Hey there! It’s Friday, and I told my 3-year-old nephew that my dog’s name is Princess Leia, and he was like, “You have a princess?” Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Fauci says life may not return to normal until late 2021

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, today said he is confident that a coronavirus vaccine could be available by the end of the year.

“But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021,” Fauci said in an interview on MSNBC. “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, towards the end of 2021.”

Fauci also expressed concerns about states allowing indoor activities, like dining, as the U.S. sees about 40,000 news cases and 1,000 deaths a day. [NBC News]

Meanwhile in Illinois, officials today reported 2,145 new cases and 32 new deaths. The state has seen a weekly average of 2,265 cases per day, a 16% increase from the average two weeks ago. [New York Times]

2. Biden and Trump pay respects on 19th anniversary of 9/11

President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and their running mates today honored victims in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, appearing at ceremonies in New York, the Washington area and Pennsylvania.

At Ground Zero in New York City this morning, Biden approached Vice President Mike Pence during an annual ceremony to say hello, and the two did an elbow bump that has replaced handshakes during the pandemic. Biden and Trump did not cross paths during the day. [AP]

In other election news, Trump has increased attacks on Sen. Kamala Harris as he struggles to find a consistent line of attack against Biden. [AP]

More Democratic voters are requesting mail-in ballots in crucial battleground states. [Politico]

And Republicans are growing nervous as the Trump campaign, facing a cash crunch, pulls back on TV ads. [Washington Post]

3. About half a million people are ordered to evacuate in Oregon as devastating West Coast wildfires grow

The mayor of Portland has declared a state of emergency as fires approach the city. The National Weather Service says an enormous cloud of smoke will fall on Washington State today, creating unhealthy breathing conditions.

And about 500,000 people have been told to evacuate in Oregon, where blazes have torched more than 900,000 acres.

“To put that into perspective, over the last 10 years, an average of 500,000 acres burn in an entire year,” said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. “We’ve seen nearly double that in 3 days.”

In California, more than 2.5 million acres have been burned so far this year, a new record since the state began tracking the statistic. [NPR]

You can find photos of the devastating wildfires and the damage they’ve caused in this photo essay. [New York Times]

4. Chicago sees big drop in attendance on first day of school

Chicago Public Schools announced today that 84.2% of students attended online classes on the first day, a 10-percentage point drop from previous first-day figures, reports WBEZ’s Sarah Karp. Figures released by the district show attendance levels climbed to 90.2% by the third day of school.

But as Karp reports, the attendance numbers contain racial disparities: “Some 97% of students on average at schools with a relatively large white student population logged for the first day. Some 30% of students from majority black students didn’t log on.” [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, the former chief of staff to CPS CEO Janice Jackson pleaded guilty today to lying to the FBI. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Pedro Soto also admitted to handing off inside information on a $1 billion contract to an associate of a lobbyist. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. Looks like another big Hollywood shuffle is in the works

Warner Bros. today announced that it is postponing the release of Wonder Woman 1984, which will now be released on Dec. 25 instead of Oct. 2.

The move comes after the lukewarm release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which movie executives had hoped would signal a return to theaters in the U.S. While the $200 million movie has fared well with international audiences, it has struggled to attract moviegoers in the U.S., where about 25% of theaters remain closed.

According to Variety, the decision to push back Wonder Woman 1984 may cause a ripple effect. The new date comes a week after the release of the sci-fi epic Dune, and it may be pushed back to avoid competition. [Variety]

Here’s what else is happening

• Two former child welfare workers involved in the AJ Freund case have been arrested and charged. [Chicago Tribune]
• Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, one of the biggest and richest hospital groups in the Chicago area, wants to merge with Palos Health in the southwest suburbs. [WBEZ]
• Andi McDaniel decided not to become Chicago Public Media’s new president and CEO after questions were raised about her handling of misconduct complaints at her previous job. [WBEZ]
• George R.R. Martin’s neighbors don’t want him to build a castle in his backyard. [A.V. Club]

Oh, and one more thing …

If you haven’t listened to the new season of WBEZ’s Motive, it’s extremely fascinating and unfortunately very timely.

Motive examines the origins of the youth white supremacist movement in America and how neo-Nazi skinheads — and not old dudes in white robes — played an influential role. You can find the first episode here.

The second episode is out. I don’t want to spoil anything, so here’s the episode’s description: “It was the ’80s. Reagan was president. And for angsty, angry teens, the punk scene provided family and expression. Until the Nazis showed up and ruined everything.” [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

WBEZ’s fall pledge drive is here, and I’d like to know what you enjoy the most about public radio.

Fran writes:

“My 7-year-old son asked me to turn on WBEZ when we were in the car the other day. He says he likes to listen to it to get the most up-to-date information about coronavirus so he is best prepared to answer his 4-year-old brother’s questions. Thanks for being our whole family’s go-to source for news.”

Nicole Jakob writes:

“What I love most about WBEZ is the distilled information given with heart, but not sensationalism. I can look to WBEZ to give me well-researched facts that I use to form my own opinion. In this day and age when it has gotten so very difficult to find information we can trust, I know that I can trust what I hear from WBEZ.”

And Rachel writes:

“I really enjoy hearing the news from people who sound like me. Thanks for sharing a little of yourselves with us!”

Thanks for the responses this week! I’m sorry I couldn’t include everyone, but it was nice hearing from so many of you!

Thanks for reading and have a nice night! I’ll see you on Monday.