A rainbow flag will fly in Daley Plaza throughout June. | Brian Rich/Sun-Times
“This month is about celebrating what we have achieved but also recognizing that there’s still a lot of work left to be done,” said Kevin Morrison, Cook County’s first openly LGBTQ commissioner.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison had hoped to hoist a rainbow flag during his first Pride Month in office in 2019 but ran into trouble obtaining one large enough to fly above Daley Plaza.
The flag-raising ceremony was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Finally, a rainbow Pride flag was hoisted at Daley Plaza on Tuesday to mark the start of Pride Month as Morrison, other commissioners and city officials celebrated its significance.
“No matter who you love, you are welcome in Cook County,” said Morrison, the first LGBTQ person elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
“Growing up in Elk Grove Village, I never thought I would get the opportunity to serve my community as an elected official simply because I was part of the LGBTQ community,” Morrison said. “Now, I’m proud to do the hard work to ensure LGBTQ equality in Cook County.”
Brian Rich/Sun-TimesCook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison
The County Board is set to vote this month on Morrison’s ordinance to make county documents and forms gender-inclusive. Last year, Morrison helped amend the county’s human rights ordinance, ensuring easier access for transgender people to use bathrooms and other facilities based on their gender identity.
Lamenting a number of anti-transgender legislation passed in the last year, Stephanie Skora, associative executive director of the Brave Space Alliance, spoke on the importance of improving the lives of transgender people locally.
“Just because we’re in Cook County doesn’t mean that we’re completely free of anti-trans hatred or antagonism,” Skora said. “Trans people are going to keep fighting, not just to survive, but thrive.”
“We have to credit those who fought the battle before us to bring us the rights and protections we have today. This month is about celebrating what we have achieved but also recognizing that there’s still a lot of work left to be done,” Morrison said.
Festivals are beginning to announce their future plans for 2021. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Improving coronavirus numbers have made more summer events possible. Here’s the latest updates on this year’s changing entertainment landscape.
With coronavirus case numbers and positivity rates on the decline, the summer festival season in Chicago is in much better shape than last year.
The city has given the green light for festivals and “general admission outdoor spectator events” to welcome 15 people for every 1,000 square feet.
The city has debated various ways bolster vaccination rates among young people most likely to attend outdoor music events like Lollapalooza and Riot Fest. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said a proposal to create a coronavirus vaccine passport for Chicago events is “very much a work in progress” but that preferred seating at those events could be one way to urge vaccination.
Some festivals have already announced their return and concerts are starting to be rescheduled.
We’re tracking the status of the city’s festival and major events throughout the area as new cancellations and postponements are announced. Check back for more updates.
May
JUNE
APIn this Feb. 12, 2018, file photo, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama stand on stage together as their official portraits are unveiled at a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington. The portraits will begin a five-city national tour in Chicago on June 18, 2021.
Pride in the Park, Grant Park, Headlining will be Chaka Khan, the legendary Queen of Funk; Gryffin, the self-taught prodigal producer; and Tiësto, who has been dubbed “the world’s greatest DJ.” June 26- 27.
JULY
The Ravinia Festival announced it will reopen in July 1 for 64 concerts through Sept. 26 with a slate of outdoor concerts including a six-week residency by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Also slated to appear are: Cynthia Erivo, Kurt Elling, Brian McKnight, Ides of March, Madeleine Peyroux, Midori, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.
Grant Park Music Festival, Millennium Park. All concerts are free with reserved seats for all concertgoers and will take place Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. Run time will be 90 minutes, without intermission. July 2-Aug. 21.
Getty Images for CMADarius Rucker (shown in performance at the The 54th Annual CMA Awards at Nashville’s Music City Center on in 2020) will headline the 2021 Windy City Smoekout in Chicago.
Summerfest: Milwaukee. The festival will take place over three weekends, Sept. 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18. More than 100 artists are slated to perform including Chance the Rapper, Miley Cyrus, Luke Bryan, Pixies, Rise Against, Wilco, Diplo, and Fitz and the Tantrums.
Renaissance at Beverly Ridge stands on the former site of a steel fabricating plant. The city helped fund the residential development, but some homes aren’t measuring up. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.
Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 76 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 58. Tomorrow there will be a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 77.
The Renaissance at Beverly Ridge — a subdivision in the Washington Heights neighborhood — has been branded as an oasis for Black middle-class families seeking a suburban feel.
But it has struggled to live up to that promise, with its developer accused of allowing buyers to move into new homes over the last two years that are riddled with defects.
Nearly a dozen subdivision residents told our Manny Ramos of a slew of problems: windows were the wrong size; decks had broken planks; flooring was the wrong color; garage doors didn’t work. Siding was cracked; wiring exposed and bricks were smeared with mortar. There were holes in ceilings, damaged downspouts and water seeping into basements.
“The grout started crumbling and every time we stepped on the floor, we could hear the floor crackling,” one resident said. “We told the construction company for months about this and they told us it’s no big deal they’ll fix it. We would take the day off from work when they said they were coming, only for them to just blow us off.”
The floor was finally repaired at the end of April. Turns out, the tiles weren’t glued down.
Bad weather couldn’t bring down “Drag Race” fans and the queens they came to see perform outside Soldier Field over the weekend for the first night of “Drive ‘N Drag Saves 2021.”
The live event featured “Super Queens” Asia O’Hara, Gottmik, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Naomi Smalls, Kim Chi and Plastique Tiara — who came to save the world from the disappointment that was 2020.
“There is no such thing as raining on our parade because here’s the thing: Drag and being queer and being fierce does not have any stoppers,” said Moxiett Contin, who braved the rain and lakefront chill to take in the extravaganza. “Rain nor snow nor shine will stop anything. It’s all about being you, it’s all about being fierce, it’s all about being f—— amazing.”
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times(From left) Plastique Tiara, Naomi Smalls, Gottmik, Kim Chi and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo perform Friday night during “Drive ‘N Drag Saves 2021,” hosted by Voss Events, in the parking lot of Soldier Field.
Despite it raining sideways and forcing staff to immediately squeegee pools of rainwater off the stage, each performer brought the heat, much to the crowd’s delight.
Gottmik got into a bar fight, Kim Chi walked like a duck until she laid an egg and so much more happened.
Kris Bryant, off to a scorching start this season, still doesn’t give a you-know-what. “Two months in, there isn’t a better player story in the league,” Steve Greenberg writes.
An aerial view of the entrance of Serrana, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, May 28, 2021. Brazil’s Butantan Institute has finished a mass vaccination of the city’s entire adult population with doses of Sinovac, to test the new coronavirus’ behavior in response to the vaccine. | AP
Most adults rolled up their sleeves when offered the vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, and the experiment has transformed the community into an oasis of near normalcy in a country where many communities continue to suffer.
SERRANA, Brazil — Just one COVID-19 patient is in critical condition at the Dr. Geraldo Cesar Reis clinic in Serrana, a city of almost 46,000 in Sao Paulo state’s countryside. The 63-year-old woman rejected the vaccine that was offered to every adult resident of Serrana as part of a trial.
Doctors say the woman was awaiting one of Pfizer’s shots, which remain scarce in Brazil. But she is an outlier here. Most adults rolled up their sleeves when offered the vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, and the experiment has transformed the community into an oasis of near normalcy in a country where many communities continue to suffer.
Doctors who treated COVID-19 in Serrana have seen their patient loads evaporate. They now help colleagues with other diseases and recently started eating lunch at home. Life has returned to the streets: Neighbors chat and families have weekend barbecues. Outsiders who previously had no reason to set foot in Serrana are arriving for haircuts and restaurant outings.
“We’re now as full as we used to be,” Rogério Silva, a staffer at a store for cheap refreshments and snacks, said in an interview. “Weeks ago, people wouldn’t form a line in here, wouldn’t eat in, and I wouldn’t let them use the bathroom. Now it’s back.”
The success story emerged as other population centers keep struggling with the virus, enduring rising infections and new government-imposed restrictions. Meanwhile, the vaccine appeared headed for wider use. The World Health Organization on Tuesday granted emergency use authorization to the Sinovac shot for people 18 and over, the second such authorization it has granted to a Chinese company.
The experiment known as “Project S” lasted four months and tested Sinovac’s shot in real-world conditions. The preliminary results made public Monday suggest the pandemic can be controlled if three-quarters of the population is fully vaccinated with Sinovac, said Ricardo Palacios, a director at Sao Paulo state’s Butantan Institute and coordinator of the study, which was not peer-reviewed.
“The most important result was understanding that we can control the pandemic even without vaccinating the entire population,” Palacios said.
The results offer hope to hundreds of millions of people, especially in developing nations. Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and others are likewise reliant on the Chinese shot, which is cheaper than vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
The city’s population was split into four geographic areas regardless of age and gender, and most adults received two shots by the end of April. Results released Monday showed that the pandemic was controlled after three of the areas had been vaccinated. It was not clear if vaccine uptake was the same in each area.
Serrana saw vast improvements: Deaths fell by 95%, hospitalizations by 86% and symptomatic cases by 80%.
The project “shows the protection exists and that the vaccine is effective. No doubt,” Gonzalo Vecina, one of the founders of Brazil’s health regulator and a medical school professor, told The Associated Press.
Likewise, Denise Garrett, vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, which advocates for expanding global vaccine access, called the results “good and very encouraging.”
Both Vecina and Garrett said unanswered questions remain and that more data is needed to properly analyze the results, including information about people who got shots but did not develop immunity.
The spread of the virus in Serrana slowed while neighboring communities like Ribeirao Preto, just 12 miles west, saw COVID-19 surge. The upswing was largely blamed on more contagious variants.
Hospitals in Ribeirao Preto are so full of COVID-19 patients that the mayor imposed strict shutdown measures last week, including halting public transportation and limiting hours for the city’s 700,000 residents to buy groceries. Some will wait months for their vaccines. Almost all shops are closed, and 95% of intensive-care unit beds are occupied by virus patients.
Elmano Silveira, 54, works at a local drugstore and for the first time wishes he lived in Serrana, which was looked down upon before the vaccination drive.
“My friends from there used to call me all the time. … Now I’m the one calling them,” Silveira said. “Before the pandemic, we had a big city vibe here. It was really busy. Now it’s like a desert.”
Just months ago, it was Serrana struggling to cope, according to Dr. João Antonio Madalosso Jr. For every patient who recovered in the first three months of 2021, two more arrived in bad shape, he said.
“Then, by the end of January, we heard this project was coming to Serrana. And calmness set in, little by little,” said Madalosso, 32, as he pointed at empty seats of the hospital’s COVID-19 ward. “Just look at this. This is much calmer than Ribeirao Preto and the entire region. The vaccine is no cure, but it is the solution to transform this into a light flu so people can carry on.”
That doesn’t mean Serrana is entirely rid of the virus. Some residents refused to get the shot. Others skipped the second dose or got infected before the vaccine took full effect. A few had prior diseases that prevented them from getting the vaccines.
Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly cast doubt on the shot’s efficacy. He said last year his administration wouldn’t buy the Chinese vaccine and that he wouldn’t let Brazilians become “guinea pigs.″ His health ministry signed a deal to buy tens of millions of doses only after Brazil’s health regulator approved the shot in January.
Had the government acted sooner, Brazil could have had twice as many Sinovac vaccines by now — 100 million doses, Butantan’s head, Dimas Covas, told a congressional inquiry last week. The shot accounts for half the vaccines made available to date in the country.
Vaccines arrived too late for some of the 463,000 people who have died from COVID-19 in Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest death toll.
The relative return to normal “could be happening all over Brazil if it were not for the delay in vaccinations,” said João Doria, Sao Paulo’s governor and an adversary of Bolsonaro. “These results show there’s only one way to control the pandemic: vaccines, vaccines, vaccines.”
Bolsonaro-fueled skepticism of Sinovac’s shot reached Serrana. It didn’t help that Sao Paulo state’s release of efficacy data was confusing, with Doria initially claiming 78% protection against mild cases on Jan. 7, then revising that five days later to 50.4%, barely above the level required by health authorities.
Carmen da Silva Cunha, 81, has lost friends to the virus, and she got vaccinated despite “a lot of people trying to get into my head regarding the vaccine.”
“Serrana got better, but it could be much more if a lot of people had taken their second shot,” she said in an interview at the hospital, where she sought treatment for a sore throat. She tested negative for COVID-19, and doctors expected her to return home in short order.
Mayor Leo Capitanelli is pleased with results. Standing beside a health screening station on the road into the city, he said people have had only mild and moderate COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. And he boasted about Serrana’s plan to host a music festival for about 5,000 spectators, all vaccinated with Sinovac’s shot.
“This project brought our pride back,” he said. “And it will bring hope for a fresh start next year.”
Police vehicles appear on the scene of a fire near a home in Acton, Calif. on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Authorities say there’s been a shooting at a Los Angeles County Fire Department station. Fire Department Supervisor Leslie Lua said paramedics responded to reports of gunshots at Fire Station 81, about 45 miles north of Los Angeles. The home on fire is about 10 miles east of the station, and there’s a heavy police presence, but it’s unclear if it’s connected to the shooting and authorities didn’t immediately have more information. | AP
Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of multiple gunshot victims shortly before 11 a.m. at Fire Station 81, about 45 miles north of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the county sheriff.
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A shooting at a small Los Angeles County Fire Department station Tuesday killed one firefighter and wounded another, multiple media outlets reported.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of multiple gunshot victims shortly before 11 a.m. at Fire Station 81, about 45 miles north of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the county sheriff. Authorities didn’t have more details.
A home about 10 miles east of the station is engulfed in flames, and there is a heavy police presence, but authorities didn’t immediately have more information.
Media outlets reported that a body is visible outside the burning home and may be the shooter. Helicopters have been dropping water to control the fire.
The Fire Department described it as a “tragic shooting” on Twitter, saying the agency is “still in the process of gathering additional information” and it’s cooperating with law enforcement “throughout this ongoing incident.”
Police tape is surrounding the fire station in the Agua Dulce area near Santa Clarita, and police cars and ambulances lined the street outside.
Agua Dulce is a rural community of about 3,000 people in the desert of northern Los Angeles County known for its rock formations and panoramic views.
A man was shot dead June 1, 2021, in Princeton Park. | Ashlee Rezin García/Sun-Times file
He was on the sidewalk about 12:45 p.m. in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times, Chicago police said.
A man was killed in a shooting Tuesday in Princeton Park on the South Side.
He was on the sidewalk about 12:45 p.m. in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times, Chicago police said.
The 25-year-old was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His identity has not been released.
Area Two detectives are investigating.
The shooting comes after a Memorial Day weekend in which 34 people were wounded, three fatally, in gun violence across Chicago. It was the city’s least violent Memorial Day weekend in three years.
Chicago’s newest riverfront museum is where the story of the city begins. See the country’s largest 3D model of Chicago—boasting more than 4,200 buildings—and an interactive video on Chicago: City of Modern Architecture. In the Skyscraper Gallery, walk among towers from around the globe and learn about Chicago’s history of innovation, from inventing the first … Read moreRead More
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