Good afternoon! Sassy, our new dog, is adjusting well and getting along with Princess Leia, our first dog. They’re both sleeping in the sun near each other. Anyway, here’s what you need to know today.

1. A Humboldt Park man seen with a gun atop a building, sparking a 12-hour standoff with police, had a history with authorities

Neighbors say police and local officials had long been warned about a man at the center of a standoff on Friday, saying his history of erratic behavior should have been taken more seriously.

The man, who has not been identified by authorities, was the subject of more than 40 calls for service since January 2022, a Police Department source told my colleague Tom Schuba.

Neighbors say they followed the advice officials usually give to prevent mass shootings, notifying authorities when the man was believed to be armed and acting strangely.

The man was known to sit on top of a makeshift platform atop a building, where an illuminated board displayed a swastika. One neighbor said several previous complaints resulted in police closing off a nearby street, including one time when someone reported seeing the man with a flamethrower.

Farrah Walker, a member of the West Humboldt Park Community Coalition, said her group notified city and state leaders about the man, but she said “nothing had been resolved in a year of this going on.”

A SWAT team found the man dead after the standoff on Friday. His death was ruled a suicide. [Chicago Sun-Times]

2. A former Chicago Park District official accused of mishandling allegations of abuse from lifeguards is still getting paid with taxpayer dollars

Four members of the City Council have paid more than $48,000 from their taxpayer-funded expense accounts to a consulting firm owned by the former Park District official, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Alonzo Williams resigned as the Park District’s chief programs officer in late 2021 after he was accused by investigators of mishandling allegations of abuse and harassment within the lifeground program. His name has also been placed on the district’s “do not hire” list.

The payments — from former Ald. Roderick Sawyer and current alderpeople Michelle Harris, David Moore and Jason Ervin — highlight a “loophole that allows those who have been removed or asked to resign from government jobs to almost immediately start consulting firms and begin receiving taxpayer dollars once again,” the Tribune reports.

In a statement, Williams accused the Park District of acting “beyond its lawful scope to defame my reputation and hinder my prospects to gainful employment.” [Chicago Tribune]

3. NASCAR drivers size up Chicago’s street race course

We’ve heard the wide-ranging opinions from Chicago residents on the street race taking place downtown on July 1 and 2. But how are NASCAR drivers feeling?

“I think we’re all excited and we’re all really nervous at the same time,” reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steve Greenberg.

“Racing through the city streets, very narrow, I honestly don’t know how it’s all going to work out,” said driver Bubba Wallace. “I think there are a lot of us that are skeptical in the field.”

Among the challenges for drivers are “a hard-to-imagine seven 90-degree turns on the course, leading in some cases — the drivers guarantee it — to crashes as bunched-up cars try but fail to pass others cleanly,” Greenberg writes.

He also says “the narrowness of certain streets on the course — Balbo, to name one — will pose an uncommon, potentially gnarly challenge, as could the varying surfaces from street to street.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. A 46-foot long ‘river monster’ is on display at the Field Museum

It’s not actually a monster, per se, but the skeleton of a semiaquatic dinosaur known as a Spinosaurus.

It was unveiled on Friday at the museum, which is the only place in the Western Hemisphere to see the world’s “largest predatory dinosaur.”

But the museum ran into a little problem. One of the dinosaur’s 2-foot-long tail bones snapped, reports my colleague Stefano Esposito.

The team that constructed the Spinosaurus cast on a 3D printer in Italy was on hand, they quickly grabbed some powdered glue. They mixed the glue with the only liquid on hand, Italian espresso.

“It was quite funny to see a team of Italians use Italian coffee to put together a skeleton,” said Matteo Fabbri, himself a native Italian and a Field scientist who helped dig up the specimen’s original fossils in the Sahara Desert. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. Apple unveils a mixed-reality headset

The tech giant today kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, and it announced a sleek new headset that combines virtual reality and the real world, which is known in the industry as “mixed reality,” reports The Associated Press.

The headset, called Vision Pro, will cost $3,500 when it hits stores early next year, the AP reports.

Apple’s jump into headsets comes as other companies, like Facebook, have increasingly been turning to virtual, augmented and mixed reality as their next big thing.

But the public’s response has been “decidedly ho-hum so far,” the AP reports.

“Some of the gadgets deploying the technology have even been derisively mocked, with the most notable example being Google’s internet-connected glasses released more than a decade ago.” [AP]

Here’s what else is happening

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump visited the Justice Department as an investigation into classified documents nears an end. [Washington Post]

U.S. officials say Ukraine may be carrying out a counteroffensive against Russia. [New York Times]

An investigation is underway into a private jet that crashed in Virginia and prompted the military to scramble fighter jets. [AP]

The Addams Family was the most popular musical performed in high schools this academic year. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Still thinking about the finale of Succession?

Show creator Jesse Armstrong was on Fresh Air today and discussed the fates of Kendall, Shiv and Roman along with everything else you might want to know about Succession’s ending.

I won’t spoil anything for folks who haven’t watched the show or are just starting, but it’s a really good interview that answers some lingering questions. [NPR]

Tell me something good …

This weekend I went to the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, also known as CAKE, which features a lot of independent artists and publishers. And it got me thinking, what is a summertime event in Chicago that you look forward to each year?

CAKE is definitely one of mine. I bought my husband two handmade pins from artist Christina Seo that separately feature Legolas and Frodo with glittery backgrounds.

And I also look forward to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in nearby Kenosha, Wis. Last year I dressed up as an inebriated wizard.

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