Welcome to Election Day, when millions of voters across Chicago and its suburbs will choose new mayors, school boards, library boards and city council members.

Why it matters: After a long, sometimes contentious season, we're finally about to determine who will assume important posts in Chicago and beyond for the next few years.

Zoom in: In Chicago, polls suggest we're in for a super-tight mayoral race, meaning turnout today could play a huge role and every vote will count.

What they're saying: "If it's a close mayoral race on election night, it may take one to two weeks to see how the majority of the outstanding vote-by-mail ballots shake out," Chicago Board of Elections spokesperson Max Bever tells Axios, noting they have until April 18 to issue an official determination.

Be smart: If you still haven't made up your mind, or even glanced at who's running, we've got you covered with guides to:

• Alder runoffs
• Suburban races
• Plus, a look at political and celebrity endorsements, and who would sway you.

Where: Look up your Chicago and other Illinois poll locations here.

When: Polls open at 6am and close at 7pm.

• If you're voting by mail, your ballot must be postmarked by today.

Who: All Chicago residents 18 and older can vote, and same-day provisional registration and voting are allowed with proper ID.

🔮 Our prediction: The winner of Chicago's mayoral race will be a guy … with glasses … and a goatee.

• That's just a strong hunch.

What's next: We'll post any available results tonight on our website or bright and early tomorrow in this newsletter.

Did you know that a neighbor or trusted friend can help you fill out your ballot at the polling place?

Just as we did in February, today we're conducting an exit poll of Axios Chicago readers.

• Think of us as standing outside your polling place with clipboards trying to pry information from you — only virtually.

How it works: We're asking which mayoral candidate you voted for and which issues swayed you.

• Anonymously, of course.

What's next: Tomorrow we'll compare these against the results of the real election. Interesting, right?

Take the six-question survey. We're closing our polls at 5pm.

📜 The University of Chicago's former Oriental Institute changed its name today to Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures West Asia and North Africa (logo above). The change is due, in part, to the pejorative connotation of "oriental" in modern English. (UChicago)

🪧 Faculty members at Chicago State University are on strike after negotiations between union and school officials broke down over pay increases. (ABC 7)

🎶 Chicago announced this summer's Gospel, House and Blues Fest lineups, which include Karen Clark Sheard and Tye Tribbett, Los Lobos, Bobby Rush, Roy Davis Jr. and Psycho B. (DCASE)

As Chicago comes out of the winter and embraces spring, some favorite local businesses won't be around.

Why it matters: Amid inflation, rising labor costs and changing consumer habits, February and March saw closings of several small businesses.

Threatened icons: Owners of the 400 Theater in Rogers Park warned it could close at the beginning of the month, but it was still showing films as late as last weekend.

• The Little Village Discount Mall, or at least half of it, is slated for renovations. This would displace several of the mall's vendors. Recently, the city brokered a deal that kept vendors in the mall for another six weeks.

Shuttered outposts: The last two months have been littered with closings of new outposts of Chicago favorites. Black Dog Gelato closed two locations. Now only the original spot in Ukrainian Village remains.

• Fairgrounds Coffee & Tea closed its Wicker Park location.
• After 10 years, Intelligentsia will shut down two coffee shops in Wicker Park and Logan Square.

Eatery endings: Running a restaurant is tough, even without current factors. This season Chicago lost Funkenhausen, SafeHouse, Chez Moi, La Vaca (Lincoln Park), Kroll's South Loop, Ground Control, Bliss Resto, Buona Terra and Foundation Tavern.

Demolished: Chicago Joe's. The old bar and grill on West Irving Park had been closed since 2021. An apartment building with a space for a restaurant is being built.

Look back at the January closings

💼 Check out who's hiring on our Job Board.

1. Director, Emerging Technologies at Invenergy.
2. Senior Account Director at DDB.
3. In-House Senior Legal Counsel at Roland Berger.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

On Sunday, we wrote about some EV manufacturers not including AM radio in their new vehicles and how Chicago radio is preparing for it.

• We asked you for your thoughts, and you filled our inboxes to the brim!

Here are some of your responses, which we had to pare because of, well, Smart Brevity:

Karen G.: "I can't imagine starting my morning without AM radio. WGN has been on in my house since I was a kid, either waiting on a snowy day to hear if school was closed or now as an adult to hear what is going on nationally or locally."

Eileen M.: "I have been a fan of AM radio since I was a teenager. At this time I remain a fan of talk radio for breaking news. I would definitely miss it."

Ray P.: "AM no longer needs to exist. Emergency broadcasts and amber alerts are sent to all sorts of my devices. Long live AM in the cloud-verse."

Annette H.: "I was shocked to find that AM radio was not included in my new Volvo. I have downloaded the apps for several stations but not all are available."

• "I would still rather have my AM radio."

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