Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Monday, February 29, 2016. Happy Leap Day!
- Weather: Another warm and sunny day, but snow is possible later
Monday will start out beautifully, with a high of 51 and sunshine, but there’s snow in the forecast for this evening. On that note, Sunday broke the record high temperature for February 28. When the thermometers hit 62 degrees at O’Hare International Airport around 1 PM, we surpassed the 61 degrees reached in 1895. Enjoy the nice weather while you can! [NBC Chicago] [AccuWeather]
- Possible layoffs looming for Chicago Public Schools teachers
CPS teachers are worried about layoffs as they head into the classroom this week. The district says some layoffs are coming as early as Monday, but no one is sure how many teachers could lose their jobs. [ABC7 Chicago]
- Chicago surpasses 100 homicide benchmark very early into 2016
The fatal shooting of Shari Graham, 30, in Armour Square Friday evening was the 100th homicide of 2016. The city quickly reached 101 homicides on Saturday. The murder rate has been spiking this year—in 2015 Chicago reached 100 homicides by April 16. [Sun-Times]
- Three young Muslim men murdered “execution-style” in Fort Wayne, Indiana
The bizarre shooting deaths in Fort Wayne of three Muslim men from Africa has Indiana law enforcement searching for answers. The victims were found in a “party house” where they had been shot “execution-style.” Investigators said they have no reason to believe it was a hate crime. [Tribune]
- Photos: The first-ever Playboy Club opened 56 years ago today
On Leap Day in 1960, Hugh Hefner opened the first Playboy Club at 116 E. Walton in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Despite an attempt to bring a Playboy Club back to the city around the time NBC’s ill-fated Playboy Club show premiered, there hasn’t been one in Hefner’s hometown since 1986. [DNAinfo Chicago]
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Shari Graham’s first name.