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South Elgin youth, now 11, pleased his letter sits at the New York state grave of the Great Bambino

His name is Jake Curzon.

Jake, 11, is a New York Yankees devotee morphed into a big time Cubs fan.

Stay with me.

Last April, 2020, when Jake was 9, he sent a letter to Yankees legend Babe Ruth to save baseball from a virus attack.

In early June 2020, Jake’s letter made its way into a Sunday morning brief on national TV.

The story is now a prayer finally answered … well, the way Jake now sees it anyway.

So let’s head back to home plate.

On April 3, 2020, Jake, who lives in South Elgin, Illinois, wrote a letter to Babe Ruth in hopes the king of swing would help save last year’s baseball season — and lend an assist in a COVID-19 cure.

Jake’s letter was dispatched via hand delivery by his aunt to the Gate of Heaven cemetery in Hawthorne, New York, where baseball’s Goliath is buried under a massive memorial ringed by a necklace of baseballs and a mountain of memorabilia.

The cemetery was COVID closed, so Jake’s aunt handed a custodian his letter, a written request in a chatty note to the sultan of swat.

Jake’s letter wound up placed at the foot of Ruth’s headstone.

“Hi, Mr. Babe Ruth,” began the letter.

“Would you ever imagined this would happen?” wrote Jake. “The sport you loved is canceled for the spring and maybe the summer.

“We all have (been) praying for this to end.

“My family loves the Yankees. My Papa (grandfather) worked at the Polo Grounds when he was young. Maybe you have met him in Heaven? His name is Ed Curzon and he was born in The Bronx – He loved the Yankees!

“And, he loved watching you play. We hope this virus ends soon.”

Provided.

Two months later, in early June 2020, after someone spotted Jake’s letter near the base of Ruth’s memorial, a tip resulted in a small CBS Sunday segment on national TV and was picked up in a local Elgin press commentary that July.

Last week, a close Sneed pal visited Ruth’s gravesite and spotted Jake’s letter, now encased in a protective covering sitting on a wire stand in a place of prominence next to the memorial.

A photo was taken.

“Hmmm. Might be a good follow-up story seeing the letter is local; still there; in pretty good shape and in a prominent spot,” said my friend.

So I called Jake, who is looking forward to playing baseball this year.

“Oh, boy. Oh, boy. My letter is still there,” said Jake. “It must be dirty now. Is it really on a stand?”

Jake was watching the NFL draft on TV when I called.

“Well, last year was pretty messed up,” chirped Jake, now a fifth grader at Corron Elementary School.

“But I always figured Babe Ruth had to be an angel in heaven and talking to my grandpa, who loved the Yankees and was from New York and was his biggest fan,” said Jake.

“I figure they’d have a lot to discuss about their days on the old Polo Grounds.”

So Sneed asked: “Did the letter work?

“Yes,” said Jack. “I feel my prayer has finally been answered.

“Baseball is back on track now! And someday I may get to finally see a Yankees game —although dad says probably when they play the Chicago White Sox. I’d rather see it at Yankee Stadium.

“But right now I’m hoping to go to a game of my other most favorite team — the Chicago Cubs!”

“My dad’s family are big Yankees fans, but my mom’s family are big Cubs fans so I have both teams in my blood!”

But, hark! Jake, who sounds like the beloved “The Beaver” character on the hit 1950s “Leave it to be Beaver” TV show, began to opine like Howard Cosell:

“And I really think he [Ruth] helped the Cubs by opening up the season for the Yankees, which had an effect on the rest of the MLB.”

Jake, who would soon put on a Cubs cap following the interview, launched into a studied reflection on how Ruth is a life lesson for all of us.

“I read a book about Babe Ruth,” said Jake.

“I learned when he was my age, he was a big trouble maker. But when he got introduced to baseball, it enabled him to let all that bad stuff go and start all over. A second chance.

“And if you don’t win the first time, there’s always another game in baseball.”

Then … Hey! Hey! Jake, who also looks like a kid in a Norman Rockwell painting, threw one out of left field.

“Remember Babe Ruth struck out twice before he hit his famous home run — the one where he pointed his bat in the right direction before he hit that ball into history,” said Jake.

“The Babe didn’t give up.”

Jake’s dad, Dan, reflected: “Sometimes Jake sounds like an old soul.”

Jake’s mom, Jolene, decided to add a little levity.

“He may love baseball and thrilled the game is basically back on track, but Jake still puts ketchup on his hot dog — preferring not to eat it Chicago style.”

Pass the mustard!

Sneedlings . . .

Attention: Cindy McCain will be the guest speaker at the 26th Annual Rush University Woman’s Board Spring Luncheon taking place virtually on at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, May, 11. McCain has become a superstratum speaker. . . . Saturday birthdays: Tim McGraw, 54; Jamie Dornan, 39; and Tina Campbell, 47. . . . Sunday birthdays: David Beckham, 46; Dwayne Johnson, 49; and Donatella Versace, 66.

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Demond Goudy, 20, is facing murder and attempted murder charges for the April 18 shooting at the fast food restaurant in the 3200 W. Roosevelt Road.

An alleged gunman who opened fire on a car at a West Side McDonald’s drive-thru, killing 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams, was ordered held without bail Friday.

Demond Goudy, 20, is facing murder and attempted murder charges for the April 18 shooting at the fast food restaurant, at 3200 W. Roosevelt Road.

Marion Lewis, 18, was also ordered held without bail for Jaslyn’s murder after he was taken into custody last week following a police chase on the Eisenhower Expressway. Lewis, who Cook County prosecutors identified as the driver, was shot by a police officer during the pursuit.

On the day of the deadly shooting, Goudy was seen getting out of a silver Audi before he fired his .40-caliber handgun at the tan Infiniti Jaslyn and her father were in, Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said.

A second uncharged gunman also opened fire on the Infiniti with a Draco AK-47-style rifle with a “banana clip,” DeBoni said.

Goudy and the other shooter got back into the Audi afterward, but got out again when Jaslyn’s father began to drive away. They fired on the car a second time before speeding away, DeBoni said.

Jaslyn was shot multiple times and died at Stroger Hospital. Her father was also wounded.

Police later recovered 19 .40-caliber shell casings and 28 7.62-mm shell casings from the crime scene, prosecutors said.

Guns matching the casings were found in Lewis’ possession when he was taken into custody, DeBoni said.

A video Lewis posted on social media earlier that day showed him driving around with Goudy and the uncharged shooter, who was seen holding the Draco rifle, DeBoni said.

Surveillance cameras also recorded Goudy at a BP gas station, at 3159 W. Chicago Ave., when the group pulled up in the Audi, DeBoni said. There, a man noticed damage to the car, and allegedly gave Lewis a business card, saying he could repair it.

That man said he couldn’t identify members of the group, but his business card was later found inside Lewis’ apartment, DeBoni said.

At the time of the shooting, Goudy had been out on bond for weapons, robbery and drug charges in four separate felony cases, DeBoni said. As a juvenile, Goudy had faced similar charges, the prosecutor added.

On Friday, Judge David Navarro revoked Goudy’s bail for his pending cases.

Cathryn Crawford, an attorney with the not-for-profit Lawndale Christian Legal Center, told Navarro earlier this week that she needed time to investigate prosecutors’ evidence and potentially find witnesses before Goudy’s bond hearing.

Crawford sought to delay the hearing again Friday. As Navarro listened to her request, allowing her to be physically in the room with her client during the livestreamed hearing, she compared the proceedings to a Russian courtroom, where defendants “sit in a cage” and are not allowed to converse during hearings with their attorneys.

Crawford also sought to prevent prosecutors from discussing Goudy’s juvenile criminal history and argued that prosecutors had not provided sufficient records in the case that would allow her to property defend Goudy. She even asked that DeBoni be sanctioned.

Navarro rejected Crawford’s motions.

Navarro allowed Crawford to speak with Goudy, but Crawford later returned to the hearing, saying she they hadn’t been able to speak privately because Goudy wasn’t provided a private room and their conversation could be overheard.

“It’s a violation of [Goudy’s] due process to continue this [hearing],” Crawford said.

Crawford didn’t provide any mitigation for Goudy at Friday’s hearing.

Goudy is expected back in court for Jaslyn’s murder on May 19.

Chicago police

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There’s always the chance Fields won’t work out, but we can cross that bridge when it collapses. For now? Go ahead and be excited. After all, you should be.

A day after the Bears traded up to select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields with the 11th pick in the NFL draft, investigators were still searching for someone — anyone — with a negative word to say about this momentous development.

In Chicago and throughout Beardom, meanwhile, the sun shone with unwonted splendor. Birds sang songs of hope. Darkened football hearts soared, strangers embraced (wait, are we allowed to do that yet?) and the Promised Land gleamed on the horizon.

Where are the next 10 or 15 Super Bowls being played, anyway?

Everyone — and by that we mean literally everyone — loves what the Bears did Thursday night, moving up from No. 20 by dealing their 2022 first-round pick, a fourth-rounder and a fifth-rounder to the Giants for the chance to draft Fields and rewrite the franchise’s sick, twisted history at the most important position in sports.

Beaten-down fans are suddenly coming to terms with a new feeling that resembles happiness. Embattled general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy have new leases on life. Undistinguished veteran quarterback Andy Dalton can forget about being the starter for long. OK, so maybe he’s not as excited as the rest of us.

And Fields, 22, walks into a situation where he really doesn’t face any pressure at all. All he has to be is the best quarterback the Bears have had since, well, how does ever sound?

“The Bears pulled off one of the biggest steals in the modern draft era,” read one national headline.

“Justin Fields is everything that has eluded the Bears for a century,” read another.

Pretty much every outlet that graded the first round — Yahoo, CBS Sports, Pro Football Focus and many others — gave the Bears its very highest mark. Teams always blow smoke about their own picks, but it’s beyond unusual for the fourth quarterback taken in a draft to generate essentially unanimous raves from the outside looking in.

There’s always the chance, of course, that Fields won’t work out and that the same kind of toxic negativity that oozed despite Mitch Trubisky’s earnest efforts will ooze despite Fields’. We can cross that bridge when it collapses.

For now? Go ahead and be excited. And consider this column one more vote of confidence in what the Bears have done and in the transformational player Fields can be.

Pro-Fields sentiment might run deepest among those who focus more on the college game. Folks in SEC country will tell you Georgia’s coaches made a terrible misjudgment when they named incumbent Jake Fromm — who’d led the Bulldogs to the national title game in 2017 — the starter over freshman Fields in 2018. Fromm was a future NFL player Kirby Smart and his staff knew they could trust. But missed in that decision was the growing reality that — at the apex of the college game — not having it in you to score damn near every time you touch the ball is a fatal flaw.

Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence-led offense was unstoppable by the time the Tigers crushed Alabama in the 2018 title game. Joe Burrow-led LSU took offense to a shocking level in 2019. In 2020, Alabama was perhaps the best offensive team ever, having surrounded Mac Jones with such outrageous talent that really nothing could’ve gone wrong.

Fields’ enormous ability enabled Ohio State to become a near approximation of that. And none of those other QBs ever had a better performance than Fields’ in a 49-28 blowout of Lawrence and Clemson in a 2020 playoff semifinal. The Buckeyes piled up an unthinkable 639 yards on the Tigers. Fields — playing in severe pain — received multiple shots in an injury tent during the game and still threw six touchdown passes.

We’re only guessing that Zach Wilson or Trey Lance — the Nos. 2 and 3 picks, respectively, behind Lawrence — are capable of rising to that level. We’ve seen Fields do it.

“This guy’s toughness on a scale of 1 to 10 is an 11,” Pace said, “and you just love that about him.”

We’re allowed to love it, too, you know, even if it does mean agreeing with Pace again.

There’s no way to quantify this, but there has to be more of an exhilarated buzz around the selection of Fields than there has been around any Chicago draftee since the Bulls took Derrick Rose No. 1 overall in 2008. Take a moment to let that sink in.

There was a can’t-miss excitement about Kris Bryant after the Cubs picked him at No. 2 overall in 2013. Blackhawks fans certainly could point to the No. 1 overall pick of Patrick Kane in 2007. But they weren’t going to play the most important position in sports for the one team that — deservedly or not — owns the town.

There was Trubisky in 2017 — momentous, indeed — but he came prepackaged with doubts and boos. There are no complaints about Fields, not yet.

“I think I fit perfectly,” Fields said.

Of course he does. As for the rest of us?

Go on, let yourself have some fun with this one.

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A report by the inspector general of the Illinois Department of Human Services detailed the miscommunications and mismanagement at the state’s department of veterans’ affairs during the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home located about 95 miles south of Chicago.

Just hours after the release of a scathing report on the state’s handling of a COVID-19 outbreak at an Illinois veterans’ home, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday he wouldn’t have hired the former director of veterans’ affairs had he known she would “abdicate” her responsibilities.

That was essentially the description of former veterans’ affairs chief Linda Chapa LaVia’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in the report from the inspector general of the Illinois Department of Human Services at the LaSalle Veterans Home, where 36 veterans have died of COVID-19.

Several witnesses told the inspector general that LaVia was “not a hands-on or engaged day-to-day Director,” leaving the management of the agency and the veterans homes themselves to her chief of staff.

The report detailed the miscommunications and mismanagement at the state’s department of veterans’ affairs during the outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home located about 95 miles south of Chicago.

At an unrelated news conference, Pritzker said he asked for the investigation “so that we would all know what happened and we would all know how to fix it.”

The report confirms “that changes needed to be made” and Pritzker said in hindsight he would not have hired LaVia, a former Democratic state representative he tapped for the job in 2019.

“When I made the decision to hire her, you have to remember that she led the investigation with the incident that happened at the Quincy veterans home a few years ago, and so she seemed like an ideal person to be able to root out the problems in our veterans homes,” Pritzker said.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

“But, I have to admit that if I knew then what I know now I would not have hired her.”

At least 13 residents died at the Quincy home during an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease between 2015 and 2018, and dozens more were sickened by it.

In his successful campaign to unseat Gov. Bruce Rauner, Pritzker hammered the Republican for the Legionnaires deaths, accusing him of “fatally mismanaging” the situation.

Now faced with veterans deaths under his own watch, Pritzker said neither he nor the new acting head of the Veterans Affairs Department, will “rest until we’re satisfied that all of our veterans are safe.”

For Republicans, that promise comes too little, too late.

“The governor’s lack of oversight and his agency’s incompetence created this crisis,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said at a news conference, calling the report “damning and heartbreaking.”

“As the report details today, there were many failures along the road that led to this tragedy,” Durkin said. “There were many leaders who didn’t step up to provide for the safety of the veterans in our state’s care. We’ve lost 36 honored veterans at LaSalle and many more suffered through a terrifying illness that may cause long term damage. All of this was avoidable.”

Rich Hein/Sun-Times file

Durkin and fellow GOP Representatives Tom Demmer of Dixon, Deanne Mazzochi of Elmhurst and Dan Swanson of Alpha called for a criminal investigation into the mismanagement of the outbreak.

LaVia did not immediately return a request for comment.

The inspector general’s report, which was released Friday, details what was going on behind the scenes at the veterans’ affairs department during the deadly outbreak that began at the home last fall.

It follows two reports that were released in November that detailed conditions at the LaSalle home, including ineffective hand sanitizer, employees showing up for work after testing positive for the coronavirus and inadequate “hand hygiene.”

Those findings prompted Pritzker and veterans officials to launch an investigation.

And they were followed by the firing of Angela Mehlbrech, then the head of the LaSalle home, in December. She was rarely seen there or outside of her office, according to the inspector general’s report.

Rich Hein/Sun-Times file

Along with having no comprehensive COVID-19 plan, task force or committee at the home, the report concluded that department officials consolidated too many responsibilities under LaVia’s chief of staff Tony Kolbeck, and failed to delegate and assign clear responsibilities or learn from outbreaks at other long term care facilities.

The interim head of the LaSalle home, Anthony Vaughn, told the inspector general that Kolbeck took on LaVia’s duties after she basically “abdicated” her authority to the chief of staff.

Kolbeck — who had no experience in long- term care, infection control procedures, or medicine in general — also took on the duties of the senior administrator at the department’s homes, a position that was vacant during the time of the outbreak and requires approval from the governor’s office, according to the report.

After several rounds of interviews to fill that position in late 2019, Pritzker’s office did not approve a candidate. The governor did not address that decision during his Friday news conference.

When LaVia stepped down in January after the coronavirus outbreak claimed 36 lives as the LaSalle home and another 36 at two other state-run veterans homes, Pritzker declined to say whether he had requested the Aurora Democrat’s resignation.

But he characterized it as “a mutual decision that she would step down.”

“What we want to do is restore confidence that people have in our veterans’ affairs department, and we want to do our best to take care of our veterans,” Pritzker said at the time.

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Instead of a passport, the governor said residents across the state will be provided with something more akin to a doctor’s note — and only if they ask for it.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is taking a pass on the “Vax Pass.”

Days after Chicago public health officials teased the idea of a COVID-19 vaccine passport that residents would need for admission to select concerts and other crowded summer events, Pritzker on Friday said the state won’t be implementing any mandatory system for Illinoisans to prove they’ve been fully immunized against the coronavirus.

Instead of a passport, the governor said residents across the state will be provided with something more akin to a doctor’s note — and only if they ask for it.

“What we are looking at is making sure that people have available to them some sort of verification if they want it, only at their own behest,” Pritzker said at a downstate news conference.

The governor didn’t provide specifics on the plan, other than to say his office is “looking for some way to have an electronic measure available to [residents] to show when or where they may need it — that’s all.”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file

“Just something, again, at the user’s desire, you know, if they want to use something like that. We want to make that available, but otherwise it’s not something that we would require,” Pritzker said.

City dwellers won’t be required to get their “Vax Pass” either, even though the idea floated Tuesday by Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady raised the hackles of some privacy-minded residents.

The COVID-19 vaccine passport concept has sparked some protests in the United Kingdom and other nations where it’s being considered as a requirement for entry to airports, arenas and other crowded venues. Federal officials have said there’s no such plan for the U.S.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The city’s pass is actually geared toward young people, with the promise of free concerts or preferred seating at other large gatherings with “a youth flavor” being dangled as an incentive to those who roll up their sleeves.

“We are never going to require vaccination for all Chicago residents,” Arwady said earlier this week. “That will never be a requirement, but I think increasingly, where people are wanting to do things and lower their risk, vaccination is going to be your ticket to doing some of that.”

Arwady said more details on the “Vax Pass” program would be released in the next few weeks.

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LOS ANGELES — “Game of Thrones” actor Esme Bianco sued Marilyn Manson on Friday, alleging sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Bianco says that Manson violated human trafficking law by bringing her to California from England under the false pretenses of roles in music videos and movies that never materialized.

An email seeking comment from an attorney who has previously represented Manson was not immediately returned. Manson said earlier this year that all of his intimate relationships have been entirely consensual.

The lawsuit alleges that in 2009, Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, flew Bianco to Los Angeles to shoot a video for the song, “I want to kill you like they do in the movies.”

The suit says that Bianco was expected to stay at Manson’s home instead of the hotel where she had been booked, and there was no crew, only Manson himself shooting with a phone.

Manson deprived Bianco of food and sleep though gave her alcohol and drugs, locked her in a bedroom, whipped her, gave her electric shocks, tried to force her to have sex with another woman and threatened to enter her room and rape her during the night, the suit alleges. No video was ever released.

The two began a long-distance relationship later that year, the suit says.

Manson again brought Bianco to Los Angeles in 2011, ostensibly to appear in his feature film “Phantasmagoria,” though that project also never materialized.

During that visit, Manson would not allow Bianco to leave home without his permission, chased her around their apartment with an ax, cut her with a “Nazi knife” without her consent, and photographed the cuts and posted the pictures online, also without her consent, the lawsuit alleges.

“It took Ms. Bianco years to understand the extent of Mr. Warner’s physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse. Her career suffered due to the deterioration of her mental health,” the suit says. “She deals with complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks to this day as a result.”

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Bianco said in a statement that she is coming forward publicly to air her allegations with hopes that others will do the same.

Bianco first aired many of the allegations in February. She was one of several women who spoke out after actor Evan Rachel Wood said on social media that Manson sexually, physically and emotionally abused her during their relationship. Manson’s record label and agents dropped him at the time.

In response to the allegations in February, Manson wrote on Instagram that “these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives also said in February that they were investigating domestic violence allegations against Manson dating from 2009 to 2011 in West Hollywood. They did not identify the woman who made the report.

Bianco’s attorney did not immediately reply to an email Friday asking whether she had reported any of the allegations in the lawsuit to police.

Bianco played Ros in the first three seasons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

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The latest

Daily COVID-19 vaccinations nosedive across Illinois: ‘We’re doing everything that we can to reach out’

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

Almost a third of all Illinois residents are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — but the number of people signing up for shots each day has dipped by almost a third over the past three weeks.

Residents were racing to snatch up the coveted shot appointments a month ago, and just as they’ve become readily available statewide, “there are just fewer people that are seeking it out,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.

The latest challenge in the pandemic of falling vaccine demand is one the governor’s health team anticipated, and now must zero in on to bring the state closer to herd immunity.

“It’s a national trend, as we’ve reached somewhere in the 50-60% range of vaccinations among our 16-plus population,” Pritzker said during a news conference in downstate Centreville, near East St. Louis.

Read the complete story by Mitchell Armentrout here.

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News

4:30 p.m. Marriage ceremonies in Cook County can be conducted on Zoom starting Monday

Couples looking to tie the knot before a Cook County judge can do so starting Monday via a live-streamed Zoom ceremony, Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office announced Friday.

Ceremonies conducted via telephone are also an option for couples without access to Zoom.

Couples can also get married in person, but they might have to wait since ceremonies are currently booked through May.

Read the complete story here

3:40 p.m. Brazil backs away from the virus brink as deaths top 400,000

RIO DE JANEIRO — For most of this month, intensive care units across Brazil were at or near capacity amid a crush of COVID-19 patients, and sedatives needed to intubate patients dwindled. The nation’s biggest cemetery had so many corpses to bury that gravediggers worked hours past sundown.

But Brazil has stepped back from the edge — at least for now — as burial and hospital services no longer face collapse. It has ceased to be the virus’ global epicenter, as its death toll ebbed and was overtaken by India’s surge. Experts warn, however, that the situation remains precarious, and caution is warranted.

The number of states with ICU capacity above 90% has slipped to 10, from 17 a month ago, according to data from the state-run Fiocruz medical research institute. And nighttime burials at Vila Formosa and three other cemeteries in Sao Paulo were suspended Thursday, after two weeks of declining deaths.

Read the complete story here.

2:50 p.m. March US incomes surge as relief rolls out, spending jumps

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in nine months while incomes soared by a record amount in March, reflecting billions of dollars in government support payments aimed at putting the country firmly on the road to recovery.

Consumer spending rose 4.2% last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, the best showing since a 6.5% spending increase in June. Spending had fallen 1% in February as frigid winter weather disrupted sales.

Incomes surged by a record-breaking 21.1% in March after having fallen 7% in February. The big gain reflected delivery of billions of dollars in relief payments with individuals getting up to $1,400 payments from the $1.9 trillion support package President Joe Biden pushed through Congress last month.

Read the complete story here.

2 p.m. US to restrict travel from India over COVID starting Tuesday

WASHINGTON — The U.S. will restrict travel from India starting on May 4, the White House said Friday, citing a devastating rise in COVID-19 cases in the country and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden’s administration made the determination on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the complete story here.

1:05 p.m. US closes in on 100 million Americans fully vaccinated

Disneyland reopened on Friday and New York’s mayor predicted the big city will be up and running again at full strength by July 1, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 closed in on 100 million.

Visitors cheered and screamed with delight as the Southern California theme park swung open its gates for the first time in 13 months in a powerful symbol of the U.S. rebound, even though the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth is allowing only in-state guests for now and operating at just 25% capacity.

The reopening and similar steps elsewhere around the country reflect increasing optimism as COVID-19 deaths tumble and the ranks of the vaccinated grow — a stark contrast to the worsening disaster in India and Brazil and the scant availability of vaccines in many poor parts of the world.

While the overall number of lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S. has eclipsed 575,000, deaths have plummeted to an average of about 670 per day from a peak of around 3,400 in mid-January.

Read the complete story here.

12:10 p.m. Scarred by pandemic, labor and allies mourn, then mobilize

As May Day 2021 approached, registered nurse Kathy Haff thought about the trials she and co-workers have faced over the past year and was moved to speak out.

Haff, who works at Community First Medical Center in Portage Park, wrote down her thoughts about three co-workers who succumbed to COVID-19. She touched on their humor, professionalism and generosity.

In a local observation of the International Workers’ Memorial Day, Haff talked Wednesday about her late colleagues during an online prayer service memorializing those who have died. Her point wasn’t to elevate them above others being remembered but to address the grief and sense of injustice that inhabits many workplaces because of the pandemic.

Haff told the Chicago Sun-Times the deaths shook the small hospital’s staff, where workers have organized with the National Nurses United union and pressed administrators to provide more personal protective equipment. “We finally have a voice with the union and the hospital isn’t happy because we’re airing their dirty laundry. They’re oblivious,” she said.

Read the full story by David Roeder here.

11:30 a.m. Response to coronavirus outbreak ‘inefficient and chaotic’ at LaSalle Veterans’ Home where 36 died, report finds

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Consistent statewide procedures and ongoing drills that target infection response and other emergencies will be routine at Illinois veterans’ homes after COVID-19 caught the LaSalle Veterans’ Home unprepared and claimed 36 lives last fall, the state’s newly appointed director said.

Terry Prince, a 31-year Navy veteran and former senior adviser to the U.S. Surgeon General, has issued a six-point plan for improving readiness at the state’s veterans’ homes in Anna, Manteno, Quincy and LaSalle. The plan follows a blistering investigative report that laid out a string of miscommunications, lax policy and missed opportunities when the pandemic hit the home in LaSalle, 94 miles west of Chicago.

The report by the inspector general of the Illinois Department of Human Services, released Friday, noted that despite escaping all traces of the deadly respiratory illness for eight months after it entered Illinois, there was little done to devise protocols for preventing or managing infections. After the first four cases were reported Nov. 1, the virus spread to 60 residents and 43 employees as confused staff operated in an environment that was “inefficient, reactive and chaotic,” the report said.

Read the complete story here.

10:45 a.m. Blackhawks excited for fans’ return to United Center, albeit for only 2 games

Four players in the Blackhawks’ lineup Thursday have never played in front of fans at the United Center.

Four others have never done so as a member of the Hawks. Another three have done so only once. That adds up to 11 players — more than half the team.

But come May 9 and 10 against the Stars, the last two games of the regular season, that will change. The City of Chicago announced Thursday the UC can be filled to 25% capacity starting with the Bulls’ May 7 game, although Hawks spokesperson said the Hawks would actually have around 20% capacity — approximately 4,000 fans.

Read the full story by Ben Pope here.

9:15 a.m. State Senate sends Pritzker COVID-19 relief bill designed to ‘keep people in the state of Illinois in their homes’

SPRINGFIELD — A bill distributing $1.4 billion of federal relief to those in need of COVID-19 emergency housing assistance was sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk on Thursday over Republican objections that the measure does not target those who are in real need of help.

“This bill essentially is trying to keep people in the state of Illinois in their homes,” said state Sen. Omar Aquino, the bill’s sponsor. “It tries to prioritize and surgically utilize the one-time money that we’re getting from the federal government to assist those people that truly need it the most.”

The bill “prioritizes disproportionately affected areas” based on “positive COVID-19 cases” or by “a history of homelessness,” according to the Near Northwest Side Democrat.

But state Sen. Jason Barickman said the money does not go to those who need it the most because it prioritizes “not based on their individual circumstances but based on the ZIP code in which they live.”

Read the complete story here.

8 a.m. Fans allowed at Bulls, Blackhawks games as Chicago continues to ease restrictions

With two million vaccine doses administered and health metrics improving, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is reopening Chicago a little bit more — this time to let restaurants and theaters serve more patrons and allow fans inside the United Center for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The new Phase Four rules, effective immediately, allow the Bulls and Blackhawks to close their seasons before roughly 5,250 fans per game — 25% of the United Center’s capacity.

The Blackhawks play at home Thursday and Saturday against the Florida Panthers, then finish their regular-season home schedule with two games in May. The Bulls have a home game Friday, the first of six regular-season games left.

That 25% rule also applies to Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate Field and Soldier Field, an increase from the current 20%. The 25% also includes churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship.

Restaurants and bars can increase indoor capacity to 50% or 100 people, whichever is less. The cap had been 50% or 50 people.

Meetings, conferences and conventions held at large indoor venues like McCormick Place now can operate at 25% capacity or 250 people, whichever is less.

Festivals and, what the city calls “general admission outdoor spectator events” get the green light to welcome 15 people for every 1,000 square feet.

The same rules apply to flea markets, which can operate at 25% capacity.

Fran Spielman has the full story here.

7:15 a.m. Shot, please! Preckwinkle pushes vaccinations for restaurant workers as indoor capacity expands

Public health officials in Cook County are serving up COVID-19 vaccines to bar and restaurant workers as the suburbs follow in lockstep with Chicago’s latest round of eased coronavirus restrictions.

Mondays in May will be designated “restaurant days” at the county’s six suburban mass vaccination sites, Cook County Board Presidents Toni Preckwinkle announced Thursday.

Anyone can sign up for an appointment or walk up to the six sites in Tinley Park, Matteson, River Grove, South Holland, Des Plaines or Forest Park. But officials want to vaccinate as many of the “essential heroes” in the hospitality industry as possible with indoor capacity expanding to the lesser of 50% or 100 people per room.

“Restaurant staff people worked tirelessly, even as they were asked to pivot to new roles to meet new demands, even as hours were cut, doors were closed, and their own life livelihoods were in jeopardy,” Preckwinkle said. “Now we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and people are returning toward cafes and restaurants for a sense of normal normalcy and camaraderie that we all have craved.”

An estimated 20% of restaurants statewide won’t survive the pandemic, according to Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia, shuttering about 5,000 businesses and leaving more than 100,000 out of work.

Mitchell Armentrout has the full story here.

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New cases and vaccination rates

• A total of 3,394 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 additional deaths were reported by Illinois health officials Thursday.
• The latest cases were among 89,057 specimens tested over the last 24 hours, bringing the state’s positivity rate to 4%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
• A total of 107,689 vaccine doses were administered in the state Thursday, health officials said. An average of 97,434 vaccine doses have been administered per day over the last week.
• Since the pandemic began, over 1.3 million people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 and 21,927 have died, officials said.

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Analysis & Commentary

2 p.m. The birds have been helping us through this pandemic. Let’s help them

During the COVID-19 pandemic, birds enriched the lives of many Illinoisans who saw them out their windows or when going for a walk

Now Illinois should do something to help the birds.

Last month, Virginia became the first state to restore protections for migratory birds from unintended but predictable killings resulting from human activities. Such so-called “incidental take” will be banned under a regulation approved by the state’s Department of Wildlife Resources.

Illinois should adopt a similar rule.

Read the full Editorial by the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board here.

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Amazon has settled complaints that it illegally disciplined or retaliated against employees who staged job actions last year over COVID-19 safety procedures at a former distribution center on the Lower West Side.

In an agreement filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Amazon promised not to interfere with or interrogate workers involved in “concerted activity” to promote their interests, including organizing as a union. Management also agreed not to photograph participants in peaceful demonstrations.

The settlement stems from walkouts workers staged in April 2020. Workers charged that conditions at the warehouse, 2801 S. Western Ave., left them vulnerable to the virus. The location has since been closed and some workers were transferred to a Gage Park facility, 3507 W. 51^st St., where there was a brief strike three weeks ago over pay and working conditions.

Employees said that during the walkouts last year, managers called people in individually to question them about the activities. Some were disciplined for not properly checking in to the facility to deliver petitions demanding changes, workers said.

The practical effect of the agreement is unclear because it applies only to the Western Avenue site that has been closed. Ted Miin, an Amazon employee who filed a complaint, said he submitted another complaint protesting the limited scope.

The online retailer has agreed to email the settlement terms to people who are employed at Western Avenue. A company spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Friday. In the past, the company has said it respects its workers’ rights to speak out without fear of reprisals.

But Miin said during last year’s walkouts, supervisors took cellphone photos of those who took part. He said the company also invoked a rule barring workers from company property more than 15 minutes before or after their shift.

In its settlement with the NLRB, Amazon agreed that the rule doesn’t apply to nonworking areas such as a parking lot. Miin said supervisors tried to invoke it during the recent protests in Gage Park.

Miin and another Amazon worker, Bekim Mehmedi, said the company has improved its response to COVID-19. They said their workplace is better equipped with masks and hand sanitizer but that social distancing is enforced inconsistently.

“It’s pretty much the same rules followed the same way. When it applies to managers, it doesn’t matter. When it applies to us, it’s the end of the world,” Mehmedi said.

Both are assigned to Gage Park and are active in Amazonians United Chicagoland. It is an independent group, unconnected to a union, that wants Amazon to raise wages by $2 an hour and to make schedules more flexible as it implements work shifts that are 10.5 hours long.

On April 9, Amazon fended off a union organizing drive at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. In an NLRB-run election, workers voted down union membership by a more than 2-to-1 ratio.

While Amazon insists it respects workers’ rights, the NLRB has ruled it illegally fired two workers at its Seattle headquarters for speaking out about the company’s carbon footprint and treatment of warehouse employees.

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Woof! Chicago is full of places and activities that welcome four-legged friends. Hit the streets of Chi-town and you’ll likely find doggie daycares, dog parks, bakeries, spas, and even Fido-friendly restaurants and hotels. So if you’re looking to add a pupper to your family, check out these top dog breeders near Chicago!

Wait, what’s a goldendoodle!? These friendly doggos are a mix between a golden retriever and a poodle. Erica’s Doodles is fully licensed by the state of Illinois and less than an hour away from downtown Chicago. When you buy one of her puppies, you’ll also get shots, toys, collar, leash, food, tick and heartworm prevention. Plus peace of mind: Erica provides a 3-year health guarantee on any of her dogs. 

Owner James started Ethical Frenchie a few years ago in New York as a small family French Bulldog breeding program that focused on health, temperament and socialization. From there, the group expanded to Chicago with more breeders. After you take home a puppy, you are put in direct contact with the original breeder and can send them updates, ask questions, and build a relationship. 

About 95 miles west of Chicago on 40 acres, Shoreland Kennel has been actively involved in the sport of dogs for over 35 years as an exhibitor, competitor, breeder, and AKC/ASCA judge. Their puppies are well socialized by visitors, other animals, and their grandkids who love spending time with them. To start the adoption process, you’ll first need to fill a questionnaire. If your home is a good fit, you’ll get added to a waiting list! 

Located in Raymond, IL on a large family farm, Thomas Acres has a lovely little pack of Corgis that are extensions of the family. Owners Tawny and Adam Thomas raise a few litters per year of quality purebred Pembroke Welsh Corgis. They pour a lot of love and time into their puppies to make sure they are prepared to be successful additions to their future families. Placing socialized, healthy puppies in loving homes and maintaining relationships with all of our puppy parents is very important to the couple. 

Based out of Flat Rock, IL, this family-owned breeder of AKC Champion Bernese Mountain Dogs and puppies focuses on producing champion stock. They breed Bernies for quality, genetic health, personality, and beauty. All of their puppies are AKC registered and will be vet-checked and up-to-date on shots, and come with a one-year guarantee!

Dog Breeders Chicago Featured Image Credit: Ethical Frenchie 

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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 sunny with a high near 54 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 45 degrees. This weekend will feel like summer: Tomorrow will be sunny and windy with a high near 82 degrees and Sunday’s high will be near 80 degrees.

Top story

Chinese money laundering rings in Chicago, New York cleaning Mexican drug cartel cash

A Chinese money launderer was about to pick up Mexican drug cartel cash in Chicago, federal authorities say, when his plans suddenly changed.

They say the suspected launderer got a call from a man he thought was a Mexican money courier who told him they needed to change their meeting place because he’d spotted a cop.

“You Asian, I’m Mexican — not a good look,” the courier said in the 2017 phone call, court records show.

So they picked a different address to meet. They described their cars to each other. And when they met on the Southwest Side, they had a way to identify each other, authorities say: The money-launderer handed the courier a $1 bill. The men had agreed earlier that the serial number on the bill — G5915410C — would confirm the Chinese man’s identity. Authorities say that’s common in the world of drug trafficking.

They say the courier then turned over a Menards shopping bag stuffed with nearly $200,000 in cash to Huazhi Han, who later was charged with money laundering.

But the courier was no courier. He was an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

DEA agents arrested Han and say they found a gun in his van.

They also searched the Riverside home where he was living and seized about $1.2 million they found hidden in the ceiling there, according to court documents.

Han’s now awaiting trial on money laundering charges in Chicago.

Keep reading this story from Frank Main and Jon Seidel.

More news you need

1. The first of two alleged shooters who opened fire on a car at a West Side McDonald’s drive-thru — killing 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams — was ordered held without bail today. Demond Goudy, 20, is facing murder and attempted murder charges for the April 18 shooting.
2. A former Catholic school teacher in the southwest suburbs has been charged after a video surfaced showing him “engaged in inappropriate communication with a minor.” Jeremy M. Hylka was charged with traveling to meet a child and grooming, according to Joliet police. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
3. Almost a third of all Illinois residents are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — but the number of people signing up for shots each day has dipped by almost a third over the past three weeks. The latest challenge in the pandemic — falling vaccine demand — is one the governor’s health team anticipated, and now must focus on to bring the state closer to herd immunity.
4. Mayor Lori Lightfoot is putting pressure on ComEd to negotiate with her on a new utility contract by issuing a formal request to any other parties that can provide alternative ideas for delivering electricity to Chicago. The city’s long-term contract with ComEd, a “franchise” agreement that was entered into in 1992, expired at the end of last year.
5. A short walk from the Morgan L stop is another addition to the flourishing art scene in Chicago’s West Loop: It’s a new, popup gallery, called Artopia: The Immersive Art Experience, that includes murals by street artists and other works spread through a 32,000-square-foot warehouse. Unlike actual street art, you have to pay for admission here.

A bright one

No joke: Watch out for the turtle crossing the road, drivers are warned

If you drive anywhere in the Chicago area near lakes, ponds or marshes, there’s a good chance turtles might be lurking nearby.

And starting around this time of year, they’re more active. So drivers are being warned to be on the lookout for turtles crossing roads in search of food, water, mates or nests.

Crossings of females increase from mid-May to mid-July as they make their way to and from nesting sites.

“Some turtles must travel up to a mile to find the right conditions,” says Dan Thompson, an ecologist with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District.

DuPage County Forest Preserve District

Accidentally running down an adult turtle can have a significant impact, Thompson says, because at least 90% of adults must survive each year to sustain a population.

And unlike some animals that you can scare out of your way, “Car horns and flashing lights will have no effect on turtles,” Thompson says. “They simply can’t move any faster to get out of the way. Drivers need to pay attention and do what they can to avoid hitting these animals.”

Here’s Grace Asiegbu’s story.

From the press box

The Bears moving up in the NFL Draft to take Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has fans excited. But columnist Rick Morrissey remembers that the team has staked its future on young quarterbacks before with no success.

It’s now up to coach Matt Nagy to change that history by, the Bears hope, following the blueprint Nagy’s mentor Andy Reid used to develop Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Part of that plan means Andy Dalton will be the starting quarterback for the 2021 season.

Bears reporters Lieser, Patrick Finley and Mark Potash discuss what selecting Fields means for the Bears in the latest Halas Intrigue podcast. And Lieser has a preview of the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft.

Outside of Bears news, Vaughn Pemberton became a success story for this year’s strange high school football season. He climbed from fourth-string running back at Loyola in his junior year to become the Sun-Times High School Football Player of the Year as a senior.

Your daily question ?

How do you feel about the Bears trading up to draft Ohio State QB Justin Fields?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What would you like to see the Bears do with their first-round pick tonight? Here’s what some of you said…

“Someone who can play football at the professional level.” — Scott Hume

“Not embarrass themselves or their fans. Unfortunately, that’s a pretty tall order.” — Mike Maloney Sr.

“I would love to see Rashod Bateman, to put him together with Robinson and Mooney would be a good group of WRs.” — Matthew Suszek

“Just get the best player available of need. Do not mortgage future draft capital to move up to get one of the five QBs. Draft [Kellen] Mond from Texas A&M in second or third round.” — Scott Gard

“Pick the highest-rated offensive lineman left on the board.” — Jeff Hornstein

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