🌱 NASCAR Street Closures + Hard Seltzer Festival

Happy Saturday, Chicago. Let's get to today's top stories.

But first, today's weather: Sun mixing with clouds. High: 81 Low: 58.

Here are the top 3 stories today in Chicago:

1. A group of Chicago business leaders is looking to lower the number of homicides reported in the city each year. The Civic Committee of Commercial Chicago “has dedicated itself to making public safety for all residents its top priority,” Patch reports. (Patch)

2. Street closures are already in effect for the upcoming NASCAR Chicago Street Race. Though the event is not until July, areas of Ida B. Wells Drive are closed this weekend “as preparations for the one-of-a-kind event are getting underway.” (NBC)

3. Bally’s is hosting a job fair today at McCormick Place. The company is looking to hire more than 700 people to work at its temporary casino as it develops a permanent location in Chicago. (CBS)

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Today in Chicago:

• The Field Museum hosts “Dino Fest.” (11 a.m.)
• Sample hard seltzers at “Seltzerland 2023” on The Lot at Plumber's Union. (Noon)
• The first 20,000 fans at today’s White Sox game will receive a free Hawaiian shirt. (1:10 p.m.)
• The Heatwave Music Festival is held on Northerly Island. (2 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Illinois grocery tax will resume July 1 after a one-year pause. (NBC)
• Now in its second month, the WGA writers’ strike will impact production on TV shows filmed in Chicago. (Paid source: Crain’s)
• A sports reporter from Chicago is going viral for “stiff-arming” a fan who tried to interfere with her Stanley Cup play-off coverage. (ABC)
• The Old Town Art Fair and Wells Street Art Festival are being held this weekend. (TimeOut)

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You're all caught up! See you Tuesday for another guide to the news.

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based newsletter writer and partner content curator. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.