I got an email saying “CMJ Returns!” At first, I was excited! College Music Journal was a staple of my youth. A magazine you received, by mail, every month, that included a CD, packed with new music. I read every article, whether I liked the band or not, and I listened through every CD, to every single song. Whether metal, pop, rap or rock, I took it all in because I trusted CMJ’s tastes. They were the true purveyor of college music, of cool music.

But now I’m wondering, “Is it too late?” In a world where we get our new music delivered digitally every week, instead of monthly by snail mail, can CMJ still be a source of new music? Can CMJ still be relevant?

Who’s curating the music? Will it be diluted? Will they have an app or a weekly playlist on Spotify? Is it just digital radio? I have so many questions, and hopefully, this fall when it’s slated to return, all will be answered?

CMJ is now part of Amazing Radio, a British radio station that has introduced people to new music and broken cutting edge acts since 2009, much like the CMJ of yore. I’m listening now to the test station and I’ve liked everything I’ve heard so far.

Amazing Radio is calling this merger the “perfect fit,” and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I have missed flipping through the magazine while setting the disc in the tray, and pressing play. Those were the days.

The days of finding new acts like The Longpigs, Murs, Sage Francis, or Sheila Divine. Acts I continued to see in concert and to lay down my cold, hard cash for. Can CMJ carve a niche in the rapidly changing musical landscape again? I hope so for the sake of future generations. 

I still have the magazines and the coinciding, numbered CDs. I’ll be clutching them in my coffin.

Welcome back CMJ!

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Advertisement:

Riding a bicycle is a healthy activity and is both legal and encouraged during Chicago’s Stay At Home order. Just be sure to maintain safe social distancing while cycling.

Was biking banned?

There is indeed confusion. That’s because Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told residents to not go on long runs or bike rides during the COVID-19 shutdown. “Stay at home,” she said. “Only go out for essentials.” The mayor said this and was visibly upset at reports of gatherings around some of the parks and beaches in Lakeshore that were in violation of the order.

After this announcement, the mayor promised to back up the words with action. “Be smart,” she said. “Not only will our police be deployed to shut them down if you are not abiding by these orders, we will be forced to shut down the parks and lakefront.”

She also announced that violators will get one warning to disperse or turn away from closed parks, and then will be cited with a $500 fine followed by arrest if the person continues.

Chicago’s Press Release Encourages Physical Activity

The official press release from Chicago states that Chicagoans are still able, and encouraged, to exercise during this time. That includes cycling, walking, jogging, running.

Lakefront closed

On March 26th, the lakefront was essentially shut down. All trails, beaches and parks are now closed until further notice. Other recent closings include the 606 Trial and the Chicago Riverwalk.

Many people feel that the orders are a bit harsh and have complained that their fitness routine and ability to exercise has also been interrupted.

Exercise is Allowed

However, the mayor did say that getting outside for a short walk was a good thing, but she didn’t want people to go on long walks, runs and bike trips. She also said that she didn’t want to keep people from getting their exercise, but they need to do it in groups of less than 10 and stay six feet from one another.

The rest of the country

San Francisco has a nice guide on how important it is to bike or stay active and healthy during the pandemic. Cycling is still encouraged in Tampa as well as Orlando, San Diego and many other cities.

Stay safe.

Bicycling has a great article about how to cycle safely during Coronavirus if you’re interested.

Amid our concerns about brewers and establishments closing over the COVID-19 “stay-at-home”, we actually news of new brewers.

Crushed by Giants posted to their Facebook that they have passed all of their inspections, and are approved to operate as a brewery. The facility, from the owners of DryHop and Corridor breweries, is coming to 600 N. Michigan Ave., site of the former Heaven on Seven restaurant.

Nik & Ivy Brewing has announced that they building a taproom at 1026 S. State St. in Lockport. They’ve already posted photos of fermentation tanks arriving at the downtown location, and are looking toward a summer opening.

Also this week, Orland Park’s village board has approved a redevelopment plan for the site of the closed Toy “R” Us store at 151st St. and LaGrange Rd. The plan would see a Chiptle and Panera Bread in one new building, a Raising Cane’s Chicken Figures with a drive-through, and a BJ’s Brewhouse as an “anchor.” This would be the first Illinois location for the California-based chain. It would fill a gap in Orland Park after the closing of Granite City and with Rock Bottom’s status uncertain. Patch

You may notice most of the listings for online events are dropping the map icon linking to the Google Map of the location. I’ve set my script to drop it if the location starts with the word “online.” But if the event suggests you get the beer for carryout, I’ll try to leave it in.

Friday, May 1

Saturday, May 2

Sunday, May 3

It’s that feeling of waking up in the morning and for a few moments nothing is wrong. Everything is normal, quotidian. But as you brush your teeth, it sweeps over you. Everything is not normal.

For me, a knot in my stomach gets tighter as I wake up, as I begin again to cope with reality.

It happened when my mother died. It happened when I was diagnosed with cancer. And, it’s happening now.

It’s the way trauma works. Moments wash over you. The wheezing of a ventilator. The sound of a doctor’s voice over the phone. The feeling of an unmade bed or an IV in your arm. Moments that may seem inconsequential to others but that pound reality into your brain.

For me, it was the NBA that did the pounding. I was watching the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks play when news broke that a Jazz player had tested positive for COVID-19. Just after the half, as I remember it, the NBA had decided to suspend the season beginning the next day. The Jazz and Thunder were set to play after the Mavericks-Nuggets, but the players refused to play and the season stopped.

Whether it begins again isn’t clear. ESPN is airing classic games, tonight the Pistons smashing the Lakers to win the 2004 NBA championship. It’s a weird thing to watch.

Old games, old players—a reanimated Kobe Bryant for one—old announcers, but new ads. Every one seems to mention COVID in one way or another, but ESPN’s ad did me in. It ends with the tag, “Sports. We miss it, too.”

Out of the blue I burst into tears, just sobbed. Though I love basketball, I wasn’t crying for a missing playoffs season.

I found myself thinking, “I want to feel safe again.”

And that’s what all of these traumas have in common for me. Each in their own way is traumatic in itself. But it’s the aftermath that does me in. It’s the feeling that the ground will no longer support me. Not the earthquake itself, but the aftermath of destruction and the threat of aftershocks.

If you lose one person, you can lose another. If you get cancer once, you can get it again and worse the next time. If COVID brings the world to its knees, then the next pandemic might end it all.

As I have learned, life comes back to normal a moment or two at a time. It moves forward and slips backward. Some days a little momentum builds and then everything stalls, moves in reverse.

It takes a long time to move through the worst of these things. Especially when they’re still in motion, still wounding, still threatening.

Here’s wishing that you and yours are well and that you’re finding a way to face each day with hope.

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Today is the final day of April. Thirty days that under our current living conditions have seemed like one hundred. Most of us are ready for April to end and move into May. We’re hopeful it will be better.

April is also a huge month in our Parkinson’s community. It’s thirty days where PD is out in front with it’s campaigns to raise money and awareness for the disease. April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month.

Like everything else these days, Parkinson’s has taken a back seat to the current Covid-19 pandemic. You watch the news, read the newspaper, talk with family/friends and it’s all about the pandemic. All day, all the time is Covid-19….and that’s more than fine. We’re all concerned about the pandemic and the effects it will have on our lives. We’re worried about our survival.

But that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about Parkinson’s!

Even on this blog, which got it’s start because of Parkinson’s Disease and is named due to the disease, awareness month has taken a back seat. At one time, the Hippy Shakes honored the month by running a thirty day series of Parkinson’s articles. In 2020, this will be the only piece recognizing P.D.

But, again…that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about Parkinson’s!

I think about it every day when I take my first pill. I’m reminded of it whenever I notice one of Parkinson’s many symptoms. I obsess about whenever I see one of those damn commercials with the dude having Parkinson’s hallucinations.

I told you I haven’t forgotten about Parkinson Disease. It’s never far away.

Parkinson’s Disease and it’s foundation have been hit hard by the pandemic in another way. Spring is the start of the charity walk season for all diseases. It’s the biggest way that they raise money to help fight the disease, fund programs to help those suffering and help find a cure. Like everything else in life, those walks have been cancelled. It’s hard to maintain social distancing when you’re cruising the lakefront side by side.

The Parkinson’s Foundation had scheduled more than twenty of it’s Moving Day walks for this Spring. To replace those walks, there will be a virtual walk on May 9. We’ve been seeing that with other organizations who have had balls or galas cancelled due to Covid-19. One good thing about a virtual event is it’ll give access to people who haven’t been able to come to any Moving Days due to poor health or location.

Another Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month has come and gone. Sorry for the lack of attention you’ve been given. Hopefully, by April of next year, Covid-19 will be gone and you can be front and center again. Even better, hopefully by April of next year, there will be a cure for both.

Related Post: Alan Alda’s life proves that a Parkinson’s diagnosis is not a death sentence

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Judge Stops Illinois Governor From Extending State Lockdown

The judge’s temporary restraining order sets the stage in Illinois and perhaps nationally for a legal battle over public health experts’ far-reaching demands for public confinement.

By Dennis Byrne

In one of the nation’s first successful legal challenges to mandatory quarantine directives, an Illinois state judge has thrown a wrench into Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s extension of his stay-at-home order until at least May 30.

The judge’s temporary restraining order sets the stage in Illinois and perhaps nationally for a legal battle over public health experts’ far-reaching demands for public confinement against the rising fear about the drastic consequences of a nationwide economic shutdown.

In the case, Downstate Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney on Monday temporarily restrained Pritzker from enforcing the lockdown order against state Rep. Darren Bailey, a Downstate Republican from tiny rural Xenia. Bailey sued Pritzker for violating a provision of the state Emergency Management Act that allows such drastic closure actions for only 30 days. Because Pritzker originally issued his order on March 8, Pritzker’s authority expired on April 8, Bailey argued.

Bailey said he is “irreparably harmed each day he is subjected to” Pritzker’s executive order. In a statement, he said, “Enough is enough! I filed this lawsuit on behalf of myself and my constituents who are ready to go back to work and resume a normal life.”  The judge cited in his order Bailey’s right, in “his liberty interest to be free from Pritzker’s executive order of quarantine in his own home’

The suit follows an argument made earlier made by Northbrook, Illinois attorney Michael Ciesla, who first pointed out on his law firm blog how Pritzker’s extension violated the 30-day provision and that even the governor is required to follow the law. Ciesla’s argumentation was widely ignored while Pritzker, Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and the Chicago media scorned or dismissed the suit as a cheap political stunt.

So when McHaney saw enough merit in the lawsuit to issue an injunction against the extension, Pritzker and Lightfoot claimed the action threatens everyone’s health. But they utterly failed to address the heart of the lawsuit—the plain language of the act that clearly lays out the 30-day restriction.

Technically the decision applies only to Bailey, but legal experts agree that the precedent gives weight to any Illinoisan who chooses to challenge the order. Just how seriously Pritzker and Lightfoot take the decision can be measured by the depth of their denunciations.

Pritzker warned that if his order were immediately lifted “people would die” and deaths would “shoot into the thousands by the end of May…. Our hospitals would be full, and very sick people would have nowhere to go.” Lightfoot called the decision “troubling and wrong” and despite it would continue her lockdown policies “to stay the course.”

The “course” is some of the country’s most stringent controls, such as Lightfoot’s closing of parks and other outdoor activities. Pritzker’s new order, effective May 1, would among other things require everyone in Illinois to wear a face mask outdoors, while including some modifications such as opening state parks.

Bailey says he was hoping to push Pritzker into creating a “more realistic plan” reflecting the fact that Illinois is such a diverse region, requiring different approaches for the mostly rural Downstate and metropolitan Chicago. Bailey’s hometown of Xenia has a population of 364. It’s located about 100 miles east of St. Louis in Clay County, which has recorded just two confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths.

Chicago’s Cook County has 31,953 confirmed cases and 1,347 deaths, but the most feared outcome hasn’t materialized. The city’s sprawling exhibition hall, McCormick Place, had been fitted with 3,000 emergency beds to handle the expected overflow from jammed hospitals, but because of low usage, 2,000 beds are now being removed.

Tensions between the state’s two regions are an historic constant. Most recently those differences show up in a growing movement by Downstaters to separate Chicago from the rest of the state. In this, Illinois is but a microcosm of how heavily infected, urbanized New York and vast swathes of Middle America are vastly different and require tailored approaches in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. It also reflects the argument—opposed by many liberals—that the fight is best carried on the local level.

Illinois’ regional differences will play out in an expected high-speed appeal of McHaney’s stay. The Downstate appeals court that would hear the case is dominated by Republicans, who, being elected, would not be expected to overturn McHaney’s decision. The Illinois Supreme Court, which could hear the appeal directly, is controlled by Democrats, and considered likely to ultimately back Pritzker.

Still, with growing sentiment that the various shutdown orders have gone too far, with increasing public protests against the restrictions, crushing unemployment, and the unease that epidemiologists and their models are running the country, what’s happening in Illinois could presage even more objections to unprecedented assaults on liberty.

The case in Illinois’ 4th Judicial Circuit Court is Darren Bailey v. Jay Robert Pritzker, 20 CH 6.

Dennis Byrne is a freelance writer.

The digital divide is defined as the gulf between those who can readily access computers and the internet, and those who can not. During the coronavirus pandemic, and the economic shutdown that it has caused, there are worries that it will only get worse, becoming a “digital chasm.”

The stark divisions that already exist in society, in terms of educational attainment and income equality, could be exacerbated the longer the stay-at-home orders remain in place and most businesses are shuttered. With schools going to at home virtual learning, access to high speed broadband is key.

Spectrum, providers of cable TV and high speed internet packages, has offered free Wi-Fi for 60 days nationwide. Another provider in Chicagoland and northwest Indiana, Comcast is doing the same. Cellular service provider Verizon has offered 15 GB of data, at no additional charge to account holders for the month of April, and then another 15 gigs for the month of May. With more people working remotely, and additional work being done online instead of on site, the need for bandwidth and data is ramping up.

Knowledge is power, the saying goes, and without access to that knowledge, there will be no opportunities for empowerment in the so-called information economy. It’s an issue that’s picking up steam among news pundits and politicians. CNBC’s Jim Cramer has Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on his show Wednesday, and he addressed the digital divide issue.

“We’re in a world where people who are healthy, people who have jobs, contracts, they can stay at home,” Cramer said to Madame Speaker.

“I see another world. I see the possibility of two societies developing. [One] society that has to be out there every day in the masses, subways, risking themselves. And this other group of people, safe at home, with all sorts of computers, very rich. A society that is not what you and I want to see. How do we prevent that?”

Unfortunately, her answer was unsatisfactory, as it was severely lacking in substance. A national politician who came off as more in touch with the everyday person this week is one of local- Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. In her Tuesday night appearance on The Daily Show, she pointed out how African-Americans account for 43% of the COVID-19 cases in this state, despite comprising only 15% of the population.

A big reason for that is the phenomena Cramer was describing, as African-Americans are more likely to be employed in jobs deemed “essential,” and those often come with more exposure to larger masses of people. Another reason is the excessive presence of air pollution in the neighborhoods where African-Americans live, as it breeds respiratory illnesses, which are of course, more dangerous than ever amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As Duckworth said, you take “the L” (Chicago’s metro subway system) from “the loop” (downtown) just ten stops to the Southside, life expectancy drops by a whopping 20 years. It’s an eye-opening statistic, and one that reminds us all just how far behind society often leaves large segments of our population. Now, in this time of great re-evaluation and re-assessment, we need to make sure everyone has access to resources, both online and off.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.

You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.

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