Afternoon Edition: Nov. 12, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot listens during a press conference at City Hall, Thursday afternoon, Nov. 12, 2020, where she declared a 30-day stay-at-home “advisory” and a 10-person limit on gatherings amid surging COVID-19 cases. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 54 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 32 degrees, with some rain in the forecast. Tomorrow will be sunny, but quite a bit cooler, with a high near 43 degrees expected.

Top story

Lightfoot issues stay-home ‘advisory,’ puts 10-person limit on social gatherings

Warning that 1,000 more Chicagoans could die by the year’s end, Mayor Lori Lightfoot today issued a stay-at-home “advisory” and slapped a mandatory, 10-person lid on social gatherings to control a second surge of coronavirus cases that’s worse than the first.

Two weeks to the day before Thanksgiving, Lightfoot implored Chicagoans to shake off “COVID fatigue,” order small turkeys and resist the temptation to open their homes to extended family.

“While this is tough — this whole year has been tough — you must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans,” Lightfoot said.

“If we continue on the path we’re on and you, me and others don’t step up and do more … we could see at least a thousand more Chicagoans die” by the end of this year, she added.

No one can maintain the status quo in the face of this “very stark reality,” the mayor said. The city once again is trying to “bend the curve” of new cases to get our lives “back to some sense of normalcy, she added.

“We are a long way from where we need to be.”

Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady noted Chicago’s positivity rate of 14.1% is up from 10.9% a week ago. The average daily caseload stands at 1,920 — 36% higher than a week ago and the highest rate since the onset of the pandemic.

“I’m very concerned we could be looking at tens of thousands of more cases, which would overwhelm the healthcare system and lead to hundreds more deaths,” Arwady said.

The stay-home advisory takes effect at 6 a.m. Monday and lasts 30 days. Chicagoans are urged to leave home only for work, school, medical appointments, groceries, take-out food and pharmaceuticals.

Non-essential, out-of-state travel is a no-no. So are at-home gatherings with anybody outside your immediate household — except for “essential staff,” which includes home health care workers or educators.

The 10-person limit on meetings and social events also takes effect at 6 a.m. on Monday.

It impacts everything from weddings, birthday parties and business dinners to social events and funerals. It applies to “any venue” where a gathering or social event takes place, “including meeting rooms.”

Fitness clubs, retail stores, hairdressers, barbershops and movie theaters that have their own capacity mandates are not impacted by the 10-person limit. Generally, the capacity ceiling at those locations is 40 percent or 50 people, whichever is fewer.

Read Fran Spielman’s full report here.

More news you need

1. Coronavirus records kept falling in Illinois today as public health officials announced 12,702 more people have tested positive while hospitals across the state remain packed with the most COVID-19 patients they’ve ever seen. The latest cases — which set a record tally for the third straight day — raised Illinois’ seven-day average testing positivity rate to 12.6%.
2. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart warned that the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the city and state could threaten his office’s efforts to bring the pandemic under control at the Cook County Jail. He urged the public to take mask-wearing and other prevention measures seriously.
3. A Park Manor man has been arrested in connection to the death of 14-year-old Takaylah Tribitt, a West Town girl found in an alley last year in Gary, Indiana. Deon Simmons was arrested Tuesday morning in Chicago.
4. Freshman Rep. Lauren Underwood, surviving a tougher-than- expected challenge from Republican state Sen. Jim Oberweis, was declared the winner today of their hard-fought race for the 14th Congressional District seat. The latest AP tally put Underwood 4,288 votes ahead of Oberweis.
5. Two state lawmakers have called for public hearings on the state’s COVID-19 response, saying it’s time for legislators to “have a seat at the table” in the decision-making process for mitigating the spread of the virus in Illinois. “It’s only appropriate that business owners and the people of Illinois are provided with complete transparency,” Sen. Sue Rezin said.

A bright one

Chicago Public Library says eliminating fines has paid off

After eliminating overdue fees late last year, Chicago Public Library employees saw something that made everyone smile: a jump in the return of books overdue for six months or more.

About 1,650 long-overdue books were returned in each of the five months after fines were eliminated Oct. 1, 2019. Before then, about 900 overdue books were returned each month, according to the library.

The library system typically collected between $800,000 and $900,000 a year in late fees. That money is gone, but a library official said what’s been gained is more important: valuable books and patrons who might never have returned.

In the five months after abolishing fines, about 361,000 books were checked out, a 7% increase from a year earlier.

About 11,000 library users who had more than $10 in outstanding fees wiped off their records have renewed or replaced their library cards in the past 12 months. Library officials say it’s a significant increase, but couldn’t quantify the gain.

“As we see long-lost patrons and materials return to the library, the impact of eliminating overdue fines is clear,” acting Library Commissioner Mary Ellen Messner said. “Chicagoans are connecting to their community libraries and using this resource without anxiety or financial barriers to access.”

Readership also got a bump: In the five months after abolishing fines, about 361,000 books were checked out, a 7% increase from a year earlier.

Read Mitch Dudek’s full story here.

From the press box

The White Sox have ended their silence on DUI charges against new manager Tony La Russa: “The White Sox understand the seriousness of these charges,” the team said in a statement.

The drama surrounding the team has top free agents like Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer questioning if they should consider coming to Chicago.

Thanks to GM Ryan Pace’s mistakes in assembling the offense, the Bears will likely need a full rebuild in the offseason.

And on the high school basketball front, Joe Henricksen recaps the top storylines from signing day.

Your daily question ☕

Did you think the pandemic would last this long, and be worse now than ever? Tell us why.

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

Yesterday, we asked you: How are you honoring the veterans and active-duty personnel in your life this Veterans Day? Here’s what some of you said…

“Very carefully.” — Pete Gaines

“Giving donations to veterans organizations and teaching my students about Veterans Day.” — Kelly Naughton

Thinking of my grandfather -- a German refugee and eventual World War II draftee who abhorred war and the military.

— Max I. Mize-Utility (@MaxFromBK) November 11, 2020

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