chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Column: Voting in Kamala’s shoes — the power of a candidate’s sneakers

Women are raised to believe that strapping their feet to sloping platforms raised on sticks is sexy .
Or professional @ @ @ @ @ to be tall enough to look men in the eye .
Nancy Pelosi is one @ @ @ @ @ powerful women on the planet , and she is famous for her stilettos .
I @ @ @ @ @ only to the extent that it ’ s a choice .
Clearly , she believes @ @ @ @ @ .
She may be right .
The fashion expectations placed on women are hard chains @ @ @

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to supporters at a campaign event on Oct. 19, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (John Raoux / AP)
Let’s get the criticism of this column out of the way upfront:
The most important election in our lifetime is barreling toward us and you’re writing about a candidate’s shoes?
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For the first time a woman of color is on a major presidential ticket and you’re writing about her shoes?
The world is burning literally and figuratively and you’re writing about sneakers?
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That guy from The New Yorker is … hey, look on the bright side: At least I’m not writing about that.
I’m not the first person to note that Kamala Harris, who’s running for vice president, has broken another barrier by choosing to routinely wear sneakers on the campaign trail. The sneaker reports are often dismissed as trivial, distracting or sexist, but, in fact, Harris' shoes are meaningful. Talking about them isn’t sexist, it’s a recognition of the sexism she’s working to overcome.
As the campaign nears an end, it’s worth taking a moment to fully appreciate the importance of the shoes Harris has chosen to wear while walking that rocky trail.
The shoe story took off in September after Harris stepped off a campaign flight in Milwaukee wearing a pair of Converse sneakers. A tweet of that event has inspired 37,000 likes on Twitter and a lot of commentary.
The Kamala Converse sightings have been frequent since then, most notably this week when she wore them during a campaign stop in Florida, where she danced in the rain.
Many people applauded the sneaker dance, though some were predictably derisive, like the tweeter who sniffed, “What kind of candidate for public office wears fish head sneakers on stage like they were going to wash clothes or a college party?”
What kind of candidate does that? The gutsy kind. The practical kind. The kind who has been liberated from the cruel high heel.
Harris' sneakers have inspired sociological interpretation, like a piece in the British newspaper The Guardian.
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Under the headline “Kamala Harris: what her sneakers mean” ran the words: “As a woman of colour wearing sneakers on the campaign, it semaphores a change in political dress and much more.”
(I had to look up “semaphores” as a verb too. It involves visual signaling.)
Some of the sneaker sociology verges on ridiculous, but even so, Harris' shoes do matter, not so much for what they are but for what they’re not.
They’re not high heels. They’re not even low heels. They’re shoes that hug the ground, comfortable shoes meant for walking, moving, doing. That shouldn’t seem revolutionary, but even today it is.
Even in an age in which yoga pants can pass for office wear, women continue to live under the tyranny of the high heel. Ask heel-wearers why they wear them and many will tell you it’s because heels make them look better. But look better for whom?
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Women are raised to believe that strapping their feet to sloping platforms raised on sticks is sexy. Or professional. Or the only way to be tall enough to look men in the eye. Nancy Pelosi is one of the most impressive and powerful women on the planet, and she is famous for her stilettos. I respect that choice, but only to the extent that it’s a choice. Clearly, she believes the high heels help her. She may be right. The fashion expectations placed on women are hard chains to break.
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(Yes, expectations are placed on men, too, but rarely the kind that cause bunions, hammertoes, shortened calf muscles and low-back pain.)
When I gave up heels as regular attire in my early 30s, I was sad at first. I missed the sassy way they made me feel. Then I realized how much heels hurt, and that the sassiness was largely, if not entirely, a social construct. These days I occasionally wear a pair of low heels I keep for the times when I want to make it clear that I know I’m supposed to be dressed up, or when I don’t want to feel as short as I am.
And every time I put those shoes on? My feet and legs ask me afterward: Why? Why? What’s wrong with being short?
By the common definition, Harris is short too. But, though she sometimes wears heels, she gains a different kind of stature by demonstrating the courage to wear practical shoes. Her footwear says: Women deserve the freedom to choose shoes that don’t lead to foot surgery or back braces. By making that conspicuous choice, Harris helps to liberate other women.
In the past few days, social media has been full of women posting photos of the “Kamala sneakers” they’ve worn when they went to vote, proving that style always sends a message, and one message Harris is sending is: There’s a better way.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Facing $1.2 billion deficit, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot set to detail her budget plan Wednesday

Lightfoot also has been weighing whether to ask Chicago Public Schools to reimburse the city for $ 40 million more @ @ @ @ @ city makes .
Lightfoot made a similar move last year and was criticized for what @ @ @ @ @ shift onto CPS to balance the city ’ s budget .

Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out her case Wednesday for a $12.8 billion spending plan, casting the tax-hike-laden proposal as a road map into a post-pandemic future that gives Chicagoans from all backgrounds a shot at security and success.
Leaning heavily on the imagery of the Great Chicago Fire that mayors have long invoked when they want to play to the city’s self-image as a tough, resilient metropolis that embraces challenges, Lightfoot compared today’s crisis to the labor unrest and cultural foment in the years after that defining 19th-century catastrophe that set the stage for the modern city.
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“The lessons I take from that history are many. Importantly, as Chicagoans, throughout our history we have been tested and we have repeatedly risen to meet and exceed every challenge,” Lightfoot said to a handful of staffers in an otherwise empty City Council chambers. “But what I also know, as a woman of color, is that this time, in 2020, as we rebuild, we must continue to bring others along with us on the journey toward the next chapter in our shared destiny. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.”
As first reported in the Tribune, Lightfoot’s approach to closing a projected $1.2 billion hole relies on a 3-cent gas tax hike and a $94 million property tax increase. It also includes a provision to raise property taxes annually thereafter by an amount tied to the consumer price index. That could prove agreeable to aldermen, who wouldn’t have to take as many deeply unpopular votes on such increases.
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In addition, Lightfoot is asking to refinance $501 million in city debt, which would provide a jolt of new revenue next year, but likely cost taxpayers more down the road. Similar borrowing tactics under Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel drew deep criticism, but the Lightfoot administration said the city’s current financial disaster makes such a move appropriate.
In her speech Lightfoot prevailed upon residents to do their part, while proposing layoffs for city workers and eliminating hundreds of unfilled Police Department positions.
“During this horrible pandemic, every time that we have shown strength as a city is when we have worked together as partners, making shared sacrifices and facing the challenges head-on, together,” she said.
The proposal was met with skepticism by some of the aldermen who will spend the next several weeks holding hearings on its particulars.
“I have concerns about the borrowing, as well as the cuts, what they’ll mean for services,” said West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, who chairs the council’s Black Caucus. “Without question, we need greater investments in violence prevention. We’re facing a difficult situation, but we need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Emanuel, Lightfoot’s predecessor, persuaded aldermen to approve a series of property tax hikes, plus water and sewer tax increases, a new garbage hauling fee, 911 phone tax hike, vehicle sticker fee increase and a tax on cable television.
On Wednesday, Lightfoot tried to head off opposition to the property tax hike and spending plan, calling it a “modest” increase and arguing that she’s taken other measures to reduce the hit on taxpayers.
“Some had predicted that this budget would be predicated on hundreds of millions of new property tax dollars. Not so,” Lightfoot said. “And for the average Chicago home valued at $250,000, you will pay just 56 additional dollars for the whole year. That’s right, just 56 new dollars per year.”
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Whether aldermen whose constituents' finances have been walloped by the pandemic-fueled economic downturn agree with the mayor remains to be seen.
In a lengthy speech, Lightfoot said her spending plan relies on $501 million in refinancing city debt to help close the 2021 budget deficit and $448 million to help close 2020′s shortfall.
Mayoral critic Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, said the refinancing is akin to “kicking the barrel down the road.”
“How can she say she’s making tough choices?” Beale asked. “We don’t know how long this pandemic is going to last. This looks like smoke and mirrors."
But Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, chair of the council Finance Committee, said the refinancing plan is a better idea than digging deeper into the city’s reserves, an alternative some aldermen prefer but that he said would hurt the city’s standing with credit rating agencies.
“It is warranted in this calamity, a once-in-a-century pandemic,” Waguespack said.
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Lightfoot also said the city could fire up to 350 city workers as a cost-savings measure, though she promised to delay layoff notices until March to give the federal government a chance to agree on a municipal relief package.
[ Read Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s prepared budget address ]
In addition to a gas tax hike, her budget plan also includes the installation of 750 parking meters in all zones. Lightfoot’s budget includes an increase to the city’s “cloud” tax, which will hike the lease tax on certain computer software to 9%.
The mayor’s plan also will ask Chicago Public Schools to reimburse the city for $40 million more in school pension contributions the city makes. Lightfoot made a similar move last year and was criticized for what some said was a cost shift onto CPS to balance the city’s budget.
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The city will take 1,921 vacant positions off the books, but nearly 900 of those are crossing guards who will be shifted to CPS’ payroll.
In a message to city employees early Wednesday, Lightfoot said all nonunion city workers, including her, will take five unpaid furlough days. That’s expected to save $15.3 million in 2021.
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Lightfoot’s budget plan also proposes creating a new City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights with an annual budget of $111,500. The city Budget Office said the new committee would not increase spending because it replaces a special committee on the U.S. census that is being dissolved.
Veering from her prepared remarks, Lightfoot called on federal lawmakers to help Chicago and other big cities with their coronavirus pandemic-fueled budget woes. If the city gets enough federal aid, Lightfoot said, the city will make “any appropriate pivots” against job cuts.
“Congress, do your job," Lightfoot said. “Don’t leave us, cities and towns all across this country, high and dry.”
To close the deficit, the city also is counting on $263 million in “improved fiscal management,” a broad term that includes a variety of activities such as improved collection practices.
Some of Lightfoot’s measures may be criticized as being short-term one-time fixes. The city’s taking $30 million out of its rainy day fund, for instance, which will always be criticized by some as too little.
A cardboard cutout of Mayor Lori Lightfoot appears at a protest outside Chicago City Hall after she delivered her budget address on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
By refinancing its debts then using the money to shore up finances in the short term, Lightfoot is also likely to be criticized for relying on one-time fixes and using much of the savings in the short term.
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Under Lightfoot’s refinancing plan, debt payment would be extended another three years, pushing out payments through 2050. And after the initial savings of the first two years, annual payments on the debt for all but a few of the next 29 will be higher than they would have been.
Lightfoot’s budget package likely will be the stiffest test the mayor has faced in trying to whip votes in the increasingly restive council. While she hasn’t lost a major vote yet, the 39-11 margin of her 2020 budget was fairly tight for a relatively painless spending plan.
Last year, many of the votes against Lightfoot’s spending plan came from progressive aldermen who said she didn’t do enough to increase funding for mental health services or to make corporations pay more toward the city’s bottom line.
This year, Lightfoot is proposing the city spend an additional $5.25 million on funding for community-based violence prevention groups, which she’s been criticized for not supporting with more money.
The city also would spend $2 million on affordable housing funding and $8 million on economic recovery programs to support workforce training, help small businesses and spur job creation, according to her plan.
Far North Side Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th, acknowledged Lightfoot’s argument about the “modest” property tax increase but said it would hurt many residents who live in apartment buildings in her ward. About 70% of her ward’s residents are renters, she said.
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“I’ve got some concerns about the property tax and the gas tax, in particular, thinking of so many of the folks who live here who would really be hit by these things,” Hadden said.
She also said she wants to “dig in a little bit more over these next couple of weeks to see where we can maybe make some more cuts or maybe we can dip in to a little beyond $30 million out of our reserves to make up a little bit of that.”
Lightfoot also used a chunk of her address to argue strenuously against defunding police. She choked up as she recalled an officer’s unsuccessful attempts to save a 7-year old girl who had been shot in the head, which she cited as an example of public service by city cops.
“Our police officers are not our enemies. They are someone’s son or daughter, or husband or wife, brother or sister. They are as complicated and imperfect as all of us,” Lightfoot said. “But do remember, they are our neighbors and an important part of who we are as Chicagoans.”
Democratic socialist Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, said she was disappointed to hear about layoffs and furloughs and felt as if Lightfoot brushed off residents who want to defund police.
“One of my main concerns is the amount of money that we continue to spend on the police,” Sanchez said. “I was a little disappointed with the way in which she sort of cleaned up the institution to present it in the budget of continuing to spend the amount of money and resources we’re spending on it when we know how hard it is to keep them accountable.”
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Chicago Tribune’s Hal Dardick contributed.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Column: Black support for Trump is a mirage, despite what foul-mouthed rappers say

They are drawn to what they see as an anti-politician , a president who isn ’ t afraid to stand @ @ @ @ @ in , even though those beliefs are generally unpopular .
They are excited to see @ @ @ @ @ defy the establishment , particularly the media , and who refuses to be bullied into @ @

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Oct. 17, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
If you have been paying attention to the news lately, it might appear as though African Americans are abandoning Democrats and lining up to vote for Donald Trump.
That would be a disaster for Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who has no chance of becoming president unless Black voters turn out for him in large numbers.
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The polling organization FiveThirtyEight reported Monday that Trump is losing ground with white voters but seems to be gaining momentum with Latinos and African Americans, particularly young Blacks.
Trump always has had the support of a handful of high-profile African Americans such rapper Kanye West, former NFL player Herschel Walker and video bloggers Diamond & Silk. Is it possible that he’s winning over a new crop of voters?
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In his first public rally after testing positive for COVID-19, Trump made a political statement using African Americans and Latinos as optics. These unlikely supporters, some without masks and wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, cheered from the South Lawn as Trump spoke from a White House balcony.
The message was that Blacks are welcome within his base and are just as enthusiastic as white supporters. It was revealed later that conservative activist Candace Owens' group, BLEXIT, paid the travel expenses for some of them to attend.
Then we learned that Ice Cube, the former N.W.A. (N***** Wit Attitudes) rapper known for anti-establishment songs like “F*** Tha Police,” had joined forces with Trump on a new “Platinum Plan” for African Americans.
Facing a backlash from the Black community, including many of his fans and fellow rappers, Ice Cube embarked on a public relations campaign last week, attempting to explain why he would allow Trump to use him.
He said that both the Biden and Trump campaigns reached out to him regarding his proposed “Contract with Black America,” and he agreed to work with the one that seemed most interested. He added that he has never met Trump and doesn’t trust either campaign.
On Monday, rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who was among the wealthiest hip-hop artists before filing for bankruptcy in 2015, appeared to endorse Trump on Instagram. He posted a graphic showing the tax rate for those earning over $400,000 a year under Biden’s plan and wrote, "... (VOTE ForTRUMP) IM OUT.”
But “Blacks for Trump” is a mirage. And celebrities, particularly foul-mouthed rappers, don’t represent typical African American voters.
Some African Americans, however, know at least one Trump supporter this time, as opposed to four years ago. There’s a reason they want to keep their opinions about Trump to themselves.
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They know that Trump will use them until he gets whatever he wants and then discard them. Just ask Omarosa Manigault Newman or Gregory Cheadle, the man Trump called “my African American” during a rally in 2016.
Cheadle’s life was never the same after that. His girlfriend dumped him. He lost other friends and had to go into hiding.
He told CNN that he’s not supporting Trump this time. In addition, he said he has lost respect for some Black Republican conservatives, whom he compared to “ventriloquists dolls — puppets employed by powerful white people to mouth political platitudes that hurt Black people.”
The 63-year-old real estate broker also told CNN that he was disappointed in the Republican Party’s reaction to the death of Black businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who died of the coronavirus in July shortly after he was pictured dancing without a mask at a Trump rally.
“It was like, ‘He’s dead. No problem. Goodbye,’” Cheadle said.
In many ways, Black Trump supporters are no different than white ones. They see Trump as the ultimate renegade, someone they have always longed to be.
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They are drawn to what they see as an anti-politician, a president who isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even though those beliefs are generally unpopular. They are excited to see a president so willing to defy the establishment, particularly the media, and who refuses to be bullied into submission.
They are convinced that he is good for the country economically and that only he can rescue us from pandemic-induced financial despair.
But there is one way in which Black Trump supporters are unique. They have convinced themselves that they are more woke than African Americans who support Biden.
Their eyes have been opened to the self-loathing idea that Blacks are more responsible for their unequal status in America than society is. Trump has made them understand that racism is a crutch that Black people hold onto because they are too weak to acknowledge their own failures.
It’s the exact argument racists have been making for 400 years. Now some Black folks are helping them make their case.
Owens, one of the most vocal among them, is committed to promoting Trump’s claim that he has done more for Blacks than any president since Abraham Lincoln.
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As she intimated in a 2017 YouTube video, “How to Escape the Democrat Plantation,” Black people are fed up with lying Democrats and are ready to give the GOP a shot. Her BLEXIT movement is there to help them make the transition.
The plantation analogy isn’t new. The GOP has been making the argument that the Democratic Party is nothing more than a modern-day plantation for Black people for years. But Owens and other right-wing African Americans have added a fresh element — that Blacks ought to flee like runaway slaves.
Trump is attracted to the notion that he can do what no Republican president has done since Dwight D. Eisenhower got 39% of the nonwhite vote in 1956. Of course, Trump has a selfish motive for trying to woo Black voters too.
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How better could a president who has been so blatantly accused of racism prove that he is not a racist? And what better excuse could Republicans use to blow off those assertions and vote with a clear conscience for a man who most African Americans despise?
In the end, the truth always comes to light. It didn’t take Ice Cube long to find out that he is just a pawn in Trump’s political game.
On Tuesday, Trump’s son Eric Trump shared a doctored photo of Ice Cube and 50 Cent sitting side by side wearing “Trump 2020” hats. He added the caption, “Two great, courageous Americans.”
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Ice Cube wasn’t happy. He responded as any hardcore rapper would, tweeting, “N***** please.”
Both tweets have since been deleted.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--3 paintball gun attacks occur overnight, police say

Also around 10 p.m. , someone in a white sedan fired a paintball at a man , whose age is @ @ @ @ @ dog on the sidewalk at South Morgan Street and West Monroe Street in the Near @ @ @ @ @ West Side , which is less than 2 miles away from the first attack , @ @ @ @ @ was hit in the body , but he was not transported to a hospital .

Three separate paintball gun attacks occurred Tuesday night to early Wednesday on the West and South sides, according to Chicago police.
Two of the attacks occurred on the West Side and one on the South Side, police said. It’s unclear if the incidents are related. No arrests have been made and none of the victims were seriously injured.
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The first one happened about 10 p.m. when someone in a white sedan fired a paintball at a 34-year-old man riding a bicycle in the street in the 1800 block of West Hubbard Street in the West Town neighborhood on the West Side, police said. The man was hit in the right arm and groin area and he refused medical attention at the scene.
Also around 10 p.m., someone in a white sedan fired a paintball at a man, whose age is not known, walking his dog on the sidewalk at South Morgan and West Monroe streets in the Near West Side neighborhood on the West Side, which is less than 2 miles from the first attack, police said. The man was hit in the body but he was not transported to a hospital.
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About 1:20 a.m., someone in a red SUV fired a paintball at a 61-year-old woman standing on a sidewalk in the 6100 block of South Ashland Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said. The woman was hit in the right hand and refused medical attention at the scene.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Officers find Trump Tower dangler after he jumped out of ambulance transporting him, police say

Detective Hector Matias , one of the crisis negotiators , said while the man was hanging from the building with @ @ @ @ @ to use the knife to cut the rope if police tried pulling him up .
@ @ @ @ @ knife and was pulled to safety .

Trump Tower in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. A unidentified man had been dangling off of the 16th floor of Trump Tower for more than 12 hours. “Situation resolved peacefully by negotiators,” tweeted police spokesman Tom Ahern. “Suspect in custody. No injuries.” He released no other details. coronavirus, COVID-19 (Jose M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The man who dangled from Trump Tower for more than 13 hours from Sunday into Monday, then jumped out of a private ambulance taking him to another hospital was later found after a missing person’s report was made, according to Chicago police.
The man, 31, was being taken from Northwestern Memorial Hospital about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday just west of State Street on Washington Street in the Loop when he escaped, police said. He somehow jumped out of the ambulance.
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A missing person’s alert for the man was sent out about 10 p.m. Chicago police found the man by 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to a law enforcement source. It’s unclear where he was located or where he went after escaping from the ambulance.
At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, a police SWAT unit and the Chicago Fire Department had responded to a call of a man threatening to kill himself at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave., in the Near North neighborhood, police said.
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The man rappelled down the outside of the building; he was seen hanging by a rope several feet below the ledge to the right of the large “Trump” sign on the building, said Tom Ahern, a police spokesman.
Police negotiators spoke with the man from the balcony on the building, Ahern said.
Detective Hector Matias, one of the crisis negotiators, said while the man was hanging from the building with the harness, he threatened to use the knife to cut the rope if police tried pulling him up. Eventually, he surrendered the knife and was pulled to safety.
The man was taken to a hospital for mental health evaluation after he was pulled off the building, police said. He did not immediately face any charges related to the Trump Tower incident.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Six years after Laquan McDonald shooting, activists rally for justice for slain teen

Before Jahmal Cole spoke , he said he had to wait 16 seconds .
“ We ’ ve got to @ @ @ @ @ believe in , and the time to do that is right now , ” Cole @ @ @ @ @ Laquan , justice for Breonna Taylor ... we want the Amazon Prime-type justice , we @ @ @ @ @ more .
”

Activists cried out for “justice for Laquan” Tuesday night outside Federal Plaza, six years after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
Gathered outside Federal Plaza as rain came down in the Loop, organizers from Black Millennial Renaissance and Operation Good Trouble called for federal civil rights charges to be filed against Van Dyke. Supporters were encouraged to call U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office.
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“We’re outside of his office, where y’all at?” said activist William Calloway, who long pushed for the video of the shooting to be released and called on local and state officials to join in fighting for justice for McDonald.
William Calloway speaks during a "Justice for Laquan" rally, during which protesters called for civil right charges against Jason Van Dyke, at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“Laquan McDonald was not an isolated incident,” Calloway said, but symbolic of “everything that’s wrong” in the Chicago Police Department.
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“Laquan is symbolic of all of those things, and we have to continue to lift his name up and remind the city of Chicago that his life mattered,” Calloway said.
McDonald was shot in October 2014 by Van Dyke. Video footage of the shooting released after a court order showed Van Dyke firing 16 shots at the teen as he walked away, fueling protests and sparking ongoing demands for justice for McDonald.
This month, Van Dyke, who was convicted in 2018 of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, was allowed to withdraw his appeal of his conviction in the killing of McDonald. He was sentenced to 6 ¾ years and is expected to be slated for release in February 2022.
“We spent more time fighting for Laquan than he (Van Dyke) will spend in a penitentiary,” Calloway said.
LaShawn Littrice speaks during a "Justice for Laquan" rally. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Carolyn J. Ruff wears a pin featuring the image of Laquan McDonald as she speaks during a "Justice for Laquan" rally. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Before Jahmal Cole spoke, he said he had to wait 16 seconds. “We’ve got to stand up for what we believe in, and the time to do that is right now,” Cole said. “Justice for Laquan, justice for Breonna Taylor ... we want the Amazon Prime-type justice, we ain’t waiting no more.”
“This is a tough day for a lot of people who are standing out here,” speaker Kina Collins said. “Understand the trauma that has happened here in the city of Chicago.”
“And we know that this summer was an inconvenience for some folks who live in the Gold Coast,” Collins added. “We know that it was an inconvenience to shut down highways and shut down shopping plazas. But you know what’s also an inconvenience? Four hundred years of white supremacy and oppression.”
Along with calling for justice for McDonald, co-founder of Operation Good Trouble Andreas Nelson urged the city — especially millennials — to get out and vote. “And keep those that you are voting for accountable.”


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Madigan pours in $550,000 to help Democratic Illinois Supreme Court justice’s bid to stay on the ben

Madigan pours in $550,000 to help Democratic Illinois Supreme Court justice’s bid to stay on the bench

The contest is critical for Democrats because a Kilbride loss could jeopardize the party ’ s 4-3 majority on the @ @ @ @ @ .
With money from billionaire donors , Republicans are waging an anti-Kilbride campaign in hopes @ @ @ @ @ court and getting a chance to capture the open seat in the 2022 election .

The Democratic Party of Illinois led by Speaker Michael Madigan has started to pour money into an effort to keep Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride on the bench with two weeks until Election Day.
Election records filed Tuesday night showed the Democrats put $550,000 into the Nov. 3 Kilbride retention campaign. That pushes the total political spending by both sides in the contest to nearly $7 million.
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The contest is critical for Democrats because a Kilbride loss could jeopardize the party’s 4-3 majority on the state’s high court. With money from billionaire donors, Republicans are waging an anti-Kilbride campaign in hopes of knocking him off the court and getting a chance to capture the open seat in the 2022 election.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, before the start of the budget address by Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Feb. 19, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
On Wednesday, a pair of Republican congressmen criticized the contribution.
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“Clearly, Kilbride has been compromised” by the donation Madigan dropped into the justice’s campaign, said Peoria-area U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, whose sprawling 18th Congressional District overlaps with parts of the Kilbride judicial district.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of the neighboring 16th Congressional District said the contribution showed the “panic from Kilbride and Madigan (is) obvious.”
They both noted Kilbride told WBEZ-FM he would not be taking Madigan-related money in the race, saying the justice went back on his word.
To win retention and secure a third 10-year term, Kilbride must be supported by 60% of the voters in a 21-county district that runs from Will and Kankakee on the east to Peoria and Rock Island on the west.
The retention fight is a continuation of Madigan and Democratic forces battling the wealthy Republicans who backed former GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Republican billionaire businessmen Ken Griffin has contributed $2 million to unseat Kilbride, and wealthy GOP donor Richard Uihlein has given $500,000. The anti-Kilbride forces have amassed $2.8 million overall.
Until the Madigan money showed up Tuesday, the Kilbride campaign had received nearly $3.3 million — mostly from trial lawyers and labor unions.
The infusion by Madigan, who is the state Democratic chairman, is aimed at countering the GOP money and fits the speaker’s pattern of backing Kilbride’s candidacy the last two times the justice was on the ballot.
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In 2000, Madigan contributed nearly $700,000 in Democratic Party funds late in the campaign to help Kilbride, then a 47-year-old Democratic labor lawyer from Rock Island, win the 3rd Judicial District contest.
It was a major political victory for Madigan, who flipped a Supreme Court seat that Republicans had long held. That temporarily gave Democrats a 5-2 majority on the court. A few years later, Republicans flipped a seat in far southern Illinois, returning the court to the 4-3 Democratic majority that remains today.
In 2010, the speaker sent more than $1 million in party funds into Kilbride’s retention contest for a second 10-year term. Kilbride won, collecting about 65% of the vote.
Campaign finance expert Kent Redfield said Madigan’s move Tuesday indicates that the anti-Kilbride spending is having an impact. Waves of campaign attack mailers and TV ads have focused on linking Kilbride to Madigan in voters' minds.
Madigan’s decision to pump in big money now may give anti-Kilbride forces even more reason to push the Madigan-Kilbride connection, Redfield said.
For Madigan, “the upside of being able to increase party spending outweighs the downside of the anti-Kilbride people being able to link him more directly to Madigan," Redfield said.
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rlong@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @RayLong


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Rohingya Americans in Chicago venture out to local polling place en masse to cast their first-ever g

Rohingya Americans in Chicago venture out to local polling place en masse to cast their first-ever general election votes: ‘Really I’m so grateful’

Zakaria was one of about 50 members of Chicago ’ s Rohingya refugee community in West Rogers Park who on @ @ @ @ @ the general election after arriving to the polling site as a group .
Zakaria , @ @ @ @ @ West Rogers Park ’ s Rohingya Culture Center for years , said it was the @ @ @ @ @ general election for everyone in the group , a right that was unavailable to them @ @ @ @ @ Myanmar , formerly known as Burma .

Bibi Sabura, left, with help from Rehana Ahmed, votes early on Oct. 20, 2020, at Warren Park in Chicago. Sabura, who has been in the United States for five years, was one of around 50 people from the Chicago Rohingya community who were able to vote for the first time in this year's presidential election — something they were unable to do as persecuted refugees in Bangladesh. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
In the seven years he’s lived in America, Nasir Zakaria has hardly felt as grateful as he did Tuesday waiting at the Warren Park polling site in Rogers Park to cast his first-ever vote in his lifetime, he said.
“Really I’m so grateful for country of United States,” Zakaria, a Rohingya American, said. “I’m so grateful for people of United States for supporting (us). I’m so grateful for government of United States.”
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Zakaria was one of about 50 members of Chicago’s Rohingya refugee community in West Rogers Park who on Tuesday cast a vote in the general election after arriving to the polling site as a group. Zakaria, who has been director of West Rogers Park’s Rohingya Culture Center for years, said it was the first time voting in a general election for everyone in the group, a right that was unavailable to them in their native home of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
“Everyone was so happy today,” Zakaria said, adding that community members were congratulating one another as they cast their votes.
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Denied citizenship and other basic rights for decades by Myanmar’s government, the Rohingya people are a predominantly Muslim, ethnic minority group that has for years faced an apparent systematic campaign of attacks by the military and local militias in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.
Nearly 1 million Rohingya since 2017 were banished from their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and remain sheltered as refugees in camps and makeshift settlements, the biggest of which is around Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, according to the aid group Doctors Without Borders.
More than 1,500 also have settled as refugees in Chicago, now home to one of the largest Rohingya populations in the United States. Like Zakaria, many have just become American citizens in recent years.
Rehana Ahmed, 21, voted for the first time Tuesday with the West Rogers Park group after becoming an American citizen about three years ago. She said she arrived to Chicago in 2012 and has become close with the local Rohingya community through the cultural center.
Rehana Ahmed votes early on Oct. 20, 2020, at Warren Park in Chicago. Ahmed, a Rohingya Muslim who has been in the United States for about seven years, was one of around 50 people from the Chicago Rohingya community who were able to vote for the first time this year's presidential election — something they were unable to do as persecuted refugees in Bangladesh. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Ahmed said she was happy the community went to vote as a group Tuesday since some people may have had a hard time registering or reading instructions without having help from one another.
“I’m very happy that we vote with our Rohingya community and vote together, helping each other," she said.
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One person enlisted to help the Rohingya community throughout the voting process was Sarah Pajeau, 25, program manager with the Rohingya Cultural Center. Pajeau, originally from the Chicago suburbs, said she helped whenever people in the group had questions about the logistical aspects of voting.
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She said the center decided on Thursday to have the Rohingya group travel to the polling site together. Given the tight-knit nature of the community, word spread fast, prompting Tuesday’s turnout, she said.
“They’ve come so far and they’ve endured so much in their life and they absolutely deserve this,” Pajeau said. “For them to see that others are interested ... it’s so heartwarming.”
The Rohingya Cultural Center’s case manager, Abdul Jabbar, 35, helped organize the group event. He said he moved to Chicago in 2012 and became an American citizen in 2018, enabling him the chance to cast his first vote in a general election.
Jabbar said he wanted to travel to Warren Park as a group to help one another vote, to “share happiness” and to let people know there are Rohingya in Chicago who are able to vote. It was a significant moment since community members wouldn’t be allowed to vote back in their home country, he added.
“I feel very excited and happy for me,” Jabbar said, “but also sad because some of my people are not able to do that in Burma.”
The group decided to vote early to avoid long lines on Election Day because of COVID-19, according to Zakaria. He said the vote was especially momentous to Rohingya community members since they’ve been denied the right to vote back home in Myanmar.
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The significance also extended beyond the group of 50. Zakaria said Rohingya from across the world, including those in Chicago who are not yet citizens, expressed excitement for those in West Rogers Park who exercised their right to vote.
“They’re feeling proud of us for voting in the United States," Zakaria said. "They say, ‘When I look at you guys going to vote, I’m so happy, I’m so glad to see you guys.'”
As for who he hopes to win the presidency, Zakaria said he doesn’t care as much — he’s just happy he’ll be able to say, “Congratulations, my president" when the winner is announced.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s a very special day for me.”
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--After delays, CBD-infused all-day brunch concept Wake 'N Bacon launching in Lakeview this week

A little more than a year after they had initially planned , husband and wife team Gabriel and Sarah Ayala @ @ @ @ @ opening of Wake ' N Bacon , which will finally crack open its doors on @ @ @ @ @ at 420 W. Belmont Ave .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 The CocoRazz Stuffed French Toast is brioche french toast stuffed with sweetened raspberry cream cheese, topped with toasted coconuts & pecans, and is on the menu at Wake 'n Bacon. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
A little more than a year after they had initially planned, husband and wife team Gabriel and Sarah Ayala are ready for the grand opening of Wake 'N Bacon, which will finally crack open its doors on Oct. 22, 2020, at 420 W. Belmont Ave.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--‘Disgusted’ NU president condemns students who burned a school banner and vandalized campus during p

‘Disgusted’ NU president condemns students who burned a school banner and vandalized campus during police protests, sparking calls for his resignation

“ People who show up to our actions — if they ’ re feeling frustrated and they ’ re feeling @ @ @ @ @ the way they want to take it out is by doing vandalism or graffiti or @ @ @ @ @ s up to them , ” Harris said .
“ We ’ re not here @ @ @ @ @ ’ re here to honestly cause a disruption and get on the Northwestern University ’ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s frustrating that the only way to do that , as we ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ ‘ violent ’ things to happen .
”

A group of Northwestern University students urging the school to cut ties with local and campus police departments is now calling on President Morton Schapiro to resign after a protest outside his home this weekend prompted him to rebuke the movement and characterize its recent actions as violent.
In a letter sent to the Northwestern community Monday, Schapiro said he condemned the protesters who have menaced residents by blocking streets, vandalizing campus property and lighting fires. The student newspaper reported that protesters spray-painted local businesses, smashed a grocery store window and placed a burned school banner in front of Schapiro’s house.
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Two tarps cover the bases of the iconic Weber Arch at Northwestern University in Evanston after it was vandalized by anti-police protesters. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The iconic Weber Arch gateway on campus has also been vandalized, with “more dead pigs” and “abolish (police)” scrawled in red spray paint on its stone base, which has since been wrapped in tarps.
Schapiro, who’s led the private university in Evanston since 2009, wrote that protesters chanted profanities, calling him “piggy Morty,” when they gathered outside his home late Saturday. He suggested the reference to pigs bordered on anti-Semitism since he’s an observant Jew — calling the language “completely unacceptable” — and questioned whether outside agitators had joined the student group.
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“To those protesters and their supporters who justify such actions, I ask you to take a long hard look in the mirror and realize that this isn’t actually ‘speaking truth to power’ or furthering your cause,” Schapiro wrote. “It is an abomination and you should be ashamed of yourselves. ... I am disgusted by those who chose to disgrace this University in such a fashion.”
Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty released a statement Tuesday saying he supports the right of people to protest but also strongly condemned demonstrators who deface or destroy property.
But students and some professors disapprove of Schapiro’s harsh language. The group behind the protests, NU Community Not Cops, and faculty of the African American Studies department criticized Schapiro for only responding to student demands when the upheaval landed on his doorstep.
“To read your damning letter to students in this context forces us to hear the shallowness of your concerns and priorities with excruciating clarity,” the faculty letter said. “It is beyond tone deaf for you to ask this group of protesters to imagine what it would be like for their families to be disturbed in the middle of the night ‘by such vile and personal attacks.’”
The student group also rejected Schapiro’s message and instead demanded he step down in its own statement, saying he’s failed to engage with students about the problem of racial injustice behind the protests.
LaTesha Harris, a recent NU alumna involved in the group, said Schapiro’s response seeks to delegitimize the concerns of Black students and shows a lack of empathy.
“It’s really disheartening to see that Northwestern only is responding to our campaign now because we’re acting ‘destructive,’” said Harris, 22. “Morty has been silent on this matter for so long. We were shocked to receive that email yesterday,” which she described as vitriolic.
Harris said the group has held marches, protests, sit-ins and other events since its founding in June that did not involve property damage. After months of feeling ignored, members of the group spontaneously expressed themselves with graffiti and vandalism, though that was not planned. Before every action, the group instructs members not to interact with police or harm others, she said.
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“People who show up to our actions — if they’re feeling frustrated and they’re feeling angry and they decide that the way they want to take it out is by doing vandalism or graffiti or burning something, that’s up to them,” Harris said. “We’re not here to police anyone. We’re here to honestly cause a disruption and get on the Northwestern University’s radar, and it’s frustrating that the only way to do that, as we’ve seen, is for these ‘violent’ things to happen.”
The group created a petition in June that asked NU to end contracts with the Evanston and Chicago police departments and to disband the Northwestern University Police Department. Though the group contends such decisions would improve emotional and physical security for Black students, it was dissatisfied with the response from Schapiro’s administration.
In an online statement, the group also took issue with Schapiro’s description of the protests, comparing the scenario with the "terror Black families face amid the real threat of being killed in their homes.”
“Black people are not safe anywhere in a world with police, including in their homes, a reality that Black students at Northwestern also contend with,” the statement said. “As a wealthy white man, Morton Schapiro knows that he holds an immense amount of privilege that those facing impending threats of ‘personal attacks’ do not, as he mobilized the police to do what they are meant to do — protect white property and white lives.”
While the statement apologized to Jewish community members who might have been harmed by the campaign’s language, the students said the word “pig” was used to refer to the “structural violence that police officers present,” and not as a nod to pejoratives used in “some European countries in the 14th century” to describe Jews. The group said it condemns anti-Semitism and violence against any persecuted group.
But it did not express regret for the property damage mentioned by Schapiro. The group said the burning of the banner amounted to symbolic free speech and that its tactics did not hurt anyone. The banner was removed from the Weber Arch and shaped like a face mask and said “We’re N This Together," the school newspaper reported.
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“How can we ‘peacefully’ advocate when you don’t even attend our meetings?" the group’s statement said. "Who is bodily harmed by vandalism? Why do you assign higher value to property than to the needs of the Black community at Northwestern and in Evanston?”
The heated campus discourse emerges after a summer that saw protests and marches in scores of cities, sparked by the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Some city leaders, including Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, were criticized for painting the actions with a broad stroke and calling the demonstrations violent even though many were peacefully organized. At night, after a Chicago curfew kicked in, looting and property damage occurred downtown and in some neighborhoods.
At Northwestern — although the number of students on campus is relatively small compared with pre-pandemic norms — students have led regular protests of police since Oct. 12, and organizers say they intend to continue.
One afternoon last week, about 200 students blocked the intersection of Green Bay Road, Ridge Avenue and Emerson Street — one of Evanston’s busiest, police Cmdr. Brian Henry said.
On Saturday night, students protested with a march that stretched into the early morning, Henry said, with demonstrations including trash can fires and spray paint graffiti on buildings off campus. Harris disputed that fires were started in trash cans.
Harris, the NU grad affiliated with NU Community Not Cops, said the group’s actions are primarily planned by graduate and undergraduate students, but the events are open to anyone. The group is aiming to host one action every day for a month, the details of which are posted on social media.
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Harris said her group wants to talk with Schapiro directly and has been asking to review the campus police budget. That money, she said, should be spent in other ways to support Black students and campus life. Students, for example, said it could be put toward hiring more Black counselors at the school’s health center.
Schapiro, for his part, maintains that he’s participated in campus discourse about policing and racial justice. He said that university provosts, deans and administrators have held “numerous” discussions with concerned students, faculty and staff. Schapiro said he will appear virtually in a “community dialogue” Tuesday evening, but registration for the Zoom event is capped.
“We, as a University, recognize the many injustices faced by Black and other marginalized groups,” his message said. “We also acknowledge that the policing and criminal justice system in our country is too often stacked against those same communities.”
Still, Schapiro shut down the conversation about disbanding the campus Police Department, writing he has “absolutely no intention to abolish it,” though improvements can be made.
Protesters were back in front of his home Monday evening without incident, according to Evanston city officials and police. About 300 to 400 people were present, but they remained on public property, Henry said.
“We were prepared. We have been gathering intelligence each day as to what their plans are. We made sure we had adequate staffing to ensure that private property and things of that nature were secure and safe,” Henry said.
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Hagerty said in his statement that he strongly supports “the right of all individuals to protest peacefully and safely in Evanston.”
“I have no tolerance, however, for the destruction or defacement of public or private property,” the mayor’s statement continued. “Any protester who partakes in vandalism or worse is not helping Black Lives in Evanston, and is only serving to set back the cause. I expect all protesters to respect the rights of their fellow citizens and follow the law. Those who do not will be held accountable.”
An earlier version of the story misstated details about the burned banner. The school newspaper reported it was burned on campus and brought to Schapiro’s house.
echerney@chicagotribune.com
gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Rohingya Americans in Chicago venture out to local polling place en masse to cast first-ever votes

Retired Chicago Bears great Dan Hampton and his wife , Gina , placed their five-bedroom mansion in Burr Ridge for @ @ @ @ @ 2020 , for just under $ 1.3 million .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6
Bibi Sabura, left, with help from Rehana Ahmed, votes early on Oct. 20, 2020, at Warren Park in Chicago. Sabura, who has been in the United States for five years, was one of around 50 people from the Chicago Rohingya community who were able to vote for the first time in this year's presidential election — something they were unable to do as persecuted refugees in Bangladesh. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-10-20--New O’Hare Airport runway, set to open Nov. 5, will send arriving flights over southern Park Ridge

Ernst Kosower , chairman of Park Ridge ’ s OAC , said the group has been working to inform residents @ @ @ @ @ the runway though door-to-door visits and notices in the city ’ s Spokesman newsletter .
@ @ @ @ @ will not know the actual impact of the runway until after it opens , but @ @ @ @ @ “ they ’ re going to experience something that they haven ’ t had to @ @ @ @ @ ''

A new O’Hare Airport runway that is expected to send flights over southern Park Ridge neighborhoods is scheduled to open next month.
The east-west runway, known as 9C/27C, will open Thursday, Nov. 5, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation and the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission.
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Scheduled to be used largely as an arrival runway, it is the first new runway to open at the airport since 2015 and the last new runway to be constructed as part of the airport’s modernization project, the department of aviation said. An existing nearby runway is being extended and work is anticipated to continue into 2021, the department said.
According to the city of Park Ridge, planes landing on runway 9C/27C will cross over Park Ridge roughly between Granville and Devon Avenues on the south end of the city.
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Sixth Ward Ald. Marc Mazzuca, a liaison to the city’s O’Hare Airport Commission, a citizens group that discusses airport-related issues and advocates for residents, shared concerns about impacts he said the runway will have on the city.
“The opening of the additional east-west runway will clearly add to the noise and air pollution burdens O’Hare Airport continues to place on the neighborhoods that surround it,” Mazzuca said. “That should come as no surprise to those who have followed the progress of the airport build-out over the years.”
Planes fly low over the Southwest corner of Park Ridge, Ill. as they prepare to land at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on May 7, 2009. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Ernst Kosower, chairman of Park Ridge’s OAC, said the group has been working to inform residents of the impending opening of the runway though door-to-door visits and notices in the city’s Spokesman newsletter. He acknowledged that the city will not know the actual impact of the runway until after it opens, but residents are being warned that “they’re going to experience something that they haven’t had to experience in the past."
Jim Argionis, a past member of the OAC, also cautioned that the impacts of the new runway may not be fully known right away.
“A lot of people in town may have forgotten about these issues because of the COVID slowdown of transportation, and we haven’t been getting the same amount of noise,” he said. “But it’s definitely going to increase our noise when operations get back to normal — whenever that is.”
Kosower said the OAC wants to be sure that the new runway is used for its intended purpose, which is flight arrivals.
The opening of another east-west runway — known as 9L/27R — in November 2008 sparked anger within Park Ridge as residents living in the central portion of the city complained of frequent airline noise and low-flying planes using the arrival runway.
In the years that followed, groups like the Park Ridge O’Hare Commission and FAiR, which advocates for increased distribution of flights so that the same neighborhoods are not constantly impacted by noise, formed in response to heavier air traffic over Park Ridge and Chicago’s Northwest Side neighborhoods. The city of Park Ridge has also brought its concerns and complaints to the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, an inter-governmental group of municipalities and school districts engaged in dialogue with airport officials over noise.
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Mazzuca said the work of groups like the OAC and FAiR have created “opportunities to distribute more of the outbound flight traffic at O’Hare Airport over less-residential areas, and that there are ways to impose less regular burdens on Park Ridge and many of its neighbors when air traffic volume returns to normal.”
The O’Hare Modernization Program, also referred to as O’Hare expansion, is expected to be completed next year, according to the Department of Aviation.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Joliet police sergeant is charged with misconduct for allegedly illegally accessing video of drug ar

Joliet police sergeant is charged with misconduct for allegedly illegally accessing video of drug arrest

The in-squad video that Escueda allegedly accessed shows Lurry chewing on something as he is being transported to the police @ @ @ @ @ depicts an officer slapping Lurry , who at the time appears to be passed out @ @ @ @ @ and another officer using a collapsible baton to retrieve drugs from Lurry ’ s mouth @ @ @ @ @ officer holding Lurry ’ s nostils .

A Joliet police sergeant faces official misconduct charges, accused of illegally accessing a police video of the drug arrest of a man who died hours later.
Joliet police Sgt. Javier Escueda, 51, of Plainfield, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of felony official misconduct by the Kendall County state’s attorney’s office. Escueda, who appeared in bond court via video in Kendall County on Wednesday, posted $5,000 bail late Wednesday afternoon, according to his attorney, Jeff Tomczak. His next court date is Nov 8.
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Escueda, who police officials said is on paid administrative leave, is charged with two counts of official misconduct for accessing the locked video through a laptop in his squad car. Police said the video was shared outside the police department.
The case is charged in Kendall County because Escueda accessed the video while traveling through Kendall County, according to court documents.
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Escueda allegedly accessed the in-squad video of the January drug arrest of Eric Lurry, 37, of Joliet. Lurry died at Amita St. Joseph Medical Center hours after his arrest. The Will County coroner’s office earlier this year ruled Lurry’s death an accidental drug overdose, and the Will County state’s attorney’s office issued a statement finding that the actions of Joliet police officers did not contribute to Lurry’s death.
The in-squad video that Escueda allegedly accessed shows Lurry chewing on something as he is being transported to the police station. The video also depicts an officer slapping Lurry, who at the time appears to be passed out, on the face, and another officer using a collapsible baton to retrieve drugs from Lurry’s mouth. It also shows an officer holding Lurry’s nostils.
Once video surfaced, Joliet Mayor Robert O’Dekirk and others on the city council called for an investigation of the department. Joliet police Chief Al Roechner also called for an investigation into the access of the video.
Police subsequently released four videos of the incident — three unedited dashcam videos and one edited video that is a compilation of the other three videos. The edited video includes text from Joliet police explaining some of what is seen in the video.
Tomczak on Wednesday filed motions to dismiss the charges against Escueda, arguing that Kendall County was not the proper venue since the computers containing the videos were located at the Joliet Police Department in Will County. He also filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the charging documents filed against his client did not properly state the offense.
When reached by phone Wednesday, Tomczak accused investigators with “shopping around” the charges to find a prosecutor who would pursue the case and questioned the motive behind charging Escueda, who some city officials have described as a “whistleblower.”
“This definitely sends a very loud and clear statement by the Joliet police chief to the front-line troops that if they happen to see anything that is brutality or improper conduct, this is what will happen if they speak up about it,” Tomczak said.
Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis on Wednesday maintained venue and the charging documents were proper.
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In a written statement released Wednesday afternoon, Roechner said Escueda’s alleged access of the video violated the chain of custody for evidence and could have compromised evidence in an investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget includes recurring property tax increase, 3-cent gas tax hike

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget includes recurring property tax increase, 3-cent gas tax hike and layoffs for city workers, as she seeks to close $1.2B deficit

“ The lessons I take from that history are many .
Importantly , as Chicagoans , throughout our history we @ @ @ @ @ have repeatedly risen to meet and exceed every challenge , ” Lightfoot said to a @ @ @ @ @ otherwise empty City Council chambers .
“ But what I also know , as a @ @ @ @ @ that this time , in 2020 , as we rebuild , we must continue to @ @ @ @ @ on the journey toward the next chapter in our shared destiny .
We can not @ @ @ @ @ .
”


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Highland Park police investigating attempted child luring after report of man approaching 12-year ol

Highland Park police investigating attempted child luring after report of man approaching 12-year old girl

Police said an investigation into the alleged incident is ongoing , and Bonaguidi said they are working the available information @ @ @ @ @ to talk with their children about stranger awareness , including not talking to strangers when @ @ @ @ @ children , not walking alone and never walking up to the car of a stranger @ @ @ @ @

The Highland Park Police Department is investigating a report of an attempted child luring that is said to have happened Tuesday evening, officials announced in a news release Wednesday.
According to the release, at approximately 5 p.m. Tuesday, an unidentified man who was driving in a silver-colored SUV approached a 12-year-old girl who was walking in the area of Braeside Road and Lakeside Place.
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The man is described as being heavyset with dark-hair and a medium complexion, and between the age of 30 and 50, the release states.
Deputy Chief William Bonaguidi said the man asked the girl if she wanted to go to Sheridan Road with him. She said no, and the man drove off, the deputy chief said.
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Police said an investigation into the alleged incident is ongoing, and Bonaguidi said they are working the available information. Officials called for parents to talk with their children about stranger awareness, including not talking to strangers when they try to talk to children, not walking alone and never walking up to the car of a stranger, the release states.
Anyone with information about the alleged incident is asked to contact the Highland Park Police Department at 847-432-7730.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Waukegan police say officer fatally shot teen as suspects’ vehicle began moving; ‘Mama, they just sh

Waukegan police say officer fatally shot teen as suspects’ vehicle began moving; ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing’

Both the driver and passenger were struck by gunfire .
The driver , a Black woman in her 20s from @ @ @ @ @ a hospital with serious injuries and is expected to recover , police said .
The @ @ @ @ @ an area hospital and died .
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday .
His identity @ @ @ @ @ released .

Clyde McLemore, the Lake County chapter president of Black Lives Matters pictured here in a file photo, said a march is planned for Thursday in the wake of the Tuesday night shooting of a Black teen by a Waukegan police officer. He appealed for calm. “We’re not here to rip up our own town,” he said. (Black Lives Matter Lake County / HANDOUT)
A Black teen from Waukegan was shot and killed by police Tuesday after an officer opened fired when a vehicle began moving in reverse as the officer approached, Waukegan police announced Wednesday.
No firearm was found in the vehicle, police said. Illinois State Police are investigating the shooting.
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A Waukegan patrol officer was investigating a vehicle near Liberty and Oak streets at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday when the vehicle fled, according to police. Another officer saw the vehicle, occupied by a man and woman, and began to approach it near Martin Luther King Jr. and South avenues, according to the release.
“While officer #2 was out of his vehicle, and approaching the suspect vehicle, it began to reverse. Officer #2 fired his semi-automatic pistol, in fear for his safety,” police said in the release.
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According to the release, the officer who fired his gun is Hispanic, and the other officer is white.
Both the driver and passenger were struck by gunfire. The driver, a Black woman in her 20s from Waukegan, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries and is expected to recover, police said. The male passenger was taken to an area hospital and died. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. His identity has not yet been formally released.
Family members of the woman, including her parents, gathered outside Waukegan police headquarters Wednesday afternoon. They identified her as Tafara Williams. The man who died, they said, was Marcellis Stinnette.
Williams and Stinnette were a couple and are the parents of a child, the family members said.
Williams' mother, Tina Johnson, said her daughter told her at the hospital that she and Stinnette had not done anything to provoke the shooting.
“When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing,’” Johnson said. “She basically said that she plead with the police for her life.”
Johnson said that her daughter, as she was being wheeled into surgery, asked about Stinnette. Johnson said she didn’t have the heart to tell her that Stinnette was dead.
The family members said the site of the shooting was outside Williams' residence, and that Williams and Stinnette were just sitting in the car when police arrived.
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“It really does not make any sense,” Williams uncle, Ricky Carly, said. “Our kids can’t even come outside.”
In a news conference, Mayor Sam Cunningham appeared shaken and as he acknowledged that police shootings of Black residents can rip communities apart, and that it can take years to rebuild. He asked citizens to wait until all the facts are known.
"We’re going to rebuild in this situation based on the facts,” said Cunningham, who is Black. “We’re in this together.”
Clyde McLemore, the Lake County chapter president of Black Lives Matters, said a march is planned for Thursday. He appealed for calm.
“We’re not here to rip up our own town,” he said.
When state police have concluded their investigation, the findings will be presented to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for review, the release said.
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State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim cautioned Tuesday that these kinds of investigations can take a long time. But Nerheim added that if the investigation shows laws were broken, his office will bring charges.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Illinois will start sharing data about COVID-19 outbreaks in schools

“ I want them to be transparent about what transmission looks like within schools and what are the supports in @ @ @ @ @ help , ” said Sinkule , who is also president of the Illinois Association of @ @ @ @ @ Some schools are looking out for the community , and there are others that don @ @ @ @ @ ’ t transparent .
Without metrics , they can do what they want .
”

New Trier High School students present school IDs to staff as they arrive for in-person learning, Oct. 6, 2020, in Northfield. After starting remotely for all but select students, the school reopened Oct. 5 with 25% of students in person at a time. There were five positive student COVID-19 cases and none among the staff reported before the school reopened, and New Trier does not have an outbreak. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
This story is a collaboration with ProPublica Illinois.
Eight months into the pandemic and following pleas from educators and parents, Illinois has decided it will publish data on the coronavirus’s spread in schools.
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The decision comes two weeks after a story by ProPublica Illinois and the Tribune detailed the lack of information available to school officials and parents as they try to decide whether in-person learning is safe. Illinois public health officials told reporters there had been outbreaks in at least 44 school buildings across the state but declined to say where.
Late Wednesday, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman said publicly for the first time that the state will start sharing the number of cases and outbreaks by school. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases tied to contact at school.
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“We have been working to publish school-level data on COVID-19 and look forward to having that live in the coming weeks,” spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.
That’s good news for school workers such as nurse Kathy Knawa, who is part of a team that has been helping Flossmoor School District 161, south of Chicago, decide when in-person classes should resume. When she tried to research COVID-19 outbreaks in schools that had already reopened, particularly near her district, she couldn’t find comprehensive state data about the number of cases or where they had been identified.
Instead, Knawa found the ProPublica Illinois/Tribune story, which explained how little was publicly known about school-connected outbreaks during the first seven weeks of the school year.
The lack of specific data from the state is frustrating to Knawa, whose district plans to have some students return to school buildings next week.
“I’m concerned we can’t find out where the outbreaks are,” Knawa said. “I just want to be able to get information in one place. If all the towns surrounding you were having outbreaks, it would be good to know.”
Many other states already publish data on outbreaks in schools. But Illinois so far has released only county-level data about COVID-19 cases in people younger than 20. That age range includes many college students, so it isn’t as helpful to parents and officials in K-12 school districts.
In many parts of Illinois, the school year began more than two months ago. Of the school-related outbreaks documented as of early October, most have been small — two or three cases at each school building — according to the state.
IDPH’s delay in making the data available comes as Illinois is grappling with a surge of COVID-19 cases in many communities. The increases have led some schools that had planned to reopen to delay until at least early next year.
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On Tuesday, the Lake County Health Department recommended that public and private K-12 schools transition to remote online learning as the county reported “substantial” community transmission of the virus. In response, Grayslake schools decided to delay any decision to return to school until January, while school officials in Mundelein said they are reconsidering plans that would have put students back in the classroom in the coming weeks.
According to Illinois State Board of Education data, last updated in mid-September, about 685,000 students in 69% of districts are attending school in person at least part time. About 1.2 million students continue to learn online only, including at some of the state’s largest school districts.
Chicago Public Schools, by far Illinois' biggest district, plans to bring back preschool and special education students during the second quarter, which begins next month. COVID-19 cases are rising in Chicago, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said this week that transmission has been low in private schools that have reopened.
The district last week began posting the number of cases, with school locations, in an online COVID-19 tracker. The site, to be updated weekly, shows 172 adult and five student cases between March 7 and Oct. 10.
Other schools also post detailed information. Among them: New Trier Township High School District 203 and Crystal Lake District 47.
New Trier, in Chicago’s north suburbs, recently began phasing students in at partial capacity but quickly decided to close again because of increased community spread. The district updates an online dashboard twice a week with the number of cases among staff and students as well as the number in quarantine. Seven students and one staff member had active cases as of Monday, according to the dashboard, but officials say none of the cases was linked to transmission at school.
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“Local health departments continue to be the best resource for the most up to date data as schools must report all cases directly to them. Most importantly, schools are also required to communicate with parents and guardians as new cases arise,” Arnold said.
Not all districts publicize COVID-19 information about their schools. In west suburban Addison, school social worker Maria Sinkule has been calling on district officials to share data about community and school transmission. Following a hybrid model, with children learning both in person and remotely, preschool and kindergarten students began returning to school earlier this week; older elementary students were to return Thursday.
“I want them to be transparent about what transmission looks like within schools and what are the supports in place for families that need help,” said Sinkule, who is also president of the Illinois Association of School Social Workers. “Some schools are looking out for the community, and there are others that don’t and they aren’t transparent. Without metrics, they can do what they want.”
It’s not clear when the health department will publish the data that educators are pushing for. Arnold promised data “in the coming weeks” but did not say more about the timing.
The state’s largest teachers union has called on IDPH to identify schools with COVID-19 outbreaks, saying “transparency is key.”
“How is a community supposed to decide whether to return to the classroom if they don’t know the true impact this is having across the state?” Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin said in a statement. “Health officials inform communities when nursing homes or jails have outbreaks because it impacts those who live and work there. Certainly, communities are entitled to know about outbreaks at schools. It shouldn’t even be a question.”
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Cohen is a reporter for ProPublica Illinois. Smith Richards is a Tribune reporter.
This story originally said Chicago Public Schools hopes to begin in-person learning for preschool and certain special education students next month. It has been updated to state that the district hopes to begin in-person learning for those students in the second quarter, which begins next month.
jrichards@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Have questions about the election? Let us know and we’ll ask the experts.

Meanwhile , the Tribune has a host of election resources .
The voter guide can be found here and endorsements @ @ @ @ @ can be found here , along with a ballot of endorsements you can take with @ @ @ @ @ .

With Election Day only days away and early voting and mail-in voting underway, the Tribune is looking to answer any questions you have.
Meanwhile, the Tribune has a host of election resources. The voter guide can be found here and endorsements from the Tribune Editorial Board can be found here, along with a ballot of endorsements you can take with you to the polling place.
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chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Bond revoked for man accused in Bridgeport bank collapse after he allegedly sent widow of CEO inform

Bond revoked for man accused in Bridgeport bank collapse after he allegedly sent widow of CEO information about hanging

Kowalski ’ s attorney , Imani Chiphe , acknowledged Wednesday that Kowalski had not been a model defendant while on @ @ @ @ @ violations were not enough to put him back behind bars .
He also said Kowalski @ @ @ @ @ the summer , causing him to lose contact with his pretrial services officer .

Robert Kowalski leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Feb. 13, 2020, following his arraignment on bankruptcy fraud charges stemming from the collapse of a politically connected Bridgeport bank. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
A man at the center of an ongoing investigation into the collapse of a Bridgeport bank was ordered jailed Wednesday after he sent police and autopsy records to the widow of the bank’s CEO and suggested the man’s suicide was a cover-up.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said Robert Kowalski’s attempts this month to reach out to the widow of Washington Federal Bank for Savings CEO John Gembara was just one of five bond violations committed by Kowalski in the past year.
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Police records show Gembara, 56, was found dead on Dec. 3, 2017, in the Park Ridge home of a bank customer where he had been staying. An autopsy report showed Gembara was found seated in a chair in his bedroom with a rope tied to the banister and around his neck. His death was ruled a suicide.
During a two-hour hearing Wednesday, Kowalski said he has always been suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Gembara’s death and sent the information — obtained via open records requests of Park Ridge police — to the woman in an effort at “transparency and closure.”
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“I wanted more information,” Kowalski said. “Him dying while sitting in a chair has always rankled me. It didn’t make sense.”
But Kendall said Kowalski committed “witness tampering” by bringing his far-flung theories to the woman, who is potentially a key witness in the investigation.
One of Kowalski’s letters asked the woman to “please meet” with him to discuss his ongoing efforts to obtain unredacted reports on her husband’s death.
“The most salacious detail about the case is that a president of the bank committed suicide," the judge said. “You are trying hard to find out something about this suicide and turn it into a murder.”
Kowalski also violated the terms of his release by being at the scene of a domestic melee in Oak Lawn where his girlfriend was punched and his sister was knocked unconscious before Kowalski took off, Kendall said.
Though the girlfriend later declined to press charges, Kendall said it was clear that Kowalski knew he was in violation when he sped from the scene before police arrived.
“You left your sister lying there on the pavement because you knew you had to get out of there,” the judge said.
Kowalski’s attorney, Imani Chiphe, acknowledged Wednesday that Kowalski had not been a model defendant while on bond, but argued the violations were not enough to put him back behind bars. He also said Kowalski was diagnosed with COVID-19 over the summer, causing him to lose contact with his pretrial services officer.
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Kowalski is among six defendants charged in an alleged multiyear embezzlement scheme that preceded the sudden failure of Washington Federal Bank for Savings in 2017.
The collapse of Washington Federal, a family-run institution in the city’s Bridgeport neighborhood throughout its 104-year history, spawned a series of lawsuits and investigations, and came shortly after Gembara’s death.
A superseding indictment filed in August alleged the bank’s former chief financial officer and three other employees conspired with Kowalski to transfer and conceal at least $29 million distributed to Kowalski and others who were not named.
Kowalski was a large debtor of the bank when it was closed by regulators in December 2017 with about $66 million in bad loans, the indictment alleges. He and his sister, Jan Kowalski, were originally charged in 2019 with bankruptcy fraud stemming from the bank’s collapse.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Have questions about COVID-19 and the recent surge? Send them to us and we’ll ask the experts

The Tribune wants to know what you want to know .
Send us your questions and we ’ ll take @ @ @ @ @ scientists and doctors — and then , we will publish some of the answers .

The Chicago Tribune wants to know what you want to know. Send us your questions and we’ll take them to our panel of scientists and doctors — and then, we will publish some of the answers.
Meanwhile, you can check our continuously updated Q&A or get the latest Chicago COVID-19 information and updates from Chicago Tribune reporters and editors on our COVID-19 Facebook page.
You can send questions to the Tribune via the form below.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Pilot dies after plane crashes in Ford Heights, hits light pole and vehicle, officials say

Lawrence Jagmin , 70 , of Frankfort , was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday , according to the Cook @ @ @ @ @ office .
He had been the pilot of a plane that , for reasons that @ @ @ @ @ , went down at 5:13 p.m. about half a mile from the Illinois Route 394 @ @ @ @ @ , according to Illinois State Police .

A person takes a picture of the site where a small plane crashed into a wooded area off of Lincoln Highway, just west of Illinois Route 394 in Ford Heights, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The pilot of a small plane died from his injuries after the plane crashed Tuesday night near Lincoln Highway in Ford Heights, striking a vehicle and a light pole, officials said.
Lawrence Jagmin, 70, of Frankfort, was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He had been the pilot of a plane that, for reasons that weren’t immediately clear, went down at 5:13 p.m. about half a mile from the Illinois Route 394 south ramp to Lincoln Highway, according to Illinois State Police.
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“The aircraft struck a light pole and hit a vehicle on the ground before coming to rest in an embankment,” Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said in an email.
The plane was found to the right of the ramp in a nearby wooded area, according to state police. The pilot was flown by air ambulance to an area hospital where he died, state police said in a statement.
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It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were in the vehicle that was hit.
“We can confirm the pilot is deceased. There were no other injuries reported,” said Trooper Omoayena Williams in an email Wednesday.
The southbound 394 ramp to Lincoln Highway west remained closed Wednesday morning, Williams said.
The FAA will investigate the crash along with the National Transportation Safety Board, Cory said. Such investigations typically will take a year or longer to complete, she said.
“We will release the tail number after investigators verify it at the crash site. The FAA will investigate and the NTSB will determine the probable cause of the accident,” she said.
Jagmin had his aircraft based at Lansing Municipal Airport, not far from where the crash occurred.
A pilot at the airport, Abe Corey, said he would occasionally talk with Jagmin, usually about the weather, always on the mind of a pilot.
“That was something that would come up a lot, and wind speed and stuff, and he would talk about his family,” Corey, of Munster, Indiana, said. “He always was friendly, gave you a wave.”
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Jagmin had a dental practice in Chicago Heights, and a neighbor of Jagmin’s in Frankfort said she would talk to him on occasion. He had been licensed as a dentist since June 1977, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation records.
“I thought he was retired or maybe getting ready to retire,” she said. “I know he liked his work.”
Daily Southtown’s Mike Nolan contributed.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Aurora driver services facility closed after employee tests positive for COVID-19

The Illinois Department of Public Health has been consulted , according to a press release from the Illinois Secretary of @ @ @ @ @ Employees who work at the Aurora facility are being quarantined for 14 days and the @ @ @ @ @ disinfected and sanitized according to CDC guidelines , the release stated .

The state’s Aurora Driver Services facility at 339 E. Indian Trail will be closed until Nov. 4 after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has been consulted, according to a press release from the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. Employees who work at the Aurora facility are being quarantined for 14 days and the facility is scheduled to be disinfected and sanitized according to CDC guidelines, the release stated.
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Drivers can visit the nearest facilities, which include in Naperville at 931 W. 75th St., Suite 161; Elgin at 595 S. St.; and Lombard at 837 S. Westmore.
In the press release, Secretary of State Jesse White encouraged people to go online to www.cyberdriveillinois.com for services such as renewing license plate stickers, obtaining replacement driver’s licenses/ID cards and safe driver renewals.
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For customers who decide to visit a facility, masks are required and people are advised to come prepared to wait outside in various weather conditions, officials said. Due to social distancing, the number of people allowed inside a facility at one time is limited.


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Trump tweets support for state Sen. Jim Oberweis in challenge to Rep. Lauren Underwood, says he will

Trump tweets support for state Sen. Jim Oberweis in challenge to Rep. Lauren Underwood, says he will ‘Protect Your Second Amendment from the Radical Left’

In a weekend interview with the Tribune , Oberweis said he gives Trump a “ B ” grade on his @ @ @ @ @ .
But he also said he was perplexed by the politicization of mask wearing during @ @ @

A day after Election Day, Jim Oberweis appears in his office and store at 951 Ice Cream Drive in North Aurora, Nov. 4, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
President Donald Trump expressed his support for state Sen. Jim Oberweis in the 14th Congressional District race on Wednesday, in a typically exclamation-mark-heavy tweet.
Oberweis, of Sugar Grove, is challenging first-term Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood, of Naperville, in the far suburban and exurban district.
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“Jim Oberweis will be a terrific Congressman for Illinois!” Trump posted on Twitter. “A successful businessman, he will Create Jobs, Lower Taxes, Defend Law & Order, and Protect your Second Amendment from the Radical Left. Jim has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #IL14”
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The president’s message was one of several he posted Wednesday afternoon in support of Republican congressional candidates across the country. Trump also tweeted out his endorsement for Rep. Darin LaHood, who represents Illinois' 18th Congressional District and is co-chair of Trump’s Illinois campaign.
“@ElectLaHood is a fighter for Illinois!” Trump posted. “A strong supporter of our #MAGA agenda, he is helping us Drain the Swamp, Deliver for our Farmers, and Defend your Second Amendment. Darin has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #IL18”
The tweet was accompanied by a picture of LaHood, giving a thumbs-up sign, alongside the president.
In a weekend interview with the Tribune, Oberweis said he gives Trump a “B” grade on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But he also said he was perplexed by the politicization of mask wearing during the pandemic.
The Underwood campaign said it did not have a comment on the president’s message, but Underwood did respond via Twitter.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that Donald Trump endorsed my opponent,” Underwood posted. “Since #IL14 was carried by the GOP in 2016, we need to be ready to fight back.”
She then asked voters to donate to her campaign.
poconnell@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Oak Park police investigating four armed robberies that occurred in less than an hour Oct. 19

“ There are similarities in all four incidents , but we can not say with certainty that it was the @ @ @ @ @ Park police Sgt .
Angelo Episcopo said .

Oak Park police are investigating four separate armed robbery incidents that occurred in less than a one-hour period Oct. 19. ( Steve Schering/Pioneer Press )
Police are investigating four separate armed robbery incidents that occurred within a one-hour period in Oak Park the evening of Oct. 19.
Each incident involved a male suspect who stands between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall who fled each robbery in an SUV, police said.
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“There are similarities in all four incidents, but we cannot say with certainty that it was the same offender,” Oak Park police Sgt. Angelo Episcopo said.
According to police, the first incident occurred at 5:41 p.m. in the 200 block of South Boulevard when a man wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and carrying a handgun approached a pedestrian and demanded the pedestrian’s property.
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The gunman stole two cellphones and a wallet valued at $650, and fled to a silver-colored SUIV that was last seen driving westbound on South Boulevard, police said.
The second robbery occurred at 6:06 p.m. in the 200 block of North Ridgeland Avenue when a man wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and jeans walked up to a pedestrian, displayed a handgun and demanded the pedestrian’s property, police said.
The gunman stole the pedestrian’s wallet and fled in a silver-colored SUIV with tinted windows that was last seen driving westbound on Lake Street, police said.
At 6:13 p.m., a man wearing a grey-hooded sweatshirt approached a pedestrian in the 100 block of North Harvey Avenue, displayed a handgun and demanded the pedestrian’s property, police said.
The gunman stole a wallet and cellphone valued at $1,100 and fled in a silver-colored SUV with tinted windows, police said. The car was last seen driving northbound on Harvey Avenue.
The final incident occurred at 6:24 p.m. in the 600 block of South Scoville Avenue when a man displaying a gun demanded the property of a pedestrian, police said.
The gunman stole the pedestrian’s purse valued at $350 and fled the area in a grey-colored SUV that was last seen driving northbound on Scoville Avenue, police said.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact the Oak Park Police Department at 708-386-3800. Crime tips may also be provided anonymously at 708-434-1636 or online at www.oak-park.us/crimetip.
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sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx raises more than $350K in last week, but with a $270K haul of

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx raises more than $350K in last week, but with a $270K haul of his own GOP opponent Patrick O’Brien insists he has the ‘momentum’

Foxx reported collecting $ 351,600 since last Wednesday , while challenger Patrick O ’ Brien pulled in $ 270,100 , @ @ @ @ @ remains about $ 225,000 under O ’ Brien ’ s total of $ 818,000 raised @ @ @ @ @ election .
High-profile figures from Illinois and beyond also opened up their wallets on both @ @ @ @ @ which is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched in the county @ @ @ @ @ reformist vision against O ’ Brien ’ s law-and-order message .

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx pulled in more than $350,000 in campaign contributions over the past week, diminishing but not closing the gap between the first-term Democratic incumbent’s general-election haul and that of her Republican opponent who outraised her during the previous quarter.
Foxx reported collecting $351,600 since last Wednesday, while challenger Patrick O’Brien pulled in $270,100, state records show. She remains about $225,000 under O’Brien’s total of $818,000 raised since the March 17 primary election. High-profile figures from Illinois and beyond also opened up their wallets on both sides of the race, which is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched in the county and pits Foxx’s reformist vision against O’Brien’s law-and-order message.
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“The state’s attorney’s donors and supporters made a clear statement that they want her to continue the work she has done so far,” Foxx spokeswoman Alex Sims said. “And when hearing the story of her opponent and his wrongful convictions, they are choosing to move forward and not backward.”
O’Brien spokesman Brad Goodman said Foxx’s recent influx of donations is nothing for him to worry about.
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“Since the primary election, Pat O’Brien has outraised the incumbent Kim Foxx by over $225,000," Goodman wrote in a statement. “Polling shows that Pat has all the momentum in the race, he will continue raising money and sharing the story of how Kim Foxx has failed and his plans to bring justice and integrity to Cook County.”
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Foxx’s latest cash surge comes after O’Brien’s campaign had the upper hand during the third-quarter fundraising period that ended last month: $401,851 compared with Foxx’s $232,786 total. For the first half of October, O’Brien maintained the lead by raising $146,673 while Foxx collected $14,300.
But with the cash windfall over the last week, Foxx is catching up to O’Brien in this month’s fundraising contest. As attacks ramp up on both sides, money has been flowing after O’Brien blew past the self-funding threshold when he made a personal contribution to his campaign last Tuesday, lifting fundraising caps for the rest of the race.
Some of Foxx’s financial backers during the past week include Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin, who donated $75,000, and former adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and current Chicago Sun-Times investor Michael Sacks, who donated $100,000. Another $100,000 contribution was made by Fred Eychaner, Newsweb Corp. owner and Democratic Party donor.
O’Brien has some wealthy backers as well: billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin poured in $100,000 and Guaranteed Rate CEO Victor Ciardelli added $76,800 over the last week. This was after Ciardelli donated about $5,800 back in September. And Richard Melman, Chicago restaurateur and founder of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, gave $5,800 recently.
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-21--2 wounded in South Side shootings

2 wounded in South Side shootings

The most recent shooting happened about 12:50 p.m. in the first block of West 108th Place , in the city @ @ @ @ @ There , a 27-year-old man was shot in the right leg , though circumstances surrounding @ @ @ @ @ clear to police , who didn ’ t release his condition or hospital information .

Two men were wounded in separate South Side shootings on Wednesday, according to police.
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The most recent shooting happened about 12:50 p.m. in the first block of West 108th Place, in the city’s Roseland neighborhood. There, a 27-year-old man was shot in the right leg, though circumstances surrounding the shooting weren’t clear to police, who didn’t release his condition or hospital information.
Earlier, about 11:35 a.m. in the Gresham neighborhood, a 24-year-old man was shot in the 8400 block of South Throop Street. He was sitting inside a parked car when someone in a white SUV opened fire before fleeing south on Throop.
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He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center with wounds to his forehead and hand, and police didn’t release his condition, though they said it had been “stabilized.”