendment 4 attorney Jon Mills also argued before the state Supreme Court in 2017 that completion of a sentence would include full payment of any fines, saying, “all terms means all terms.”
But while the amendment faced no real opposition in 2018, partisan lines began to be drawn during the bill-writing process in 2019.
Early draft language included much broader restrictions that had to be met before rights were restored, including fines and fees added after sentencing. The ultimate bill included only fines, fees and restitution “specifically ordered by the court as part of the sentence," and provides former felons with the right to ask a judge to convert fines and fees into community service time.
Democrats and some Amendment 4 supporters compared the law to the now-banned “poll taxes” once imposed on African Americans in the South. Such taxes were used to prevent blacks from voting during the Jim Crow era before being outlawed by the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964.
Meade, though, specifically avoided using such comparisons and has focused on registering ex-felons who were eligible and raising money to pay fines and fees for those who weren’t. In a deposition played during the trial, Meade said he had no issues with the law.
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Several Democratic counties created a “rocket docket” system designed to quickly move ex-felons through the process of getting fines and fees waived in order for them to be able to vote.
DeSantis can appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A previous appeal failed when Hinkle’s initial injunction was upheld by a three-judge panel, and a request by DeSantis for the full court to hear the case was denied.
It was unclear, however, if the appeals process — which could reach the U.S. Supreme Court — would be fully completed before voting for the general election begins in October with early voting and mail-in ballots.
Maria Matthews, the director of the Division of Elections, said in court, “We don’t have anything final at this point" in terms of a plan for felon voting. “We’ve just been chatting about it.”
Hinkle had angrily told state officials in a March hearing, “If the state is not going to fix it, I will."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. slemongello@orlandosentinel.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--When can Illinois reopen? Check our daily charts on where each region stands.

The metrics focus on a rolling average of positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to keep track of the direction of @ @ @ @ @ availability of hospital beds and ventilators that would be needed to handle a possible surge @ @ @ @ @ for testing and tracing positive tests .

Chad Yoder, Nausheen Husain, Jennifer Smith Richards, Jonathon Berlin

With each of the state’s four regions in Phase 3 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, the clock starts on moving on to Phase 4, where more businesses and activities are allowed. The plan to reopen Illinois — from restaurants and salons to open space to non-COVID-19 procedures at the hospital to concerts and festivals — depends on a host of metrics laid out by Pritzker.
The metrics focus on a rolling average of positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to keep track of the direction of the outbreak as well as availability of hospital beds and ventilators that would be needed to handle a possible surge. There are also benchmarks for testing and tracing positive tests.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
A key element of the plan is that a region can move both forward and backward, where more parts of society can open and shut depending on the seriousness of the outbreak.
Here is a breakdown of where each region stands.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Radiologists group pulls November meeting — and 50,000 attendees — from Chicago

The group , whose history of annual meetings dates back more than 100 years , has canceled the event only @ @ @ @ @ and 1945 — and those cancellations were tied to transportation and gas supply issues during @ @ @ @ @ .
If the meeting had occurred as planned , it would have been its 36th @ @ @ @ @

Just a few weeks ago, The Radiological Society of North America was undecided about whether it would go ahead as planned with its annual meeting at McCormick Place, an event that brings more than 50,000 people from 137 countries to Chicago.
On Tuesday, the Oak Brook-based trade group pulled the plug on the in-person event that was scheduled for Nov. 29 to Dec. 4. Instead, it will offer a virtual event Nov. 29 to Dec. 5.
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In announcing its decision, Dr. James Borgstede, the group’s president, said the group “concluded it would be impossible to safety conduct” the event in person.
The group, whose history of annual meetings dates back more than 100 years, has canceled the event only twice before — in 1943 and 1945 — and those cancellations were tied to transportation and gas supply issues during and after World War II. If the meeting had occurred as planned, it would have been its 36th consecutive year in Chicago.
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Under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phase plan to reopen the state, conventions cannot be held until the final phase of recovery.
Between July and December, McCormick Place had been scheduled to host 67 events with an expected attendance of 781,168 people, generating almost $923 million in economic impact, including spending on food and entertainment.
Earlier this month as the society mulled what to do about this year’s annual meeting, Mark Watson, its executive director, told the Tribune that the economic ripples the event’s cancellation would cause weighed on it.
“The biggest concern I have if we have to make the decision to not hold a physical meeting … (is) how many people this impacts throughout the city,” he said.
On Tuesday, Watson said at issue was not just the state’s reopening plan but also the possibility that the society’s members, who are global medical professionals working in settings where COVID-19 is being treated, could carry the disease.
“Health and safety come first,” Watson said. “The COVID situation is not stabilizing around the world.”


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker and health officials discuss Illinois coronavirus cases

Watch live as Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker and health officials discuss coronavirus cases in a briefing scheduled for 2:30 @ @ @ @ @ latest here .

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chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Eli’s Cheesecake, the iconic Chicago-style sweet, celebrates 40 years, and whatever happens next

The signature dessert was served exclusively in the restaurant until 1980 , when it made its street debut at the @ @ @ @ @ , a one-day event on the Fourth of July , held on Michigan Avenue .
@ @ @ @ @ It became so successful that the cheesecake company thrives as a third generation family-owned business @ @ @ @ @ Marc Schulman and granddaughter Elana Schulman , a James Beard award winner for her work @ @ @ @ @ at Vice Munchies .

While Chicago waits to hear about how restaurants might reopen, for outdoor dining at least, and if the Taste of Chicago will be cancelled, Memorial Day still marks the start of summer.
Whether or not the city’s biggest food festival goes on, or any festivals for that matter, you can bring home a taste with an enduring history.
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Eli’s Cheesecake celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Yet the iconic sweet was actually created 43 years ago by the late, legendary Eli Schulman. In 1977, at his fabled restaurant Eli’s The Place for Steak, a customer complained that the cantaloupe he’d been served tasted like a potato. So the restaurant went to work to create a better dessert. After weeks of recipe testing, the eponymous cheesecake was born.
Tall and firm on the outside, yet dense and creamy within, the Chicago-style cheesecake is baked on a butter cookie crust.
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Strawberry, lemon and blueberry cheesecake bites from Eli's Cheesecake on May 22, 2020. (Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune)
At the steakhouse, where Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. dined alongside powerful politicians, as they all had at Eli’s Stage Delicatessen, Schulman sometimes displayed his cheesecakes on a cart, pointing out different flavors before servers brought out toppings to order.
The signature dessert was served exclusively in the restaurant until 1980, when it made its street debut at the very first Taste of Chicago, a one-day event on the Fourth of July, held on Michigan Avenue. It was a smash. It became so successful that the cheesecake company thrives as a third generation family-owned business with Eli’s son Marc Schulman and granddaughter Elana Schulman, a James Beard award winner for her work as a video producer previously at Vice Munchies.
At company headquarters in the Dunning neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago, the cafe and store are currently closed to the public due to the pandemic. The bakery, however, where 10% of the employees are refugees, has remained open for production and donations, recently to nurses for National Nurses Month, expanded from National Nurses Week this Year of the Nurse.
You can still order by phone and online for curbside contact-free pickup or delivery.
Of course, there are whole cheesecakes, plus DIY kits with ready to bake cookies (chocolate chunk pecan, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin), as well Seconds, which they call “sweet imperfections.” Seconds are usually my favorite finds at outlet shops, because they’re the best deals. The odd thing is that everything at the Eli’s shop seems to be extraordinarily low priced for such highly consistent quality.
There are even dairy-free Belgian chocolate cheesecake slices and gluten-free double marshmallow crispy bars, plus one of my favorite things from the Taste in the past few years: Dippers. I wonder what Eli would have thought about server-topped cheesecakes, transformed into frozen wedges, dipped in bittersweet chocolate, then served on a stick? As an entrepreneur, he probably would love them too.
The choices can seem overwhelming, so start with the seasonal cheesecake sampler called Cuties ($11.95). The adorable swirly-topped, 1-inch cubes come 54 pieces to a box, with three different flavors, currently strawberry, lemon and blueberry. Be forewarned that without the need for a fork or spoon or even stick, you may pop more delicately fruited, creamy bodied, cookie bottomed bites than you might intend.
So stock up for the season, and whatever happens next.
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Eli’s Cheesecake, 6701 W. Forest Preserve Drive, 773-736-3417, elicheesecake.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--The  General Assembly adjourned its special pandemic session in the wee hours of a holiday weekend.

The  General Assembly adjourned its special pandemic session in the wee hours of a holiday weekend. Here’s what you might have missed.

∗ Voting by mail would be expanded for the Nov. 3 election as another coronavirus precaution .
The legislation , @ @ @ @ @ will sign , would have vote-by-mail applications sent to everyone who voted in the 2018 @ @ @ @ @ municipal election or this year ’ s March 17 primary , as well as to @ @ @ @ @ primary or who changed their addresses .
It would also make the day of the @ @ @ @ @ a government and school holiday so schools can be used as polling places without risks @ @ @ @ @

In a special legislative session called in response to the coronavirus pandemic, state lawmakers debated bills through masks and the Illinois House met on the floor of a downtown Springfield convention center to provide proper social distancing.
The three-day session stretched into four and then into the early morning hours of a fifth day, Sunday, before lawmakers adjourned until the fall.
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Here’s a look at what got done — and what didn’t.
Maintenance budget
∗ Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the Illinois House and Senate passed a $40 billion maintenance-level budget that would rely heavily on federal funding to close a gaping pandemic-driven deficit. The spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 would allow for borrowing of up to $5 billion from the Federal Reserve that would be repaid with expected but uncertain federal aid from Washington. State officials also hope there will be a loosening of restrictions on how the state can spend $3.5 billion in federal aid the state has already received.
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The budget boosts spending from the current level for some social services, including increases for the departments of Public Health, Human Services, and Children and Family Services. Education funding, from kindergarten through college, would be held flat.
Republicans voiced opposition to the budget, which deputy House GOP leader Tom Demmer of Dixon described as being “balanced on a wing and a prayer.”
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Republicans also raised concerns that there isn’t language in the budget legislation specifically blocking scheduled pay raises for lawmakers. But Democrats countered that there was no money allotted in the budget to pay those raises and that they couldn’t include the language Republicans wanted because of an ongoing lawsuit.
Chicago casino
∗ Legislation that changes the tax structure of a potential Chicago casino could put the city closer than ever to finally landing a gambling emporium. The casino is seen as a key funder of the state’s $45 billion capital plan, passed last year, but the initial tax setup was deemed by a consultant as “onerous” and one that would keep investors at bay. Mayor Lori Lightfoot lobbied for more favorable rates, and she got them this time after falling short in the General Assembly’s fall veto session.
Workers’ compensation
∗ Lawmakers approved a measure that would allow workers considered “essential” under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order who contract the new coronavirus to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits with the assumption that the virus was contracted on the job. Employers could contest the claims by showing evidence an employee contracted the virus somewhere other than the workplace or that the employer was following state and federal public health guidelines.
Mail-in ballots
∗ Voting by mail would be expanded for the Nov. 3 election as another coronavirus precaution. The legislation, which Pritzker has indicated he will sign, would have vote-by-mail applications sent to everyone who voted in the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or this year’s March 17 primary, as well as to voters newly registered since the primary or who changed their addresses. It would also make the day of the election, Nov. 3, a government and school holiday so schools can be used as polling places without risks to students and teachers.
Cocktails to go
∗ In another bill driven by the pandemic, establishments would be able to sell cocktails for pickup and delivery in sealed containers. Third-party services like Grubhub and DoorDash would be prohibited from making cocktail deliveries. The measure also extends liquor licenses for 120 days and delays license fees for six months after restaurants and bars are allowed to reopen to the public. It would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature and expire in one year.
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What didn’t get done
The four-day session resulted in a flurry of bills, but much of what was on the General Assembly’s agenda before the pandemic, along with some proposals in response to COVID-19, fell by the wayside in the truncated spring session. Here’s some of what didn’t get done:
∗ A bipartisan commission had a March 31 deadline to propose changes to the state’s government ethics and lobbying laws in response to an ongoing public corruption probe that has stretched from City Hall to the Illinois Capitol. Once the pandemic hit, that was put on hold, and the issue was not addressed in the special session.
∗ Another bipartisan task force was supposed to come up with proposals to ease the state’s enormous property tax burden. Its work devolved into partisan squabbling, and a final report was never issued. In response to the pandemic, lawmakers approved a measure that would allow counties to suspend interest and penalties on late property tax payments for 120 days or until there is no longer a statewide public health emergency due to COVID-19. But nothing was done to deal with the long-term problem.
∗ The special session began with lawmakers on a bipartisan panel blocking Pritzker’s emergency rule that would have made businesses that violate his stay-at-home order subject to a Class A misdemeanor. Lawmakers promised a legislative fix but adjourned until November without approving one.
∗ Two versions of an agreement to make some changes to the state’s recreational marijuana law were in the Senate but never called for House votes.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Lightfoot announces search for organization to lead Chicago’s virus contact tracing effort

The interviewer tells them the patient should be isolated at home until they no longer are believed to be contagious @ @ @ @ @ person doesn ’ t have the capability to isolate on their own , they refer @ @ @ @ @ that can help find alternative housing and delivery of food , medicine or health care @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday announced plans to try to train hundreds of people to track the spread of the coronavirus and warn Chicagoans who’ve had contact with someone who’s carrying the disease, an effort necessary in the city’s pandemic recovery efforts but one that could take months to achieve.
A large contact tracing program is considered a key way to slow the spread of the virus by promptly warning people who’ve been close to someone who’s sick so they can quarantine themselves before they spread it further.
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But it will be difficult to get the $56 million program up and running as quickly as experts would like, with the city and the state of Illinois moving toward phased reopenings that will bring more residents into close proximity with one another.
Lightfoot announced the plan to hire and train nearly 600 people over the next several months to bolster Chicago’s ranks of contact tracers hours before her administration put out industry-specific guidelines that businesses such as restaurants and retailers will be expected to follow in the next phase of Chicago’s reopening. Lightfoot has said the city will enter that phase early next month.
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Picnickers and a dog walker enjoy the warm weather in Humboldt Park in Chicago on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago is currently in phase two of the reopening rules laid out by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. For a region of the state to move from phase three to phase four, Pritzker said early this month that there would need to be capacity for contact tracing to be performed on 90% of cases within 24 hours of a diagnosis.
On Tuesday, however, Pritzker called the 90% figure “a goal” rather than a requirement.
“The point of the metric was really to set a goal for ourselves to significantly increase contact tracing,” the governor said. “And we are doing that. We are currently working with the infrastructure we have, building upon that.”
He added: “We’re going to continue building up our contact tracing, but as long as we are making aggressive efforts to increase it, that frankly — our goal here would be to get to 90% of the possible cases to contact trace.”
In Lightfoot’s framework that she announced earlier this month for the city to move to the next phase of reopening, she simply called for an “expanded system in place for congregate and community investigations and contact tracing.”
Many of the 600 new Chicago contact tracers will join workers from the city health department and other city departments who are already being repurposed for the work, Lightfoot said Tuesday.
The contract requires some of them to be trained by Aug. 1 and “the next group” to be trained by Sept. 15, according to Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s health commissioner. She didn’t specify how many must be trained in each time frame.
The bid document calls for hiring a total of 580 people. That includes 450 contact tracers and 30 supervisors to oversee them, as well as 90 resource coordinators to ensure that sick and quarantined people get the services they need and 10 supervisors to oversee them.
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Hiring of the tracers would be phased, with 150 in place by Aug. 1, and the other 300 hired by Sept. 15, according to the bid document.
“We are adding to the resources that are already available at (the Chicago Department of Public Health), and expanding other people within CDPH, and then layering onto that individuals who are coming from other city departments that are going to be joining this team,” Lightfoot said at the news conference announcing the bid.
The 600-person contact tracing team is to be made up largely of people from city neighborhoods suffering the most from economic hardship, according to Lightfoot. It comes with a $56 million price tag, to be funded using federal and state money, the mayor said.
She’s first looking for an organization “to lead coordination of contact tracing and resource referral efforts across the city,” her administration said.
At least 85% of the funds will then be distributed to “at least 30 neighborhood-based organizations located within, or primarily serving residents of, communities of high economic hardship,” according to the city.
Those community groups would be in charge of “recruiting, hiring and supporting a workforce of 600 contact tracers, supervisors and referral coordinators to support an operation that has the capacity to trace 4,500 new contacts per day.”
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Contact tracers will make $20 an hour, and supervisors will make $24 an hour, Lightfoot said.
Contact tracing involves finding, warning and quarantining everyone who has had significant contact with newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients.
It’s a technique that dates back to at least the early 20th century in the United States and has proved useful in containing epidemics caused by a range of communicable scourges, including sexually transmitted diseases, measles and Ebola.
It’s also been credited with limiting the spread of COVID-19 in other countries, including South Korea and Singapore, where the government used digital surveillance and enforcement methods that likely would meet stiff resistance here from privacy and freedom advocates.
Epidemiologists say a robust contact tracing system is needed across the United States to ensure that future spread of the disease is contained as much as possible. It’s especially important, they say, as cities and states reopen their economies, so that “hot spots” of the disease can be prevented.
Here’s how it works: When a confirmed case of COVID-19 is reported to the state, a contact tracer tracks down the sick person, or their relatives when the person is too ill to talk or has died from the disease.
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The interviewer tells them the patient should be isolated at home until they no longer are believed to be contagious. Sometimes, if the person doesn’t have the capability to isolate on their own, they refer them to social service agencies that can help find alternative housing and delivery of food, medicine or health care services.
The interviewer tries to determine who the patient had contact with up to two weeks before the onset of symptoms. In some cases, a person may have no symptoms at all, making that calculation more difficult.
The tracers then track down those contacts and attempt to speak with them. They suggest precautions to avoid spreading the disease and ask those people to quarantine at home for two weeks from the time of contact with the infected person, or if they are sick, until they have fully recovered.
Ideally, the tracers also would track down the contacts of everyone who is presumptively diagnosed with COVID-19, because that person could be spreading SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes the disease — before a test confirms they actually have it, experts said.
It’s labor-intensive work. According to some estimates, there should be 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 people. In Chicago, with 2.7 million people, that’s 810 contact tracers.
All of Illinois, with a population of nearly 12.7 million, should have about 3,800 contact tracers total, according to the estimates.
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Although contact tracers are typically hired locally, the Illinois Department of Public Health is taking applications from folks who want to do the work and plans to match them up with the state’s 97 regional and county health departments, the largest of which is the Chicago Department of Public Health.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
hdardick@chicagotribune.com
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Using Zoom and apps, Naperville/Oswego hair stylist and others in area help clients cut, color their

Using Zoom and apps, Naperville/Oswego hair stylist and others in area help clients cut, color their own hair

“ Hair stylists and makeup artists love people , ” Ftacek says , “ and it ’ s challenging to @ @ @ @ @ we miss them and we have meaningful relationships .
...
There is nothing more special @ @ @ @ @ client and providing a haircut or color or some sort of service and watching their @ @ @ @ @ from the results that you ’ ve given them .
This is what stylists do @ @ @ @ @ see the pretty in everybody before they see it themselves .
And I can ’ @ @ @ @ @ to that .
”

Tracy Ftacek, owner of Pretty Convenient Salon, has an app that has been offering help and online services for people who haven't been able to get their hair cut or colored because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Pretty Convenient Salon / HANDOUT)
We’re all getting to that point of quarantine fatigue. We haven’t seen our loved ones in person, we now wear masks when we leave the house and our hair has grown longer than we’re used to.
In fact many of us have learned some new skills during the pandemic, including how to style, cut or color our own or our family’s hair. No doubt there are some of us who won’t be going back to the salon anytime soon because of the backlog of appointments, because we still don’t feel safe or because we’ve realized doing our own hair can save us money.
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So is it possible to re-create salon services at home during the coronavirus pandemic? Thankfully, a few local stylists are coaching clients on how to cut and color their own hair through apps, Zoom and other electronic and virtual means.
Tracy Ftacek, owner of Pretty Convenient Salon in Oswego and Pretty Convenient Hair Extensions Studio in downtown Naperville, closed both businesses March 13.
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Ftacek also owns the Pretty Convenient app, which provides makeup and hair styling services across the nation, a new feature that began the first week of April. The app launched two years ago but now looks different from the way it did before, due to the pandemic.
During the first week of the stay-at-home order, Ftacek says, clients began asking for help and online services.
“We had many clients who had appointments for color and extension removal that first week everything was closed,” she says, “If extensions are left in for too long, they can damage the hair. They were willing to wait a little bit. But then, as time progressed, I realized their hair might get damaged if the extensions are not removed.”
Similarly with color, Ftacek says some clients didn’t want to color the part of their hair that has regrown but wanted to make the color in the middle and on the ends prettier. So she created custom color shampoos and conditioners and sent them to clients in what Ftacek calls Pop of Pretty boxes.
“Originally, (the boxes) started off local,” says Ftacek, “but then I thought to myself, if we could launch this nationwide, it could help anyone. And it’s just another way of support for the United States Postal Service and FedEx, and all of these companies that still need to be supported somehow through all of this.”
For help with hair needs, clients can schedule their own private telebeauty appointment through the Pretty Convenient app, which is a private video call. Ftacek has coached clients on haircuts, color, styling, deep conditioning treatments and removing hand-tied hair extensions.
She says Pretty Convenient has two to three virtual appointments a week.
For folks looking to cut their own hair at home, Ftacek recommends being conservative. You can always cut more but you cannot put it back, she says.
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“Hair stylists and makeup artists love people,” Ftacek says, “and it’s challenging to be away from clients because we miss them and we have meaningful relationships. ... There is nothing more special than being there with a client and providing a haircut or color or some sort of service and watching their faces light up with happiness from the results that you’ve given them. This is what stylists do. Our job is to see the pretty in everybody before they see it themselves. And I can’t wait to get back to that.”
Dottie Salamone, owner of Hair by Dot in Salon Loft, a working co-op for hair stylists and other folks in the beauty industry in Lincoln Square, closed her salon March 21, following the governor’s stay-at-home order.
She got the idea to coach clients on how to cut their own hair at home after she received an email from a client, Liz Parent, who was in need of a haircut. Parent asked Salamone if she could teach Parent and her husband, Mike, how to cut her hair over Zoom.
Having never done this before, Salamone used the Zoom call as a consultation to see what Parent wanted to do with her hair. After this call, Salamone recorded a video outlining all of the steps, using a mannequin head.
“I have a ton of mannequin heads because I used to educate in the industry,” says Salamone, “so I did the haircut she wanted on the mannequin. That way, I was able to take all of their questions over Zoom, show them the hand positions and then make the video so that they could reference and go back to, if needed.”
Parent, a registered dietitian from Deerfield, was looking to cut 2 inches of hair.
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Before and after photos of Liz Parent of Deerfield, who asked her husband, Mike, to cut her hair with virtual help from her stylist, Dottie Salamone. (Liz Parent photo)
She says, “Dottie showed how to section the bottom and used clips. Luckily we already owned haircut scissors and a cape so I was thankful for that because I think they may be hard to find now. ... But the video made it pretty easy to cut the bottom, and then you keep adding another layer on top, until the whole thing is cut. While it was easy to follow for a quick haircut, I will be glad to be back in Dottie’s chair when it is safe to do so.”
Mike ended up cutting off 4 inches of Liz’s hair.
“Even though he did cut off more than I originally thought,” says Parent, “now I don’t need a haircut for a while. ... My hair was really long. It sounds a lot worse than it could’ve been. But it turned out really nice anyway.”
Salamone uploaded that video and other tutorials on her YouTube channel (search for “Dottie Salamone”). She customized these videos for clients and then shared them because they show the basics of cutting hair.
Salamone says she is asking for donations for these Zoom consultations so she can buy personal protective equipment once she is allowed to reopen. As of now, she is taking Zoom calls with established clients and is open to new clients.
Stylist Amanda Marshall, owner of Blush Hair, a studio within Sola Salon Studios in Lakeview has had four Zoom appointments.
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The pandemic hit Marshall hard financially. So much so that she drove 14 hours straight to her parents’ house in Houston.
In an email, Marshall says, “I have completely run out of money, maxed out my cards, and have not received a dime of government help. I am still waiting to see if I qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The system is a nightmare and a joke, and my industry got the short end of the stick.”
She says she began Zoom hair color appointments because she did not feel comfortable giving clients take-home kits.
“But if they found the color or any color themselves — I would help them measure it and walk them through how to apply it on FaceTime or Zoom. Same thing with bang trims, little trims or cutting children’s hair,” she says.
One of her clients, with the help of a friend, bought the color line Marshall uses on Amazon. They called Marshall on FaceTime, and she walked them through how to measure out each color.
“We zeroed out the scale, measured 30 grams of the first color and 10 grams of the second color,” Marshall says. “(My client) is a redhead, so 10 grams of the second color which is brown, helps to balance out the color so it’s not too fiery where her gray hairs are.
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"Her friend did a great job applying section by section. I joked I could give her a job later if she decided to get into the world of hair! I let them know to let her process a full 45 minutes, as she has the most resistant grays ever. She hopped off FaceTime to process and then showered and sent me photos of her roots when it was done. They came out great and I was impressed.”
Marshall says she is providing these services for established clients and has not been charging clients for virtual services. She says, “I did not want it to affect my PUA, and on top of that, I didn’t feel right to charge for just a quick chat like that.”
hgreenspan@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Allstate extends its rebate as motorists continue to stay off the roads during the COVID-19 health c

Allstate extends its rebate as motorists continue to stay off the roads during the COVID-19 health crisis

Last month , the Northbrook-based insurer introduced its “ Shelter-in-Place Payback ” program because fewer drivers are on the road @ @ @ @ @ stay-at-home orders .
The firm , one of the first insurers to offer rebates to @ @ @ @ @ time it would return $ 600 million to Allstate , Esurance and Encompass auto customers @ @ @ @ @ % of their monthly premiums credited back to their accounts in April and May .

Allstate said Tuesday it will extend its coronavirus rebate through June 30, returning a total of roughly $1 billion in auto insurance premiums to customers over three months.
Last month, the Northbrook-based insurer introduced its “Shelter-in-Place Payback” program because fewer drivers are on the road as a result of coronavirus stay-at-home orders. The firm, one of the first insurers to offer rebates to customers, said at the time it would return $600 million to Allstate, Esurance and Encompass auto customers. Most policyholders received 15% of their monthly premiums credited back to their accounts in April and May.
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Allstate’s announcement follows similar decisions by its competitors.
With the program’s extension, Allstate motorists will continue to receive a 15% credit through the end of June. The company also extended the sign-up period for its free identity protection product to June 30. Customers who aren’t policyholders can also sign up for the service, which is free through the end of the year.
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Last week, American Family Insurance said it plans to return $425 million to auto insurance customers, up from the $200 million previously announced in April. The Madison, Wisconsin-based insurer will give a 10% credit on personal auto policies from July 1 to Dec. 31. American Family said it is waiting on regulatory approval from several states, including Illinois, to move forward with the rebate.
USAA extended its rebate in late April, pledging to return $800 million to auto insurance customers. The San Antonio, Texas-based insurer will apply a 20% credit to customers’ auto and property insurance accounts in late May.
Separately, Bloomington-based State Farm said last week it will cut auto insurance rates by $2.2 billion. The insurer estimates the national average for those cuts to be 11%. And last month, it announced a $2 billion rebate for auto customers.
Paul Newsome, a Chicago-based senior research analyst covering insurance companies at Piper Sandler, said companies’ coronvirus relief programs are part of a marketing effort to maintain and improve customer relationships.
“There is an altruistic component to this. ... Companies that initially did it (offer rebates) saw the windfall from the pandemic. It’s money they didn’t expect to earn,” Newsome said.
But those rebates are temporary because they are based on the decrease in miles driven during the COVID-19 health crisis, Newsome said.
“While more people are back on the roads, the numbers of less severe accidents are below historical levels so the payback will continue through June, representing approximately $1 billion back to customers over three months,” Allstate CEO Tom Wilson said in a news release.
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The number of miles driven nationwide fell 35% for the week ending May 16, compared with the week ending Feb. 1 before coronavirus shutdowns, according to Arity, a mobility data and analytics firm owned by Allstate.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Woman charged in connection with slayings of a Gage Park family of six loses bid to get out of jail

Woman charged in connection with slayings of a Gage Park family of six loses bid to get out of jail to avoid COVID-19

Ramos is not alleged to have shot or stabbed any of the victims , but she told police later that @ @ @ @ @ going over there to do a job and she knew that he was armed with @ @ @ @ @ State ’ s Attorney Risa Lanier said in a court hearing on video Tuesday .
@ @ @ @ @ for the murder , prosecutors contend .

Esmeralda Rosas, and her children Santiago Guevara, 6, and Anaya Santiago, 10, visit a memorial on May 19, 2016, in front of the Gage Park house where six family members were killed in February. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
A Cook County judge denied bond Tuesday for a woman accused in the 2016 killings of a family of six, rejecting her attorney’s argument that she should be released since she has displayed coronavirus symptoms.
“There are frankly just some cases that trump the COVID-19 bond, and this is one of those cases,” Judge Thomas Hennelly said in keeping Jafeth Ramos behind bars.
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Ramos, 23, is facing a 493-count indictment on charges including first-degree murder in the brutal attack, which allegedly began when she and her boyfriend, Diego Uribe, went to Uribe’s aunt’s home in Gage Park to try and take their cash.
What may have begun as a robbery spiraled into a massacre. Prosecutors allege Uribe killed his aunt, Maria Herminia Martinez; her brother; the family’s matriarch; Uribe’s cousins ages 10 and 13; and the boys’ grandfather, who was returning from the store with tamales and hot chocolate. Only the family dog survived.
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Jafeth Ramos is charged in the 2016 killings of six members of a family in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood. (Chicago Police Department)
Ramos is not alleged to have shot or stabbed any of the victims, but she told police later that “she knew she was going over there to do a job and she knew that he was armed with a firearm,” Assistant State’s Attorney Risa Lanier said in a court hearing on video Tuesday. That makes her legally responsible for the murder, prosecutors contend.
But Ramos faces an “immediate threat” from COVID-19 behind bars, Assistant Public Defender James Fryman said. A Cook County correctional officer assigned to her tier died after testing positive for the virus, he said.
In addition, Ramos has had symptoms including a dry cough, headaches, the loss of sense of smell and taste, Fryman said Tuesday. She would be safer on home confinement with an electronic ankle band, he said. It was unclear whether Ramos had been tested for the virus.
In denying the request for release, Hennelly sided with prosecutors, who said Ramos described each slaying to police and confessed to taking items from the home and then cleaning up the crime scene.
The Martinez family’s bodies were found in February 2016. The massacre shocked the Gage Park neighborhood, but the break in the case didn’t come until May of that year, when DNA from the scene and from Herminia Martinez’s fingernails allegedly came back as a match to Uribe.
When police arrested Uribe, Ramos went with them voluntarily and was questioned as a possible witness. She later implicated herself in the crime and became a suspect, Lanier said Tuesday.
Fryman pushed back, saying Ramos was not properly given her Miranda rights and so her statements were “illegally coerced.”
Authorities said both defendants gave recorded confessions detailing the killings. At Ramos and Uribe’s initial bond hearing in 2016, prosecutors used those statements to describe what happened in the brick bungalow in the 5700 block of South California Avenue.
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In her statement, Ramos said the two went to the Martinez family home with a gun to rob the relatives, according to prosecutors. But at first the couple hung out and had something to eat, prosecutors said.
Uribe then asked Herminia Martinez, 32, to go upstairs, prosecutors said. Uribe told police later he “had a lot of anger” over how she had treated his uncle. The two had divorced.
He confronted her with a small-caliber gun and demanded money, prosecutors said. She refused, and the two got into a struggle, they said.
Uribe told detectives he closed his eyes before shooting her in the forehead, prosecutors said. He shot her several more times, they said.
Herminia Martinez’s brother, Noe Martinez Jr., rushed upstairs when he heard gunshots, but Uribe was able to overpower him, beating him with his gun and choking him, prosecutors said.
The matriarch of the family, Rossaura Martinez, 58, also went upstairs and attempted to throw a picture frame at Uribe, but he pushed her down the stairs, knocking her unconscious, prosecutors said.
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Uribe then went downstairs and grabbed multiple knives from the kitchen, according to prosecutors. He then stabbed Rossaura Martinez multiple times as she lay unconscious on the floor, they said.
The two boys, Leonardo Cruz, 13, and Alexis Cruz, 10, showed Uribe and Ramos where some money was located, according to prosecutors. The couple allegedly went into separate rooms, going through dresser drawers and stealing cash, change, jewelry, a piggy bank and an Xbox 1 video game console.
Uribe then had the youngest boy go to the basement, telling him to get his belongings so he could leave the home with the couple. According to Ramos' confession, she heard the boy scream as he was instead fatally stabbed by Uribe.
Moments later, Leonardo Cruz was physically shaking as he asked Uribe what happened to his brother, prosecutors said. Uribe “told him he was fine and to go check if grandpa is coming in,” Lisuzzo said.
When the boy turned to look out the window, Uribe stabbed him in the abdomen as he pleaded for his life, according to prosecutors.
Uribe told detectives he left the house, but the back fence was locked so he went back inside as his final victim — Noe Martinez Sr. — returned home from the store. Uribe grabbed him, stabbed and beat him before stealing his wallet, prosecutors said, as the man pleaded, “Why are you killing me?”
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mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Home Run Inn suburban Chicago factory churns out nearly 80,000 frozen pizzas a day to meet soaring d

Home Run Inn suburban Chicago factory churns out nearly 80,000 frozen pizzas a day to meet soaring demand during pandemic

Manufacturing was backed down to a six-day-a-week schedule in April , when it became clear the new normal in the @ @ @ @ @ a while and the grueling schedule was unsustainable , Perrino said .
Demand has flattened @ @ @ @ @ Home Run Inn to resume production on some of its specialty pizzas , such as @ @ @ @ @

Flavio Moreno drives the forklift and transports pizzas into a truck bound for the Northern Illinois Food Bank at Home Run Inn on May 26, 2020, in Woodridge. The company has been making pizzas since 1947. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
In early March, Home Run Inn began building up its inventory of frozen pizza at its southwest suburban plant, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home.
The family owned company was nonetheless unprepared for the surge in demand, as worried consumers loaded up on the stay-at-home staple before hunkering down for the foreseeable future.
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“It was absolutely crazy,” said Nick Perrino, 33, who heads up the frozen pizza division for Home Run Inn. “The pandemic had people stocking up on frozen pizza, making sure they had product, just like with toilet paper.”
A 73-year-old pizza empire that grew from a single Chicago tavern, Home Run Inn operates nine restaurants in the city and suburbs, and a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Woodridge. Frozen pizza generates about 75% of the company’s revenue, but with its restaurants limited to pickup and delivery since March, the balance has shifted even more dramatically.
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Trucks are parked outside near the loading dock at Home Run Inn on May 26, 2020, in Woodridge. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Home Run Inn sells frozen pizza in more than 40 states and is the No. 12 brand in sales nationally, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. It is the No. 1 selling frozen pizza in the Chicago area.
“If we could make double, we’d be able to sell double,” said Perrino, whose grandfather began serving pizza at the family’s Little Village tavern in 1947.
[ Home Run Inn's frozen pizzas topped our blind taste test. Here's how other brands stacked up. ]
In February, the Chicago Cubs announced that Home Run Inn would be the official pizza of Wrigley Field, a five-year partnership and major revenue opportunity. The baseball season was postponed March 12.
Home Run Inn went all in on frozen pizza March 16, shifting to a seven-day production schedule for its 130 line workers. The plant has been churning out about 78,000 frozen pizzas a day, up about a third from the pre-pandemic operation.
The company has about 500 employees at its restaurants. None have been furloughed or laid off, with Home Run Inn securing a federal Payroll Protection Program loan last month to keep them fully employed, despite softer restaurant sales during the pandemic.
[ Who makes the best pizza rolls? We taste 6 brands to find the ultimate munchie. ]
About 20 of the restaurant employees have been reassigned to the frozen pizza operation. “It’s the same process,” Perrino said. “Our frozen pizza is made exactly the same way as in our restaurants.”
The company closed the plant for a day on April 6 after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. When it reopened, new protections were implemented including mandatory masks, increased cleaning schedules and social distancing in the break rooms. Plant workers received a $2 an hour pay boost and an increase in the number of sick days.
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In some cases, line workers are closer than 6 feet, but the protective measures generally have been successful, with seven cases of COVID-19 across the company and none since late April, Perrino said.
[ Pandemic pivot: How Chicago-area businesses and workers are managing the coronavirus crisis ]
Manufacturing was backed down to a six-day-a-week schedule in April, when it became clear the new normal in the pizza business may last for a while and the grueling schedule was unsustainable, Perrino said. Demand has flattened in recent weeks, enabling Home Run Inn to resume production on some of its specialty pizzas, such as its classic sausage margherita.
The company’s popular 6-inch pizzas have been in short supply as well, something that should change in the coming weeks, Perrino said.
Employees work the frozen pizza assembly line at the Home Run Inn frozen pizza facility in Woodbridge on March 3, 2017. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
While Illinois and other states are beginning to reopen for business, Perrino said the shift to frozen pizza may endure for some time, as consumers remain wary of venturing beyond their freezer for a sausage and pepperoni pie.
"Habits have changed, " Perrino said. “Times are uncertain, the economy is uncertain. But one thing we do know is that people always need to eat.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
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The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Chicago-area companies and workers to face harsh realities about their paychecks and their place in the local economy. The Tribune is reaching out to hear, and share, their stories.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Driver wounded when shots fired from another car on Bishop Ford Expressway

The man , 41 , was driving south about 3:10 a.m. when someone in another car fired shots near the @ @ @ @ @ River , state police said .

A man from Calumet City was shot and wounded while driving on the Bishop Ford Expressway early Tuesday, according to the Illinois state police.
The man, 41, was driving south about 3:10 a.m. when someone in another car fired shots near the bridge over the Little Calumet River, state police said.
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The man was taken to the hospital but did not suffer life-threatening injuries. He was alone in his car, state police said.
All lanes were reopened by 7 a.m.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Man facing charges after allegedly grabbing WGN-TV reporter and shouting profane language during liv

Man facing charges after allegedly grabbing WGN-TV reporter and shouting profane language during live broadcast

Farina fled but police located him at his Minooka home the next day , where he was arrested after making @ @ @ @ @ ” police said .

Charges have been filed against a 20-year-old man who allegedly grabbed a television reporter and shouted a vulgar statement during a live broadcast from Shorewood over the weekend.
Eric Farina grabbed the WGN-TV reporter by her shoulders Saturday night and “uttered a profane and disturbing statement,” according to Shorewood police.
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Farina fled but police located him at his Minooka home the next day, where he was arrested after making a “full confession,” police said.
Farina was charged with battery and disorderly conduct and has been released on a $2,500 recognizance bond, police said.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Memorial Day weekend violence

Memorial Day weekend violence

Chicagoans relax on the Memorial Day weekend as nice weather is interrupted by storms moving through the area .


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--We’ve lowered the paywall on this essential coronavirus coverage

Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois , with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day @ @ @ @ @ expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able @ @ @ @ @ .
The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a @ @ @ @ @ anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor .
Tests are also provided to @ @ @ @ @ of the pandemic , such as medical workers , first responders and employees of prisons @ @ @ @ @ the map for coronavirus testing site near you .

As a public service to our readers and community, we have lowered the paywall on some of our most critical stories so everyone can access this important information. We rely on the support of our subscribers to fund our journalism. If you’re not already signed up, we hope you will consider subscribing.
We are updating a daily live blog with the latest developments on the reopening of Chicago and Illinois. This is where you’ll find updates on the number of COVID-19 cases in our area, as well as the most up-to-date recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Public Health, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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As summer nears, Chicagoans are desperate to get out and about — to have a summer picnic with family, to get back to work, to get a haircut. Here’s how and when you might be able to do those things.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday a five-phase plan to get Illinois reopened as the COVID-19 pandemic slows its toll on health care providers. The plan, from “Rapid Spread” to “Illinois Restored,” splits the state up into regions and allows each region to open a different phase should the impact of the pandemic be different throughout the state. The plan also emphasizes that a region can move backward if the health metrics indicate enough risk. Read more.
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Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois, with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day since April 24. The expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able to get a coronavirus test. The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a doctor’s order to anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor. Tests are also provided to people on the front lines of the pandemic, such as medical workers, first responders and employees of prisons or nursing homes. Search the map for coronavirus testing site near you.
All Illinois residents over age 2 must wear a face mask when they can’t maintain a 6-foot social distance in public. Studies show that the coronavirus can spread between people interacting in close proximity, including people who are not showing symptoms. Here’s where you can find them, what kind to get and how to make your own.
Americans are brainstorming with neighbors, posting questions on social media, and googling for tips and advice. The question at the center of all the hand wringing and head scratching: How do you thank the essential workers who remain out in the world, exposing themselves to greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, so that we can buy our groceries, receive our mail, travel by public transportation, and get health care if we need it? Here are some creative ideas to inspire you.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 68 (Chicago Tribune)
They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed. As the number of deaths attributable to the coronavirus ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
Hundreds of Chicago restaurants have pivoted their operations to delivery, takeout or curbside pickup after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that all bars and restaurants in Illinois are closed for dining-in service through April 30. We’re collecting information on restaurants across the area that are still open for delivery or take out. Find a restaurant near you.
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A sign in the windows of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, seen on March 11, 2020, reminds people to wash their hands. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
You wake up with a sore, scratchy throat, and begin coughing and sneezing. It’s probably a run-of-the-mill cold, or it could be the beginning of a bout of seasonal flu. But with dozens of cases of the novel coronavirus surfacing in Illinois, some people are bound to wonder: Could this be the coronavirus? Here’s what experts advise for Illinoisans who fear they are showing signs of coronavirus.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has placed an extra burden on Chicagoland nonprofit organizations. Here is an evolving list of where you can make donations to organizations helping those in need.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Anti-lockdown protest held at Grant Park fountain on Memorial Day

“ While we worked to ensure the First Amendment rights of those participating in today ’ s march , the @ @ @ @ @ practicing social distancing or abiding by the public health guidelines outlined in the stay-at-home order @ @ @ @ @ health and safety of all residents involved in the rally , the Chicago Police Department @ @ @ @ @ crowd and ordered the organizers to shut down the event , '' the statement read @

People attend a Reopen Illinois rally in Chicago's Grant Park on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. Attendees were calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to end the state lockdown sooner than planned. Many businesses deemed to be nonessential have been closed in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
At a Memorial Day rally in front of Buckingham Fountain, a crowd protested Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order as an affront to the freedoms that service members have died defending. The well-received speeches, though, frequently veered into plugs for online learning courses or political futures.
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R- Xenia, who is locked in a legal battle with the governor over the order, urged onlookers to get involved in their local government and flood the phone lines of their elected officials.
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The crowd, which held signs saying “F-U-J-B” and “Fire Pritzker,” called on Bailey to run for governor. He told the audience it was “time to replace career RINOs,” a pejorative term for Republicans who aren’t considered conservative enough.
“If God opens a door, I’ll go through that door,” Bailey said as the crowd erupted in cheers. “But it’s going to take a lot of work.”
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Illinois state Rep. Darren Bailey gathers his things before he is escorted from the Bank of Springfield Center, where the Illinois House of Representatives voted 81-27 to remove him for not wearing a mask on May 20, 2020. (Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register)
Bailey, who was removed from the House floor last week for refusing to wear a mask in violation of a bipartisan rule, also insisted he held a fondness for Chicago, which runs counter to his previous statements. He did not, for example, mention that he has supported efforts to separate the city from the rest of the state.
“I love Chicago, it’s part of Illinois,” he said. “But sometimes when you raise a wayward child, you have to discipline that child.”
The event was organized by Anthony Delmedico, an Arizona-based entrepreneur, who promoted the event as part of a documentary called "Unconstitutional." He has predicted pandemic-related lockdowns soon will be viewed as “the biggest blunder in American History.”
Chicago police officers look on as people attend a Reopen Illinois rally in Grant Park on May 25, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
At several points during the rally, Chicago police officers wearing face masks asked unmasked protesters to maintain 6 feet of social distance. One such request, repeated over a bullhorn by organizers, was met with boos and demands for police to arrest them if they didn’t like it.
Officers dispersed the protest after more than 90 minutes, with the Police Department citing public health concerns in a statement. No arrests were made, a spokesperson said.
“While we worked to ensure the First Amendment rights of those participating in today’s march, the organizers and participants were not practicing social distancing or abiding by the public health guidelines outlined in the stay-at-home order. Therefore, for the health and safety of all residents involved in the rally, the Chicago Police Department issued a dispersal of the crowd and ordered the organizers to shut down the event," the statement read.


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Woman from Sandwich accused of shooting man in Aurora

Arellano is accused of shooting the man in the abdomen during an argument , police said .
The man was @ @ @ @ @ , where he underwent surgery for his injuries and is expected to survive .

A 61-year-old woman from Sandwich has been charged in connection with a shooting on Aurora’s East Side on Sunday, police officials said.
Abigail Arellano, of the 300 block of South Clark Street, has been charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, a felony, Kane County court records show.
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Abigail Arellano (Aurora Police Department / HANDOUT)
Aurora police officers responded to reports of a person shot around 11:50 p.m. Sunday on the 2000 block of Charles Lane, police said in a news release. Upon arrival, they found a 38-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound.
Arellano is accused of shooting the man in the abdomen during an argument, police said. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery for his injuries and is expected to survive.
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Police located Arellano at the scene and she was taken into custody.
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Packed pool party gone viral in Missouri earns rebuke from state health director, who warns of ‘long

Packed pool party gone viral in Missouri earns rebuke from state health director, who warns of ‘long-lasting and tragic’ results

One video on social media showed a crammed pool at Lake of the Ozarks , with people lounging and playing @ @ @ @ @ .
The lake draws people not only from as far away as Arkansas and Iowa @ @ @ @ @ especially popular spot for travelers from St. Louis city and county , which combined account @ @ @ @ @ Missouri ’ s 11,988 confirmed cases of COVID-19 , the illness caused by the virus @ @ @ @ @ of the 681 deaths .

O'FALLON, Mo. — Missouri’s health director issued a dire warning Monday after photos and video showed Memorial Day weekend revelers partying close together: The coronavirus is still here, and the spreading of illnesses could have “long-lasting and tragic” results.
One video on social media showed a crammed pool at Lake of the Ozarks, with people lounging and playing close together, without masks. The lake draws people not only from as far away as Arkansas and Iowa. It’s an especially popular spot for travelers from St. Louis city and county, which combined account for more than half of Missouri’s 11,988 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and more than two-thirds of the 681 deaths.
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Bars, restaurants and hotels at Lake of the Ozarks also had big crowds, and they weren’t alone. In Hannibal, Mark Twain’s hometown and a popular regional tourist attraction, people could be seen sitting shoulder-to-shoulder inside and out at downtown bars and restaurants over the weekend.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson allowed Missouri businesses and attractions to reopen May 4, but the state order requires 6-foot social distancing through at least the end of May. The order leaves it up to local and state health officials to enforce social distancing. It wasn’t immediately clear if Camden County, the lake county that draws the biggest crowds, planned any action. An email sent Monday was not immediately returned.
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But the images clearly caught the eye of public officials.
This video is on Snapchat in the Lake of the Ozarks? Unreal. What are we doing? pic.twitter.com/m0qsEQ4KLp — Max Baker (@maxbaker_15) May 24, 2020
“This Memorial Day, we caution that COVID-19 is still here, and social distancing needs to continue to prevent further spread of infections,” Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said in a statement.
Video from the Lake of the Ozarks typically showed younger people. Williams said close contact, even in the outdoors, can lead to more infections, even among the young and healthy who may not experience symptoms.
“When they then carry the virus and transmit it to a more vulnerable person, this is when we tend to see the long-lasting and tragic impact of these decisions that are being made,” Williams said.
No covid concerns at the lake of the ozarks😳 #loto pic.twitter.com/Yrb4UNM64u — Scott Pasmore (@scottpasmoretv) May 24, 2020
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, in a statement, called it “irresponsible and dangerous” to engage in such high-risk behavior.
“Now, these folks will be coming home to St. Louis and counties all over Missouri and the Midwest, raising concerns about the potential of more positive cases, hospitalizations, and tragically, deaths,” Krewson said in a statement. “It’s just deeply disturbing.”
St. Louis Health Department spokesman Harold Bailey said officials are “greatly concerned" that city residents will return from large gatherings and bring the virus back with them.
"That could negate, or even set back the mitigation efforts we have accomplished up to this point in the pandemic,” Bailey said in an email.
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For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
St. Louis officials said private commercial labs are experiencing delays in processing coronavirus tests. A news release from the city health department did not name the labs with delays or specify the lag.
Dr. Fredrick Echols, the city’s health director, said the delays mean longer wait times for patients wanting to know if they’ve tested positive. It could also mean that data used to determine the timing of phased-in business re-starts could be skewed.
“Test results are the key to understanding how widely the virus has spread, how it is currently spreading, and its severity,” Echols said in a statement.