Author: staff

Street vendor Carmen Nava brings an order of tamales to a customer’s car while selling her tamales in 4300 block of West Armitage Avenue in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood on June 19, 2021. At right is her husband Luis Melendez. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The health fund’s $61.1 million deficit partly stems from CountyCare, Cook County’s Medicaid managed care plan, ballooning in membership, which both adds revenues but drives up claims expenses. Also, because Medicaid redetermination, which is requiring people to reapply for eligibility, is expected to return to Illinois next year, CountyCare membership is projected to fall from 418,000 members at the end of the year to 390,000 in 2022, Cook County Health Chief Business Officer Andrea Gibson said.

Authorities said least eight people were injured and at least 225 structures were damaged, many severely, from a tornado that tore through Naperville, Woodridge and Darien late Sunday. Meteorologists said the damage was consistent with an EF-3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning it had wind speeds of 136 to 165 mph. “We suspect it was one tornado,” said Matt Friedlein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We don’t know that for certain, but based on the nature of the information and what we know about the character of this event, that’s what we’re leaning toward.”The weather service said it was the first significant tornado to hit the Chicago metropolitan area since 2015, when an EF-3 tornado ravaged Coal City, about 60 miles southwest of the city.On the ground, signs of the tornado’s might were everywhere. A fence post was driven through a roof like a javelin. A backyard trampoline, metal frame and all, was wrapped around the branches of a tall tree. One car was flipped on its roof, while another nearby was so damaged it looked as though it had been bombed.The tornado sirens began blaring in DuPage County at 10:48 p.m. Sunday, according to Woodridge police. The National Weather Service said emergency alerts also screeched on mobile devices in Naperville, Darien and Woodridge, with the goal of waking any sleepers.When the tornado formed, it first hit Naperville about 11:10 p.m., in the area just south of 75th Street and Ranchview Drive in the southeast section of the town, according to Linda LaCloche, spokeswoman for the Naperville city manager’s office. Sixteen homes were deemed uninhabitable by city engineers, she said.At least 125 damage reports came from Naperville alone, Schultz said.

Authorities said least eight people were injured and at least 225 structures were damaged, many severely, from a tornado that tore through Naperville, Woodridge and Darien late Sunday. Meteorologists said the damage was consistent with an EF-3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning it had wind speeds of 136 to 165 mph. “We suspect it was one tornado,” said Matt Friedlein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We don’t know that for certain, but based on the nature of the information and what we know about the character of this event, that’s what we’re leaning toward.”The weather service said it was the first significant tornado to hit the Chicago metropolitan area since 2015, when an EF-3 tornado ravaged Coal City, about 60 miles southwest of the city.On the ground, signs of the tornado’s might were everywhere. A fence post was driven through a roof like a javelin. A backyard trampoline, metal frame and all, was wrapped around the branches of a tall tree. One car was flipped on its roof, while another nearby was so damaged it looked as though it had been bombed.The tornado sirens began blaring in DuPage County at 10:48 p.m. Sunday, according to Woodridge police. The National Weather Service said emergency alerts also screeched on mobile devices in Naperville, Darien and Woodridge, with the goal of waking any sleepers.When the tornado formed, it first hit Naperville about 11:10 p.m., in the area just south of 75th Street and Ranchview Drive in the southeast section of the town, according to Linda LaCloche, spokeswoman for the Naperville city manager’s office. Sixteen homes were deemed uninhabitable by city engineers, she said.At least 125 damage reports came from Naperville alone, Schultz said.

To qualify as a high-risk, a player must have opted out last season and have an effective contract executed before Oct. 1, 2020, or have been newly diagnosed with a CDC-defined higher-risk condition. Rookies wouldn’t be eligible unless they were diagnosed with a high-risk condition after signing a contract.

Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff jokes with a teen during a vaccination at a Esperanza Health Center vaccination site in the Englewood neighborhood ,as part of the “We Can Do This” vaccination awareness bus tour, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

“I’m a weekend Fire fan, doesn’t matter if they’re home or away, it doesn’t matter if it’s fall, winter, spring, doesn’t matter,” she said. “I wear Fire gear on the weekends. And people have stopped me, and you know what I do? I educate them. Like, it’s a soccer team. It’s like the Bears or the Cubs. It’s our soccer team, it’s the Chicago Fire.”

The approximately 3-acre, 1.2 million-square-foot site interests developers because an ordinance, introduced in March by a downtown alderman, would allow the site to be zoned to accommodate one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, according to city officials. If the measure is approved by City Council, the building’s square footage could be replaced by a tower of more than 2 million square feet — enough space to reach 100 stories or more.

Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff jokes with a teen during a vaccination at an Esperanza Health Center site in the Englewood neighborhood as part of the “We Can Do This” vaccination awareness bus tour on June 23, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

“Fitch’s improved outlook for Illinois is yet another sign of positive momentum for our state’s fiscal condition, a testament to strong financial management and responsible actions by the General Assembly and my administration, and a product of the state’s economic resilience,” Pritzker said. “The story of Illinois in 2021 is that in the face of a crisis, fiscal discipline and smart economic policy pays off.”