Our critic’s review of the Obama Center

Good morning, Chicago. ✶

🔎 Below: After failing to receive a tax break from Illinois lawmakers — who a source says are “calling the Bears’ bluff” — the team says a decision between Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana, will come soon.

🗞️ Plus: A new transit law takes effect, our review and photo tour of the Obama Presidential Center, and more news you need to know.

📝 Keeping score: The White Sox fell to the Twins, 9-6.

📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.

⏱️: An 8-minute read

TODAY’S WEATHER ☀️

Sunny with a high near 75.

TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎

What’s next for the Bears after stadium bill stalls

By Patrick Finley, Fran Spielman, Mitchell Armentrout and Matt Trunfio

Bad news, Bears: At 3:39 a.m. Monday, the Illinois Senate passed a bill that would have allowed municipalities with at least 70,000 residents to create their own financing authorities for a stadium — and eliminate the Bears’ property tax bills. It would have enticed the team to build their domed stadium in their home state. But the House adjourned for the summer without voting on the bill.

Remaining options: The Bears said afterward that they planned to decide between the Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana, sites in late spring or early summer. Any decision will come only after the team’s board of directors meets. A source close to the Bears says the General Assembly is “clearly calling the Bears’ bluff” and daring them to move to Indiana.

Pritzker’s piece: Monday afternoon, Gov. JB Pritzker acknowledged he could end up being the Illinois governor who loses the Bears to Indiana, but it would be a turnover he can live with if it means keeping a fair playing field for taxpayers.

More from Springfield: 

• The legislature’s spring session ended with it signing off on a series of measures setting up protections for LGBTQ+ people, trans foster youth and those seeking abortions — though progressive lawmakers are looking ahead at where gaps may lie in state law.
   
• Lawmakers also sent a bill to Pritzker’s desk barring new immigration detention centers from being placed close to homes, schools, churches and other facilities.

READ MORE

TRANSPORTATION 🚆

New transit law takes effect as CTA, Metra, Pace enter new era

By David Struett

New authority: Goodbye, RTA. Hello, NITA. The retirement of the Regional Transportation Authority began Monday as its board was granted new powers by the landmark Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act. The name change will be visible Sept. 1, when NITA board members are seated

Act I: The first act of the board was to buoy CTA, Metra and Pace with a quarter-percent sales tax increase. The RTA sales tax hike, set for Aug. 1, increases public transit funding by $200 million this year and more than $500 million next year. It applies to the six-county area around Chicago. The funds should save the agencies from potential cuts and enhance bus and rail service.

Changes on deck: More frequent CTA and Pace buses and more Metra trains.

READ MORE

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN 📐

Obama Center and its maligned signature building are worthy of consideration

By Lee Bey

Towering change: Ever since the $850 million Obama Presidential Center began rising out of the historic grounds of Jackson Park, its 225-foot Museum Tower — the campus’ most visible structure — became a riddlesome, what-the-heck-is-this kind of a building. Up close, the tower is quite striking and sculptural — as much a monument as it is a building. And that’s in a good way.

Stepping inside: The center’s architects have created generously sized exhibition spaces dedicated to Barack Obama’s presidency and the times and history that shaped and led to it. There’s a full-size replica of Obama’s Oval Office on the fourth floor and a rich art collection. One of the center’s best moments can be experienced in the expansive Nelson Mandela Sky Room, with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of Chicago’s South Side.

Public portion: The center’s nonticketed public portions are a revelation, with comfortable lounge and cafe spaces in the tower, Forum and library. The Forum, a multifunction building featuring an auditorium, rooms and cafe space, is the tower’s next-door neighbor. The grounds are free, just like a normal park.

In summary: The Obama Center’s tower is far from being a mausoleum. Along with its companion buildings, the plaza and redesigned park space turned a pleasant but quiet corner of Jackson Park into one of the best urban spaces in the city, maybe second only to Millennium Park. 

READ THE FULL CRITIQUE

TAKE A PHOTO TOUR 📸

First look: Sun-Times photojournalist Candace Dane Chambers got an early look inside the Obama Presidential Center, 6001 S. Stony Island Ave., and captured what she saw.

If you go: The center opens June 19, with several activities and events planned for its inaugural weekend, many of which will be free. Though admission for ticketed portions is sold out past October, the complex is open to the public.

FULL GALLERY HERE

MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️

• Homebuyers’ boost: A new city program gives eligible Chicagoans up to $70,000 in financial assistance to buy a new home. To be eligible, applicants’ household annual gross income cannot exceed 150% of the area median income.
• Accused killer found with knife in jail: The family of Sheridan Gorman on Monday demanded that defense attorneys “stop pretending” her alleged killer has the brain development of a child after he was caught with a makeshift knife in jail.
• New cancer treatment: While not yet approved for use, daraxonrasib is the first drug to considerably extend the lives of people with pancreatic cancer, according to a doctor who presented findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s yearly conference at McCormick Place.
• West Suburban Medical Center ruling: Resilience Healthcare CEO Manoj Prasad, the majority owner of the embattled safety-net hospital, can continue to run it, a Cook County judge ruled. 
• Trump Tower nabs first retailer: Seventeen years after its completion, the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s retail space has secured its first tenant, La Grange-based Greek restaurant Prasino.
• El Grito fest returns: The Mexican Independence Day festival will run Sept. 12-13 after canceling last year’s celebrations in response to President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration campaign.
• Dirty soda in Lake View: Johnny’s Dirty Soda is hocking the customized iced drink that mixes soda with flavored creams, syrups or fruit — a well-known beverage in Mormon cultures, which prohibit alcohol or coffee.

WATCH: ‘BROADVIEW 6′ DEFENDANT SPEAKS ▶️

Meet Brian Straw: Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw was among the “Broadview Six” who nearly faced trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, until the high-profile case collapsed amid claims of prosecutorial misconduct.

What he says: In an interview with the Sun-Times, Straw called the experience of being charged and facing a potential trial a “living hell for me and my family.” That includes Straw’s young children, who he said “had nightmares related to this case.”

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE

ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻

In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.

• Regulating AI: Illinois lawmakers have passed landmark legislation regulating artificial intelligence. State Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) and Michael Bennett of University of Illinois Chicago discuss. 
• Butterfly food: A new rule change by City Council could lead to more wild native gardens — and more food for butterflies. Weighing in: Karen Weigert of Loyola University Chicago, Lorraine Kells of the Chicago Community Gardeners Association and Betsy Seff of Red Stem Landscaping. 

Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.

• Is Chicago progressive?: Chicago has long called itself a progressive city. What would make it more progressive? Callers share their opinions.

LISTEN LIVE 🎧
 

CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭

Today’s clue: 2D: Org. that began replacing RTA June 1.

PLAY NOW

PRESS BOX ⚾🏀

• He Getz it: White Sox GM Chris Getz saw success coming even if others didn’t, writes Steve Greenberg.
• ‘It’s everywhere you go’: Trying to stop a slump, the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson says he’s stuck staring at subpar stats.
• Officiating conversations: As the WNBA digests officiating changes, the debate over the right level of physicality persists.

BRIGHT ONE 🔆

Blues fest celebrates 55 years of Alligator Records

By Courtney Kueppers

Bruce Iglauer didn’t intend to spend his whole career running a blues label. In the beginning, he was just a 20-something diehard fan determined to record one album with his favorite artist: Mississippi-born Hound Dog Taylor.

Iglauer was working as a clerk for Chicago’s Delmark Records when he first heard Taylor’s mesmerizing sound at Florence’s Lounge on the South Side. But when Iglauer couldn’t convince his boss to record Taylor, he decided to do it himself.

Fifty-five years later, Iglauer and his scrappy, independent label, Alligator Records, are still at it, having weathered the advent of CDs, online streaming, industry consolidation and, locally, the closure of dozens of blues venues. Through it all, Iglauer has been steadfast in championing blues and trying to keep the genre thriving in a world that’s hyperfocused on pop’s next big thing.

This week, the Chicago Blues Festival will celebrate Alligator’s milestone anniversary with a headlining set Friday night. The lineup includes Alligator artists like Lil’ Ed Williams & The Blues Imperials, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Toronzo Cannon, Nick Moss and Tinsley Ellis.

Ahead of the celebration, WBEZ/Sun-Times visited Iglauer and three of this week’s headliners at the label’s longtime headquarters: A converted three-flat building in Edgewater, where the bedrooms serve as offices and the walls are covered in concert posters and album covers. In Iglauer’s second-floor office, a Grammy, one of three the label has won, acts as a paperweight.

READ MORE

YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️

What’s a song you feel perfectly captures the Chicago Blues sound? Tell us why. 🎶

Reply with your answer (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.

Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
Hat tip: The Sun-Times’ Matt Corradino for “He Getz it,” which you’ll find on the cover of the sports section in today’s print edition, available on newsstands and online here.

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