Little Village dust cloud, quarantine festivities
And some more virtual activities to occupy your time
Happy Monday Everyone!
We’re your Monday team — Associate Editors Patsy Newitt, Grace Del Vecchio and Cam Rodriguez — back with our twice-weekly newsletter created to provide updates on all things COVID-19 at DePaul and Chicago by 14 East, the university’s online magazine.
We hope week three of classes is fascinating, exciting and — of course — virtual.
To those who celebrate Easter or Passover, we hope you had a restful holiday weekend. To those who don’t, we also hope you had a restful holiday weekend. While we hate to interrupt your Netflix binge — sorry, classes — we have some pretty important things to get into.
In this issue, we’ll get into the Little Village demolition dust cloud, how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Chicago communities on the South and West sides, and staff holiday celebrations.
We do this because we think it's an important public service. But if you would like to support this work on Venmo @fourteeneastmag, or tell your friends to sign up for this newsletter — it'd be greatly appreciated.
What’s the latest at DePaul?
As DePaul students head into Week 3, both the staff and student populations settle into the new virtual reality (ha — get it) that will encompass the Spring and Summer Quarters.
For starters, this week The DePaulia published opinion pieces on the traumatic and emotional toll COVID-19 will have on the world but specifically on Generation Z and suggestions on how to maintain a healthy mental state in quarantine.
As the state of virtuality continues, many departments are hosting events online. Here’s a list of some of those events. The list ranges from department office hours to esports, all happening over the course of the quarter.
Still not quite sure what to make of this Pass/D/Fail thing? Check out last week’s newsletter, where our Thursday team talked through it and the options it gives students.
What’s happening in Chicago?
Today, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it’s unlikely that the stay-at-home measure would be lifted at the end of April, saying it would be challenging and potentially dangerous to lift all the measures at once. Lightfoot said she and Governor J.B. Pritzker’s team would decide together how and when to lift social distancing orders.
On Sunday, Illinois saw its fewest deaths from coronavirus in six days, but it’s still too soon to tell if the state has reached its peak. Today saw 1,173 new cases in the state, lower than yesterday, but another 74 have died, compared to yesterday’s 43 –– bringing the state total to 22,025 known cases and 794 deaths.
As of today, the city’s largest COVID-19 cluster is on the South Side, in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. Pritzker shared on Friday that four new health clinics, two on the South Side and two on the West Side, will soon be offering 400 tests a day in an effort to mitigate how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black Chicagoans.
A third inmate at Cook County Jail has died of COVID-19, and the family of the first have filed a lawsuit against the city. As of Sunday, over 300 employees and inmates in the facility have tested positive.
Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have been back and forth on the viability of big summer events. Pritzker said they should be canceled, then Lightfoot said it was too soon to tell, then Pritzker said it was a suggestion. They have both said they will know more as data continues to be released closer to July/August.
In other news, a smokestack was demolished in Little Village on Saturday morning despite opposition from environmental groups, resulting in a massive dust cloud. The dust cloud made it difficult for some residents to breathe, many of whom were already worried about their lungs amid COVID-19 concerns. Lightfoot shut down the work site after photos and videos emerged Saturday, but not before the demolition dropped dirt and particulate matter across the community. While the city initially blamed a “dishonest” developer, Lightfoot acknowledged the city did play an active role in the demolition and a report will be released later this week about what was in the dust cloud.
Other Chicago News:
Undocumented Chicagoans are struggling during the pandemic, unable to apply for government assistance despite paying taxes, by Block Club Chicago’s Mauricio Peña
Pritzker is hiring outside experts to upgrade computer systems after criticism of the state’s failure to handle the record-breaking unemployment claims, by Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella
Three immigrants and a correctional officer at a downstate county jail used by ICE have tested positive for COVID-19, by the Chicago Sun Times’ Carlos Ballesteros
Remote learning begins in Chicago today – students will see their teachers on Google Hangouts for the first time in four weeks, by Chicago Tribune’s Hannah Leone
A Hyde Park landlord leveraged rent relief with nondisclosure agreements by Block Club Chicago’s Maxwell Evans
The Chicago Department of Health has started offering a limited number of antibody tests, which determine whether an individual previously contracted the coronavirus and if they’re likely to be immune, by the Chicago Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart
A second CPD officer has died of COVID-19, by the Chicago Tribune’s Madeline Buckley
If you don’t want to watch the news, here are the national headlines to know:
Senator Bernie Sanders has officially endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, from Politico’s Marc Caputo. “I will do all that I can to see that that happens, Joe,” Sanders said on a livestream with Biden earlier today, in response to Biden’s call to defeat President Trump in the November elections.
Deposits from March’s stimulus bill are starting to hit Americans’ bank accounts today — though not everyone’s. College students across the United States who are claimed as dependents by their parents are not receiving stimulus deposits; more on this from Zack Friedman at Forbes.
Worldwide oil production is getting slashed as the demand for fuel falls in order to stabilize the market and global economy, from Clifford Krauss at the New York Times.
Closures of meat processing facilities across the country are leading some, like Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan, to worry about a shortage of the U.S. meat supply, from NPR’s Jim Zarroli.
The Northeast is facing a massive storm system that’s wreaking havoc around the region, causing 22 deaths and leaving 1.3 million without power, according to the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang.
China has reported 169 new cases of COVID-19, its highest number of cases in five weeks, according to Scott Neuman at NPR. 61 cases are asymptomatic, and the Chinese government has said that 98 were “imported” by those coming into the country.
On to better news: staff celebrations and family traditions
This past week, seasonal traditions and celebrations have continued in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Families and friends celebrated the start of Passover, which began last Thursday, and Holy Week, which culminated with Easter yesterday. We collected a few stories from the 14 East staff about how we adapted more traditional celebrations in this increasingly digital age.
Justin celebrated a live streamed Easter Vigil by Nanette Sawyer, a pastor at the Fourth Presbyterian Church. Justin Myers, 14 East.
Justin Myers, one of 14 East’s event planners, celebrated Holy Week from a distance, attending services virtually alongside his fiancé. All of the services that were normally planned for this time at the Fourth Presbyterian Church were live streamed instead, with creative switches to traditional practices.
“Instead of having actual palm leaves on Sunday, we had a palm leaf coloring sheet to print out and decorate,” Myers said. “They gave us instructions on how to do communion at home.”
Patsy and her friends had an Easter feast with a hint of strawberries. Patsy Newitt, 14 East.
On a lighter note, Patsy Newitt, one of the associate editors here at 14 East and on the Monday newsletter crew, decided to make a roasted chicken this holiday weekend, and accidentally used strawberry cornstarch beverage powder instead of regular cornstarch.
“I was stressed out in the grocery store and my attention to detail was not at its prime,” Newitt said. “The chicken was weird-looking and tasted like strawberries.”
The meal was for Newitt’s roommates and neighbors, who enjoyed the strawberry-spiked meal from six feet away.
A holiday cake, topped with chocolate bunnies. Francesca Mathewes, 14 East.
Francesca Mathewes, 14 East’s community engagement editor, celebrated with her boyfriend’s family by creating an epic cake.
“Celebrating was pretty informal — they didn’t really have the ingredients to throw together a real Seder, but we saw the cake online and were like… this is an excellent idea,” she said.
Normally, Mathewes said, she’d be home with her family in Charleston and attend an Easter service and brunch, though last year she had brunch with a friend’s family in the suburbs.
Just in case you forgot, we stan poetry
It’s April which means it’s still National Poetry Month! For our friends who weren’t with us last week, Patricia Haney, a WRD and English creative writing student, peer tutor and head writing fellow at DePaul’s University Center for Writing-Based Learning (UCWbL), is sending thrice-weekly installments of poems for the month of April.
Last week, she sent the following to her subscribers:
“My Gender is My Race is My Gender” and “Reincarnation” by Alok Said-Menon
“Dinosaurs in the Hood” and “The 17-Year-Old & the Gay Bar” by Danez Smith
“My Lover Is A Woman” by Pat Parker and “To Live in the Borderlands” by Gloria Anzaldúa
What other poems are people reading?
📝Mo is reading “Bees” by Nazim Hikmet
📝Dylan is reading works by Lucille Clifton
📝Maureen is reading “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
Want great poems sent to your inbox every week? Email Patricia at haney.patricia18@gmail.com.
Bored?
Check out the Shedd Aquarium’s live cam of beautiful fish
If you did follow our brilliant recommendation last week to get really into bird watching, you can practice by checking out the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s online bird collection
Dye your hair, overshare on the internet and stare out the window listening to Phoebe Bridgers’ new single
Talking to yourself? So are these YouTubers
Watch Kurtis Conner review TikToks, movies and shows and talk to himself alone in his apartment just like us
Watch Kel Lauren’s relaxing graphic design videos or participate in her quarantine-inspired creative chat for the lonely where she gives feedback on subscribers’ graphic design work
Overwhelmed?
Participate in an online quilting circle with the Quilt app, which connects you to like-minded people online for meaningful conversation
Even if you aren’t planning out every moment of your life, it can be extremely calming to watch someone who is. Watch Elle Fowler’s Glam Planner videos and listen to her chat about what’s going on her life as you watch her aesthetically pleasing organization approach
Pritzker created new Call4Calm mental health resources. Residents can text TALK for English or HABLAR for Spanish to 552-020 and the state will put them in touch with a counselor
Call 312-747-1020 for free teletherapy services at Chicago Department of Public Health Mental Health Centers
Call 833-626-4244 for the NAMI Chicago Helpline or 833-TURN-123 for the Bright Star Community Outreach to speak to a mental health counselor
If it’s late at night: text HELLO to 741741. Crisis Text Line is a 24-hour hotline that serves anyone, in any type of crisis
Want to help?
Donate to or buy a gift card from this list of Chicago restaurants
Here’s Chicago organizer Kelly Hayes’ mutual aid form to sign up to help
Sign up to do senior wellness checks for My Block My Hood My City
Lost your main source of income?
Here’s where to apply for unemployment and here’s how to apply
Need financial assistance?
Need food or supplies?
Text 312-775-2391 or email LakeviewMutualAid@gmail.com for food, prescription pick-ups, caregiving, medical supplies and more – ”prioritizing folks who are sick, disabled, low-income, elderly, undocumented and Black, Indeginous and/or People of Color”
West Town Bakery is offering free meals to restaurant workers
Manny’s Deli in Little Italy is providing free meals to first responders
Need more information on COVID-19?
Here’s a spreadsheet of COVID-19 resources for undocumented individuals, by UndocuScholars
14 East will be back on Thursday with another update. And you’ll hear from the three of us again next Monday. Until then, make yourself a delicious snack, yell from the window, dance alone in your room and plot your next big move.
Wash your hands! Take care of yourself! Let us know your thoughts!
Patsy, Grace and Cam
Associate Editors
We do this because we think it's an important public service. But if you would like to support this work on Venmo @fourteeneastmag, or tell your friends to sign up for this newsletter — it'd be greatly appreciated.