Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and my Halloween costume tomorrow is a groom — because I’m getting married. Soooo (looks at watch) let’s do this. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. When will the Chicago teachers strike end?

Who knows, but teachers today began reviewing the latest contract offer from Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey said if a tentative agreement can be made today, then he’ll he call delegates to a meeting to vote on it and call off the strike.

The latest offer from the city increases money for overcrowding relief from $25 million to $35 million and adds $5 million to boost pay for veteran teachers, Lightfoot says.

But the mayor remains opposed to three of the union’s key demands.

One is adding 30 minutes of prep time for teachers, which the mayor says would shorten the school day. The other two are political: The union wants her support for its favored elected school board bill and legislation that would expand the number of issues the union can bargain and strike over. [WBEZ]

Check out WBEZ’s live blog for the latest updates in contract negotiations. [WBEZ]

2. Chicago Police Department told to revamp homicide investigations

A police research organization is calling on the Police Department to make a series of changes to improve its dismal rate of solving homicides, and the department says it will adopt those recommendations.

In recent years, the department has only solved 4 of every 10 murders in the city, and a WBEZ analysis found the rate is even worse for African American victims.

Today’s recommendations from the Police Executive Research Forum include increasing detective staffing, developing a better case-tracking system, increasing training opportunities for homicide detectives and writing a manual of policies for detectives. It’s not clear how the city will pay for the moves or when they will happen. [WBEZ]

3. Diplomat says he was warned about Rudy Giuliani’s involvement with Ukraine

A career foreign service officer in the State Department told the impeachment inquiry today that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani hampered his efforts to forge stronger ties between the U.S. and Ukraine.

The officer, Christopher Anderson, described a meeting with former national security adviser John Bolton, who warned that “Mr. Giuliani was a key voice with the President on Ukraine which could be an obstacle to increased White House engagement.”

House investigators also heard from Catherine Croft, another foreign service officer and Ukraine expert. Croft recounted a meeting in which acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said military aid to Ukraine was put on hold “at the direction of the President,” according to a copy of her opening remarks. [NPR]

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Iraq War vet and Purple Heart recipient, told House investigators that an account of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s leader omitted key words and phrases. [New York Times]

And here’s a look at two White House meetings that have drawn the attention of House investigators. [Washington Post]

4. U.S. economy shows signs of a slowdown

A preliminary federal report found gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — grew at a slower rate during the summer and early fall as businesses confronted President Trump’s trade war with China and weak global growth.

Today’s numbers are also far short of Trump’s desired projections. The president, who is banking on a strong economy to boost his reelection efforts, promised a 3.2% growth rate for the full year. But GDP rose at an annual rate of just 1.9% during the third quarter.

However, consumer spending continues to prop up the economy, and several analysts see its growth as a sign that the economy remains on solid ground. [NPR]

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark interest rate in an effort to prevent the economy from sliding. [CNBC]

5. Want to know how well your kid’s school is doing?

Well you’re in luck, because Illinois report card data was released today. WBEZ and Chalkbeat have a handy tool that allows you to search and see how an individual school is performing. You can also find out the top Illinois high schools for math and reading.

But what’s the big takeaway from the data as a whole? Schools across the state showed only minimal gains in test scores this year. [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• The proposed budget for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office is growing in anticipation of more conviction challenges linked to former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. [WBEZ]

• Manufacturing jobs in Chicago are disappearing in areas zoned to protect them. [WBEZ]

• Mayor Lightfoot’s administration wants to seize a deadbeat landlord’s properties. [WBEZ]

• You might be able to guess who was the lone local official waiting for President Trump when he landed in Chicago this week. [WBEZ]

Oh, and one more thing …

Daylight saving time ends this Sunday, which means it’s that time of the year when folks debate whether it should be permanent.

But did you know Chicago played a major role in establishing America’s time zones? Back in 1883, a bunch of railroad execs gathered in the city for the General Time Convention, which sounds like some ominous thing from a comic book.

As our friends from WTTW report, the railroad leaders wanted to nail down a standardized time system so they could literally know when trains would arrive. WTTW has other fun nuggets of info if you’re trying to wine and dine someone. “Hey baby, do you know about the Day of Two Noons?” [WTTW]

Tell me something good …

Last week’s question got a lot of responses, so let’s continue the fun. What’s your favorite Halloween memory?

Anya Paluch writes:

“When I was a kid, we used to finish our trick or treating at my house, where we would all dump out our candy on the living room floor and sort through it. We would count it all and divide it by type, and trade with one another. None of us liked Almond Joys, so we would collect all of them and have an Almond Joy fight, where we would just throw all the almond joys at each other! (like a snowball fight, but with individually wrapped candies instead of snow)”

What’s your favorite Halloween memory? Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.

Have a nice night! I’ll see you tomorrow. And if you like what you just read, you can subscribe to the newsletter here and have it delivered to your inbox.