Case separation Judge grants request to split up attempted Striving for rape, voyeurism charges, LOCAL, PAGE A3 greatness Delivering vaccines Carrothers named Times POY, SPORTS, PAGE C1 Homebound Hoosiers aided, LOCAL, PAGE A3 BREEZY WITH SOME RAIN 58 • 43 FORECAST, A4 | SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 | nwi.com Ford idling Region plant Workers to be laid tered for the week along with Lear, for instance, makes seats continue building high-quality tems. Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant, for the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Avi- vehicles that continue to be in Ford already had to reduce op- o for a week amid Dearborn Truck Plant and Lou- ator and Police Interceptor Util- high demand among our dealers erations to one shift for a week isville Assembly Plant. Ford also ity that are manufactured at the and customers. One of those solu- at the Chicago Assembly Plant global parts shortage plans to shut down the transit side Chicago Assembly Plant. They are tions is sequencing down weeks, earlier this year. The Alliance for of the Kansas City Assembly Plant delivered with no inventories built allowing us to keep building our Automotive Innovation estimates JOSEPH S. PETE and operate the Ohio Assembly up so the supplier’s operations are must-have vehicles for custom- the auto industry in America [email protected], 219-933-3316 Plant at a reduced level because synced with Ford’s. ers when we have adequate parts could end up producing 1 million Ford plans to temporarily shut of parts shortfalls. “The global shortage is a ect- suppliers.” fewer cars this year as a result of down the Chicago Assembly Plant The shutdown will a ect ing all automotive manufacturers The global semiconductor the parts shortages. and lay o workers next week as a thousands of automotive jobs at as well as other industries,” Ford shortage was caused by coronavi- Dearborn-based Ford is can- result of the global semiconductor the Chicago Assembly Plant in Vice President of Manufacturing rus pandemic-related disruptions celing the traditional summer shortage that’s greatly disrupted Hegewisch, the Chicago Stamping and Labor A airs John Savona and natural disasters. It’s particu- shutdowns when maintenance is the automotive industry. Plant in Chicago Heights, and at wrote in a letter to workers. “Our larly dire for automakers because done at the plants and workers go The automotive plant on the suppliers throughout the Region MP&L, purchasing and manufac- cars rely more on computers as on vacation because of the pro- banks of the Calumet River on such as Lear Corp. in Hammond, turing teams have been working they become more technologically duction disruptions. Chicago’s far South Side, just UGN in Valparaiso and Flex-N- tirelessly to fi nd solutions to keep advanced, such as with lane-as- across the state line, will be shut- Gate on the South Side. our plants running so you can sist and collision-avoidance sys- Please see FORD, Page A5 Cops: Man dies after shootout Suspect shot during trac stop by ocer LUCAS GONZALEZ [email protected] 219-933-3250 CALUMET CITY — A man has died after being shot by a police o cer when he allegedly raised a handgun at the o cer during a tra c stop in late March, au- thorities said. Alvin A. Burrage, 26, of Calu- met City, was pronounced dead about 7:19 a.m. Thursday at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Cook County medical examiner records show. MARY FREDA PHOTOS, THE TIMES The manner and primary Lake Central High School seniors Graham Weber, left, Lilah Lopez, center, and Thao Nguyen discuss seroprevalence — the percentage of cause of Burrage’s death was still individuals in a population who have antibodies to a certain disease — in Kendal Smith’s chemistry classroom on Wednesday. The students are pending Friday. conducting coronavirus antibody research. Burrage was shot March 25 af- ter he was stopped by a Calumet City o cer, then got a handgun from his car and began to point Real-life STEM support Please see BURRAGE, Page A5 Local lab steps in to mine the change. Seroprevalence is the percent- Plea oer for enable students to age of individuals in a population who have antibodies to a certain finish COVID study disease. teen accused The fi rst round of antibody MARY FREDA testing, conducted in July, re- [email protected], 219-853-2563 vealed out of more than 750 sta , of murder, rape ST. JOHN — Nearly a year ago, or 60% of Lake Central’s eligible SARAH REESE three Lake Central seniors began employee population, a majority [email protected], 219-933-3351 research to measure the impact of sta tested, had not yet been CROWN POINT — A man of COVID-19 in their commu- exposed to COVID-19. accused of killing a woman and nity. Results have yet to come back raping two others in Hammond Now, Lilah Lopez, Thao from the group’s second round when he was 15 years old has been Nguyen and Graham Weber are of antibody testing, and the o ered a plea agreement calling hoping to draw further con- students hope to know more by for a 65-year clusions about the presence mid-May. sentence, attor- of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in “As time has increased, there’s neys said Friday. teachers and sta within the going to be more people who Omarion E. Lake Central School Corp. have COVID. That’s just how the Wilbourn, 18, With graduation looming, the Graham Weber, a Lake Central High School senior, presents initial nature of it is,” Weber said. has been in cus- students are awaiting results fi ndings from coronavirus antibody research conducted by himself and “We don’t know by how much. tody since 2017 from a second round of coro- seniors Lilah Lopez and Thao Nguyen. We don’t know the trends within on charges al- navirus antibody testing and that. It’s hard for us to really give leging he raped a looking to publish their initial “Our hope is that kids will hear out Alverno, the second round a rough estimate because there’s 14-year-old girl Wilbourn fi ndings. this story and focus on STEM of tests would not have been a chance of someone testing pos- and 25-year-old Roughly 600 school sta were studies and maybe a future in possible. itive, who may have not had it, woman July 16 and Aug. 8, 2017, part of a second round of testing laboratory medicine,” Sierra “This is real valuable science, or vice versa, someone who had respectively, and killed Lucia in February, which almost didn’t Breeden, director of marketing and it really gets valuable when may not test positive.” Gonzalez, a 25-year-old mother, happen, as the group fell short of and customer experience at Al- you start looking at the change Nguyen added the results Aug. 21, 2017, in her home in the raising funds. verno, said in a news release. in seroprevalence that occurs need to accurately represent the 7500 block of Alexander Avenue. Then came Hammond-based Lake Central chemistry because of working at school,” population, and it isn’t as sim- Wilbourn’s attorney, John Alverno Laboratories, which teacher Kendal Smith, who pre- Smith said, noting two data sets, ple as dividing those who tested Maksimovich, asked to continue stepped in and covered the cost viously had the students in his one before teachers return, and of the tests. AP Chemistry class, said with- one after, are needed to deter- Please see STUDY, Page A5 Please see WILBOURN, Page A5 Subscribers: In this rapidly changing news environment, make sure OBITUARIES A6 SPORTS C1 your digital account is activated so you can read the latest local news. HOMES B1 PUZZLES C6 Visit nwi.com/activate to activate your account. TV/PUZZLE B2 COMICS C7 00 1 $3 • D • Vol. 112, No. 250 (USPS 629-960) and Vol. 110, No. 210 (629-960). • A Lee Enterprises Newspaper • Copyright 2021 Follow us online: facebook.com/nwitimes twitter.com/nwi THE TIMES NEWS SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 | A5 Family of boy killed Islamic leaders dispel by cop to view video DON BABWIN The video has been of intense myths about vaccines Associated Press‌ interest in the city, particularly CHICAGO — The family of the after the medical examiner’s of- DAVID SHARP AND MARIAM FAM 13-year-old boy who was fatally fice revealed the age of the person Associated Press‌ shot by a Chicago police officer who was shot. ‌PORTLAND, Maine — Islamic last month will watch the video According to police, officers leaders are using social media, of the shooting next week, the were dispatched to the Little Vil- virtual town halls and face-to-face family’s attorneys said Friday. lage neighborhood on the city’s discussions to spread the word that In a brief statement issued West Side shortly before 3 a.m. it’s acceptable to be vaccinated for shortly after the funeral for after the department’s ShotSpot- the coronavirus during daily fast- Adam Toledo, attorneys Joel ter technology detected the ing that happens during Ramadan, Hirschhorn and Adeena Weiss sound of gunshots. When police the most sacred month of the year Ortiz did not say which day the arrived, Toledo and a 21-year- for Muslims. family would watch the videos or old man ran away. While chasing During the holy month which detail what other materials might the teen, there was an “armed begins next week, Muslims across be made available to them in the confrontation” during which an the world abstain from all food March 29 police shooting.