Good afternoon! Shout out to the folks who began waiting in line at 1 a.m. to buy Taylor Swift merch at Soldier Field. If you didn’t score a ticket to Swift’s Eras tour, there are other ways you can “shake it all off.” Anyway, here’s what you need to know today.

1. Flaws in Chicago’s 311 help line complicate efforts to house migrants and the homeless

A WBEZ analysis of shelter requests made through the city’s 311 help line shows a system that is overburdened, under-resourced and unreliable, report my colleagues Anna Savchenko and Amy Qin.

The recent influx of asylum-seekers arriving in Chicago has exacerbated the city’s longstanding housing crisis, causing city officials to scramble to find short-term solutions, such as housing people at police stations.

But long before the first bus of migrants arrived in Chicago, the city’s 311 system faced an increase in requests from people who lost their jobs during the pandemic or were removed from their homes after a statewide moratorium on evictions ended.

And as demand for beds steadily increased in recent years, the number of available beds dropped.

“The new arrivals that are coming in, they’re experiencing homelessness just like other folks experiencing traditional homelessness are,” said Douglas Schenkelberg, the executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

“And the fact that we have a system that wasn’t working before we had a growth in new arrivals coming into the city makes it easy to see that this was not going to work well.” [WBEZ]

2. Lightfoot will teach at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot will teach a course that draws heavily on her experiences steering Chicago through the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing equity issues in health care, reports my colleague Lynn Sweet.

The course, tentatively titled “Health Policy and Leadership,” will begin at the end of August.

“We believe our students will benefit from her experiences, insights and knowledge of leadership decision-making,” said Eric Andersen, who heads the Harvard fellowship program that invited Lightfoot to teach at the school.

Lightfoot told the Sun-Times she is working on her syllabus.

“Obviously, I will share specifics about the way we managed the public health crisis, hopefully of a lifetime, but also talk about how we saw this crisis as an opportunity to address some long-standing public health challenges in the city of Chicago,” she said. [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. Another promise not held up after CPS closed 50 schools

Chicago officials closed an astounding 50 schools a decade ago, a move to help close a $1 billion deficit facing the city’s public school system.

WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times have been examining the consequences of this massive wave of closures and whether city officials kept promises they made to a wary public.

One of those promises was that students from shuttered schools would be sent to so-called “welcoming schools,” where they would find new programs and resources to help improve the academic futures of thousands of kids.

These schools got iPads, air conditioners and specialty academic programs. Some schools received new science labs and libraries.

But it turned out to be short-lived, as school officials failed to protect the resources over time. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. tested NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race track

The two-time Daytona 500 champion stopped by Chicago this week and assessed the challenges drivers will face in NASCAR’s first street race, one of the strangest races in the franchise’s history, reports my colleague David Struett.

Drivers will have to navigate the city’s streets just as regular drivers do, taking into account bumps, crests and other imperfections in the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course that winds through and around Grant Park.

“Cracks and imperfections. We call that character in a racetrack,” Earnhardt said. “It challenges drivers because it shakes the car loose from the track.”

He said the most interesting turn will be the half-circle that bends around Ida B. Wells Drive from Michigan Avenue, where drivers will navigate an elevation change.

“It’s going to shake their stomach a little bit,” Earnhardt said. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. It’s Pride Month, and there’s no shortage of events in Chicago

Almost every day in June has at least one Pride Month event in Chicago, judging from a handy calendar created by Block Club Chicago’s Jake Wittich.

And they run the gamut of drag queen cooking classes to zine making to neighborhood street festivals. [Block Club Chicago]

Block Club also zeroes in on 31 parties that sound exciting, from disco dances to a skating party. [Block Club Chicago]

And I had no idea Chicago is home to more than 70 LGBTQ+-owned businesses. And no, they’re not all bars. Some personal favorites are Rogers Park Social, Unabridged Bookstore and the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. [Block Club Chicago]

Here’s what else is happening

• Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to kick off his 2024 presidential campaign next week. [NPR]
• Federal prosecutors reportedly have an audio recording of former President Donald Trump discussing a classified military document he kept after leaving the White House. [AP]
• Here’s a deeper look into how the debt ceiling deal affects student loans. [NPR]
• One of Chicago’s wealthiest people has a plan to get other CEOs to help him fight violence. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

A heads up for parents and superhero fans: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out this week.

And this sequel to 2018’s hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse further proves that Miles Morales is the hero of our times, writes Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper, who gave the movie three out of four stars.

The movie is frequently exhilarating, visually glorious and wickedly clever, but gets dinged by at least two major set pieces that run far too long.

Still, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse really “should be seen with a crowd, on the largest possible screen, with popcorn and jumbo-sized drink in hand,” Roeper writes. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Tell me something good …

Beach weather is here, and I’d like to know what’s your favorite “beach read.”

Shelby writes:

“My beach read of choice is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s beautiful to be surrounded by the sounds of waves and birds and absorb the Indigenous wisdom of nature via audiobook.”

Patricia writes:

“My favorite anytime read is anything by David Sedaris. I also love his audiobooks. I try to see him whenever he comes to town.”

And Elaine Newton writes:

“My beach read is a thoroughly enjoyable novel based on a true story. It is called West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge.

“A Depression Era story about the journey of two Giraffes from Africa and their cross-country travels from New York to the newly founded San Diego Zoo and the young man who helps with the journey. Routes have to be carefully planned to avoid viaducts and also allow them to find appropriate places to stop for the night with tall trees for them to munch on! If you’re looking for a novel to escape into, this is it.”

Feel free to email me, and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.