Democrats must flip 12 seats to win control of the NC House. Fourteen Republican-held seats are in districts where at least 44% of voters backed Joe Biden. House races in suburbs offer Democrats some of their best opportunities fir pickups. wral.com/news/nccapitol/nort…

Study: Lead exposure in the first six years of life was linked to increased risk of firearm violence in early adulthood. People living in segregated neighborhoods face a higher risk from gun violence than residents in other neighborhoods. #healthequity kffhealthnews.org/race-and-h…

#PaulKrugman: The U.S. consumes about 7.5 billion barrels of petroleum products annually. Iran has raised the price of them by $75 a barrel. The war is costing U.S. consumers $560 billion a year, which is a lot even in a $30 trillion economy. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/t…

#DukeHealth is moving into Charlotte through a partnership with CaroMont Health. #AtriumHealth wants to expand into Raleigh by combining with WakeMed. And Novant Health has won approval to build a new hospital Asheville. northcarolinahealthnews.org/… via @NCHealthNews

#AtriumHealth will be in the middle of the three tiers in the State Health Plan’s new tiered network for 2027. This means that people seeing their Atrium providers will pay about the same price in the coming year as they have this year. northcarolinahealthnews.org/… via @NCHealthNews

#BobWoodward spills his ‘Secrets’ In a new memoir, the legendary reporter names a parade of confidential sources who enabled monumental scoops in The Washington Post and his blockbuster books. (Gift article) wapo.st/3UbZzrD

More than 20 North Carolina counties that previously had early voting on Sundays will not have it f this year. The reduction in Sunday voting will affect a popular mobilization event for Black voters called "Souls to the Polls" wunc.org/show/due-south/2026…

#Israel election results 2026: Exit polls are expected soon after voting closes late on Tuesday, but a final verdict might take days aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/2…

#FrankBruni: Sabato’s Crystal Ball changed its ratings for NC's First and 11th House Districts to “leans Democratic." And an Emerson College poll put Jamie Ager, the Democrat in the 11th, an astonishing 13% ahead of Republican Jennifer Balkcom. nytimes.com/2026/10/26/opini…

A sprawling election protection effort on the left to deploy tens of thousands of monitors will be met by the largest-ever monitoring program by DOJ and still more observers from Republican-aligned groups. apnews.com/article/midterms-…

The court rejected a DOJ request for an order requiring CA to segregate and review the ballots of some 20,000 voters, who federal officials say are suspected noncitizens. ncnewsline.com/2026/10/26/re…

#Duke: Older adults who got home-delivered meals after a hospital stay had much lower odds of being readmitted in 14-21 days. But more a third of referrals did not get a meal. northcarolinahealthnews.org/…

#Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Employees as It Spends on #AI. About a quarter of the tech giant’s employees were eligible for the packages, although the company does not expect many employees to sign on nytimes.com/2026/10/26/techn…

#Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees in an effort to further reduce its headcount kuow.org/technology/2026-10-…

A new report by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee accuses Trump of being “an active participant in Jeffrey #Epstein’s abuse of young women,” though it largely cites allegations that have already been public. nytimes.com/2026/10/26/us/de…

Netanyahu reportedly pressured military to attack Iran in run-up to election theguardian.com/world/2026/o…

Ex-Govs. Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges back Democrat Annie Andrews to flip seat held by Lindsey Graham’s Trump-backed sister Darline theguardian.com/us-news/live…

#MaureneComey was illegally fired as federal prosecutor, judge rules. Daughter of ex-FBI director James Comey, a Trump foe, was dismissed in 2025 despite her work being widely praised. theguardian.com/us-news/2026…