chicagotribune--2020-10-23--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot imposes curfew on nonessential Chicago businesses as stat

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot imposes curfew on nonessential Chicago businesses as state reports another record high number of daily COVID-19 cases — 4,942 new known infections

“ It is very serious right now , folks , and if we need to close down restaurants and bars @ @ @ @ @ liquor licenses , take away their gaming licenses , we will do that , ” @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus briefing at the St. Clair County Health Department in Belleville .
“ Because we @ @ @ @ @ peak that is beyond , potentially , where we were in March and April .
@

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois continues to experience a resurgence of the coronavirus, with the state now averaging more than 4,000 positive diagnoses a day over the past week and a record high number of newly confirmed daily cases announced Thursday.
Thursday’s case count of 4,942 tops the previous record of 4,554 new cases set six days earlier and comes as new restrictions, including a renewed prohibition on indoor dining and bar service, take effect over the next two days in southern Illinois and a wide swath of suburban Chicago.
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There have now been 360,159 known cases of COVID-19 across Illinois since the pandemic began. With 44 additional fatalities announced Thursday, the statewide death toll stood at 9,387.
After rising for 11 straight days, the statewide positivity rate on coronavirus screenings was 5.7% on a seven-day average as of Wednesday, unchanged from a day earlier.
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A day before, Illinois recorded its highest daily coronavirus-related death toll since June, as the state continues to see increases in metrics on deaths, daily cases and test positivity rate.
Meanwhile, days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot followed through Thursday by imposing a 10:00 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses.
In addition, the city will again prohibit indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms without food licenses, and asked residents to cap any social gatherings at six people, she said.
Here’s what’s happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:15 p.m.: Hours after Lightfoot announces new COVID-19 restrictions, Birx warns during Chicago visit that closing public spaces won’t be enough
Just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new restrictions on businesses in response to rising COVID-19 cases, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx cautioned that closing public spaces won’t be enough to stop the illness’s spread.
BIrx said it’s possible some of the recent spread is happening in people’s homes, during family gatherings, as the weather gets colder. She spoke at a news conference following a private meeting with leaders from Rush University System for Health, Northwestern Medicine and the Illinois and Chicago departments of public health at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Thursday.
“It won’t be as simple as closing public spaces because public spaces … were very safe over the summer and probably remain safe,” Birx said. “This is really something that has happened in the last three to four weeks. What has happened in the last three to four weeks is that people have moved their social gatherings indoors.”
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
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7 p.m.: Judge assigned to Cook County’s largest criminal courthouse tests positive for COVID-19
A judge assigned to Cook County’s largest criminal courthouse has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a memo Thursday from Chief Judge Timothy Evans.
In addition, two more youths in the county’s juvenile detention center have tested positive, for a total of 36.
Thursday’s announcement marked the first case of a Leighton Criminal Court Building judge testing positive, though judges assigned elsewhere have previously been diagnosed.
That building, where thousands of felony cases are heard daily, cautiously reopened to in-person court hearings over the summer, though jury trials have not yet resumed.
—Megan Crepeau
6:20 p.m.: Decision time is here for some CPS parents: remote learning or in-person classes?
The first wave of Chicago Public Schools families whose children are eligible to return to schools have until next Wednesday to decide if they will.
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If they choose to continue remote learning, that could affect their options later on, according to a letter addressed to CPS families enrolled in prekindergarten or special education cluster programs.
The letter indicates that families who choose to continue remote learning in the second quarter will receive slots for the third quarter “if space is available.”
CPS, though, said all students will have an in-person option for the third quarter if schools are open.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
5:30 p.m.: Pritzker threatens to pull licenses of businesses that flout restrictions
After months of imploring residents to follow the state’s rules, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday issued his strongest warning yet to restaurants and bars that flout restrictions aimed at slowing the resurgent coronavirus by threatening to pull their liquor and gambling licenses.
The warning came as more regions of the state come under stricter rules, including a prohibition on indoor bar and restaurant service, and the percentage coronavirus tests returning positive results continues to rise. State health officials on Thursday announced a record high 4,942 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the daily average above 4,000 cases over the past week.
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“It is very serious right now, folks, and if we need to close down restaurants and bars, or take away their liquor licenses, take away their gaming licenses, we will do that,” Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus briefing at the St. Clair County Health Department in Belleville. “Because we are now heading into a peak that is beyond, potentially, where we were in March and April.”
Pritzker said the Illinois State Police will issue warnings and citations to businesses that don’t adhere to the rules, and the state will use its authority over liquor and gambling licenses if necessary.
“I think you know I’ve been reluctant to do this before because it has a very serious implication for the future of a business,” Pritzker said. “I want businesses to stay in business. I want them to survive.”
Read more here. —Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks
4:20 p.m.: FDA approves first drug to treat COVID-19: the antiviral remdesivir
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug to treat COVID-19: remdesivir, an antiviral medicine given through an IV for patients needing hospitalization.
The drug, which California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. is calling Veklury, cut the time to recovery by five days — from 15 days to 10 on average — in a large study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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It had been authorized for use on an emergency basis since spring, and now has become the first drug to win full U.S. approval for treating COVID-19.
Gilead says Veklury is approved for people at least 12 years old and weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms) who need hospitalization for their coronavirus infection. It works by inhibiting a substance the virus uses to make copies of itself.
Read more here. —Associated Press
3:50 p.m.: Will drive-thru COVID-19 testing survive the Chicago winter?
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get much worse, here’s a new question to ponder: Will drive-thru COVID-19 testing still be offered when snow and arctic temperatures hit Chicago?
In short, the answer is yes and no.
Some health systems, such as Advocate Aurora Health, plan to move COVID-19 testing in Illinois fully indoors for the winter. Others, such as Amita Health hospitals, Walgreens, CVS Health and NorthShore University HealthSystem, expect to keep testing people in their cars, even as Chicagoans pull out their parkas and ice scrapers.
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One of the main purposes of drive-thru COVID-19 testing is to keep people who may have the illness isolated from others.
“We’re going to be like the U.S. Postal Service,” said Robert Dahl, president and CEO of Amita Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago.
Patients can crank up the heat in their cars, but the trickier part will be making sure that those administering the tests stay warm.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
3:45 p.m.: Gene & Georgetti evicted from Rosemont location over COVID-19-caused rent and tax debts
Gene & Georgetti, which has operated a restaurant and banquet hall in Rosemont for five years, is being evicted from that location. Its last day of dinner service will be Oct. 31.
The original Gene & Georgetti location in River North is not affected by the eviction.
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Landlord disputes and closings are nothing new during the coronavirus pandemic. An odd twist is that, in this case, the landlord is the village of Rosemont.
“We tried to work something out, stay open through New Year’s Eve at least, to keep our people employed through the year,” said owner Michelle Durpetti.
Durpetti acknowledged that an upcoming property tax bill (about $120,000, she said), and three months' of deferred rent, now due, put the restaurant in a bind. But the village wouldn’t meet with her, Durpetti said.
“We knew all along this was looming,” she said. “We offered to have a discussion, and we weren’t granted the opportunity to do so. And a conversation is the key to working things out.”
Read more here. —Phil Vettel
3:25 p.m.: Indiana reports daily high of 2,880 new COVID-19 cases
Indiana reported a new daily high of nearly 3,000 new coronavirus infections on Thursday as state health officials added 42 more COVID-19 deaths to the state’s pandemic toll.
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The 2,880 new infections reported by the Indiana State Department of Health topped the 2,521 new infections the agency reported Saturday that had been Indiana’s daily high of newly reported cases.
The department’s daily update of its coronavirus dashboard also showed that Indiana’s seven-day rolling average for newly confirmed cases rose to 2,019. That is the highest level the state has seen during the pandemic and well over double the seven-day rolling average of 858 newly confirmed cases the agency reported a month ago, on Sept. 22.
Indiana’s 42 newly recorded COVID-19 deaths raised the state’s pandemic death toll to 4,065, including confirmed and presumed coronavirus infections, according to the health department. Those deaths occurred over several days, but 33 of them occurred Tuesday and Wednesday.
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:05 p.m.: Days into hybrid plan, Barrington schools reverse to remote learning due to rising COVID-19 cases in community
After only two days of hybrid learning that saw students on campuses for in-person instruction, Barrington School District 220 Superintendent Brian Harris announced Tuesday that the district will turn back to all-remote learning in response to rising COVID-19 cases in the communities the district serves.
Harris made the announcement during the school board meeting and said the switch back would be effective Oct. 28. Students had been welcomed on campus Tuesday for the first day of combination in-person and remote learning – after being all-remote since the new school year started.
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“We would take this pause for 10 calendar days,” Harris told board members, who met in person Barrington Middle School- Station campus.
Read more here. —Graydon Megan
1:31 p.m.: Illinois averaging 4,000 coronavirus cases per day over past week as latest daily count approaches 5,000
Illinois continues to experience a resurgence of the coronavirus, with the state now averaging more than 4,000 positive diagnoses a day over the past week and a record high number of newly confirmed daily cases announced Thursday.
Thursday’s case count of 4,942 tops the previous record of 4,554 new cases set six days earlier and comes as new restrictions, including a renewed prohibition on indoor dining and bar service, take effect over the next two days in southern Illinois and a wide swath of suburban Chicago.
After rising for 11 straight days, the statewide positivity rate on coronavirus screenings was 5.7% on a seven-day average as of Wednesday, unchanged from a day earlier.
But positivity rates have continued rising in many of the regions laid out in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan. The nine county region in the northwest corner of Illinois, which has been under stricter rules since Oct. 3, has seen its seven-day rolling positivity rate rise to 11.9% as of Monday.
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Read more here. —Dan Petrella
12:55 p.m.: Lightfoot imposes 10:00 p.m. curfew on city bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses
Days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot followed through Thursday by imposing a 10:00 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses.
In addition, the city will again prohibit indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms without food licenses, and asked residents to cap any social gatherings at six people, she said.
The new restrictions follow a news conference earlier this week where Lightfoot sounded an alarm about the dramatic increase in the number of coronavirus cases since the start of October and threatened the stricter guidelines on businesses.
Chicago’s seven-day average of new cases has hit 645, up dramatically from where the city was at the start of the month and even from the weekend. On Saturday, for instance, Chicago’s seven-day rolling average was 508 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases per day.
“We are no doubt whatsoever in the second surge,” Lightfoot said. “This is what it looks like.”
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Read more here. —Greg Pratt, John Bryne, Dan Petrella
12:06 p.m.: 4,942 new known COVID-19 cases and 44 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Thursday announced 4,942 new known cases of COVID-19 and 44 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 360,159 and the statewide death toll to 9,387 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 80,977 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 5.7%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
9:20 a.m.: Brookfield Zoo to close for two months after holiday lights show
Brookfield Zoo is planning a coronavirus-related hibernation. The zoo announced Wednesday that after its Holiday Magic seasonal lights show ends Dec. 31, it will shut down for two months out of caution amidst a COVID-19 pandemic with increasing infection rates.
The Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, 2021 closure also coincides with what are traditionally the least trafficked months at the zoo.
The traditional Holiday Magic show will present its 39th edition for 24 nights from Nov. 27 through Dec. 31, but with State of Illinois Phase 4 guidelines, which mean no buildings will be open and guest count will be limited. Ticket reservations are timed-entry.
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The coming closure will be similar to the first one during the pandemic, which ran from March 19 to June 30 and continued, of course, to provide animal care.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
7 a.m.: Southern Illinois goes back under COVID-19 restrictions
Southern Illinois goes back under more stringent coronavirus restrictions Thursday, joining the northwest part of the state, after hitting an area-wide positivity rate of 8% as COVID-19 cases surge across the state and country.
When regions reach a positivity rate of 8% or higher for three consecutive days, Pritzker’s administration has ordered indoor dining and bar service shuttered, and gathering limits set at 25, down from 50 in the state’s reopening plan.
Kane, DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties will also go under restrictions starting Friday.
— Chicago Tribune staff
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6 a.m.: Some restaurants in Illinois are defying closure orders as ban on indoor service spreads to Chicago suburbs
Despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent order to shut down indoor service at bars and restaurants in northwest Illinois due to the coronavirus, Fozzy’s Bar and Grill near Rockford was among those that stayed open.
Owner Nick Fosberg said he had to leave the doors open to keep his employees working, pay his bills and stay in business. He says the workers wear masks, and customers wear masks on their way in and out, while tables are spaced 6 feet apart, at 25% capacity.
“We’re sticking to what we were doing and being safe about it,” he said. “We’re getting a ton of support. People are happy someone finally stood up and said, ‘I’m not closing.’”
The Oct. 3 closure order covering the northwest region of Illinois has the same restrictions coming Friday to DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will counties. Four regions of the state have exceeded 8% rate for positive COVID tests, which is one of the state-imposed thresholds for such restrictions, and the rest are trending in that direction.
Now other restaurant owners are declaring they, too, will stay open. The Facebook page of Lockport Stagecoach in Will County, a western-style saloon, states that it will remain open for indoor dining and stand by more than 30 employees who depend on the restaurant for their livelihoods.
“We are NOT trying to be rebellious or are anti-masks, anti-people’s health or any of the other nonsense,” the post stated. “This is a decision out of survival.”
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Read more here. —Robert McCoppin
6 a.m.: Chicago has a goal of preschool for every child. Will COVID-19 set that effort back?
When the coronavirus hit Chicago, the city was approaching the halfway point of its four-year rollout of universal prekindergarten.
By the 2021-22 school year, if all went according to plan, every 4-year-old could have a spot in a free full-day, pre-K program. As classrooms were phased in, the plan sought to prioritize communities with the greatest need for full-day options.
Policy changes leading up to the universal pre-K rollout seemed to be paying off, according to a study released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago and Start Early, the early childhood education nonprofit formerly known as Ounce of Prevention. Once dominated by white children from higher income families, full-day pre-K enrollment tripled among Black students and students living in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods during the six years studied.
But before the study was even published, schools had to close. After a spring of remote learning struggles and a summer defined by the pandemic, some parents held off on having their children start school for the first time, and CPS has seen a huge drop this fall in pre-K enrollment, particularly among Black children.
Chicago Public Schools leaders acknowledge that COVID-19′s disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities is threatening their progress — a reality district leaders are citing to support arguments for bringing the youngest students, along with children in some special education groups, back to more than 400 schools next quarter.
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Read more here. —Hannah Leone
6 a.m.: 7,500 children get free winter coats in COVID-19-adjusted CHA event: ‘Every little thing counts for me’
For Louis Johnson, 51, this week’s gift of a new pink winter coat for his 5-year-old daughter, Laniyah, came at just the right time.
With Chicago’s winter nearing, Johnson had known Laniyah needed a new coat after outgrowing her old one, he said. But in the economic fallout of COVID-19, funds were hard to come by, complicating the situation.
“Every penny counts now,” Johnson said Wednesday in a phone interview after picking up the new coat, adding that Laniyah would have “a big smile” on her face upon seeing it.
Laniyah was one of about 7,500 children in Chicago public housing or discounted, rented housing who will be given a free winter coat this week at the Credit Union 1 Arena on the city’s Near West Side. The giveaway is part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s partnership with Operation Warm, a national nonprofit that distributes new coats to children in need.
Though this week marks the CHA’s 13th year distributing the coats, the COVID-19 pandemic required significant adjustments. Rather than being held over four hours in one day, as it was in previous years, the coat distribution spans four consecutive days, starting Wednesday. The 3,000 families who signed up had to preregister, and one person per family signed up for a specific time to pick up the coats.
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Read more here. —Kelli Smith
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories from Wednesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Decision day looms for some Chicago Public Schools parents: Remote learning or in-person classes?

“ It ’ s not just a communications error ; they don ’ t engage with stakeholders , ” she @ @ @ @ @ have whiplash , especially those who are parents .
...
I think that our families @ @ @ @ @ educators deserve predictability , as much as they deserve safety , as much as they @ @ @ @ @ as they deserve transparency .
And we are getting none of that at a time @ @ @ @ @ it .
”

The first wave of Chicago Public Schools families whose children are eligible to return to schools have until next Wednesday to decide if they will.
If they choose to continue remote learning, that could affect their options later on, according to a letter addressed to CPS families enrolled in prekindergarten or special education cluster programs.
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But a district spokesman on Thursday said all students who seek in-person learning will get the option if schools are open in quarter three, regardless of the option they select for quarter two, and parents “will receive a clarification in the near future to address any potential confusion.”
“If interest is high, there is a chance that some classrooms would need to proceed in a hybrid model as opposed to daily in-person instruction, which will be possible in most cases,” according to a statement provided by CPS spokesman James Gherardi. “The language in the letter was intended to refer to the potential for hybrid learning, but we understand the confusion it may have caused.”
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CPS has not released a detailed plan or specific date when schools could begin reopening. But district leaders announced last week that they would offer in-person learning to pre-K and some special education students sometime after the second quarter begins in November.
“We would like to potentially welcome our students in pre-k or moderate and intensive cluster programs back to school for in-person learning later in the second quarter,” states the letter to families. “Our youngest learners and students enrolled in moderate and intensive cluster programs will benefit most from in-person instruction, and in close collaboration with our public health officials, we believe we can welcome students back into the building in a safe and responsible manner based on our stringent health protocols and data from other school districts.”
For staffing purposes, the letter says, CPS wants to know which children will return to in-person learning “later this fall" and asks families to submit a separate form by Wednesday for every child who qualifies for the option.
“If you choose to continue learning at home, or do not complete this form by the deadline, your child will continue to participate in virtual instruction throughout the second quarter,” according to the letter. “You will have the option to enroll in in-person learning at the start of the third quarter, if space is available.”
The part about available space feels more like an ultimatum than a choice, said Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates.
“That’s an ultimatum, and families deserve more than that,” Davis Gates said. “It’s hard enough for everyone, discerning the science from the politics, what’s safe and what isn’t safe ... folks are under a lot of pressure.”
She said the district isn’t properly bargaining with the union or incorporating feedback, and educators who have children in pre-K or cluster programs are in an especially difficult position.
“It’s not just a communications error; they don’t engage with stakeholders,” she said. “Our members have whiplash, especially those who are parents. ... I think that our families and our students and our educators deserve predictability, as much as they deserve safety, as much as they deserve engagement, as much as they deserve transparency. And we are getting none of that at a time when we need all of it.”
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The union isn’t saying no to in-person learning; members are asking how, and want any plan to be supported by comprehensive testing along with contact tracing, a nurse and good ventilation, among other measures, Davis Gates said. And she said she doesn’t think it makes sense to bring back students with comorbidities when the virus is surging.
“It is in the interest of families, students, educators, the school district and certainly the mayor to have a school district that is safe, that is open, and that inspires confidence in all stakeholders, and they continue to drop the ball on every element of that because they refuse to engage,” she said.
While CPS enrollment has been on the downturn, school leaders have attributed an especially “stunning” decline in pre-K enrollment this fall to COVID-19.
But Davis Gates said the district should also have communicated with families more and made a decision earlier about fall quarter. “Enrollment loss is also about their inability to pivot because there’s a pandemic, and work with people who can get kids enrolled in school and provide clarity,” she said.
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--The Spin: More on the mute button at tonight’s Trump-Biden debate | Does Cubs co-owner Todd  Rickett

The Spin: More on the mute button at tonight’s Trump-Biden debate | Does Cubs co-owner Todd  Ricketts share some of Trump’s sensibilities? | Lightfoot’s COVID-19 restrictions

“ The truth is I ’ m very proud of my presidency , but it didn ’ t immediately solve @ @ @ @ @ I always tell young people is we did make things better , ” Obama said @ @ @ @ @ biggest tricks that ’ s perpetrated on the America people is this idea that government @ @ @ @ @ The government is us — of , by and for the people .
It wasn @ @ @ @ @ of us .
But the way it ’ s designed , it works for who @ @ @ @ @ And if you do not vote , you ’ re not at the table .
@

This combination of Sept. 29, 2020, file photos shows President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
Even with a mute button in play at tonight’s second and final presidential debate, count on fireworks, experts say.
After last month’s showdown between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden devolved into chaos, debate organizers announced each would have his microphone cut off tonight so his rival could deliver a two-minute answer to each of the debate topics.
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The 90-minute debate is divided into six 15-minute segments, with each candidate delivering the uninterrupted remarks at the outset followed by an open discussion. Given what happened at September’s Trump vs. Biden meeting, Southern Illinois University debate coach Todd Graham said he doesn’t like that the mute button will be in use for just four minutes total during each segment. That amounts to an 11-minute free-for-all where the loudest voice rules, he said.
Chicagoan Newton Minow, who sits on the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, told The Spin that the debate structures “aren’t perfect,” but the aim is to give candidates equal time for the sake of the viewers.
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Todd Ricketts, the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and a Cubs co-owner, “appears to share some of Trump’s rough-edged sensibilities," Chicago author Alex Kotlowitz writes in a new piece for The New Yorker. Ricketts, who calls suburban Wilmette home, is apparently known for going on “long rants with friends about Barack Obama," turned up maskless at a Trump rally and in a Facebook post referred to COVID-19 as a racist slur for the disease.
We got the warning signal from her earlier this week but as COVID-19 cases spike in the city, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced today she’s reinstituting restrictions, which includes a curfew for non-essential businesses and, once again, lights off at some bars and taverns.
Statewide, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has announced some regional restrictions as Illinois' case continue to climb. Illinois has been averaging 4,000 COVID-19 cases daily in the past week, but reached a record high of nearly 5,000 cases today. During a news conference today, Pritzker pleaded with residents to wear masks and practice social distancing while acknowledging the public fatigue over that refrain. “It works,” he told reporters. “You keep hearing us say it — I’ll try to do an interpretative dance for you some time if that will help.”
Meantime, a Chicago Tribune-ProPublica Illinois investigation digs into the $1.6 billion-plus spent on COVID-19 response. The tab is for body bags, hotel rooms – and grenades, among other things, according to the report.
Welcome to The Spin.
Preparations take place for the second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at Belmont University on Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
Tonight’s debate gets underway at 8 p.m. Chicago time: More here.
The debate commission decided that a mute button should be in play tonight “to enforce — underlined enforce — the rules we have,” Newton Minow, who sits on the panel, tells The Spin. Put simply, it’s intended to lend some order after the last debate turned into an interruption fest. Slate reported that Trump interrupted Biden and the moderator 128 times, while Biden interrupted “dozens” of times, the magazine reported.
“There were times when you were not able to hear what was being said,” Minow said when I asked him about Trump in particular talking over his rival. “And the whole purpose of the debate is to serve the viewer, the voter, and that’s what we’re interested in doing.”
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Todd Graham, the SIU-based debate coach, reminds that the mute button will be in use during what’s supposed to be two minutes apiece of uninterrupted comments at the start of each 15-minute segment in the debate.
“The main problem at this debate is not the first four minutes. It’s the 11 minutes of open discussion, because that means with a moderator who’s been instructed to not fact-check and to not add follow-up (questions) ... there’s going to be 11 minutes of whoever is the most aggressive wins. Whoever interrupts the most or asks the other person questions and demands the answer becomes the winner. That’s not at all what it’s supposed to be.”
Then there is the issue of someone interrupting off-mic, he says.
Trump has called the use of a mute button “unfair,” but the debate commission says both campaigns agreed to it, according to multiple news outlets.
What the candidates need to do in tonight’s final showdown before the Nov. 3 election: Graham said both candidates took a hit in the polls for going after each other in the last debate. For Trump to be successful, Graham suggests, he needs to pull back on attacking Biden and talk about his accomplishments, including steps he’s taken toward peace in the Middle East. Biden, too, needs to stick to policy and steer clear of responding to Trump’s attacks and “stay above it.”
“And both candidates need to answer the question in the first 20 seconds of being asked, and then they can pivot to whatever they want to. People did not like the last debate because people didn’t answer the question directly.”
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Trump to tap northern Indiana US attorney to Amy Coney Barrett in Chicago: My Tribune colleague Jason Meisner has the story here.
Trump grants clemency to former Gary boxer Charles “Duke” Tanner who was imprisoned for drug crimes: The Post-Tribune’s Meredith Colias-Pete has the story here.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Former President Barack Obama arrives to speak at Citizens Bank Park as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden on Oct. 21, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)
Former President Barack Obama came out swinging in the battleground state of Pennsylvania yesterday, blasting Trump as an ineffective, disconnected leader. Before a big speech in Philadelphia, the former president stopped at a community center and talked with local Black Democratic elected officials about politics, race and Chicago, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“It is always great to be in Philadelphia, in part because this reminds me of home back in Chicago,” Obama said at the forum. “When I see what’s going on here, it’s no different than on the South Side or the West Side of Chicago. We’re confronting the same challenges.”
At one point they discussed how to engage young people in politics, the Inquirer reports.
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“The truth is I’m very proud of my presidency, but it didn’t immediately solve systemic racism. … What I always tell young people is we did make things better,” Obama said. “One of the biggest tricks that’s perpetrated on the America people is this idea that government is separated from you. The government is us — of, by and for the people. It wasn’t always for all of us. But the way it’s designed, it works for who is at the table. And if you do not vote, you’re not at the table.”
New Durbin ad is pitch from Obama: That Obama is endorsing four-term Democratic U.S. Sen Dick Durbin is no surprise. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have him record an ad that hits the airwaves little more than a week before the election. Watch the ad here.
Durbin’s challengers on the Nov. 3 ballot include businessman Willie Wilson, a third-party candidate; Republican Mark Curran, former Lake County sheriff; Green Party candidate Danny Black; and Libertarian Danny Malouf.
On the virtual campaign trail for Biden: Democratic U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and his pal Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, will participate in a “Progressives for Biden Unity Town Hall” tomorrow night. Garcia backed Sanders, who had vied for the Democratic presidential nomination before dropping out. Since then, Sanders in particular has been working to turn out the liberal vote for Biden, a moderate. Topics to be discussed at the Friday night event include health care, racial justice and voting rights. Details here.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride at the opening of the new Will County Courthouse in Joliet on Oct. 9, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Ray Long: “Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride’s bid to retain his seat this fall has emerged as a high-stakes, expensive campaign that Republicans are trying to make a referendum on embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan.”
Billionaire conservatives, state GOP leaders and a dark money group are blanketing voters' mailboxes with full-color attack ads that portray the justice as a Madigan puppet, citing the speaker’s large campaign contributions to Kilbride’s election efforts dating back to 2000.
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Kilbride, a 67-year-old onetime labor lawyer from Rock Island, said the millions of dollars in campaign funds he received from the Madigan-controlled Illinois Democratic Party have played no role in his past judicial rulings. “Just a bunch of crap,” said Kilbride, who dismissed the Republican-backed hit pieces as out-of-order “mudslinging.” Read the full story here.
Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts watches a Loyola Ramblers basketball game against the Missouri State Bears at Gentile Arena on Feb. 3, 2018, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
He’s one of the sibling co-owners of the Chicago Cubs, and while Todd Ricketts is a player in Republican national politics and in the world of President Trump in particular, the 51-year-old keeps a relatively low profile.
But we get a partial introduction with this from Alex Kotlowitz’s New Yorker piece: "Ricketts appears to share some of Trump’s rough-edged sensibilities.
"He’s gone on long rants with friends about Barack Obama being a socialist. He recently appeared maskless at Trump’s indoor rally in Henderson, Nevada. And, earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that Ricketts, along with Vice-President Mike Pence, had been scheduled to attend a fund-raiser in Montana at the home of two QAnon-conspiracy supporters.
“'Todd was not scheduled to attend that event,” (Danny) Diaz, Ricketts’s spokesperson, told me. “The finance chairman’s name has been listed on every single invite issued by the R.N.C. or Trump Victory since he was named to those positions, regardless of whether he plans to attend.'” Read the full piece here.
Reminder: My colleague Hal Dardick has written about how county officials are investigating his property tax appeal after finding an issue with the assessment.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot departs after her budget address on Oct. 21, 2020 in Council Chambers at City Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
“Days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot followed through Thursday by imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses,” the Tribune’s John Byrne, Gregory Pratt and Dan Petrella report.
More details here on the rollback, but Lightfoot said the city is on a path for much tougher restrictions heading into the holiday season if the virus doesn’t get under control, including a potential second stay-at-home order."
RELATED: Some Chicago-area restaurants in Illinois are defying closure orders: My Tribune colleague Robert McCoppin has the story here.
New York hospital executive who oversaw grimmest months of COVID-19 pandemic takes reins as Cook County Health leader: Alice Yin has the story here.
Chicago City Hall: Lightfoot finance officials defend proposed taxes and refinancing in Chicago mayor’s budget plan — My Tribune colleague John Byrne has the story here.
Lobbyist resigns from elected position in south suburban Flossmoor, following controversy over stricter lobbying rules and emails with Mayor Lori Lightfoot — The Tribune’s John Byrne and Gregory Pratt have the details here.
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Cook County: Advocacy group sues Kim Foxx' office over alleged transparency failures: The Tribune’s Megan Crepeau has the story here.
Suburbs: $18.3M payout in Crestwood well water lawsuits jeopardized following court ruling: Mike Nolan has the story in the Daily Southtown here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Protesters call for federal investigation into Waukegan police fatal shooting of suspect: ‘We don’t

Protesters call for federal investigation into Waukegan police fatal shooting of suspect: ‘We don’t want the police investigating the police’

Police said this week that a Hispanic officer opened fire on Williams and Stinnette , who are both Black , @ @ @ @ @ life as their vehicle backed up toward him when he approached it around 11:55 p.m. @ @ @ @ @ found in the victims ' car , police said .

Zharvellis Holmes, left, mother of Marcellis Stinnette, and his grandmother, Sherrellis Stinnette, center, listen as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, and others speak Oct. 28, 2020, outside the Illinois State Police headquarters in Des Plaines. They had viewed video of the shooting death Stinnette and the wounding of Tafara Williams by Waukegan police last week. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Dozens of protesters marched in Waukegan Thursday, and several speakers asked for a federal investigation into the death this week of Marcellis Stinnette, who was fatally shot by a Waukegan police officer.
About 100 people on foot, and what a rally organizer estimated was another 100 following in cars, gathered on the city’s south side two days after Stinnette, 19, and his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, were shot in an encounter with police.
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The group marched from the site of the shooting near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Hemholtz avenues, eventually ending up outside the Waukegan City Hall complex, where speakers asked for accountability in the investigation of the shooting of Stinnette and Williams.
Police said this week that a Hispanic officer opened fire on Williams and Stinnette, who are both Black, when he feared for his life as their vehicle backed up toward him when he approached it around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday. No gun was found in the victims' car, police said.
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Clifftina Johnson, Williams' mother, said her daughter told her she and Stinnette had done nothing to provoke the shooting.
The investigation into the incident is being handled by the Illinois State Police.
Handout photo of Marcellis Stinnette who was shot and killed by Waukegan police on October 20th. (family handout / Chicago Tribune)
Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper released preliminary autopsy results Thursday which indicated Marcellis Stinnette, who was a passenger in the car, “died from injuries due to a gunshot” at Vista Medical Center East.
Williams remained hospitalized Thursday after undergoing a second surgery for injuries sustained when she was shot in the abdomen and arm, her mother said.
“My daughter wants to speak – it doesn’t matter how many shots you gave her,” Johnson said.
Stinnette’s grandmother, Sherrellis Sheria Stinnette, who wore a Black Lives Matter cap, said, “My grandson died with a smile on his face. I know he did. And the police officer, he’s forgiven.
“I didn’t say what (the police officer) did was right, because it’s not, but we all have to answer come Judgment Day,” she added.
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Clyde McLemore, of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter, said he wanted a federal investigation into the shooting.
“We don’t want the police investigating the police,” he said. “We want the Department of Justice coming in.”
Another BLM member, Zakee Darr, said, “We’re going to get justice here, where we couldn’t get it in other places.”
The march remained peaceful, and there was not a strong police presence, other than some law enforcement officers who looked on from inside the courthouse as the protesters stopped briefly in the intersection outside the building to chant slogans.
Protest organizers said they were pleased with the protest. McLemore said he would consult with the families of the Stinnette and Williams to decide on future events. A prayer vigil was reportedly planned for Thursday night.
McLemore said Waukegan should not expect the sort of civil unrest that have marred other protests against police shootings.
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“Downtown Waukegan people were boarding up their storefronts, and that’s not what we do,” McLemore said.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Trump to tap northern Indiana US attorney to replace Amy Coney Barrett in Chicago

Before taking over as U.S. attorney , Kirsch was a partner at the high-powered Chicago firm Winston & Strawn .
@ @ @ @ @ high-profile clients , including TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau , who was later sentenced to 10 @ @ @ @ @ misleading infomercials , and former Chicago Ald .
Sandi Jackson , who along with her @ @ @ @ @ Jackson Jr. , went to prison for misuse of campaign funds .

Just three years ago, Thomas Kirsch II was selected by President Donald Trump to head the U.S. attorney’s office in northern Indiana.
Now, the president is tapping Kirsch again, this time to fill the expected vacancy at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago once Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The White House confirmed the president’s intention to nominate Kirsch on Wednesday, the day before the Senate Judiciary Committee forwarded Barrett’s nomination to the full Senate. The Senate is expected to confirm her to the Supreme Court within days.
A lifelong resident of northwest Indiana, Kirsch, 46, was sworn in as the Hammond-based U.S. attorney in October 2017 and has built a reputation for aggressively pursuing public corruption and gang crimes.
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U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch, right, appears for a news conference Oct. 19, 2018, at the federal courthouse in Hammond. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post Tribune)
Earlier this year, Kirsch announced wire fraud charges against longtime Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura alleging he misused campaign funds for personal gain. In 2019, his office brought sweeping racketeering charges against 17 members of the Latin Dragons street gang alleging they were responsible for 11 murders and dozens of other shootings, stabbings and assaults.
He’d previously served in the office as an assistant U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2008, focusing on high-profile, white-collar crimes, including the prosecution of several elected public officials.
Before taking over as U.S. attorney, Kirsch was a partner at the high-powered Chicago firm Winston & Strawn. He represented a number of high-profile clients, including TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau, who was later sentenced to 10 years behind bars for creating misleading infomercials, and former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, who along with her husband, ex-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., went to prison for misuse of campaign funds.
Kirsch is a 1996 Indiana University and 1999 Harvard Law School graduate, according to his biography on the U.S. attorney’s office website.
If Kirsch is confirmed to the 7th Circuit, he’d be the 54th appellate judge confirmed during Trump’s term in office. He would also be the youngest member of the 14-judge 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.
There are nine men and five women serving as circuit and senior judges. Only two — Diane Wood and David Hamilton — were appointed by Democrats.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Pritzker threatens to pull licenses of businesses that flout restrictions as Illinois daily count of

Pritzker threatens to pull licenses of businesses that flout restrictions as Illinois daily count of confirmed infections hits new high — nearly 5,000

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After months of imploring residents to follow the state’s rules, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday issued his strongest warning yet to restaurants and bars that flout restrictions aimed at slowing the resurgent coronavirus by threatening to pull their liquor and gambling licenses.
The warning came as more regions of the state come under stricter rules, including a prohibition on indoor bar and restaurant service, and the percentage coronavirus tests returning positive results continues to rise. State health officials on Thursday announced a record high 4,942 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the daily average above 4,000 cases over the past week.
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[ Some restaurants in Illinois are defying closure orders as ban on indoor service spreads to Chicago suburbs ]
“It is very serious right now, folks, and if we need to close down restaurants and bars, or take away their liquor licenses, take away their gaming licenses, we will do that,” Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus briefing at the St. Clair County Health Department in Belleville. “Because we are now heading into a peak that is beyond, potentially, where we were in March and April.”
Pritzker said the Illinois State Police will issue warnings and citations to businesses that don’t adhere to the rules, and the state will use its authority over liquor and gambling licenses if necessary.
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“I think you know I’ve been reluctant to do this before because it has a very serious implication for the future of a business," Pritzker said. “I want businesses to stay in business. I want them to survive.”
Pritzker’s warning came just after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced her own clampdown, including a 10 p.m. curfew starting Friday on nonessential businesses and the suspension of indoor service at taverns and taprooms that don’t serve food.
[ As second wave of COVID-19 roils Illinois, here are 5 updated ways doctors say you can stay healthy ]
Thursday’s case total tops the previous daily record of 4,554 set just six days earlier and brings the overall number of known cases to 360,159 across Illinois since the pandemic began. With 44 additional fatalities announced Thursday, the statewide death toll stood at 9,387.
After rising for 11 straight days, the statewide positivity rate on coronavirus screenings was 5.7% on a seven-day average as of Wednesday, unchanged from a day earlier. Hospitalizations also are on the rise.
The stricter rules took effect Thursday across the state’s 20 southernmost counties and will kick in Friday in DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties. Those regions join the nine counties in the northwest corner of the state that have been under tighter regulations since Oct. 3.
Under Pritzker’s reopening plan, regions are subject to so-called resurgence mitigations when the rolling seven-day positivity rate reaches or exceeds 8% for three straight days. In addition to the limits on restaurants and bars, gatherings are capped at 25 people instead of 50.
[ Lightfoot imposes 10 p.m. curfew on city bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses as coronavirus cases spike: ‘It’s like we’re back in the spring’ ]
The northwest region, home to Rockford, DeKalb and Galena, has seen its positivity rate continue to rise despite the stricter rules, hitting 11.9% as of Monday.
As a result, beginning Sunday, restaurants and bars will be further limited to seating groups of six for outdoor service, down from a cap of 10, and gatherings will be limited to 10 people, among other rules.
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As more of the 11 regions in Pritzker’s plan have seen their reopenings partially rolled back, there’s been a renewed pushback from state legislators, local officials and the restaurant industry.
The Illinois Restaurant Association, which stood with Pritzker when he announced a statewide shutdown of indoor dining in March, issued a statement late Wednesday blasting the governor’s latest moves.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 98 Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
“Moving backward in this manner spells complete devastation for the restaurant industry,” Sam Toia, president and CEO of the restaurant association, said in a statement. “The extreme measures outlined by the governor’s team will result in the permanent closure of countless restaurants statewide, eliminating thousands of jobs and desolating communities inhabited by millions of residents."
[ ‘We’re fighting like crazy. Any way we can.’ How one Chicago restaurateur is attacking challenges during the pandemic. ]
As the region comprising Lake and McHenry counties edges closer to the 8% test positivity rate that would trigger a crackdown, officials in the northwest suburbs are questioning how the Illinois Department of Public Health tracks the data. The combined positivity rate for Lake and McHenry counties was 7.8% as of Monday, up from 6.3% a week earlier.
State Rep. Steve Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, on Thursday called on the state agency “to update their numbers to reflect what he considers to be more accurate numbers charted by the McHenry County Health Department.”
Reick suggested McHenry County Public Health Administrator Melissa Adamson faced pressure from state officials “to back away from her numbers.”
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“One week ago IDPH reported a positivity rate of 8.4% for McHenry County and the county health department reported a rate of 6.2%,” Reick said in a statement. “When 8% is the threshold for heightened mitigations, we should be using correct numbers and not numbers that haven’t been verified and scrubbed of duplicates and non-county positive tests.”
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area ]
The state last week listed McHenry County as one of 34 counties on a “warning list” for reaching state-set thresholds that indicate a resurgence of COVID-19 in the area.
McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks, a former Democratic state lawmaker, said in an interview Thursday on WBEZ’s “Reset” program that the county’s COVID-19 numbers are more accurate “and using the state’s numbers will likely push our region into mitigations sooner than necessary.”
“If we do end up having to be in further mitigation, I don’t want it to be artificially sooner or artificially longer because the state uses a methodology that could be improved,” Franks said. “Our county health department works hard to ensure that multiple positive tests on the same person weren’t counted separately, but the Illinois Department of Public Health counts each positive test.”
In response to such criticism, Pritzker asked fellow public officials and the hospitality industry “to stop fighting and trying to find some flaw in the data, trying to find somebody who will say that a bar or restaurant is not a spreading location.”
The governor reiterated that the state is prioritizing businesses in the affected regions for grants available as part of the federal coronavirus relief effort.
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“We’re working very hard, but we need everybody’s help in the public,” Pritzker said. “We need the restaurant owners and bar owners to follow the mitigations.”
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--New York hospital executive officially appointed as next Cook County Health leader, vows to be ‘fisc

New York hospital executive officially appointed as next Cook County Health leader, vows to be ‘fiscally, financially resilient’

The new leader of Cook County ’ s public health system that runs Stroger and Provident hospitals will have to @ @ @ @ @ medical care , of which the two hospitals provide the majority within the region , @ @ @ @ @ cuts due to revenue shortfalls from the coronavirus pandemic .
There also is the potential @ @ @ @ @ Act , a landmark law that made possible the massive insurance program known as CountyCare @ @ @ @ @ could lose about $ 1.4 billion should the ACA be dismantled .

An executive who presided over two New York hospitals during one of the grimmest moments of the COVID-19 pandemic will lead Cook County’s $2.8 billion public hospital system as it confronts its own financial battles while bracing for a second wave of the coronavirus.
Israel Rocha Jr., CEO of Elmhurst and Queens hospitals at the New York City Health + Hospitals system, was ushered in with a 17-0 vote during a Thursday Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting, making him the next CEO of Cook County Health. He plans to start in December and will have a base salary of $650,000 with a potential 10% bonus and 20 weeks' severance pay.
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Israel Rocha, former CEO of Elmhurst and Queens hospitals at the New York City Health + Hospitals system, has been officially appointed as CEO of Cook County Health. (Ann-Sophie Fjello-Jensen )
Rocha told reporters on Thursday that his mission is twofold: delivering the highest caliber of medical care, and tightening finances where needed.
“We have to make sure that we are fiscally, financially resilient to be able to chart a future that isn’t in days or years, but in decades,” Rocha said. “That means that we have to run a system that is resilient to be able to honor the trust of the people in the future.”
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Rocha’s appointment means the end of a long search process that began in January following last year’s ouster of Dr. John Jay Shannon as Cook County Health CEO. The system’s board of directors decided not to renew Shannon’s contract after investigative reports revealed hefty debts and pay raises that Cook County Health disputed.
Since then, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Cook County Board upped their authority over the independent board by giving themselves power to approve the next CEO, among other oversight measures.
The new leader of Cook County’s public health system that runs Stroger and Provident hospitals will have to grapple ballooning costs from uncompensated medical care, of which the two hospitals provide the majority within the region, as well as likely budget cuts due to revenue shortfalls from the coronavirus pandemic. There also is the potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a landmark law that made possible the massive insurance program known as CountyCare. The county health system could lose about $1.4 billion should the ACA be dismantled.
Preckwinkle told reporters on Thursday that the county’s uncompensated care, which could balloon to $487 million next year, would surely be one of Rocha’s top priorities and that it was time the dozens of private hospitals in the area started pulling their weight. In the beginning of the year, Preckwinkle met with some of those hospitals' officials and told them the county would “revisit this issue” after appointing the next Cook County Health CEO.
“So I put them on notice,” Preckwinkle said. “This was a challenge we are all going to have to try to address together. Let’s put it that way.”
Rocha, who turned around Elmhurst Hospital from being $100 million in the red to breaking even within 36 months, said he is a “details person.” He intends for Cook County Health to diligently track down medical care reimbursements and match patients with the right insurance in order to ease costs for the safety net system, he said.
“We want to care for folks, we want to bring them in, and that’s great for this one episode,” Rocha said. “But we have to really be diligent in trying to qualify individuals for all of their care plans because we want to take care of them not only now but into the future.”
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As for uncompensated care, Rocha wants to “leverage” private hospitals' strengths in order to partner with them in tackling the issue, he said.
Rocha, a Texas native who once worked as a legislative staffer in Congress, also said he is prepared to mobilize for a potential ACA repeal. That would entail keeping up with each step of the process and working with Washington on communicating Cook County’s needs.
“One of the beautiful things about Cook County is that they’re a national leader,” Rocha said. “And when they say there are significant issues, people will pay attention. So immediately, we would do the research, then we would be not shy about advocating of what was needing to be done.”
But before any tectonic shifts in health care law would begin to materialize, the most immediate issue at hand is the coronavirus, which has already begun spiking again in Illinois and the Chicago area. Rocha, who guided the once-overflowing Elmhurst Hospital as it bore the brunt of the coronavirus' early toll on New York, may again be in a fraught situation.
“We’ve got some real challenges in our health care system related to the second wave of the pandemic,” Preckwinkle said. “It’s not whether it’s coming; it’s just when.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Lightfoot finance officials defend proposed taxes and refinancing in Chicago mayor’s budget plan

“ It is a scoop and toss , and importantly , there are points in time when a scoop and @ @ @ @ @ Bennett said .
“ When you ’ re facing a billion two budget gap on @ @ @ @ @ , it is an enormous gap to try to fill with all structural solutions .
@ @ @ @ @ in our approach to this is try to create a balanced approach to how it @ @ @ @ @ for various key stakeholders to help us to address that gap .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget team on Thursday defended her decision to turn to “last resort” moves such as a property tax hike and scoop-and-toss refinancing to balance the 2021 budget, saying the proposals are the best way to maintain Chicago’s financial stability during the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to reporters a day after Lightfoot unveiled her tax-heavy $12.8 billion budget plan for next year, Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett and Budget Director Susie Park said the dire economic situation facing the city required them to take unusual steps after first attempting to save as much money as possible through efficiencies and better fiscal management.
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“The reality is that it’s just a very large gap,” Bennett said. “And it’s a very large gap because we’re in the midst of a pandemic, an economic recession that hasn’t been seen in a century. And in those kinds of environments, what was also really important to us is striking a balance that wouldn’t create a long-lasting permanent damage to our economy, to our residents, that would ultimately last longer than the realities of the budget we’re facing today.”
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Bennett acknowledged the plan to refinance $501 million in city bonds amounts to the much-derided practice of “scoop and toss,” which pushes debt into the future and in many cases ends up costing taxpayers more. But she said the tactic makes sense in light of the city’s financial situation.
“It is a scoop and toss, and importantly, there are points in time when a scoop and toss is appropriate,” Bennett said. “When you’re facing a billion two budget gap on a $4 billion budget, it is an enormous gap to try to fill with all structural solutions. And ultimately what we did in our approach to this is try to create a balanced approach to how it is that we were asking for various key stakeholders to help us to address that gap.”
Lacking that balance risked decimating the economy, Bennett said.
Aldermen have expressed skepticism about the reliance on refinancing and the tax hikes in the mayor’s proposal. The City Council Budget Committee is set to start holding hearings on the package Monday morning.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Protesting fatal Waukegan police shooting

Family of Marcellis Stinnette and Black Lives Matter march and protest the fatal police shooting of Stinnette and the police @ @ @ @ @ Waukegan .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 36
Zharvellis Holmes, left, mother of Marcellis Stinnette, and his grandmother, Sherrellis Stinnette, center, listen as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, and others speak Oct. 28, 2020, outside the Illinois State Police headquarters in Des Plaines. They had viewed video of the shooting death Stinnette and the wounding of Tafara Williams by Waukegan police last week. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--$18.3M payout in Crestwood well water lawsuits jeopardized following court ruling

Village officials told residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that it was using only Lake Michigan water after 1985 @ @ @ @ @ was discovered , but regulators later learned that Crestwood continued to use the well for @ @ @ @ @ of its water supply from 1985 to 2007 .

Special agents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency carry boxes of documents out of Crestwood Village Hall on April 29, 2009, related to the village's mixing of tainted well water with Lake Michigan water for some two decades. (David Pierini / Chicago Tribune)
A recent Illinois Appellate Court ruling throws into doubt an $18.3 million payout to current and former Crestwood residents who alleged the village’s longtime use of well water contaminated with a known carcinogen caused them health issues.
The village agreed to pay $15 million to settle dozens of lawsuits and the current litigation, which an attorney for residents is appealing to the state supreme court, targets Crestwood’s engineering firm and a settlement agreed to in May 2015.
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That settlement hinged on Burke Engineering Corp. in Orland Park being reimbursed by its insurer, General Casualty. A state appeals court ruled the insurance company had no obligation to cover the cost, according to the 2-1 decision.
Lawsuits were filed after the village’s use of the well came to light in 2009. The well water was tainted with chemicals including vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, and it was being mixed with Lake Michigan water.
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Investigators raided Crestwood Village Hall in late April 2009 and carried off boxes of documents, 10 days after a Chicago Tribune investigation found that village officials knowingly supplied residents with the contaminated water.
An $18.3 million payout in a lawsuit connected to Crestwood's longstanding use of tainted well water that was mixed with Lake Michigan water is in doubt following an Illinois Appellate Court ruling. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)
Village officials told residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that it was using only Lake Michigan water after 1985, when the contaminated well was discovered, but regulators later learned that Crestwood continued to use the well for as much as 20% of its water supply from 1985 to 2007.
Two village officials were convicted in federal court in Chicago for their roles in covering up the longtime practice of tapping the well.
Village officials steadfastly denied that residents' health was in jeopardy, although many of the lawsuits blamed the use of the well water for illnesses including kidney problems, tumors, different types of cancer and immune system disorders.
After the use of the well was revealed, the IEPA said the public’s health was never at risk, but the U.S. EPA has said there is no such thing as a safe exposure level to vinyl chloride, a chemical used in dry cleaning.
Some 300 current and former residents sued Burke Engineering Corp. in May 2013, alleging the firm was negligent in failing to notify residents that the well water being used was contaminated.
The firm provided monitoring and audits of the village’s water supply from 1980 until 2006, and Burke’s role came to light during the discovery phase of the initial lawsuits filed against the village in 2009, according to Jay Paul Deratany, a Chicago attorney who represented some 280 plaintiffs in those original lawsuits as well as the complaint against Burke Engineering Corp.
In July 2014, a Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed the negligence claim against Burke Engineering Corp., finding General Casualty was not required to indemnify Burke for the settlement amount and did not act in bad faith in denying coverage, prompting the appeal from residents.
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In the meantime, attorneys began talks aimed at settling the matter out of court. The lawsuits had sought damages against Burke Engineering Corp. of $350 million.
Deratany’s firm on Oct. 19 asked the state supreme court to consider an appeal of the Sept. 14 appellate decision. He said that if left to stand, the appeals court’s decision could have significant repercussions as far as insurance coverage for businesses.
Deratany said that while $100,000 had been earmarked from the settlement of the original Crestwood cases to pay for additional litigation, that money has been exhausted and he is continuing the litigation on his own with hopes of a reversal from the Illinois Supreme Court.
He said he sees a possible willingness on the part of the high court because there was a split decision at the appellate level, with Judge Carl Walker dissenting.
In his dissent, Walker suggested there was sufficient evidence regarding the insurance company’s responsibility that the case be sent back to the circuit court for more proceedings.
The appeals court, in affirming the circuit court ruling, wrote that after so many years of litigation on the matter “we realize that this is a disappointing result for the residents of Crestwood.”
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During the trial on the residents' complaints against Burke Engineering Corp., evidence presented showed that Crestwood officials, in tapping the well, pumped “millions of gallons of tainted drinking water to residents.”
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General Casualty filed its own counter action, arguing it wasn’t obligated to cover the settlement costs because of how the policy was written.
It contended that, based on the negligence claim, it wasn’t obligated to pay out in instances where conduct by the insured resulted in “injury or damage that was expected or intended.”
In the wake of the original lawsuits, Crestwood has begun to address a root cause in its water distribution system that contributed to the use of the well.
The $25 million project will replace aged water pipes in the village’s Playfield subdivision, and Crestwood in late 2018 received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for part of the work. The village is also getting a low-interest loan from the state.
According to evidence and testimony in the court cases, Crestwood officials were aware of substantial leaks in the village’s water distribution system but failed to make needed, and costly, repairs. Using the cheaper well water saved the village money and reduced the amount of the more expensive lake water it had to buy, evidence showed.
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This story was updated at 7 a.m. Oct. 23 to correct the engineering company was Burke Engineering Corp. of Orland Park.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Column: In memory of the amazing James Randi, ignore the charlatans and listen to science

Randi debunked a lot of bunk in his life , but he preferred to call himself an “ investigator , @ @ @ @ @ open to the idea that he might be wrong , just as a scientifically minded @ @ @ @ @ was not merely a killjoy , traveling the world taking delight in shattering the illusions @ @ @ @ @ documentary , “ An Honest Liar , ” chronicled his career and revealed the moral @ @ @ @ @ felt toward the con artists who use deceit to fleece the gullible and promote an @ @ @

James Randi was the worst enemy charlatans ever had.
Randi, who died Tuesday at age 92, devoted most of his adult life to exposing the deceptions and delusions behind paranormal claims and to evangelizing for skepticism and science.
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His message: Mind readers are frauds. Fortunetellers are frauds. Faith healers are frauds. Dowsers are frauds. Spoon benders are frauds. Mediums are large frauds. Astrology is baloney, as is psychokinesis, precognition, channeling, psychic surgery, astral projection and anything and everything else that asserts the ability to harness supernatural forces.
Do mysterious and inexplicable things happen? Sure. Are we puzzled at times by eerie patterns and events that confound expectations and defy easy understanding? Of course.
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But they prove nothing. Fifty-six years ago, Randi, a successful magician and escape artist, offered during a radio appearance a reward of $1,000 to anyone who could demonstrate supernatural powers of any sort to him under controlled, laboratory conditions. He later raised the offer to $10,000 — the same amount once offered for similar proof by his idol Harry Houdini — then $100,000 and finally, in 1996, to a cool $1 million. That offer stood unclaimed at Randi’s retirement in 2015.
None of the hundreds of applicants ever collected a dime. Because, as a trained illusionist, Randi was on to them. He knew their tricks and secrets, their willingness to exploit and misinterpret lucky guesses and the universal weakness for wish fulfillment. Critics complained that Randi’s standards for proof were too high, but over and over when he and his allies put supposed supernatural powers to rigorous tests and collected the sort of statistical evidence long used to evaluate hypotheses, the powers vanished.
Randi, born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge and frequently known by his stage name “The Amazing Randi,” hit the big time in the 1970s when he exposed the garden-variety magic behind superstar “psychic” Uri Geller’s apparent ability to bend metal objects with his mind. Randi dogged Geller around the TV talk-show circuit and published several books undermining his act.
In 1976, Randi was one of several founding members of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), an academically minded organization aimed at combating “a rising tide of uncritical belief in astrology, parapsychology and other unfounded subjects‚” as contemporary news reports put it. CSICOP’s magazine, The Skeptical Inquirer, remains a favorite of those of us who can, in fact, handle the truth.
I interviewed Randi in late September 2001 when certain excited occultists were claiming that the 16th century astrologer Nostradamus had predicted the 9/11 terrorist attacks within the ambiguous gibberish of his writings. But not only was the supposed Nostradamus quote about a disaster in “the city of York” a hoax, Randi said, but also Randi’s examination of the "103 instances in which (Nostradamus) names a specific date, place or person in one of his prophecies” found that “in every instance, he was wrong.”
Randi debunked a lot of bunk in his life, but he preferred to call himself an “investigator," one who always remained open to the idea that he might be wrong, just as a scientifically minded person should. And he was not merely a killjoy, traveling the world taking delight in shattering the illusions of others. The 2014 documentary, “An Honest Liar,” chronicled his career and revealed the moral indignation bordering on rage he felt toward the con artists who use deceit to fleece the gullible and promote an anti-scientific worldview.
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Most members of the public don’t share his anger. They seem to prefer “the romance and the lies” to the plain truth, as he says in the film.
Randi looked like a Tolkien character come to life with his elfin physique, wizard’s beard, furious eyebrows and showman’s demeanor. He came out as gay in 2010 and married his longtime partner, Deyvi Pena, in 2013. He’d been treated for cancer and heart ailments in recent years, but the James Randi Educational Foundation merely cited “age-related causes” in announcing his death.
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Although he’s gone, his life’s work promoting reason has never been more urgent. We’re seeing a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic and President Donald Trump is warning that if challenger Joe Biden is elected next month “he’ll listen to the scientists.”
Charlatans should not breathe easy. Randi recruited thousands into the war on claptrap, and his protege, magician Penn Jillette of the Penn & Teller duo, is now the nation’s most high-profile enemy of cynical trickery. It’s an unwinnable war that will never end, but thank chance James Randi came along to wage it for a while.
ericzorn@gmail.com
Twitter @EricZorn
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chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Friend tries to explain why man hung from the side of Trump Tower for more than 13 hours: ‘He’s neve

Friend tries to explain why man hung from the side of Trump Tower for more than 13 hours: ‘He’s never done anything like this before’

About 15 to 20 firefighters were assembled on the terrace , patiently waiting as temperatures dipped .
They were close @ @ @ @ @ and assess about how much he weighed and what they would need .
Sullivan said @ @ @ @ @ dealing with an amateur when they saw his gear and the knots he tied .

Chicago police SWAT officers leave Trump Tower in Chicago on Oct. 19, 2020. A unidentified man had been dangling off of the 16th floor of Trump Tower for more than 13 hours. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
It’s been three days since a man was lifted to safety after hanging on the side of Trump Tower for 13 hours, but one of his closest friends says he’s still frightened for him.
“He’s never done anything like this before. I don’t know how it will end up,” said Marlen, who didn’t want his last name used so he wouldn’t be harassed on social media. “I’m really scared.”
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Marlen and his friend are both from the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. His friend delivers newspapers for a living, is a purple belt in jujitsu and is an avid reader. “He’s a very intelligent person,” Marlen said. “He is a nerd guy. He likes to dig deep. He’s fond of Noam Chomsky.” The Tribune is not naming the man because he has not been criminally charged.
Marlen said his friend was excited after recently reading a book by Chomsky, a celebrated linguist and philosopher who’s a sharp critic of American policies. He believes that’s why the man rappelled down the side of the downtown high-rise and threatened to cut himself loose if he didn’t get his message out.
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“He was just trying to let people know about the book and share his opinion,” Marlen said. “Now, Noam Chomsky knows about him.”
Marlen said he was home relaxing early Sunday evening when the phone rang. “Do you know who’s up at Trump Tower?” the caller asked. “It’s your friend.”
He hung up and turned on the television, and there was his friend, hanging from the side of Trump Tower and holding a knife. Marlen said he sped downtown, parked and walked up to one of the dozens of emergency responders on the scene. “I’m his friend,” he told them. “I can help you.”
An unidentified man had been dangling off of the 16th floor of Trump Tower for more than 13 hours on Oct. 19, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
He was led to the 16th floor terrace where a police SWAT team, firefighters and a Russian translator were figuring out what to do about his 31-year-old friend, who was hanging from a harness about 8 feet below them and bouncing his feet against the window. Among them was Chicago Fire Chief Jamar Sullivan, head of the technical rescue operation.
“Tough dude. … Whoever that cat was,” Sullivan said.
Since the man was refusing to come back up, Sullivan figured there were at least three other options: Send firefighters down the rope to him, haul him up to the terrace or send divers after him if he plunged into the Chicago River below.
About 15 to 20 firefighters were assembled on the terrace, patiently waiting as temperatures dipped. They were close enough to see him clearly and assess about how much he weighed and what they would need. Sullivan said they realized they were not dealing with an amateur when they saw his gear and the knots he tied.
“He was wearing Class 2 rock climbers, for mountain climbing,” Sullivan said.
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The man had attached a large rope to a pole on the terrace, hooked it to a “real lightweight” harness and shimmied down the side. “This guy knew what he was doing, the knots he tied,” Sullivan said. “He knew.”
As the man hung on the side of the building, he livestreamed himself saying he wanted to speak with the media and with President Donald Trump, but he was never clear exactly what his message was. Waving a knife, he threatened to cut the rope.
Marlen said he told his friend, “Come up. You can face the media here and deliver your message. It’s safer here.”
The man still refused to move, and negotiators reached the man’s brother by phone. “Please come up, everything is going to be fine,” the brother said in Russian as a bullhorn was placed in front of the cellphone. “The whole family here is worried about you.”
But the man remained where he was and kept repeating he wanted to talk to a reporter, mentioning one by name from out of state. He then became “irritated” and “not very responsive,” according to the police translator, Officer Yevgeniy Pisarenko, who talked to the man in Russian.
Everyone backed off and monitored him with cameras to make sure he didn’t start cutting the rope.
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After a while, Pisarenko tried talking to the man again, telling him it wasn’t easy to get the reporter he wanted in the middle of the night. The man said he “wanted to wait until morning.”
“What’s so important about the morning?” Pisarenko asked.
“I want to see the sun one last time,” the man replied.
After dawn, authorities reached the reporter and got a live screenshot of him. “The sun had already come up and they showed it to him,” and then he dropped the knife, Pisarenko said.
The SWAT team plucked him out of the harness, checked him out and escorted him to an ambulance headed for Northwestern Memorial Hospital to be evaluated. “It literally took two or three seconds once they (negotiators) said: ‘Go!’” Sullivan said. “It worked out perfectly.”
Through it all, the man didn’t say a word. “They said nothing to him,” Sullivan said. “And he didn’t verbalize anything to police. He said nothing about why he was there. Nothing.”
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But that was not the end of the ordeal. On Monday evening, the man was being transferred to the Madden Mental Health Center in Maywood when he unbuckled himself from a gurney and fled out the back door of an ambulance. Police say he changed clothes in the vestibule of a store and hailed a cab on State Street. He was arrested eight hours later.
The incident only worried Marlen more. He has not talked to his friend since Sunday evening and has no idea what’s next.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Advocacy group sues Kim Foxx’s office over alleged transparency failures

“ On the Cook County data portal , you ’ re getting their version of what they want you to @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ ... We are suing to push the state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ live up to the letter of the law .
It ’ s no one single @ @ @ @ @ ’ s about being able to give the public as whole a picture as possible @ @ @ @ @

Despite publicly touting a commitment to transparency, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office has repeatedly stonewalled a local advocacy group’s requests for more complete felony case data, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in county court.
The Chicago Justice Project is suing the prosecutors' office, alleging they are in violation of a handshake settlement agreement that closed out a previous lawsuit. Prosecutors in 2018 promised to turn over expansive case data, but never adequately followed through, the suit alleges.
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In a statement, state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s office said the lawsuit “has absolutely no merit and the baseless allegations are not supported by any facts.”
“In an unprecedented commitment to transparency, under the leadership of Kim Foxx, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office was the first prosecutor’s office in the country to release felony case level data to the public through an open data portal in 2017,” the statement read. “We continue to release data updates and case information that is comprehensive and wide ranging.”
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But those spreadsheets are missing some key information, the suit alleges, including the lead prosecutor, the arresting officer, demographic information about the victim and the bond set on the case.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and her husband, Kelley Foxx, take a selfie after voting at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights on Oct. 22, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
And without all the office’s data, there is no way to know what else they might be holding back, Tracy Siska, executive director of the Chicago Justice Project, told the Tribune.
“On the Cook County data portal, you’re getting their version of what they want you to see about the office,” he said. “... We are suing to push the state’s attorney’s office to live up to the letter of the law. It’s no one single piece of data, it’s about being able to give the public as whole a picture as possible about their activities.”
The group had already sued the office in 2015, during previous State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s administration. That was settled in 2018, under Foxx’s administration, with an oral agreement that the office would turn over eight years' worth of data, with agreed redactions of some identifying information, according to Siska.
The Justice Project believes the data they got was incomplete, and the prosecutors' office has stonewalled them in their requests to supplement the information, the suit alleges.
The suit comes less than two weeks before Election Day, where Foxx is running for reelection. But the timing was not political, Siska said, noting his group only sued after months of trying to work with the state’s attorney’s office outside of court.
“If she was worried about this affecting her politically, one would have thought (that earlier this year) they would have reacted differently,” he said. “This was all of her making.”
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--1 charged with killing man, wounding 13-year-old girl in Humboldt Park shooting

Stafford was found near the house and pronounced dead .
His sister was taken to the hospital ; she was @ @ @ @ @ but the bullet is still lodged in her chest , prosecutors said .

A shooter who attacked a group of siblings in Humboldt Park earlier this month fired a single round that killed a 23-year-old man and wounded his 13-year-old sister, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.
James Murphy, 21, was ordered held without bail on charges of murder in the killing of Raekwon Stafford and attempted murder in the wounding of Stafford’s young sister.
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Another of Stafford’s siblings is Murphy’s ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said in court today. The mother of Murphy’s child has a history of arguments with the ex-girlfriend, according to prosecutors, including an incident where the child’s mother threw bottles at the ex-girlfriend’s house.
On Oct. 13, in the hours before the shooting, Stafford was out with his girlfriend and four of his siblings, and Murphy’s child’s mother drove up and confronted them, prosecutors said.
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The siblings walked home to the 900 block of North Lawndale Avenue and began to hang out on the porch, prosecutors said.
Not long afterward, they saw a red Chevy Cobalt drive up, with Murphy leaning out of the open passenger-side window, prosecutors said.
He fired one bullet that hit Stafford, exited through his chest, and struck Stafford’s 13-year-old sister in her chest, according to prosecutors.
James Murphy (Chicago Police booking photo / HANDOUT)
Murphy tried firing additional shots, but his gun jammed, prosecutors said. He left the car and tried to re-rack the gun, but ultimately just fled the scene, according to prosecutors.
Stafford was found near the house and pronounced dead. His sister was taken to the hospital; she was released the next day, but the bullet is still lodged in her chest, prosecutors said.
Murphy’s attorney said he was in college studying culinary arts, and was set to start work at Amazon next week. He also had planned to join the Navy this past March, according to the attorney.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Trump grants clemency to former Gary boxer Charles ‘Duke’ Tanner imprisoned for drug crimes

Tanner ’ s arrest stunned those who knew him as a charming , church-going man many believed had the talent @ @ @ @ @ .
Tanner , who had no prior criminal record , told FBI agents after his @ @ @ @ @ nearly $ 700,000 worth of cocaine over the summer of 2004 in a series of @ @ @ @ @ became an FBI informant .

Ex-Gary boxer Charles "Duke" Tanner, second from right, was granted clemency for a drug sentence by President Donald Trump Wednesday. From left: State Sen. Eddie Melton, Tanner's son C.J., and manager Troy Bly. (provided by Troy Bly / HANDOUT)
An ex-Gary boxer serving a 30-year sentence on federal drug and conspiracy convictions was granted clemency Wednesday by President Donald Trump.
Charles “Duke” Tanner, 40, was released Wednesday from a Pennsylvania prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His original release date was Oct. 20, 2030. He had lobbied unsuccessfully for years to cut his drug sentence short.
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Tanner said Thursday he found out he was getting released after the prison’s 4 p.m. stand up count Wednesday. After his release, he was taken to a hotel room. Friends later picked him up.
Charles "Duke Got Next" Tanner, right, shown in undated family photo with his son, Charles Tanner III, left. (Troy Bly)
"They came to my cell and said, ‘We gotta take you.’ I said, ‘What’s going on?’ ‘You’re getting an immediate release,’” he said. “I got to say a prayer and praise God.”
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Tanner said he was asking a lawyer to petition for a compassionate release due to COVID-19, but the paperwork hadn’t been filed yet. State Sen. Eddie Melton, who knew him growing up, Tanner’s manager Troy Bly and his son C.J., now 18, and others were in the Philadelphia airport, according to a video on Bly’s Facebook page Thursday.
“Make sure that the President knows how grateful I am,” Tanner said in a phone interview. “If you go to my boxing career, the second, third fight (was at the Trump-owned casino) in Gary,” he said. “That’s the same guy giving me my clemency.”
For the time being, Tanner said he was headed to Indianapolis to be closer to his son. He wants to eventually get back in the ring.
“The boxing world needs to watch out, because I still got it,” he said.
When he was arrested, Tanner was an undefeated light heavyweight boxer from Gary who had been in a televised fight on ESPN. Then 24, he was one of the brightest talents to come through Gary’s storied Police Athletic League gym.
Tanner was accused of leading the Renegades, a local gang that trafficked thousands of pounds of crack cocaine and marijuana, and was convicted in 2006 of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine.
He was originally sentenced to life imprisonment, which was converted to a 30-year sentence. He had served 16 years of the sentence. The U.S. Sentencing Commission changed the amounts of crack cocaine needed for certain terms in 2014, and the change was applied retroactively to Tanner.
He tried for clemency during President Barack Obama’s administration, but that request was denied.
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Tanner’s arrest stunned those who knew him as a charming, church-going man many believed had the talent to become a world champion. Tanner, who had no prior criminal record, told FBI agents after his arrest that he had purchased nearly $700,000 worth of cocaine over the summer of 2004 in a series of deals with a supplier who became an FBI informant.
While in prison, Tanner took part in educational courses and completed hundreds of hours of educational programming. He was also part of an 18-month re-entry program that requires recommendation from staff and approval from the warden for participation.
Tanner and four others convicted of drug and financial crimes won presidential clemency, all of them cases that were pushed by prison reform advocate and Trump ally Alice Johnson.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday in a statement that Trump was granting the clemencies “in light of the decisions these individuals have made following their convictions to improve their lives and the lives of others while incarcerated.”
Trump has granted t pardons to 27 people and clemency to 16 others since taking office. Obama, whom Democrat Joe Biden served as vice president, granted pardons to 22 and clemency to one person during his first term in office, according Justice Department data.
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Johnson, in an interview, said that she spoke to White House officials about all five of the individual cases and others whose clemency she’s backing during a White House visit last month.
“I’m extremely thankful these clemencies were granted,” said Johnson, a Black woman whose life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense was commuted in 2018 by Trump.
Others receiving clemency are:
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Lenora Logan, who spent about 20 years in prison for her role in a cocaine conspiracy. During her time in prison, Logan served as a suicide watch companion, a nursing assistant for fellow prisoners in hospice care, and a leader of the praise and worship team. She was also credited with coming to the aid of a Bureau of Prisons nurse who was under assault by an unstable inmate, according to the White House.
Rashella Reed, a former Atlanta Public Schools teacher, who spent six years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering, for taking part in a public benefits fraud scheme. Reed used her teaching background to tutor inmates and advance children’s programs while incarcerated.
John Bolen, a small business owner who used his boat to transport cocaine from the Bahamas to Florida, was more than 13 years into a sentence of life imprisonment. The White House said Bolen was described by Bureau of Prison officials as a “model inmate.”
Curtis McDonald, 70, was a co-conspirator of Johnson’s in a Memphis drug ring. McDonald was about 24 years into a life prison sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering. McDonald maintained employment during his time incarcerated, and completed several education courses.
The Associated Press contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Will drive-thru COVID-19 testing survive the Chicago winter?

The hospital is also looking into potentially getting a trailer to keep staff warm , he said .
The site @ @ @ @ @ a week and does about 40 to 50 tests a day , he said .
@ @ @ @ @ doctors ' orders in advance or on-site .

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get much worse, here’s a new question to ponder: Will drive-thru COVID-19 testing still be offered when snow and arctic temperatures hit Chicago?
In short, the answer is yes and no.
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Some health systems, such as Advocate Aurora Health, plan to move COVID-19 testing in Illinois fully indoors for the winter. Others, such as Amita Health hospitals, Walgreens, CVS Health and NorthShore University HealthSystem, expect to keep testing people in their cars, even as Chicagoans pull out their parkas and ice scrapers.
One of the main purposes of drive-thru COVID-19 testing is to keep people who may have the illness isolated from others.
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“We’re going to be like the U.S. Postal Service,” said Robert Dahl, president and CEO of Amita Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago.
Patients can crank up the heat in their cars, but the trickier part will be making sure that those administering the tests stay warm.
Marshall Wade, left, and Lauren Berry conduct drive-thru COVID-19 testing at CrossWinds Church in Chicago on Oct. 20, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Saints Mary and Elizabeth hospital workers are stationed in a tent near where people drive up for testing. In colder weather, space heaters and/or heat lamps will likely be added to the tent. Protective gear will have to be large enough to fit warmer layers underneath, Dahl said.
“If you’ve ever been in the full personal protective equipment with the PAPR (power air-purifying respirator), it is so darn hot,” Dahl said. “This type of weather now feels comfortable, but 20 below, not so much.”
The hospital is also looking into potentially getting a trailer to keep staff warm, he said. The site provides drive-thru testing three days a week and does about 40 to 50 tests a day, he said. Patients can register and get doctors' orders in advance or on-site.
NorthShore and Walgreens also plan to add heaters to their outdoor drive-thru testing locations.
[ Walgreens lowers age for COVID-19 testing to children 3 and older ]
Walgreens and CVS also offer drive-thru COVID-19 testing at prescription pickup windows at some of their stores. Patients who use those windows administer their tests themselves, with guidance from pharmacy workers.
CVS has nearly 170 drive-thru testing locations in Illinois, and Walgreens has 36.
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Rush University System for Health has three drive-thru testing sites, and is evaluating how best to keep those open during the winter, spokesman Charlie Jolie said in an email.
Eleven drive-thru testing locations operated by the state will stay open this winter, with tents and heaters.
The Chicago Department of Public Health operates three drive-thru testing sites, as well as mobile units for drive-thru testing and is “looking into potential options for winterized sites,” spokeswoman Elena Ivanova said in an email.
lschencker@chicagotribune.com