JERUSALEM — Exit polls indicate there is no clear winner in Tuesday’s Israeli election, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fate uncertain and signaling continued political deadlock.

The polls on Israel’s three main TV stations showed Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, as well as diverse array of opponents, both falling short of a parliamentary majority. That could set the stage for weeks of paralysis and even an unprecedented fifth consecutive election. Exit polls are often imprecise and the official results may not be known for days.

The exit polls conducted by Channels 11, 12 and 13 were nearly identical, showing Netanyahu and his allies with 53-54 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. His opponents were projected to win 59, and Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party was projected to win 7-8.

If the final results are in line with the exit polls, both sides will have to court Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally with strained relations with the prime minister, to form a majority of at least 61 seats.

Bennett shares Netanyahu’s hard-line nationalist ideology but has signaled he would be open to cooperating with his rivals if given the chance to be prime minister.

The election is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s divisive rule, and once again, opinion polls had forecast an extremely tight race.

The three-month campaign was largely devoid of substantive issues and focused heavily on Netanyahu’s personality and whether he should remain in office. In contrast to past elections where he faced off against a clear rival, this time a diverse array of parties is trying to topple him, having little in common beyond their shared animosity toward him.

“Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote,” Netanyahu said after casting his ballot in Jerusalem, his wife, Sara, at his side.

Netanyahu, 71, who even after 12 years in office remains a tireless campaigner, continued throughout the day. At one point, he marched along a Mediterranean beach imploring people over a megaphone to go vote.

“This is the moment of truth for the state of Israel,” said one of his challengers, opposition leader Yair Lapid, as he voted in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu has emphasized Israel’s highly successful coronavirus vaccination campaign. He moved aggressively to secure enough vaccines for Israel’s 9.3 million people, and in three months the country has vaccinated some 80% of its adult population. That has enabled the government to open restaurants, stores and the airport just in time for election day.

He also has tried to portray himself as a global statesman, pointing to the four diplomatic accords he reached with Arab countries last year. Those agreements were brokered by his close ally, then-President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu’s opponents, including a trio of former aides who share his nationalistic ideology but object to what they say is his autocratic leadership style, see things far differently.

They say that Netanyahu bungled many aspects of the pandemic, particularly by allowing his ultra-Orthodox allies to ignore lockdown rules and fuel a high infection rate for much of the year. Over 6,000 Israelis have died from COVID-19, and the economy remains in weak shape with double-digit unemployment.

They also point to Netanyahu’s corruption trial, saying someone who is under indictment for serious crimes is not fit to lead the country. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals that he dismisses as a witch hunt by a hostile media and legal system.

Even Netanyahu’s reputation as a statesman has suffered a bit in recent days. The United Arab Emirates, the most important of the four Arab nations to establish official diplomatic ties with Israel, last week made clear that it did not want to be used as part of Netanyahu’s re-election bid after he was forced to call off a visit to the country. The Biden administration also has kept its distance, a contrast to the support he received in past elections from Trump.

In a reminder of the country’s many security challenges, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into Israel late Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens in southern Israel. The Israeli military said the rocket landed in an open space.

Opinion polls forecast a tight race, with a possibility of both Netanyahu and his opponents falling short of securing a parliamentary majority yet again. That could plunge the country into an unprecedented fifth consecutive election later this year.

Tuesday’s election was sparked by the disintegration of an emergency government formed last May between Netanyahu and his chief rival at the time. The alliance was plagued by infighting, and elections were forced after they failed to agree on a budget in December.

“It would be better if we didn’t have to vote, you know, four times in two years,” said Jerusalem voter Bruce Rosen. “It’s a little bit tiring.”

By 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), 51.5% of eligible voters had cast ballots, a drop of nearly 5 percentage points from the previous election a year ago, the Israeli election commission announced.

Netanyahu’s opponents have accused him of fomenting deadlock in hopes of bringing about a friendlier parliament that will grant him immunity from prosecution.

Netanyahu is hoping to form a government with his traditional religious and hard-line nationalist allies. These include a pair of ultra-Orthodox parties and a small religious party that includes openly racist and homophobic candidates.

This time, much will depend on the performance of a handful of small parties struggling to win the minimum 3.25% of the vote to enter the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

While Netanyahu’s Likud was expected to emerge as the largest single party, no party has ever won a 61-seat majority on its own. Both he and his rivals must win the support of smaller allied parties to form a majority coalition.

Recent polls have forecast that several parties were hovering near the electoral threshold. A failure by any one of them to enter the parliament would have a significant impact on the balance between Netanyahu and his opponents.

Another complicating factor was absentee balloting. Up to 15% of the electorate was expected to vote outside their home districts, a larger-than-usual number due to special accommodations for those with COVID-19 or in quarantine. The government set up special polling stations and even brought ballot boxes to hospital bedsides to allow people to vote safely.

Those votes are tallied separately in Jerusalem, meaning final results may not be known for days. Given the tight race, it could be difficult to predict the outcome before the final count is complete.

After the results come in, attention will turn to the country’s figurehead president, Reuven Rivlin.

He will hold a series of meetings with party leaders and then choose the one he believes has the best chance of forming a government as his prime minister-designate. That task is usually, but not always, given to the head of the largest party. That will set off weeks of horse-trading as the prime minister-designate tries to cobble together a government with promises of generous budgets and powerful ministries to his would-be partners.

Voting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Rivlin said the deadlock has had a price.

“Four elections in two years erode public trust in the democratic process,” he said, even as he urged Israelis to vote again. “There is no other way.”

Read More

WASHINGTON — Democrats said Tuesday that they are pushing toward a vote on expanded gun control measures as the nation reels from its second mass shooting in a week. President Joe Biden said “we have to act,” but prospects for any major changes were dim, for now, in the closely divided Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Tuesday morning to bring to the Senate floor legislation passed by the House that would require background checks for most gun sales and transfers. He said the Senate “must confront a devastating truth” after a lack of congressional action on the issue for almost three decades.

“This Senate will be different,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said a day after a shooting at a crowded Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, killed 10 people, including a police officer. “The Senate is going to debate and address the epidemic of gun violence in this country.”

While a Senate vote on new gun control would be the first in several years, Democrats do not have the votes to pass any significant reform. They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday on proposals for gun control. It is unclear whether any of the bills up for consideration — most of them involving more restrictive background checks — would have made a difference in the Colorado case. A 21-year-old man charged with killing eight people in the Atlanta area last week had purchased a 9 mm handgun hours before the murders, prompting advocates to push for longer waiting periods for purchases.

In brief remarks responding to the shooting, Biden urged Congress to move quickly to close the loopholes in the background check system and to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines — an effort that would be even more difficult to achieve politically. According to a police affidavit, the Colorado shooter had purchased an assault rifle six days earlier.

“It should not be a partisan issue,” Biden said. “This is an American issue. It will save lives, American lives.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has aggressively pushed for expanded gun control since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and six educators, expressed optimism about the chances for new laws with Biden in the White House and Democrats controlling the House and the Senate. He called it “the dawn of a new era.”

Reality is likely more complicated. Senate Democrats do not currently have deep enough support among Republicans to pass new gun control legislation in the 50-50 Senate, as they would need 60 votes to do so. While expanding background checks is generally popular with the American public, even with some conservatives, Congress has been unable to find a successful compromise on guns in decades, making it one of the most intractable issues in American politics.

The gun debate also highlights a larger difficulty for Senate Democrats as they try to move forward on gun legislation and other policy priorities of the Biden White House. With the filibuster in place, forcing a 60-vote threshold for most legislation, House-passed bills on issues like gun control and voting rights are effectively nonstarters unless Democrats secure significant GOP support.

Some Republicans hinted that they would be open to negotiations, though it was unclear if there were any real bipartisan discussions. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he was opposed to the House legislation, but “I’m certainly open to the discussion.”

Manchin and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who have worked together for years to find compromise on background checks, both said they were opposed to the House legislation, which would close loopholes to ensure background checks are extended to private and online sales that often go undetected, including at gun shows, with some limited exemptions for family and other scenarios. A similar version Manchin and Toomey proposed just after the Sandy Hook shootings included a broader set of exemptions than the House bill.

The House also passed a second bill to extend a certain review period for background checks from three to 10 days. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., introduced the legislation after a shooter killed nine people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015.

Toomey said he would like to find legislation that could pass, but “that probably would require something that’s a little bit different. So, we’ll see if we can figure out how to thread that needle.”

Manchin did not say whether he would restart negotiations, only that “we’re going to try to do the responsible, reasonable thing.”

Schumer and Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, a leading advocate for gun control, said they would meet this week to discuss a path forward. Schumer has not said when he will bring the House legislation up for a vote.

Democrats say they feel the environment around gun legislation has evolved, especially since that last major push in 2013. They point to troubles at the National Rifle Association, the long-powerful advocacy group that poured tens of millions of dollars into electing Donald Trump in 2016. The organization has been weakened by infighting as well as legal tangles over its finances.

“This is the moment to make our stand. NOW,” tweeted Murphy as details of the Colorado shooting emerged Monday evening. “Today, our movement is stronger than the gun lobby. They are weak. We are potent. Finally, a President and a Congress that supports gun reform.”

Democrats are hoping there is a gradual political shift among voters as well. A Pew Research Center poll in September 2019 showed a wide majority of Americans, 88%, supported making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, which is what the House-passed bill would do. Ninety-three percent of Democrats and 82% of Republicans were in favor of the policy.

Many in the GOP base are still strongly opposed to gun control of any kind. In Tuesday’s hearing, which was scheduled before the Colorado shooting, Republicans showed no signs of wavering. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that every time there is a shooting, the Senate engages in “ridiculous theater,” with Democrats proposing laws that he said could take guns away from law-abiding citizens. Republicans have argued that background checks would not stop most mass shootings and would prevent some lawful gun owners from purchasing firearms.

“We already know this pattern is predictable, over and over and over again,” Cruz said.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Hannah Fingerhut and Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.

Read More

Looking to escape the big city for a fun day out? Consider Schaumburg for your next adventure. The Woodfield Mall offers plenty of shopping and the nearby Legoland Discovery Center features a 4D cinema and kids’ rides. Or if you’re in need of some fresh air, check out the paved trails along a chain of connected pools at the Ned Brown Preserve. After a full day of exploring, you’ll likely work up an appetite. Here are some of the top restaurants in the area!

22 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Craving Japanese food? Then check out this low-key spot with heaping bowls of ramen noodles and other Japanese dishes. Torizen is a “ramen/izakaya” style restaurant and the only place in Illinois specializing in Sapporo-style ramen noodle soup.

1570 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Calling all heavy metal fans! This rock ‘n roll restaurant offers a wraparound bar and patio for massive burgers piled with toppings. Try the Lair of the Minotaur while GWAR videos on the big screen. It’s ~an experience~ everyone should try. 

1385 N Meacham Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Westwood’s menu is simply American cooking done right. Everything on their menu is made from scratch including their fresh ground burgers and corn tortillas. Plus you’ll love their beautiful outdoor bar with two fireplaces to relax on those perfect Spring days. 

870 N Meacham, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Love tacos and tequila? Who doesn’t! Fun fact: this restaurant is named after a beloved ass. On a trip to Mexico, Chef Scott Harris met an Agave farmer with a donkey called Fat Rosie. After many shots of tequila, Scott made a promise to name his restaurant after Rosie. And the rest is history. 

1850 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Need a place to chow down near Woodfield Mall? City Works is an ‘eatery and pour house’ style restaurant, with a focus on traditional American food, a massive selection of drinks, and a fun atmosphere. Their ‘pour house’ offers 90 draft handles, as well as 8 wines on draft. Come hungry…and thirsty. 

17 S Roselle Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60193

Dim sum, clay pots, dumplings, and Taiwanese ice are just a few of the items you’ll find in this modern, minimal setting. Not sure where to start? Try the Taste of Phat Phat’s Favorites for  $9.75 which includes their most popular items: Cha Siew Pao, Siew Mai, Har Gao, and Spring rolls. 

1770 E. Higgins Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

If you’re feeling a little more fancy, try Seasons 52. Their seasonal menus feature ingredients at peak freshness, oak-fire grilled or brick oven roasted (without a fryer in sight) to be more flavorful and naturally lighter. Sip back and relax with a glass of wine or two.  

905 West Irving Park Road, Schaumburg, IL 60193

Let your hunger take flight! This laid back, airplane-themed eatery offers runway views, a full bar, and a menu of American comfort foods. You’ll be on cloud nine. 

Featured Image Credit: The Village of Schaumburg

Read More

Chicago’s Art and Beer Scene

• Subscribe by Email
• About
• Archive

Artist Feature — Poetry by Boots

Leave a comment

Tweet

By Sher,
today at 11:42 am

I’m smitten with poetry, which is why I get enthusiastic to read Instagram posts from Poetry by Boots. She has a way with words and her poems are relatable in everyday life. I occasionally come up with a witty haiku; however, I have decided to leave poetry to the professionals. 

Did Boots move to Chicago?

I became intrigued when I saw Chicago as the scene for some of Boots’ recent posts given that she is based in Los Angeles. I sent a message asking if she moved to Chicago, she said yes, and here we are! This became a great opportunity to learn more about her, so we engaged in an interview via email.

Let’s get this out of the way first — what made you leave warm California for cold Chicago in the dead of winter?

I love Chicago! I was born and raised here on the south side. Right after I graduated from Columbia College, I decided to move to Los Angeles where I worked as a photographer and creative director at a hip hop magazine during most of my time there. After a decade away, I decided that I wanted to move back to be closer to family. Also, my poetry business has taken off so I wanted to pursue that fully. It started with some cut-out stencils sprayed in abandoned buildings to have three books out, a clothing line, art, and many other things. 

How long have you been writing poetry and what initially inspired you?

I’ve been writing poetry since I was about 12 years old. I used to take the Pace bus to the orange line on weekends and sit at the Harold Washington Library, reading poetry all day. It was probably unsafe for me at that age to do it, but I just became obsessed with the art form of it. The way people can express themselves through written word. Having always been a fan of hip hop, poetry seemed natural to me. So I started writing my own, but not anything I would show people. Even when I wrote my first book, I didn’t really think this was going to be a career path for me. I was going through a really bad breakup after being with this person for close to a decade, and the only way I could somehow heal was to write him letters that I would never show him. I turned those letters into my first book. My first book is 145 poems, start to finish of that relationship. So this whole poetry venture is bittersweet. I had to go through the worst to make something beautiful out of it.

Your bio says you love Slurpees. What’s your favorite flavor?

I really love the Mountain Dew ones! Right now my favorite is Coca-Cola with cherry on top. My best friend, Lauren Gries, who is also the most amazing photographer, got me hooked on them.

I see we share the same love for travel. Do you spray your poetry in cities that you travel to? If so, how do you choose where?

I do love to travel. Every year, I would drive back and forth to Chicago from California along the old Route 66 through Arizona, New Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle. I’m so grateful to have such amazing friends all over the U.S. who also love abandoned places, so I always have partners in crime to spray paint with. I plan different places to visit, but as for the actual poem or placement, I wait until that place gives me a feeling and I go with my gut.

I’m fascinated by abandoned buildings, but also timid depending on the location. Do you have any exploration tips?

I’ve been exploring for about a decade now. When I started doing this, Instagram wasn’t even around and it’s changed greatly since it’s become a social media “fad.” I only mention that because it’s become harder. Places become destroyed, put all over YouTube, and then the area gets sealed up and policed more. It’s hard to give tips because it’s all about luck. My best advice is to find really amazing people to do this with. I’m so lucky that most of my friends do this and we look out for each other to stay safe while having fun. I have no balance, so I have had friends literally pull me out of stages I have fallen through. Doing this with people you trust is very important.

Have any conversations in public places motivated you to write poems? I know a few writers who like to observe others, so I’m curious.

I am obsessed with people watching and constantly writing down notes on napkins, post-its, or old receipts I find in my purse. I find inspiration from a lot of things that people overlook. Even when I watch TV and hear certain quotes, I’m pulling out my phone and jotting them down. Most of my poems are personal experiences, but they are definitely inspired by my surroundings. 

It has been difficult for me to be creative during the pandemic. Has the quarantine deterred you from writing?

Oh, absolutely. I thought I was going to move back home, sit at my favorite coffee shops, write, and be constantly inspired. I also have really bad seasonal depression and after being in the sunshine for a decade, it was hard to come home with it being cold and snowy. I have had to find ways around that. Sometimes just a really long walk, some fresh air, a really good cup of coffee, or a conversation with a friend can push you out of that dark mindset.  

Have you done a collab with a muralist before? If not, is this something that interests you?

Not so much a muralist, but I definitely have a lot of graffiti artist friends who I’ve done great collabs with. My first collab was with one of the kindest, most genuine humans – Teck 9 from the Detroit area. Sadly, he passed away last year, but he taught me to stay true to my art no matter how many people talk trash about it. Last summer, I also did collabs with my friend, Funr, who is based in California. We did a four-day road trip across the Midwest with another homie/graffiti legend, Style. This year, my goal is to do murals. I want my words BIG across the sides of buildings. I’m not the best free-hand artist, so I want to collab with artists who can bring my words to life with their artistic vision.

True story

As mentioned, I’m always curious to explore an abandoned building when I see one. Boots painted a poem at a church under demolition, and I jumped at the chance to check it out when she gave me the address. I endured icy sidewalks and knee-deep snow from the big storm only to discover her art was gone. It wasn’t comical at the time, but the memory is now. A construction crew was on-site and indulged me by looking at the Instagram photo on my phone to be sure I wasn’t missing the poem. They were also kind enough to help me get across busy Ashland Ave.

Where you can find some of her art

Poetry by Boots has lots of sprays around town and many of them are along the Bline on Hubbard Avenue and near the Metro on Clark. The photos I’m sharing here can be found on Hubbard (I edited/added framing for this post).

Merchandise for sale

Boots has tons of amazing merchandise for sale in her Etsy shop. I ordered a pack of stickers, which I will share with a few close friends. One special friend, who lives in Utrecht in the Netherlands, was excited to receive what I sent her. Lotte takes beautiful photos and has such an encouraging outlook on life, I highly recommend checking out her Instagram.

Thank you!

I really appreciate Boots sharing parts of her intriguing life and I look forward to new poems. And, fingers crossed for a few mural collaborations.

Filed under:
art, artist, Chicago, Chicago art, Chicago artist, Street Art

Tags:
abandoned buildings, Chicago, Columbia College, Etsy, interview, Los Angeles, poetry, Poetry by Boots, the Netherlands, travel, Utrecht

Tweet

• Advertisement:

• Advertisement:

• 
  

  Welcome to ChicagoNow.

  Meet
  our bloggers,
  
  post comments, or
  
  pitch your blog idea.

  Sign in
  Pitch your idea
  Play games

• Meet The Blogger

  

  Sher

  My greatest passion is street art. I’m constantly pounding the pavement in search of murals with eyes wide open, so follow me on my colorful journey. View all my findings on Instagram @eyespystreetart.
  
  Another passion is beer. I consider myself a beer snob with a preference given to stouts and porters. I’m always willing to try new styles because beer is life. Prost!
  
  Catch me on Twitter @midwesthackette

• Latest on ChicagoNow

  • Artist Feature — Poetry by Boots

    from Chicago’s Art and Beer Scene by Sher
    posted today at 11:42 am

  • Boundaries? We don’t need no stinking boundaries

    from The Chicago Board of Tirade by Bob Abrams
    posted today at 10:31 am

  • Chicago Foreclosure Activity Slowly Drifting Up But Remains Low

    from Getting Real by Gary Lucido
    posted today at 9:02 am

  • Six Vaccinations to try your Patience

    from Getting More From Les by lesraff
    posted today at 8:32 am

  • Moving the Chains with . . . Western Illinois defensive back Jalen Powe

    from Prairie State Pigskin by Dan Verdun
    posted today at 5:45 am

• Posts from related blogs

  • 

    The Beeronaut

    Most recent post: Chicago Week in Beer, March 22-25

  • 

    Chicago Eats

    Most recent post: Here’s to an Old Fashioned St. Paddy’s Day

  • 

    A Bite of Chicago

    Most recent post:

  More from Lifestyle: Food, Drinks & Dining

• Read these ChicagoNow blogs

  • 

    Cubs Den

    Chicago Cubs news and comprehensive blog, featuring old school baseball writing combined with the latest statistical trends
    • Where Will All the Cubs Shortstop Prospects Go?
  • 

    Pets in need of homes

    Pets available for adoption in the Chicago area
    • Migaloo — Petraits Rescue
  • 

    Hammervision

    It’s like the couch potato version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
    • Movie Review: Nomadland

• Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers

  • 

    Candace Jordan

    from Candid Candace:
    We got our first Covid-19 shot and this is what happened
  • 

    Dennis Byrne

    from The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor:
    Ta da! It’s warmer in Chicago than in Jacksonville
  • 

    LeaGrover

    from Becoming SuperMommy:
    Grieving Love with Intention
• Advertisement:

ChicagoNOW

• About ChicagoNow
• •
• FAQs
• •
• Advertise
• •
• Recent posts RSS
• •
• Privacy policy (Updated)
• •
• Comment policy
• •
• Terms of service
• •
• Chicago Tribune Archives
• •
• Do not sell my personal info

©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

Read More

The Dingers crew is joined by the Director of Morale, DOM Frederic. We talk Cubs spring training, outlook on the season, and how to be a loyal fan.

The post Dingers Podcast Episode 32 – Morale is a State of Cub with Special Guest Frederic, the Director of Morale first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

COVID-19 cases are ticking back upward across Chicago and the rest of Illinois even as vaccine supply improves, the top doctors from the city and state warned Tuesday.

Infections have increased about 23% in Chicago over the past week, mostly among people age 18 to 40, according to city Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

That’s the same trend Arwady’s team saw in October, before a record-breaking resurgence that saw Chicago suffer its worst days of the pandemic.

“We are worried about this,” Arwady said during an online Q&A. “We’ll be in good shape this summer, but I am really worried about this next four to eight weeks. … We are not at a point where we can assume that most people have started to get some protection from the vaccine.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,832 new cases of the disease were diagnosed statewide among 49,739 tests.

Graph not displaying properly? Click here.

That lowered the average statewide positivity a notch down to 2.5% compared to a day earlier. But that key indicator of transmission had been at a record low of 2.1% on March 13 — a net increase of 19% over a span of just 10 days.

COVID-19 hospital admissions have crept upward, too, with 1,270 beds occupied Monday night.

The rising metrics come weeks after public health officials identified three more infectious strains of COVID-19 in the state — and weeks before more business restrictions are set to be loosened by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Officials also reported 13 more coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, including two Cook County women in their 60s. Daily death rates have fallen by about half over the past month, but experts agree an increase in cases results in an increase in hospitalizations and deaths weeks later.

“Even as we’re getting more and more vaccine doses, we cannot let our guard down, especially with these virulent new strains circulating,” Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement. “We’ve come so far and are so close to a more normal time, but we’re already seeing some concerning plateaus and even increases in hospitalizations and cases.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times file

“We’re not out of the woods yet so continue to wear your masks, avoid large crowds, and keep six feet of distance,” Ezike said.

Graph not displaying properly? Click here.

A total of 70,252 COVID-19 shots were went into arms statewide Monday, a third straight disappointing daily total that lowered Illinois’ average number of vaccinations per day to 91,000 — its lowest point since March 4.

Ezike’s agency said that number could be underreported, though, due to “discrepancies” with the federal government “in some of the vaccine administration data.”

More than 4.8 million doses have been administered in all across the state, with nearly 1.8 million residents fully vaccinated — about 14% of the population. Only about 11% of Chicago residents have been fully immunized, Arwady said.

Over the past year, more than 1.2 million Illinoisans have tested positive for the virus, and 21,116 have died.

Read More

The latest

Spring looking like fall? COVID-19 cases creeping up, despite vaccine ramp-up: ‘We are worried about this’

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

COVID-19 cases are ticking back upward across Chicago and the rest of Illinois even as vaccine supply improves, the top doctors from the city and state warned Tuesday.

Infections have increased about 23% in Chicago over the past week, mostly among people age 18 to 40, according to city Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

That’s the same trend Arwady’s team saw in October, before a record-breaking resurgence that saw Chicago suffer its worst days of the pandemic.

“We are worried about this,” Arwady said during an online Q&A. “We’ll be in good shape this summer, but I am really worried about this next four to eight weeks. … We are not at a point where we can assume that most people have started to get some protection from the vaccine.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,832 new cases of the disease were diagnosed statewide among 49,739 tests.

Keep reading Mitchell Armentrout’s story here.

News

1:38 p.m. Chicago won’t open a 24-hour vaccination site yet, Arwady says

Chicago public health officials said they have no plans to open a vaccination site that would be open 24 hours a day — as some other cities have done.

At a press conference on the city’s vaccination efforts, officials were asked about the possibility of opening an around-the-clock center to speed up vaccines and increase accessibility for essential workers. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the main focus right now is increasing vaccine supply.

“At this point, there’s not plans for a 24-hour situation,” Arwady said “We’ll see what the demand looks like and we’ll see what the vaccine supply looks like.”

Chicago is set to expand vaccine eligibility next Monday to additional essential workers like those in food service and hospitality, as well as those over 16 years old with underlying health conditions. Since the start of the vaccine rollout, the city has prioritized healthcare and the first group of essential workers, according to Arwady.

“We’re always interested in new ideas, but we’ve been very focused here,” Arwady said “So, we’ll keep prioritizing those workers and we’ll see if they are more creative things we need to do to reach them.”

Read the full story from Sophie Sherry here.

11:51 a.m. DoorDash now offering delivery of at-home COVID-19 tests to Chicagoans, with quick turnaround time for results

DoorDash has started offering its Chicago users same-day delivery on at-home COVID-19 test kits with quick turnaround times for results.

Through a partnership with Vault Health and Everlywell, two digital health companies, DoorDash users will be able to get a saliva or nasal swab test kit delivered to their doorstep and mail in their kit directly to a lab, receiving results in 24-48 hours, DoorDash said.

The Vault Health saliva test kit is $109 and the Everlywell nasal swab test kit is $119. Both may be reimbursed through insurance, according to the company. Both versions have been approved by the FDA for emergency use.

Read Grace Asiegbu’s full story here.

9:30 a.m. State Rep. LaShawn Ford resigns from Loretto Hospital board over vaccine flap

State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford has resigned from the board of trustees at Loretto Hospital over how it handled revelations of improperly providing vaccinations to people not yet eligible for the shots.

“I am very disappointed with the recent developments at The Loretto Hospital regarding its use of coronavirus vaccine entrusted to the hospital,” Ford said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.

“Yesterday, I submitted my resignation to The Loretto Hospital’s Board Chairman Edward Hogan because I strongly disagreed with how the reprimand of the hospital leadership was handled. As the state representative for the hospital and as a resident in its service area, I will continue to fight for resources for The Loretto Hospital, a safety-net hospital in the Austin community.”

The hospital’s CEO George Miller and COO Dr. Anosh Ahmed have come under fire in recent days after revelations the hospital improperly provided vaccinations to workers at Trump Tower, where Ahmed lives; at a suburban church that Miller is a member of; and a luxury watch shop on the Gold Coast where Ahmed shops.

Read the full story from Mitch Dudek here.

New cases and vaccination numbers

• Illinois logged another 1,220 new confirmed, and probable, cases of the coronavirus, as well as 22 deaths on Monday.
• The new cases were found in a batch of 47,374 tests. As of Sunday night, 1,182 individuals with COVID-19 were reported to be in hospitals around the state. Of that number, 233 patients were in the ICU and 98 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
• So far, nearly one in three adult Illinois residents have received the vaccine, including about 64% of those 65 and older.

Analysis and commentary

10:45 a.m. Here’s to ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for hotels and restaurants socked by COVID-19 restrictions

It’s no surprise the state’s latest jobs figures show the leisure and hospitality industry took quite a wallop last year, given the clamp that COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines put on the entire economy.

Still, the raw numbers released this month by the Illinois Department of Employment Security are nonetheless sobering: The number of jobs in the industry statewide plummeted from 628,000 in January 2020 to 412,000 now.

The plunge took 216,000 jobs with it. No other employment sector in the state suffered as much.

But we’re hoping three developments this month can provide a lifeline to the struggling industry: federal aid to restaurants and bars as part of the latest $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package; Illinois’ expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include food and beverage workers; and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to gradually reopen the state’s economy, beginning next month, as more people are vaccinated.

“Our industry has been decimated,” Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia told us. “But we’re starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.”

Read the full editorial here.

Read More

Chicago Bulls front office listening to offers for Lauri Markkanen by Ryan Taylor

Chicago Cubs manager David Ross began to piece together his starting rotation on Tuesday as he announced that starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks will be the team’s Opening Day starter on April1 when the team opens the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates. For Hendricks, this only solidifies that he is the ace of the Cubs starting rotation. After spending past seasons with veterans Jon Lester and Yu Darvish in the starting rotation, Hendricks never appeared to be firmly cemented as the team’s ace.

No longer with the team are Darvish and Lester and that means that Hendricks is the anchor of the Cubs’ starting rotation. Hendricks was the 2020 opening day starting pitcher for the Cubs as well. During the 2020 season, Hendricks posted a 2.88 ERA/3.55 FIP/0.996 WHIP in 81.1 innings pitched.

Entering the 2021 season, there is no question that Hendricks is the only certainty in the Cubs’ rotation. What will be an interesting watch this season is if Hendricks pops up in trade rumors. The speculation during the off-season was that the Cubs were potentially talking about a mega-trade with the New York Mets that centered around Hendricks and third baseman Kris Bryant.

As the Cubs’ roster is currently constructed, Hendricks is one of the more valuable pieces that the team has in terms of a potential trade. Between his team-friendly contract and consistent performance, Hendricks likely will be a trade candidate for teams in July in the event that the Cubs become sellers. A trade of Hendricks would certainly expedite the Cubs’ efforts to rebuild their farm system with talented prospects.

Of course, the Cubs can also decide that Hendricks is the pitcher that the team will need to build their next contending team around. Entering the 2021 season, Hendricks leads a starting rotation for the Cubs that is filled with question marks.

Behind Hendricks, The Cubs have veterans Kyle Davies and Jake Arrieta penciled into the rotation. After those three, the Cubs are looking at a cast of Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay, Trevor Williams, Shelby Miller, and Kohl Stewart as options.

If the Cubs’ rotation is going to return to form and be one of the strengths of the team, then they will need Alzolay to find success at the Major League level. After struggling in 4 appearances during the 2019 season, Alzolay was impressive during the shortened 2020 campaign. Alzolay posted a 2.95 ERA/ 3.05 FIP/ 1.172 WHIP in 21.1 innings pitched last season with the Cubs. They will need more of that from Alzolay in 2021 if the starting rotation is going to find consistent success.

Related Story: What is the Cubs’ perfect 2021 starting lineup?

With Kyle Hendricks officially tabbed as the Chicago Cubs opening day starting pitcher, expect the rest of the rotation to come into focus over the course of the coming days.

Read More

The latest

Chicago won’t open a 24-hour vaccination site yet, Arwady says

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Chicago public health officials said they have no plans to open a vaccination site that would be open 24 hours a day — as some other cities have done.

At a press conference on the city’s vaccinations efforts, officials were asked about the possibility of opening an around-the-clock center to speed up vaccines and increase accessibility for essential workers. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the main focus right now is increasing vaccine supply.

“At this point, there’s not plans for a 24-hour situation,” Arwady said “We’ll see what the demand looks like and we’ll see what the vaccine supply looks like.”

Chicago is set to expand vaccine eligibility next Monday to additional essential workers like those in food service and hospitality, as well as those over 16 years old with underlying health conditions.

Since the start of the vaccine rollout, the city has prioritized healthcare and the first group of essential workers, according to Arwady.

“We’re always interested in new ideas, but we’ve been very focused here,” Arwady said “So, we’ll keep prioritizing those workers and we’ll see if they are more creative things we need to do to reach them.”

Read the full story from Sophie Sherry here.

News

11:51 a.m. DoorDash now offering delivery of at-home COVID-19 tests to Chicagoans, with quick turnaround time for results

DoorDash has started offering its Chicago users same-day delivery on at-home COVID-19 test kits with quick turnaround times for results.

Through a partnership with Vault Health and Everlywell, two digital health companies, DoorDash users will be able to get a saliva or nasal swab test kit delivered to their doorstep and mail in their kit directly to a lab, receiving results in 24-48 hours, DoorDash said.

The Vault Health saliva test kit is $109 and the Everlywell nasal swab test kit is $119. Both may be reimbursed through insurance, according to the company. Both versions have been approved by the FDA for emergency use.

Read Grace Asiegbu’s full story here.

9:30 a.m. State Rep. LaShawn Ford resigns from Loretto Hospital board over vaccine flap

State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford has resigned from the board of trustees at Loretto Hospital over how it handled revelations of improperly providing vaccinations to people not yet eligible for the shots.

“I am very disappointed with the recent developments at The Loretto Hospital regarding its use of coronavirus vaccine entrusted to the hospital,” Ford said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.

“Yesterday, I submitted my resignation to The Loretto Hospital’s Board Chairman Edward Hogan because I strongly disagreed with how the reprimand of the hospital leadership was handled. As the state representative for the hospital and as a resident in its service area, I will continue to fight for resources for The Loretto Hospital, a safety-net hospital in the Austin community.”

The hospital’s CEO George Miller and COO Dr. Anosh Ahmed have come under fire in recent days after revelations the hospital improperly provided vaccinations to workers at Trump Tower, where Ahmed lives; at a suburban church that Miller is a member of; and a luxury watch shop on the Gold Coast where Ahmed shops.

Read the full story from Mitch Dudek here.

New cases and vaccination numbers

• Illinois logged another 1,220 new confirmed, and probable, cases of the coronavirus, as well as 22 deaths on Monday.
• The new cases were found in a batch of 47,374 tests. As of Sunday night, 1,182 individuals with COVID-19 were reported to be in hospitals around the state. Of that number, 233 patients were in the ICU and 98 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
• So far, nearly one in three adult Illinois residents have received the vaccine, including about 64% of those 65 and older.

Analysis and commentary

10:45 a.m. Here’s to ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for hotels and restaurants socked by COVID-19 restrictions

It’s no surprise the state’s latest jobs figures show the leisure and hospitality industry took quite a wallop last year, given the clamp that COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines put on the entire economy.

Still, the raw numbers released this month by the Illinois Department of Employment Security are nonetheless sobering: The number of jobs in the industry statewide plummeted from 628,000 in January 2020 to 412,000 now.

The plunge took 216,000 jobs with it. No other employment sector in the state suffered as much.

But we’re hoping three developments this month can provide a lifeline to the struggling industry: federal aid to restaurants and bars as part of the latest $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package; Illinois’ expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include food and beverage workers; and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to gradually reopen the state’s economy, beginning next month, as more people are vaccinated.

“Our industry has been decimated,” Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia told us. “But we’re starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.”

Read the full editorial here.

Read More

Larry Lucas, Robert Wiggins, Leonard Olson and Robert Walsh.

Those names probably mean nothing to you, and why should they? It was almost 48 years ago — April 11, 1973 — that the four employees of Westinghouse’s elevator division were putting finishing touches on an elevator shaft at the nearly-topped-out Sears Tower, using turpentine to scrub away oil the foundry put on the steel rails to keep them from rusting.

They were on a platform on the 42nd floor, in a “blind shaft” — two entrances, one 20 feet above their heads and another 100 feet below — when a spark ignited the turpentine. Other workers heard their screams and tried to break into the shaft to get to them, hammering at the concrete walls. But of course it was too late.

We seldom consider workers who lose their lives. They don’t even get the little gratuitous nod we give first responders, thought it might be argued that they do one better than saving the city: they built it in the first place, and keep it running.

I thought of these four lost workers Monday morning because of an email with the enigmatic subject line: “BLS Midwest News Update: March 22-26, 2021.” You’d never open that, right? I did. The “BLS” is Bureau of Labor Statistics — part of the same federal government that took the lead in developing vaccines; I sure hope their medical judgment is better than their ability to craft catchy subject lines, or we’re all in trouble.

The email inside is clear, and the message isn’t good: 5,333 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2019, up 2% from the year before and the highest toll in a dozen years. Of those deaths, 158 were in Illinois.

Sun-Times file

The most dangerous job you can do is … any guesses? No, not prepping elevator shafts. Or being a police officer or firefighter.

In terms of raw numbers, it’s driving a truck. In 2019, exactly a third of Illinois workplace deaths — 53 — were due to transportation accidents, followed by construction worker and miner. Bear in mind, of course, that while there were three times as many fatalities of truck drivers as police officers, there are also about three times as many professional drivers as cops, so in that sense, the jobs are about the same, danger-wise.

News that will be cold comfort to the family of Eric Talley, killed Monday while trying to do his job as a police officer, reacting to the shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colo. And the family of Rikki Olds, a 25-year-old store employee. Add them to the 2021 stats.

Which brings us to the second biggest cause of on-the-job death: “violence and other injuries by persons,” accounting for 31 Illinois deaths in 2019. That includes 18 Illinoisans shot and killed while working and eight who shot themselves, which hints that workplaces are inherently dangerous, since in general more than twice as many people kill themselves as are murdered.

“Falls, slips and trips” are third, bringing us back to the Sears Tower. Those four weren’t the only ones killed in its construction. Just days after they died, Jack DeKlerk was knocked off the 109th floor by a stray cable. He fell 35 feet, to the 106th floor. Not far, but enough.

Maybe when Labor Day comes around this year, we should nudge it more toward the reflective tone of Memorial Day, and remember all those workers who gave their lives to build our towers, dig our coal, and rush toward gunmen trying to protect us. When you look at the skyline, almost every tall building has a casualty or four. Or more.

There is something important to the act of remembering. It’s a form of gratitude, and shows we’re not just skittering around stupidly, like crabs, occupying these magnificent shells that people gave their lives to leave for us.

Three weeks after his death, DeKlerk’s widow, Jo Ann, crashed the Sears Tower topping-out ceremony and boldly signed her husband’s name on the celebratory steel beam, along with the bigwigs who never broke a sweat to build the place. Then she went to the 109th floor and put one foot on the steel beam her husband fell from. It was, she later said, the scariest thing she ever had done in her life.

Read More