Hey there! What’s this? The new adult Happy Meals at McDonald’s are “shame-inducing boxes of nostalgia”? And they come with a “creepy toy”? Sign me up! Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Tomorrow’s Jan. 6 hearing is expected to focus on how Trump was warned of potential violence

In what could be its final public hearing, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is expected to “highlight newly obtained Secret Service records showing how President Donald Trump was repeatedly alerted to brewing violence that day, and he still sought to stoke the conflict,” reports The Washington Post.

WBEZ will provide special coverage of tomorrow’s hearing beginning at noon CT, and you can listen at 91.5 FM, online or on the WBEZ app.

Tomorrow’s hearing will include “new video footage and internal Secret Service emails that appear to corroborate parts of the most startling inside accounts of that day,” the Post reports, citing people briefed on the records.

Tomorrow’s hearing comes after the committee interviewed conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, who is married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It is unclear if the committee will use that interview during the hearing. [WaPo]

2. Will the U.S. avoid a recession as it tackles inflation? Tomorrow may offer more clues.

The federal government tomorrow will release data on the state of inflation for last month. And it comes at a crucial moment for the nation as economists say the window for avoiding a recession may be closing.

That’s because the Federal Reserve has turned to aggressive interest rate hikes to essentially cool down the economy and get consumer prices back under control. That strategy also risks kicking off an economic downturn.

But here’s something that could tip the scales: the nation’s labor shortage.

The New York Times reports that policymakers are hoping companies will resist laying off workers even as the economy cools off — or “hoard” employees — and that may help the country dodge a recession. [NYT]

3. From abortion to LGBTQ rights: The issues in the race for Illinois attorney general

We are now less than a month away from Election Day. And whoever wins the race for Illinois attorney general could play a key role in several hot-button issues as the U.S. Supreme Court swings right, reports my colleague Shannon Heffernan.

“This is a dramatic moment in the development of the office of attorney general. Who your attorney general is, is going to significantly impact the lives of all the people of Illinois. They may not know it, but it will,” said James Tierney, a lecturer at Harvard Law School and former attorney general of Maine. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, are you dreading what feels like the never-ending list of judges to vote for on the ballot? Fear not, my friends at Injustice Watch have an easy-to-read guide to help you out. [Injustice Watch]

Speaking of the Nov. 8 ballot, for the first time in a quarter century, Illinois voters won’t be seeing the name Jesse White on the ballot for secretary of state next month. [WBEZ]

4. You’ll want to read this if you’re mailing checks

Chicago is seeing a rise in a form of fraud known as “check washing,” in which checks are stolen from mailboxes, rewritten and cashed in for much more money than intended, reports my colleague David Struett at the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said retired office manager Midge Laurin, who mailed a check for $30 that was intercepted and rewritten for $9,475. “How did they know I even had the money?”

If this has happened to you, you can reach out to the Sun-Times by filling out this survey.

As Struett reports, some stolen checks are sold online for hundreds of dollars and used to fund street gangs and buy drugs, guns, jewelry and cars, according to David Maimon, associate professor of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University.

He leads a research group that discovered more than 1,000 checks from Illinois victims for sale on the dark web from December through May. [Sun-Times]

5. Children as young as 5 could soon be eligible for updated COVID-19 vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration today gave the green light for elementary school-aged children to receive new COVID-19 vaccines that offer better protection against omicron versions of the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also must weigh in, is expected to quickly sign off.

Health officials say the updated vaccines — from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — are essential to keeping children healthy and in school as another wave of infections could sweep over the nation this winter.

But today’s news comes as many kids still have not gone through their first round of shots. As the Associated Press reports: “Less than a third of 5- to 11-year-olds have had their two primary doses and thus would qualify for the new booster.” [AP]

Here’s what else is happening

• Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $965 million to people who directly suffered from his false claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, a jury decided. [AP]
  
• Select Illinois residents may use SNAP benefits in restaurants under a new pilot program. [WBEZ]
• Three Chicagoans are among this year’s MacArthur fellows. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Fat Bear Week has crowned its round champion after a brief scandal. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Hold on one minute. You’re telling me we could be living in a utopia where Guillermo Del Toro adapted H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness for the big screen? And we could have had a third movie in the 28 Days Later zombie apocalypse franchise?

The kind folks at The A.V. Club take a look at five horror movies that sound super awesome but have been shelved or abandoned. [A.V. Club]

The A.V. Club also has a great interview with horror legend John Carpenter, who is really into video games. [A.V. Club]

Tell me something good …

I am completely in the Halloween spirit right now, and I’ve been watching horror movies every chance I can get. What are some of your favorite horror movies?

Nanci writes:

“My favorite Halloween-time movie is Vampire In Brooklyn: a very suspenseful, campy, creepy, scary and funny Eddie Murphy movie with a great cast. Written by Eddie and his late brother Charlie, it’s a great watch. I hardly ever see it listed, but it’s one of my favorites. Make-up and sets are wonderful, as are special effects. I would say it’s great for older teens through adults.”

And Mike Boyd writes:

“I think The Shining has earned its spot as one of the best (horror) films of all time, but my personal triumvirate also includes The Thing and The Brood. Those two also have masterful practical effects, cosmic and earthly horror respectively, and reflect the evil inside of humanity in creative, artful, and dare I say, fun ways.

“For families (and adults alike), I also always recommend watching Over the Garden Wall every fall season. Eight 10-minute episodes makes for a good solid movie night feel, or you can break it up over a few days.”

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