Chicago’s first heat wave of the year: The Rundown
Good afternoon! It’s Monday, and watch out for road closures near Grant Park because of Taste of Chicago. Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. A ‘heat dome’ is expected to bring dangerously high temps to the Chicago area this week
Dangerously high temperatures in the 90s are forecast, with heat indices potentially surpassing 100 degrees from today through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The hottest temperatures are expected Monday through Wednesday, with hot and humid conditions and little to no cooling from Lake Michigan, weather officials said. Storms are possible Thursday and Friday and could bring some relief, but without them, heat indices could climb as high as 105 degrees.
Whether the heat wave extends into July 4 depends on if storms that could cool the area develop Friday, NWS meteorologist Zachary Yack said. “If we don’t get the storms, then there’s a chance it could linger into next weekend. That’s the tricky and hard part to answer right now.”
People planning to be outside should make sure they bring water and wear lighter clothing. Chicagoans should also check on their neighbors and friends, especially those with medical conditions impacted by heat or without access to air conditioning. Well-being checks can be requested by calling 311 or visiting 311.chicago.gov.
Along with designated cooling centers, residents may cool off at any of the Chicago Public Library locations, Chicago Park District fieldhouses, City Colleges of Chicago main campus locations and any of the Chicago Police Department’s 22 district stations, where people may also be connected to a shelter. [Chicago Sun-Times]
As my colleague Stefano Esposito reports, the early focus will be on Jones and his fear-mongering, hate-spewing, supplement-hawking universe.
But that joke has a limited shelf life, said The Onion Executive Editor Jordan LaFlure and Leila Brillson, The Onion’s chief marketing officer.
“As quick as humanly possible, we want to bring independent creators to the fore,” LaFlure said. “Whereas The Onion has long been a commentary on institutional media and a topdown narrative, the InfoWars will be an opportunity for us to rely on individual voices and satirize more modern modes of media.”
Or as Brillson put it: “The fact [is] that you get so much of your news now from folks who have completely unverified sources or zero sources at all and are just speaking into a vertical video — and that’s very funny and very much worth examining and parodying.”
The impetus for this entire venture is to help the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which Jones claimed was a hoax — a lie that led relatives of the victims to sue and ultimately win $1.4 billion in defamation judgments. [Chicago Sun-Times]
3. Some Chicago boaters are calling for stronger rules after a fatal crash they say is too common
A person looking to buy or rent a boat in Illinois doesn’t need a license or safety training, longtime boaters told the Chicago Sun-Times. They say this contributes to boating crashes on Lake Michigan.
Two boats collided last week near Monroe Harbor, killing a 26-year-old. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is leading the investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard and Chicago police.
“Unfortunately, [crashes like that] are par for the course each year,” captain and boat safety expert Brady Ruel said. The number of annual crashes on Lake Michigan hasn’t changed much since Ruel started captaining boats in 1999, he added.
After 26 summers on Lake Michigan, Ruel said inexperienced and untrained boaters are among the biggest safety risks he sees on the water. He recommended taking a boating safety class, learning the rules of the water and remembering to check the forecast before renting or buying a boat. [Chicago Sun-Times]
4. Illinois has seen a dramatic drop in opioid overdose deaths
Over the decades, treatment access has grown and shifted to a less punitive approach through harm reduction and away from complete abstinence. Meanwhile, Narcan, the medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, is widely distributed. Experts say these changes could be behind a sharp decline in opioid-related deaths in Chicago, the state and across the nation, my colleague Elvia Malagón writes.
A new report, “Pain in the Nation: The Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths,” details the drastic decrease in opioid overdose deaths from 2023 to 2024, the most recent available data. Those deaths decreased by 36% in Illinois. Deaths tied to highly potent synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, decreased even more — 38% — across the state. Separately, Cook County and Chicago reported a major drop in opioid-related deaths, plummeting 37% from 2023 to 2024, according to new data from the Cook County Department of Public Health.
Both national categories also saw a 10% decrease in opioid overdose deaths in the previous year, between 2022 to 2023. Opioids can range from prescription opioids like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, part of a separate category considered “extremely potent opioids.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
5. Jools Lebron’s ‘very demure’ fame fueled her addiction. Now she’s rebuilding her brand
The beauty influencer received a Webby Award in 2025 for going viral after popularizing the “very demure, very mindful” catchphrase on TikTok the previous year. In a matter of weeks, she booked campaigns with major brands such as Lyft and Verizon, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and gained celebrity fans, including JLo and Kim Kardashian. By the end of 2024, Dictionary.com had selected “demure” as the word of the year.
But Lebron’s speech (“Very demure. Very successful. Period.”) only told half the story. Privately, the Chicagoan was battling a cocaine addiction fueled by her sudden fame and fortune.
Today, Lebron is sober and working to rebuild not only her life but her career and finances, which were impacted by her substance abuse issues, my colleague Erica Thompson reports. Concerned she has been “dissolved down to a meme,” Lebron is determined to become a force in the beauty industry. But more than that, she wants to inspire others who look up to her as a curvy Black and Puerto Rican trans woman.
“That’s what I want to be known for,” she said. “Divas who might be the bigger girl in the friend group, who might be the trans girl in the friend group, who might be the one who feels like the odd one out, can feel beautiful. They can say, ‘There’s someone that looks like me who is doing it,’ and that’s going to give them every bit of power that they need to continue on.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
Here’s what else is happening
- The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 91-year-old precedent that has prevented presidents from removing members of independent agencies at will. [NPR]
- The high court also allowed states to count ballots that arrive after Election Day. [New York Times]
- In honor of the city’s famous musicians, Chicago’s newest piping plover chicks were named Buddy, Frankie, Mavis and Tweedy. [WTTW]
- Chicago has a new Lake Michigan morning meetup: Frosty Fridays. [Block Club Chicago]
Oh, and one more thing …
South Shore is quintessential Chicago, WBEZ contributor Dennis Rodkin writes. There’s a majestic, treasured piece of architecture and a pretty beach with views of the skyline, the glittering expanse of the lake and a water crib 2.3 miles offshore. And there’s history, from its start as a suburban-style country club through racial change, threats of demolition and its famed use both in the “Blues Brothers” movie and by a young Barack and Michelle Obama for their wedding reception.
What’s now a 65-acre park with all of the above — plus golf, tennis and a verdant nature sanctuary — started as sandy semi-marshland east of the ends of 67th through 71st streets. In 1905, banker and construction executive Lawrence Heyworth hatched the idea of building a country club on the sandy shoreline, a summertime alternative to the Chicago Athletic Club on Michigan Avenue in the Loop.
The South Shore Country Club declined in the middle of the 20th century and was sold to the Chicago Park District. The structure is now known as the South Shore Cultural Center and received an $11.5 million renovation in 1979.
Another threat to the site emerged in 2019, when there was a plan to combine the South Shore and Jackson Park golf courses under the auspices of Tiger Woods. It would have entailed eliminating the nature sanctuary on this property to create a 12th hole with a skyline view. This plan has since faded away after drawing neighbors’ ire. [WBEZ]
Tell me something good …
This week’s weather forecast has me planning trips to the movies. That has me wondering, what are your favorite summer films, whether it’s a big blockbuster or simply set during summertime?
Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.
Discussion in the ATmosphere