Good Morning: The US has returned to Standard Time and already winter is on the way. Winter storm warnings are in place for northern Idaho, a large swath of Montana, and about two-thirds of Maine. There’s a freeze warning from Louisiana and Georgia all the way to the Atlantic coast and up into Pennsylvania. It’s expected to be unseasonably cool and blustery on much of the East Coast.

Midterms: With two days to go before elections, congressional Democrats and the White House are bracing themselves to wake up to a changed world Wednesday morning. Republicans are expected to gain seats in the House and possibly take control of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says it may all come down to Iowa, where Republican senate candidate Joni Ernst appears to be leading by a comfortable margin. If that happens, say hello to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to Reid.

President Obama, who’s been stymied even with his party controlling one house of Congress, may have to rely even more on executive authority to get things done.

Air Conditioning: A new UN report warns of dire consequences if the world does not curtail its use of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases. The report said, “Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems.” The report warns of increased poverty, food shortages, mass extinctions, and lowland countries drowning in rising oceans.

Ukraine: Pro-Russian separatists are holding elections in eastern Ukraine today, even though the Ukraine government and western powers say it’s illegal. Fighting continues in Ukraine’s east as the European Union and the US say they will not recognize the results of the voting. The rebels say they are already an independent state and Russia announced it will endorse the results.

Permawar: Islamic State extremists are exterminating members of a Sunni tribe in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to various reports. The militants have killed about 150 people in three groups since Thursday. All were publicly murdered. The Associated Press reports that a senior tribesman told them that today ISIS lined up 40 men, six women and four children then killed them one by one.

Nation: Five people died and one was critically injured by fire in an apartment building near the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Tenants had thrown a Halloween party Friday night and the fire occurred after midnight. Several people escaped, but some are still unaccounted for.

> Four out of five people on a crabbing boat were killed in Bodega Bay off the California, Calif., about 70 miles north of San Francisco. No one on board was wearing a life jacket when a wave capsized the boat in 59-degree water. One 66-year-old survivor swam to shore.

Vocal Fry: A study at Florida Atlantic University has concluded that women who speak in the trendy intonation of what is known as “vocal fry” are perceived as less smart, less educated, and less hirable than women who speak with clearer enunciation. “Fry speakers” trail off their voice at the end of a sentence until it turns into a glottal “grrrr”. One of the biggest offenders; celebutante Kim Kardashian. Fry is the opposite of the perky “upspeak” in which everything ends with a question mark as in, “Last summer? At band camp?”

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