Illinois Editorial Roundup:
Here are excerpts of editorials from newspapers around Illinois:
April 30, 2020
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago house party: How not to survive COVID-19
If you haven't watched the Chicago house party COVID-19 video, you've likely heard about it. The scene, posted to social media, lasts nearly 24 minutes, but it takes only about 10 seconds to absorb, and 2 more seconds to condemn. The video appears to show a packed room of young adults - some wearing masks but most not - chatting, laughing, drinking and quite possibly infecting each other. Oh, and obviously violating the state's orders limiting crowds and enforcing social distancing.
The viral video of the April 25 party in Galewood on the city's Northwest Side gained some context after Janeal Wright, 26, came forward as the organizer and expressed remorse. The party, he said, was meant to honor two friends who were shot to death in an incident on the West Side in 2018. Wright wasn't concerned about the pandemic, but he was cooped up at home when not at work as a security guard. Time to party, he decided. Time to escape the worries of his world.
'œGun violence is taking everybody around my age group,'ť Wright told the Tribune's Alice Yin. 'œThat's why I was so oblivious. Because you know, diseases, viruses, they're very serious and everything like that, but they're not (gun violence).'ť
A legitimate excuse? No. He was wrong to allow so many people into a closed space, just as every one of those partyers was wrong to show up and squeeze in. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called them 'œfoolish and reckless.'ť What were they thinking? They weren't thinking, or caring about their own health or others. They failed a basic test of adult responsibility.
We've seen other senseless COVID-19 decisions make national news. In Florida in March, spring break revelers packed the beaches while much of the country already was hunkered down. 'œIf I get corona, I get corona,'ť one of the young adult partyers declared.
We're not pleased either with those who attended a court hearing Monday in Clay County challenging Pritzker's stay-home order. According to Mark Maxwell, a CBS-affiliate television reporter who was in the courtroom, the largely no-mask-wearing crowd laughed as lawyers made arguments supporting the order and explaining the public's health, and vulnerable lives, would be at risk if the order were lifted. The crowd also, according to Maxwell, mocked the few people who were wearing masks.
'œCan confirm. The audience in the courtroom yesterday laughed on several occasions, including at one point when the Attorney General's office argued people's lives would be at stake if the stay-at-home order was nullified. People who wore masks were openly mocked,'ť Maxwell tweeted the day after the hearing.
So we have a Chicago party organizer unknowingly risking the public's health, and we have observers at a court hearing openly defiant to it. Both are not good looks.
Nobody is pleased with this economic and social shutdown. But to break the back of the pandemic, it is necessary to protect progress made and to buy time to prepare.
Party organizer Wright said he wasn't paying attention to the news and didn't grasp the significance of the social distancing requirement. There are bigger issues to manage, like daily survival, he suggested.
That's a perspective we've heard before. As part of a series of editorials, 'œChicago Forward: Young Lives in the Balance,'ť we are exploring how young African Americans in Chicago feel disconnected from the broader world. To them, COVID-19 is a theoretical threat at best. Getting shot is a real threat.
Autry Phillips, executive director of Target Area Development Corp., told us he was frustrated by that narrow, alienated view of the world, and the related indifference to the coronavirus by Chicago's younger generation. 'œThey say, '~I'm going to die anyway,''ť Phillips said, 'œand they tell me, '~I don't even expect to reach 25.''ť
Perspectives can change, however. Wright said that to atone for his actions, he wants to speak out and educate others in the community about COVID-19. 'œWe're going to make sure that he's a voice,'ť said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago. That would be an excellent outcome.
Anyone who misjudges the extent of a public health crisis - whether young, oblivious adults or an older, defiant adults - can change behaviors. The numbers in Illinois suggest a leveling off of infections that are leading to death. We have a greater understanding of the groups most at risk, which include black communities. So let the house party fiasco become a moment to reflect, not condemn.
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May 3, 2020
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph
Relaxed rules welcome spring in Illinois
This is literally a breath of fresh air.
Friday was the first day we were able to obey the stay-at-home order and still use some of our state's great recreational availability.
We were back on the golf links, back on our recreational waters, back in the state parks. Of course, it was different from the way we remember. It will stay that way for the month, at minimum. But at least the experiences are available.
Not to say that people haven't quietly been in violation of the orders all along. Members at Pekin Country Club were sent a 'œcease and desist'ť letter last month after the club remained open despite Illinois Gov. Pritzker ordering it to close.
Even under new rules, we still need to be careful.
Clinton Lake State Recreation Area, Eagle Creek State Park in Shelbyville, and Wolf Creek State Park in Windsor are among the list of 24 state parks and recreation areas that will be open from sunup to sundown. Fishing from the bank or in a boat is limited to two persons together who do not live in the same residence. Some cities, including Decatur, have implemented a 'œslight variance'ť to the state order that allows more than two residents that live together in the same household to be on a boat together. State park amenities remain closed.
For golfers, public courses and private clubs can offer just eight slots an hour. Courses are walking only unless you can prove a disability or physical limitation with a handicap placard or doctor's note. Illinois also requires clubs to leave driving ranges, chipping areas and practice greens shut down.
Consideration of additional relaxation of rules is something that needs to be considered sooner than later. Why can a dog be groomed but a person cannot? Why are flower and garden shops more important than others? Without the right online presence, restaurants have difficulty now with curbside pickup. How long can they continue to operate with limited income?
One of the things we have to consider is that every episode of recreation also holds the potential for infection, however inadvertent and unintentional. The same goes for all social interaction. We're well-rehearsed on what's now considered appropriate in those situation. We'll need to work toward mastering the new ones.
Keep practicing social distancing. Remember, if it can be done at a grocery store, it can be done anywhere.
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May 1, 2020
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
We must plan and allow for more voters to choose to vote by mail
The scenes last month during the Wisconsin Primary Election should enrage us all. In Milwaukee, as the polls were closing, there remained lines wrapped around several blocks, voters spaced a comfortable 6 feet apart, some wearing masks, waiting to get inside their polling place. It was cold. It was raining, yet still, people waited to have their say in the democratic process.
Every time we vote, it should be safe, efficient and easy. How can we ensure that criteria is met? Offer a variety of opportunities to vote, from at the polls on Election Day, early voting and, likely the safest way of all, vote by mail.
The Nov. 3 election is just seven months away. How prepared are states for an increase '• or demand '• from the electorate to vote by mail? Lawmakers and election officials nationwide need to know that answer soon and prepare for it.
It is likely come November, if we are still battling the coronavirus as we do today, a good portion of our electorate will not want to venture out to public places, including the polls on Election Day. And if a registered voter wants to cast a ballot, our county, state and federal governments better make it easy for them to do so in any manner.
Tom Bride, director of the Peoria County Election Commission, said last month vote by mail would allow a greater percentage of eligible voters to vote.
'œIn states that have gone to all vote by mail they have seen an increase in voter turnout with the most gain in younger and voters otherwise less likely to vote, with even higher gains in local (off-year) elections,'ť Bride said.
In the past five general or primary elections in Peoria County, between 14.6% and 3.9% of the total vote was done by mail. Over the same time in Knox County, between 7.9% and 2.6% of the total vote was done by mail. In Sangamon County, the percentage of vote by mail was 3.2% in the 2016 primary to 7.9% this year. And in Rockford, 5.9% of all ballots cast in the 2020 primary were mail-in.
Some election officials in Illinois says vote by mail could increase the number of voters and provide a safer election during the coronavirus pandemic. That's great news. But Illinois is likely not where voters will experience obstacles to vote by mail. Still, Democrats and Republicans nationwide are preparing for a state-by-state legal fight over how citizens can safely cast their ballots should the coronavirus outbreak persist toward November.
The outcome of the court battles - expected to litigate mail-in voting rules, voter identification requirements and safe access to polls - may have a significant impact on the presidential election.
We can't allow that to happen. We need a bipartisan push nationwide to prepare all states to plan and allow for a greater opportunity for voters to choose to vote by mail.