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an alderman wants to name an island after the pope. ray lopez (15th) brought a resolution to the council this week urging the park district to rename northerly island, the underused lakefront strip that used to be meigs field, before daley bulldozed x's into the runway overnight in 2003. the new name would be “pope leo xiv northerly island,” after the dolton-born pope, and lopez floated using the old terminal to tell his life story, maybe an outdoor mass on the lake. friends of the parks said sure, but a new name won't fix the parts of the island that are actually broken. read more

edgewater is fighting over a historic district again. the commission on chicago landmarks gave the bryn mawr historic district, bryn mawr from broadway to sheridan, a preliminary landmark recommendation back in april, and now the developer planning a roughly 100-unit building on the block says the designation could kill the project. preservation on one side, 100 apartments on the other, one stretch of one street. the final call comes july 9. read more

englewood is doing something with the old leon's bar-b-q. the resident association of greater englewood broke ground during juneteenth week on “the re-up,” a $6.4 million, 14,000-square-foot commercial hub at 59th and racine where leon's used to be. it opens in early 2027 and is supposed to bring about 50 jobs to a corner that's sat empty a long time. read more

naperville approved $1.85 million for a store it's not allowed to name. the council voted 6-2 to add the money to a block 59 deal for a tenant the developer would only describe as “a home goods and furniture-type use” that “asked not to have its name divulged.” they're demolishing 28,000 square feet for it. one councilman voted no and quoted ayn rand on the way out. read more

libertyville booked a band called mellencougar. libertyville days runs june 19 to 21, with a $35 unlimited-ride wristband, a parade grand-marshaled by the two brothers who own the liberty restaurant, a root beer making demonstration, and a sunday set by mellencougar, which is a band that exists. read more

if you've got a teenager, the city is handing out free ymca summer memberships. anyone 12 to 18 gets in free at seven locations, including lake view, mccormick and west garfield park, through the end of august, pools and gyms and courts included. you sign up in person, no advance registration. the move is doing it before august, once the kid has already memorized every inch of your apartment. find a location

eat: m lounge, south loop. the old martini lounge at 1520 s. wabash is reopening this month under new owners, the pangea group, with former bear israel idonije involved. it's the south loop getting one of its cocktail-and-jazz rooms back, run in part by a guy who used to play on the line. read more

do: taste of randolph, west loop. friday through sunday on randolph between peoria and racine, free to walk in, food from the restaurant row spots and music across a few stages. 29th year. it's eating your way down a single block, which is the whole appeal. read more

avoid: grand avenue in river north. it's down to one lane each way between union and kingsbury until early july for bally's casino utility work. the casino isn't open yet and it's already making your commute worse. read more

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1865 fest is in garfield park friday and saturday. noon to eight, free. friday is youth and family day, with food, music and programming for juneteenth. it's the neighborhood version of the holiday, not the one a bank puts its logo on. read more

chicken vesuvio is a chicago dish that doesn't exist in italy. it's named after mount vesuvius, near naples, where nobody eats it, and it was most likely popularized by the vesuvio restaurant on east wacker back in the 1930s. so the most italian-sounding thing on a chicago menu is, functionally, from here. read more

lou mitchell's and the start of route 66. route 66 turns 100 this year, and lou mitchell's, the loop diner that's been the first stop on the mother road since 1923, is right at the start of it. third-generation owner nick thanas is still handing out free doughnut holes and milk duds, and quietly disagreeing with the city about whether the road really begins at his door or at the marker they just put up near navy pier. it's a diner, a centennial, and a small territorial dispute over a highway. read more

an alderman wants to name an island after the pope.
naperville is building a store it can't name.
libertyville has a band called mellencougar.

tips, corrections, your favorite fake-italian chicago dish?

reply with your neighborhood and one thing that made you pause, squint, or text someone “???”

talk tuesday.

-sam