CHICAGO — When we're not reporting and writing, we're reading — and we love to share great stories from around the city, around the country and around the web that sparked our interest. Here are some stories DNAinfo Chicago staffers were reading Monday.
How the Uptown Theatre Got its Shape: Tuesday, the iconic Uptown Theatre will officially turn 90 years old. Earlier this month, Chicago Tribune Graphics took us inside the theater and even explained how it got its L-shape: "When Balaban and Katz acquired this property, which had been used as an outdoor beer garden and dance hall by the Green Mill, they were unable to also purchase the building next to it." Uptown reporter Josh McGhee recommends any fans of the neighborhood give it a read, and toast to the landmark's milestone birthday — perhaps with a drink at Green Mill down the street.
Too hot to pack heat? A 45-year-old former Playboy bunny has been denied a request for a gun permit by NYPD in part because of a photo from a 1992 spread where her finger is in the gun's trigger in a "nonsafe" position, the New York Daily News reports. Stephanie Adams, Playboy’s Miss November in 1992, claims she’s been put through the wringer on her request to keep a gun in her apartment. The NYPD also cites Adams' numerous domestic incidents “as both a complainant and a perpetrator" as further reasons to prevent her from packing heat.
What'd He Do to Deserve That? Author Lee Sandlin had an honorary street named after him last weekend in Lincoln Square. If you're not familiar with Sandlin's writing — he spent decades critiquing TV for the Chicago Reader, was a master of the long-form essay and penned a number of critically acclaimed books — it's not too late to play catch up. Many of his best-known works are posted online in their entirety. Click on "Saving His Life" and find yourself drawn into the history of the Russian Revolution, as told via the history of Sandlin's father-in-law.
Locked Up For Being Poor: The author of a New York Times Magazine feature-length article about the ramifications of the bail system put it best: "Bail makes poor people who would otherwise win their cases plead guilty." Adriana's story is especially heartbreaking. She was arrested for leaving her daughter at the shelter to buy diapers at Target. She had no criminal record, but the judge set bail at $1,500, saying she had history with the Administration for Children's Services. But that was because her boyfriend was violent, which is why she was living in a domestic-violence shelter. Since she wasn't able to make bail, she ended up losing her bed at the shelter and her child was shipped off to a foster home. As of press time, she was still fighting to regain custody of her child.
Mental Health Badge Coming to Girl Scout Sashes: All levels of Girl Scouts — Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors — can get a new Mental Health Awareness badge after learning how to build a neuron, mold a brain out of clay, and take a quiz about mental health facts and myths, reports Tribune's Heidi Stevens.
Stevens points out that around this same time last year, the world was reeling from the suicide of Robin Williams. "His death, we told ourselves, would finally shine a light on the importance of mental health awareness. And for a little while it did. Maybe the Girl Scouts can pick up where we left off," Stevens wonders.
Girl Scout's new Mental Health Badge [International Bipolar Foundation]
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