* I was in college in Munich on this day in 1980 when my roommate burst into our dorm room and woke me up to tell me that John Lennon had been murdered. All classes had been canceled.
Everyone was just in shock. How could something like this happen to a person like him?
There was no Internet back then and the only television was in the dorm’s lobby, so we mainly relied on Armed Forces Radio for updates.
It’s all such a blur now. But I remember, after hearing the news for myself on the radio, going to the main campus building (it was a University of Maryland campus on an Army base) and huddling with crying friends. I eventually wound up back in my room, and we put this song on the record player and sat in silence as we listened to it over and over again…
The Illinois Board of Higher Education today released public university enrollment data indicating enrollment numbers holding steady despite nationwide declines in new and returning students due to COVID-19. Overall enrollment in the state was up by 0.2 percent or 417 students compared to fall of 2019 with 182,586 students currently enrolled in public universities. A nationwide snapshot of fall enrollment shows higher education down by 1.8 percent compared to 2019, per the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
“I am extremely proud of the resiliency of our students, our institutions, their leadership and faculty who all worked hard to make this Fall reopening as successful as possible. There was talk over the summer that college enrollments could be down 25 percent across the nation, and Illinois has proven that its students continue to stay the course,” IBHE Chair John Atkinson said. “Enrollment in our public universities remained largely steady which is, a reflection of both Governor Pritzker’s continued commitment to higher education funding and the planning and preparation of the IBHE Reopening Committee working with our public, private and community college leaders to reopen safely to students”
Undergraduate enrollment by headcount was down slightly, with a decrease of 1,345 students (1 percent) for a total of 129,512 students. Graduate enrollment was up 1,762, or 3.4 percent over last fall. Nationally, undergraduate enrollment at public universities was down nearly 2 percent, while graduate enrollment was up 3.6 percent.
* Illinois Public University Enrollments from Fall of 2020-2021 to Fall of 2019-2020…
The enrollment of Black students was also steady, with a total 20,829 student overall, up 0.6 percent from last year. Notable increases occurred in the number of new freshmen (3.2 percent) and in graduate/professional enrollments (5.2 percent). Nationally, public universities saw a decline of 4.0 percent in Black undergraduate enrollment. In Illinois, Black undergraduate enrollment was down only 0.8 percent.
The enrollment of public university Latinx students continued to rise to 27,868 students, an increase of 6.1 percent, or 1,594 students, over academic year 2019-2020. Growth was notable in both undergraduate enrollment (4.5 percent) and in graduate/professional enrollment (14.6 percent). Nationally, public university Latinx undergraduate enrollment was down 1.8 percent.
“This is the first year we have looked at our early enrollment data through an equity lens. Illinois public universities beat national trends, increasing enrollment for Black and Latinx students. We were very deliberate about investing in supports for our most vulnerable students,” said IBHE Director Ginger Ostro. “With $30 million in federal funds provided for institutions through Governor JB Pritzker’s Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, private funding to provide emergency grants to students, creating a drive-up WiFi hotspot map, and launching a public education campaign, “Stay the Course,” everything we did since March was focused on keeping students on track to their degree.”
* Maybe after doing this, Congress can find time to cut a deal on a stimulus bill. Greg Hinz…
A project seen as crucial to keeping voracious Asian carp out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes is teed up for a vote in the U.S. House today.
Under a deal crafted by U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Geneva, construction of a barrier separation system at the Brandon Road locks on the Des Plaines River just south of Joliet would be funded 80 percent by the federal government, up from the normal 50 percent.
That would cut Illinois’ share of the roughly $500 million project to $100 million, with other states likely to pick up some of the share. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration had balked at the state’s fiscal hit, which had risen with estimated construction costs to as much as $250 million, but green leaders including the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Howard Learner say they believe Rauner successor, J.B. Pritzker, will go along with the new funding plan trimming the state’s cost. […]
The same bill also authorizes the corps to study beach “resiliency” issues for the Chicago shoreline, which is under pressure from rising lake levels.
In fish, the fin bone is connected to the tail bone and so on. But for a researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale studying an aggressive invader, it’s all about the ear bone.
That tiny bone in the ear of the grass carp is exposing an important clue to controlling their numbers in the Great Lakes. The findings are contained in a paper by SIU Professor of Zoology Gregory Whitledge, recently published in Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Whitledge and others used the telltale chemistry contained in the growth rings from the bone to identify key breeding grounds for the fish. The information contained in the otoliths, or so-called “ear stones,” could help wildlife managers better target population control efforts aimed at a fish that crowds out native animals.
Now, about the Golden Horseshoe Awards. Since there was basically no session this year, I’m not sure that many of our categories are even relevant (best restaurant, bars, waitstaff, legislators, lobbyists, etc.). So, what would you like to do? Which categories do you think would be most appropriate? And, remember, these awards are for achievement. We don’t waste our time on negativity. No snark allowed.
My own thoughts are that we give the best agency director award to Dr. Ezike and give a huge shoutout to all the staff who have kept everything together during these crazy times and call it a day.
IMHO - the boots on the ground and blog specific categories should remain this year. Best Government Staff/Official, Best Senate AA/District Office, Best House AA/District Office, Best Liaison - these are non-political in 2020 and the folks that would be considered for these categories have worked their tails off helping constituents and keeping this state afloat.
For the blog itself, Best Commenter and Best Use of Social Media should be considered since CapFax and Twitter have helped most of us keep our wits about us throughout the pandemic.
I’ll be using that comment as a basis for this year’s categories, but I may add or subtract as we go along, particularly since we have some time constraints.
* Today’s 2020 Golden Horseshoe Awards categories…
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Democrats
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Republicans
I know it’s not possible for everyone, but please try your best to nominate in both categories. And remember to explain your answer or your vote will not count. This is not a simple poll.
Also, while you’re contemplating your responses, please click here and donate to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. We’ve already surpassed last year’s level, so let’s keep it going. Your donation will buy winter coats and boots and Christmas presents for foster kids.
* Deaths and hospitalizations are lagging indicators, so the new cases and positivity rates are somewhat encouraging. But sometimes trends don’t last long…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 7,910 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 145 additional deaths.
- Boone County: 1 male 80s
- Christian County: 1 female 70s
- Clay County: 1 male 50s
- Clinton County: 1 male 60s
- Coles County: 1 female 80s
- Cook County: 2 males 30s, 2 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 4 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 3 females 90s, 7 males 90s, 2 females 100+
- DeKalb County: 1 female 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Effingham County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Franklin County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
- Fulton County: 1 male 70s
- Grundy County: 1 female 70s
- Hamilton County: 1 female 70s
- Hardin County: 1 female 90s
- Iroquois County: 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s
- Jackson County: 2 males 70s
- Jasper County: 1 female 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s
- Kendall County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 80s
- Knox County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
- LaSalle County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 3 males 90s
- Lawrence County: 1 female 90s
- Lee County: 1 female 80s
- Livingston County: 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s
- Logan County: 1 female 90s
- Macon County: 1 male 90s
- Macoupin County: 1 female 90s
- Madison County: 2 males 50s, 2 females 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
- Marion County: 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s
- Mason County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- McLean County: 1 male 90s
- Mercer County: 1 female 80s
- Monroe County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Morgan County: 1 male 30s, 1 male 90s
- Moultrie County: 1 female 80s
- Peoria County: 1 female 90s
- Perry County: 1 male 90s
- Pike County: 1 male 50s
- Richland County: 1 female 90s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 50s, 2 males 60s, 3 males 80s, 1 female 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- Shelby County: 1 male 70s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
- Warren County: 1 male 70s
- Washington County: 1 male 80s
- Whiteside County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
- Will County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Williamson County: 2 males 70s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 804,174 cases, including 13,487 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 95,825 specimens for a total 11,274,608. As of last night, 5,199 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,071 patients were in the ICU and 626 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 1 – December 6, 2020 is 9.9%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 1 – December 6, 2020 is 11.8%.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Pfizer has told the Trump administration it cannot provide substantial additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine until late June or July because other countries have rushed to buy up most of its supply, according to multiple individuals familiar with the situation.
That means the U.S. government may not be able to ramp up as rapidly as it had expected from the 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that it purchased earlier this year, raising questions about whether it can keep to its aggressive schedule to vaccinate most Americans by late spring or early summer.
Trump administration officials denied there would be availability issues in the second quarter, citing other vaccines in the pipeline — most immediately, Moderna’s, also expected to be approved in coming weeks. Both vaccines are two-dose regimens, so the 100 million doses purchased of each would cover 50 million people each. […]
But several officials knowledgeable about the contracts said that supplies from other companies may be insufficient to fill the gap.
Last summer, Pfizer officials had urged Operation Warp Speed to purchase 200 million doses, or enough of the two-shot regimen for 100 million people, according to people knowledgeable about the issue who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the situation. But the Warp Speed officials declined, opting instead for 100 million doses, they said. The New York Times first reported that federal officials passed on the opportunity when Pfizer offered to sell more doses.
When the St. Clair County Health Department shut down Reifschneider’s Grill & Grape in Freeburg last week for violating a statewide ban on indoor dining, its other location less than 20 miles away in Monroe County remained open.
The reason? The two counties — one controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans — have different approaches to enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.
In a crackdown last week, Democratic-led St. Clair County yanked liquor and food licenses for seven bars and restaurants that still welcomed customers indoors. Monroe County, under GOP control, relies solely on education. It has not closed or suspended any businesses. […]
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has put the onus on local officials to carry out his executive orders. But just as COVID-19 is politically polarizing at the national level, questions about enforcement are enmeshed in local politics.
In the past week, Indiana has the nation’s second highest per capita COVID-19 spread, after Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That trend appears to show the state’s outlook is getting worse, even as cases and hospitalization rates hit all-time highs recently.
The CDC reported Indiana had 48,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the past week, or 103.1 per 100,000. Rhode Island, reported 8,100 new cases, or 110.6 per 100,000.
Indiana reported 124 new virus deaths Tuesday
Indiana has about half the population of Illinois and just as many or even more deaths. Whew.
New guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is offering new hope to families with loved ones in long-term care.
IDPH announced an essential caregiver position in these facilities for the first time after months of deliberation.
Family members can go through testing protocols and enter facilities to take care of their loved ones as long as there isn’t an ongoing outbreak.
In a guidance document, IDPH specifies the essential caregivers “must be screened, tested, and provided PPE in accordance with the health care personnel guidance in the facility’s COVID-19 plan.”
The governor had a different level of ire for a Chicago alderman and a Republican state Representative who separately violated COVID-19 safety protocols.
State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, said the indoor party he hosted Thursday in Douglas County was a Christmas get together to “celebrate victories and freedom.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Halbrook should have known better.
“Shame on him for having people in a room, packed together, not wearing a mask,” Pritzker said. “[Halbrook] knows better, he should know better, if he doesn’t, maybe he shouldn’t be in the General Assembly.”
Photos posted on social media show attendees close together and not wearing masks. Halbrook said nobody was forced to go.
“I didn’t make any of those recommendations,” Halbrook told WMAY. “Everybody knows what it is, it’s hammered into them 24/7, 365, and so anybody and everybody knows what those recommendations are. The big issue is most those people there are not big fans of government control in their lives, they’re not big fans of the governor.”
In Chicago, Alderman Tom Tunney apologized for his “error in judgement” in recently serving people inside his Ann Sather restaurant.
“I’ll tell you what the difference is, by the way, the alderman admitted that he shouldn’t have done it,” Pritzker said.
Tunney admitted to serving patrons inside after a Chicago blog posted about it.
“OK, but Brad Halbrook, he’s been caught,” Pritzker said. “You think he’s admitting it? No. You think he’s taking responsibility? He has 100 people in a space, he knows so much better than that.”
Halbrook said people have a constitutional right to peaceably assemble.
“It’s really shameful that they report that I was caught having a holiday party,” Halbrook said. “It was out there for all the world to see and anybody could come and go as they wished or chose.”
Ives was interviewed on a talk radio program and said, “I didn’t know that you know anybody cared what I was doing to begin with.” She also repeated Halbrook’s comment about how nobody was forced to show up, and called the legislators who did show up “freedom fighters.”
Q: Speaker Madigan was quoted over the weekend saying something about helping you get an income tax increase in light of the failure of the graduated tax proposal. What is he talking about?
A: Well, what I can say is that I’m focused on the cuts that need to be made in state government, making sure that we’re paring back as best we can, making efficiencies in state government, looking to Republican and Democratic leaders as I already have and asking them for their best ideas about what it is that we need to cut in state government. So that’s what I’ve been focused on. And I will say that I have not yet heard back from the leaders about what their best proposals are for what cuts need to be made. And so I’m awaiting their responses.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** Letter from Leader Durkin to Gov. Pritzker…
After the rejection of the progressive tax amendment by voters, the four legislative leaders and yourself spoke on November 12th to discuss the myriad of issues relating to the unbalanced budget passed by the General Assembly in May that you eventually signed into law.
For much of that call, you and I discussed options for reductions in spending. To further our discussion, I asked for a list of spending reductions your agencies proposed in response to your September 2019 order to reduce spending by 6.5 percent. As of today, I have not received that document, and I am now asking again for the list of spending reductions by agency.
Even though Veto Session was canceled against our wishes, I hope you will once again call us together to discuss your proposals for balancing the state’s budget as January fast approaches. Speaker Madigan has stated he will work with you on another tax increase, but I hope that you will respect the will of the voters and instead look to live within our means.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Senate President Don Harmon’s spokesman John Patterson…
Republicans made it clear deep budget cuts were a better alternative to a Fair Tax. The voters have spoken. We now look forward to our colleagues across the aisle offering up the Republican cuts for public review.
* From the most never-wrong expert on everything COVID…
Now @GovPritzker has some explaining to do. According to this new “science and data,” Resturants and Bars, YOUTH travel sports, group classes at gyms should be open! We’ll discuss @MorningAnswer
The Illinois Department of Public Health released information on the rates of COVID-19 exposure throughout the state and where exposure is most prominent.
The Governor has pointed out, in the past, restaurants, bars and schools top the list, but now we’re seeing different results.
* The governor was asked about the decrease for bars and restaurants yesterday and he said the numbers have dropped because they’ve been closed for indoor service. Not all have closed, obviously, but the mitigations are clearly working.
“I think in the wake of what we’ve seen in the murder of George Floyd and the concerns in the city that relates to the consent decree, people want to make sure there’s police accountability, so our top priority is working with the attorney general on police licensing,” [Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx] said.
The head of FOP Lodge 7 said with murders skyrocketing this year, Foxx should focus her attention there. He called the licensing effort retaliation for the union’s support of her opponent Pat O’Brien.
“Since she wants to pick that fight, along with some other people in this state, and she wants to join that chorus, bring it on,” said FOP President John Catanzara, Jr. “You know, we’ve been very clear that licensing is not acceptable in any way, shape or form.”
The FOP claims there has been more accountability, but vowed to work against any lawmaker that supports policing licensing.
“They want blood. They don’t want fairness. They want blood and they’re not going to get it,” Catanzara vowed.
The state’s attorney can only act on murderers after the cops catch them. Just sayin…
A federal judge told Chicago’s main police union on Monday that it needs to ensure its member officers are wearing face masks and maintaining safe social distances while on the job, in keeping with public health guidelines around COVID-19.
The pointed reminder from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow Jr., who is overseeing sweeping mandated department reforms, came after the Fraternal Order of Police filed a motion alleging the city was violating its own health guidelines. Officers have been put at risk when the Chicago Police Department conducted training sessions that included up to 50 people, the union alleged. […]
“(T)he Court reiterates the importance of the moving party continuing to monitor and insist upon compliance with the guidelines by its own membership, which is a concern given the number of photographs and videos that the Court and the Independent Monitor (overseeing the reforms) have seen during the pandemic showing CPD patrol officers out of compliance with masking and social distancing requirements,” Dow wrote. […]
“Litigants who invoke equity ‘must come with clean hands,’” the judge wrote, referencing language from a noted case, “and during this pandemic, with masked faces as well.”
* The governor was asked about the latest numbers yesterday…
Illinois is entering what could be “the most crucial month of this entire pandemic,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday, a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
Though the state has recently seen a slight decrease in the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 patients, it’s still 14% higher than the spring peak during the initial surge of the pandemic.
“It’s likely too early for us to have yet seen the bulk of Thanksgiving-related hospitalizations. We’re now in our 11th day since Thanksgiving and we are four days out from Hanukkah and 18 days from Christmas, 19 days from Kwanzaa, 24 from New Year’s Eve,” Pritzker said Monday. “These next four weeks may be the most crucial month of this entire pandemic. We quite literally have very limited leeway in our hospital systems to manage another surge.”
The current [national] rise in hospitalizations began in late September, and for weeks now hospitals have faced unprecedented demand for medical care. The number of hospitalized patients has increased nearly every day: Since November 1, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled; since October 1, it has tripled.
* Keep the discussion confined to Illinois politics and be decent to each other. Thanks. Also, you might want to click here and contribute to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. Your donation will buy Christmas gifts for foster kids and make sure they have coats and boots for the winter.
The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs today announced that Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn will serve as the interim Administrator of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home as a search begins for a permanent replacement. Vaughn is assuming responsibilities from former Home Administrator Angela Mehlbrech, who was terminated by the Department. Additionally, the Director of Nursing at the home has been placed on administrative leave pending the ongoing investigation.
These personnel changes follow the announcement of an independent investigation into the outbreak at the home led by the Acting Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The response to the outbreak has also included site visits by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, with IDVA fully adopting all recommendations in both reports in the LaSalle Home as well as all state veterans’ homes.
Acting Assistant Director Vaughn is a 24-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps where he reached the rank of Master Sergeant and served as Administrative Chief and Personnel Chief, among other roles. Upon his retirement from active duty in 2005, he joined the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs where he has served for the past 15 years. Currently, he oversees the IDVA’s team of Veteran Service Officers who provide direct support to veterans across the state.
“IDVA mourns the tragedy of the veteran heroes lost to COVID-19 at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. We will ensure that CDC and IDPH protocols are followed and full accountability occurs for any lapses in protocols,” said Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn. “All measures will be taken to ensure the health and well-being of the residents we serve and we will continue to support their families and loved ones during this heartbreaking period.”
“I am fully committed to ensuring complete transparency and accountability at all of our veterans’ homes and our department will fully cooperate with the independent investigation as it moves forward,” said IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia. “It is our moral obligation to do everything in our power to take care of our veteran heroes. I have full confidence that Acting Assistant Director Vaughn is the right person to take command of the home’s operations during the search for a new home administrator. His background in administration in the United States Marine Corps will serve our residents and their families well during this process.”
While a Marine, Vaughn served at all levels of command including an infantry rifle company, infantry battalion, helicopter squadron, air control squadron, vehicle maintenance battalion, and a tour at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. His assignments also included a deployment to Beirut, Lebanon in support of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force and mobilization of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He supported the Battalion from Camp Pendleton, CA during their deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 – 2005. Vaughn is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, Marine Corps Commendation Medal with 2 gold stars and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with 3 gold stars.
The new COVID-19 surge is hitting Illinois’ most vulnerable residents harder than ever, with a record 480 deaths recorded in the past week among people living in long-term care facilities.
A Tribune analysis found the surge in deaths was particularly steep outside the greater Chicago area, underscoring the challenges of keeping the virus out of nursing homes and assisted living facilities when infections are spreading in the surrounding communities.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered a deep sigh Friday when asked what more could be done to tamp down the surge in long-term care deaths.
“This is frankly the same challenge that exists in all the other populations, and even more so, when we’re at the highest levels of the pandemic,” he told reporters.
A striking, informative study was just released from South Korea, examining a transmission chain in a restaurant. It is perhaps one of the finest examples of shoe-leather epidemiology I’ve seen since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s worth a deeper dive.
If you just want the results: one person (Case B) infected two other people (case A and C) from a distance away of 6.5 meters (~21 feet) and 4.8m (~15 feet). Case B and case A overlapped for just five minutes at quite a distance away. These people were well beyond the current 6 feet / 2 meter guidelines of CDC and much further than the current 3 feet / one meter distance advocated by the WHO. And they still transmitted the virus.
That’s the quick and dirty of it. But there’s a lot more detail here, and like many stories, it is best told through a picture:
At a time when many Joliet-area restaurants and bars are not following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s rules outlawing indoor dining amid the coronavirus pandemic, Aurelio’s Pizza has announced it is joining that group.
If Aurelio’s kept obeying Pritzker, Joliet’s long-time pizzeria at 3101 West Jefferson St. will be an empty building at this time next year, the restaurant management predicted.
* Down under…
If you’re wondering what life is like in Australia… pretty much back to normal. Thanks to decisive action, lockdowns, mandatory international quarantine, and stringent contact tracing, the current number of active cases in the whole country (pop. 25 million)?
A nationwide shortage of substitute teachers was a chronic problem long before the arrival of the pandemic. But now, a dearth of available subs across the Chicago area has reached a crisis level at many school districts, where the roster of educators available to step in when teachers are absent has dwindled precipitously at a time of unprecedented need for their services.
The current rise in hospitalizations began in late September, and for weeks now hospitals have faced unprecedented demand for medical care. The number of hospitalized patients has increased nearly every day: Since November 1, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled; since October 1, it has tripled. […]
It is clearest in a single simple statistic, recently observed by Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. For weeks, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had been about 3.5 percent of the number of cases reported a week earlier. But, he noticed, that relationship has broken down. A smaller and smaller proportion of cases is appearing in hospitalization totals.
“This is a real thing. It’s not an artifact. It’s not data problems,” Jha told us.
Why would this number change? As hospitals run out of beds, they could be forced to alter the standards for what kinds of patients are admitted with COVID-19. The average American admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 today is probably more acutely ill than someone admitted with COVID-19 in the late summer. This isn’t because doctors or nurses are acting out of cruelty or malice, but simply because they are running out of hospital beds and must tighten the criteria on who can be admitted.
GALESBURG — At Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, Gov. JB Pritzker gave one local hospital worker a pleasant surprise.
Terri McCrery, infection preventionist at OSF Healthcare’s St. Mary Medical Center was recognized as one of five Healthcare Heroes by the governor at his daily COVID press briefing. The recognition came for her work alongside her husband and Lisa Kelly, who co-own Monmouth-based MC Sports and More, and a generous donation they made to OSF employees.
McCrery’s husband Troy had the idea to make shirts and donate them to raise the spirit of those working in the hospitals. This was when Heart Hunters, the locally founded movement encouraging people to put colorful hearts in their windows to cheer on healthcare workers, was near the peak of its popularity.
[Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia] met with the governor in early November with plans to propose policy recommendations that include partial reopening. […]
Toia—already a high-energy, nonstop worker—is constantly working the phones. Boehm estimates he’s called Toia hundreds of times since the pandemic began. Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, owner of the Ann Sather restaurant chain and a former chairman of the association, says Toia is talking to leaders as often as possible, too, even amid tensions.
“The mayor and the governor—this is pretty unusual—they’re talking to the restaurant association every week,” Tunney says. […]
Toia’s focus is on negotiating with Pritzker, whose orders take precedence over city rules.
Proposing policy recommendations, talking with the governor on a weekly basis, negotiating with the governor. Hmm.
“Lobby” and “lobbying” means any communication with an official of the executive or legislative branch of State government as defined in subsection (c) for the ultimate purpose of influencing any executive, legislative, or administrative action.
Yet, Toia is not registered. I’ve been asking the Restaurant Association why he hasn’t registered for weeks, and the answer has been that he isn’t required to do so, even though he has registered with the city.
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) acknowledged Monday he “made a mistake” by allowing some of his regular customers to dine inside his Ann Sather Restaurants in defiance of state and city orders banning indoor dining. […]
On Monday, Tunney openly acknowledged having defied the governor’s order.
“We have, on occasion, sat regular diners in the back of the restaurant. I acknowledge that. It’s not OK. I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to it. I should have not sat regular customers in my restaurant whatsoever,” said Tunney, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee.
“I have a lot of repeat customers over the years. On a sporadic basis, I have let regular customers — very few and far between — in my store. I made an error.”
The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed to health care workers in Illinois and Chicago between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26 if federal officials grant an emergency use authorization, as expected, to pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.
Illinois expects to get 109,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, including 23,000 doses reserved for Chicago, in the first shipment, Pritzker said. However, that depends on federal officials voting to authorize its distribution on Thursday.
But that will only be enough for a fraction of the 654,598 health care workers in Chicago and Illinois, Pritzker said. The first doctors and nurses to be vaccinated will be in the 50 Illinois counties with the highest death rates per capita, officials said.
That includes DuPage, Kane, Will and Lake counties as well as suburban Cook County, officials said.
OK, let’s pause it right there.
First, keep in mind here that this round of vaccines is going to doctors and nurses, not the general public. But the administration is using a general public metric - county death rates - and not a frontline metric, like, perhaps, hospitals with the highest patient loads.
Several of those counties feed their patients into regional medical centers in places like Springfield, Quincy and Peoria. But the three counties with those hubs are not on the list.
Again, perhaps if the metric was “counties where people actually die in the hospital,” it would make more sense. But why should Tazewell County get aid for its workers when COVID-19 patients are being sent to Peoria? If you Google “Tazewell County Hospitals Illinois,” the list is almost purely Peoria facilities. Same for Christian, Shelby, Morgan, etc. and their medical hub in Springfield.
Again, we’re supposed to be helping frontline medical workers with these vaccines. The metric isn’t based on those medical workers. So, a whole bunch of hard-working nurses and doctors are being left out of this round.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response…
Decisions about how best to distribute limited doses of the vaccine are of course wrenching, but using deaths as the determinant was important because death is the ultimate worst outcome that we hope to prevent. Next week, health care workers in places with lower death ratios will begin to receive vaccines. And in the meantime, local health departments should prioritize distribution of the vaccine to facilities where residents of the hardest-hit counties receive their care. Healthcare workers are a part of their community and the healthcare workers who live in communities with the highest rates of death will get the first doses. The state expects regular shipments that will roll out to all healthcare workers soon after the first round.
* Weekend case and death numbers always tend to low…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 90 additional deaths.
- Champaign County: 1 female 90s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 40s, 4 females 50s, 5 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 10 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 13 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 5 males 90s
- DuPage County: 1 male 60s
- Fayette County: 1 male 90s
- Ford County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
- Kane County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 50s
- Lake County: 1 female youth, 1 male 80s
- Madison County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Marion County: 1 female 70s
- Mason County: 1 female 60s
- Massac County: 1 male 80s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s
- McLean County: 1 female 80s
- Mercer County: 1 male 70s
- Peoria County: 1 female 70s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s
- Tazewell County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s
- Warren County: 1 female 50s
- Will County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
- Woodford County: 1 female 100+
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 796,264 cases, including 13,343 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 77,569 specimens for a total 11,178,783. As of last night, 5,190 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,123 patients were in the ICU and 648 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from November 30 – December 6, 2020 is 10.3%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 30 – December 6, 2020 is 11.9%.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for deaths previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Q: Another big decision that Democrats in the majority of Illinois have to make regards Speaker of the House Mike Madigan. He’s now embroiled in the controversial ComEd bribery scandal and the subject of an investigation in the legislature. He is losing support among some Democrats. Where do you stand?
A: Well, it’s certainly going to be a difficult question for all of us. We’re looking forward to getting together as a caucus, I don’t know if it’s going to be in person or virtually, to talk through these issues and try to make a decision. It’s an important conversation that we need to be having going into next year especially with the difficult time we’re going to be facing both on the budget, some of the reform agenda that’s coming up, ethics reform, property tax relief. We have a very full plate that we need to get started addressing as soon as possible.
Q: Should he still be the Speaker?
A: You know, I think that’s the question that we’re going to be talking to each other over the next couple of weeks. You know, I think we have a very diverse caucus, with a lot of different viewpoints, and I think we need to have that conversation collectively as a Democratic family, and try to come to a solution that way.
Q: Will you vote for him as Speaker and if not him, who?
A: Well, again, it really depends on what candidates are out there. And you know I generally tend to not litigate our internal caucus matters publicly. And so I think it’s a conversation that we need to have amongst ourselves and then come out and and having made that decision internally. I know there’s a proposal from Republican leader Durkin that the Democrats should vote for him as Speaker, and that’s certainly just not an option. But we need to talk about it within our own party with our own caucus to come to what that answer is going to be.
This is not the sort of decision that should be kept behind closed doors.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement following Mike Madigan’s pitch for Speaker including an income tax increase on Illinoisans:
“Fresh off the indictment of his confidant and gatekeeper Mike McClain, Michael Madigan is selling his candidacy for Speaker with the promise of another tax increase. It was just over one month ago when Illinois taxpayers resoundingly rejected the graduated tax and sent a message that everyone heard but the Democratic Party. It is time for Governor Pritzker and Illinois Democrats to take a hint from the November election: don’t go back to the taxpayers and job creators to solve the self-inflicted troubles facing our state.”
Fair enough. Complex issue. Requires nuance. And much more discussion. More important, the people the decision affects deserve more. So we’ll continue give them that.
Appreciate the feedback of those truly in the struggle.
As thousands of Illinois residents and businesses struggle to abide by current state COVID-control regulations, a downstate Christmas party held Thursday night reveals the battle that Gov. JB Pritzker and health officials now face: some people in the state aren’t following government rules, including a pair of well-known state representatives.
Illinois State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-102nd) held a supporter Christmas party Thursday that featured Illinois State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-109th) who was just elected to a state senate seat, the 55th district. The party’s location was Yoder’s Kitchen, a popular banquet hall south of Champaign.
The seemingly happy function featured dozens of full tables with no one apparently abiding by current protocols that prohibit crowds and require masks.
As the photos on Bailey’s campaign Facebook show, there were more than 100 people, no masks and no social distancing. Masks are not even seen on the tables and the elected officials are pictured in very close proximity to other people.
The event’s featured speaker was former state representative Jeanne Ives, who recently lost her race for a U.S. congressional seat.
Todd Ricketts isn’t ruling out a run for governor, according to a source close to the Cubs co-owner.
The revelation follows Tim Schneider’s announcement over the weekend that he is stepping down as state party chairman, prompting chatter that Ricketts, who is also chairman of the Republican National Committee’s finance committee, may be a possible — though unlikely — replacement.
“Todd thinks Tim did a great job as state chair. As Todd is continuing as RNC Finance chairman, he will not be a candidate for state chair,” the source said, which leaves Ricketts’ options open for a statewide run.
Todd, the youngest, has at times felt overlooked. Shortly after the Rickettses bought the team, Todd e-mailed his father and older brother Pete complaining that Tom seemed to be getting all the credit. Deadspin published the missive: “My kids live in the same neighborhood and go to the same school as Tom’s kids, and I don’t want them to have to constantly [be] explaining that there are equal owners when they are told that their uncle owns the Cubs. The reason I am so sensitive to this is that even today I feel as though my input and ideas are disregarded among our family, just as they were when we were kids.” As if to underscore his relative anonymity, a year later, Todd starred in an episode of “Undercover Boss,” growing a beard and taking odd jobs at Wrigley Field. No employees recognized him.
Todd Ricketts became deeply involved in Republican politics by working alongside his dad, who had staked out a position as a big conservative donor. (One of Todd Ricketts’s friends told me that Todd wanted to talk politics so much that it became difficult to spend time with him.) In 2013, Todd became the C.E.O. of one of the nation’s wealthiest political-action committees, Ending Spending, which his father founded and whose mission is to take on what it deems wasteful government funding. He and his father were, in many ways, a smaller version of the Koch brothers, whom Joe once reportedly called “great heroes.”
In 2013, Ricketts made a political decision that suggested the kind of compromises he was willing to make. That year, the pac Ending Spending spent four hundred thousand dollars on ads for the Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Ken Cuccinelli, who would ultimately lose to Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat. Cucinnelli, who is now the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, spoke to Ricketts’s belief in limited government—especially his opposition to the Affordable Care Act—but he also adamantly opposed same-sex marriage and said homosexuality was “against nature and harmful to society.” For Ricketts, whose sister is gay and active in L.G.B.T. advocacy—and whose uncle was gay and died of aids—Cuccinelli seemed like an odd political bedfellow. Moreover, that same year, Ricketts personally lobbied four key Republican state legislators to vote to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. “Todd is not a ‘single-issue’ voter,” Danny Diaz, Ricketts’s spokesperson, told me in an e-mail. “Todd obviously does not agree with Cuccinelli’s position on same-sex marriage.” One friend of Ricketts’s calls him “a principled pragmatist.”
Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor, is close to Ricketts. They bonded at an event at the American Enterprise Institute shortly after Walker signed Act 10 in Wisconsin, which reduced collective-bargaining rights for most state and municipal workers, including all teachers. Ricketts told Walker he admired what he was doing in Wisconsin—and so, when Walker faced a recall, Ricketts and his parents came to Walker’s aid. Ricketts held a fund-raiser, serving Wisconsin beer and bratwurst at his home in a suburb north of Chicago. “We get wonky, geeky, about policy,” Walker told me.
[…]
Despite his father’s experience, Todd Ricketts can be surprisingly unfiltered. In comments on his Facebook page, Todd referred to covid-19 as the “the kung flu”—weeks before Trump used the demeaning phrase at a rally in Tulsa. In a post of a video in which New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to call the city if they witnessed large gatherings of people, Ricketts commented, “All snitches will be given priority when applying for jobs as security guards at the concentration camps that will be opening later this year.” […]
“The challenge in our conversations,” [talk show host Maze Jackson] told me, “is how do you address the systemic racism. Sometimes Todd would say, ‘How come you guys can’t just . . .?’ and I’d explain we haven’t had the opportunities.” […]
I asked Ricketts’s spokesman how Trump inspired Ricketts, and in return I received a twenty-page document titled “Trump Administration Accomplishments.” It’s clear from the list that Ricketts believes Trump has delivered for conservatives, including his crackdown on immigration and his emphasis on law and order. (Nearly three pages of bullet points argue that Trump has led a “comprehensive and aggressive” campaign against the coronavirus.) Additionally, as Walker mentioned, Ricketts sees in Biden’s candidacy a looming socialist threat. Ricketts’s spokesman cites endorsements by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders as evidence of this, along with Biden’s belief that the government can serve to protect the public’s well-being, including his call for eliminating carbon emissions by 2050, for expanding Social Security, and for lowering the eligibility age for Medicare to sixty. “Todd believes that President Trump represents an agenda that advances freedom for all Americans and expands opportunity for people at every level of the socioeconomic ladder,” Ricketts’s spokesman told me.
Illinois House Democratic Caucus Chair Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, told me last week that her decision to oppose Speaker Michael Madigan’s reelection was a process she’s been struggling with since the summer.
Willis became the 19th House Democrat to declare opposition to Madigan, putting him six votes shy of the 60 he needs to win.
“Over the last couple of weeks, it’s been getting more and more troubling,” she said. It boiled down to “an ethical decision, a moral decision.”
Willis’ father had heart surgery the previous weekend and, while sitting with her mother, she remembered what her mom had told her when she first ran for the House in 2012: “Don’t ever let your morals or standards decline.”
“And I was looking at my mom and I thought, ‘I want her to continue to be proud of me.’ And this is what I had to do.”
When I initially received Willis’ email announcing her decision, I checked the return address to make sure it wasn’t a hoax. Willis said several people asked her whether the email was legit. She was the first member of House Democratic leadership, after all, to publicly break with Madigan. This was no small deal. It felt to me and to others that this one was different.
Willis said she didn’t know if her decision would allow other House Dems to come forward. “I think everybody has to come to their own decisions their own way,” she said. “Maybe it’ll give them strength to be able to do that, but it’s not intended to push people to do something they’re not ready to do.”
She said she didn’t have anyone in mind to be the next House speaker but wants to support someone who is “willing to be a collaborative leader, so that it’s not just all controlled by one person. I think we need to see a change in leadership style.”
Asked if she was interested in the top job herself, Willis would only say, “That’s not the purpose of what the statement was. It was more to really free myself up.”
I told Willis I had just been talking on the phone with a union lobbyist who said there was no way that Madigan will ever give up. He’s just going to wait for everyone to flip back, the labor guy said with supreme confidence. There will be no surrender.
“I honestly don’t think they’re gonna flip back,” Willis said about the 18 House Democrats who preceded her in vowing to vote against Madigan.
“When I made the decision to do a written statement, it was knowing that there was no point of return, there was no going back by doing a written statement. That forced my hand. And I think the other members that did the same thing, if they were to ever turn back they could never run for office … that would be a career-ending move.”
None of them took the decision lightly, Willis said. “I think they all realize that it’s a point of no return.”
As you might imagine, the paranoia level among House Democrats is pretty high these days. So, it wasn’t too surprising that moments after Willis issued her statement, members were asking whether this might be some sort of Madigan plot to place one of his own leaders behind enemy lines. Willis flatly denied anything of the sort.
“If you had been on the conversation I had with him earlier this morning, you’d know that he did not put me up to it,” Willis said with a laugh.
Willis wouldn’t talk too many specifics but said she called Madigan as a courtesy.
“He did not want me to release the statement, and I told him I had no choice. I have made the decision to do it, and I wanted to do it. He really felt strongly that I should not release a statement and I said, ‘Well, the only way I won’t release the statement is if you withdraw from running for speaker,’ and he assured me that he was going to continue to be a candidate. There were a few other things that got said in between, but that’s the gist of it.”
Madigan didn’t lose his temper and was “very reserved,” she said.
“It was the most difficult call I’ve ever made in my life. But after the call was done, I felt like a ton of bricks was off of my shoulders.”
