Good afternoon! It’s Hunter. I’m back after taking a week off for my birthday. I’m 40 now, which means it’s even more flattering when the bartender checks my ID. I’m sorry, sir, but I am not secretly a stack of kids in an overcoat pretending to be a burnt out journalist. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Chicago Public Schools faces a $600 million financial cliff

It looks like the nation’s now fourth-largest school district may return to the days of massive budget holes that could result in dire choices after federal pandemic aid runs out.

“Every year since she’s been in office, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has shifted millions of dollars in new education-related costs to Chicago Public Schools that were long part of the city’s budget, a growing financial burden that for the first time this year will not be fully covered by other funding from the city,” report my colleagues at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Officials tell the newspaper the situation is exacerbated by long-standing structural problems at CPS and could result in a whopping $600 million deficit.

“Even the mayor’s handpicked Chicago Board of Education members fear devastating consequences for families and educators — possibly including school closings and mass layoffs — just as Chicago’s elected school board takes power,” the Sun-Times reports. [Sun-Times]

2. U.S. Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García may announce a mayoral bid later this week

The congressman is expected to make an announcement on Thursday, reports NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern.

If García enters the crowded race, he could be a serious challenger to Mayor Lori Lightfoot — and a major obstacle for self-proclaimed progressives who are trying to rally the movement behind Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.

Johnson says he will not drop out of the race, and sources close to the CTU have “ruled out the possibility of the teachers union reconsidering its endorsement of Johnson — even if García enters the race,” reports my colleague Fran Spielman at the Chicago Sun-Times.

So right now the city’s progressive movement faces the possibility of a bruising couple of months after building momentum from last summer’s primary election, which saw significant wins for candidates who lean farther to the left. [Sun-Times]

3. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for Illinois Democrats in a final push before tomorrow’s election

Vice President Kamala Harris was in Chicago over the weekend just days after President Joe Biden campaigned for congressional Democrats in the suburbs.

And she framed the midterm elections as a referendum on abortion rights and the fight for democracy, reports my colleague Tina Sfondeles at the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Our president has been very clear. We just need two more senators, and he will not let the filibuster get in the way of passing the Women’s Health Protection Act,” Harris said to supporters. “Two more senators. Send Tammy Duckworth back to the Senate and we need two more. If you’ve got any neighbors outside of Illinois … call whoever you need to. Remind them what’s at stake.” [Sun-Times]

The final campaign push comes as polls show Republicans have an advantage in tomorrow’s congressional elections. But anything could happen, reports The New York Times, which lays out four scenarios for how tomorrow night could play out. [NYT]

I probably shouldn’t say “tomorrow night,” because some of these elections could go on for days, if not weeks. [NPR]

4. ‘Cooperate or perish,’ says U.N. chief at climate summit

A global summit on climate change is underway in Egypt, where the chief of the United Nations warned leaders the world is “on a highway to climate hell” if China and the U.S., the two biggest polluters, do not start working together, reports The Associated Press.

In the background of the international summit are questions over whether rich countries that have played a huge role in climate change should pay poorer countries that have been the most affected by the crisis.

The timing of the summit may not be great, and the “fire and brimstone warnings may not quite have the effect as they have had in past meetings because of multiple other challenges of the moment pulling leaders’ attention — from midterm elections in the U.S. to the Russia-Ukraine war,” the AP reports. [AP]

5. All hail Chicago’s first karaoke champion

Chicago last night crowned Jason E. Jackson, a 45-year-old Edgewater resident, as the karaoke champion in the first-ever citywide competition.

Jackson won over judges with his renditions of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness and a show-stopping performance of the opera aria “Nessun Dorma,” reports my colleague Courtney Kueppers.

“I’m floored and I am so honored,” said Jackson, who donned a shiny gold bow tie with a black shirt and a pinstriped vest and pants.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also took the stage last night, singing “Dancing in the Street” by Martha & The Vandellas as the judges deliberated. [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• The Chicago City Council today approved Mayor Lightfoot’s $16.4 billion election-year budget. [WBEZ]
• A green revolution could be in store for Chicago’s Southwest Side. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Floating wetlands were installed on the South Branch of the Chicago River to attract native wildlife. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• The puppeteer behind a racist performance at a Chicago gay leather bar says he is retiring a Black puppet. [Block Club Chicago]

Oh, and one more thing …

We are just days away from a new season of Netflix’s The Crown and impulsively searching Wikipedia to see if anything we just watched actually happened.

And there’s a whole lotta drama surrounding this season, as summed up by the folks over at The A.V. Club.

A big point of contention is a storyline in which Prince Charles secretly meets with the prime minister in 1991 and plots Queen Elizabeth’s potential abdication.

Things are so heated around this narrative that Dame Judi Dench, who is not on the show but has played fictionalized queens in the past, denounced the upcoming season.

“Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series — that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother’s parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence—this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent,” Dench wrote in a letter published in The Times. [A.V. Club]

Tell me something good …

I got to see this precious sweet angel last week. His name is Ernie, and he is a big dog who thinks he is a small dog.

But he’s got me thinking: What is one of your favorite pets?

I’ve got to go with my current dog, a pit bull mix named Princess Leia who has interrupted many Zoom meetings with her demands for an immediate treat. She also once slept on top of my head, so waking up was a real experience.

Feel free to email or tweet me, and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.