How a pot firm used a shooting victim in a bid for social equity licenses, long COVID’s mysteries and more in your Chicago news roundup

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about an eight-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)

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Top story

How an out-of-state pot firm used a shooting victim in a bid to score social equity licenses in Illinois

As Edna Patterson recovered from being shot a second time, she started searching for a job and came across an offer on Craigslist that sounded too good to be true.

“Interested in a quick $2,000?” read an ad placed by Canna Zoned MLS, a Michigan firm seeking people who meet the social equity criteria for cannabis permits in Illinois and who could be placed on applications.

To earn that initial payment, the ad asked respondents to provide certain private records to prove they qualified: tax and medical documents, pay stubs and a driver’s license, among other things. It promised another $20,000 to anyone awarded one of the permits — without mentioning the 51% stake social equity applicants are required to hold in a company to score a license.

Patterson, 26, who lives on Chicago’s East Side, said she initially “thought it was a scam” when she came across the ad in February. In the end, she said she was lured by the promise of easy money and encouraged to follow through by Amanda Kilroe, an attorney for Canna Zoned.

Patterson sent documents proving she was a victim of gun violence, a new way to earn social equity status in an upcoming licensing round for 55 pot shops. She later received an electronic transfer of $2,000. But she also signed a contract that could potentially make her a front person. She would be listed as a company’s majority owner on an application but would then have to sell her lucrative share for just $1 if a license is awarded, the contract states. When she signed the contract, she said she was just excited to potentially earn the additional $20,000 and get a job at the dispensary.

Told a license could be worth millions of dollars, she said she’s not sure what to think now.

“I don’t so much feel cheated, but I don’t really know,” she said. “... I don’t know how special [a license] is to them, I don’t know how valuable this is.”

She added: “I’m just a name to them.”

Our Tom Schuba and David Struett have more on Canna Zoned’s bid for social equity status.

More news you need

• A veteran Democratic state lawmaker who sponsored major gaming legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives told a federal jury yesterday that former Speaker Michael Madigan once ruled that chamber “through fear and intimidation.” State Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita’s testimony came during the trial of Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty. Our Jon Seidel has more on yesterday’s iteration of the ComEd bribery trial.
• As the city’s longtime chief labor negotiator, attorney Jim Franczek worked for and survived four Chicago mayors. He couldn’t survive the fifth mayor: Lori Lightfoot. Our Fran Spielman’s sources said a vacationing Lightfoot called Franczek yesterday and summarily fired him for doing a lengthy interview on a Sun-Times podcast where he essentially endorsed Paul Vallas over Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff. Neither Franczek nor Mayor Lightfoot commented on the situation.
• Vallas and Johnson offered differing visions on education, public safety and community investment at an event yesterday focusing on issues affecting Black and Latino communities. Our Emmanuel Camarillo has more on how the candidates’ stated their case to be the city’s next mayor.
• The first barricades went up overnight along the Kennedy Expressway, marking the beginning of a three-year reconstruction between the Edens Expressway and Ohio Street. Lane closures are expected to extend from the junction with the Edens Expressway south to Fullerton by tomorrow morning.
• A former Sears site on the West Side will become a Rush University Medical Center for outpatient care, hospital officials announced yesterday. The 60,000-square-foot center will be just within the city limits, at North and Harlem avenues.
• Lollapalooza returns to Grant Park this summer, bringing with it a slate of headliners that includes Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Odesza, Karol G. and Tomorrow X Together. This year’s fest runs Aug. 3-6 and touts more than 170 acts. Presale begins March 23.

COVID-19: Three years later

Doctors in Chicago, elsewhere aim to unravel long COVID’s mysteries, but ‘science takes years’

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Angela Samuel almost died after being infected with COVID-19 in March 2020.

She was in a coma for more than a month and hospitalized almost three months. Twice, her mother, siblings and other relatives were told: You should make funeral arrangements.

“I’m eternally grateful to be here,” says Samuel, 55, of Hyde Park. “When you get a second chance at life, you have to embrace it.”

Despite her comeback, she remained too sick and too weak to go back to her job with the Cook County Department of Revenue until the following year. And she still has shortness of breath and fatigue.

Most people infected with the virus fully recover within four weeks. But some suffer with lingering effects, a phenomenon called long COVID. These are the people Dr. Robert Weinstein is looking for answers to help.

“People who have it can tell you it’s pretty miserable,” says Weinstein, an infectious disease expert at Rush University Medical Center.

So little is still known that the government doesn’t even have a definition of long COVID, calling the symptoms — which include fatigue, shortness of breath, memory problems, muscle aches and a loss of taste or smell — “consequences” of the virus.

Since the earliest days of the pandemic, doctors at Rush — working with researchers at seven other top teaching hospitals across the country — have been trying to uncover the cause and trends of long COVID through multiple government-funded studies, work that holds out a promise of answers, at least, for Samuel and others with long COVID. They expect that it will take years to find many of the answers. A big complication, Weinstein says, is that “long COVID is not a single condition.”

But the work so far has resulted in some insights.

Our Brett Chase has more on the effort to learn more about long COVID.

And, three years ago today, the hustle and bustle that is Chicago went silent. It was the surreal dawn of COVID-19 shutdowns — which many thought would last two or three weeks at the most. It took much longer than that, of course, and three years later, we look back at some of the images from Sun-Times photographers of our quiet city.

Explore the full gallery from those initial shelter-in-place days.

A bright one

Chris ‘Classic’ Inumerable revels in Classic Studios’ journey and Expansion

Chris “Classick” Inumerable is a producer, engineer, manager and studio owner based in Chicago. His enterprise Classick Studios recently announced their expansion into Soundscape Studios.

Inumerable had been interested in purchasing a space to expand Classick Studios, housed in a Ukrainian Village loft space, for the last five years when Michael Kolar, owner of East Garfield-based Soundscape Studios approached him. Inumerable said he thought Kolar was joking at first. But finding the offer was serious, they started the process immediately.

In December 2022, after 26 years of operation, Michael Kolar decided to close Soundscape, and the deal closed to expand Classick Studios in February. This resulted in the opening of “The Compound” in the three-story Soundscape building.

Rakim Winfert for Vocalo

With humble beginnings in his parents’ basement, Classick Studios has grown from a small home recording booth to a custom-built recording facility with a team of 10+, boasting collaborations with dozens of artists including Chance the Rapper, Noname, Jean Deaux, Vic Mensa, SZA, Saba, Taylor Bennett and Jeremih — and the list goes on.

Inumerable even helped engineer SZA’s critically-acclaimed 2017 album Ctrl, but he takes the most pride in fostering a creative environment and working with artists in the community. He notes he’s willing to work within artists’ budgets if he feels connected to the music.

“When I would hear people taking buses and trains, taking the trip to my house… I felt like I made something special,” Inumerable recalled of Classick’s early days. “I created a space to cultivate a sound… or cultivate a community.”

Our colleagues at Vocalo have more with Inumerable and his career.

From the press box

• The Cubs’ big offseason addition, Dansby Swanson, has batted just 2-of-28 this spring. Maddie Lee explains why the team is not worried yet about his slump.
• The Eagles agreed to sign former Bears linebacker Nicholas Morrow to a one-year deal.

Your daily question☕

How has your life changed since the start of the pandemic?

Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What was the last thing you did before Illinois’ enacted the shelter-in-place order?

Here’s what some of you said…

“My boyfriend and I went to Thalia Hall to see Durand Jones and the Indications. There was buzz that the show would be canceled, luckily it wasn’t and we decided to go regardless of risk. This was on a Thursday by Saturday all shows were canceled and Thalia Hall closed indefinitely for the pandemic.” — Amy Gebavi

“Went to the local public library and checked out a mountain of books.” — Paula Risk

“The last public thing I did before the covid lockdown was to go see the Northwestern women’s basketball game at the Welsh-Ryan arena in Evanston. They won the Big Ten championship and the place was electric!” — Jill Twery

“I went to a deserted bar with 3 old friends. In front of us, we each had a beer, a shot, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Our next happy hour was over Zoom.” — Frank Rose

“Shortly before we went into lockdown, I got a rescue dog. He came to Chicago after floods in Alabama. You could say Buddy and I rescued each other.” — Susan Danzig

“Went to see Andrew Bird at Goose Island with my daughter. While waiting to get in, Pritzker announced restricting crowds to 250 people. It was packed, a great night, but I kept trying to count the crowd, just in case.” — Bruce Thomas

“Got married. Three years ago today.” — Anna Carvlin

“Closed on a new house.” — Wendy Gonzales

“Was celebrating my birthday at the ‘Princess Bride’ pop up bar on the Northside.” — Sandra Ivette Berrios

“Returned from a Doctor Who Convention in Los Angeles. Two airports, two airplanes and a several-thousand people gathering. A week later, I had full-blown wild Covid for a week and a relapse a week after recovery. That original Covid was vicious.” — Mary Jane Tala

“I remember it clearly. On my way home from work, I stopped at Aldi for one last grocery — toilet paper — run. The shelves were bare, the lines long. As I assembled my purchases at the bagging counter, a confused elderly woman beside me said, ‘I just don’t get it. I’m here every week at this time. It’s never this crowded, and so many things are gone.’ She had heard absolutely nothing about the pandemic and listened to me with incredulity as I explained the imminent lockdown.” — Renée B.

“Grabbed a second monitor from the office.” — Julien Christopher Smasal

“Went to a Blackhawks game.” — Anthony Murphy

“Celebrated my Grandmother’s 89th birthday.” — Lisa Marie Pierce

“I went to empty O’Hare on Friday the 13th, picked up a $25-a-day Tahoe XL from a very full lot and drove to Villanova near Philadelphia to bring our daughter and all her things home from school.” — Trip Lane

“I helped a bunch of Sunday School kids make Leprechaun traps. And I smoked my last cigarette.” — Bill McCormick

“The last thing my husband and I did was take a trip to New Orleans. We cut short our vacation because we were afraid the airports would close. Also because our cat got sick.” — Barb Natividad

“My son took me out for dinner.” — Lovest McCastle

“Went out to dinner for my daughters birthday at Maple and Ash” — Barbara Wolf

“I went to the grocery store. We had closed on our new condo and were moving in a few days. The movers emailed to say they were allowed to work as an essential service.” — Lydia Tripp

“My chorus had their annual fashion show/luncheon/performance at Drury Lane Oakbrook with 600 people attending, on the first Saturday of March 2020.” — Anita Smolik

“Honestly, I cannot recall. I was one of the “essential workers” who got beat over the head with that phrase throughout the pandemic with no real benefit to myself or my co-workers who had to work through nearly the entire thing. Our factory got 1 week off (us salaried schlubs got to ‘work from home’ so not really off) and then back to it. The constant stress of potentially bringing home the deadly virus on a day to day basis has done a number on myself and my fellow “essential workers,” burn out is really all we got from our sacrifices. The pandemic exposed so much about our society, very little of it good from where I am standing.” — Seth Brecklin

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