Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, July 12, 2016.
- Weather: Hot and humid again with a chance of a thunderstorm late
The heat and humidity will continue Tuesday with a high of 88 and a low of 73. [AccuWeather]
- Downtown experiencing a sharp spike in murders, shootings, and robberies
Downtown neighborhoods are generally considered to be the some of the safest in the city, but the area has not been spared from the 2016 crime surge. There have already been eight murders downtown so far this year, compared to only three murders in all of 2015. The most high-profile homicide was the death of Marques Gaines in River North in February, which was captured by surveillance video. Shootings and robberies have also risen sharply, leaving residents and workers worried about their safety. “We’ve all been threatened in our neighborhood,” Carrie Nahabedian, the award-winning chef and owner of restaurants Naha and Brindille in River North, told DNAinfo Chicago. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Chicago loses out on direct flights to Cuba
Chicagoans interested in traveling to Cuba won’t be able to fly there directly from O’Hare International Airport. The only cities to get direct flights to Havana are New York City, Charlotte, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, and Newark. Travelers aren’t entirely out of luck though: Frontier Airlines will be flying directly from O’Hare to two smaller Cuban cities, Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba. [Barron’s]
- Entrepreneur behind Bow Truss coffee has reportedly made a lot of enemies
Phil Tadros is best known for his boutique coffee chain Bow Truss; the “serial entrepreneur” is also the man behind brewery Aquanaut, restaurant Budlong, and design agency Doejo. Despite the impressive resume, Tadros “has left in his wake at least 15 lawsuits, plus failed businesses, unhappy clients and vendors, and angry investors,” according to Crain’s. [Crain’s Chicago Business]
- All Chicago police disciplinary records from 1967 to the present will be made public
An appellate court has ruled that the city must make all police disciplinary records from 1967 to the present day public. The Sun-Times, Tribune, and independent journalist Jamie Kalven requested the files from the city after Kalven successfully sued them for the disciplinary records dating from 2011-2015. “The court has confirmed that citizens have a right to know about police abuse, past and present,” he said in a statement. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Adele entertains Chicago fans with her amazing voice and lots of chatting
Fans lucky enough to scored a coveted seat at one of Adele’s three United Center concerts are being treated—not only to her incredible singing voice but a lot of banter. During the first concert Sunday evening, she discussed Chicago restaurants, her mom, and other personal topics for so long that the concert ran about 20 minutes over. [Yahoo! News]