Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that Latino Illinoisans are testing positive for the new coronavirus at a higher rate than any other demographic group. About 60% of those screened for the virus who\u2019ve identified as Hispanic have tested positive, nearly three times the statewide average, Pritzker said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cDecades of institutional inequities and obstacles for members of our Latinx communities are now amplified in this pandemic,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Officials also announced 2,270 new known cases of COVID-19 and 136 more fatalities, bringing the total case count to 68,232 and the statewide death toll to 2,974 since the pandemic began. After dipping to a two-week low on Monday, the number of daily deaths has topped 100 for the past two day, including a record high of 176 reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson will donate up to five million disposable face masks at three South and West side churches on Saturday after the United Center backed out of the giveaway event, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wilson reached out to Mayor Lori Lightfoot via text on Tuesday to see if she wanted to appear at a Wednesday news conference to promote the event, he said. The mayor responded with questions about whether he had adequate security, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Wednesday morning, Wilson said United Center representatives called him and said they no longer wanted to hold the mask giveaway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lightfoot on Wednesday was asked whether she told the United Center to kibosh Wilson\u2019s plan, and said she merely raised some questions about it with Wilson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI received some notification yesterday from Dr. Wilson about something he planned in the future,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cI asked a series of questions, which you would expect me to ask, which was \u2018Do you have a permit? What\u2019s the security plan?\u2019 And when you talk about five million masks, that\u2019s a lot of people coming together, and probably, my concern was, violating the state stay-at-home order.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGod bless Willie Wilson for his generous heart,\u201d Lightfoot added. She said anybody making contributions has to do it \u201cin a way that puts public health and public safety first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The timing of the cancellation struck Wilson as peculiar. \u201cWe were ready to go, and then suddenly they canceled after I reached out to the mayor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n United Center spokespeople could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Instead, Wilson said the Saturday mask giveaways will take place at the House of Hope and Apostolic Church of God churches on the South Side and the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church on the West Side. \u2014John Byrne<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n United Airlines backtracked on a plan to reduce 15,000 employees\u2019 hours to part-time after the union representing the workers filed a lawsuit asking a judge to halt the cuts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, the\u00a0union alleged the move\u00a0violated the terms of United\u2019s agreement giving the airline $5 billion in federal financial assistance to keep workers on the payroll.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n United said the lawsuit was \u201cmeritless\u201d and that plans to reduce full-time workers\u2019 hours from 40 per week to 30 later this month complied with its obligations linked to the financial assistance and its collective bargaining agreement with the union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But on Wednesday, the airline said it would ask the workers, including baggage handlers, customer service agents and reservations agents, to volunteer for reductions in hours. Full-time workers would go from 40 hours per week to 30 and part-time workers would go from 20 hours per week to 10, said Greg Hart, executive vice president and chief operations officer, in a memo to affected employees. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Lauren Zumbach<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Masked workers walk through an entrance-only door into the office high-rise, where their temperatures are taken while passing through security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lines form in lobbies as elevators bring small groups of workers \u2014 each facing a different wall \u2014 to their floors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Touchless doors open into corporate offices, which have been reconfigured to limit close, face-to-face encounters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Building extras like restaurants, if they\u2019re open, only offer carry-out. Fitness centers and lounges are closed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The offices that people will return to post-pandemic are a sharp contrast from the collaborative work spaces and amenity filled workplaces they walked out of in mid-March to begin working from home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Indeed, Chicago\u2019s return to the office is expected to usher in the most dramatic changes in big commercial buildings in nearly two decades. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Ryan Ori<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Before Illinoisans were working from home, before restaurants had shut down, and before the stay-at-home order was in place, the coronavirus pandemic was already ravaging the state\u2019s convention business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, it appears the industry that sustained the pandemic\u2019s first economic blows might be one of the last to recover.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Under Gov. J.B. Pritzker\u2019s five-phase plan to reopen the state, conventions cannot be held until the final phase of recovery. To reach that phase, a vaccine must be developed, a treatment option must be readily available, or no new cases must arise over a sustained period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s no telling how long it might take to reach the fifth phase, and increases in cases or hospitalizations could hamper progress. <\/b>As a result, organizations are unsure whether they should cancel events later this year that would bring tens of thousands of people to the Chicago area, staying in hotels, taking cabs and ride-share vehicles and using their expense accounts to dine in the best restaurants. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Ally Marotti, Lori Rackl and Mary Wisniewski<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nobody knows when. But when Illinois arrives at Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker\u2019s five-step reopening of the COVID-19 pandemic economy, will the majority of the state\u2019s movie theaters survive long enough to see Phase 5?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The prognosis is wary at best among several Chicago area theater owners and operators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Responding to the governor\u2019s May 5 unveiling of what some call an inconsistent set of reopening criteria, exhibitors whose venues have been dark for nearly two months now wonder if there\u2019s room for negotiation regarding the proposed seating capacity guidelines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pritzker\u2019s \u201crevitalization” phase, which could arrive this summer but could arrive later than that, allows for a movie theater seating capacity of 50.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “This hard-and-fast number 50 is the wrong way to go,\u201d argues Ryan Oestreich, manager of the Music Box Theatre. For one thing, he says, “we need clarity: \u201cIs that 50 per building or 50 per (individual) auditorium?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the Music Box, the larger of the two venues seats nearly 1,000. A venue\u2019s square footage should be taken into account when determining customer capacity, says Oestreich. In its larger venue, he argues, the Music Box can social-distance the daylights out of a movie screening while safely accommodating 200 or more patrons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cA very tough pill to swallow\u201d: That\u2019s how Downers Grove-based Classic Cinemas CEO Chris Johnson characterizes the 50-seat limit. He\u2019s especially daunted by Pritzker\u2019s Phase 5, a more or less full reopening of the economy. The final phase, regulations subject to change, can come only when there\u2019s a vaccine or a comparable, easily available treatment for COVID-19. Read more here.<\/a> \u2014Michael Phillips<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n With Mother\u2019s Day coming Sunday, the state\u2019s top health official said virtual hugs remain \u201cthe order of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While many might be looking forward to real human contact after nearly two months of staying at home, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said widening quarantine circles to include extended family only increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cExpanding your circle will increase your risk of infection. It\u2019s that simple,\u201d Ezike said. \u201cThe more people you\u2019re around, the higher the risk of contracting the virus from someone in this new expanded circle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo, again, we are trying to minimize the risk for everyone. That\u2019s why staying at home with that nuclear, established cell that you\u2019ve had is the best way forward.\u201d \u2014Dan Petrella<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Talking to my three-year-old daughter about the pandemic, I find that words fail me. I try explaining that this is an unprecedented moment<\/i>, in an uncertain time<\/i>, and we are all in this together<\/i>, attempting to flatten the curve<\/i>. When Gov. J.B. Pritzker describes the pandemic as \u201can unprecedented public health challenge,\u201d he comes across like every other email I seem to be receiving from businesses these days, all of them explaining that, \u201cdespite these unprecedented times,\u201d our world will endure. \u201cUnprecedented\u201d always makes an appearance, then washes past my eyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cUnprecedented\u201d never sings, it always feels lazy. It\u2019s not that unlike those protest signs in the Loop recently, the ones angrily insisting that the state reopen immediately. The pandemic became a \u201cSHAM-demic,\u201d the governor himself was not \u201cESSENTIAL.\u201d Peter Sokolowski, editor-in-chief of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, said that the word we haven\u2019t found yet is the one word or phrase to encapsulate the moment. \u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re looking for a word to capture what is scientifically defined yet vague, something that gets across \u2018Do I have toilet paper?\u2018 and \u2018What happens if I touch that doorknob?'” Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Christopher Borrelli<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that Latino Illinoisans are testing positive for the new coronavirus at a higher rate than any other demographic group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n About 60% of those screened for the virus who\u2019ve identified as Hispanic have tested positive, nearly three times the statewide average, Pritzker said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDecades of institutional inequities and obstacles for members of our Latinx communities are now amplified in this pandemic,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike highlighted resources available to help members of the Latino community, including free testing available at participating federally qualified health centers, regardless of insurance coverage or citizenship status.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Officials announced 2,270 new known cases of COVID-19 and 136 more fatalities, bringing the total case count to 68,232 and the statewide death toll to 2,974 since the pandemic began.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After dipping to a two-week low on Monday, the number of daily deaths has topped 100 for the past two day, including a record high of 176 reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nearly 15,000 tests were conducted in the previous 24 hours, meaning the statewide rate for positive tests was about 15%. Under the reopening plan Pritzker released Tuesday, the positivity rate in any of the plan\u2019s four regions must be at or under 20% and increase no more than 10 percentage points over a 14-day period, among other criteria, in order to move to the next phase. \u2014Dan Petrella<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Officials on Wednesday reported 2,270 new known cases of COVID-19 and an additional 136 deaths. That brings the statewide total to 68,232 known cases, as well as a death toll totaling 2,974 since the outbreak began.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will create teams to address a \u201cbreathtaking\u201d spike in coronavirus cases among the city\u2019s Latino population, she said in a Wednesday news conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lightfoot unveiled several measures to address COVID-19 in Latino communities, including a plan to host virtual town halls to raise awareness, expanding the city\u2019s so-called Rapid Response Racial Equity Team to further target areas with high case rates, and working with unions to reach Latino workers in hard-hit industries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recent data on coronavirus-related deaths is opening a window into how hard the pandemic is hitting Latino communities. Across Illinois, Latino-majority areas have the highest number of confirmed cases, and on average, tests in those areas come back positive 41% of the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As of Tuesday, a ZIP code in South Lawndale, which includes Little Village, had the highest number of cases in the state, 1,596, the Tribune previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lightfoot and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Latinos in the city accounted for 14% of COVID-19 cases and 19% of deaths four weeks ago. Today, 37% of cases and 25% of deaths are Latinos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have reached another critical moment for our city, confronting the impact of COVID-19 on Chicago\u2019s Latinx community,\u201d Lightfoot said, using a gender-neutral term for Latino. \u201cWith increasing testing, improved reporting and the continued spread of this terrible virus, we are seeing a surge in cases among our Latinx cases. This demands we dig down deeper and work harder to confront this reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s hard to count the number of Latinos who have died of the new coronavirus because the medical examiner hasn\u2019t until recently been labeling cases with that identifier. But by Tuesday, ZIP codes that include Little Village, with 50 deaths, and Belmont Cragin, with 40, in Latino majority-areas, were among the city neighborhoods with the greatest number of fatalities. Read more here<\/i><\/a>. \u2014Gregory Pratt and Elvia Malagon<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since its creation in 1972, Bene Shalom has been a Reform Jewish congregation committed to providing an inclusive environment to experience God and understand Jewish heritage. It is the only full-service synagogue in the nation devoted to the deaf community. Unfortunately the synagogue is on the cusp of closure, according to temple President Laura Schwartz. Over the years, she said, the temple has lost funding sources as church members have died.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Schwartz said the synagogue\u2019s rabbis have already taken pay cuts, the temple put a donation button on the top right of its website and a Gofundme campaign<\/a> is in place. According to Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer, the annual budget is $300,000, and they still need $150,000 to remain open until January 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re struggling, but right now is not a good time to be asking people for money,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping once this coronavirus situation dies down, hopefully in the fall, we\u2019ll renew our fundraising efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Goldhamer said that if Bene Shalom shutters, its food pantry will close and the synagogue\u2019s help for families in the community will end for deaf members as well as those who are not hard of hearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe need to share money with people who need food, who need clothes,\u201d Goldhamer, 75, said. \u201cI do believe strongly God has inspired me to do this work because I was sharing with the people a new way of seeing God through the American Sign Language \u2014 translating the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic characters through American Sign Language. … Imagine going to your church and seeing prayers signed \u2014 it\u2019s as if the prayers are dancing before you.\u201d Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Darcel Rockett<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Indiana Dunes National Park is temporarily closing Porter Beach due to crowds until at least the end of May, officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis closure includes both the national park beach and associated parking lots due\u200b to unsafe health conditions related to overcrowding, unsafe sanitation practices and lack of social distancing pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d National Park Service spokesman Bruce Rowe said in a release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Park rangers will be patrolling and anyone on the beach could later face criminal charges, he said. A picture on social media Saturday appeared to show long lines at the entrance to the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n All other trails and most other beaches at the Indiana Dunes National Park are still open, Rowe said. While the Dunes is being heavily used right now, he asked visitors to use another area of the park if a parking lot is full. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014Meredith Colias-Pete<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While misdemeanor and felony cases in Kane County have decreased during the coronavirus pandemic, abuse and neglect cases against children have gone up, Kane County State\u2019s Attorney Joe McMahon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt is alarming on a number of different levels,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cFamilies are more isolated, so there are a lot of contributing factors that kind of go into the home environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The number of felony cases in Kane County dropped 15% in March and April of this year compared with the same two months in 2019, and misdemeanor cases were down 34% over the same time frame, McMahon said during his monthly media briefing this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, cases involving abuse or neglect of children are up. The majority of the cases are referred to the Department of Child and Family Services by teachers, counselors, social workers and daycare providers. Despite educators and other service providers not seeing children in-person because of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, the number of cases involving children has increased, McMahon said. Read more here.<\/a> \u2013Megan Jones<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oakton Community College has unveiled a new training program for contact tracing, a workforce Illinois will need to expand in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus as distancing measures are relaxed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oakton will begin offering online classes to an initial group of 60 students starting May 26, according to Jesse Ivory, dean of the Skokie campus and adult and continuing education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The classes can be completed remotely in four weeks, will train students on how to track down people recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and inform others about potential exposure. During a virtual news conference Wednesday morning, Ivory said the program can help people who might have lost employment during the pandemic find another opportunity to serve the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has identified the need for a robust contact tracing program as the state begins to lift restrictions. In his five-phase plan released Tuesday, he said that contact tracing should be done for more than 90% of newly diagnosed cases within 24 hours in order for states to move into the \u201crevitalization\u201d phase, when schools and restaurants can reopen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Previously, Pritzker estimated that rolling out a contact tracing program will cost about $80 million, and his health officials said the state will need up to 3,800 tracers. \u2013Elyssa Cherney<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Republican lawmakers in the Illinois House on Wednesday gave scathing reviews to Gov. J.B. Pritzker\u2019s regional five-phase plan to reopen the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis plan does not work,\u201d House GOP leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said on a video conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis plan presumes that the governor shall rule the state for the upcoming months \u2014 and possibly much longer \u2014 if the vaccination is not available,\u201d Durkin said. \u201cI took an oath of office to faithfully discharge my duties in the co-equal branch of government called the legislature. I did not abdicate nor relinquish my elected responsibilities to the executive branch.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Durkin said he appreciated Pritzker incorporating some suggestions from him and other members of his caucus in the modified stay-at-home order that went into effect Friday. But he said the General Assembly needs to have a greater role in determining how and when businesses are allowed to reopen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pritzker on Tuesday laid out a road map for reopening businesses, schools and other facilities based on metrics such as the rate of new infections and available hospital capacity in each of four regions. He said the plan was based, in part, on input from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Read more here<\/a>. \u2013Dan Petrella<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a way to help the village\u2019s restaurants and still abide by social distancing rules, Hinsdale plans to close a block of First Street in its downtown and allow the restaurants there to set out tables for outdoor dining on the street.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf we can think of creative ways to save our businesses that fall within what\u2019s allowed by the state, let\u2019s go for it,\u201d Village President Thomas Cauley, Jr., said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Hinsdale village trustees, meeting remotely Tuesday, unanimously supported the idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have businesses in Hinsdale that are closed and I\u2019m very concerned that those businesses will not reopen, unless we get back to normal soon,\u201d Cauley said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Restaurants on First Street, including il Poggiolo and Fuller House, already set tables on the sidewalk for al fresco dining during the summer, but this will allow them to serve more customers outdoors.Currently, Illinois restaurants cannot seat and serve people indoors. Read more here.<\/a> \u2013Kimberly Fornek<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Particle physics and medical device manufacturing may have little in common, but in the middle of a global health emergency scientists at Fermilab found they had a lot to offer the effort to meet demand for ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Working with colleagues in Italy and Canada, as well as scientists in France, Spain and few other places, the group has designed a portable, low-cost ventilator that still is capable of the most precise functions that bulkier, costlier machines provide, said Stephen Brice, a particle physicist who heads Fermilab\u2019s Neutrino Division.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The machine won fast-tracked approval on May 1 from the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States. It will be made by an Italian manufacturer, Elemaster. Read more here<\/a>. \u2013David Heinzmann<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cars.com, the Chicago-based car shopping website, has laid off 170 employees to cut costs during COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The layoffs, which took effect May 1, reduced the size of the Cars.com workforce by about 10%, and were part of \u201csignificant\u201d measures the company has taken since COVID-related business restrictions imposed in mid-March curtailed revenue for the auto industry broadly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe proactively worked with our customers to help them manage through the crisis, while also taking immediate measures within the company, including a 250-person furlough of our workforce, and from that furlough a permanent reduction of 170 people,\u201d Alex Vetter, CEO and president of Cars.com, said in a news release Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Vetter said the company also reduced compensation for remaining employees. The furloughs were implemented on April 1. Read more here<\/a>. \u2013Robert Channick<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Pitchfork Music Festival, scheduled for July 17-19 in Union Park, has been canceled because of the novel coronavirus, organizers announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Run the Jewels and the National were slated to headline<\/a> the 15th anniversary celebration. Forty-two acts were set to play across three stages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Organizers said ticket holders will be contacted via email with refund information. Full refunds are being offered. Some 18,000 music fans typically attend Pitchfork for each of its three days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt can be pretty daunting to think about the future of live music right now, but know that we are fully committed to bringing Pitchfork Music Festival back in 2021 if the public health situation allows for it,\u201d organizers said in a statement. Read more here.<\/a> \u2013Tracy Swartz<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the former head of Chicago Public Schools convicted of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks, has been moved from federal prison to an Ohio halfway house, records show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Byrd-Bennett, 70, was transferred Tuesday to a home managed by RRM Cincinnati. She had been jailed at Alderson Federal Prison Camp, a minimum-security facility in West Virginia nicknamed \u201cCamp Cupcake\u201d where Martha Stewart served time<\/a> for lying to the FBI about alleged insider trading in 2005.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Byrd-Bennett has a little more than a year left on her 4\u00bd-year sentence.<\/a> She is expected to remain in federal custody until June 2021, according to Emery Nelson, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons.Byrd-Bennett was freed as part of an initiative announced last month by Attorney General William Barr to release inmates who are near the end of their sentences and, due to age or medical issues, were at elevated risk for contracting the coronavirus. Read more here<\/a>. \u2013Jason Meisner & Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago, was scheduled to be the Chicago Public Library\u2019s featured guest reader for an online story hour Wednesday morning, according to the library system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cupich will read the children\u2019s book \u201cGoodnight Moon<\/a>,\u201d by Margaret Wise Brown, on Facebook Live<\/a> at 10 a.m. Wednesday as part of the library system\u2019s \u201cLive from the Library\u201d daily story hour, according to a news release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The library system, whose buildings are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is having librarians and prominent Chicagoans read for the daily story hour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The library system, whose buildings are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is having librarians and prominent Chicagoans read for the daily story hour. For more information on the story hour, check the libraries\u2019 Facebook page<\/a>. \u2014 Chicago Tribune staff<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Illinois could lose close to $560 million in gas tax revenue this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which may delay some big state road and rail projects, according to a new report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last year, the Illinois legislature passed a six-year, $45 billion infrastructure package<\/a> that provided $33 billion in funding for transportation, including road repairs around the state, train line extensions, new locomotives and other equipment. The legislation came after a 10-year drought in funding for transportation projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The bill included money for Amtrak service to Rockford, Metra service to Kendall County, an expansion of a busy portion of Interstate 80 and repairs to the CTA Green Line\u2019s Cottage Grove station. The transportation projects are being paid for primarily through a doubling of the state\u2019s 19-cent-per gallon motor fuel tax, which started last July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank, found that with road travel down by almost half, the state could lose $296 million to $559 million this year alone, depending on different scenarios. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014 Mary Wisniewski<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Five months ago, Krist Angielen Guzman gave birth to her third child.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She named the boy Leandro after her maternal grandfather and an uncle, a renowned pediatric surgeon in the Philippines whom she idolized. He had fueled her passion for medicine at a young age and inspired Guzman to fulfill it by becoming a nurse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a cruel coincidence, one month and thousands of miles apart, Guzman and her uncle both died after contracting COVID-19 while working on the pandemic\u2019s medical front lines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Guzman, 35, died May 2 after a short battle with the disease. She is one of at least 25 medical professionals across Illinois who have died of complications related to the virus. Nearly 5,000 have tested positive, said state public health officials, who acknowledge the exact figure is unknown and likely higher. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014 Christy Gutowski<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Data on cases and coronavirus-related deaths is opening a window into how hard the pandemic is hitting Latino communities. Across Illinois, Latino-majority areas have the highest number of confirmed cases, and on average, tests in those areas come back positive 41% of the time. As of Tuesday, a ZIP code in South Lawndale, which includes Little Village, had the highest number of cases in the state, 1,596.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s harder to count the number of Latinos who have died of the new coronavirus because the medical examiner hasn\u2019t until recently been labeling cases with that identifier. But by Tuesday, ZIP codes that include Little Village, with 50 deaths, and Belmont Cragin, with 40, Latino majority-areas, were among the city neighborhoods with the greatest number of fatalities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Two-thirds of the patients in the COVID-19 unit at Mount Sinai Hospital, on the city\u2019s West Side, are Latinos, said Dr. Sunita Mohapatra, the infectious disease chief at the hospital. A lack of private insurance along with the likelihood of having preexisting conditions could be factoring into the high numbers, she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThey\u2019re coming into the hospital when they are already a lot more sick,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of people are still working, and they are working these jobs that are putting them at risk.\u201d Read more here<\/a>. \u2014 Elvia Malag\u00f3n, Hal Dardick, Cecilia Reyes and Jessica Villagomez<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Poignant, heart-wrenching stories from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic have flooded our inbox over the past few days, as the Tribune asked Chicago-area nurses one question: \u201cHow are you living through this new norm?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For National Nurses Week, May 6-12, more than 60 of them told us how they make it through each day, and about the hardest challenges they\u2019re facing. Some brought smiles to our faces. Others offered words of caution and hopes for the future. Read more here<\/a>. \u2014 Ariel Cheung<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 6:19 p.m.: Businessman Willie Wilson moves 5-million face mask giveaway to Chicago churches<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
5:51 p.m.: United backs off plan to cut 15,000 workers\u2019 hours to part-time after union files lawsuit<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
5:50 p.m.: Here\u2019s what Chicago offices might look like after the shutdown<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
5:32 p.m.: Pritzker\u2019s plan to reopen Illinois leaves convention industry in limbo. \u2018We\u2019re in no man\u2019s land right now.\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
4:10 p.m.: Can Illinois moviegoing survive Pritzker\u2019s COVID-19 reopening strategy?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
3:56 p.m.: Illinois heath director\u2019s suggestion for Mother\u2019s Day? Virtual hugs.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
3:40 p.m.: Unprecedented! Sham-demic! Coronavirus cliches are spreading and there\u2019s no flattening the curve<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
3:05 p.m.: Pritzker says Latino Illinoisans test positive at higher rate than any other demographic group<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
2:40 p.m.: Illinois death toll nears 3,000<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
2:36 p.m.: Lightfoot sends teams to address \u2018breathtaking\u2019 number of coronavirus cases in Chicago\u2019s Latino community<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
2:32 p.m.: Skokie synagogue dedicated to deaf people may have to close its doors. \u2018Right now is not a good time to be asking people for money\u2019 <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1:20 p.m.: Indiana Dunes closing Porter Beach due to crowds, park officials say<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1 p.m.: Child abuse cases spike in Kane County during COVID-19 stay-at-home order<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
12:40 p.m.: New community college program will train people to be contagious disease contact tracers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
12:30 p.m.: \u2018This plan does not work\u2019: House Republicans pan Pritzker\u2019s reopening plan <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
10:45 a.m.: Cars.com lays off 170 employees to cut costs during COVID-19 pandemic<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
10:15 a.m.: Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago canceled due to coronavirus<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
10:10 a.m.: Former CPS head Barbara Byrd-Bennett, convicted of corruption, moved from prison to Ohio halfway house as part of COVID-19 program<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
6 a.m.: Coronavirus pandemic could cause $560 million in Illinois gas tax revenue losses this year, possibly delaying some road and rail plans: report<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
6 a.m.: \u2018Mommy\u2019s not coming back.\u2019 Another Chicago-area nurse dies of COVID-19.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
6 a.m.: Latino communities in Illinois see uptick in COVID-19 confirmed cases: \u2018Physical distancing is a privilege\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
6 a.m.: For National Nurses Week, we asked Chicago-area nurses what their new norm looks like. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n