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Today’s newsletter is 1,082 words — a 4-minute read.

For once, Chicago baseball fans on both sides of town have something to celebrate.

The latest: The Cubs punched their ticket to the MLB playoffs for the second straight year, while the White Sox will return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Why it matters: This will be just the fourth time the Cubs and White Sox have made the playoffs in the same year — joining 1906, 2008 and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

North Side: The Cubs held off the Miami Marlins 2-1 yesterday at Wrigley Field to clinch their second straight postseason appearance — the first time they've gone to the playoffs in consecutive full seasons since their four-year run from 2015-18.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong secured a rare 40/40 season in front of the Wrigley faithful. He has 45 home runs and 40 stolen bases.
• He's the first Cubs player — and just the seventh player in MLB history — to accomplish the feat.

South Side: The White Sox left no doubt, routing the Royals 9-1 in Kansas City to snag their first playoff berth since 2021.

• The Sox became the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason immediately after three consecutive 100-loss seasons.

Wild timing: The Sox and Cubs clinched their playoff berths within minutes of each other yesterday afternoon — with the South Siders finishing first.

The intrigue: Even though the Cubs have a Wild Card spot, they're battling the Phillies and Padres for playoff seeding and a chance to host a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Wrigley.

• The Sox can still win the AL Central, which would secure them the No. 2 seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the best-of-five AL Division Series.
• If they remain a Wild Card team, they'll open the playoffs on the road.

What's next: The Cubs open their final series of the regular season with a doubleheader today in Boston, a scheduling change prompted by severe weather in the weekend forecast.

• The Sox host the Rockies.

The bottom line: For the first time in six years, October belongs to both sides of Chicago.

Amnesty International is calling for the federal government to abolish ICE.

Why it matters: Amnesty goes beyond calls to reform immigration enforcement, arguing the abuses it documented show the agency should be dismantled.

Driving the news: The declaration accompanies Amnesty's new report, "We Had Whistles, They Had Guns: Human Rights Violations in U.S. Immigration Enforcement Operations and the Case to Abolish ICE."

• The report outlines ICE, CBP and other federal immigration operations in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., over the last year.

The latest: Witnesses captured immigration officers detaining a U.S. citizen this week in Evanston, mistaking him for someone who had an arrest warrant. A witness told the New York Times that agents left the man "bloodied on the ground."

The other side: ICE didn't respond to Axios' request for comment about the Amnesty report.

State of play: The organization examined actions during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago from September to December of 2025, a stretch that included agents killing Silverio Villegas-González in Franklin Park.

Zoom in: Amnesty details what it says were instances of racial profiling and arbitrary detention based on people's skin color, ethnicity, language and neighborhood.

• It also points to unlawful use of force, saying agents approached people with guns drawn, smashed vehicles and threw people to the ground.
• A federal judge issued an injunction last November with stricter guidelines on use of force, a month after she ordered officers to turn on body cams during arrests.

What we're watching: In addition to the abolition of ICE, Amnesty calls for investigations into the killings of Villegas-González, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, as well as use-of-force investigations into the shooting of Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman whom agents shot in October.

Go deeper

🚌 CPS enrollment dropped by 11,500 since last school year. Some of the biggest declines hit predominantly Latino neighborhoods. (Sun-Times)

🍔 McDonald's is planning to invest $8.5 billion to modernize stores, launch an AI-powered ordering system nicknamed Archy and unveil new protein-based items. (Axios)

🏀 The Sky wrapped up their season with a 16-28 record, missing the playoffs for the third straight year and the second consecutive season under coach Tyler Marsh.

Cobwebs, skeletons, eerily real displays of incredibly scared children staring at a terrifying witch.

• That's right, Halloween decorations are coming out of storage!

Yes, but: Is it too soon? Didn't summer just end?

❓Tell us what you think in our poll

State of play: Another sign of the season is the prevalence of Spirit Halloween stores moving into vacant storefronts.

👍 Carrie's thought bubble: I love Halloween and the decorations make walks even more enjoyable.

👎 Justin's thought bubble: "It's too soon! Lord, just give us one month without inflatables!"

Share with a Halloween fan (or hater)

👋 Hey, it's Justin! Chicago is a city of neighborhoods and today we are going to challenge your knowledge of them.

State of play: I'll give you a city landmark and you tell me which 'hood it resides in. Super easy, right? Or is it?

• Last week's punk rock quiz stumped a lot of folks. Yet, Tim A., Mary M. and Jackie W. got perfect scores. Congrats!

This week's quiz

A little more than a month after artist Yayoi Kusama's death, two of the Japanese artist's Infinity Rooms are on display at Wrightwood 659 as part of the "Inner Worlds" exhibition through Dec. 19.

• The exhibition runs alongside "Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War," an immersive large-scale installation of video art.

Edited by Larry Graham.

🎺 Carrie would like to check out the Hyde Park Jazz Fest and walk the grounds of the Obama Center this weekend. Doesn't that sound lovely?

🧅 Justin is going to see Bazer's show at the Hideout tonight, but he's going to try out Sharpie's version of a bloomin' onion first. Wish him luck!

🗓️ Monica is on sabbatical.

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