Happy Halloween, Weekend Reader readers! With just a couple of days until the November election, let’s see if I can put together an edition that’s all treats, and no tricks.

First, though: Tonight, we again will schlep through our houses in the precious minutes before we go to bed, searching for every clock so that we can adjust it to prepare for our twice-annual time switch. (The clock on your microwave; you always forget that one. And the clocks in your vehicles.) At least this time switch is to “fall back,” so we arguably regain the hour of sleep we lost this spring with the switch to daylight saving time. But somehow, even with this alleged “extra hour,” Americans still suffer from sleep deprivation. And no wonder: We’re losing precious minutes of sleep because we have to change our clocks twice a year!

Writing for The Associated Press, Lauren Neergaard offers a balanced look at the issue (only 12% of Americans like the time change!) and offers expert advice about how to cope. (Pro tip: Make sure you get some morning sunshine.)

Meanwhile, the men and women of the U.S. Congress are hard at work on a bill that would end the time switch once and for all and – oh, I’ve just been told that it has virtually no chance of getting out of the Senate. 

Today, of course, also is Halloween – on a Saturday, no less – so it could be that you are still agonizing over a fun costume for tonight’s party. (Actually, I suspect that most Weekend Readers readers set their costumes aside long ago.) But let’s say that you need a costume in a hurry for tonight. Have you considered … grapes?

Continuing on the Halloween theme, here’s Ian Bogost, arguing in The Atlantic that the consolidation of the American candy industry has ruined the holiday. 

Perhaps you recall a recent item in the Weekend Reader about Phil Knight’s $1 billion donation to the University of Oregon so that it could launch a college of engineering. The official word from UO officials at the time was that it fully intended to cooperate with Oregon State University – which, as you may recall, already has a successful College of Engineering. Your Weekend Reader – skeptical as always – suggested at the time that maybe OSU officials were experiencing at least a little heartburn at the prospects that a UO engineering program could cannibalize OSU’s college. Turns out that’s the case, except maybe “a little heartburn” is an understatement. Mike Rogoway reports for The Oregonian/OregonLive that OSU officials have plenty of questions about UO’s plans. 

Speaking of science: The New York Times has launched a new project examining how the Trump administration’s war on science is threatening to erode the United States’ advantages in defense, medicine and technology. But, as you know, every president wants to leave a legacy. 

Have you noticed that every page on the digital edition of the Gazette-Times now includes these words identifying the G-T as a “Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.” I suppose that’s better than if Lee had been bought by a hedge fund and the language on the website identified the G-T as an “Alden Global Capital newspaper.” 

Nieman Lab is launching, as an experiment, a weekly quiz about the week’s news about journalism. I’d encourage you to take the quiz, if only to persuade Nieman to make it a weekly feature. I took this week’s inaugural quiz and learned, among other things, that I need to spend a little more time paying attention to what’s happening with overseas news outlets.

As I write this, I’m watching the Oregon Ducks struggle against Northwestern, but I have to think that the Ducks eventually will win enough games to become eligible for a bowl game, although their College Football Playoff hopes appear to be extinguished. Later tonight, I expect Oregon State to become bowl-eligible by beating Fresno State to claim its sixth win. Surely I cannot be alone in thinking this: Oregon State vs. Oregon in a bowl game? (And, by the way, my prediction last week that OSU would outpoll Oregon in the weekly AP Top 25 rating turned out to be correct: Neither team ranked in the top 25, but OSU drew some votes; Oregon was shut out.)

I rarely tout my own stories in the Weekend Reader, but I call your attention to a story that’s due to run Sunday in Lookout Eugene-Springfield. It’s about election anxiety, and was inspired in part by a session on that topic sponsored by the nonprofit organization Braver Angels. (Full disclosure: I admire the work and goals of that group.) I’ll add a link to the story to the Reader after it’s posted on Lookout.

In the meantime, be sure to return your ballot by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Turnout as of the end of the day Friday in Benton County was better than 44%, not bad – and better than the statewide number, 37.9%. But, if history is any guide, fully a third of Oregon voters won’t even bother to return a ballot in this election, despite all the talk about how it’s the most consequential election in a generation: In 2022, the last time a gubernatorial race was on the Oregon ballot, turnout was 66.9%.

If you haven’t voted yet, don’t mail your ballot. These days, you can’t trust the U.S. Postal Service to get your ballot to the elections office in time – even considering that ballots that arrive up to a week after Election Day can be counted. Take the extra time to drop your ballot into one of the drop-off boxes around the county. 

Here’s an election shoutout to David K. Barron, running for reelection to the Benton Soil and Water Conservation board of directors. He’s unopposed – but he still found the time (and the cash) to pay $25 to the county to write and submit a statement for the Benton County Voters’ Pamphlet. These are not the kind of elections that get much coverage from the media – but they still are important positions. Thanks to Barron for making sure voters had a chance to learn a bit about him. 

I’m sorry; did I just add to your election anxiety? OK. Just take a deep breath, and we’ll gather here next weekend to exchange notes. I love your grape costume, by the way.