The fire at the former Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., broke out Saturday afternoon, sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky surrounding the closed resort and drawing dozens of onlookers who stood along nearby roads to take in the scene. The fire destroyed the main lobby, Bourbon Street, and the A, B, and E wings of hotel rooms, according to a news release issued Monday afternoon.

The 18-acre resort has been closed since March 2020 after attempts to auction off the property failed.

The adjacent golf course is slated for industrial development. McGrath Honda is redeveloping the Pheasant Run Mega Center adjacent to the resort property. As of yet, there are no proposals to redevelop the resort property.

Get the full report at The Daily Herald.

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“Platforms still haven’t learned the lesson that their obsession with engagement is leading them to recommend wildly unsafe content,” said Laura Edelson, a computer scientist studying misinformation at New York University. “The fact that they still have not fixed this issue after years of very clear evidence that their algorithms are promoting dangerous content is shocking.”

Scant availability of formula has been a problem for months because of supply-chain disruptions that have affected consumers across major industries, from autos to appliances. But after Abbott Laboratories’ nutrition unit recalled some of its products earlier this year, including its top-selling brand Similac, stockpiles were further depleted, leading parents to try anything — driving for hours to stores that might have stock, or bartering in Facebook groups — to get their babies fed. On May 18, President Joe Biden took urgent action to address the crisis, invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production and instructing Defense Department planes to speed formula shipments into the country from overseas.

Parents are turning to the internet for solutions and alternatives, but medical experts agree that homemade versions of baby formula come with serious health risks. “We’ve all seen over the last couple of years that fear and uncertainty create an ideal environment for misinformation to go viral,” Edelson said.

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Both the Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics issued warnings stating that parents shouldn’t make their own infant formula because of the dangers associated with a lack of nutrients in them. In its advisory, the FDA added that it had received reports of hospitalized infants suffering from low calcium from the homemade recipes. On May 16, a doctor at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, said he was treating two young patients—a toddler and a preschooler—because they didn’t have access to the specialty formula they needed.

Both YouTube and TikTok said they removed videos Bloomberg flagged. YouTube said content that “promotes, sells or provides instructions for homemade baby formula” is in violation of its harmful and dangerous content policies. TikTok said it would continue looking for similar problematic content. Twitter, when shown examples by Bloomberg, said they didn’t violate its misinformation policies, which apply to manipulated media, elections, COVID-19 and crises, such as the Buffalo shooting. Twitter said it would re-examine its approach as the public conversation evolves. 

Meta Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it partners with a network of third-party fact checkers who rated claims about the baby formula shortage. Once posts have been fact checked, they appear with warning labels in Facebook’s feed and fewer people see them, a Meta spokesperson said. The company did not respond to questions about its inconsistent labeling on the homemade baby formula posts.

The platforms did host many communities sharing information about where to find baby formula, including crowdsourced maps about which grocery stores had products in stock. Bringing people together to strategize around the problem and get emotional support comes with the tradeoff of making it easy for bad advice to travel, said Melissa Ryan, chief executive officer of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation.

“Parents are using online forums, particularly local groups, to source formula for their babies, and it’s been an amazing resource,” Ryan said. “But misinformation about the shortage is also everywhere. Everything from fake homemade formula recipes to conspiracies about what caused the shortage.”

Ryan said the tech companies could consider solutions like applying more consistent fact-check labels on formula misinformation, or setting up a resource pointing parents to factual information about the formula shortage, the way they have sought to redirect users from potential COVID-19 misinformation with links to reputable sources.

Steven Abrams, a pediatrician at the University of Texas in Austin, said the lack of absorbable nutrients in homemade formula poses a risk of seizures in infants, and inadequate iron risks anemia and developmental delays. Improper preparation is also a danger, he said. “Contamination either in the foods or from the preparation exposes infants to risks of serious bacteria, including salmonella,” Abrams said.

But the warnings didn’t stop social media users from discussing and sharing the unproven recipes online. In the first week of May, there were just a couple hundred posts discussing homemade baby formula on Twitter, according to an analysis by Bloomberg News. The next week, that number jumped to almost 5,000 tweets—a 2,100% increase. “If you are affected by this, don’t panic,” said one tweet. “Millions of us grew up on homemade formula… your baby will be fed and happy and probably have fewer tummy upsets.” 

On Facebook, posts sharing a photo for a 1960s recipe for homemade baby formula as a workaround to the shortage were by far the most viral on the platform. Posts containing the recipe photo were shared in hundreds of Facebook groups with names like “Country Girl’s Dream Spaces” and “Mommy Talk Madness,” generating 95,899 interactions in the past year, according to an analysis on CrowdTangle, a social media web tool owned by Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. Though not everyone in the Facebook groups liked or shared the posts, the DIY recipe may have reached as many as 12.5 million people, the analysis showed.

On some of the posts, Facebook applied a label saying the information listed could mislead people. But on others, including one that collected nearly 1,000 likes and shares, the label wasn’t applied. The company appeared to be labeling posts inconsistently “based on very basic text patterns, such as ‘formula recipe,’” said Edelson, the misinformation researcher.

The recipe was also shared widely on Meta’s Instagram photo-sharing app, generating hundreds of likes and shares. Similar to Facebook, many of the Instagram posts didn’t carry the misleading label.

On Google’s YouTube, dozens of videos sharing DIY baby formula recipes were hosted on the video site and shared across other platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, collecting hundreds of likes and shares. The most popular videos had tens of thousands of views and included ads, appearing after a simple search string—“homemade baby formula”—despite YouTube’s promises that it doesn’t allow or promote content containing health misinformation on search and recommendations on the site. YouTube removed some videos from its site, but only after Bloomberg News reached out.

The same simple search on ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok app brought up just as many results, but the videos were even more viral on the platform. Half a dozen of the most popular search results containing untested formula concoctions saw at least 1.5 million views on the platform, according to a review by Bloomberg News. After Bloomberg reached out for comment, TikTok removed results for “homemade baby formula” and added a notification for users that some of the posts that would have appeared are in violation of community guidelines.

Many of the instructions shared online were based on a homemade recipe from the Weston Price Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that has also advanced false claims about vaccines, cholesterol and COVID-19. “A better, healthier homemade baby formula recipe,” tweeted Darla Shine, the wife of former President Donald Trump’s onetime communications director, attaching a link to the group’s recipe. “Please pass around.” Her tweet collected 150 likes and shares.The link was shared hundreds more times on Twitter, a CrowdTangle analysis showed. On Facebook, the same link was shared hundreds of times, generating 23,600 likes and shares on the platform. It collected 2,400 more interactions on Instagram. Shine did not respond to a request for comment.

Abrams, the pediatrician, said he was “very familiar” with the group’s formulations and considered them “risky.” Others had even stronger views.

“Oh man, these are completely dangerous,” said Mark Corkins, a pediatric gastroenterologist who treated the two young patients hospitalized in Memphis, when asked to review several other recipes that went viral on social media, many of them based on Weston Price’s original recipe. “Two of them start with raw milk. That is unpasteurized. Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization because cow’s milk contained infectious agents that were eliminated by the process.”

“These are not going to be complete nutrition and have a very high risk of exposing your infant to infections you don’t want them to have,” he said.

Sally Fallon Morell, the president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, stood by her advice on raw milk formulas in a phone conversation, claiming “it gives the baby immunity for life against any pathogen in the raw milk.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that raw milk can carry harmful bacteria and other germs that can kill people. In about half of states, the sale of raw milk to consumers is illegal.

For parents looking to help feed their babies, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends checking smaller stores and local pharmacies for baby formula, or looking online for well-recognized distributors for supplies. Pediatricians may also be able to connect low-income families to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s special supplement nutrition program, which provides federal grants for food, including baby formula, to qualified individuals, the group said. 

The formula shortage underscores the issue tech companies have with short-lived surges in misinformation that their artificial intelligence systems aren’t trained to address. Despite Biden’s action, companies are warning that the shortages could affect consumers for months. Shelves were 45% out of stock the week ending May 15, according to Datasembly.

“This is a public health crisis,” said Ryan, the misinformation researcher. “But the tech companies aren’t treating it like one at all.”

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In a statement to rank-and-file members, outgoing president Jesse Sharkey acknowledged the extremely challenging three years for members, who have gone through an 11-day strike, the ongoing pandemic, and “two brutal school reopening campaigns to protect your safety and that of your school communities.”

“This particular election saw competing visions from three slates vying for leadership of our union,” Sharkey said, who acknowledged the heated debates running up to the election. “It is time for us to come together for healing, and the solidarity that anchor our strength.”

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Stacy Davis Gates will replace Sharkey, who announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election. Other officers are Jackson Potter, vice president, Maria Morena, chief financial secretary, and Christel Williams-Hayes, recording secretary. CORE was first elected in 2010.

Gates will lead the union as the district continues to navigate the fallout from the pandemic. The upcoming mayoral election and transition to an elected school board is on the horizon and could see the union leaders exercising their political muscle. 

The period leading to the union election has been tense. Union leadership sued a former advisor to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Lisa Schneider Fabes, arguing that a social media campaign backing Members First amounted to illegal outside meddling.  

During the election, Members First criticized current leadership for overreaching on social issues not directly connected to the classroom instead of staying focused on more traditional concerns such as prep time and compensation. Members First also said the union was too quick to strike in January, pointing to a standoff with the mayor’s office that produced modest changes to safety protocols amid the omicron surge.

REAL also criticized the handling of the strike. They argued that current leadership was  disconnected from rank-and-file members and spent too much money supporting political candidates without giving members a full accounting. 

Throughout the pandemic, CORE leadership has pushed the district to adopt strict safety strategies. A call for an agreement came to a head in January when teachers voted to walk out and teach remotely over safety concerns. The district canceled classes and locked teachers out of remote instruction software during the standoff.

CORE leadership has criticized the district’s proposed budget cuts for the upcoming years, saying Chicago Public Schools should be pouring more resources to schools that are still dealing with pandemic fallout. 

Winners in the election will serve three-year terms that begin July 1 and end June 30, 2025.

Mauricio Peña and Mila Koumpilova write for Crain’s sister publication Chalkbeat Chicago.

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Instead, Plotkin announced Wednesday he’s already winding down Melvin’s portfolio, effectively freeing some 40 employees at the firm from working below the so-called high-water mark that they’d have to crest to resume performance fees.

“Only in hedge-fund-land does someone get paid hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on Jan. 1, incinerate half of clients’ capital a few weeks later, fail to recover over the next year or so, then suddenly shut the doors,” said Andrew Beer, managing member of New York-based Dynamic Beta Investments, a firm that seeks to replicate hedge fund returns. He’s not an investor in Melvin, but echoed the sentiments of some who were.

“There are plenty of hedge fund managers,” he said, “who were paid a lot one year, went through difficult drawdowns then worked for years to claw their way back. Melvin obviously isn’t one of them.”

A spokesperson for Melvin declined to comment. In a letter to clients this week, Plotkin said the past 17 months were “incredibly trying,” and that he appreciated his investors’ trust in him and Melvin.
“I have given everything I could, but more recently that has not been enough to deliver the returns you should expect,” he said. “I now recognize that I need to step away from managing external capital.”

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Melvin gained 51.5% in 2020, its best performance in a string of banner years. That generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the firm and landed Plotkin on Bloomberg’s list of the highest-paid hedge fund managers. He personally earned $846 million that year, more than half of it from performance fees. 

This year the firm couldn’t garner a fee on profits, because there were none. All that remained was a 2% charge on assets, leaving Melvin with just $65 million in the first five months to pay its roughly 40-person staff.

One key investor said that they understood why Plotkin chose to shutter: His strategy worked until it didn’t. The fund was challenged by the confluence of rising inflation, tightening monetary policy and the growth of retail trading. Despite that, they think Plotkin will be back and can again be successful.

Plotkin’s decision follows a rapid descent for the 43-year-old money manager who was long viewed by family offices and endowments as a wunderkind, able to turn rigorous research and intricate financial modeling into reliable gains. After setting out from Steve Cohen’s hedge fund in 2014, Plotkin chalked up an impressive winning streak, posting a 46% gain in his inaugural year. Five years later he bought a piece of the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Hornets.

But the run abruptly ended at the start of last year when legions of amateur investors banded together on forums including Reddit to drive up stocks such as GameStop Corp. and squeeze bearish Wall Street heavyweights like Melvin. 

So began a roller-coaster ride for Melvin’s backers, who watched the fund drop 55% in a single month, recover somewhat to end the year down 39%, and then pile up yet more losses. By the end of April, Melvin was down 23% this year, 10 percentage points worse than the S&P 500. 

Melvin clients, speaking on the condition they not be identified as they wrap up their dealings with the firm, expressed a mix of frustrations over how the past several weeks played out.

Some had fumed over a proposal Plotkin floated last month to reboot the firm by resuming performance fees even though the fund was still in the red. Amid objections, he later withdrew the plan, apologized and had the firm meet with investors to weigh alternatives. (In his apology letter, Plotkin said some clients had shared positive feedback on the initial plan.)

One idea featured a modified high-water mark, in which the firm could charge a significantly reduced performance fee while recouping more than the original amount lost, people with knowledge of the matter said. At least one of them thought that was still a possibility until days ago. But then, several investors said, the conversations tapered off.

After Wednesday’s announcement, multiple investors said they hadn’t spoken to Plotkin in the days leading up to his decision, or since then. Even billionaire backer Ken Griffin — whose Citadel hedge fund, along with Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, had injected capital into Melvin after last year’s short squeeze — said he hadn’t spoken to Plotkin for weeks.

The Melvin founder may have had good reason for his silence: If a fund is liquidating positions, it may not want to let that be known and prompt others to trade against it. When Plotkin told clients on Wednesday that the firm was closing, he said it had already materially reduced its exposure.

“If his heart’s not in it, he did the right thing to return money to investors,” Griffin said on the sidelines of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Market Structure conference. Griffin’s heart was no longer in Melvin either — last year, his hedge fund asked for its money back and recently finished retrieving all of the $2 billion it invested.

Citadel’s decision to pull its cash was partly due to frustration over Melvin’s failure to bring its staff back to the office, according to a person familiar with the matter. Last year, Griffin’s firm asked Melvin to get employees back at their desks — just as Citadel had done. 

In the past year, Point72’s risk team asked Melvin for more visibility into various data, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm’s allocation to Melvin was one drag on 2022 returns, the people said. In March, it began pulling the $750 million it invested last year.

Spokespeople for Citadel and Point72 declined to comment.

The shutdown is still rippling through endowments, family offices and other investment managers behind Melvin, spurring feelings ranging from betrayal to resignation — and even understanding. 

One scoffed at Plotkin’s remark in his letter that “I’ve worked tirelessly.” Another felt that Melvin simply gave up. A third called Plotkin an exceptional money manager, while expressing doubts about his ability to run a business.

Plotkin probably picked the best option when he scrapped the fund, some clients said, as it’s the clearest path to a do-over. If one day he wants to raise money for a new firm, he can do so free of a high-water mark with new backers paying full fees. 

“Set your clocks,” Beer said. “In a few years Melvin will be back, and half the allocators shaking their fists in a rage today will scurry back to invest in the revival story.”

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So far, 2022 is shaping up to be a lousy year for the stock market. With the Dow dropping more than 5,000 points since the start of the year, the S&P 500 nearing a bear market for the first time in two years and the Nasdaq already in a bear market—here’s a list of Chicago’s top 100 publicly traded companies that are still somehow in the green year-to-date, as of Thursday:

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. +15.97 (23.52%)

AbbVie Inc. +16.30 (12.04%)

Allstate Corp. +7.52 (6.36%)

Deere & Co. +14.51 (4.14%)

Exelon Corp. +6.64 (16.31%)

Kraft Heinz Co. +2.42 (6.70%)

Tenneco Inc. +4.42 (37.02%)

Univar Solutions Inc. +0.41 (1.46%)

Packaging Corp. Of America +15.88 (11.80%)

CF Industries Holdings Inc. +29.76 (42.16%)

Ryerson Holding Corp. +1.78 (6.80%)

NiSource Inc. +2.79 (10.14%)

Ventas Inc. +4.16 (8.01%)

Option Health Care Inc. +0.44 (1.55%)

CDK Global Inc. +11.32 (26.47%)

AAR Corp. +5.58 (14.00%)

SunCoke Energy Inc. +1.10 (16.13%)

GATX Corp. +0.64 (0.62%)

RLI Corp. +5.85 (5.23%)

SP Plus Corp. +2.13 (7.32%)

Adtalem Global Education Inc. +1.34 (4.37%)

Huron Consulting Group Inc. +7.20 (14.25%)

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“The past 17 months has been an incredibly trying time for the firm and you, our investors,” founder Gabe Plotkin wrote in a letter seen by Bloomberg. “I have given everything I could, but more recently that has not been enough to deliver the returns you should expect. I now recognize that I need to step away from managing external capital.”

Plotkin started Melvin at the end of 2014 after leaving Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, and posted returns of about 30% a year through 2020. His fortunes turned in January 2021, when a group of retail investors instituted a short squeeze against Melvin’s bearish bets, including GameStop Corp., pushing the hedge fund to a 55% loss.

Even though the firm made money in subsequent months, ending the year down 39%, Plotkin’s rebound was short lived. The firm tumbled more than 23% through April this year. 

A spokesman for the firm declined to comment. 

Plotkin laid out a plan last month to overhaul Melvin by capping the size of the fund at about $5 billion — at the time it was $8.7 billion — and he told investors he wouldn’t allow it to expand above $7 billion until at least June 2027. He also wanted those who chose to stick with him to pay performance fees even though they had taken massive losses and the fund was deeply in the red.

 

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The proposal would have enabled Plotkin to pay his 30 investment professionals without having to come up with the capital himself. It was quickly shot down with some investors furious, prompting Plotkin to offer an apology. 

“I am sorry. I got this one wrong. I made a mistake. I apologize,” Plotkin wrote in a note to clients in late April. “In hindsight and despite our intentions, we recognize now that we focused on future returns and team continuity without sufficient consideration of your investment losses.”

It’s a huge comedown for someone who was a superstar in the hedge fund world and who had the confidence of Cohen.

He joined, what was then called SAC, in 2006 where he invested in mostly consumer stocks, ultimately running more than $1 billion. Cohen described Plotkin as an “exceptional investor” and then backed him when he started his own firm in 2014, with Point72 Asset Management investing about $200 million. 

Melvin, named after Plotkin’s late grandfather, performed exceptionally, gaining 46% in 2015 and 51% in 2020.  His gains were fueled by bearish wagers, but these ultimately helped destroy the firm.

Plotkin became the target of a retail trading army in 2021 that used Reddit to bid up stocks, specifically GameStop, a struggling bricks-and-mortar retailer, which was one of Melvin’s bearish bets. 

When the stock took off– along with other shares Melvin was shorting — it erased about $7 billion of the hedge fund’s capital in January 2021, a path it never recovered from.

In January, Ken Griffin’s Citadel pulled back most of its $2 billion investment in Melvin Capital Management.

Citadel funds and firm partners asked for $500 million back after redeeming $1 billion in 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Chicago-based Citadel first invested in Melvin in January 2021 when Melvin’s short wagers were under attack from those Reddit-inspired retail traders. Melvin sank nearly 55% that month alone. Point72 also invested $750 million at that time. In exchange, the investors received a non-controlling revenue share in the hedge fund. 

 

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On Saturday afternoon, family and friends that included world leaders gathered under a large tent in Big Rock to pay tribute to a man whose impact was truly felt on a global scale.

And, had he been given more than his 75 years on this Earth, Joe Ritchie most likely would have left a similar imprint in Aurora.

Ritchie, who made his millions investing in options and commodities but made his mission investing in people, was described as an “electronics trading pioneer” in a Crain’s Chicago Business story about his Feb. 22 death.

But the words that best describe the true worth of Ritchie’s extraordinary life were spoken at this Big Rock memorial service, where the self-made multi-millionaire whose every step was guided by his Christian faith was eulogized not only by some of his 10 children but also by top officials who flew in from Rwanda, Afghanistan and Malawi, as well as evangelical megastar Rick Warren, best-selling author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” who became involved in humanitarian efforts in Africa through his friendship with Ritchie, a devout Catholic.

I was not able to attend this service in person as I was celebrating faith-driven milestones in my own family: the First Communions of two beautiful granddaughters. But the following day I watched the entire memorial online and I can’t adequately describe how awed and inspired I was by a legacy that even those making the biggest headlines today could only dream of attaining.

That’s because Ritchie, who resided in Big Rock most of his adult life – he and wife Sharon moved to West Chicago a few years ago but still own many properties in this rural Kane County community – combined his professional talents and influence with his faith-fueled desire to make this world a better place, not just by walking the walk but by building paths so others could follow in his footsteps.

It would be impossible to list the accomplishments of this man who drove a bus to get through Wheaton College, then became a computer programmer, Cook County jail guard and patrolman before getting into trading. But here is my attempt to at least summarize a few:

After making a fortune on the Chicago Board of Trade, Ritchie’s business projects took him to Japan and to the Soviet Union where, even before the Cold War ended, he spearheaded the first American-Soviet joint venture.

After witnessing children dying without medicine in Iraqi hospitals, he convinced the U.S. government to give faith leaders a voice in the lifting of sanctions.

Longtime Big Rock resident Joe Ritchie, who died in February, was awarded the National Order of Outstanding Friendship, the country’s highest honor, by Rwandan President Paul Kagame for his work in that nation that began in 2003.
(Huntley Brown / HANDOUT)

After falling in love with Afghanistan as a child when his father taught civil engineering there, he and brother James “went into a vacuum left by the U.S. government” before 9/11, according to a 2001 New York Times story, to help free citizens from Taliban rule, a long-term commitment that most recently involved the evacuation of nearly 200 female students to Rwanda, another country that has benefitted from this man’s brilliance and compassion.

As an investor in private enterprises in that African nation ravaged by genocide, Ritchie partnered with President Paul Kagame to launch the Rwandan Development Board and Presidential Advisory Council, all of which earned him citizenship and the country’s highest honor from Kagame, who spoke remotely at Saturday’s Big Rock service.

Ritchie performed similar economic miracles in Malawi, according to his obituary, working with its past and current presidents, and also partnered with leaders in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guatemala, among others.

In addition, he invested in worldwide initiatives that focused on children, including HOSTS (Help One Student to Succeed), World Without Orphans and America’s Kids Belong, with the idea that when churches, government and business work together, far more can be accomplished.

As his obit noted, at the heart of each of Ritchie’s adventures was an “exceptional leader who compelled Joe to participate.”

Which is what brought this world-changer – who knew Pope Francis and considered former President Jimmy Carter and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair as personal friends – to a series of breakfast meetings in Aurora last fall that included Police Chief Keith Cross.

This small group met to discuss the possibility of creating a sports-focused transformation program in the city that would bring business, police and church leaders together in addressing issues specific to Aurora’s youth. According to the Rev. Huntley Brown, who attended the meeting and considered Ritchie a mentor and close friend, “in the 30 years I’ve known Joe I only saw him cry twice, once when his (19-year-old ) daughter died and the other time when he heard the chief’s story.”

Turns out that Cross, who as a police officer for nearly three decades is a good judge of character himself, was skeptical of Ritchie in that first encounter. He knew little about the man and his agenda beforehand, Cross admitted, and even left that initial meeting “a little confused because Ritchie spoke so little about himself,” choosing instead to listen to what the police chief had to say.

As Cross, who grew up in Aurora and saw the struggles of some classmates who took the wrong path in life, found out later, “he was sizing me up the same way I was checking him out.”

Later, after doing his research on Ritchie, Cross was “astonished to learn who Joe was and what he had accomplished on a global scale” and that “this humble man wanted to help our community.” (An avid pilot, Ritchie holds a couple of transcontinental speed records and was the mission control director for balloonist Steve Fossett’s around-the-world efforts).

After that second sit-down, Cross “was really looking forward to working with Joe.” Unfortunately, by the time a third meeting came around in December, Ritchie was too ill to attend.

Giving to others “is not more noble but more pleasurable,” Ritchie said in a memorial video, insisting that being able to “hang out with those better than me” not only creates “lucky opportunities” but are “gifts to do something no one else has a chance to do.”

When it came to his many business and non-profit ventures over the decades, he also maintained that “if I can get the structure in place, it can go on without me.”

Unfortunately, Joe Ritchie never got that chance in Aurora.

“I’m not sure at this point what is going to happen to the program he wanted to bring here,” said the chief, adding that “I wish I would have had a chance to spend more time” with this man.

“Joe dedicated his life to helping people, and in doing so he has changed the lives of thousands of people around the world,” said Cross. “He may not have been that known in this community before his death, but he certainly deserves to be known now.”

dcrosby@tribpub.com

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The company said it would first begin production of EleCare, Alimentum and metabolic formulas and then resume making Similac and other formulas. From the time the plant is reopened, it will take six to eight weeks for product to become available in stores, Abbott said.

A nationwide shortage of formula was exacerbated when Abbott recalled top-selling brands in February and shuttered the Sturgis plant after four infants became ill with a rare bacterial infection, including two who died. Federal inspectors spotted the potential for formula made at the plant to become contaminated during an inspection in September.

Abbott has said its formula isn’t to blame for the illnesses, and the company said Monday that regulators found “no conclusive evidence” of a link during their investigation.

The company said it has been working to implement improvements and corrective actions at the facility, including better education, training and safety procedures as well as updated protocols for water, cleaning and maintenance. 

The White House has come under fire from Republican lawmakers — and some Democrats — for the formula shortage. Biden administration officials are working to provide government transportation and logistics to support manufacturers.

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“We further request that you continue these commitments until Abbott’s formula supply meets demand across the country,” Vilsack wrote in a letter to Abbott CEO Robert Ford that was released by the White House. “I believe Abbott must take these additional actions to support vulnerable WIC families during this challenging time.”

The letter suggested administration frustration with a shortage that became acute after Abbott recalled several brands of its formulas earlier this year. The shortage has led to frantic parents hoarding formula and scouring store shelves to feed their children, posing yet another political headache for the White House.

“Going forward, Abbott must take every measure possible to ensure safe production of infant formula as well as a reliable supply, even in the face of disruption,” Vilsack told Ford.

Abbott said in a statement Friday that it’s been focusing on production from a facility in Cootehill, Ireland, to serve state WIC programs. The company has also prioritized formula production at its facility in Columbus, Ohio, to make the popular Similac brand of liquid formula, and other plants are running at full capacity to help replenish supply, it said in its statement.

Vilsack also sent a letter to all 50 states “urging them to adopt all possible flexibilities” to obtain needed formula supplies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. She rejected a reporter’s suggestion that the White House had waited until this week to respond to a shortage that’s been intensifying for months.

“We have not waited to take action,” she said, describing steps the administration took with states and manufacturers to try to increase supply.

The Food and Drug Administration next week will outline plans for increasing formula imports and other “flexibilities” for domestic producers to boost supplies, Commissioner Robert Califf tweeted. 

The White House has come under fire from Republicans—and some Democrats—for the formula shortage. Biden spoke with formula manufacturers and retailers on Thursday to discuss ways to increase supplies. 

Abbott issued the recall after reports that four infants had been sickened and two died of a rare bacterial infection after eating formula from an Abbott factory in Michigan. Federal inspectors had noted the potential for formula from the factory to be contaminated by cronobacter during a routine inspection of the plant in September.

FDA inspectors didn’t return to the factory until January. Abbott issued the recall during the inspection and then shut down production.

The company said in a statement that its formula wasn’t to blame for the infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it has closed its investigation of cronobacter and powdered formula, and that no additional cases have been identified. 

“There is not enough information available to definitively link this illness to the recalled infant formula,” the agency said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that the chamber will vote next week on two measures aimed at getting more baby formula on shelves. 

One would grant emergency authority for the WIC program that would allow relaxing certain non-safety regulations around baby formula. 

“Doing so will empower the federal government to relax certain non-safety-related regulations during times of shortage so that we can get nutrition into the mouths of America’s babies,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats.

The House also is expected to vote on emergency funding to help end the shortage.

Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro began an inquiry last month into the the recall of formula produced at the Abbott facility and how the FDA handled it. The committee announced this week two hearings on the matter later this month. The Energy and Commerce Committee also scheduled a hearing.

On Friday, the Oversight and Reform Committee sent letters to executives at Abbott, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle USA and Perrigo Company asking them what steps they are taking to address the formula shortage.

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Businesses face many obstacles when seeking reliable transportation for their key personnel and clients.

While ride-hailing applications such as Uber may be adequate for private commuters, they can fall short of the service quality required by business travelers. With transport being such a vital factor in smooth business operations, dependable transportation can be the difference between closing a deal and losing a client.

Common Transport Problems

One of the major problems faced by business commuters is the lack of punctuality. When you arrive at the airport, the last thing you want to do is wait in line with hundreds of other travelers for a hire car. And even if you do skip the line and hire a car via a ride-hail service, the driver could be anywhere from five to fifteen minutes away. Not to mention the fact that there is a possibility that the driver will cancel the ride at the last minute.

The fact is that most taxi and independent drivers are simply not professional enough for business commuters. Aside from their questionable punctuality, regular drivers do not have to adhere to a high standard of vehicle cleanliness and personal grooming. Therefore, the comfort of your ride can vary widely. Business travelers may find themselves in the awful predicament of being stuck in a car that smells of sweat or cigarette smoke.

Another issue commonly experienced when taking meter taxis is that drivers may take longer routes to accumulate a higher fare. Likewise, independent drivers from ride-hail services may take less efficient routes due to a lack of familiarity with certain areas of the city and prevailing road conditions. While this may only be a minor inconvenience for a private commuter, the loss of time can be critical for a business traveler.

Cost-efficiency is an additional concern when it comes to choosing a transport option. When you use a taxi or ride-hail service, you have to book each leg of a trip separately. You will not only have a different driver and car each time, but the segmented trip can end up costing more. If a businessperson has to travel to several places in a day, handling each transportation requirement as a separate event is simply inefficient.

Making First Impressions Count

Business is all about competence and professionalism. Arriving at a business meeting in a limousine will imbue a businessperson with a certain level of class and authority. If a company cannot even organize proper transport for their key personnel, what does it say about them? On the other hand, a business that invests in high-end transport shows its clients and competitors that they are serious about performance and growth.

There is no better way to impress a client flying into your city than to pick them up in a limousine. If you are unable to meet your guest in person, a professional chauffeur is the next best option. Business guests can relax in a comfortable and quiet environment during the airport transfer and, in turn, be more attentive and receptive during discussions. It also shows them that your business is interested in building a lasting relationship.

Limousines can also be settings in which business deals are negotiated. As limousine chauffeurs are specifically trained to provide the utmost privacy to their guests, you can continue confidential discussions with your clients outside of the conference room. The intimate setting of a luxury car is often more disarming than a meeting room and more conducive to closing that million-dollar deal your business has been working on.

Luxury Private Hires Are The Solution

Whether you are traveling within the city for business meetings or taking a trip through O’Hare or Midway, top Chicago businesses need dependable luxury transportation. For businesses looking for airport limo service Chicago, Chief Chicago Limo is an established limousine company founded by a former professional limousine chauffeur. By hiring a reputable business transport provider, your key personnel never have to worry about being late again.

Chief Chicago’s vehicles are more than just the stretch limousines that are glamorized on television. Their business limousines are all about muted luxury. Like a tailored suit, they enhance your professionalism. Business limousines are elegant and tasteful vehicles that provide the utmost comfort and space without being over the top. Chief Chicago’s fleet is black with a matching black leather interior and dark, tinted windows.

Agility is key in the modern marketplace, and a business should not waste time on inefficient processes. While it is impossible to streamline your business processes overnight, removing unnecessary obstacles in your transportation strategy is a good place to start. Chief Chicago Limo prides itself on its quick online reservations process—a gamechanger for the old-fashioned limousine industry.

Transport is an important factor in any business. High-end transportation allows business people to travel in comfort, appear more professional, and make better first impressions. With its easy reservation process and quality service, Chief Chicago Limo can help businesses overcome the hassle of transportation and achieve success. For more about business limousine services, visit their website.

About Chief Chicago Limo

You Book, We drive. As long as the trip starts or ends in Chicago, at O’hare or Midway airports, we will drive thousands of miles for you.

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