Your ballot is kind of intimidating this election: SEVEN candidates for one commission seat, a $400 million general obligation bond (what’s that?), and four more city proposals with enough jargon to make our heads hurt.

But we’ve got some answers for you in our City of Miami voter guide. We reached out to the candidates and gathered all the info we could. Plus, we’ve put those proposals, including the Miami Forever bond, in plain English.

You probably already have your mail-in ballot in hand, and early voting begins Saturday. Election Day is Nov. 7. Don’t sleep on this one. It’s going to decide a lot about the future of your city.

Find the guide here.

P.S. Thanks to Eddy Martinez, Marissa Rios, Loic Poitou, Sarah Emmons, Ruth Klestinec, and Susan Windmiller for suggesting questions for the candidates!

The Irma effect. The Ritz-Carlton South Beach is laying off almost 300 employees. The manager says the hotel was so damaged in the storm that it won’t be able to reopen until sometime next year and therefore can’t afford to keep those employees on. Earlier this week, Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key made a similar decision. More could be coming. (Miami Herald)

Throwback Thursday. A ton of CIA and FBI files on JFK’s 1963 assassination are expected to be released to the public today. That’s a BFD for Miami because they contain thousands of documents with info on South Floridians who were trying to topple the Cuban government back then. This oughta be interesting. (Miami Herald)

Busted. Here’s what we know about the local ISIS supporter who planned to set off a bomb at Dolphin Mall Friday night before he was caught: He made his own ISIS-style videos, he’s a painter making $13 an hour, he immigrated here from Honduras, and he thinks the U.S. government “is the most terrorist government in the world.”

You’re kale-ing me. A super scientific survey says we’re the 9th best city in the U.S. for vegans. Good thing we’ve got a list of Miami-Dade’s best spots for vegans and vegetarians. (Miami.com, The New Tropic)

Shots fired. There’s a new Target coming to Pinecrest, and they’ve got some rules: no storage systems for online retailers or catalogs allowed in the shopping center. It’s not hard to guess who that’s meant to keep out (hint: Amazon). (The Next Miami)

Hold your nose. Having a towering, nasty pile of debris in your neighborhood is a gross pain in the ass. But Miami-Dade County says that it’s an equal opportunity annoyance, rejecting accusations of environmental racism because of one pile’s placement in a Liberty City neighborhood. The county points to the location of some others, including Virginia Key, as proof. (WLRN)

Started at the bottom now we here. If male and female earnings keep changing at the rate they’re changing now, Florida could be the first state in the U.S. to have equal pay… but not until 2038. A couple Florida female representatives are pushing legislation that could make that happen a lot faster. (WLRN)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

Stay warm out there, friends.