Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about an eight-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)
Weather 🌤️
This afternoon will be partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms and a high near 79. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, also with a chance of thunderstorms, and a low near 62. Thunderstorms are likely tomorrow with a high near 74.
Top story
Northwestern researchers link pneumonia hospitalizations early in coronavirus pandemic to severe long COVID
Long-haul COVID-19 patients who initially were hospitalized with pneumonia appear to have had more severe impacts on the brain compared with others who also became infected but did not require a trip to the hospital, a study by Northwestern Medicine researchers has found.
The researchers evaluated 600 long COVID patients, most suffering with cognitive difficulties after being infected with the coronavirus between May 2020 and August 2021 — before vaccines were approved in the United States.
The study, published today in the medical journal Annals of Neurology, followed 100 people hospitalized with COVID-related pneumonia and compared them with 500 who had more mild initial symptoms, including a cough or sore throat. All of them were evaluated in person or remotely via telemedicine at a Northwestern clinic focused on neurological impact of COVID.
The hospitalized patients performed far worse on neurological exams, the Northwestern researchers reported.
Dr. Igor Koralnik, who heads the Northwestern neurological COVID-19 clinic and co-authored the study, said the findings might indicate that the pneumonia patients — many requiring breathing tubes in the hospital — suffered brain damage.
The other patients might have been affected by an autoimmune condition, which occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells.
Our Brett Chase has more on the study’s revelations.
More news you need
- A federal lawsuit accuses a Chicago police officer of using “unprovoked and unwarranted” force and violating the department’s foot chase policy when they shot and killed Reginald Clay Jr. over the weekend in Garfield Park. The officer “chased him down and shot him several times, despite no need for this use of deadly force,” the lawsuit states.
- Yesterday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day — and this year it comes as anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial remain on the rise. That’s why the stories of people like Ralph Rehbock, 88, whose family fled Nazi Germany to start a new life in Hyde Park, are important to be told and retold. Our Lynn Sweet has more on Mr. Rehbock and the efforts to pass on the testimony of Holocaust survivors.
- The federal appeals court in Chicago yesterday denied a request to block the Illinois assault weapons ban while it faces legal challenges. A firearms dealer in Naperville sought the injunction last month, asking the appeals court to block the ban for himself and anyone else affected by the law.
- Presiding over her last City Council meeting today, Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced an ordinance empowering Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee to negotiate new, more “limited relief” for O’Hare and Midway concessionaires. Our Fran Spielman has more on the extension of pandemic-related help for concessionaires.
- Last year will be remembered by many City Hall observers for the wave of incumbents who announced they’d give up their City Council seats — but this year has proven a record-breaking one for members being able to hold onto theirs. Only one incumbent, Ald. Anabel Abarca (12th), was knocked out of the Council this cycle. That made for the smallest rejection of sitting members since Chicago switched to the 50-ward Council system a century ago.
- The Democratic National Convention isn’t coming to Chicago for another 16 months, but activist groups are already laying the groundwork for massive demonstrations across the city. Leaders of numerous progressive groups banding together as the Coalition to March on the DNC said today they’re lining up city permits now for protests.
- Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said the school district plans to move away from student-based budgeting in the coming years. Martinez shared these plans during a virtual briefing Tuesday outlining CPS’ school budget for the 2023-24 school year.
- Developers and city officials gathered in Bronzeville yesterday to celebrate the transformation of a vacant lot into a mixed-use high-rise. Half of the units in the 10-story building, located next to the 43rd Street station, will be affordable for lower-income residents.
- And you might be eligible to receive a payout soon from a $750 million settlement that parent company Meta agreed to in December in a data privacy lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Anyone who’s used Facebook in the past 16 years can file a claim.
A bright one ☀️
CPS students surprised with $40,000 Amazon scholarship: ‘If you have the ambition you can go do it’
Ayesha Abdiel acquired a passion for puzzle solving during the coronavirus quarantine, spending hours poring over thousands of jigsaw pieces to complete the intricate designs.
Abdiel, 18, was also learning to code around the same time and quickly realized that the two subjects were all about problem solving. Her new hobby further fueled her passion for computer science and pushed her to work hard in school toward a career in the field.
“I figured, just like I’m moving different code around I do the same thing with puzzles,” said Abdiel, “It’s converting that hobby into a passion and into a career.”
Yesterday, Abdiel’s efforts as a student at George Westinghouse College Prep were rewarded. She was one of 13 Chicago Public Schools students who were surprised with a $40,000 scholarship from online retailer Amazon to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science or engineering.
The students, accompanied by their parents, friends and teachers, were summoned to Amazon’s corporate headquarters in the Loop for what they were told would be a final round of interviews.
They were handed envelopes that supposedly contained their interview questions. But when the students opened them they were shocked to see a certificate congratulating them as recipients of the scholarship.
The students were caught by surprise, and many couldn’t hold back tears. They held up the certificate to loved ones in the audience who were cheering and clapping, some wiping their eyes as well.
The Chicago students are among 400 students across the United States to receive the award. Each scholar will receive $40,000 over four years to study computer science or related fields this fall. The scholarship also includes a paid internship offer at Amazon after their freshman year.
Our Emmanuel Camarillo has more on the award and the local recipients.
From the press box
- No one wants to admit it just yet, but the Cubs might actually be pretty good, writes Laurence W. Holmes.
- Maddie Lee breaks down what to take from Cubs slugger Patrick Wisdom’s home-run streak.
- Yoan Moncada will likely need a rehab stint before returning to the White Sox.
Your daily question☕
Who’s the most famous celebrity you’ve spotted in public in Chicago? Tell us what happened.
Email us (please include your first and last name) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: How would you describe what spring is like in Chicago to someone new here?
Here’s some of what you said…
“I always tell them highs in the 50s and 60s. Mostly rain. Sometimes a sunny day in the 70s.” — Elisabeth Scott
“Dress in layers that you can peel off. Always have gloves in your pocket and a hood on your jacket because you never know.” — Jo Ann Reksel
“Between the time you look up and back down at your phone, all four seasons will swirl around you and not pause at your favorite.” — Robert Kosin
“Try not to worry about April snow. It never lasts.” — Jamey Miller
“Spring in Chicago is a total burlesque tease. She teases you with hints of what’s coming and then covers it back up again and again before finally showing her full glory!” — Jennifer Ould
“You’ll remove the lawn chair from your parking space, use it to sit outside in the sun before running to the basement to take cover from the severe storm and come back up wearing a parka quite possibly in one hour’s time.” — Jeff Kwit
“Spring in Chicago: fickle. Heat one day, AC the next — then back to heat.” — Kaye Grabbe
“Spring in Chicago? It’s when hope springs eternal for our MLB teams, tulips and daffodils spring up from a long hibernation, clocks spring forward, and shorts and short-sleeved tops spring forth on sidewalks. And you can’t have the word ‘inspiring’ without ‘spring,’ after all.” — Paul Lockwood
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