Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, June 21, 2016.
- Weather: Not as hot
Tuesday will be a nice change, with a high of 82 and a low of 68. It won’t be as humid, and there’s little to no chance of rain. [AccuWeather]
- Park District slams Friends of the Parks’ latest demands for Lucas Museum
The Chicago Park District is not pleased with nonprofit organization Friends of the Parks. FOP recently released a list of demands required for it to agree to the Lucas Museum deal, which the district called the “final nail in the coffin,” “outrageous,” and “nothing short of extortion.” There’s no shortage of bad blood between the two groups: “Your legacy will have been to oppose the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center until community outrage drove you to retreat and now, to fight the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, therefore denying the city, especially its children and residents who most need it, of untold opportunities that this museum would bring,” wrote Park District president Jesse Ruiz. [Sun-Times]
- Tackling the city’s ongoing “homicide crisis”
Chicago’s been plagued by a surge of murders and shootings over the past few months. It’s affected new Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson so heavily that his first two months in the chief role “seems like two years already,” he said addressing a City Club event, “Chicago’s Homicide Crisis.” Johnson said that the current violence is “completely unacceptable” and that the police force is “doing their best” to stop it. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Jesus “Chuy” Garcia heading new Commission on Social Innovation
Former mayoral candidate and Cook County commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia has a new role: chairing the county board’s new Commission on Social Innovation. The new commission is hoping to enlist “businesses with a social purpose” to partner with government and nonprofit organizations to help residents in poverty. Some of the plans include redeveloping abandoned areas, tackling the problem of food deserts, and improving the Port of Chicago. [Forbes]
- 1990s icon Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding is making a triumphant return to Chicago
There’s no doubt that the 1990s are back in fashion, and one of the decade’s most famous plays locally, Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, is returning to Chicago. The interactive productive, which ran for 16 years at Pipers Alley, will be staged in a Lakeview church and at Chicago Theater Works’ nearby venue. Audience members are “guests” at the dramatic wedding ceremony and reception, which includes dinner and champagne. [Sun-Times]
- The 1995-’96 Bulls hold on to their legacy as Golden State Warriors lose
It was one of the hottest debates in the basketball world this year: Who’s the greatest NBA team of all time, the 1995-’96 Chicago Bulls or the 2015-’16 Golden State Warriors? The question was answered for many people Sunday evening, when the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors for the 2016 NBA Championship. “We live on,” Scottie Pippen told ESPN Radio Monday. [ESPN]