Tariq Khan with a sturgeon caught and released at Montrose Harbor. | Provided
Tariq Khan caught and released a rare and endangered lake sturgeon at Montrose Harbor.
At 1:10 this afternoon, Tariq Khan was fishing the south side of Montrose Harbor across from the restrooms when he caught and released a sturgeon.
That’s right, a lake sturgeon 40 inches long with a girth of 21 inches and weighing 17.5 pounds.
“Actually [bottom] fishing for whitefish or lake trout or browns,” he said.
The sturgeon came on nightcrawlers.
Khan had caught a sturgeon before while ice fishing in Wisconsin.
“That is why I knew it was a rare fish and I needed to release it,” he said. “While taking out the hook, we kept putting water on it all the time. It had sharp spikes, not a bad one for me.”
Lake sturgeon are endangered in Illinois.
The sturgeon was not a complete shock. Khan said some of his group have talked about sturgeon.
“Oh, yeah, believe me, I am very thrilled,” Khan said. “It is a catch of a lifetime. You talk about it. We knew they existed in here.”
As do some other elusive and rarely caught fish.
“Next one is a muskie on the line,” Khan said. “My buddy did see a muskie on the Horseshoe. He said the head was the size of a football. I definitely believe him.”
Khan has had brushes with greatness in fishing. He was part of the group in December when Saro Kevorkian caught the Illinois record burbot.
Khan caught and released a 19-inch or longer yellow bass at Heidecke Lake, not realizing that it would have easily been an Illinois record.
“I catch and release most of the time, unless they are gut hooked,” he said.
As he did with the sturgeon.
“He swam off perfect,” Khan said. “I held him in the water for a while. We were watering it with cold water from a bucket all the time.”
It’s the kind of moment that gives a pause.
“Lake Michigan is something else,” Khan said. “You never know what you catch.”
Click here for the list of endangered and threatened species in Illinois.
ProvidedTariq Khan holds his sturgeon, before release; note the water on the revetment they were splashing on it.
Entering the game Saturday against the Braves, the Cubs had the lowest team batting average in the majors and the only one below .200. There were three teams — the Dodgers, Red Sox and Reds — with batting averages higher than the Cubs’ .267 on-base percentage.
The question after Saturday is whether they are beginning to put that behind them. It’s not a secret the Cubs have struggled to win because they have struggled to hit.
A little more than two weeks into the season, manager David Ross isn’t looking to make excuses for his offense, but he would like to point out that hitting these days is tougher than it was a few years ago.
”There are a lot of things in our game right now that are in favor of defense and pitching, for sure,” Ross said.
For instance, teams are shifting on defense about 33% of the time so far this season. That’s nearly three times as often as five years ago, when Ross last played. Batters increasingly are watching hard-hit balls fly into a glove instead of landing on the grass. And on the mound, pitchers are throwing with greater spin rate, which also is making things trickier for hitters. Strikeouts have outnumbered hits across the majors this season.
The major-league batting average is down 10 points from 2020 and 20 points from 2016, and the Cubs are at the bottom of the rankings in nearly every offensive metric. Two areas of particular concern are their struggles against fastballs in the zone and getting pitches to hit.
”That’s been one of the things on the radar the most,” Ross said. ”We see some of the least amount of strikes in the game.”
Only the White Sox, Blue Jays and Pirates have seen fewer pitches in the strike zone this season. But when the Cubs are getting strikes, they’re not putting them in play. Entering play Saturday, they had the fourth-lowest contact rate against pitches in the zone this season and had the worst strikeout rate in baseball (32.2%).
Happ in the leadoff spot
If the offense is going to find its footing for good, one key might be at the top of the order.
Ian Happ has started almost every game as the Cubs’ leadoff hitter this season. Though he has hit only .163 through 14 games, he consistently has found ways to get on base, and Ross sees signs of hope in that.
”With a guy like Ian, who does have a great idea of the strike zone, sometimes the results aren’t going to show up when the swing might be there, but he’s still getting on base,” Ross said. ”He feels like he’s in a really good place. His at-bats are quiet because he’s not hitting home runs right now because he’s trying to get on base for the guys behind him. I’ve been happy with Ian’s process, and his approach has been great.”
In the series opener Friday, Happ reached base three times on two walks and a single. He was 1-for-5 on Saturday.
Roster moves
The Cubs activated relievers Dan Winkler and Brandon Workman from the COVID-19 restricted list and sent relievers Pedro Strop and Justin Steele to their alternate site in South Bend, Indiana.
Simeon is at the top of the Public League football world and Kenwood desperately wants to be there. Both teams are extremely young this season and only a handful of seniors played when the squads matched up on Saturday at Gately.
But it was a senior that made the crucial play. Wolverines senior Kaliub Hopkins grabbed an interception with 51 seconds left to seal a 23-18 win for No. 23 Simeon.
“I read the quarterback,” Hopkins said. “I saw him look and I put my trust in it, ran over there and got over the top.”
Kenwood (1-2, 1-2 Illini Red Bird) was driving with a chance to win the game. The Broncos led most of the way, until sophomore Andre Crews ripped off a 40-yard touchdown run with 8:55 to play.
Crews finished with 11 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Simeon, which sat out last week, was definitely rusty. The Wolverines had six fumbles in the game.
“We had two days of practice and 12 days off,” Simeon coach Dante Culbreath said. “It says a lot about these guys. It says a lot about the program to pull this out. We are so young. Starting two freshmen and sophomore on the offensive line. The whole defense is sophomores and juniors. We have a quarterback that’s never played quarterback in his life. Our running back is just a sophomore.”
Simeon quarterback Korey Flowers was 3-for-13 with two interceptions but had a knack for coming up with big plays right when the Wolverines (3-0, 3-0) needed them. He connected with senior George Gumbs on a 52-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
“These young kids work hard everyday,” Gumbs said. “I love them. We were down but they didn’t get their heads down and kept the same energy. They are ready and eager to learn. I just want to give my knowledge to them so they will lock it down when I’m gone.”
Kenwood had multiple college-bound players transfer in the fall. Broncos coach Sinque Turner, a Simeon graduate, thinks hanging with and leading the Wolverines for most of the game will make a significant impact on his talented young group.
“The brand of Simeon will strike fear in a lot of Public League team’s hearts,” Turner said. “Now our guys gained confidence. They battled and that is good momentum going into the fall. The element of the unknown is gone now, we don’t have to worry about the Simeon legend is or whatever. This is good momentum.”
Junior running back Lavor Lindsey had 15 carries for 56 yards for the Broncos. Quarterback Lou Henson, a junior, was 9-for-15 for 106 yards with one interception and one touchdown. He also ran for two scores.
Kenwood’s highly-regarded junior wide receiver/defensive back Jalil Martin had two receptions for 19 yards and two interceptions. Sophomore receiver Logan Lester had 4 catches for 66 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown.
Chicago Public Schools didn’t allow contact days for football teams over the summer or fall and the teams aren’t allowed in their weight rooms. It’s clear the pandemic has severely impacted Public League football.
But there is a startling amount of talented young players on both Kenwood and Simeon. The handful of games they will manage to play this spring should help give them a footing next fall.
“It’s been so unfortunate,” Culbreath said. “It’s emotional for me because of what is going on with the pandemic. I’ve never played kids this young in my life and kids that just haven’t had the practice time. But it is something to build on. I’m proud of them.”
The Good Guys Talk Back Chicago White Sox podcast focuses on Carlos Rodon’s no-hitter, Yermin Mercedes hot start and are joined by Steve Paradzinski of On Tap Sports!
A fire that broke out Saturday morning inside a busy pedestrian tunnel at O’Hare Airport caused headaches for many travelers. | Provided by Jillian Mallen
A fire that broke out Saturday morning in a pedestrian tunnel at O’Hare International Airport caused a headache for many travelers.
A fire that broke out Saturday morning inside a busy pedestrian tunnel at O’Hare Airport caused headaches for many travelers — and forced them close together in the middle of a pandemic.
The fire broke out in the tunnel between concourses B and C in Terminal 1 shortly after 8 a.m., according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The incident forced hundreds of travelers to closely congregate in one of the airport’s main walkways.
“Enjoying a super spreader event at [O’Hare] this morning,” one traveler tweeted, along with a photo of the crowd.
Enjoying a super spreader event at @fly2ohare this morning. Way to go Chicago. No Plan B for “fire” in the tunnel between Terminals B & C. ♀️ pic.twitter.com/y7P8i6I1rI
In response to the tweet, the CDA emphasized that travelers were wearing masks and that airport employees were trying to maintain social distancing as possible.
The CDA also said United Airlines, which is housed in Terminal 1, provided shuttle buses to take passengers to the B and C concourses for their flights.
Jillian Mallen, of Logan Square, rode on one of those shuttles. She said it took her an hour to get to her gate in concourse C due to the incident, though United Airlines held flights for passengers.
“I just feel like there wasn’t a ton of communication regarding the transportation situation,” said Mallen, who was on her way to Virginia. “So [there were] a lot of restless travelers really squished.”
Power was restored by 9:30 a.m.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.
The incident caused some flight delays and a checked luggage mishap for at least one major airline.
Professional wrestler Mike Bennett, who took a United Airlines flight out of O’Hare Saturday morning, tweeted that the fire prevented checked bags from making it to their destination.
Update: Apparently there was a fire at O’Hare so many bags got held up from Point A to Point B. Understandable. Nobody thought the empty luggage cargo was a red flag to maybe delay the flight? ♂️
“They didn’t put [the bags] anywhere,” Bennett tweeted. “They said there was a fire so they couldn’t get the luggage to the plane. So they sent us on our way without the luggage. I don’t get it.”
Update: All is right with the world. United gave me toiletries for the inconvenience…. pic.twitter.com/Xha7rm2HRp
Members of the Sikh Coalition gather at the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Saturday, April 17, 2021 to formulate the group’s response to the shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis that claimed the lives of four members of the Sikh community. | Michael Conroy/AP
Indianapolis’ tight knit Sikh community mourned Saturday as members learned that four Sikhs were among the eight people killed in the mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse.
INDIANAPOLIS — Amarjit Sekhon, a 48-year-old mother of two sons, was the breadwinner of her family and one of many members of Indianapolis’ tight knit Sikh community employed at a FedEx warehouse on the city’s southwest side.
Her death Thursday night in a mass shooting that claimed the lives of seven other FedEx employees — four of them Sikhs — has left that community stunned and in mourning, her brother-in-law, Kuldip Sekhon, said Saturday.
He said his sister-in-law began working at the FedEx facility in November – after previously working at a bakery – and was a dedicated worker whose husband was disabled.
“She was a workaholic, she always was working, working,” he said. “She would never sit still … the other day she had the (COVID-19) shot and she was really sick, but she still went to work.”
In addition to Sekhon, the Marion County Coroner’s office identified the dead late Friday as: Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74.
Police said Brandon Scott Hole, 19, apparently began firing randomly at people in the parking lot of the FedEx facility, killing four, before entering the building, fatally shooting four more people and then turning the gun on himself. Authorities have not publicly speculated on a motive.
The killings marked the latest in a string of recent mass shootings across the country and the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis.
Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt said Hole was a former employee of FedEx and last worked for the company in 2020. He said he did not know why Hole left the job or if he had ties to the workers in the facility.
About 90% of the workers at the FedEx warehouse near the Indianapolis International Airport are members of the local Sikh community, Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor said Friday.
Kuldip Sekhon said his family lost another relative in the shooting — Kaur, who was his son’s mother-in-law. He said both Kaur and Amarjit Sekhon began working at the FedEx facility at the same time last November.
Komal Chohan, who said Amarjeet Johal was her grandmother, said in a statement issued by the Sikh Coalition that her family members, including several who work at the FedEx warehouse, are “traumatized” by the killings.
“My nani, my family, and our families should not feel unsafe at work, at their place of worship, or anywhere. Enough is enough — our community has been through enough trauma,” she said in the statement.
There are between 8,000 and 10,000 Sikh Americans in Indiana, according to the coalition. Members of the religion, which began in India in the 15th century, began settling in Indiana more than 50 years ago and opened their first house of worship, known as a gurdwara, in 1999.
The attack was another blow to the Asian American community a month after six people of Asian descent were killed in a mass shooting in the Atlanta area and amid ongoing attacks against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
The shooting comes the week Sikhs are celebrating Vaisakhi, a major holiday festival that among other things marks the date Sikhism was born as a collective faith.
Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal of Stockton, California — who participated in a martial arts tournament in Indiana, where the local gurdwara was host — said this year’s holiday celebrations would be intensely somber.
“How do you celebrate after something like this?” he said.
Satjeet Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s executive director, said the entire community was traumatized by the “senseless” violence.
“While we don’t yet know the motive of the shooter, he targeted a facility known to be heavily populated by Sikh employees,” Kaur said.
The coalition says about 500,000 Sikhs live in the U.S. Many practicing Sikhs are visually distinguishable by their articles of faith, which include the unshorn hair and turban.
The shooting is the deadliest incident of violence collectively in the Sikh community in the U.S. since 2012, when a white supremacist burst into a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and shot 10 people, with seven dying. That gunman killed himself during a firefight with police.
Paul Keenan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, said Friday that agents questioned Hole last year after his mother called police to say that her son might commit “suicide by cop.” He said the FBI was called after items were found in Hole’s bedroom but he did not elaborate on what they were. He said agents found no evidence of a crime and that they did not identify Hole as espousing a racially motivated ideology.
Michael Conroy/APA women wears a shirt calling for the end of gun violence during a vigil at the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church for the victims of the shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Saturday, April 17, 2021.
A police report obtained by The Associated Press shows that officers seized a pump-action shotgun from Hole’s home after responding to the mother’s call. Keenan said the gun was never returned.
Indianapolis police said Friday that Hole opened fire with a rifle.
Samaria Blackwell, of Indianapolis, was a soccer and basketball player who last year graduated from Indy Genesis, a Christian competitive sports organization for homeschooled students. Her parents said Saturday in a statement that she was an outgoing “people person” — the youngest of four children who will be missed “immensely” by them and her dog, Jasper.
“As an intelligent, straight A student, Samaria could have done anything she chose to put her mind to, and because she loved helping people, she dreamed of becoming a police officer. Although that dream has been cut short, we believe that right now she is rejoicing in heaven with her Savior,” they said.
Family friends have organized a fundraiser for the Blackwell family to assist with funeral expenses.
Several dozen people gathered at the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church on the city’s west side Saturday afternoon to mourn and to call for action.
“The system failed our state the other night,” said Cathy Weinmann, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action. “That young man should have never had access to a gun … we will not accept this, and we demand better than this for our community.”
___
Associated Press reporters Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington and Pat Eaton-Robb in Connecticut contributed to this report. Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II sits alone in St. George’s Chapel during the funeral of Prince Philip, the man who had been by her side for 73 years, at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England, Saturday April 17, 2021. | Jonathan Brady/Pool via AP
Prince Philip was laid to rest Saturday in a funeral ceremony that honored his lifetime of service to the U.K., the crown and his wife of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth II.
WINDSOR, England — Sitting by herself at the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth cut a regal, but solitary figure: still the monarch, but now alone.
The queen sat apart from family members at the simple but somber ceremony in accordance with strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic. But if the ceremony had been for anyone else, at her side would have been her husband of 73 years, who gave a lifetime of service to the crown.
Wearing a facemask, the queen was dressed all in black, except for the diamond brooch that flashed on her left shoulder — a piece she had often worn on engagements with her husband.
The monarch’s four children and eight grandchildren sat in small groups nearby, during a stripped-back service at Windsor Castle that made their loss somehow more personal for people who often live their lives in public. The pandemic has put Britain’s royal family in the same position as many others, unable to give loved ones the sendoffs they would have wanted.
Just 30 mourners were allowed to attend the service for the prince, who died April 9 at the age of 99.
“We have been inspired by his unwavering loyalty to our queen, by his service to the nation and the Commonwealth, by his courage, fortitude and faith,” the dean of Windsor, David Conner, said in his call to prayer. “Our lives have been enriched through the challenges that he has set us; the encouragement that he has given us; his kindness, humor and humanity.”
Philip’s body was carried to St. George’s Chapel at the castle on a Land Rover that the prince himself had specially designed. It was followed by members of the Royal Family, including Princes William and Harry, who made their first public appearance together since Harry and his wife, Meghan, gave a controversial interview to U.S. television host Oprah Winfrey in which they discussed the difficulties of royal life and how the two brothers had grown apart.
The procession traversed the grounds of Windsor Castle, passing military detachments arrayed under bright blue skies.
The nation honored Philip with a minute’s silence observed across the United Kingdom at 3 p.m., its beginning and end marked by a gun fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The final shot signaled the start of a funeral service steeped in military and royal tradition, but infused with the duke’s personality.
Inside the medieval Gothic chapel, the setting for centuries of royal weddings and funerals, this service was quiet and without excessive pageantry. Philip was deeply involved in planning the ceremony. At his request, there was no sermon. There were also no eulogies or readings, in keeping with royal tradition.
Former Bishop of London Richard Chartres, who knew Philip well, said the 50-minute service reflected the preferences of the prince, who was a man of faith but liked things to be succinct.
“He was at home with broad church, high church and low church, but what he really liked was short church,” Chartres told the BBC.
The monarch offered her own touches to the day. Ahead of the funeral, Buckingham Palace released a photo of the queen and Philip, smiling and relaxing on blankets in the grass in the Scottish Highlands in 2003. The palace said the casual, unposed photo was a favorite of the queen.
Earlier in the day, a few local residents left flowers outside the castle, though most people heeded requests from the palace and police to stay away because of the pandemic.
The funeral procession and the service itself took place out of public view, within the grounds of the castle, a 950-year-old royal residence 20 miles (about 30 kilometers) west of London. It was broadcast live on television.
Gareth Fuller/Pool via APBritain’s Prince William, left, and Prince Harry follow the coffin as it slowly makes its way in a ceremonial procession during the funeral of Britain’s Prince Philip inside Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Saturday, April 17, 2021.
The day’s events began at 11 a.m., when Philip’s coffin was moved from the royal family’s private chapel to the Inner Hall of Windsor Castle, where it rested until the procession began. The coffin was draped with Philip’s personal standard, topped with his Admiral of the Fleet Naval Cap and sword. The sword was given to him by his father-in-law, King George VI, on the occasion of his marriage to the queen in 1947.
Composing a wreath atop the coffin were flowers chosen by the queen, including white lilies, small white roses, white freesia, white wax flower, white sweet peas and jasmine. A note from the monarch was attached, but its contents were not disclosed.
The funeral reflected Philip’s military ties, both as the ceremonial commander of many units and as a veteran of the Royal Navy who served with distinction during World War II. More than 700 military personnel took part in the commemorative events, including army bands, Royal Marine buglers and an honor guard drawn from across the armed forces.
The armed forces also sent wreaths of flowers that were laid outside St. George’s chapel, some with handwritten notes. One said the Royal Marines wanted to pay their respects to a man “who stood with us and among us for 64 years.”
Lieutenant Gen. Roland Walker, regimental lieutenant colonel of the Grenadier Guards, said his unit was honored to take part because of its close relationship with the prince. Philip served as regimental colonel of the guards, its honorary leader, for 42 years.
“This is a privilege,” he told the BBC. “Because my understanding is he planned this, so we’re here because he wanted us to be here, and that, I think, down to the junior guardsmen, is a known fact.’’
Hannah McKay/Pool via APPrince Charles follows the coffin of his father Britain’s Prince Philip during the funeral inside Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Saturday, April 17, 2021.
Philip and the queen’s children — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — walked behind the hearse along with other members of the Royal Family, all of whom wore civilian clothes at the queen’s request. The queen followed in a Bentley.
William and Harry were part of the nine-member royal contingent, although their cousin, Peter Phillips, walked between them. There was no obvious tension between the brothers, whose relationship has been strained since Harry’s decision to quit royal duties and move to California. After the service, they walked back to the castle together, seeming to chat amiably.
Their appearance at the service stirred memories of the 1997 funeral of Princess Diana, when William and Harry, then 15 and 12, walked behind their mother’s coffin accompanied by Philip.
In honor of Philip’s military service, several elements of the funeral had a maritime theme, including the hymn “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” which is associated with seafarers and seeks protection “for those in peril on the sea.”
As Philip’s coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault, Royal Marine buglers sounded “Action Stations,” an alarm that alerts sailors to prepare for battle — included in the service at Philip’s request. He will rest there, at least until the queen’s death, alongside the remains of 24 other royals, including King George III, whose reign included the years of the American Revolution. The queen and Philip are expected to be buried together in the Royal Burial Ground on the Frogmore Estate close to Windsor Castle.
For decades, Philip was a fixture of British life, renowned for his founding of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards program that encouraged youths to challenge themselves and for a blunt-spoken manner that at times included downright offensive remarks. He lived in his wife’s shadow, but his death has sparked a reflection about his role, and new appreciation from many in Britain.
“To be perfectly honest I didn’t realize the extent (of) what his life had been, what he had done for us all,” said Viv Davies, who came to pay her respects in Windsor. “He was a marvelous husband, wasn’t he, to the queen and the children? Just remarkable — and I don’t think we will see the like again.”
AP Photo/Frank AugsteinA picture of Britain’s Prince Philip with Queen Elizabeth ahead of his funeral in Windsor, England Saturday April 17, 2021.
Here’s Saturday’s news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois.
News
3:50 p.m. Positivity rate falls again with 3,194 latest Illinois COVID-19 cases
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-TimesDr. Kiran Joshi, co-lead and senior medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health, speaks during a news conference to announce the opening of the county’s sixth large-scale community vaccination site in Matteson, Tuesday afternoon, April 13, 2021.
Public health officials on Saturday announced 3,194 new COVID-19 cases, lowering Illinois’ testing positivity rate to 4.1% and offering a potential sign of optimism that the state is easing down from its latest surge in infections.
The positivity rate, which indicates how rapidly the virus is spreading, is still up sharply compared to the all-time low of 2.1% the state reached last month, while an average of more than 3,200 residents have tested positive each day over the past week — nearly double Illinois’ case rate in early March.
But the statewide positivity rate has now fallen or held steady for five consecutive days after a full month of troubling upticks.
Chicago’s regional positivity rate has fallen slightly over the past few days to 5.6%, and it’s dipped to 5.5% in suburban Cook County.
Despite any incremental progress, it’s still “a critical time in this pandemic,” according to Dr. Kiran Joshi, senior medical officer and co-leader of the Cook County Department of Public Health.
1:45 p.m. CPS is getting $1.8B in federal relief funding. Parents and students are demanding a say in how it’s spent
Rocio Almazan, a sophomore at Curie High School, is part of a student committee that listens to classmates’ concerns and suggestions for the school, including thoughts about remote learning over the past year.
The student group advocates for its classmates, sending letters and petitions. The problem is they’re rarely heard — and that’s an issue that needs to be fixed as Chicago Public Schools officials figure out how to spend $1.8 billion in federal pandemic relief funding, she said.
“CPS has excluded all stakeholders since the pandemic and continues to do so,” Rocio said.
The district has said it’ll use the money to support students through pandemic challenges moving forward, but families want a say in that process. The Chicago Teachers Union has also turned its attention to the issue now that high school reopening negotiations are complete and all district schools are clear to resume in-person learning.
Members of parent group Raise Your Hand, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and other community organizations held a virtual town hall Friday to share how they want the funds to be used. Among their top priorities are the hiring of additional special education staff to meet those students’ needs and funding housing vouchers for the 17,000 CPS children without permanent housing.
The groups also suggested closing the digital divide with working computers and internet for all students, providing additional resources for immigrants and children whose first language isn’t English, hiring restorative justice coordinators at all schools and opening school-based health centers.
Advocates were clear on what they didn’t want the money to go toward: paying off pre-pandemic debt.
10:37 a.m. Worldwide COVID-19 death toll tops 3 million
The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.
The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.
And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
When the world back in January passed the bleak threshold of 2 million deaths, immunization drives had just started in Europe and the United States. Today, they are underway in more than 190 countries, though progress in bringing the virus under control varies widely.
While the campaigns in the U.S. and Britain have hit their stride and people and businesses there are beginning to contemplate life after the pandemic, other places, mostly poorer countries but some rich ones as well, are lagging behind in putting shots in arms and have imposed new lockdowns and other restrictions as virus cases soar.
Worldwide, deaths are on the rise again, running at around 12,000 per day on average, and new cases are climbing too, eclipsing 700,000 a day.
9:04 a.m. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Obamas and other celebrities make a stand for COVID vaccines on TV special
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and a slew of celebrities including Billy Crystal, Jennifer Hudson and Lin-Manuel Miranda are part of a special aimed at boosting COVID-19 vaccination rates.
“Roll Up Your Sleeves,” airing at 6 p.m. Sunday on NBC, will feature Matthew McConaughey interviewing Dr. Anthony Fauci to help separate “fact from fiction” about the vaccines, the network said.
Biden will make a direct appeal in support of the effort, while Obama will be joined by basketball greats Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to reinforce the role of vaccines in allowing Americans to get their lives back on track.
Former first lady Michelle Obama will team with Miranda, Faith Hill and Jennifer Lopez in support of shots during the hour-long special hosted by spouses Russell Wilson, the NFL quarterback, and actor-singer Ciara.
8:15 a.m. Stuck outside U.S. during pandemic, burst pipe floods suburban home, and Allstate won’t pay
The COVID-19 pandemic has messed with people’s lives in countless ways, but I hadn’t heard anything quite like the travails of Floyd and Betsy Rogers.
It’s a complicated story, so settle in.
The Rogerses are retirees.
He’s 78 and used to work at IBM before retiring early to help his brother operate a now-defunct garden center. She’s 79 and went back to school for her Ph.D. after her daughters went away to college, then worked for a time as a consultant retraining industrial workers.
The Rogerses have lived since 1975 in a two-story frame home near Glen Ellyn where they raised two daughters.
Younger daughter Becky Ackermann is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she lives with her husband Kurt and their 11-year-old son, the Rogerses’ only grandchild. Their older daughter died of a blood clot in 2002.
Like many people their age with their only surviving child and grandchild far, far away, the suburban couple make annual visits to their daughter’s family in Cape Town, over time gradually extending their stays to months at a stretch.
That’s where they were in February 2020, scheduled to return that April, when Betsy Rogers broke her pelvis, requiring a long, difficult rehabilitation during which she could not be on an airplane.
That meant they were still in South Africa when the pandemic struck.
There were no flights back to the U.S. for a while. By the time there were, it wasn’t really safe to fly from a COVID standpoint, so they settled in for Betsy to recuperate.
That’s why the couple was still in South Africa this past Jan. 22 when they were informed a DuPage County sheriff’s deputy had spotted water running down their driveway. A cracked pipe in an upstairs bathroom had flooded the house, destroying much of the interior and furnishings: 213,000 gallons escaped, according to the water bill they later received.
All very sad, but that’s why people have homeowners’ insurance. Right?
That’s what the Rogerses were thinking. But Allstate denied their claim, citing an exception in their policy for plumbing that freezes while a building is vacant or unoccupied “unless you have used reasonable care” to maintain the heat or shut off the water supply and drain the system.
Public health officials on Saturday announced 3,194 new COVID-19 cases, lowering Illinois’ testing positivity rate to 4.1% and offering a potential sign of optimism that the state is easing down from its latest surge in infections.
The positivity rate is still up sharply compared to the all-time low of 2.1% the state reached last month, while an average of more than 3,200 residents have tested positive each day over the past week — nearly double Illinois’ case rate in early March.
Chicago’s regional positivity rate has fallen slightly over the past few days to 5.6%, and it’s dipped to 5.5% in suburban Cook County.
The state reported its fourth most productive vaccination day yet with 160,014 doses administered Friday. Nearly 8 million shots have gone into arms overall, with about 3.3 million residents fully vaccinated — nearly 26% of the population.
Officials also said 23 more residents have died with the virus, including 12 Cook County residents. The state’s death toll is up to 21,653 among about 1.3 million residents who have tested positive over the past year.
Nearly a quarter of all Illinoisans are now fully immunized against the coronavirus after Thursday’s shot effort, which came a week after the state set a record with almost 176,000 administered doses.
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