The latest
Republican Illinois Rep. Mike Bost tests positive for coronavirus
Republican Rep. Mike Bost, who represents Illinois’ 12th District in the southern part of the state, tested positive for coronavirus, it was announced Friday.
He’s the latest Republican official to test positive for COVID-19. Other recent cases include President Trump’s aide Nick Luna, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Trump’s senior advisor and speechwriter Stephen Miller.
News
11:22 a.m. PPE supplier accused of tripling, quadrupling N95 prices in gouging scheme
Federal prosecutors accused a suburban businessman Thursday of price gouging customers looking for personal protective equipment as the coronavirus pandemic first took hold in March and April.
But an attorney for Krikor Topouzian said the owner of Concord Health Supply believed he had come up with a legitimate price for the thousands of respirator masks the feds say he sold earlier this year, and he may wind up taking the case to trial.
Topouzian, 60, is charged with one count of violating the Defense Production Act. The feds say he purchased 79,160 respirator masks — including N95 masks — from companies in Oregon and Georgia between March 6 and April 7 at prices ranging from $4.27 to $7 each.
Then, between March 29 and April 22, they said he sold 11,492 of the masks for prices as high as $19.95 per mask. They said he offered discounts to customers who purchased multiple masks, ultimately selling the masks at a mean price of $16.82 each.
Read the full report from Jon Seidel here.
8:49 a.m. Cook County launches $20 million mortgage assistance program: ‘We will feel the effects of COVID-19 for years to come’
Right after the 2008 housing crash and economic downturn, Alma Anaya said her family lost their home.
The Democratic Cook County commissioner drew on that experience Thursday as she and other County Board members announced a $20 million mortgage assistance program designed to help keep roofs over the heads of cash-strapped suburban residents reeling from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our home that was full of memories — childhood memories and others — and I know the devastation that can cause to working families when they lose their homes,” Anaya said. “They lose the place where they’re used to going to after school or after work. So, it’s extremely important that we do something about that before we get to the insecurity that will be happening for a lot of our families. It is extremely important that we’re being proactive about it.”
Read the full story by Rachel Hinton here.
6:47 a.m. Answering Lightfoot’s call, Chicago Community Trust launches $25M plan to help Chicago rebuild equitably after pandemic
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been urging Chicago’s corporate and philanthropic communities to help Chicago rebuild more equitably after the economic devastation created by the coronavirus and the civil unrest triggered by the death of George Floyd.
On Thursday, both sectors answered the call.
Armed with $25 million in “initial” philanthropic contributions and “corporate commitments,” the Chicago Community Trust launched, Together We Rise.
The goal is to make certain that Black and Hispanic communities that bore the brunt of both the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus can make a strong comeback from that double-whammy.
“Every neighborhood. Every corner. Not just the downtown, River North, South Loop. But the entirety of our city that has been dramatically impacted — not just by COVID-19, but by way too many years of lack of investment,” Lightfoot said Thursday.
Reporter Fran Spielman has the full story.
New cases
Public health officials reported 3,059 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Illinois on Thursday, the state’s biggest caseload since the initial peak of the pandemic nearly five months ago.
The state last topped 3,000 daily coronavirus cases on May 14, when 3,239 people were infected.
The Illinois Department for Public Health reported more than 5,300 cases on Sept. 4, but that bloated figure was the result of a three-day data processing backlog.
Analysis & Commentary
8:47 a.m. Take it from the best of American medicine: Donald Trump must go
It is rare for scientists at the highest levels to take an overt stand on the politics of the day, knowing their professional credibility depends on remaining above the fray.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, most famously, is a case in point. Fauci, the federal government’s top immunologist, has given his best expert advice on the COVID-19 pandemic while resisting the temptation — and he must feel tempted — to call out the failures of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis.
When an authority of such stature does take a political stand, then, it carries all the more weight. We all should listen closely.
