Cook County medical examiner’s ‘absolutely unprecedented’ caseload: Deaths exceed 10,000 — and it’s not just COVID-19 – Chicago Sun-Times

“(O)nce again, the burden is being felt disproportionately in communities of color,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “While a quarter of our county’s population is African American — about 24% — close to 43% of the cases this office sees are African American residents.” Black and Latino residents make up 94% of the homicides the office has investigated.

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‘There’s been an awful lot of partying’: Northwestern University asks Evanston residents to report students who ignore COVID-19 precautions in off-campus gatherings – Chicago Tribune

After several plugs for the online reporting form, one woman lamented that the onus should not fall on residents to constantly monitor students and potentially get them in trouble. “I love where I live, and I have a great relationship with the students,” she said. “I don’t want to be the tattletale.”

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‘I’ve never had to think about my own safety in this way before’: Shaken by summer looting in affluent neighborhoods, some Chicagoans are moving away. – Chicago Tribune

Chicago has been Neil Spun’s home for more than half his life, but recently, the 60-year-old state worker has been conflicted about staying in his Edgewater apartment. “There have been riots before, and looting. It just seems to me now that the city isn’t doing anything about it. I don’t see this getting any better, and so I’d like to leave.”

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Illinois joins 18 other states to extend unemployment eligibility for 20 more weeks – Center Square

Analyst Mark Glennon of Wirepoints said many people in Illinois are in dire straits and that Illinois had no choice but to do what it can. Illinois will have to borrow $5 billion from the federal government to pay for the unemployment benefits extension – adding to the state’s financial challenges. “This is a choice between two evils. If the state did not do this, obviously people would be much worse off and it would damage the economy.”

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Chicago Public Schools FY2021 Proposed Budget: Analysis and Recommendations – Civic Federation

The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) proposed budget for FY2021 as a reasonable plan given the current economic situation facing all state and local governments. However, the Federation has serious concerns about the additional $343 million in uncertain federal funding on which the budget relies. The Federation is also concerned about risks associated with state funding and property tax revenue, as they are the major sources on which the District depends to fund its schools and programs each year.

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New thinking on COVID lockdowns: They’re overly blunt and costly – Wall Street Journal

Five months later, the evidence suggests lockdowns were an overly blunt and economically costly tool. They are politically difficult to keep in place for long enough to stamp out the virus. The evidence also points to alternative strategies that could slow the spread of the epidemic at much less cost. As cases flare up throughout the U.S., some experts are urging policy makers to pursue these more targeted restrictions and interventions rather than another crippling round of lockdowns.

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25 community groups, Cook County public defender sign letter criticizing Lightfoot for police response this summer – Chicago Tribune

“With your response, you are playing right into Donald Trump’s narrative that Chicagoans are dangerous, chaotic criminals who must be ‘quelled’ by heavy-handed law enforcement,” the letter says. “You are directly fueling the cycle of police violence and distrust between law enforcement and Chicago residents.”

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