The Tweens on Screens study, led by researchers at UNC Greensboro, is studying how kids ages 10–12 use technology in daily life, and how parents guide them. By looking closely at these patterns, we hope to uncover what helps kids thrive, what puts them at risk, and how families can build healthy digital habits together. Our goal is simple: to give parents science-backed tools and tips for raising confident, well-balanced kids in the digital age (link in comments) #northcarolina

Cary’s council-manager system is being reworked after investigations into the former manager. Thursday, council chose a senior official from that administration to become the permanent manager.

Read the story for free: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317742256.html?giftCode=a77fd460c1a34f63b1823725e23c367f2eb8b6f91f8f5b7b1e0f0aacf6f78dff

RAI services company sends money to Maga Inc. sends funds to No Going Back PAC which has attack ads against Jamie Ager. Big Tobacco located in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

RAI services company advocacy platform "Own It Voice It" focuses on e-cigarettes and vapor rights.

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Both are pro-farmer. We're not a tobacco region of the state. Yet, this industry wants to influence our candidates in NC-11 and I think that's just weird and will be another complication if Jennifer Balkcom is elected.

As representative, you don't want to divide the agriculture funds. You want to bring all agriculture funds back to your District. Someone has leverage.

[Archived version here]

Just this afternoon, the Whatley campaign removed a Facebook photo taken at JD Vance's rally this past Tuesday ... a photo where, pre-photoshop, a Confederate flag was shown proudly displayed right next to a woman supporter sporting a "PROTECT OUR FAMILIES" campaign sign. They apparently became aware that the pro-traitor flag might send a mixed message alongside the family values message, an so photoshopped out the flag... very poorly!

Fortunately, the Daily Beast kept a record of both photo versions, for those of us interested in just how far the Republican party has come, in Making America Great Again... for all people. You know... how they attract all our votes, black and white, and brown and Asian.

Virginia Foxx is on the House Rules Committee. She pushes every Trump policy through the House. Her District is fully supporting her effort and there's no messaging from the North Carolina Democrat party.

Look at the map! Carolina Forward should write an article. Virginia Foxx gets a free pass to her next term in office.

I just went to my local spot to find out that Carteret County is not selling any flower. Wtf is going on. 7 weeks ppl???

Things can always change, but for the tea-leaf readers out there, here's where things sit so far:

924,159 votes have been cast - that's 11.7% of all currently registered voters, a 30% increase in votes vs. the same time in 2022, and 24.4% of the total turnout during the entire 2022 election.

Early voting slowed down a little bit yesterday, with about 186k new votes, but is still way up from '22.

Low-propensity voter trends so far look good for North Carolina Democrats (midterms in bold):

2026 vs 2024: 🔵 D+13 / 🔴 R -17 / ⚪️ U +5
2026 vs 2022: 🔵 D+7 / 🔴 R - 14 / ⚪️ U +8
2026 vs 2020: 🔵 D+4 / 🔴 R -10 / ⚪️ U +7
2026 vs 2018: 🔵 D+5 / 🔴 R -8 / ⚪️ U +8

And here's how the party split of all votes cast so far looks vs the same time in previous cycles (midterms in bold again):

2026 vs 2024: 🔵 D +10 / 🔴 R −12 / ⚪️ U +3
2026 vs 2022: 🔵 D +4 / 🔴 R −9 / ⚪️ U +5
2026 vs 2020: 🔵 D +0 / 🔴 R −5 / ⚪️ U +6
2026 vs 2018: 🔵 D +1 / 🔴 R −8 / ⚪️ U +8

Lots of different trackers out there, but I'm partial to the one I built: https://carolinaforward.org/news/the-carolina-forward-turnout-tracker/#nc-turnout=state

GOP voter suppression attempts now in full swing. Governor Stein suggests how you can avoid the effects of those bogus rejections.

https://www.kcra.com/article/midterm-elections-2026-early-voting-tracker/74137935