chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Plea deal in the works for AJ Freund’s father, who is accused of murder in the death of the 5-year-o

Plea deal in the works for AJ Freund’s father, who is accused of murder in the death of the 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy

“ We ’ ve canvassed the neighborhood , ” Freund told the dispatcher .
“ I went to the local @ @ @ @ @ station where we sometimes take him to buy treats .
I spoke to the assistant @ @ @ @ @ school where the park is and they haven ’ t seen him or any other @ @ @

Andrew Freund is led into court for a trial status hearing Aug. 28, 2020, in Woodstock. (Matthew Apgar/Northwest Herald)
The father of slain Crystal Lake 5-year-old AJ Freund is in negotiations for a possible plea deal that would sidestep a trial, lawyers said during a brief Friday hearing in the case.
McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt set a tentative December trial date for Andrew Freund, 61, who is charged with murder in the boy’s death.
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But prosecutors and Freund’s lawyer, Henry Sugden, don’t think the case will reach trial stage.
“I believe we will be able to resolve this on Sept. 16,” McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Randi Freese told Wilbrandt.
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Sugden declined to offer details on the potential plea, and officials had not officially offered it as of Friday morning.
“I’m still in discussions with the state,” Sugden said.
If the plea deal fails, the trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 9 and last about three days, according to a pool report of Friday’s hearing from Shaw Media.
Freund appeared in court Friday unshackled, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and face mask. He is being held at the McHenry County Jail on $5 million bail.
Freund and AJ’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, 37, were charged with first-degree murder and several other felonies connected to their boy’s horrific death.
Freund and Cunningham forced AJ into a cold shower and beat him before putting him to bed naked, wet and cold the night of his April 15, 2019, death, prosecutors said.
Days later, the parents falsely reported AJ missing.
“We have a missing child,” Freund told the 911 dispatcher early April 18, 2019, speaking in a calm voice.
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In the nearly five-minute call, Freund said he and Cunningham last saw AJ about 9 p.m. when they put him to bed in his Mario sweatshirt and sweatpants. Freund said he realized AJ was missing after he went to wake the boy in the morning.
“We’ve canvassed the neighborhood,” Freund told the dispatcher. “I went to the local park, the local gas station where we sometimes take him to buy treats. I spoke to the assistant principal over there at the school where the park is and they haven’t seen him or any other child.”
Cunningham appeared on “Good Morning America” and posted a passionate plea for help on social media about her missing son. “I just want my kids,” she said on national television. “That’s all I have. That’s my life.”
Freund also made solemn public statements to reporters waiting night and day outside his home. “AJ, please come home,” he said, standing before TV cameras. “We love you very much.”
Six days after the 911 call, on April 24, AJ’s body was found wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave about 7 miles from his home near Woodstock. Authorities said information from both parents led them to the slain boy.
Cunningham pleaded guilty in December to an amended count of first-degree murder, and in July, Wilbrandt sentenced her to 35 years in prison.
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rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--More Catholic schools delay opening because of COVID-19 cases as teachers at other Chicago-area priv

More Catholic schools delay opening because of COVID-19 cases as teachers at other Chicago-area private schools resist in-person classes

Other nonreligious , independent private schools — some with more resources and fewer students than public schools — are also @ @ @ @ @ fall .
Some parents with the means to do so are eyeing these schools as @ @ @ @ @ children back into school buildings , and many parents whose children already attend private school @ @ @ @ @ re grateful to have the option .

Loyola Academy in Wilmette moved to remote learning for two weeks after six students tested positive for COVID-19, while 63 others were placed in quarantine. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
More Chicago-area Catholic schools have delayed the start of in-person classes because of positive cases of COVID-19 in their communities, as teachers at other private schools show resistance to returning for in-person classes.
St. Alexander School in Palos Heights had already begun the year in person when officials decided to suspend classes until Sept. 8, following at least one positive test for COVID-19, the Archdiocese of Chicago confirmed.
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St. Mary School in Riverside and Mary Seat of Wisdom in Park Ridge had not yet started classes when coronavirus cases prompted them to postpone their start dates to Sept. 8. St. Mary will offer virtual learning in the meantime.
Also, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, classes for kindergarten students were delayed after one teacher tested positive, said archdiocese spokesman Manuel Gonzales. The positive test came in before the start of classes, and the delay will only affect the kindergarten class as that team of teachers quarantines over the coming weeks.
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On Monday, Loyola Academy in Wilmette announced it would move to remote learning for two weeks after six students tested positive for COVID-19, while 63 others were placed in quarantine for issues related to exposure, travel or symptoms, officials said in a statement on the Loyola website.
Many archdiocesan and other private schools have started their 2020-21 school year, but some teachers and parents continue to raise concerns about the return to in-person classes. In the Chicago area, a much larger proportion of private schools are reopening compared with public schools, which have mostly reverted to remote learning.
A group of parents and teachers, calling themselves Arch Teachers for a Safe Return, continue to demand the archdiocese move all schools to remote learning to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Members of Arise Chicago and representatives from the Arch Teachers for Safe Return hold a news conference outside Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary to push for remote learning. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
“We believe that the archdiocese is putting people in danger,” the Rev. C.J. Hawking, of Arise Chicago, an interfaith workers’ rights group, said at a news conference earlier this month.
The archdiocese terminated the contract of a teacher from St. Francis Xavier in Wilmette after she refused to return for in-person classes.
Other nonreligious, independent private schools — some with more resources and fewer students than public schools — are also set to reopen for the fall. Some parents with the means to do so are eyeing these schools as an option to send their children back into school buildings, and many parents whose children already attend private school have also said they’re grateful to have the option.
But some educators at those schools area also hoping for an eleventh-hour reprieve from in-person classes.
Anonymously, teachers at several Chicago-area private schools — including the Latin School of Chicago, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Francis W. Parker and Lake Forest Country Day School — have signed onto a national statement calling for private schools to start the year online.
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Chicago Public Schools, which originally planned for a hybrid reopening in September, shifted remote for the first quarter after sustained opposition from parents and the Chicago Teachers Union. At most private schools, teachers are not unionized, with the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools being an exception.
One local private schoolteacher, an at-will employee who asked to remain anonymous, acknowledged her school has more resources than others to spend on safety precautions, but she does not believe those measures are enough.
“I’m fortunate that they have the income to spend on some PPE equipment and whatnot, so they’re taking a lot of steps,” she said. “But it’s not a guarantee that I won’t get sick.”
She said she would prefer to teach remotely because her husband has a heart condition. However, she’s afraid she’ll lose her job if she doesn’t teach in person or speaks out publicly.
“I am wholly devoted to my profession. I don’t see it as a job; I really believe this is something I was meant to do and born into,” she said. “So it’s very difficult to want to voice something without being scared about what the repercussions could be.”
Another Chicago-area teacher similarly asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her job. She said she used to value the freedom of working in a private school, where she felt she could be more creative with her teaching.
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“Once I got into the private, independent schools network, I thought this was for me,” she said. “There’s no restrictions with the union versus admin, and the professional development is amazing. But I’m now realizing in the pandemic that, without the protection of a union, our rights are stripped.”
She echoed concerns made by public schoolteachers weeks earlier: School reopening plans give parents the flexibility to choose what is safest for their children, while teachers are required to work unless they can prove they are high-risk.
“Families can opt out of in-person learning, zero questions asked. Teachers have been told to reach out to HR but are met with resistance as we request to teach from home, which we have been doing since March,” she said. “Are our lives expendable?”
chao@chicagotribune.com
ssherry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Elgin restaurant owner charged with fraudulently obtaining $176,000 PPP loan

On April 10 , Turasky applied for a PPP loan from an unidentified bank using falsified paperwork that made it @ @ @ @ @ was still open and operating , authorities said .
She also wrote on the loan @ @ @ @ @ necessary to support the “ ongoing operations ” of the business , including her monthly @ @ @ @ @ .

Gifford's Kitchen and Social restaurant in Elgin in 2018. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
The owner of an Elgin restaurant was charged in U.S. District Court with fraudulently obtaining a $176,000 paycheck protection loan meant to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic even though she’d abruptly closed the restaurant weeks earlier and terminated all her employees.
Melissa Turasky, 43, who ran Gifford’s Kitchen and Social restaurant, was charged with bank fraud in a two-count indictment made public Friday.
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Gifford's Kitchen and Social owner Melissa Turasky in 2018. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
According to the charges, the popular casual-dining spot in the 2300 block of Bushwood Drive was shuttered in early March — two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the state into lockdown — and Turasky was evicted from the property. By late March, Turasky had terminated all her employees, the indictment said.
On April 10, Turasky applied for a PPP loan from an unidentified bank using falsified paperwork that made it appear that Gifford’s was still open and operating, authorities said. She also wrote on the loan application that the money was necessary to support the “ongoing operations” of the business, including her monthly rent, the indictment stated.
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“Turasky knew at the time that Gifford’s had closed and had no ’ongoing operations,’” the indictment stated.
Based on the false information, the bank cut Turasky a check for $176,822 on May 1, according to the indictment. She then used some of the money to pay down a credit card.
Turasky’s attorney was not available for comment Friday.
Turasky was at least the second Chicago-area business owner to be charged with fraud related to the federal PPP loan program.
In June, Rahul Shah, 51, who owns the Evanston-based technology company N2N Holdings, was accused of falsifying paperwork in April seeking a $441,000 PPP loan. Shah’s case is pending.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Column: Meet the secret weapon for fighting the pandemic: Interior architects

In the future , experts speculate , office workers may do individual “ focused ” tasks at home while offices @ @ @ @ @ for meetings .
Such a move could dramatically lessen overall office building demand , hurting @ @ @ @ @ bottom lines .
But at this point , absent a vaccine that could eliminate the @ @ @ @ @ really knows what the office of the future is going to look like .

Social distancing signs mark the floor at Cushman & Wakefield global commercial real estate services, July 17, 2020, in Chicago. The company split 25% of its staff into two groups that alternate the days they work in the office for 30 days. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Almost exactly 40 years ago, I got my first job in architecture: Not as an underpaid draftsman for some Pritzker Prize-winning architect or as an editorial assistant at a glossy design magazine, but as a lowly office clerk for an interiors and architecture firm in San Francisco.
One of my duties was to feed drawings into the blueprint machine. Noxious fumes would emanate from the machine, making my nose wrinkle. After copies of the blueprints came out, I would roll them up and deliver them, on foot, to nearby offices. Such was the state of architectural technology, circa 1980.
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Yet my grunt work at the firm Whisler-Patri, and a later gig doing public relations for another San Francisco design firm, taught me a lesson that’s taking on fresh relevance as landlords and tenants scramble to remake offices in response to the coronavirus pandemic: Interior architecture matters.
What is interior architecture? In the world of office building design, it means taking blocks of raw interior space and planning the layout and design of everything from corridors and conference rooms to desks and stairs that connect floors. Architects tend to get the credit (or the blame) for building exteriors, but interior architects have enormous influence on whether an office feels capacious or crowded, mind-opening or mean-spirited.
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Now, COVID-19 has turned their world upside down.
Densely packed clusters of desks, once touted as enhancing opportunities for collaboration, are viewed as potential spots for the virus to spread. The same goes for other common spaces, like conference rooms, kitchens and “bleacher stairs” where office workers gather.
A social distancing sign marks a chair at Cushman & Wakefield global commercial real estate services, July 17, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
With millions of people working from home and many companies saying that remote work is here to stay, landlords are under intense pressure to retrofit, redesign and re-imagine their office properties. Otherwise, they’re going to lose tenants.
It’s a variation of the theme that has school officials separating desks to promote social-distancing in districts where students are returning for in-person education.
As a result, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, building managers and interior architects are thinking beyond obvious safety measures like plexiglass shields and social distancing circles stuck on the floor.
With coronavirus concerns putting a premium on the touchless experience, security turnstiles may be programmed to automatically direct elevators to an office worker’s floor. Companies may stagger work hours, ensuring that office floors are less than half full. As the Tribune’s Ryan Ori has revealed, air-handling equipment is being modified to kill germs that spread the virus.
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On the design side, companies with big interior architecture practices, like San Francisco-based Gensler, which has a large office in Chicago, are sketching flexible solutions that could work during and after the pandemic. One example: workstation clusters that can be reconfigured so people don’t face each other, lessening the possibility that an uncovered cough will spread germs.
In the future, experts speculate, office workers may do individual “focused” tasks at home while offices become flexible spaces mainly used for meetings. Such a move could dramatically lessen overall office building demand, hurting property values and landlords’ bottom lines. But at this point, absent a vaccine that could eliminate the coronavirus threat, no one really knows what the office of the future is going to look like.
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What is clear is that minor design changes are sure to greet you if and when you return to the office. More broadly, there is likely to be a new emphasis onhealth and wellness, just as a new emphasis on security followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Interior architects will be the ones shaping these changes. And their work won’t just be a matter of dollars and cents. It could be the difference between life and death.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Illinois exceeds 1.1 million mail-in ballot requests for November election, state may break previous

Illinois exceeds 1.1 million mail-in ballot requests for November election, state may break previous record

For people who have requested a mail-in ballot , they will be sent out starting Sept. 24 , which is @ @ @ @ @ early voting in Illinois .
Voters can request a mail-in ballot through Oct. 29 , @ @ @ @ @ apply earlier , preferably by Oct. 15 , to allow sufficient time to get a @ @ @ @ @ to send it back in .

Sorted mail-in ballots are shown at Chicago Election Board headquarters in 2018. The number of Illinois applications for the Nov. 3 general election indicate the state will break the record for voting by mail. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
More than 1.1 million Illinois voters have requested a mail-in ballot for the Nov. 3 general election following a new state law aimed at enhancing vote-by-mail efforts in response to concerns about COVID-19, state election officials said Friday.
The number of applications indicates the state will break its record for voting by mail set two years ago, when 430,000 votes or 9.3% of the total ballots were cast by mail, State Board of Elections officials said. In 2016, 370,000 votes or 6.5% of all ballots were through the mail.
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The 1.1 million figure cited by state elections officials includes 291,874 applications from Chicago, 188,941 from suburban Cook County, 116,031 from DuPage County, 72,489 from Kane County, 26,656 from Lake County, 37,526 from McHenry County and 82,238 from Will County.
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The increased figures for voters seeking mail-in ballots is attributed to a new state law that required the state’s 108 local election authorities to send applications to vote by mail to people who voted in the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal elections or this year’s March primary. About 6.4 million ballot applications were sent.
For people who have requested a mail-in ballot, they will be sent out starting Sept. 24, which is also the first day of early voting in Illinois. Voters can request a mail-in ballot through Oct. 29, but election officials recommend voters apply earlier, preferably by Oct. 15, to allow sufficient time to get a ballot out and allow voters to send it back in.
In addition, under the new law, voters also can place mail-in ballots in special drop-off boxes that local election officials are establishing as well as take their mail ballots to their local election officials’ offices.
With concerns about potential delays involving the U.S. Postal Service, voters who receive a mail-in ballot who want to use the mail are being encouraged to return them as soon as possible. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3, Election Day, and will be counted if received by Nov. 17.
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Twitter @rap30


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Former Northwestern University President Arnold Weber remembered for ‘brilliant leadership’

“ It was kind of an unusual step to go out to Colorado , but he was up for the @ @ @ @ @ skiing , ” Paul Weber , 61 , said of his father .
“ He @ @ @ @ @ he liked just experiencing a different part of the country and different people .
”

Former Northwestern University President Arnold Weber died Aug. 20at age 90 after being recently hospitalized for congestive lung failure.
Weber’s leadership as the 14th president of Northwestern University from 1985 to 1994 brought financial and academic success for the institution, according to a university news release. His tenure brought more investments and donations for the university’s research, putting Northwestern on “a path to national prominence,” it said. Weber lived his last years in the village of Northbrook, a Chicago suburb.
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Former Northwestern University President Arnold Weber. (Northwestern University)
“His brilliant leadership set the stage for everything good that has followed at Northwestern,” current Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said in the statement.
The former university president is survived by three sons and eight grandchildren. His wife, Edna, died before him. The couple met at the University of Illinois, when Weber was in graduate school.
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His sons remember briefly living in London and Switzerland growing up, traveling in Europe and going to the White House when Weber worked in U.S. government roles. Their father always answered phone calls, open to offers for new opportunities — advice he relayed to his children.
“It was an adventure,” said Dave Weber, 63, one of his sons.
Weber grew up in the Bronx, looking up to his father’s work as an electrician. He experienced the Great Depression and World War II, eventually joining the Coast Guard to serve on a ship in the Pacific during the Korean War.
Weber earned his bachelor’s degree in 1950 in economics from the University of Illinois, then a master’s degree there in industrial relations. He received a doctoral degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Weber joined the faculty of the University of Chicago’s graduate business program, teaching courses from 1958 to 1973. He also worked during the Nixon administration at the Office of Management and Budget, becoming a well-known economist.
He became dean of an industrial administration graduate program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He then was a provost and professor at the university until 1980. From 1976-79, Weber was a Department of the Treasury consultant for the government, eventually serving as a member of the Economic Advisory Committee from 1980-82.
Weber’s first experience as a university president was at University of Colorado from 1980-85. During that time, Weber was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as chairman of the Presidential Railroad Emergency Board.
The Weber Arch at Northwestern University campus in Evanston on July 21, 2020. It was constructed in Weber’s last presidential year and named for him. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“It was kind of an unusual step to go out to Colorado, but he was up for the challenge, and he liked skiing,” Paul Weber, 61, said of his father. “He liked the mountains, and he liked just experiencing a different part of the country and different people.”
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His experience catapulted him to Northwestern’s top position.
Howard Trienens, former chair of the board of trustees at Northwestern, said Weber “set the university on a steady path toward the international reputation it enjoys today as a research powerhouse.” He called the former president “a bearcat on budget.”
“He really loved the place,” Paul Weber said. “He liked the football, he liked the basketball games, while at the same time understanding that it was an academic institution.”
Weber continued involvement at Northwestern after his presidency, becoming chancellor in 1995, and then becoming president emeritus in 1998. His son Robert Weber, 56, graduated from Northwestern, followed by three of Weber’s grandchildren.
His community involvement ranged from leading a Chicago civic organization to directing an organization created by Congress. He also served as a trustee and on the board of directors for various other organizations. Weber worked on legislation to improve Illinois public schools.
He served on the board of directors for Tribune Co., the media company that then owned the Chicago Tribune and other news outlets.
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“Arnie Weber was a great man in government and education and as a corporate director,” said John Madigan, former CEO of Tribune Co. “He may be the smartest of all the directors I have served with in my time. And he was certainly the director with the most sense of humor.”
Weber’s achievements led him to receive awards, including the Order of Lincoln honor from the state, given to people who “have brought honor to the state whether by birth or residence.”
Throughout Weber’s career, he told his family that “he took his work very seriously, but he didn’t want to take himself too seriously,” Dave Weber said.
When asked for the basic rule of financial stability, Weber replied, “There’s no substitute for being stingy,” according to a book compiled by his colleagues at Northwestern that chronicled his wit.
Weber wrote books, monographs and articles on economic policy and other topics. His sons recall his customary trip upstairs after work, emerging for dinner after his writing time.
The family held a private service recently. When COVID-19 guidelines allow for safe gatherings, there will be a larger memorial service for Weber.


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Celebrate Women’s Restaurant Week with deals at women-owned Chicago restaurants

Participants include Mary Aregoni of Saigon Sisters , Deann Bayless of the Frontera Group , Christine Cikowski of Honey Butter @ @ @ @ @ of Pretty Cool Ice Cream , Diana Davila of Mi Tocaya Antojeria , Rohini Dey @ @ @ @ @ JBF trustee and Let ’ s Talk founder ) , Sophie Evanoff of Vanille Patisserie @ @ @ @ @ Paramount Group , Teresa Ging of Sugar Bliss Cakes , Mindy Gohr of Bittersweet , @ @ @ @ @ Beverly Kim of Parachute and Wherewithall , Jennifer Kim of Passerotto , Amy and Clodagh @ @ @ @ @ Catherine Gilmore Lawless of Gage Hospitality , Julia Momose of Kumiko , Carrie Nahabedian of @ @ @ @ @ Fat Cat Chicago , Mervet Nolte of Sizzles and Tigist Reda of Demera Chicago .

Participants include, clockwise from upper left corner, Diana Davila of Mi Tocaya, Rohini Dey of Vermillion, Beverly Kim of Parachute, Wherewithall, Julia Momose of Kumiko, Jennifer Kim of Passerotto and Carrie Nahabedian of Brindille. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune, Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune, Michelle Kanaar / for the Chicago Tribune, E. Jason Wmabsgans / Chicago Tribune)
There are still a few days left of Women’s Restaurant Week, which runs through Aug. 31 and aims to celebrate women-owned restaurants in Chicago both in the city and in its suburbs. Special deals for meals, products, delivery or pick-up are being offered by participating restaurants.
The event is hosted by the Chicago James Beard Foundation’s “Let’s Talk” Forum, made up of 17 Chicago-area women restaurateurs, and was born out of a Zoom call, said Sarah Stegner, owner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, in a press release.
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“It was smart to band together to face the COVID19 challenges, learn from each other and encourage customers to support our women-owned restaurants,” she said in a press release.
Stegner is offering pre-ordered meals to go that change every day, with a protein, plus produce from Nichols Farm & Orchard, Three Sisters Garden and Mick Klug Farm. Bar Sotano is offering special food and cocktails created by the women on staff for the garden pop-up, and Vermilion is offering a four-course Indian-Latin meal for $45 on its patio.
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Participants include Mary Aregoni of Saigon Sisters, Deann Bayless of the Frontera Group, Christine Cikowski of Honey Butter Fried Chicken, Dana Cree of Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Diana Davila of Mi Tocaya Antojeria, Rohini Dey of Vermilion (also a JBF trustee and Let’s Talk founder), Sophie Evanoff of Vanille Patisserie, Jodi Fyfe of the Paramount Group, Teresa Ging of Sugar Bliss Cakes, Mindy Gohr of Bittersweet, Sandra Holl of Floriole, Beverly Kim of Parachute and Wherewithall, Jennifer Kim of Passerotto, Amy and Clodagh Lawless of The Dearborn, Catherine Gilmore Lawless of Gage Hospitality, Julia Momose of Kumiko, Carrie Nahabedian of Brindille, Cy Oldham of Fat Cat Chicago, Mervet Nolte of Sizzles and Tigist Reda of Demera Chicago.
Visit choosechicago.com/event/womens-restaurant-week for more information.
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Watch live: Kenosha officials provide an update

Kenosha officials are expected to provide an update at 1 p.m. CDT .
Get the latest here .

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chicagotribune--2020-08-28--GOP nationally, in Illinois, look to President Trump’s law-and-order message to regain suburban foot

GOP nationally, in Illinois, look to President Trump’s law-and-order message to regain suburban foothold

“ I think it does have an effect when you live in the suburbs and you ’ re worried about @ @ @ @ @ Chicago , not peaceful protesting .
These are criminals and they ’ re tearing up @ @ @ @ @ and a lot of these suburbanites , they work in the city , they entertain @ @ @ @ @ there is a concern that this is going to reach out into the suburbs , @ @ @ @

Donald Trump Jr., from left, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump stand on the South Lawn of the White House on Aug. 27, 2020, the fourth day of the Republican National Convention. (Evan Vucci / AP)
From the White House to the Illinois statehouse, the overriding message from the Republican National Convention was one of law and order in a time of civil unrest spawned by racial injustice, and it’s squarely aimed at once-staunch GOP suburbs of Chicago that have moved steadily toward Democrats.
As the nation’s attention is focused on scenes of protests over police brutality that have turned violent, or led to looting in Chicago, Republicans see an opportunity to leverage public safety as an issue they hope will help them overcome some negative attitudes toward President Donald Trump in the suburbs. As the RNC played out, recent unrest in Kenosha, spawned by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, became an issue between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
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“It is going to be a central issue over the next 2½ months for us in seats in the collars and the suburbs, which we lost a few seats by just a fraction,” said Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs.
“I think it does have an effect when you live in the suburbs and you’re worried about looting and the rioting in Chicago, not peaceful protesting. These are criminals and they’re tearing up the city of Chicago, and a lot of these suburbanites, they work in the city, they entertain in the city, and there is a concern that this is going to reach out into the suburbs,” Durkin said.
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Suburban Salt Lake City in April 2019. President Donald Trump is hoping he can shore up support in America's suburbs by promising to protect them from the unrest and violence in cities led by Democrats. But many suburbanites and even GOP strategists say the president may be misreading the mood in areas critical to his reelection. (Rick Bowmer / AP)
In closing the convention on Thursday night by accepting the GOP nomination for a second term, Trump sought to hammer home a warning of lawlessness and anarchy spreading from the cities to the suburbs if Biden is elected this fall.
“If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms,” Trump said.
“If the radical left takes power, they will apply their disastrous policies to every city, town and suburb in America,” he said.
Other speakers over the four nights of the Republican convention raised the issue of rule of law, though Trump and his administration often have been accused of flouting that principle. Kellyanne Conway, the outgoing counselor to the president, told Fox News on Thursday that “the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.”
That prompted Biden to respond that Trump “refuses to even acknowledge there is a racial justice problem in America.” Instead, Biden said that Trump “adds fuel to every fire” and that “violence isn’t a problem in his eyes — it’s a political strategy, and the more of it, the better for him.”
Some convention speakers were even more specific in their targeting, including Patricia McCloskey, half of the white husband-and-wife couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in St. Louis this summer.
“They want to abolish the suburbs altogether,” she said, echoing Trump’s warning that Democrats want to bring affordable housing there. She contended that would “bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods.”
Mark and Patricia McCloskey stand in front their house in St. Louis as they confront protesters marching to Mayor Lyda Krewson's house on June 28, 2020. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)
“It couldn’t be more obviously racial,” Christopher Mooney said of McCloskey’s appeal, noting its subtext of warning of lower property values. Mooney, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, contended McCloskey was echoing the type of message that helped fuel white flight in the 1960s from Chicago to the suburbs.
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But the demographics of suburbia have changed since then, its population more diverse and educated, prompting Mooney to question, “Are these tactics going to continue to be effective 50 years later?”
Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of Peoria said the law-and-order message wasn’t “anything political” but a reaction to public concerns.
“People in Downstate and people in the suburbs I think are just appalled at the lawlessness and the looting and the anarchy that we’ve seen every night in Chicago and of course in Kenosha, now,” LaHood said. “Then you couple that with the fact that (Chicago Mayor) Lori Lightfoot refuses to have any cooperation with the feds, doesn’t call in the National Guard and has a really adversarial relationship with the police.”
Trump has repeatedly called out Democratic mayors and governors for failing to use National Guard assets to quell violence. National Guard members have been used in Kenosha in the aftermath of the shooting of Blake by a white police officer.
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But Lightfoot has rejected calls to bring in the National Guard, including from a handful of aldermen, saying that the troops are trained in military procedure and not in law enforcement. The Illinois Guard was called in by Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker after looting broke out in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody in May, but primarily for traffic control purposes during a shutdown of the city’s downtown.
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The law-and-order theme is particularly aimed at suburban women, a key voting demographic that tends to be socially moderate and has been a factor in the growing shift of the region from Republican to Democrat.
Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, a former state representative challenging first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove in the west and northwest suburban 6th Congressional District, contended the incidents in Kenosha showed the violence has moved beyond big cities.
“It’s not confined, the lawlessness, to big cities like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta. It’s in Kenosha, Wisconsin, literally right over the border from Illinois. And you know to just see people’s property torched as retribution for what people perceive to be an act that was not fair by policemen,” she said of Blake, who was shot several times in the back by a police officer and is now said to be paralyzed.
“I mean that needs to be sorted out in the courts, and I 100% agree that we need to look at every one of those cases. But the lawlessness is spreading out of Chicago into the 6th Congressional District, and people are scared and they’re worried and we’ve had armed home invasions and carjackings literally less than a mile from my house,” she said.
Activists march through the city of Kenosha on Aug. 26, 2020, following the shooting of Jacob Blake earlier in the week. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Recognizing the potential of the GOP messaging — Trump said it was a result of Democrats looking at the polling — both Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California, sought to clarify Thursday that they supported peaceful protest as a means toward social justice, not violence.
“While I have condemned all forms of violence — police violence, lawless violence and violence perpetrated by extreme right-wing groups — like the groups the 17-year-old just arrested in Illinois for murdering two people in Wisconsin is reputed to have been aligned with — Trump doesn’t speak out against those extreme right-wing groups,” Biden said.
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“If you’re worried about the violence you’re witnessing, you better be worried about the armed militias — often aligned with white supremacists and white nationalists and neo-Nazis and the KKK — who are often the source of the biggest trouble,” the former vice president said.
Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar said continued violent civil unrest could unravel the belief that races up and down the ballot would be a referendum on Trump.
“In the suburbs, that’ll be a place I would guess he would run poorly up there unless these riots keep going,” Edgar said. “That is the only thing I think at this point can change people’s minds. Most people I think have made up their minds unless that shakes a few suburbanites loose.”
rap30@aol.com
Twitter @rap30


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 20 new deaths, 2,149 new confirmed cases and 48,383 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 20 new deaths, 2,149 new confirmed cases and 48,383 new test results

Illinois announced 2,149 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday for a total of 229,483 .
The state also announced 20 @ @ @ @ @ of 7,997 and 48,383 new test results for a total of 3.92 million .

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


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--COVID-19’s true toll in Illinois is likely higher than reported. A closer look at ‘excess deaths’ in

COVID-19’s true toll in Illinois is likely higher than reported. A closer look at ‘excess deaths’ in 2020.

Researchers say some people already fighting chronic conditions may have contracted the virus , which then triggered deadly events — @ @ @ @ @ a heart issue getting sick with COVID-19 and then dying after a heart attack without @ @ @ @ @ may have placed the wrong bet on the likeliest way to stay alive when they @ @ @ @ @ fear of catching the virus .

The official COVID-19 death toll in Illinois may not account for at least 1,000 fatalities — and potentially far more — that could be attributable to the pandemic, according to a Tribune analysis of federal data.
Through July 25, Illinois had officially recorded 7,397 COVID-19 deaths. But public health experts say that for a fuller picture of the pandemic’s toll, it’s important to look at so-called excess deaths — or deaths beyond the number that would typically occur during a given time period.
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Examining excess deaths can help capture both COVID-19 cases that went uncounted and the greater numbers of deaths from conditions exacerbated by the pandemic, such as untreated heart attacks or fatal drug overdoses.
“There is an excess mortality, even though we’re doing our best to capture all these COVID-19 deaths,” said Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s chief medical examiner. “Just looking at the excess mortality after this pandemic ends is the only way we can get a true sense of the numbers of deaths due to COVID-19.”
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From Feb. 2 through July 25, Illinois had officially recorded 10,252 more deaths than typically would be expected, according to historical data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Helping explain much of that excess are the 7,397 COVID-19 deaths reported during that period. But that still leaves an additional 2,855 deaths beyond what is typical.
In essence, that’s 1 in 4 “excess” deaths in that period not explicitly labeled as being caused by COVID-19.
Some of these deaths likely were directly or indirectly caused by the pandemic despite not being recorded as such. That number might be as low as roughly 1,000 additional deaths, or it could be more than twice as many, according to different CDC estimates.
The Tribune, in its analysis of CDC data, found unusual rises in deaths labeled as flu/pneumonia in the early stages of the pandemic — as early as two weeks before Illinois logged its first official COVID-19 death. Health officials have said it could be easy to mistake COVID-19 for the flu or pneumonia, particularly when testing was scarce and knowledge of the virus limited.
Other possible contributing factors to the state’s overall higher death toll: larger-than-normal numbers of deaths blamed on heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and stroke. Add to that the more publicized jumps in homicides, suicides and fatal drug overdoses in communities that the virus has also hit hard.
Researchers say some people already fighting chronic conditions may have contracted the virus, which then triggered deadly events — for example, someone with a heart issue getting sick with COVID-19 and then dying after a heart attack without ever being tested. Others may have placed the wrong bet on the likeliest way to stay alive when they avoided crucial medical care for fear of catching the virus.
Regardless, the data shows the toll has fallen heavily on nonwhite residents. In early May, for example, Hispanic residents of Illinois saw three times as many deaths as has been typical for that period — with most, but not all, of those extra deaths blamed on COVID-19.
A lot remains unknown about this year’s deaths because the federal data isn’t up to date or complete. Still, researchers say there’s enough to get a better idea of the pandemic’s toll. Here’s what we can tell from the latest data:
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The COVID-19 spike
First, the effect of the pandemic on deaths in the state is undeniable. Far more people have died this year than is typical.
The simplest way to calculate the number of excess deaths in a given week is to average the deaths that occurred in past years, then compare that figure with the number of deaths during the same week this year. Any deaths above the average are considered excess deaths.
But even in nonpandemic times, death figures fluctuate from week to week and year to year. So the CDC also uses a statistical model to calculate the number that a spike in deaths would have to hit to be considered significantly higher than the average for that week.
By the first measure, Illinois saw 10,252 more deaths than usual from Feb. 2 through July 25. Of those deaths, 7,490 were part of weekly numbers so high they were considered to be statistically significant.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
It would be easy to assume that COVID-19 was responsible for nearly all the excess deaths. After all, the conservative estimate of total excess deaths — 7,490 through July 25 — is pretty close to the 7,397 COVID-19 deaths reported by the state as of that date.
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But the truth is likely a bit more complicated, partly because states can be late in supplying the CDC with death data and partly because some weeks saw numbers that exceeded the known COVID-19 deaths.
After trying to account for those factors, the CDC estimates that 3,569 excess deaths occurred in Illinois from February through July that were not labeled as COVID-19. Of those, 1,057 were part of weekly spikes big enough to be considered statistically significant.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
Missing COVID-19 deaths?
So if some excess deaths were not labeled as COVID-19, what types of deaths are they?
With people near death often fighting a variety of ailments, it’s not always easy to determine the underlying cause that triggers the chain of events leading to a death. Health experts said a new virus only complicated things, likely leading to some mislabeling.
As an example, researchers point to deaths that doctors said were triggered by seasonal influenza or pneumonia, which share symptoms with COVID-19.
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In the first week in March, 92 Illinois deaths were attributed to the flu or pneumonia, up from an average of 55 in that week from 2014 through 2019. That’s a week before the state or Cook County issued disaster declarations and up to two weeks before Illinois recorded its first official COVID-19 death, of a retired Chicago nurse.
Back then, there was little testing available and limited knowledge of the virus as it began taking hold in the Chicago area. Few doctors were sending potential COVID-19 cases to the medical examiner’s office for review until mid-March.
But as time went on, “people became more aware. There was more testing done at the hospitals. And we started getting more cases,” Arunkumar said.
Even as awareness grew, the state continued to see more deaths from the flu or pneumonia than is typical. Through the end of March there were 125 more deaths than usual, the vast majority in weekly numbers so large they could not be easily explained as statistical quirks.
Through early May, when flu and pneumonia deaths began tracking closer to average, the number of above-average flu/ pneumonia deaths topped 200.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
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Daniel Weinberger, an epidemiologist at Yale University who has studied excess deaths, noted that the increase in deaths from infectious respiratory diseases — including COVID-19 — occurred even though the recent flu season was relatively mild and the pandemic lockdown likely limited the spread of infectious disease in general.
Deaths from other diseases
Though most of 2020′s excess deaths in Illinois were caused by COVID-19, there have also been higher-than-normal numbers of deaths attributed to other underlying conditions.
Conditions with significantly higher numbers of deaths than usual include Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, heart disease and cerebrovascular problems that affect blood flow to the brain, such as strokes, each rising above average at slightly different times during the pandemic:
(Jemal R. Brinson)
(Jemal R. Brinson)
(Jemal R. Brinson)
(Jemal R. Brinson)
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Experts say some of these deaths also may be undiagnosed COVID-19 cases.
Weinberger of Yale said he thinks that could explain most of the rise in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease, particularly for patients suffering from the disease in nursing homes early in the pandemic.
The Cook County medical examiner diagnosed COVID-19 in roughly 80 people with Alzheimer’s disease who died, and those deaths were coded as COVID-19 cases. But more COVID-19 deaths among Alzheimer’s patients may have been missed if the infection went undiagnosed, particularly for patients who may have struggled to understand or communicate symptoms.
For other conditions, the reasons for the increase are murkier. It could be that undiagnosed coronavirus infections triggered the worst of other diseases. It could be that patients without COVID-19 were afraid to venture out to seek important treatment. Most likely, experts said, it’s a combination of factors that’s hard to untangle.
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Consider the state’s No. 1 killer: heart disease.
Dr. C. Michael Gibson, a Harvard University cardiologist, said the new coronavirus inflames blood vessels and can cause clots, while producing a fever that puts more stress on the heart, all of which can further damage the heart muscle. Some deaths attributed to heart attacks might actually have been triggered by a COVID-19 infection, he said.
At the same time, people with heart issues may have been leery of venturing out and catching the virus. Studies show emergency room visits plunging early in the pandemic, with potentially fatal consequences for people having a heart attack.
“We think people are riding them out at home, and that’s not a good idea,” Gibson said. “And when people do come in, they come in very late, a day or two later, and at that point, the horse is out of the barn.”
Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran, who chairs the University of Chicago Medicine’s neurology department, said there’s some evidence the new coronavirus can spur strokes. But he said he believes the jump in stroke deaths is more likely because hospital visits by stroke patients dropped steeply during the height of the pandemic, suggesting that many simply stayed home. That’s a dangerous gamble for a condition whose symptoms often seem mild at first.
“People might be on the fence about it. You might say, ‘Well, maybe it’ll go away. Maybe it’s not worth the exposure to COVID. Maybe I can just sit it out.’ And those kinds of patients could worsen at home,” he said.
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Doctors told the Tribune they believe testing has advanced enough to correctly label nearly every death of someone carrying the virus. They also said they hope the message is getting through to people with chronic conditions that it’s important to continue to seek help as they did before the pandemic.
“There’s a lot of confusion and a lot of fear about whether the hospital is a safe place,” Prabhakaran said. “Most of my patients who ask, I just tell them, ‘Well, actually the hospital is probably a safer place to go than the grocery store, in terms of what we do to protect you to getting exposed to COVID.’”
What else do the numbers show?
Another key finding in the number of excess deaths: a stark racial and ethnic divide.
While non-Hispanic white Illinoisans saw weekly deaths rise as high as 32% above the averages seen in recent years, Black residents in early April saw roughly 100% more deaths than normal. In early May, Hispanic deaths rose by more than 200% above the average, and Asian residents’ deaths spiked nearly as high then too.
(Jemal R. Brinson)
The divide is evident even when looking at deaths not directly blamed on COVID-19. Weekly deaths of Asian residents were up to 73% higher than average, even without the fatalities attributed to the virus. For Black and Hispanic people, weekly tallies of nonvirus deaths peaked at 52% and 44% higher than average, respectively. For non-Hispanic white residents, the weekly peak of nonvirus deaths was 11% higher than the norm.
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(Jemal R. Brinson)
Another way to look at it is to take the first week in May, amid a particularly deadly stretch of the pandemic. That week in Illinois:
*1,915 non-Hispanic white residents died, with 1,579 not blamed on COVID-19, which is still above the average in past years of 1,461 deaths that week.
*587 Black residents died, with 388 not blamed on COVID-19, still above the average of 310.
*329 Hispanic residents died, with 127 not blamed on COVID-19, still above the average of 102.
*106 Asian residents died, with 64 not blamed on COVID-19, still above the average of 41.
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These findings track with how the virus took hold initially in the Chicago area, where it penetrated economically disadvantaged communities facing more health challenges, and with some groups more likely to work essential jobs that can put them and their families in harm’s way.
Some of the excess deaths could be partly explained by other troubling trends. For one, fatal opioid overdoses in Cook County are on track to double from the previous year. While some tests are pending, officials expect to have logged roughly 1,200 such deaths through early July, compared with 605 over the same period last year.
Chicago homicides also hit 433 deaths in the first seven months of 2020, fueled by a July that saw more killings than any month since 1992. And at least 58 Black residents have died by suicide so far in 2020, more than in all of 2019.
Last month, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle blamed the boost in overdoses and homicides on “desperation and hopelessness” in communities suffering “centuries — centuries — of racial inequity.” After a report by The Trace revealed the increase in Black suicides, she said it was “not surprising the communities that have suffered the most are the ones who also have the least.”
Researchers caution that much still remains unknown about the pandemic’s true death toll. It could take months, perhaps years, to piece together not only how many more people died, but also why.
“Until we get finalized death certificates, it’s going to be difficult to say what’s going on with some of these categories,” Weinberger said.
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jmahr@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Column: The RNC’s message: Biden’s America will look like Trump’s America, so ... don’t elect Biden?

There ’ s another part of Trump ’ s 2016 acceptance speech that attempts to paints Biden — who is @ @ @ @ @ to blame for all terrible things happening now — in a bad light : “ @ @ @ @ @ government is to defend the lives of its own citizens .
Any government that fails @ @ @ @ @ government unworthy to lead .
”

President Donald Trump reacts Aug. 27, 2020, as he stands with his family members after delivering his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and members of the political party he has transformed into a cult spent much of the Republican National Convention violating the laws of time and fiercely criticizing the current administration of Joe Biden.
“Hold on,” you say. “Biden isn’t president, Trump is.”
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Let me help you out. Trump’s main campaign argument is this: “You see all this horrible stuff going on right now? If you elect Joe Biden, the horrible things happening in America right now will happen.”
Granted, people who grasp concepts like chronology and object permanence will struggle with the logic behind that argument. It sounds like Trump and his groupies are saying the country is a mess right now, but that mess isn’t Trump’s fault, it’s the fault of Biden if he wins the election three months from now.
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Gosh, this isn’t getting any easier to explain.
Let me just show you an excerpt from Trump’s speech accepting the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention:
“Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police and the terrorism in our cities threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.
“Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally; some have even been its victims.
“I have a message for all of you: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th, 2017, safety will be restored.”
OK, I’m guessing the “January 20th, 2017,” bit might have thrown you for a loop. That because I forgot to mention the excerpt is from Trump’s RNC acceptance speech in 2016, not from the speech he gave Thursday night on the White House lawn.
What’s funny is that all the stuff he said in 2016, shortly before he got the job of president, is effectively the same stuff he’s saying now, in 2020, after four years on the job.
Another thing he said in that 2016 speech was this: “I alone can fix it.”
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Apparently Trump has not fixed it. Because, according to present-day Trump and a parade of others at the 2020 convention, there are still “images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities.”
The only difference is that in 2016, the violence and chaos was President Barack Obama’s fault, and in 2020 the violence and chaos is the fault of Joe Biden, assuming he becomes president.
Make sense?
There’s another part of Trump’s 2016 acceptance speech that attempts to paints Biden — who is not yet president but is to blame for all terrible things happening now — in a bad light: “The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.”
So, to clarify, defending the lives of citizens is the “most basic duty of government,” and any government that fails to do so is “unworthy to lead.”
That’s why Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the loss of more than 180,000 American lives makes him unworthy to lead. As a person who in three months could become president, Biden has proactively failed in his most basic duty as president right now.
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Shame on him.
It’s also disgraceful that Biden has demolished the norms of presidential power and used the White House — the people’s house! — as a backdrop for his reelection campaign. Many people accused Trump of doing that Thursday night, simply because that’s exactly what he did.
But those people are wrong. If we elect Biden as president, he will be the one who demolishes the norms of presidential power and uses the White House — the people’s house! — as a backdrop for his reelection campaign. You can bank on it.
He’ll also have a wife who slaps his hand away every time he tries to hold it and have an inordinate number of associates end up in prison.
So to be clear, President Trump’s straightforward reelection message to voters is this: America, if Joe Biden is elected, will be exactly the kind of crime-ridden cesspool America is right now thanks to the current administration of Joe Biden.
Any questions?
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--As the need for food aid soars, small Chicago grassroots efforts are stepping up. ‘When it was a dif

As the need for food aid soars, small Chicago grassroots efforts are stepping up. ‘When it was a difficult moment, we made a difference.’

Javier Haro , who normally runs a culinary training program , in late April launched a initiative called CocinaRx to @ @ @ @ @ meals to people in need .
He initially paid for the project out of his @ @ @ @ @ has $ 141,000 in funding , including a grant from the Chicago Region Food System @ @ @ @ @ to provide 20,000 more meals by the end of the year through community partners in @ @ @ @ @ , Pilsen , Back of the Yards , Humboldt Park and Belmont Cragin .
He @ @ @ @ @ service and has added a registered dietician to help develop nutritious recipes , furthering his @ @ @ @ @ .

A year ago, Kimberly Britt was nearing the end of a long prison sentence and thinking she’d pursue a career as a hairstylist.
She never imagined she would be running a business, ChiFresh Kitchen, that is helping to feed an unprecedented wave of people struggling to put food on the table as a result of the pandemic.
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ChiFresh Kitchen, run by five formerly incarcerated Chicagoans, is among dozens of small grassroots initiatives that have stepped up to tackle surging food insecurity. The efforts are marshaling people and resources that sometimes go overlooked, with a spirit of collaboration and long-term vision that seeks to leave battered communities stronger than they were before.
Daniel McWilliams, from left, Sarah Stadtfeld and Edrinna Bryant prepare 100 quesadilla meals Aug. 4, 2020, at ChiFresh Kitchen inside The Hatchery in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
At a kitchen in The Hatchery, an incubator for food startups in East Garfield Park, ChiFresh Kitchen’s founding members cook and package meals and deliver them to community groups that then distribute the food to neighbors in need. Since mid-May, ChiFresh Kitchen has provided more than 16,000 meals, cooked with produce from local urban farms, and there is a waiting list for its services.
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“It’s my motivation to get up in the morning,” said Britt, who was released from prison last September after serving 22 years on a first-degree murder conviction, and now lives in a transitional home on Chicago’s West Side.
“I just know when it was a difficult moment, we made a difference.”
Food insecurity, when people don’t have enough money to buy the food they need to live a healthy life, is projected to affect a record 54 million in the U.S. this year, up from 37 million pre-pandemic, according to the hunger-relief nonprofit Feeding America and Craig Gundersen, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Some fear the need could increase if government assistance fails to come through for those who continue to be out of work because of COVID-19.
Normally, about 10% of Cook County’s population copes with food insecurity. As a result of the pandemic it is projected to affect 15% of residents — and 20% of children.
There is vast disparity by race. Among Chicago ZIP codes, the 10 with the highest rates of food insecurity are in neighborhoods that are more than 90% black, according to Gundersen’s analysis. In ZIP code 60621, which is in Englewood, researchers project food insecurity this year to reach 41%.
Families have been leaning heavily on charity for help. Nearly 470,000 people in Cook County visited food pantries in July, more than double the 205,000 who did so in January, according to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The food bank distributed 93 million pounds of food during the fiscal year that ended June 30, by far the most in its 41-year history.
Kimberly Britt, co-founder of ChiFresh Kitchen, drops off freshly prepared quesadilla meals Aug. 4, 2020, to the Peace House in Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The demand would likely have been greater had the government not offered enhanced unemployment benefits and other forms of relief, anti-hunger experts said. Now much of that aid has expired, or is due to expire to soon, without a deal in Congress on a new stimulus package.
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Meanwhile, a $3 billion government program that provided charities with boxes of fresh food from U.S. farmers is set to run out of funds in October, threatening to hurt supply.
Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, worries that without those programs, the emergency food system may not be able to meet the need.
“I am so deeply concerned about what is in front of us,” Maehr said. “I feel like we’re in a battle and we’re fighting tooth and nail on the front lines and no one is coming up from behind to support us in this effort.”
Reinforcements from neighborhoods throughout Chicago have emerged to join the fight.
Community groups have added food distribution to their regular social services, while food businesses are using their kitchens to cook for charity. Some are employing people who might otherwise struggle to find job opportunities, addressing multiple challenges at once. Many are planning for the food initiatives to be permanent.
In Little Village, New Life Community Church has partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to turn a food distribution that before the health crisis served 100 families a week into a robust operation serving 6,000 families per week.
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Since early May, it has fed 69,000 households, or 290,000 people, with 4.6 million pounds of food, said Matt DeMateo, executive director of New Life Centers, which offers mentoring, sports and other programs for youth who might otherwise spend time on the streets.
The church plans to buy the corner store across the street to turn it into a permanent full-time food pantry serving the South and West sides, and is in the process of securing $500,000 to build it out, DeMateo said.
Alex Ramon, 18, center, helps load food boxes into a car July 2, 2020, at New Life Centers in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The purpose is not only to feed people but also to build community, he said. Youth from the church programs are being employed to run the food pantry, loading food boxes into an endless line of waiting cars that stretches down the block.
“They have become part of the solution,” DeMateo said. “When people are given space to do something positive they will rise up to it.”
While the need has lightened in some parts of the city as the economy adds back jobs, it has continued to worsen in others, including Little Village, DeMateo said. Every day, he said, the pantry runs out of food.
The neighborhood of predominantly Mexican immigrants has been vulnerable because it has many single-income households, people employed in the hospitality industry, and families in the country without authorization that are not eligible for unemployment benefits or government food aid. It also was ravaged by COVID-19 infections.
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Hugo Casados, 46, worked in construction before the pandemic hit, and has yet to be called back. The breadwinner of his household, he has found a job as a restaurant dishwasher on the weekends, and has taken odd jobs to try to chip away at the rent, but it isn’t enough.
“Without this, my family couldn’t eat,” he said in Spanish as he picked up boxes of food at New Life, with his 6-year-old son, Einar, at his side.
The disproportionate impact of food insecurity on families with children is distressing to anti-hunger experts, who worry about the long-term consequences.
An emergency program through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has helped relieve the pressure by offering extra food benefits to families that depended on schools to provide free or reduced-price meals for their kids. But it is set to expire at the end of September.
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Though food charities have absorbed much of the need, it’s unsustainable without government help, said economist Diane Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. SNAP, which allows people to buy groceries at retailers, feeds eight people for every 1 person fed by a food bank.
In Illinois, more than 2 million people were registered for SNAP in July, up from 1.7 million in February.
Changes that allowed SNAP recipients to purchase groceries online, and receive the maximum allotment regardless of income, have helped during the pandemic. But anti-hunger advocates are pushing the government to increase the amount of benefits people can receive, temporarily, by 15%. During the Great Recession, that change boosted the economy because people had more money to spend at the grocery store, Schanzenbach said.
“It just boggles the mind that they haven’t adopted that because there is evidence it was successful last time,” she said. “We do know what to do, we’ve got the tools, we just need to implement them.”
Some community organizations that suddenly found themselves on the front lines of hunger relief are wondering how sustainable it is for them to provide food to families.
I Grow Chicago, a nonprofit that usually hosts healing circles, yoga and other wellness events at its colorful “Peace Campus” in West Englewood, during the pandemic has been delivering food to 250 nearby families, twice weekly. It has also distributed more than 5,000 care packages since March. The staff is exhausted and the group is seeing some donor fatigue, said Andrew Longwell, impact coordinator.
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Longwell said the nonprofit is considering limiting food deliveries to people with disabilities and the elderly.
The need has been high, Longwell said. Many people in the neighborhood have not received unemployment insurance benefits because they didn’t have the computer access they needed to file for it.
Shameika Walton, 34, has been getting food from the Peace House during the pandemic because her four children — 16, 12, 8 and 4 — used to get their midday meals at school.
“That’s a lot of mouths to feed all day,” said Walton, as her 8-year-old daughter ran around at I Grow Chicago’s summer camp.
ChiFresh Kitchen members drop off the quesadilla meals Aug. 4, 2020, to the Peace House in the West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
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Many of the people inspired to feed their communities had no prior charity experience.
Javier Haro, who normally runs a culinary training program, in late April launched a initiative called CocinaRx to provide healthy, mostly plant-based meals to people in need. He initially paid for the project out of his own pocket, but now has $141,000 in funding, including a grant from the Chicago Region Food System Fund that will allow him to provide 20,000 more meals by the end of the year through community partners in Little Village, North Lawndale, Pilsen, Back of the Yards, Humboldt Park and Belmont Cragin. He is launching a home delivery service and has added a registered dietician to help develop nutritious recipes, furthering his mission of food as medicine.
Haro plans to operate CocinaRx long-term to tackle the chronic health issues that will continue after the pandemic. He hopes to add cooking demonstrations and virtual food coaching, and is considering selling some meals to the general public to bring in revenue.
“I’m optimistic that we can find a way to keep it going,” Haro said.
Funding small ventures, many of which have never sought grants before, was the goal of the Chicago Region Food System Fund, which aims to bolster local food systems in marginalized communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
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As of mid-August, the $5.7 million emergency fund had awarded 55 grants totaling $2.6 million, many to tiny, informal organizations that “see their neighbors hurting and go out and do something about it,” said Karen Lehman, director of Fresh Taste, a group of foundations that focuses on food initiatives.
One $100,000 grant went to the Brave Space Alliance, a Hyde Park nonprofit focused on helping Black transgender people sign up for government assistance and housing. The group, founded in 2017, added a crisis food pantry in March when it realized its clients couldn’t get bare essentials. Now it is raising money to expand its space and make the food pantry permanent.
Brave Space delivers 200 bags of groceries per week and has served 30,000 homes, plus allows people to pick up from its pantry, said Zahara Bassett, director of development and external relations. Many recipients haven’t needed help before, and are outside of the group’s target demographic.
“We have a lot of women who are coming in looking for diapers, baby foods,” Bassett said. “We are seeing a lot of moms who are homeless and are in dire need during this pandemic.”
Brittney Thomas, director of programs at the Brave Space Alliance, a nonprofit based in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, is seen Aug. 27, 2020, in the organization's food pantry. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
The hunger relief work has nourished not only the people receiving the food, but those providing it.
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At ChiFresh Kitchen, Daniel McWilliams, 28, said the group is passionate and fun and he likes having a leadership role.
“Growing up I wanted to be part of something,” said McWilliams, who was released from prison in November after serving 28 months on a gun conviction. “This has given me the strength and also the hope in showing me I do have potential and I can give myself a chance.”
ChiFresh Kitchen was created to give economic independence to formerly incarcerated individuals, whose criminal records make it difficult to land jobs, said Camille Kerr, who owns a workplace democracy consultancy and spearheaded the effort to form the company last year. The worker-owners serve on the company’s board, shape its direction and share in its profits.
Originally conceived as a meal preparation business serving charter schools and other institutions, it hopes to double in size, to 10 worker-owners, within the next 18 months as it secures more contracts, Kerr said.
While soaring food insecurity has been a devastating consequence of the pandemic, it has also revealed the power and resilience of local communities to confront challenges together, said New Life’s DeMateo.
“When the need is the greatest, we could crumble or rise to meet the need,” DeMateo said. “Across our city people have risen to meet the need and it has blown me away.”
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aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Column: ‘America, America, God sheds His grace on me’: A convention TrumPoem

This is the latest in my occasional series of TrumPoems chronicling the presidency of Donald Trump , based , as @ @ @ @ @ words and actions .

President Donald Trump walks to the stage after Vice President Mike Pence delivered a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention at Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore on Aug. 26, 2020. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
This is the latest in my occasional series of TrumPoems chronicling the presidency of Donald Trump, based, as always, on his own words and actions.
AMERICA, AMERICA
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A hurricane named Laura
Roared its way across a coast
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While fires in California
Turned the Golden State to toast
And somewhere in Wisconsin
There were looters wild with rage
Thank God I own the White House —
What a grand convention stage.
.
Some said it wasn’t proper
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For my personal campaign
To set up in the White House
For my presidential gain
But I am the Houdini of
All presidential norms
A master at escaping
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From the old routines and forms.
.
The Democrats’ convention
Was a boring show online
They propped up Sleepy Biden
While they did their dance and whine
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Their vision of our country
It was very, let’s say, black
But I am here with light and cheer:
Let’s take our nation back!
.
Joe Biden’s an extremist!
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He’d abolish the police!
He’s also lost his marbles,
And he’s slimier than grease
He’d never ace a mem’ry test,
But me, you bet I can:
Person, woman, camera,
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TV, TV, TV, man!
.
I’m peddling law and order
So the suburbs can stay free
(Unless the law in question might,
You know, apply to me).
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That GOP-led panel that
Implied my Russian ties?
Forget the last election,
That report was full of lies.
.
America, America,
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I feel your daily pain
From anarchy in Portland to
Chicago’s bloody stain
I’ll bring this country’s mayhem
To a quick and brutal halt
And all of it, remember,
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Is Obama’s party’s fault.
.
The cancel cult is running wild!
They’ll take away your speech!
They’ll steal your children’s future
And they’ll tell you what to teach!
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Our suburbs are in danger
From the loony tunes with arms!
Their rifles and their handguns
Are creating evil harms!
.
No, not that nice white couple
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Who aimed guns at BLM —
They spoke at my convention
And their warning, it was grim.
They spoke about the protests
That have terrorized our land
That’s why they grabbed their weapons
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And they took a moral stand!
.
I love these fearful voters,
They’re the kind who think I’m great
They want me as their sheriff
Just like Dick in ’68.
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They’re terrified of Democrats
(They much prefer my con)
And some of them are special fans
Who follow QAnon.
.
They think that I can save them
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From the devil Democrats
From pedophiles and cannibals
From Satan’s lib’rl rats.
I don’t know much about them,
But they love me like a king
And so I’ve gotta love them back —
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The votes that they can bring!
.
America, America,
A great convention week!
You heard it from Americans
Who went onstage to speak
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You heard it from my children
And you heard it from Mike Pence
You heard it from my aide who put
The virus in past tense.
.
The virus came from China
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And we handled it just right
We saved a million lives at least
We won that foreign fight.
You say that deaths keep rising?
Well, I say it’s gone away
Statistics can be liars,
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And that’s all I have to say.
.
For one week I loved immigrants!
The good ones can be great!
I gave a special pardon to
A Black man — see, no hate!
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And women, too, they praised me,
They’re the kind of gals I like
Respectful of the manly men,
The ones like me and Mike.
.
Suburban housewives love me,
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Or at least I’ve heard it said
Unlike the nasty women who
Let fame go to their head
The ones like Whozit Harris,
She’s so angry and so mean
She may not be American
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Yet prances like a queen.
.
And now my week is over
An election’s coming near
I’m not afraid of losing but
There’s one thing you should fear
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The only way I’d lose is with
A postal system fail
And that is why you should be scared
To cast your vote by mail.
.
And in conclusion …
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.
My party’s got no platform
And I haven’t built that wall
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
My sister trashed me in some tape
And yet I still stand tall.
America, America,
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God sheds His grace on me
For once again I’ve been declared
My party’s nominee.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Several hundred people march in Evanston for Jacob Blake: ‘I had to do something’

Jacob Blake lived in Evanston for years and attended Evanston Township High School .
He is part of a family @ @ @ @ @ community .
His grandfather , also named Jacob Blake , was a pastor at the @ @ @ @ @ Evanston and was active in the civil rights movement and a push for affordable housing @ @ @

Activists march through Evanston on Aug. 27, 2020, to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot a few days earlier by Kenosha police. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
A few hundred people marched through downtown Evanston Thursday evening to call attention to the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha.
The crowd began gathering around 6:30 p.m. for a demonstration that saw marchers carrying signs and chanting as they made their way peacefully through the streets.
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A marcher with a megaphone called out “Jacob Blake Matters” and the crowd repeated the phrase. They eventually ended at the Evanston Police Department, where organizers made remarks and called for the defunding of police.
Danielle Bridges grew up in Evanston and now lives in Chicago. She said she felt personally compelled to attend the evening’s march.
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“I can’t sit at home and ponder on this, I had to do something,” Bridges said. “I had to be out with people and understand what’s going on, and commune with them and make our voices heard.”
The event was peaceful and police officers were on hand to close local streets for marchers, according to a tweet from Evanston police. It was drawing to a close by 8 p.m.
Jacob Blake lived in Evanston for years and attended Evanston Township High School. He is part of a family with deep ties to the community. His grandfather, also named Jacob Blake, was a pastor at the historic Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston and was active in the civil rights movement and a push for affordable housing in town.
Blake was shot by a police officer in Kenosha Sunday night. Cellphone footage shared widely online appears to show an officer firing several shots at Blake, who is Black, while he was facing away from the officer.
Thursday’s march comes after a rally and march was held Tuesday evening in Evanston near Jacob Blake Manor, an affordable senior living facility that was named in honor of Blake’s late grandfather.
Blake’s shooting has sparked nationwide demonstrations. In Kenosha, they have sometimes turned violent.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, on Thursday was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and a number of other charges after shootings in Kenosha where two people died and another was wounded Tuesday night.
An outdoor “service of lament” is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, at Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston, where Blake’s grandfather was a pastor. The 2 p.m. service will be held outdoors on the church grounds, 1109 Emerson St.
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Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter.


chicagotribune--2020-08-28--River Forest police investigating armed carjacking incident, suspicious ‘bump-and-run’ activity

In the first incident , two men driving a white Kia with no license plates struck a car from behind @ @ @ @ @ of the car it had just struck , police said .
In the second incident @ @ @ @ @ silver Hyundai hit a driver from behind , police said .

River Forest police are searching for this man who was involved in an armed carjacking the morning of Aug. 25 at Shell gas station at 7201 North Ave. (River Forest Police Department)
Police in River Forest are looking for a man involved in an armed carjacking at a village gas station, while also asking residents to be on the lookout for possible bump-and-run opportunists.
At 4:39 a.m. Tuesday morning, police said a man riding a bike and carrying a black handgun approached a driver at Shell gas station, 7201 North Avenue and took the driver’s car.
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The department is also investigating separate incidents in which drivers have reported being struck from behind by another car, causing minor damage. In both instances, the drivers of the cars that were struck believed the incidents were not accidental, police said.
River Forest police are searching for the men who were driving this white Kia with no license plates after it was involved in a suspicious 'bump-and-run' incident the morning of Aug. 20 in the 400 block of Lathrop Avenue. (River Forest Police Department)
The first incident occurred at 4:15 a.m. Aug. 20 in the 1400 block of Lathrop Avenue, while the second incident occurred at 9:57 p.m. Aug. 23 in the 7500 block of Lake Street, police said.
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In the first incident, two men driving a white Kia with no license plates struck a car from behind and pulled up in front of the car it had just struck, police said. In the second incident, two men driving a silver Hyundai hit a driver from behind, police said.
In each incident, two men then exited the car that caused each accident, approached the victim car and appeared to want to exchange information or examine the damage, police said.
Following each incident, River Forest police chief James O’Shea said both the Kia and Hyundai sped away from the scenes after drivers of the victim cars said they were calling police.
If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident and feel unsafe, police encourage you to call 911 or drive directly to your local police station to make a report. Police also remind residents to be aware of their surroundings, trust your instincts and call 911 to report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood.
Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact the River Forest Police Department at 708-366-7125.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering