A reminder:
• ~60% of "crime guns" taken in by Chi police are bought in other states where laws are more lenient:
• The feds "let some of the Chicago area’s most notorious gun sellers off the hook for serious violations":
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is heavily name dropping Chicago gun violence in a live presser about the school shooting, saying there are more weekend shootings in Chicago than people shot in schools in Texas. He said that disproves the thesis that stiffer gun laws prevent gun murders.
The Adam Toledo videos are truly disturbing.
If you want to know what they show, but do not want to see graphic imagery, we have this story you can read without photos/videos.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE.
Right shows the Chicago's woman's lung with COVID-19. It's her actual, removed lung.
Left is a healthy lung.
Surgeon said it was some of the worst damage he'd seen, Arwady says.
Beyond anything I could have dreamed of: I've been named Chicago Journalist of the Year — &
@BlockClubCHI
was named Best Online News source in an international competition.
I am so lucky to work in this amazing city, under amazing editors & with the amazing people at Block Club.
This just in: Chicago Journalists Association
@CJA_Updates
to honor Dorothy Tucker
@DorothyTV2
with Lifetime Achievement Award; Kelly Bauer
@BauerJournalism
as Journalist of the Year:
Lightfoot: "It was excruciating" to watch the video. "There are several videos that kind of start at the beginning of the episode. But watching the body-cam footage, which shows young Adam after he is shot, is extremely difficult."
Was watching
@WGNNews
last night when I head
@patrickelwood
quote my Center for COVID Control stories — word for word at points — without providing any credit or reference to Block Club.
I've worked for WEEKS on these stories.
This is unacceptable. This is plagiarism.
Pritzker: "...Our values are under siege. But they are worth fighting for, and I will not let our challenges crush the spirit that I've always brought to this job. Facing this moment requires that every happy warrior find a little bit of a nomadic warrior in them, as well. ...
BREAKING: A luxury Gold Coast watch shop that got improper vaccinations has a very important customer: Loretto Hospital's COO, Dr. Anosh Ahmed.
Ahmed is a frequent customer there and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at the shop, a source said.
This is a very cool and kind thing!!
@ChicagoMag
named me Chicago's "Best Watchdog" for my work uncovering improper vaccinations at Loretto for
@BlockClubCHI
. 🤯
So grateful I get to work at Block Club, which lets us tell these important stories.
BREAKING: A Loretto Hospital exec bragged about vaccinating Eric Trump on day his hospital vaccinated workers at Trump Tower.
Hospital leaders said they vaccinated 72 “predominantly” Black and Brown workers. Millionaire Trump would not have been eligible.
Here's more of the clip (though not all of it), where Mayor Lightfoot talks about her experience as a Black woman seeing the video of George Floyd being killed.
"Being Black in America should not be a death sentence."
Interesting note: Cops instantly acknowledged Adam was young/little. They say things like, "C'mon, little man, talk to me," in the videos.
But they described him as a "man" in the first press release about the shooting and put him as 18-25 in the case report.
UPDATE: An attorney for Toledo's family said the videos show the 13-year-old had raised his hands and did not have a gun when he was shot: "If you're shooting an unarmed child with his hands in the air, it is an assassination."
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO:
Folks, I'm speaking with the man who caught Chance the Snapper, Frank Robb. He's shocked by his sudden fame and needs recommendations for Chicago pizza and hot dogs.
Important context: The city's and state's top doctors said they haven't even participated in *outdoor* dining because they're trying to be safe.
Yet the city is opening indoor dining.
NEW: The Center for COVID Control got $124 million from the feds — while telling workers to lie about results, keeping tests in unrefrigerated garbage bags around the office and processing tests late, ex-employees say.
READ:
I'm now the breaking news editor at
@BlockClubCHI
!
To say I'm ecstatic doesn't cover it. I'm so passionate about BCC, our staff and our work — and I'm a breaking news junkie.
Chicagoans need accurate and easily understood information. We'll continue to bring that to you. :)
For people experiencing similar issues in Chicago: You can get vaccinated at home for free — and the city will give you $100.
Sign up by calling 312-746-4835 or here:
Details here: .
Nearly half of unvaccinated Americans say they would get vaccinated but are dealing with a lack of transportation, scheduling challenges and other hurdles. by
@MerylKornfield
BREAKING: Chicago will now vaccinate *any* Chicagoan 12 and older *at home* for free. And households that participate will get a $50 Grubhub gift card.
EXCLUSIVE: The Center for COVID Control opened pop-up testing sites across the US.
Now, it's temporarily closing amid federal+state investigations & mounting complaints.
I got a copy of the federal report. It says the chain wasted 40,000 tests — & more:
We spent the morning getting married and now we're spending the evening at a
@whitesox
game. Couldn't ask for a more perfect wedding day.
@75_danbrown
#Soxgameday
INCREDIBLY cool: Mom of the first(!!!) kid to get vaccinated today at Esperanza Health in Chicago told
@colinbphoto
she used
@BlockClubCHI
to get vaccine info.
Our guide to getting a child 5+ vaccinated in Chicago:
Lightfoot just spent a long time talking about last night's mass shooting, saying parents need to know where their kids are and need to be more involved to stop violence like that.
Only one of the victims was a minor. The rest range in age of 19 to 46.
Pritzker, set for victory: "Tonight, you made history. Four years ago, I told you that we would think big, that we'd write a new playbook, that we would put gov't back on the side of working families, that we would be bold. And we didn't waste any time. We raised the minimum ...
Something else to keep in mind:
What fuels violence in Chicago — lack of social services, jobs & opportunities; rivalries & feuds exacerbated by gov't policies; etc. — is very different than what fuels a mass shooting of children in Texas.
The comparison is just a distraction.
I get hateful messages every. single. day.
People try to insult and belittle me. They've threatened me, told me I should be raped and they hope my family gets COVID and dies.
They even found my husband on social and told him I'm an idiot. 🙃
Online harassment needs to stop.
Women in journalism face disproportionate rates of harassment and threats of violence just for doing their jobs. Today the IWMF has launched because we have their backs.
I spoke to coronavirus long-haulers from across Chicago who are *still sick* months after shaking the virus.
Some are still coughing or short of breath. One smells fire 24/7. Their bodies ache. They are exhausted. Food tastes off. And much more.
Read:
When I was 12, my family was evicted from our home.
I remember a dumpster full of our belongings on the driveway. My mom went in to get our dolls because she hoped to one day give them to her grandkids.
We cried constantly. We didn't know where we'd go.
I hope reporters and residents in Texas — and all over — will keep pushing all officials to actually answer their questions about mass shootings and craft policies to prevent violence.
An official saying "what about Chicago?" does not do anything to actually help your community.
NEW: Another Chicago-based COVID testing company — which got $186 million from the feds — is under investigation as complaints pile up.
O'Hare Clinical Lab customers told Block Club their results were badly delayed — or just never arrived.
With COVID-19 test appointments full and at-home ones sold out, Chicagoans are being forced to "hell hole" pop-up sites with unmasked workers, missing results, attempts to charge for tests and more.
More than a dozen told me about a LOT of concerns:
COVID-19 vaccines will be required at all indoor Chicago businesses in the new year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to announce today.
Her news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Check back here for live tweets and updates.
This has gotten shared a lot, so I want to make sure I point out: Patrick has apologized and said he'll give an on-air clarification.
It is a classy move that I deeply appreciate, and one that says a lot of good things about him.
I am a WGN fan. No hate their way. ❤️
Was watching
@WGNNews
last night when I head
@patrickelwood
quote my Center for COVID Control stories — word for word at points — without providing any credit or reference to Block Club.
I've worked for WEEKS on these stories.
This is unacceptable. This is plagiarism.
I'm in the bathroom of a *Logan Square* restaurant as two girls are facetiming someone.
Girls: "We're literally truly only here to take photos.
"We're in ... Lincoln Park? Lincoln Square? Logan Square?
"Did you hear Patrick Kane lives in her building?"
What is happening here?
A fifth wave of COVID-19 is hitting Chicago.
• City just reported most cases EVER detected in 24 hours: 4,641.
• Illinois just hit 2 million+ confirmed cases.
• Officials expect post-Christmas/NYE surge in cases on top of this from people gathering.
"at this point is we are in partnership with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the ATF ... there's no question that both the people who were fighting, who brought the weapons, that was absolutely organized and choreographed. It seems also clear that the fires that were set ...
Another "AAAAAAAAH" for today: Look what arrived in the mail!
I am so thankful to
@CJA_Updates
for honoring me with its Journalist of the Year award. It's a testament to the hard work we put in at
@BlockClubCHI
. ❤️
Several aldermen said they were concerned the settlement would "set a dangerous precedent" and encourage others who have had their homes raided by mistake by the police to sue the city
@wttw
Lightfoot: "When you see — and I urge you, if you watch it, watch all the footage — you're gonna see that officer spring into action to try to revive Adam, to call for medical assistance. I don't know him. I don't even know anything, very little about him. But I've had ...
SUCH exciting news.
If you've followed the Loretto stories, the COVID pop-up testing series or our other work, you know: Chicago needs investigative reporters in the neighborhoods.
Now, we can do many more of these stories — and promote transparency, equity and accountability.
Chicago is the most corrupt city in the nation. But it doesn't have to be that way.
We have big news: Today, the
@McCormick_Fdn
announced a $1.6 million grant for Block Club to build an investigative team to root out corruption, wrongdoing and inequity.
• On numerous occasions, GOP members have brought up Chicago violence when what they're asked about are mass shootings in other US cities.
That's what Gov. Abbott did.
It distracts and deflects without requiring officials to answer for mass shootings.
My brother-in-law is taking his naturalization test today! He's worked so hard for years to build a life here. He's an amazing dad and husband. I'm so excited for him.
Plus, they're gonna eat hot dogs if he passes! 😭
Please send Willy all the good vibes! He's nervous.
I am so disappointed in
@WGNNews
. Block Club is a small, nonprofit newsroom.
It is HARD for us to spare the resources needed for me to investigate this, but we do it because it's important.
To not provide credit and to steal entire sentences, facts, etc. is unacceptable.
"experience of investigating a number of police-involved shootings in my earlier career. And I know that most officers go through their whole career and they never fire their weapon in the line of duty. I also know that every time it happens, it's extraordinarily traumatizing ...
The gator was hiding in lily pads. When Robb saw it, he "used his methods" to capture Chance "unharmed and safe."
"It is a beautiful, beautiful alligator. He appears to be very healthy in nature," Gandurski says. "This is the city of big shoulders but it's also the city of ...
• Laws in surrounding communities matter, experts have said.
That's why Chicago's violence is affected by lax laws in other states — you can just go to, say, Indiana and buy a gun that you use in Chicago. And people do. Again, 60% of "crime guns" here are from other states.
Now, for people who do actually care about Chicago and about ending violence — there are lots of Chicagoans working on it.
• West Side Neighborhood Sees 58% Drop In Shootings Thanks To Violence Prevention Programs, Outreach Workers Say,
@Pascal_Sabino
:
There's a very real Chicago thing that happens in early-stage relationships where you have to decide if the person is worth leaving your neighborhood for.
As you get older it switches to worth leaving the house for.
NEW: Another group favored by a Loretto Hospital executive got vaccinated early: "higher-ups" at a Gold Coast steakhouse, sources say.
The hospital and its executives are embroiled in controversy after doses were sent to groups with which they have ties.
This is absolutely not true and I have no idea why Amy is claiming it is. She has not spoken to my sources.
At the watch job, a person who was vaccinated even said the other folks getting vaccinated appeared to be ineligible, white and privileged.
So what? Those vaccinated at the Trump Tower, the watch store, the steak house mostly live on the South and West sides.
Think about it:
@CTULocal1
teachers got vaccinated even earlier then them and most STILL are not back at work! These ppl r interacting w customers!
Loretto says this event did not happen.
I spoke to a source who was vaccinated at the event. She showed me a photo of her getting her shot inside Geneva Seal. Metadata matches date of vax event.
Also showed me her vax card — with Loretto as provider.
Wow! Block Club’s
@BauerJournalism
won the Driehaus Foundation Reader's Choice Award for Investigative Reporting tonight.
Our investigation into Loretto Hospital’s vaccine scandal was also runner-up for the top prize.
Thank you
@driehausfdn
,
@BetterGov
+ our readers for voting.
"for them." She doesn't want to talk about this individual officer's circumstances. "There are a lot of people who will probably be angry hearing me say that, but that is the facts."
I did an interview for a podcast and recorded my audio as backup so I could send it to the producer afterward.
I thought I'd done that.
Until the producer informed me I'd sent her a video of my nephew eating a sloppy Joe without using his hands.
This, from Mayor Lightfoot, is untrue.
Brown explicitly said police will "clear the corner"—where young people are manipulated into working—& asked courts to "keep them in jail."
@ChipMitchell1
did a good story. If the mayor doesn't like what Brown said, take it up with Brown.
Lightfoot: "Unfortunately, one reporter did a cut-and-paste of statements, put it together and then it became the truth instead of actually looking at the superintendent's actual statements. That's unfortunate and BEZ should be ashamed that they did that and allowed that to ...
I've talked about this, but my great-grandmother died from a self-induced abortion when they were illegal.
After the abortion, she became extremely sick but was too afraid to seek help. Her doctor said she could have lived if she'd gotten care.
From her inquest:
NEW: The FBI is investigating Loretto Hospital's vaccination program as part of a criminal probe.
After Block Club reported how doses went to ineligible people with ties to hospital administrators, a federal grand jury opened a criminal investigation.
Gov. Pritzker just announced the end of his daily coronavirus briefings. I'd like to publicly thank
@BauerJournalism
for live-tweeting all but one of them for
@BlockClubCHI
since March. She is incredible. THANK YOU! ❤️
Everyone should read the watchdog report on how Chicago officials and police botched their response to protests over the killing of George Floyd.
They had no plan, beat protesters, escalated conflicts, ignored people having emergencies & more, per report:
"there were clearly efforts made to subvert a peaceful protest and to turn it into something else. ... I'm confident we will get to the bottom of it and be able to explain in a more (?) way what happened; but make no mistake, this was an organized effort ... ."
These 6,000 doses per day will come from the feds — they will *NOT* be taken from the supply given to Illinois/Chicago. That will create a huge bump in vaccinations for the Chicago area.
• Though folks often say Chicago has the strictest gun laws, experts have said Chicago's laws are actually similar to those of other big cities.
It's hard to compare laws between cities, but NY and LA actually have some restrictions that are tougher than Chicago's.
Organizer Taylore Norwood with
@GKMC18
says they're out here to demand CPS not start in-school learning in the fall because it endangers Black and Brown youth.
They also want police out of schools and CPD defunded.