1805 N. Milwaukee To glimpse the Bloomingdale Trail today, it seems inconceivable that the former rail line was once scheduled to open as a recreation destination in the fall. (Last week the opening was pushed to the middle of next year.) The future elevated park currently looks like little more than dirt and rebar. Most of it, anyway. A small sample of the potential of the so-called 606 project can be found in Bucktown, where late last summer one of the trail’s five access parks opened....

200 S. Halsted 312-782-9855 greekislands.net Runner-Up Athenian Room

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Clear Channel Ariana Grande Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us. • About whether the almighty American Israel Public Affairs Committee is losing influence? —Steve Bogira • About the strange case of Ariana Grande? —Drew Hunt

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Wednesday, June 21, 2017. CPS borrows $275 million at 6.39 percent interest rate in order to make pension payments Chicago Public Schools is set to borrow $275 million from J.P. Morgan at a “sky-high” interest rate of 6.39 percent in order to make a mandatory pension payment by June 30, according to the Sun-Times. The interest rate is “more than four times the interest rate a typical government would pay on the same borrowing deal,” according to experts....

2521 N. Milwaukee 773-235-5300 owlbarchicago.com Runners-Up The Continental Alice’s

Second Shift 3432 W. Diversey Runner-Up Chicago Literacy Alliance Literacenter

Art Institute of Chicago 111 S. Michigan 312-443-3600 artic.edu Runner-Up “Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine”

1035 N. Western 773-276-3600 emptybottle.com Runner-Up Reggie’s Rock Club

The Inspector and the Prince In the past year, the University of Chicago Film Studies Center has played host to many of the city’s finest film revivals and film-related events. This week brings two more great programs to the center—admission is free for both. On Thursday at 7 PM Three Women (1924), one of director Ernst Lubitsch’s first Hollywood productions, will screen from a rare 35-millimeter print. (U. of C....

17551 Frazier, Sandwich 630-882-8008 montalbanofarms.com Runner-Up Nichols Farm & Orchard

wbez.org Runner-Up WXRT (93.1 FM)

Cash King 2853 W. Belmont

The Chicago theater community will come together Saturday for the first Chicago Theater Memorial Bike Ride to commemorate actors, playwrights, critics, and other colleagues who have recently passed. The ride’s opening ceremony will commence at 9:30 AM at Rainbow Beach, and will include a reading of names and a minute of silence before participants set off on a 12-mile route that begins at 79th and Michigan Avenue, continues up the lakeshore bike path to the southern tip of Burnham Park, at which point cyclists will head back south....

Love noise but not the dank, claustrophobic basements that often host noise shows? Concepts in Noise, a brand-new series from Chicago collective Music for Downers and West Loop gallery Jacket Contemporary, hosts those sounds among white walls and hardwood floors. The monthly performances are also meant to complement the current exhibit at the gallery. Concepts in Noise debuts Friday, October 23 in conjunction with Matt Rutt and Sylvie Hayes-Wallace’s found-­object installation, “I Want Something Beautiful....

In honor of the latest bright idea to pop out of Mayor Rahm’s brain, Mick and I will be wearing our favorite Star Wars costumes for Tuesday’s show at the Hideout. So the first question we’ll discuss is why would aldermen agree to a deal without knowing what they’re agreeing to? I mean, that practice didn’t exactly work out too well with the parking meter deal. Before I forget, let me give a shoutout to our illustrious lineup from last month’s show, which featured lobbyist Adrienne Alexander, state rep-elect Will Guzzardi, and state rep Christian Mitchell from the 26th District on the south lakefront....

Decline & Fall We’ve done a lot of coverage on the return of the almighty Godflesh, and earlier this week we finally got what we’ve been waiting for: the first recorded original material from the industrial-metal forefathers in 13 years. The band’s live set at Metro back in April proved that they’re still as loud and brutal as they’ve ever been, and luckily that carries over to their new EP Decline & Fall....

Until a couple of years ago, Jordan Rome saw herself only in front of the camera, not behind it. The actor, a 2014 DePaul University graduate originally from metro Detroit, is part of the local theater and film scene. She was always interested in social justice and women’s issues. But a couple of years ago, when stories about police brutality started to take over the news, Rome felt she needed to do more to challenge the systems of power and authority that afflict black and brown communities....

Paul John Higgins Instead of a foot of snow and a straight week of below-zero temperatures, it snowed about an inch a couple days ago and dropped down into the low 30s—which means it’s officially springtime in Chicago! And that means it’s officially time to open up voting for our Best of Chicago Readers’ Poll. We’ll also have voting booths at our 2014 Key Ingredient Cook-Off, and tickets are still available....