Latest
Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows diagnosed with COVID-19
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.
Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year. They offered no details on when the chief of staff came down with the virus or his current condition. His diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago, but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule.
1:12 p.m. Betting on college football: The only certainty is uncertainty
LAS VEGAS — During the 2019 college football season, one or two games a month shifted significantly from the Circa Sports opening line to game day, or within 24 hours of kickoff.
Because of coronavirus questions and concerns that have made 2020 so murky, Circa operations director Mike Palm has watched the lines of several games a week move six to eight points.
‘‘It’s really an unprecedented time,’’ Palm says. ‘‘It’s the uncertainty. There are two to three instances a week that we open with the wrong favorite, the way the line ends up.
‘‘There is so much volatility to the market right now because of that uncertainty. I thought it was a bad thing at first, but it isn’t like we’ve been wrong on every one of those opening lines.’’
As an example of that turbulence, Circa Sports director Matt Metcalf and his team opened Air Force as a 1.5-point favorite over Navy when they unveiled their lines at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 27.
Money flooded in from wise guys, the smart professionals who fly into Vegas every weekend to prey on Circa’s openers. An avalanche of cash and subsequent steam made Navy a seven-point favorite at kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Air Force won 41-0.
‘‘Air Force absolutely blew them out,’’ Palm says, ‘‘so the money was all the wrong way.’’
Read the full story here.
7:27 a.m. With COVID-19 surging, appellate court hands Pritzker new legal victory on coronavirus restrictions
A state appellate court handed Gov. J.B. Pritzker a new legal victory Friday, siding with him on a key question that has hovered over his COVID-19 restrictions since the early days of the pandemic.
In an opinion undoing a temporary restraining order that had freed a Kane County restaurant from Pritzker’s current ban on indoor dining, Illinois’ 2nd District Appellate Court found that the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act “plainly authorizes” the governor to issue multiple disaster proclamations — each giving him 30 days of emergency powers.
Though most judges had already sided with the governor on that question, Kane County Judge Kevin Busch recently found that Pritzker could claim emergency powers for no more than 30 days. State lawyers appealed, and that led to Friday’s opinion. It is believed to be the first time an appellate court in the state has taken on the issue.
Though the appellate court noted its opinion “may not be cited as precedent” except in limited circumstances, veteran attorney Terry Ekl said in an email it’s clear the court “has determined that the governor had the authority to issue his restrictions.”
“This decision is binding on all circuit courts in Illinois,” Ekl wrote.
New Cases
Analysis & Commentary
7:40 a.m. Kids belong in school — the real thing — and Chicago can make it work
Educators across the country are warning about a ‘lost year’ for public school education because of the coronavirus pandemic, and let’s consider for a minute what a disaster that would be.
A lost year, with children in Chicago and elsewhere staring at electronic screens for hours — if they engage in school work at all — instead of learning in person with their classmates and teachers.
A lost year, without the presence of counselors and social workers, who traditionally are among the first caring adults to detect and flag signs of child abuse or other trauma. Calls to local child abuse hotlines have plummeted during the pandemic.
A lost year without the therapeutic services that children with special needs cannot get online.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and it should not.
