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 cold and rainy, with a high near 48 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 39 degrees. Tomorrow will be cloudy, but warmer, with a high near 56 degrees in the forecast.
Top story
Case surge means COVID restrictions could tighten again, mayor says: ‘This is a call to action’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is threatening to restore rigid restrictions on business — including another ban on indoor dining and drinking in restaurants and bars — to stop a “second surge” of coronavirus cases.
Over the last two weeks alone, the number of daily cases in Chicago has climbed to an average rate of 508 per day. There were nearly 800 positive tests reported in a single day last week, the “largest one-day jump” since May 21, Lightfoot said today.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she fully expects the daily caseload to top 600 by week’s end, putting Chicago in what she called the “red zone.”
And unlike earlier in the pandemic, Chicago’s “second surge” crosses all racial, ethnic and demographic groups in all parts of the city.
Although restaurants and bars are not the cause of the 50% surge in cases, they might become an unwanted casualty of a return to Phase 3 restrictions. Lightfoot said she won’t hesitate to tighten the rules if the “alarm” she sounded today is ignored.
“I don’t want to go there — particularly for … the small businesses who have already suffered through a very difficult year,” Lightfoot said. “This would be a tragedy for many of them. But I’ve got to do what is right to protect us from this virus.”
The mayor openly acknowledged Chicagoans suffer from “COVID fatigue.” They’re tired of staying home and “streaming everything they possibly can.” They long to be with friends and family. They’re enlarging their social “bubbles” and letting their guards down.
But now that the weather is turning colder and gatherings are being driven indoors, Lightfoot said it’s even more critical for Chicagoans of all ages to limit the number of people coming into their homes and for “unmasked young people” to stop bar hopping or “traveling in large groups to someone’s apartment.”
In a gathering of 10, there’s a 24% chance someone in that group has “infectious COVID-19,” the mayor said. That risk rises to 30% in a group of 25 and 50% in a group of 50, she said.
“Over the course of the summer and fall when we were feeling a little bit of comfort, we started having dinner parties. We started inviting people over to sit in the backyard. We started having card games and family gatherings. The normal things that we do because we are social beings,” she said.
“But I’m here to tell you that has to stop. Particularly as we are coming on Halloween and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas and Hanukkah and other holidays. We have to be diligent to keep down the number of people we are allowing into our homes.”
Read Fran Spielman’s full story here.
More news you need
- Seven people were killed, including a 14-year-old boy, and 26 others were injured in shootings across Chicago over the weekend. Three other teens were wounded in the gunfire.
- The man who had been dangling from Trump Tower’s 16th-floor balcony since yesterday afternoon, asking to speak to the president and trying to get his message to the media, was taken into police custody this morning. Despite hanging there for over 13 hours, the man was not injured, police said.
- A federal judge gave three months of home detention to an 85-year-old man caught up in a sports gambling prosecution that led to the indictment of Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher’s brother. The feds say Eugene DelGiudice played an integral role as a “runner” — collecting and delivering large sums of cash and sometimes being “tipped” along the way.
- A group of police reform advocates sharply criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department today for its decision to reject a host of proposed changes to the department’s use-of-force policy. The 20-person Use of Force Working Group was convened after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
A bright one
Like her newsman dad, songwriter Ava Suppelsa stands out in a competitive business
Mark Suppelsa remembers it like it was yesterday.
Mere hours before his shift at WGN-Channel 9, the news anchor found himself driving his then 13-year-old daughter Ava downtown to pick up her busking permit. Once she had the paper in her hand, the teen asked her dad if he could drop off her and her guitar on Michigan Avenue. So he did. And then he drove away.
But as Suppelsa watched his little girl take on the big city in his rear-view mirror, he instinctively knew she was going to make her dreams come true, just like he once did.
“My dad always told me that if you are a good person and you work really hard and you are good at what you do, you will be fine,” Ava said from her home in Nashville.
From his own home in Montana, her dad added with a laugh, “You realize later in your life that some of the words that come out of your mouth actually end up sticking.”
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Back in the day, Suppelsa’s dream was to work in broadcast journalism, a cutthroat field where the Milwaukee native was often told he would never make it. But he did, amassing a 25-year long career with three Chicago television stations before retiring in 2017.
“We have always told our kids to chase their dreams, and don’t let anyone stop you,” said Suppelsa. “I guess that ‘chase your dream’ part got locked into Ava’s brain.”
Earlier this month, the 23-year-old talent signed a global publishing deal with King Pen Music and Warner Chappell Music Nashville.
“We were literally jumping up and down when we got the news,” remarks Candus Suppelsa, Mark’s wife of 29 years. “Gosh, I remember when Ava was 4 years old, and she couldn’t write, but she would tell me that she had written a song in her head and she needed me to write down the words. We always saw her potential.”
From the press box
The Panthers, who lost to the Bears yesterday, will keep their players and coaches home from their practice facility today and tomorrow after a positive COVID-19 test. The league says it has yet to experience coronavirus transmission from one team to another on the field.
And while the Bears’ defense seems to be improving its form as the season goes on, an underwhelming offense looms over the 5-1 team’s ambitions, Rick Morrissey writes.
Your daily question ☕
What do you think of the news that Chicago is now in a “second surge,” and that coronavirus restrictions could soon be tightened again?
Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Friday, we asked you: Did you watch President Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s town halls last night? What did you think? Here’s what some of you said…
“One was thoughtful and informative. The other was a bumbling comedy with bobbleheads in the background nodding in blind approval.” — Juan Arreola
“Biden stayed and answered questions for the audience long after the cameras turned off. That’s all you need to know about the difference in character between the two men. Authenticity is on the ballot.” — Eric Anderson
“The town halls were very, very different. Biden was given softball questions and Trump had the so-called moderator attacking him on many issues. Whatever, it’s no surprise. Biden can’t handle tough questions.” — David Hochstein
“I watched baseball instead. I’ve already voted and don’t need any more convincing about how I voted for the right person.” — Holger Meerbote
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