Category: Chicago, Illinois Local News

Have you thought about how you’ll cover the cost of care you may need later in life? If so, you may have considered long-term care insurance. This type of coverage can help pay for the long-term care that most people will need at some point after the age of 65.

But while long-term insurance can help cover the high cost of care, you’ll need to pay premiums in return for your coverage. And, depending on your age and health status, you could pay hundreds of dollars or more each year for a policy with $165,000 in coverage. 

Given the extra costs, you may be wondering whether long-term care insurance is worth it. Here are four times it is. 

Find out more about long-term care insurance coverage today. 

4 times long-term care insurance is worth it

Long-term care insurance premiums can be costly, but there are times when it’s worth the extra expense. These include: 

When you plan to age in place

Most long-term care insurance offers skilled nursing home or assisted living community benefits, but some policies will also offer coverage that allows you to age in place. For example, a long-term care insurance policy may include coverage for: 

Home health aides 

“Most long-term care policies include coverage of home care services,” says Larry Nisenson, CGO at Assured Allies. “This covers the cost of a private home care aid to support policyholders at home.” 

And some types of long-term care insurance policies — like cash benefit policies — may allow you to pay informal caregivers, like your children. 

Pre-claim wellness programs

Insurance providers are increasingly adding “pre-claim wellness programs designed to provide policyholders with support and resources to successfully age independently,” according to Nisenson. 

Home renovations

Certain policies may pay for accessibility-related renovations to your home, like a ramp to your front door or handles in your shower. 

Adult daycare

Some policies will pay for professional services, like adult daycare, should you need extra care during the day.  

Find out how long-term care insurance can benefit you now. 

When you’re on a budget

If you’re on a tight budget, it can make sense to consider a long-term care insurance policy as early as possible. While long-term care insurance can help you cover the future cost of care, the premiums are based on risk. 

As you get older, the higher the odds are that you’ll need long-term care, which leads to higher average costs for this type of coverage. So, if you’re on a budget, try to compare your coverage options as early as possible to keep the costs down. 

When you’re in good health 

Your health plays a significant role in your ability to qualify for long-term care insurance. In turn, it’s typically best to purchase a policy while you’re in good health. 

“I talk to families every week where today our health and life is great, the next day everything has changed and now the families are scrambling to adapt,” says Rhonda Bills, trainer at Certification for Long-Term Care. “The risks compound as we age and we lose our mobility and conditions appear to leave us limited and dependent.”

When you want to protect your estate

The cost of long-term care can pose a significant threat to your estate. After all, the cost of a private room in a nursing home averages over $100,000 per year. Paying out of pocket for those types of expenses could cut into the value of your estate, so a long-term care insurance policy can make sense as a protective measure for your finances. 

Learn how long-term care insurance can help protect your estate today. 

The bottom line

Long-term care insurance can help protect your estate and help you pay for the costs to age in place. However, it’s important to purchase your policy as soon as possible if you want to qualify for affordable coverage. Compare your long-term care insurance options now. 

Joshua Rodriguez

Joshua Rodriguez is a personal finance and investing writer with a passion for his craft. When he’s not working, he enjoys time with his wife, two kids, three dogs and 6 ducks.

Connor Bedard punched the boards, Petr Mrazek yelled at Jaycob Megna and everything else went equally poorly for the Blackhawks in a 5-0 blowout loss to the Avalanche on Thursday.

The Hawks have lost 13 of their last 14 games and 28 of their last 34 games, and have been shut out eight times this season. On Thursday, that shutout came at the hands of Justus Annunen, an obscure backup goalie making just his ninth NHL appearance.

Veterans like Seth Jones have been feeling the psychological weight of the Hawks’ constant failure for some time now, but those feelings of frustration are now starting to spread.

“You try to keep that in check, but let’s be honest: we haven’t won a ton of hockey games,” Jarred Tinordi said.

Added Reese Johnson: “It’s easy to get frustrated and get down on yourself and teammates, but no one is going to change it. We’re the ones on the ice.”

The Avalanche scored twice in a 42-second span early in the second period to blow the game open. The Hawks will face them again in Colorado on Monday, then visit the Coyotes on Tuesday in the final game before next Friday’s trade deadline.

Megna endured a particularly rough night and received Mrazek’s ire after he did nothing to prevent Ross Colton from scoring the first of those two quick goals, but to be fair, no Hawk played particularly well.

Anthony Beauvillier was bodied off the puck too easily on Colorado’s first goal. Taylor Raddysh missed the net on several good chances. Even Bedard was unable to find a goal-scoring touch to finish off some slick moves, and a couple Avalanche slashes on him went uncalled.

“I don’t think we responded well when we got down,” Tinordi said. “We got tentative. We were just watching them make plays, watching them exit the zone. It’s frustrating.”

Reichel finding rhythm

Lukas Reichel has tallied just two assists in four games so far with Rockford, but the IceHogs have at least won three of those four games, allowing Reichel to enjoy some team success that he certainly wasn’t experiencing much with the Hawks.

Coach Luke Richardson said Davidson and Rockford coach Anders Sorensen has passed along positive reports. In Reichel’s first game, he played well in the first period but trailed off, mirroring his inconsistencies with the Hawks. The past few games, however, he kept up a high level throughout.

“He’s back playing, he’s back engaged and he’s doing what he needs to do,” Richardson said. “That’s a good sign, so hopefully that continues and it leads him back to here.”

BATAVIA, Ill. — It’s not a holiday, but Thursday is one of the most unusual days on the calendar: February 29.  

It only comes around once every four years in a calendar corrective known as the Leap Year.

On a recent day, Amber Jirsa, a Batavia High School English teacher, was working on a puzzle with her family. It takes some work to make all the pieces fit.

Jirsa knows that better than most. She was born on a leap day in a leap year.

“I’m a leapling,” Jirsa said, celebrating only the tenth time her actual birthday has appeared on the calendar. “I am 10-years-old slash 40-years-old.”

The chances of being born on leap day are about 1 in 1,461. 

“I don’t meet leap day babies that often, so when I do see another one, you have that bond and that relationship with them right away,” she said.

Which is why it’s even rarer that this Batavia high school teacher shares her birthday with a Batavia high school student.

“I was born on leap day, which comes every four years, so this year it’s my fourth birthday,” said Addie Herman as she anticipated receiving her driver’s license in Feb. 29.  “I’m going to be a 4-year-old on the road.”

Only about 5 million people in a world of more than 8 billion people were born on February 29.

“Five million is still a pretty big number, when you think about it,” Herman said.

Jirsa said she typically celebrates her birthday on Feb. 28 “unless March 1 is on a weekend,” she said.

When she was a child, every four years when Feb. 29 actually occurred, her parents would take her out to dinner in a limousine to make the day more special.

For Herman, birthday cakes usually featured Tigger, the bouncy character from Winnie the Poo, who came to symbolize the leap of her special birthdays.

So, why do we need leap years?

It takes just a little more than 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun.

In 2021, that rotation put us about a quarter of a day ahead of the calendar. In 2022, another trip around the sun put us almost a half a day ahead. The next year, we were nearly three quarters of a day ahead. So, in 2024, we’d be a full day ahead, which is why we add the leap day to correct for that extra time and keep the seasons in synch, according to the Adler Planetarium’s senior director of astronomy, Dr. Geza Gyuk.

“In fact it takes 365 and a quarter day to go completely around the sun,” Gyuk said. “So, if you have a year that’s just 365 days, well, you’re not quite matching and so every four years we have to add an extra day just to even things out.”

WGN’s Mike Lowe: What would happen if we didn’t add that extra day?

Gyuk: Slowly over time, the seasons would shift, compared to the dates.”

So more than 2,000 years ago, under the calendar established by Julius Caesar, the ancient Romans added one day – February 29th – to keep the calendars consistent.

“I think people just felt bad for February that it’s the shortest month, might as well give the extra day to February,” Gyuk said.

Perhaps it’s best to think of it as a gift  – one extra day – every four years, a moment to slow down, appreciate our seasons and look before we leap.

“It’s thanks to leap days that [everybody else] gets their birthday in the same season every year. Thanks to leap days it keeps the harmony for the rest of the calendar,” Jirsa said.

Good afternoon, Chicago.

Sentencing hearings in the “ComEd Four” bribery case involving former House Speaker Michael Madigan will be delayed until after the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on a key federal bribery statute that has put several high-profile public corruption cases in limbo, a judge ruled today.

Prosecutors had argued against the delay, saying defense attorneys were doing a premature victory lap and that there is a public interest in seeing the case through in a timely fashion.

Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.

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Tom Skilling delivers emotional final forecast on WGN-TV

Joined by colleagues past and present, Skilling’s poignant farewell broadcast took over the entire 10 p.m. news, with recollections and video highlights from his nearly half century at the station. Read more here.

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A wildfire scorching the Texas Panhandle has grown to the largest in state history

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LAS VEGAS — The question of whether Illinois is an elite hoops squad might best be solved by the wallet, by those who have purchased a futures ticket on the Illini to either make the Final Four or win it all.

Tyler Wyatt, a professional bettor in Nashville, Tennessee, who runs an extensive operation, constantly monitoring multiple computer and television screens for advantages, believes Illinois could be top of the tree.

At Caesars, he nabbed a 50-to-1 ticket on the Illini to win the national title. Circa Sports had it 27-1, informing Wyatt that he had obtained value.

“I certainly think the Illini have a better than 2% implied chance of winning it all, since 50-1 implies a 1.96% chance,” he said. “Anytime I have a position somewhere and Circa has it in my favor, I’m OK with it.”

On Wednesday, DraftKings had Illinois title odds at 35-1, +800 for the Final Four. The question of being elite, however, is subjective, changing like the wind.

“I don’t know how many ‘elite’ teams there are,” Wyatt said. “I have 20 within two possessions, or six points, of each other on a neutral floor. Almost my entire top 50 power-rated teams are within a single-digit spread of each other.”

DEEP-RUN ODDS

Every Sunday, I update a college hoops notebook with figures and statistics, starting with, atop a fresh page, a group of teams that are among the nation’s top 10% in both defensive and offensive efficiency.

Typically, that’s about a dozen squads. The elite. As a caveat, I underline those that are also among the top 10% in covering the spread. The super elite.

In the ensuing betting week, I heed those particular teams. Often, Illinois is on that list, but it has been underlined only once. Defending champion UConn has been a regular, too, and I invested two title units in the Huskies at 16-1.

On Dec. 19 at the Westgate SuperBook, I got a 40-1 title ticket on the Illini and +950 (bet $100, say, to win $950) on them to make the Final Four.

I am heavy on UConn, and Big East brethren Creighton and Marquette, and Tennessee, too, with Final Four and title tickets.

Cashing in on such positions certainly requires luck, since brackets won’t be released for another two weeks. That’s where enviable odds can create latter-round hedging opportunities, for punters inclined to guarantee profit.

In general, Wyatt avoids tying up capital for months. The NCAA Tournament, though, has irresistible lures. He also has title tickets on Tennessee (32-1), Creighton (30-1) and Kentucky (14-1).

“Obviously, without seeing a bracket, it’s hard to say for sure where [Illinois] should go,” Wyatt said, “but I think this is certainly a team capable of making an Elite Eight run.”

BATTLE-TESTED ILLINI

Illinois, No. 10 on stats guru Ken Pomeroy’s chart of all 362 Division-I programs entering the week, has been cashing for those who favor points, since 15 of 17 games out of the weekend had finished over their totals.

The Illini hadn’t dropped consecutive games, and they’ve played a solid schedule, losing at home to Marquette (71-64), beating Florida Atlantic (98-89) on a neutral floor and losing at Tennessee 86-79.

They earned further points last Saturday by beating Iowa 95-85. Today, Illinois plays at Wisconsin, No. 22 on the KenPom chart.

“For the most part, they’ve avoided no-showing at games this season,” Wyatt said. “The loss to Maryland at home was a tough one, and at Penn State. But we don’t have to look far to see other teams losing those types of games.

“The thing I like best about Illinois is that it’s battle-tested.”

According to KenPom, the Illini feature the nation’s fourth-best adjusted offensive efficiency, at 124.0, and they’re among the top 20% in defensive efficiency.

Their 34.5% touch beyond the arc is above average, but Illinois hits 54.6% of shots inside the arc, a top-10% rate. In offensive rebounding, their 36.3% snatch rate is 18th in the game.

“They rebound the ball extremely well by committee,” Wyatt said. “They’re a decent three-point-shooting team, but they sometimes get ‘three-point-happy.’ I’d like to see them take closer to 20 three-pointers, instead of 24, and look to score more inside.”

SOLID DEFENSE REQUIRED

The two-point threats have been senior swingman Terrence Shannon Jr. (60.3%), senior power forward Quincy Guerrier (56.8%), senior guard Marcus Domask (53.6%) and sophomore small forward Ty Rodgers (52.9%).

Illinois is in the top third of the Big Ten in free-throw shooting, too. And its two-point defense (45.8%) is top-30 in college hoops; beyond the arc, they’re an above-average 32.4%.

“Offensively, there isn’t much to criticize,” Wyatt said. “And they have a go-to guy, in Shannon, when they need someone to make a play. But to make a deep run, they’re going to have to turn up the defense.”

Seventh-year coach Brad Underwood’s side yielded at least 80 points to five of its first six February foes.

And, perhaps oddly, in seven NCAA Tournament appearances, Underwood’s squads (at Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State and Illinois) have never advanced past the second round.

“To make a deep run, Underwood is going to have to get this team back on the same page defensively,” Wyatt said. “They don’t have to be elite because they’re built to outscore most teams. They just have to be solid.”

by: Micah Materre, Photojournalist Mike D’Angelo

Posted: Feb 28, 2024 / 10:24 PM CST

Updated: Feb 28, 2024 / 10:24 PM CST

Some might say that WGN is the house that Tom Skilling built. For decades, he’s been there for you and for us. He’s so much bigger than the station. 

Wednesday was a bittersweet night. But we all know that time brings about a change and it’s time now for Tom to move on to more meteorological adventures.

Tom Skilling’s dedication, honesty, and loyalty are bar none. He’s always the smartest one in the room and yet one of the most self-deprecating people you’ll ever meet. For 45 years, we’ve laughed and cried with Tom.

So, for our one last hurrah, photojournalist Mike D’Angelo and WGN Evening News anchor Micah Materre spent a very cold and wet Saturday with Tom, who talked for hours about the love of his life, his career at WGN and what has been his biggest fear.

NEW YORK — Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has died. He was 76.

Lewis, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.

A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the reliably neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching regularly.

“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

“Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014. The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”

“I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage. To Jimmy Kimmel he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”

Comedians took to social media Wednesday to share their thoughts, including Albert Books who called Lewis “a brilliantly funny man who will missed by all. The world needed him now more than ever” on X, formerly Twitter. Other tributes came from Bette Midler, Michael McKean and Paul Feig, who called Lewis “one of the funniest people on the planet.”

Following his graduation from The Ohio State University in 1969, the New York-born Lewis began a stand-up career, honing his craft on the circuit with other contemporaries also just starting out like Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze and Billy Crystal.

He recalled Rodney Dangerfield hiring him for $75 to fill in at his New York club, Dangerfield’s. “I had a lot of great friends early on who believed in me, and I met pretty iconic people who really helped me, told me to keep working on my material. And I never looked back,” he told The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2010.

Unlike contemporary Robin Williams, Lewis allowed audiences into his world and melancholy, pouring his torment and pain onto the stage. Fans favorably compared him to the ground-breaking comedian Lenny Bruce.

Richard Lewis looks in pain in ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ As it turns out, he is

“I take great pains not to be mean-spirited,” Lewis told The Palm Beach Post in 2007. “I don’t like to take real handicaps that people have to overcome with no hope in sight. I steer clear of that. That’s not funny to me. Tragedy is funny to other humorists, but it’s not to me, unless you can make a point that’s helpful.”

Singer Billy Joel has said he was referring to Lewis when he sang in “My Life” of an old friend who “bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.”

In 1989 at Carnegie Hall, he appeared with six feet of yellow legal sheets filled with material and taped together for a 2½-hour set that led to two standing ovations. The night was “the highlight of my career,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

At 70, comic Richard Lewis makes another comeback

Lewis told GQ his signature look came incidentally, saying his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western “Have Gun – Will Travel,” with a cowboy in all-black, when he was a kid. He also popularized the term “from hell” — as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”

“That just came out of my brain one day and I kept repeating it a lot for some reason. Same thing with the black clothes. I just felt really comfortable from the early ’80s on and I never wore anything else. I never looked back.”

After getting sober from drugs and alcohol in 1994, Lewis put out his 2008 memoir, “The Other Great Depression” — a collection of fearless, essay style riffs on his life — and “Reflections from Hell.”

Lewis was the youngest of three siblings — his brother was older than him by six years, and his sister by nine. His father died young and his mother had emotional problems. “She didn’t get me at all. I owe my career to my mother. I should have given her my agent’s commission,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

“Looking back on it now, as a full-blown, middle-aged, functioning anxiety collector, I can admit without cringing that my parents had their fair share of tremendous qualities, yet, being human much of the day, had more than just a handful of flaws as well,” he wrote in his memoir.

‘Reflections From Hell’: Richard Lewis on how not to live

Lewis quickly found a new family performing at New York’s Improv. “I was 23, and all sorts of people were coming in and out and watching me, like Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner certainly took me under his wing. To drive home to my little dump in New Jersey often knowing that Steve Allen said, ‘You got it,’ that validation kept me going in a big, big way.”

He had a cameo in “Leaving Las Vegas,” which led to his first major dramatic role as Jimmy Epstein, an addict fighting for his life in the indie film, “Drunks.” He played Don Rickles’ son on one season of “Daddy Dearest” and a rabbi on “7th Heaven.”

Lewis’ recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David. Both native Brooklynites — born in the same Brooklyn hospital — they first met and became friends as rivals while attending the same summer camp at age 13. He was cast from the beginning, bickering with David on unpaid bills and common courtesies.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department has issued a business alert after three armed robberies occurred in January on the South Side.

According to the Chicago Police Department, three armed robberies reportedly occurred in the Roseland and West Pullman neighborhoods in January.

The armed robberies occurred at businesses located on the date/times below:

• 200 block of East 103rd Street at 7:41 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 07
• 11600 block of South Halsted Street at 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13
• 100 block of West 111th Street at 8:25 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20

During the incidents, a suspect entered a business, approached employees, displayed a handgun, and demanded money. They then took money from the cash register and from employees before fleeing the scene.

The suspect has been described as a man wearing a black hoodie, black pants, gloves, and a face mask.

No further information has been provided at this time. The investigation is ongoing.

The Chicago Police Department want to remind residents if you are confronted by an assailant to remain calm, remember any unique physical characteristics, never pursue a fleeing assailant, and immediately report the incident.

Anyone with information regarding the incidents are asked to contact the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8273.