MORNING NEWS CLIPS – 8.12.20 MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT MLL AND ALDERMEN DISCUSS SECURITY PLAN FOR BUSINESSES NBC5 News at 10PM: MLL and Aldermen discuss security plan for businesses ANCHOR: and nbc 5 news learned Mayor Lightfoot held a meeting over safety concerns. that meeting was held last tuesday. sources say the Mayor told business leaders to develop their own security plan. several fear retailers will leave Chicago. HOPKINS: if macy's leaves, it's just going to be a devastating blow. we want them to stay. Lightfoot acknowledges residents, businesses justifiably ‘fearful’ after second round of looting SUN TIMES//Fran Spielman Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged Tuesday that Chicago residents and businesses are justifiably “fearful” after a second round of looting she likened to “organized crime” and said she’s been “non-stop on the phone” to offer “concrete solutions” that reassure them. Even before the second round of looting that ravaged giant swaths of downtown, River North and Lincoln Park, Lightfoot was simultaneously grappling with violent crime, civil unrest and a coronavirus pandemic that has caused unprecedented hardship and blown a $700 million hole in her 2020 budget. ENGLEWOOD SHOOTING UNDER SCRUTINY FOR NO BODY CAMERAS FOX32 News at 9PM: Englewood shooting under scrutiny for no body cameras *MLL: we can't have people in the streets interfacing on a regular basis that don't have body cameras. ANCHOR: a police involved shooting from sunday afternoon is under scrutiny after it was revealed that the officers who responded to the reports of a man with a gun were not wearing body cameras.as those questions continue to swirl the city is taking measures to protect the city from more unrest. elizabeth matthews along the river with how the city is limiting visitors. Lightfoot: It Was ‘Highly Problematic’ That Officers Who Shot Man in Englewood Did Not Have Body Cameras WTTW//Heather Cherone Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it “would have been better” had the officers who shot a 20-year-old man they said had a gun Sunday afternoon in Englewood had body-worn cameras to record the incident that touched off a wave of looting that swept the city. Lightfoot told reporters Tuesday that it was “highly, highly problematic” that the officers who responded to a call about a man with a gun in the 5700 block of south Racine Avenue about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon had not been issued body-worn cameras to capture their interactions with members of the public. CITY RESTRICTS ACCESS TO DOWNTOWN FROM 8PM TO 6AM ABC7 News at 10PM: City restricts access to downtown from 8pm to 6am ANCHOR: police say it was that outside shooting incident that led to the violence sparking looting across chicago. cta trains are not running downtown, and part of lake shore drive and expressway ramps are closed once again. those restrictions started an hour later at 9:00 p.m. and will be in effect until 6:00 tomorrow morning. this also new action by cpd in response to the chaos downtown. the department just created a looting task force, which is now looking for video, photographs, tips to track down the people who smashed into and stole from the businesses. Despite ‘Comparatively’ Quiet Night, Lightfoot to Keep Downtown Blocked Off WTTW//Heather Cherone City officials will again restrict access to downtown Chicago for a second night in a row on Tuesday, even though Chicago police Superintendent David Brown told reporters Monday night was “comparatively” calm. Officers responded to some attempts at looting Monday night, but the incidents were isolated and only one shooting was reported, Brown said. City limits Loop access for 2nd night after looting SUN TIMES//David Struett In an effort to prevent another night of looting downtown, Chicago will limit access to the Loop starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday by raising bridges, shutting down parts of Lake Shore Drive and closing expressway ramps. The restrictions, which last until 6 a.m. Wednesday, are not a curfew, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, but instead an “all-hands-on-deck” response to civil unrest early Monday following the police shooting of a man in Englewood. Downtown Chicago access restricted from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday TRIBUNE//Staff Downtown access will be restricted again Tuesday night, following closures that went into effect Monday after looting in the Loop. Starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday, downtown access will be restricted until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closures include portions of Lake Shore Drive, some expressway ramps and Divvy availability. Bridges will again be raised. OTHER MLL NEWS Electric scooters are back in Chicago: Here’s what you need to know about the program from Lime, Spin and Bird TRIBUNE//Sydney Czyzon Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December. This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program. Riders can use the scooters from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at speeds up to 15 mph. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on California Sen. Kamala Harris as VP pick: ‘This is not a woman to be trifled with' TRIBUNE//Staff Hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered up a stark warning to the California Democratic senator’s detractors: “This is not a woman to be trifled with.” Lightfoot said Tuesday evening that she “burst out in a huge grin” upon hearing news that Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, had ended his wide search for a running mate and picked Harris. Lightfoot said the historic selection of Harris as the nation’s first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket represents “a true American story.” After Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’s ‘quite shocked’ President Trump hadn’t weighed in on Chicago looting, he repeats offer to send federal help TRIBUNE//Gregory Pratt Shortly after presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, President Donald Trump again invoked the law and order theme he’s campaigning on to rip Chicago and other big cities. He repeated Tuesday his previous offer to send in federal troops to help quell local violence in Chicago and elsewhere, and noted that it’s up to mayors and governors to make the request for assistance. Aldermen criticize slow pace of Chicago police reform, want cops to answer for future moves TRIBUNE//Dan Hinkel Aldermen on Tuesday criticized the Chicago Police Department’s slow movement toward reform and gave preliminary approval of a measure that would require police brass and other officials to answer for their future performance before City Council members. Members of the council’s Committee on Public Safety voiced dissatisfaction during an online meeting that the city missed more than 70% of its deadlines in the first year under the consent decree, a broad court order calling for changes to the way the troubled police force treats people. Looting, Unrest Gives Way to Another Phase of Recovery in Chicago WTTW//Amanda Vinicky A dedicated team of detectives will work toward identifying people who ransacked stores and damaged commercial property throughout pockets of the city late Sunday, the Chicago Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon. The looting task force asks businesses, residents and witnesses to send videos, photos and information by calling 312-744-8263 or emailing 630lootingtaskforce@chicagopolice.org; anonymous tips should go to CPDtip.com Chicago police boss David Brown’s time in Dallas included defusing a tense city after a police shooting, something he did not repeat Sunday TRIBUNE//Jeremy Gorner Chicago police Superintendent David Brown has explained how alleged misinformation about an officer-involved shooting in the South Side’s Englewood neighborhood on Sunday may have sparked a chain of events that led to widespread looting, vandalism and violence in the downtown area. But as the former leader of another big-city police department, it was not a scenario Brown was completely unfamiliar with. Longtime Englewood residents push back against police reform protesters SUN TIMES//Sam Charles Duane Kidd was angry, and he didn’t mince words. Standing in the middle of 63rd Street, encircled by police reform protesters, the 42-year-old lifelong resident of Englewood yelled: “None of these motherf-----s are gonna be here tomorrow. That’s why I got a problem.” Kidd and several other longtime residents of Englewood pushed back on a rally in the neighborhood Tuesday evening that was planned by several local police reform organizations. Mather High School — attended by slain activist Caleb Reed — votes to remove police officers from school SUN TIMES//Sam Kelly Less than two weeks after Mather High School student and activist Caleb Reed was gunned down in West Rogers Park, the Local School Council at Mather voted to remove the police officers stationed at the North Side school. Reed, a junior at Mather, was a student leader at Voices Of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and a prominent voice in the push to remove Chicago police officers from Chicago Public Schools. On Tuesday, the Mather LSC honored his work, voting 6-4 to remove their school resource officers. KAMALA’s CHICAGO TIES — THE TRUMP-LIGHTFOOT TANGO — THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER POLITICO//Shia Kapos and Maria Carrasco Happy Wednesday, Illinois. Must-see-TV today: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris delivering remarks in Wilmington, Del., at 8 a.m. Illinois time. TOP TALKER “This is exactly the right pick,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night about Joe Biden naming Kamala Harris as his running mate. “She’s tough, she’s fearless and more importantly she’s going to bring into the conversation lots of people who are looking to her as a leader and will see themselves in her and will be proud that she is on the stage at a national level,” said Lightfoot, who counts Harris as a friend and colleague. They are both former prosecutors. COLUMNISTS AND EDITORIALS When Chicago cops don’t wear body cameras, trust in policing erodes SUN TIMES//Editorial Board A young man is shot by the police in Englewood. The cops say he had a gun. The cops say he shot first. The cops say they were defending themselves and protecting the community. That shooting on Sunday, which triggered a wave of downtown looting, originally was reported in a different — and false — way by anonymous people on social media who seemed bent on stirring up a violent backlash. Column: One story from the night of looting in Chicago that doesn’t fit the approved narrative TRIBUNE//John Kass National Democrats are silent about the violence in Chicago, about the skyrocketing increase in murders and shootings, and the mobs of looters who pillaged the city’s finest shopping district the other day. There is no political advantage for them in mentioning the violence in Democratic cities. All they care about is getting rid of President Donald Trump. CHICAGO New Weed Street pot shop looted in 2nd burglary in 2 weeks; Highland Park dispensary also hit SUN TIMES//Tom Schuba Weed Street seemed like a perfect place for a pot shop. But since Windy City Cannabis opened in Goose Island in late June, burglars have targeted the store twice — including during the looting wave early Monday that tore through downtown and the Near North Side. Weed stores that largely only accept cash have become attractive targets since the drug was legalized for recreational use at the start of the year. Roughly a day after Windy City was hit, another dispensary in Highland Park was also burglarized. FULL TRANSCRIPTS NBC5 News at 10PM: MLL and Aldermen discuss security plan for businesses ANCHOR: and nbc 5 news learned Mayor Lightfoot held a meeting over safety concerns. that meeting was held last tuesday. sources say the Mayor told business leaders to develop their own security plan. several fear retailers will leave Chicago. HOPKINS: if macy's leaves, it's just going to be a devastating blow. we want them to stay. ANCHOR: a spokesperson tells us the mayor and alderman discussed a number of security measures businesses can take, including door buzzers and video surveillance. participants say those measures won't prevent looting. ABC7 News at 10PM: City restricts access to downtown from 8pm to 6am ANCHOR: police say it was that outside shooting incident that led to the violence sparking looting across chicago. cta trains are not running downtown, and part of lake shore drive and expressway ramps are closed once again. those restrictions started an hour later at 9:00 p.m. and will be in effect until 6:00 tomorrow morning. this also new action by cpd in response to the chaos downtown. the department just created a looting task force, which is now looking for video, photographs, tips to track down the people who smashed into and stole from the businesses. Mayor Lori Lightfoot says people are fearful after this latest round of looting, but she is working for as she called it concrete solutions and a path forward. the mayor making those comments today during a call with reporters as she faces criticism over the city's apparent lack of a plan and its response. cleanup is still under way tonight for many businesses that were hit. FOX32 News at 9PM: Englewood shooting under scrutiny for no body cameras *MLL: we can't have people in the streets interfacing on a regular basis that don't have body cameras. ANCHOR: a police involved shooting from sunday afternoon is under scrutiny after it was revealed that the officers who responded to the reports of a man with a gun were not wearing body cameras.as those questions continue to swirl the city is taking measures to protect the city from more unrest. elizabeth matthews along the river with how the city is limiting visitors. Elizabeth? MATTHEWS: last night was peaceful but just in case there's more civil unrest, in downtown in the loop these bridges are backup, downtown access still restricted. late sunday, 400 police officers were rushed downtown responding to large crowds smashing windows and carrying armfuls of merchandise through the streets. what created this tension? a police involved shooting that wounded a man and was not captured on body camera footage. because the officers weren't wearing them. MLL: we can't have people in the streets interfacing on a regular basis that don't have body cameras. MATTHEWSthe lack of cameras is twofold, the mayor says the city is renegotiating its contract with the body camera company, the superintendent says more plainclothes officers are now in uniform and have not been issued the cameras. BROWN: we will continue to look at scrubbing the inventory of body camps so we can redistribute. MATTHEWS: police claim latrell shot at them 1st, allen remains hospitalized is facing two counts of attempted murder. and was given a $1 million bail. the amount social media played into what happened sunday is crucial. crowds gathered on scene where rumors spread police had shot an unarmed teenager. instead it was 20-year-old alan with a criminal history including domestic battery. hours later, another social media post encouraging looting downtown, in response, downtown was cut off to visitors and officers are looking over time. BROWN: we are monitoring intelligence through different platforms to ensure that we are responsive to any suggestions online, or in the neighborhood, of continued looting or other illicit behavior. MATTHEWS: to go over these downtown restrictions, most of the downtown bridges behind me are currently in the up position, these trains not running, lakeshore drive shutdown from fullerton to i 55 similar to what happened off last night, last night's fictions went into play at 8 pm and lasted through 6 am, tonight they went into place 8:30, 9:00 and will last through 6 am. this does not include people who live downtown, people who work downtown or essential workers. the mayor says that these overnight restrictions will go for the foreseeable future. back to you in the studio. FULL ARTICLES Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on California Sen. Kamala Harris as VP pick: ‘This is not a woman to be trifled with' TRIBUNE//Staff Hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered up a stark warning to the California Democratic senator’s detractors: “This is not a woman to be trifled with.” Lightfoot said Tuesday evening that she “burst out in a huge grin” upon hearing news that Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, had ended his wide search for a running mate and picked Harris. Lightfoot said the historic selection of Harris as the nation’s first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket represents “a true American story.” “This is exactly the right pick. This ticket, I think we’re going to face some tough times because we’ve already seen that today that (President Donald) Trump and his people are going to race to the bottom,” Lightfoot said during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “But Kamala Harris and Joe Biden together are tough. They’re determined, they’re experienced, and this is going to be, I think, an amazing campaign, all the way through November 3.” Biden, a former vice president, had committed earlier this year to selecting a woman as his VP. And his list of potential running mates included California U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Florida U.S. Rep. Val Demings, Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Harris, former national security adviser Susan Rice, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others. During an unrelated White House news conference on Tuesday, Trump told reporters he was “a little surprised” that Biden picked Harris, pointing to their debate stage disputes during the primary. Trump, who has donated to her previous campaigns, argued she was “about the most liberal person in the U.S. Senate.” “I would have thought that Biden would have tried to stay away from that a little bit,” he said. After Harris was announced as the VP pick, the president tweeted out an ad slamming his Democratic opponents, calling Harris “phony” and saying that she rushed “to the radical left” during her own run for president earlier this year. “Slow Joe and phony Kamala. Perfect together. Wrong for America,” the ad says. Lightfoot said Trump has “attacked women all summer long,” noting the president’s criticism for Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan; Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Atlanta’s Bottoms. “He’s gonna make the same mistake against Kamala Harris, and he is going to be pushed back on his heels,” Lightfoot said. “This is not a woman to be trifled with. She is tough. She is fearless, and more importantly, she is going to bring into the conversation of this campaign lots of people who are going to be looking to her as a leader, are going to be seeing themselves in her and going to be proud that she is on the stage on a national level.” Looting, Unrest Gives Way to Another Phase of Recovery in Chicago WTTW//Amanda Vinicky A dedicated team of detectives will work toward identifying people who ransacked stores and damaged commercial property throughout pockets of the city late Sunday, the Chicago Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon. The looting task force asks businesses, residents and witnesses to send videos, photos and information by calling 312-744-8263 or emailing 630lootingtaskforce@chicagopolice.org; anonymous tips should go to CPDtip.com While police Superintendent David Brown told reporters Tuesday that Monday night was “comparatively” calm, he and Mayor Lori Lighfoot have vowed to aggressively go after looters. To attorney Tanya Woods of the Westside Justice Center, the threat makes it sound as if the city is sending in storm troopers to hunt down Black people dealing with trauma from a lifetime of feeling as if they’re being hunted. “People feel as though here it comes again, our communities are under siege again,” Woods said. “No one wants to live under those conditions. No one wants to feel as though in their own home they are being hunted, they are being tracked.” Woods says that does not equate to her advocating for anarchy or lawlessness. “What we are asking is that we are treated like human beings, that we are given an opportunity to live peaceably under the law, that we are not hunted and tracked,” she said. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Monday rebuffed public accusations by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Brown that linked the weekend upheaval to a failure of prosecutors and the court system to pursue criminals who’d looted the city in late May following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Hundreds of those engaged in “peaceful protests” at the time were arrested on charges that they violated the city’s curfew and for failing to disperse when ordered by police. Those cases were not charged by the state’s attorney’s office, Foxx said. Foxx said it’s wrong to conflate peaceful protesters with those who took part in violence and looting, whom she pledged to hold accountable. But her opponent in November’s election, Republican former judge Pat O’Brien, called Foxx a “criminal’s best friend.” “Only the state’s attorneys can ask for subpoenas, only the state’s attorneys can get search warrants and arrest warrants. They should have had those arrest warrants and search warrants ready and when the people were arrested, go to the houses and get back all the proceeds that have been taken,” he said. “You can’t have an adversarial relationship with the police if you’re the prosecutor, otherwise you’re not going to get anywhere and everybody in the city and suburbs and county are at risk. She’s not protecting us.” But Sarah Staudt of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice said it’s not as open and shut as going after looters and locking them up, which she said does not deter crime and ends up hurting communities. “The reasons that people commit crimes aren’t that simple,” she said. “There’s a lot of anger out there and addressing that anger is something also that our elected officials are in charge of doing.” Staudt said she feels for those who businesses were broken into, and realizes that being a victim of a crime can have long-lasting, traumatic consequences. “It’s very easy to empathize, particularly if you’re a person who has a connection with the Mag Mile with those people who own those stores,” she said. “But I also encourage people to empathize with the rest of the city. Especially neighborhoods that have been places where there’s been a huge amount of police violence, where there’s been a disproportionate jailing of the population and where there is a lot of anger in a police reform conversation where so far as a city we have not moved forward as other cities have.” Especially in 2020, a year that is unprecedented due to the coronavirus, the economic pain caused by it, as well as the movement sparked by the death of Floyd in late May. All of those have likewise hit businesses, even those that were flourishing prior to the pandemic. Michael Edwards, president and CEO of the Chicago Loop Alliance, said members of the organization were beginning to recover prior to the latest, second round of massive looting. “The best security for State Street is more people and so what people tend to forget is that because of COVID, there is 30% as many people on State Street as there were a year ago. And when there’s no people it is more difficult to keep a place safe,” he said. He said the alliance is working with the Chicago Police Department, which is providing ongoing services. “Of course we want more, we always want more,” he said. Edwards said the group is also taking steps to address the broader issues of inequality and injustice at the source of the unrest, including by training employees and member businesses about anti-racism, and by working with businesses and members of the “street team” to make everyone feel comfortable along the iconic street, including Black shoppers who indicated in a survey that they didn’t feel welcomed. Longtime Englewood residents push back against police reform protesters SUN TIMES//Sam Charles Duane Kidd was angry, and he didn’t mince words. Standing in the middle of 63rd Street, encircled by police reform protesters, the 42-year-old lifelong resident of Englewood yelled: “None of these motherf-----s are gonna be here tomorrow. That’s why I got a problem.” Kidd and several other longtime residents of Englewood pushed back on a rally in the neighborhood Tuesday evening that was planned by several local police reform organizations. According to Kidd, residents of the South Side neighborhood were given no prior notice of the rally. He was especially concerned that Englewood community members would bear the brunt if tensions flared up between police and non-residents. “They didn’t let the community know. They didn’t put flyers on peoples’ doors,” Kidd said. “If they would’ve gotten something incited with the police, who’s gotta deal with it tomorrow? The community. Not them. They’ll be somewhere sipping sangria somewhere. I’m telling you like it is.” About 75 people joined the rally, which was organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter, South Siders Organized for Unity and Liberation and Good Kids/Mad City. “If your issue is with the police, take it to 35th and Michigan [where CPD headquarters is located]. Don’t come in Englewood with it,” Darryl Smith, president of the Englewood Political Task Force, told reporters Tuesday. “If the people on 56th Street want to come over and protest the police, they can do it. But no one from the North Side or Indiana or any place other than Englewood can come here and do that.” Smith, using a megaphone, also chided the protesters directly, saying: “Y’all don’t come out when a kid gets shot. Y’all come out when it’s got something to do with the f------ police.” After they were met with resistance from locals, rally organizers opted to move the gathering from outside the CPD’s Englewood station to Ogden Park, just a block south. The half-hour-long rally featured dancing and chants disparaging Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the CPD and its budget. Rally organizers saw the non-residents far more favorably than longtime Englewood denizens, and they offered their thanks and appreciation to those who made the trip to the neighborhood. The rally was called in response to the police shooting of Latrell Allen over the weekend. Allen, 20, was shot by officers near 57th and Racine after, officials say, he fired a gun at police. Allen has since been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon. Chicago Police Department leaders have said that misinformation about the shooting raised tensions among South Side residents and, ultimately, led to the widespread looting in the downtown area between late Sunday and early Monday. Lightfoot acknowledges residents, businesses justifiably ‘fearful’ after second round of looting SUN TIMES//Fran Spielman Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged Tuesday that Chicago residents and businesses are justifiably “fearful” after a second round of looting she likened to “organized crime” and said she’s been “non-stop on the phone” to offer “concrete solutions” that reassure them. Even before the second round of looting that ravaged giant swaths of downtown, River North and Lincoln Park, Lightfoot was simultaneously grappling with violent crime, civil unrest and a coronavirus pandemic that has caused unprecedented hardship and blown a $700 million hole in her 2020 budget. When a police shooting in Englewood gave organized teams of looters the excuse to replay Chicago’s nightmare, it raised legitimate questions about whether businesses that survived the stay at home shutdown and sustained heavy losses during Round 1 of the looting would have the stomach to rebuild yet again. Lightfoot understands their fears about being protected if and when it happens again. That’s why she’s been burning the phone and Zoom lines reassuring them that, as she put it, “We are going to see our way through this challenging confluence of events.” The way to do that, the mayor said, is to build the strongest possible cases against the looters and offer “concrete solutions” to protect residents and business owners who are concerned about the city’s ability to protect them if and when it happens again, as Black Lives Matter has warned that it will. “People are fearful. They are afraid. And it’s up to us as leaders to offer concrete solutions and a path forward. And that’s what we’re gonna continue to do,” the mayor said. Lightfoot says she’s spent much of the last two days “literally non-stop” on the phone and on Zoom conferences with residents, business owners and CEOs “with an interest in the downtown area because they live there, they work there or they shop there.” Access to downtown was restricted again Tuesday night. Starting at 9 p.m., the city planned to raise bridges, shut down parts of Lake Shore Drive and close expressway ramps. With such measures in place for the “foreseeable future,” she’s also been on the phone reassuring neighborhood businesses that city trucks would be used to protect their local commercial corridors. “I want to make sure that, one, I’m listening and I’m hearing the raw emotions of people who are afraid and want concrete solutions and that I’m reaching out and offering very specific, concrete solutions,” she said. “Part of the reason that I’ve emphasized that we are gonna not spare any expense to bring those who are responsible for looting ... to justice is because I understand that people were just starting to recover. They were just starting to get their footing.” Lightfoot said this has been a “helluva year” for small business owners. Many are neighborhood businesses hiring local residents and have been in the same family for generations. “We can’t allow criminals to tarnish their legacy, their businesses, but more importantly their hope. I’m not gonna let that happen. And we are going hard at the people who are responsible,” she said. “It’s not opportunistic and spontaneous when you already have U-Haul vans and cargo vans and you come equipped with precision tools to break into stores, to break into safes, to haul off cash registers and when you are coming with arms to fight off the police. ... While there absolutely was a layer of opportunistic individuals, this was also organized crime. And we are going to break these crews and these rings and we are gonna bring them to justice. That is what we owe the residents of this city. Period.” On a conference call with City Hall reporters, Lightfoot and Police Supt. David Brown acknowledged the police shooting in Englewood that helped trigger the downtown looting would have been more easily justified by police bodycam video. The lack of video allowed erroneous rumors to spread on social media that Chicago police had shot an unarmed 15-year-old. The man who was shot was 20-year-old Latrell Allen. He has been charged with two counts of attempted murder for shooting at officers before they shot him. Brown told Lightfoot about two weeks ago “there was an issue with the number of body cameras. And that does directly stem from the terms of the [police] contract ... previously negotiated by the prior [Emanuel] administration which, as we now know, is highly, highly problematic and we are aggressively working to renegotiate,” the mayor said. “We can’t have people who are out on the street who are interfacing with the public on a regular basis that don’t have body cameras,” Lightfoot said, adding that Brown has “initiated efforts now to make sure that we have body cameras in every team that’s out there engaging with members of the public.” Brown said he’s “scrubbing the inventory of body cams so that we can redistribute a contingent of body cams to some of these teams that were created from officers who were at one time in plainclothes and now are in the neighborhoods patrolling them.” Lightfoot and Brown have both accused the state’s attorney’s office of going easy on looters during Round 1. On Tuesday, the mayor said there is “natural tension” between prosecutors and police, but she hopes to build a “healthy” working relationship. That’s even though the mayor claimed there has been an “evolution” in the state’s attorney’s standards for prosecuting cases as a felony and that the Chicago Police Department is trying to “adapt to those standards.” Chicago police boss David Brown’s time in Dallas included defusing a tense city after a police shooting, something he did not repeat Sunday TRIBUNE//Jeremy Gorner Chicago police Superintendent David Brown has explained how alleged misinformation about an officer-involved shooting in the South Side’s Englewood neighborhood on Sunday may have sparked a chain of events that led to widespread looting, vandalism and violence in the downtown area. But as the former leader of another big-city police department, it was not a scenario Brown was completely unfamiliar with. In his 2017 autobiography, he described a similar situation that unfolded when he was the Dallas police chief in 2012, when one of his officers shot and killed 31-year-old James Harper, a reputed drug dealer in that city’s Dixon Circle community. The shooting occurred when officers responding to a 911 call about a possible kidnapping found a group of people in the living room of a house, along with narcotics and a gun. Among those in the group was Harper, who went by the street name “G-Code.” The group tried to flee, and someone from the group grabbed the gun. Unsure who took the weapon, officers chased the group. And after a confrontation with an officer, Harper, who was Black, was shot and killed by a white cop in a nearby barn. As the day went on, a crowd formed in the neighborhood. Tensions flared. A rumor circulated through social media that the officer had shot an unarmed Harper in the back during a foot chase. As he recounted in his book, “Called to Rise: A Life in Faithful Service to the Community That Made Me” (co-written by journalist Michelle Burford), Brown said he knew he’d have to make a public statement to set the record straight with the facts police had, albeit preliminary information, to try and defuse the situation. Among the details he released: the identities of the officer, Brian Rowden, and Harper; the revelation that the 911 call was a false kidnapping report; that Harper was unarmed; and that he appeared to have been shot in the stomach, not in the back. “This was Dixon Circle we were talking about — a neighborhood with a history of heated reactions in the face of racially charged incidents,” Brown wrote. After Brown talked to reporters, the crowd broke up, he recalled. There was no one hurt, and no property damage. “If I waited two weeks to speak up, the city might be burned down by then,” Brown said in his book. On Sunday, Chicago’s officials have said, rumors on social media about a shooting in Englewood may have touched off a series of events that led to looting in the downtown area that night. Its possible link to the looting was still being investigated this week. "There is a false rumor on social media that police officers killed a 15-year-old on Sunday," Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted on Monday. "Here are the facts: - Officers responded to 911 calls about an armed man in Englewood - A 20-year-old suspect fired at officers, gunfire was exchanged - The suspect is in stable condition." Brown took it a step further at a morning news conference, appearing to tie erroneous details about the shooting with the looting. "Tempers flared, fueled by misinformation as the afternoon turned into evening," said Brown. "CPD became aware of several social media posts encouraging looting downtown." Police have said the person shot was actually 20-year-old Latrell Allen from the neighborhood, and that he fired at police first. The officers involved were from the new Community Safety Team and were not wearing body cameras, leaving police unable to fully corroborate that account. Allen has been charged with attempted murder. Unlike 2012 in Dixon Circle, it wasn’t Brown who had sought to set the record straight immediately after the shooting. He left that to one of his deputy chiefs, Yolanda Talley, who used a news conference to address what police said were false rumors, including that a much younger person had been shot. “And then after some tense moments the crowd did disperse and wane,” Brown said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, responding to a question about how events unfolded, and the differences between what happened to him in 2012. While Brown has indicated that some circulating misinformation may have helped spark the problems, he also noted today’s America is much different from the one he experienced earlier in Dallas. “I would say a lot of things are different. There wasn’t a pandemic in 2012. There wasn’t a George Floyd videotape in 2012. There wasn’t this divisiveness that we see in this country in 2012, nor (was) there unprecedented violence … in 2012,” Brown said. “So there is several layers of differences that I think we all know, but I just want to remind you, you know, pandemic is a big deal, global economic recession is a big deal, civil unrest, George Floyd’s a big deal, and so it’s, no small thing that’s different today than there was in 2012.” Many of those who eventually ransacked stores arrived in caravans, according to officials. About 100 people were arrested in connection with the unrest and 13 police officers were hurt. It was not clear how many of those charged might have been from Englewood, or whether others from different neighborhoods and the suburbs took advantage of the tension. And regardless of what misinformation might have circulated, some activists still faulted authorities. Black Lives Matter Chicago decried Allen’s wounding as the latest example of Chicago police wrongfully shooting a Black man in the city, and criticized Lightfoot’s reaction to it during a Monday morning news conference. The organization said Lightfoot ought to know better following bouts of looting and other unrest in Chicago in late May as part of the aftermath of Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minnesota. “In a predictable and unfortunate move, she did not take this time to criticize her officers for shooting yet another Black man,” Black Lives Matter Chicago said Monday in a statement. For their part, Brown and Lightfoot suggested lax treatment by prosecutors and the courts of those who damaged stores in the first round of unrest may have contributed to Sunday night’s violence. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx countered that her office has fully prosecuted cases connected to looting. Lightfoot: It Was ‘Highly Problematic’ That Officers Who Shot Man in Englewood Did Not Have Body Cameras WTTW//Heather Cherone Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it “would have been better” had the officers who shot a 20-year-old man they said had a gun Sunday afternoon in Englewood had body-worn cameras to record the incident that touched off a wave of looting that swept the city. Lightfoot told reporters Tuesday that it was “highly, highly problematic” that the officers who responded to a call about a man with a gun in the 5700 block of south Racine Avenue about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon had not been issued body-worn cameras to capture their interactions with members of the public. The man fled from police when they attempted to stop him and fired several shots at officers, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said. Latrell Allen, 20, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the incident. He was ordered held on $1 million bond Tuesday by Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz. Allen is still hospitalized but is expected to recover. The looting was spurred in part by misinformation that went viral on social media about Allen’s age, whether he had died and whether he had a gun and fired at officers. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the shooting, and announced Monday evening that its preliminary investigation found that the officers involved in the shooting did not have cameras. Departmental rules — and a federal consent decree — require officers to have and use the cameras as a guard against misconduct and false allegations. Lightfoot said the officers who responded to the call had been assigned to the newly created Community Safety Team, created by Brown three weeks ago, and did not have department-issued cameras. “We can't have people out on the street interfacing with the public without body cameras,” Lightfoot said. Lightfoot did not answer directly when asked by WTTW News who was responsible for assigning officers who did not have cameras to respond to 911 calls. Lightfoot blamed former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for negotiating an agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police that blocks officers from sharing cameras. The shortage of cameras “directly stems” from the contract, which Lightfoot said she is working to renegotiate. That labor agreement expired more than three years ago, and acrimony between the union that represents most rank-and-file officers and the mayor has stalled negotiations since Lightfoot’s election more than a year ago. Lightfoot said Brown informed her 10 days ago that the department did not have enough cameras for the “plainclothes officers” he had assigned to the Community Safety Team and the Critical Incident Response Team in an effort to tamp down a surge in shootings and murders this summer. Brown told reporters his staff was working to find any unused cameras that can be distributed to officers. Several aldermen pressed Deputy Mayor Susan Lee during a Tuesday meeting of the City Council's Public Safety committee about why the officers were not equipped with cameras. Lee told aldermen there was a "lag" between the fact that officers who were not assigned to districts were not given body cameras, but Brown’s reorganization meant they were assigned to respond to 911 calls without cameras. “Every police officer in the field should have a body camera. Period,” said Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th Ward). Despite ‘Comparatively’ Quiet Night, Lightfoot to Keep Downtown Blocked Off WTTW//Heather Cherone City officials will again restrict access to downtown Chicago for a second night in a row on Tuesday, even though Chicago police Superintendent David Brown told reporters Monday night was “comparatively” calm. Officers responded to some attempts at looting Monday night, but the incidents were isolated and only one shooting was reported, Brown said. However, officers will continue working 12-hour shifts and city officials will continue to block off downtown and commercial districts from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to prevent looting from flaring up again, Lightfoot said. Those restrictions will be in place “for the foreseeable future,” Lightfoot said. City equipment, including garbage trucks, will again be used by the Chicago Police Department “to protect neighborhood commercial corridors and critical businesses, such as grocery stores and pharmacies,” officials said. The closures come a day after caravans of cars headed to the Loop and North Side on Sunday night to loot stores after a police officer shot and wounded a 20-year-old man in Englewood, causing widespread destruction and mayhem, officials said. Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue and Interstate 55, officials said. All expressway ramps from Roosevelt Road to Division Street will be closed in both directions, officials added. Downtown bridges will be raised, officials said. However, bridges along LaSalle Street, Harrison Street, Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Drive, Kinzie Street and Grand Avenue will remain down. Westbound traffic will be allowed on the Ida B. Wells bridge, officials said. Residents and employees will need to show identification or proof that they live in the area or work in the area to get past the checkpoints. Residents and essential employees can enter downtown at Harrison Street, Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street, Roosevelt Road and Canal Street, Kinzie and Halsted streets and LaSalle Street. CTA train service will be suspended from Fullerton Avenue to 47th Street and Halsted Street. Buses will run, but will be rerouted by bridge and street closures, officials said. Divvy bicycles will not be available from North to Ashland avenues and Cermak Road between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. City officials used a similar strategy after protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody turned into unrest that swept the city, significantly damaging businesses on the South and West sides. Column: One story from the night of looting in Chicago that doesn’t fit the approved narrative TRIBUNE//John Kass National Democrats are silent about the violence in Chicago, about the skyrocketing increase in murders and shootings, and the mobs of looters who pillaged the city’s finest shopping district the other day. There is no political advantage for them in mentioning the violence in Democratic cities. All they care about is getting rid of President Donald Trump. And the national media — meaning the Democratic Media Complex of the Washington Beltway — is also consumed by Trump. That’s understandable. They loathe Trump, and there’s a presidential election going on. If they think of Chicago at all, it is to bend Chicago to their narrative about Trump. But let me tell you about a Chicago man who doesn’t fit into any of the approved narratives. Demisck Lomax. I doubt Nancy Pelosi knows his name. And the Beltway media won’t mention Lomax on those Sunday TV political talk shows. He’s beneath their radar. They don’t have to deal with him. But Chicago has to deal with him. Because what happened to Lomax defines just about everything going on here lately. Lomax was arrested in that giant mob of looters that descended on North Michigan Avenue early Monday. According to prosecutors, Lomax was outside the Burberry store around 12:30 a.m. About that time, caravans of looters were pouring into the wealthy and upper middle-class neighborhood, smashing windows, stealing from expensive shops and causing an estimated tens of millions of dollars in damage. Prosecutors say Lomax used a chunk of concrete to smash the Burberry store window. When two Chicago cops tried to arrest him, Lomax allegedly grabbed another chunk and whipped it at the head of a Chicago police sergeant. Then he allegedly ran off. The cops chased him down and caught him. He was in court Monday, just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot — clearly embarrassed about the latest crime wave — held a news conference to publicly plead with prosecutors and judges to keep looters behind bars. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the darling of the social justice warriors, held her own news conference in response to Lightfoot to tell everyone about her emotions and complain that she was being picked on. “It does not serve us to have dishonest blame games when all of our hearts are breaking by what we’re seeing,” Foxx said. Worry more about the hearts of victims. They have feelings too, Kim. It’s clear, though, she’s under stress. Lightfoot is ratcheting up the pressure on her but still hasn’t called her out by name. And media is holding Foxx to account for not being tough on crime. A Chicago Tribune analysis, showing how she’s dropped more cases than her predecessor, adds to the pressure. But let’s not get distracted. Can we get back to Lomax? There he was in bond court, awaiting judgment. You might think that allegedly smashing a plate-glass window on Michigan Avenue, then grabbing trench coats and other stuff that didn’t belong to him, then winding up and throwing a chunk at a sergeant, forcing the sergeant to block it with his hand (the sergeant getting that hand smashed in the process) might be enough to keep him behind bars. Especially with police body cameras, according to officials, showing the whole thing. Lomax, 25, was charged with aggravated battery of a police officer. Prosecutors say he has previous narcotics convictions. You might expect him to sit in jail until trial. And you’d be right, in that Chicago of old. But this is the new Chicago, with social justice warriors running the prosecutors office and the judiciary. So, what happened to Lomax, the (alleged) concrete chucker? He walked out after paying $500 in bond. That’s right. Cook County Judge Mary Marubio set his bail at $5,000. Lomax only had to come up with $500. I first read about this fascinating story on the Twitter feed of CWB Chicago, which covers a lot of crime news. Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly, who represents much of the looted area, was furious with the bond for Lomax. So I confirmed the CWB account with law enforcement, then called Reilly. “It has to change and change fast,” said Reilly. “What we’re seeing here with all the violence in Chicago is the result of a series of bad policy decisions, including the push for low bond and the criminal justice revolving door. “I don’t want people in jail for nonviolent crimes, but now, there aren’t any consequences for committing any crime. Police catch a lot of the bad guys, but bond court is a joke, with prosecutors and judges releasing violent offenders. It’s predictable that they’re going to do the same thing once they’re released. It all sends a message. This has to stop.” But will it? No. National media and national politicians look down on Chicago from 30,000 feet as they fly overhead to the coasts. But here, on the ground, the people of the city flinch, waiting for the next wave of mob violence they figure is coming. Those with means, like those in the expensive condos looking down on the mobs of looters on North Michigan Avenue, make plans to leave. And those without means know they’re stuck. They don’t figure into any of the approved political narratives. They’re just collateral damage. Electric scooters are back in Chicago: Here’s what you need to know about the program from Lime, Spin and Bird TRIBUNE//Sydney Czyzon Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December. This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program. Riders can use the scooters from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at speeds up to 15 mph. The scooters cannot be ridden on sidewalks. Companies will provide locking mechanisms to secure the scooters to fixed objects, such as bike racks or street signs, at the end of rides. The scooters are not allowed to be operated on the lakefront, Central Business District and The 606 trail. The city requires Bird, Lime and Spin to put at least half of their scooters in areas “where residents face systemic disadvantages,” according to a news release. City officials said they will check for compliance twice a day. This is the second year that Bird, Lime and Spin are participating in the city’s program. The companies were chosen after city staff rated their abilities to comply with city requirements. They submitted applications that outlined their plans, such as how they would improve device parking and reduce environmental impacts. Last year, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection gave one complaint to Spin, one complaint to Lime and four complaints to Bird. The program in general was plagued with scooters left in places they shouldn’t have been, including the Chicago River. “Pilots are all about learning, and so we’ve certainly learned from the experience in Chicago,” said Maurice Henderson, Bird director of government partnerships. Bird operates in nearly 125 markets across the globe. Lime is operating in 120 cities internationally, and Spin is operating about 60 markets internationally. Free or discounted rides Spin scooters will have a free unlock fee for one week and cost 39 cents per minute. Lime scooters will be $1 to unlock, then 39 cents per minute in some areas and 19 cents a minute in priority areas. Bird scooters will be $1 to unlock, then 32 cents per minute. Lime will provide 50% discounts for rides on Chicago’s South and West sides. Those are the first areas the company planned to make scooters available Wednesday, said LeAaron Foley, company director of Midwest government relations. The company plans to invest in bike racks to help people comply with the city’s lock requirement. “We can’t create rules and not have a way for people to be able to follow them,” Foley said. Lime will provide free rides to essential workers — including nurses, police officers and firefighters. Workers can sign up using an online form. Bird similarly will provide free rides to health care workers and emergency personnel. To sign up, workers can email their information to together@bird.co. The company will allow two 30-minute rides each day. Spin said it provides that service in other markets, but does not have a third-party funder to support the effort in Chicago. Bird will give free rides to residents who take their in-app safety survey. Lime will give out more than 1,000 free helmets to riders. Spin plans to give out Stan’s Donuts, hand sanitizer and masks Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Wicker Park, 1560 N. Damen Ave. Bird will host virtual and other community engagement events for Chicago riders. Company priorities Bird was founded to reduce climate impact caused by car trips, Henderson said. “We’re excited to be working with the city around tools like the rider safety quizzes that we’re going to be instituting immediately,” Henderson said. Spin is committed to honoring city partnerships and deploying scooters where they have permission, said Shannon Dulaney, community partnerships manager. Lime is focusing on Chicago’s priority areas — west of the Milwaukee Avenue corridor — where half of the company’s rides took place last year, Foley said. “We’re really going to push for again this year to ensure that we’re meeting the equity requirements (and) we’re exceeding the equity requirements,” Foley said. Bringing workers to Chicago Scooter companies will bring at least 140 workers to Chicago for the second pilot program, according to company spokespeople. Spin is looking to hire 60 workers to be part of its local operations team. Dulaney said the company collaborated with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, a workforce development system, and attended a job fair to find qualified candidates. “We were able to provide offers to some of the folks that worked with our team last year so that they could continue and come back to work at Spin,” Dulaney said. Bird plans to have more than 50 independent contractors manage their fleet, from mechanics to drivers. “The jobs aren’t permanent now because we may not be there after four months, depending on what the city decides,” Henderson said. “It’s really hard to make that kind of investment without some longer term runway to understand what the business environment is going to look like.” Lime will bring 30 mostly seasonal workers to Chicago, including operations specialists and mechanics. Top of Form Bottom of Form “We would love to be able to extend their relationships with Lime if the program were to be extended,” Foley said. “The longer that the program goes, the longer these people remain working with Lime.” The company will also hire people as “juicers” who will charge Lime scooters across the city. Henderson said the company plans to pay $1 million total to Chicagoans who sign up. “I think that is even more meaningful because of the economic situation many people find themselves in,” Henderson said. Lime said its warehouse is on the Near West Side. Companies Spin and Bird said they will be deploying scooters from warehouses in the Lower West Side community area. This year’s pilot is under two-year emerging business permit from the business and consumer affairs department. It can be extended if city officials decide feedback and data about the pilot are positive. Downtown Chicago access restricted from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday TRIBUNE//Staff Downtown access will be restricted again Tuesday night, following closures that went into effect Monday after looting in the Loop. Starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday, downtown access will be restricted until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closures include portions of Lake Shore Drive, some expressway ramps and Divvy availability. Bridges will again be raised. Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue on the North Side and Interstate 55 on the south. Ramps from Roosevelt Road to Division Street will be closed in both directions. Divvy service will be unavailable from North Avenue to Ashland Avenue and Cermak Road. Bridges will be up except at LaSalle Street, Harrison Street, Ida B. Wells/Congress (westbound), Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Avenue, Kinzie Street and Grand Avenue. CTA trains will not stop from Fullerton Avenue to 47th Street, and east of Halsted Street. For a list of current closures, check the CTA’s website. “Access points” for residents and employees of the downtown area include Harrison Street; Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street; Roosevelt Road and Canal Street; Kinzie Street and Halsted Street; and LaSalle Street. State and city leaders said access to downtown would be restricted Monday night and likely indefinitely, according to a statement from the Office of Emergency Management and Communication. The city will use more than 100 “infrastructure assets” that are to be strategically placed to protect commercial corridors and critical businesses “such as grocery stores and pharmacies,” said the statement from Mary May, a spokeswoman for the emergency management and communication office. May stressed the restricted access is “not a curfew. All residents, essential workers and employees whose businesses are located downtown will have access at all times.” After Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’s ‘quite shocked’ President Trump hadn’t weighed in on Chicago looting, he repeats offer to send federal help TRIBUNE//Gregory Pratt Shortly after presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, President Donald Trump again invoked the law and order theme he’s campaigning on to rip Chicago and other big cities. He repeated Tuesday his previous offer to send in federal troops to help quell local violence in Chicago and elsewhere, and noted that it’s up to mayors and governors to make the request for assistance. “Together the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois have 25,000 police officers, sheriffs and guardsmen available to quell any violence, they can do it very quickly, very easily, if allowed to do their jobs,” Trump said at a news conference. “Again, if allowed to do their jobs. Our police, our law enforcement is incredible, but they have to be allowed to do their jobs.” In his remarks at an unrelated White House news conference, Trump also criticized New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as well as leaders in Oregon and Washington state. Trump, who frequently rips Democratic mayors of big cities after high-profile crimes or protests, had been conspicuously silent about Chicago following the Monday morning downtown looting that rocked the city and embarrassed local leadership. “I’m offering all available federal support requested to stop the violence and arrest the criminals,” Trump said. “We have to be asked by the governors or the mayors, and we’ll be there very rapidly. It’s ready, willing and able. We’re all ready, willing and able to go these jurisdictions and take care of them. We’ll do them very quickly.” Earlier Tuesday, Lightfoot said she was “quite shocked” that Trump hadn’t weighed in loudly about the city’s looting. “It’s a full-time job trying to understand, predict and respond to what the president may be doing in his (way). I don’t have time for that. I need to lead this city,” Lightfoot said. “I need to make sure that our residents are safe. That is my focus, not what the latest tweet is for President Trump.” She also had preemptively criticized the president on Monday, saying the city doesn’t need “federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop.” Top of Form Bottom of Form “I’m sure the president will have his way with this incident, but I’m calling upon him to do the things that we do need (such as gun control),” she said. The mayor frequently criticizes Trump, who is unpopular in Chicago, while the president has made the Democrat-run big cities a frequent political target. Last month, Trump began sending federal agents with a variety of departments to Chicago as part of Operation Legend — an anti-violence program the mayor said she supports, so long as it’s being supervised locally by U.S. Attorney John Lausch. But, Lightfoot said she eyes the assistance skeptically and has cast doubt on the sincerity of Trump’s desire to help. Aldermen criticize slow pace of Chicago police reform, want cops to answer for future moves TRIBUNE//Dan Hinkel Aldermen on Tuesday criticized the Chicago Police Department’s slow movement toward reform and gave preliminary approval of a measure that would require police brass and other officials to answer for their future performance before City Council members. Members of the council’s Committee on Public Safety voiced dissatisfaction during an online meeting that the city missed more than 70% of its deadlines in the first year under the consent decree, a broad court order calling for changes to the way the troubled police force treats people. The ordinance would compel police Superintendent David Brown or his staff, as well as other city officials, to go before the committee following future progress reports from the independent monitor overseeing reforms. So far, those reports have painted a picture of a department struggling to meet its court-enforceable obligations to overhaul training, supervision and discipline. An attorney for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul last month threatened court intervention if the city failed to promptly show a plan to catch up. The ordinance could go before the full City Council as soon as next month. Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, 11th, noted that city officials had signed off on the 2019 court order. “We agreed to this,” he said. “We can’t keep talking about how burdensome it is. We just have to do it.” Police and city officials at the hearing pointed to a newly released 12-page plan to gain ground on reforms. The document lists dozens of priorities for the rest of the year, including training cops on impartial policing, improving use of force reporting and continuing work on a plan to tighten supervision. Deputy Superintendent Barbara West told aldermen the department was adding personnel in areas of the force most responsible for enacting the court order. Top of Form Bottom of Form “We want reform as well,” she said. The committee’s action came amid heightened tensions between police and many Chicagoans that have been on display during more than two months of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in late May. On Sunday, police shot a man in the Englewood neighborhood who allegedly had fired on them, touching off clashes with officers. Some downtown businesses were looted early Monday. Grievances against the police will continue to be aired publicly, as Maggie Hickey, the former federal prosecutor tasked with overseeing the city’s progress toward reform, is scheduled to hold virtual listening sessions next week to hear allegations of police brutality and misconduct during the recent protests and unrest. Information on those sessions is available at Hickey’s team’s website. The cops, meanwhile, have complained of violent agitators hijacking peaceful protests by throwing projectiles and injuring officers. The consent decree is one of the most substantive consequences of the 2015 release of video of white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. That spurred a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, which resulted in a January 2017 report that castigated the police as poorly trained, badly supervised and prone to excessive force. The report helped make way for the consent decree. New Weed Street pot shop looted in 2nd burglary in 2 weeks; Highland Park dispensary also hit SUN TIMES//Tom Schuba Weed Street seemed like a perfect place for a pot shop. But since Windy City Cannabis opened in Goose Island in late June, burglars have targeted the store twice — including during the looting wave early Monday that tore through downtown and the Near North Side. Weed stores that largely only accept cash have become attractive targets since the drug was legalized for recreational use at the start of the year. Roughly a day after Windy City was hit, another dispensary in Highland Park was also burglarized. Officers responded about 1 a.m. Monday to Windy City, 923 W. Weed, and learned the suspects had broken into the shop through a glass patio door, according to Chicago police. The burglars made off in a vehicle with store merchandise and several computers. Windy City CEO Steve Weisman said no cash or cannabis was taken, though the store sustained some damage. Weisman, who also runs four suburban dispensaries, said he isn’t deterred by the break-in at his latest location, which comes just over two weeks after police arrested two people attempting to get into the shop. “While our store has been a recent target, we continue to believe in the city of Chicago,” he said in a statement. “We support the efforts for social justice and racial equity taking place in Chicago and across the country, and advocate for peaceful activism.” As businesses in the area were ransacked late Sunday and early Monday, burglars tried six times to gain entry to the NuEra dispensary at 1308 W. North, according to spokesman Jonah Rapino. The efforts all proved unsuccessful. But early Tuesday, the Elevele dispensary at 1460 Old Skokie Road in Highland Park was also struck, according to owner Andy Hunt. “The vault was secured and no product was taken. More important, nobody was in the building at the time of the crime so nobody was hurt,” said Hunt, who declined to provide additional details. Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that staunchly opposed the legalization push in Illinois, said the string of dispensary burglaries doesn’t surprise him. “We’ve seen this across many legal states,” said Sabet. “The interesting part is that burglars mostly want the product, not the cash. It’s not so dissimilar from jewelry store burglaries. Marijuana is a valuable commodity on the underground market, especially so in legal states.” Though Illinois dispensaries are required to keep pot products stored in a vault, at least one of the four stores targeted during another spate of looting earlier this summer had inventory stolen. And while many of the affected dispensaries were targeted during that unrest, a Logan Square pot store also fell victim to a daring heist just days after weed was fully legalized statewide. Early Jan. 6, the suspect used a key card to gain entry into MOCA at 2847 W. Fullerton, according to police. After creeping inside, the burglar got into a secure vault and used a torch to break into a safe and snatch the estimated $200,000 in cash. At some point before slipping out, the thief even deactivated the store’s camera system. No arrests have been reported. Mather High School — attended by slain activist Caleb Reed — votes to remove police officers from school SUN TIMES//Sam Kelly Less than two weeks after Mather High School student and activist Caleb Reed was gunned down in West Rogers Park, the Local School Council at Mather voted to remove the police officers stationed at the North Side school. Reed, a junior at Mather, was a student leader at Voices Of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and a prominent voice in the push to remove Chicago police officers from Chicago Public Schools. On Tuesday, the Mather LSC honored his work, voting 6-4 to remove their school resource officers. “We are more than pleased with the results,” said Electa Bay, a Mather grandparent. “This is an important and poignant victory, as we will be saying our final goodbyes to Caleb tomorrow at his funeral. Having SROs out of the school was part of Caleb’s legacy and it’s so beautiful to see that we accomplished that at his school.” The Mather LSC held a town hall meeting ahead of the vote to hear testimonials from school community members. Derriona Ford, Reed’s girlfriend, was one of the students who spoke. “Youth are telling you that we need more mental health and behavior health services and not police. Why wouldn’t you listen to us?,” asked Ford. “We are the one dealing with SROs day in and out and we need to you to hear us.” Reed died Aug. 2 after being shot in broad daylight two days earlier in the 1900 block of West Granville Avenue. He spoke at a rally in June calling on CPS to terminate their $33-million contract with the Chicago Police Department that placed officers in 72 of the district’s 93 high schools. The Board of Education narrowly voted to uphold the contract but later announced that they were slashing its budget to $15 million. “My sophomore year of high school I was arrested for attending a basketball game because I didn’t have my ID,” Caleb said at the rally. “I sat in a police station for six hours. I knew it wasn’t right at all, but inside I was angry, confused.” “One thing I’m here to say is I’m proud to be a Black young man,” Caleb said. “It’s not a good feeling to be labeled as dangerous or criminals. Because we’re not. ... No Black person should ever feel like this.” Mather joins nine other schools that have elected so far to keep cops out of their buildings, according to VOYCE coordinator Maria Delgillo. Those other schools are: * Roosevelt High School; * Northside College Prep; * Benito Juarez Community Academy; * Roberto Clemente Community Academy; * Lane Tech College Prep High School; * John Hancock High School; * Kelvyn Park High School; * Curie Metro High School; and * Uplift Community High School. City limits Loop access for 2nd night after looting SUN TIMES//David Struett In an effort to prevent another night of looting downtown, Chicago will limit access to the Loop starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday by raising bridges, shutting down parts of Lake Shore Drive and closing expressway ramps. The restrictions, which last until 6 a.m. Wednesday, are not a curfew, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, but instead an “all-hands-on-deck” response to civil unrest early Monday following the police shooting of a man in Englewood. Monday night, downtown restrictions were in effect an hour earlier at 8 p.m. The restrictions include: * Lake Shore Drive closed between Fullerton Avenue and I-55; * All downtown bridges will be raised expect: LaSalle, Harrison, Ida B. Wells, Lake Shore Drive, Columbus, Kinzie and Grand; * CTA rail service will not stop downtown from Fullerton to 47th Street, and trains east of Halsted Street; * Bus service remains open, but may be affected by bridge closures; * Kennedy/Dan Ryan Expressway ramps closed from Cermak to Division; * Northbound Stevenson Expressway ramp to northbound Lake Shore Drive closed; * Eastbound Eisenhower Expressway closed at Ida B. Wells Drive; * Divvy service will be shut down between North, Ashland and Cermak. “Access points,” manned by Chicago police, are for residents and workers, located at: * Harrison Street * Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street * Roosevelt Road and Canal Street * Kinzie Street and Halsted Street * LaSalle Street The city also announced that more than 100 municipal trucks will be stationed in commercial corridors, including in surrounding neighborhoods, as a deterrent. When Chicago cops don’t wear body cameras, trust in policing erodes SUN TIMES//Editorial Board A young man is shot by the police in Englewood. The cops say he had a gun. The cops say he shot first. The cops say they were defending themselves and protecting the community. That shooting on Sunday, which triggered a wave of downtown looting, originally was reported in a different — and false — way by anonymous people on social media who seemed bent on stirring up a violent backlash. Early tweeters said the person shot was just 15, though he was 20, that the police had shot him 15 times, and that he was dead. In truth, the young man, Latrell Allen, was wounded but not killed. On Monday night, prosecutors charged him with shooting at the police. On Tuesday, he remained under police watch at the University of Chicago Medical Center. So much of this confusion, false information and ill will could have been avoided — and trust in the police would have been encouraged — had the officers involved in the shooting been wearing body cameras. If the incident unfolded just as the officers later said it did, bodycam video would have supported their story. But the officers were not wearing body cameras. The Chicago Police Department had failed to outfit them with the cameras for budgetary reasons. And that is indefensible. Nothing is more essential to effective police work than the trust of a community, and body cameras can be a uniquely powerful tool in building that trust. As we have seen time and again in Chicago, bodycam video has a way of refuting disinformation and lies while holding everybody accountable. We can think of few better ways for CPD to spend its money than on body cameras and training for every officer who works the streets. On Monday, CPD explained why the officers in Englewood were not wearing body cameras by making a distinction without a difference. CPD said the officers were members of a newly created Community Safety Team, not district-assigned officers who routinely are equipped with body cameras. As if that matters to a cop on the street. But now, CPD added, the department has “prioritized” that members of the Community Safety Team will receive cameras “under the 2021 budget if they don’t already have one.” Eventually, CPD may unearth better documentary evidence of how and why Allen was shot. The department reports that video footage from POD cameras — stationary police cameras in the neighborhood — captured “some of the events.” And investigators continue to look for private video footage. But a great deal of damage has already been done, especially with respect to trust and faith in the police, because nobody was wearing a body camera. KAMALA’s CHICAGO TIES — THE TRUMP-LIGHTFOOT TANGO — THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER POLITICO//Shia Kapos and Maria Carrasco Happy Wednesday, Illinois. Must-see-TV today: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris delivering remarks in Wilmington, Del., at 8 a.m. Illinois time. TOP TALKER “This is exactly the right pick,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night about Joe Biden naming Kamala Harris as his running mate. “She’s tough, she’s fearless and more importantly she’s going to bring into the conversation lots of people who are looking to her as a leader and will see themselves in her and will be proud that she is on the stage at a national level,” said Lightfoot, who counts Harris as a friend and colleague. They are both former prosecutors. Lightfoot is part of a chorus of Illinois Democrats praising the newly fleshed-out ticket. In Chicago, where Black voters’ play a huge role in every election, Biden’s VP pick was especially important. Rep. Bobby Rush, who endorsed Harris in the primary before going to Michael Bloomberg when the California senator dropped out of the race, reflected on his granddaughter starting high school and the possibility that a Black woman is on the ticket. “Her future has just been expanded. Her future has just been enlarged. And the ambitions of her and other young Black girls have all become closer to being realized,” Rush said in a statement, referring to his granddaughter, Sanii. Rep. Lauren Underwood, who represents the conservative 14th Congressional District and has generally stayed out of the discussion of presidential politics, sent a statement saying she’s “proud to endorse” Biden’s candidacy. Underwood, who’s worked with Harris on measures related to Black maternal health, called her a “trailblazer.” City Clerk Anna Valencia, an early Harris supporter, told Playbook she was struck by Harris’ warmth and intelligence. The two got to know each other in Iowa, when Valencia traveled there on the campaign. Even after Harris pulled out of the presidential race, she had made a point to call Valencia to check in. “I hope America gets to see what I’ve been able to see over the last year — an authentic warm, smart, capable person who will be a huge boost to the ticket on day one.” Lisa Madigan, the former state attorney general, said in a statement to Playbook that she was “excited” to see Harris on the Democratic ticket with Biden. The two met when they were Aspen Institute Rodel fellows together. Harris was the district attorney for San Francisco at the time. “Then we went on to work together as state AGs. She is smart, tough, and principled,” said Madigan, who also hosted fundraisers for Harris. And Valerie Alexander, the former chief of staff to Sen. Dick Durbin, said she was drawn to Harris’ policy positions and signed on early to her Illinois campaign, rising to be the state campaign director. “I thought she was tough and ready and was thrilled to be working for her,” Alexander told Playbook. She says her phone has been ringing nonstop since Biden’s announcement. “They’re all supporters from the campaign. They want to know how to help.” Key hire: Sheila Nix, a Chicagoan who advised Biden on the 2012 campaign trail, will take on a similar role for Harris. Nix, the Illinois chair of Biden’s campaign, was his chief of staff during Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She went on to be chief of staff to Jill Biden. “I am looking forward to using those experiences to emulate the great working relationship” that Obama and Biden had, Nix told Playbook in an email. Midwestern sensibilities: Porter McNeil, an Illinois Democratic comms consultant, said a Biden-Harris ticket will play well in the Midwest, where there’s concern about the economy. “In downstate Illinois, President Trump promised a lot to farmers and rural voters in 2016 — but he hasn't delivered.” Duckworth’s surge: “Sen. Tammy Duckworth had a late surge of support, including from some donors in California, the home state of both Harris and California Rep. Karen Bass. The vetting team at one point flagged a potential issue with Duckworth: she was born in Bangkok. Her father, a U.S. citizen and then a Defense Department employee, was stationed in Thailand. They worried that Republicans would try to use that to stoke doubts about the legitimacy of the VP pick. Ultimately, though, Duckworth was in it until the end, holding a one-on-one interview with Biden over the weekend. Biden personally called her hours before announcing Harris was his choice,” via POLITICO. How Harris outflanked skeptics: "Harris' strategy — a low-profile, leak-free effort that contrasted sharply with her undisciplined presidential campaign — and [a] late push by her supporters paid off when Biden made her the nation’s first black woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket,” by POLITICO’s Natasha Korecki, Christopher Cadelago and Marc Caputo. Running mates don’t matter. Kamala Harris might: “Vice presidential contenders do not have a rich history of altering the course of an election. But Republican and Democratic political professionals alike believe Harris’ selection may carry more weight this year. That is because Biden, despite decades of government work, remains less sharply defined to voters than previous presidential nominees. And the rush to test the theory that Harris might matter is opening a critical new stage in the campaign,” by POLITICO’s David Siders. Column: What Kamala Harris reveals about Joe Biden, by Tribune’s Steve Chapman Trump team already out with ‘Phony Kamala’ nickname, by POLITICO’s Anita Kumar Harris’ key initiatives, policies, by POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and Carla Marinucci. Interesting Illinois fact: Harris flew to Springfield to be there on that freezing day when Barack Obama announced his run for the presidency. The time her father publicly reprimanded her and 54 other facts about Harris, via POLITICO Magazine. FYI, Nate Silver just updated his forecast model, After simulating the election 40,000 times to see who wins most often, Trump wins 28 in 100 outcomes while Biden wins 71 in 100, via FiveThirtyEight. (One is an Electoral College dead heat.) THE BUZZ Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and President Donald Trump have found a comfortable dance. He pivots the discussion away from the coronavirus pandemic. And she gets in a lunge about his treatment of regular folks. Tuesday was a good example. The mayor acknowledged to reporters that she was “shocked” that Trump hadn’t weighed in on the recent late-night looting of the city’s business district. A few hours later, Trump opened a White House press briefing saying: “Before providing today’s update on the China virus, I want to address the violence, looting, and rioting taking place in the Democrat-controlled cities of New York, Portland, Chicago, and Seattle.” Trump said mayors and governors of blue cities and states “have an absolute duty to use all resources necessary to end the violence and all of the injury and death.” Lightfoot, of course, has already accepted federal assistance in prosecuting gun cases — a talking point that that doesn’t fit Trump’s dance card. Later in the evening, Lightfoot was on MSNBC discussing Kamala Harris joining the Democratic ticket. The conversation veered toward Trump and how he might treat Harris on the campaign trail. “We know that Donald Trump is hostile to women. He’s a misogynist. He’s attacked women all summer long,” Lightfoot said, ticking off herself, Seattle Mayor Jen Durkan, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser as examples of leaders who have taken hits from Trump. “Every single time he does he underestimates how tough we are, how resilient we are, and how we are ready and able to lead. He’s going to make the same mistake with Kamala Harris and he will be pushed back on his heels.” Sounds like he’ll have another dance partner. WHERE'S LORI No official public events. WHERE'S J.B. At the Thompson Center at 2:30 p.m. for a Covid-19 update. Live coverage WHERE'S TONI On vacation and back to work Aug. 24. THE LATEST NUMBERS — Worldwide virus cases top 20 million, doubling in six weeks, by the AP. "The U.S., with about 4% of the world’s population, accounts for about 25% of the known coronavirus infections and 22% of the deaths." — The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 20 deaths to coronavirus Tuesday and 1,549 new confirmed cases in Illinois. That’s a total of 7,657 deaths and 196,948 cases. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Aug. 4 to 10 is 4.1 percent. Chicago’s positivity rate is 5.0 percent. KEEP UP WITH THE WORLD FROM HOME: Economies and reputations are tanking around the globe. How have countries' responses to the pandemic caused them to lose favor around the world? And how do they reverse the trend? Our Global Translations newsletter, presented by Bank of America, layers global news, trends, and decisions with contextual analysis from the world's sharpest minds. For a unique perspective that you cannot find anywhere else, SUBSCRIBE TODAY. CORONAVIRUS UPDATES — Illinois Supreme Court consolidates lawsuits challenging Pritzker’s coronavirus orders: “The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday moved to transfer a downstate legal challenge to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s coronavirus-related orders by Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey to Sangamon County and consolidate it with other cases challenging Pritzker’s authority…. [T]he state’s highest court also declined the governor’s request that it weigh in on whether he has the power to issue continued emergency orders due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving that to the lower court to decide,” by Tribune’s Jamie Munks. — State panel approves Pritzker’s new fines for businesses that don’t enforce mask mandate: “The measure was opposed by the GOP and some leading business groups but favored by several influential public health organizations, including the Illinois State Medical Society and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association,” by WBEZ’s Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold. — School reopening tracker: More districts decide to delay opening school buildings: “St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 plans for a phased reopening of school buildings. All high school students will start the school year with remote learning only until at least September 8,” reports Chalkbeat Sneha Dey and Samantha Smylie. — Teachers ‘scared’ or feel ‘in danger’ as they ponder return to classroom: “School personnel wonder if doing their jobs during an unchecked pandemic is ‘really worth the risk,” writes Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg. SPOTLIGHT NOW LIVE — THE FIFTY: Governors have never mattered more to the future of the nation. They are making decisions that shape our everyday lives. The Fifty is a new series from POLITICO that examines the roles mayors and governors are playing amid pandemic, economic crisis and a national reckoning on race. See the page here. Today’s centerpiece: Can the movement behind AOC conquer New York? By POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg CHICAGO — Lightfoot: It was ‘highly problematic’ that officers who shot man in Englewood did not have body cameras: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it 'would have been better' had the officers who shot a 20-year-old man they said had a gun Sunday afternoon in Englewood had body-worn cameras to record the incident that touched off a wave of looting that swept the city,” by WTTW’s Heather Cherone. ... Man charged with attempted murder of a police officer was shot in the back by CPD, defense attorney says: “Assistant Public Defender Scott Finger, who is representing [Latrell] Allen, said his client was shot five times by police, once in the cheek and four times in the back. Prosecutors said Allen was shot in the cheek and abdomen,” reports WBEZ’s Patrick Smith. — Brown’s time in Dallas included defusing a tense city after a police shooting, something he did not repeat Sunday: “Chicago police Superintendent David Brown has explained how alleged misinformation about an officer-involved shooting in the South Side’s Englewood neighborhood on Sunday may have sparked a chain of events that led to widespread looting, vandalism and violence in the downtown area. But as the former leader of another big-city police department, it was not a scenario Brown was completely unfamiliar with,” by Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner. — What's at stake — for all of us — if looting flares up again: “Pervasive fear of crime is a sure-fire prescription for economic collapse,” writes Crain’s columnist Joe Cahill. — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Chicago Progressive Caucus is calling for the city to renew its commitment to implementing the federal consent decree “quickly and aggressively,” the group says in a statement to Playbook. The city is drawing criticism for missing 89 mandated reform deadlines (it met 35) as part of the agreement with the state Attorney General’s Office to reform the Chicago Police Department. The Progressive Caucus says it’s “deeply discouraging” that the deadlines have been missed and the caucus hopes to see “detailed information” about how the city will improve its track record. ... Aldermen on the Committee on Public Safety also voiced dissatisfaction, by Tribune’s Dan Hinkel. — Electric scooters are back in Chicago: “Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December. This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program,” by Tribune’s Sydney Czyzon. — Mather High School — attended by slain activist Caleb Reed — votes to remove police officers from school: “Reed, a junior at Mather, was a student leader at Voices Of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and a prominent voice in the push to remove officers from Chicago Public Schools,” by Sun-Times’ Sam Kelly. ... Where schools stand so far. They have a Friday deadline to decide whether to keep or remove police on campuses, reports Chalkbeat’s Sneha Dey. COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS — Tens of thousands still without power after Monday storms spawn a Rogers Park tornado: “It was like a dinosaur was running at us,” by Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Javonte Anderson and Madeline Buckley. — Hundreds sign petition for Elk Grove Village-based Savage Bros. Co. to change logo: “The company has, and continues to use the stereotypical head of an American Indian to convey ‘savage’ in its company logo despite complaints about the racism of connecting American Indians with ‘savage,’” wrote Dr. John Low. Story by Sun-Times’ Sam Kelly. — FREE DAY AT THE MUSEUM: Starting today, Wednesdays are free to all guests at Illinois Holocaust Museum thanks to the support of donor Rodi Glass. Guests wanting to visit must reserve a ticket online to enter the museum. THE STATEWIDES — Census begins door knocking statewide, as advocates worry about shortened response time: “Workers with the U.S. Census Bureau start canvassing door-to-door on Tuesday in most of the state, after in-person follow-up started in parts of Chicago, Cook County, Peoria and Dekalb last month,” by NPR Illinois’ Mary Hansen. — USA Today takes a state-by-state look at Alzheimer’s: In Illinois, the Alzheimer’s Association shared that the number of older adults with the disease is projected to increase from 230,000 in 2020 to 260,000 in 2025. The 13 percent increase is lower than in all but 10 other states, due in part to the relatively low share of older adults in the state. Roughly one in five Illinois residents who retired moved out of state, according to a National Movers Study. Just 14.8 percent of the state's population is 65 or older, the 12th lowest share in the nation. HIGHER-ED College towns fear super-spreader semester as students descend: “Local officials are bracing for a virus explosion triggered by young people living in tight quarters who disregard social distancing rules,” By POLITICO’s Bianca Quilantan. BECOME A CHINA WATCHER: Mounting concerns over foreign interference are casting a shadow on the U.S. election this fall. Are concerns that Beijing might seek to influence the results valid? Join the conversation and gain expert insight from informed and influential voices in government, business, law, tech and academia. China Watcher is as much a platform as it is a newsletter. Subscribe today. POT-POURRI — New Weed Street pot shop looted in 2nd burglary in 2 weeks; Highland Park dispensary also hit: “But since Windy City Cannabis opened in Goose Island in late June, burglars have targeted the store twice — including during the looting wave early Monday that tore through downtown and the Near North Side,” by Sun-Times’ Tom Schuba. — November advisory referendum to give Wilmette voters a chance to weigh in on cannabis sales: “The advisory, non-binding referendum to be put before voters in the 2020 General Election on Nov. 3 was approved last month, after the Wilmette Village Board voted 6-1 in support of the measure, with Trustee Kathy Dodd casting the sole opposing vote,” writes Pioneer Press’ Karen Ann Cullotta. NATION — 'It means nothing': Trump’s pledge to aid tenants won’t halt evictions, by POLITICO’s Katy O’Donnell — Let the next California parlor game begin: Who would replace Harris?, by POLITICO’s Carla Marinucci — Kennedy allies sweat as Massachusetts Senate race tightens, by POLITICO’s Stephanie Murray — Diverse business leaders wanted for a Biden Cabinet: Ariel Investments’ John Rogers Jr. and Mellody Hobson are listed as candidates to consider, by Barrons. — Commentary: GOP donor to the Senate GOP: Remove marriage penalty or risk alienating voters. “The marriage penalty is economically devastating, especially for the states hit hardest by Covid-19,” by Chicago businessman William Kunkler III. — Opinion: Covid-19 and Trump’s silence: An obituary for America’s warriors, by Stephen J. Lyons HAPPY BIRTHDAY Marty Castro, the CEO of Castro Synergies CEO and former U.S. Civil Rights Commission chair; state Sen. Bill Cunningham (18th), Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joanne Rosado, and Ald. Samantha Nugent’s chief of staff Erika Wozniak. ________________________________ This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail (or the person responsible for delivering this document to the intended recipient), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, printing or copying of this e-mail, and any attachment thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please respond to the individual sending the message, and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and printout thereof.