‘Please. Please. Please.’ R. Kelly keeps asking for release because of COVID-19 fears
Singer R. Kelly is writing new lyrics these days via email.
The lyrics?
“Please. Please. Please.”
The words are from three recent emails sent to Chicago attorney Steve Greenberg by Kelly, who petitioned the court last week to release him from incarceration at the Metropolitan Correctional Center during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greenberg said the emails were sent by an “emotional and despondent” Kelly, who is not only awaiting trial on a myriad of sexual assault allegations — but in fear of becoming a victim of the virus.
According to Greenberg, the first email said: “Please.”
It was prefaced by a phone call from Kelly “expressing anger over being held in lockdown in his cell in a place where the noise is deafening; people are coughing, complaining, sneezing and screaming out from anxiety over the coronavirus,” said Greenberg.
Get the full scoop from Mike Sneed here.
8:30 a.m. Parents ponder holding kids back a grade after coronavirus school closings
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois education officials and have said students still should be promoted to the next grade level despite the unprecedented disruption to the school year caused by the coronavirus.
But what if parents disagree?
Without regular, in-person schooling for 2.2 million students over the last three months of this academic year, parents are searching for answers to limit the long-term impact on their children. Some have even suggested they might voluntarily hold back their own children from moving to the next grade level, in order to make up for any lost instruction time this year.
Read the full story from the Sun-Times’ education reporter Nader Issa here.
7:17 a.m. Former Ald. Richard Mell cooks up happiness for his aging neighbors
Richard’s in the kitchen!
And he’s rattling up those pots and pans!
Former Ald. Dick Mell, 82, who was once a 33rd Ward political powerhouse known for his efficiency as well as his short fuse, is now battling the pandemic one pot at a time.
For the past month, Mell has been cooking up and delivering homemade meals to four elderly, single, neighborhood ladies since the coronavirus closed their doors a month ago: Betty, Lorraine, Dorothy and Guadalupe.
“I make ‘em, bake ‘em, and deliver ‘em in the back seat of my car three days a week,” chirped Mell, who called Sneed a few days ago blasting a local grocery store for basically giving him the runaround.
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7:24 a.m. Thank you, Chicago, for the light show that helped me through a tough time
Two weeks ago, my wife, who is a nurse, became ill with coronavirus. The first few days I did my best to take care of her, but she started having a harder time breathing and had no appetite.
I drove her to the emergency department. She was placed on oxygen and taken to a sterile coronavirus ward, where I was not allowed to visit. We were told the next 48 hours would tell if the disease would improve or worsen.
That night, I came back to my quiet apartment in the South Loop. We had moved in a few months ago from California, and there were few creature comforts. The refrigerator was full of food I had tried to get my wife to eat, but I wasn’t hungry. I felt lost. There was no map. There was nothing else I could do.
To my surprise, I heard sudden cheering outside. From my balcony, I noticed flashing, swirling, twinkling lights coming from apartments across the city. People were singing and playing music. I stood and cried. It reminded me how resilient people can be.
A few days later, my wife turned the corner. Each night now, we participate in the light show. We hope our addition can comfort someone else.
Thank you, Chicago, for the light show and for helping me through a hard time.
