Durham · Chapel Hill · Raleigh · October 4, 2026

Good Moon Returns to Durham

⚡ Quick Hits

🗳️ About 1,600 North Carolina voters flagged by a federal database as possible noncitizens are getting letters asking them to confirm their citizenship.
⛽ Legislative leaders say they'll call a special session on high gas and diesel prices.
🌕 Good Moon, the Durham music festival, returns to DPAC on Thursday after a year off.

First Up

The State Board of Elections is mailing letters to 1,599 registered voters that a federal database flagged as possible noncitizens, asking each to confirm citizenship or ask to come off the rolls. That database, called SAVE, was built by Homeland Security to check eligibility for public benefits, and it misses: when Texas ran its rolls through it, 578 of the 2,724 people flagged turned out to be citizens. The board says citizens can confirm by email, fax, mail, or in person.

📰 Around the Triangle

Durham leaders warn about two tax amendments on the ballot: one lowers the state income tax cap from 7% to 3.5%, the other limits local property taxes, which supply 61% of Durham County's general fund. The school board is urging a no vote. (INDY Week)
More class time, little teaching, at Durham's youth detention center: kids now get about six hours of school a day, but a Disability Rights NC report says they rarely hear from their assigned teachers. (INDY Week)
Eight jurors so far in the Faith Hedgepeth trial: both sides accepted eight after four days of selection. One prospective juror said he'd rather go to jail for contempt than serve, and the judge removed him, refusing to order him paid. (9th Street Journal)
A special session on gas prices, date TBD: House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger say they'll bring lawmakers back for fuel-price relief. North Carolina's gas tax is 41 cents a gallon. (NC Newsline)
Lithium-ion batteries are banned from the trash starting Dec. 1: take old ones to a household hazardous waste site or a recycler instead. (WRAL)

📅 Plan Your Week

🤠 Sunday, October 4 (Today)

Durham Square Dance: The Pinhook, Durham. Family dance 5 to 6 p.m., big dance 7 to 9, live band, and a caller who teaches every move. No partner needed. $10, $15, or $20, your pick; kids under 12 free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
Camerata Nordica: Baldwin Auditorium, Duke, 7 p.m. Eight Swedish string players, standing, no conductor, anchored by the Octet Mendelssohn wrote at 16. (Details)

🏳️‍🌈 Monday, October 5

"Remembering & Resisting" opening: Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Raleigh, 4 to 6 p.m. A new exhibition on LGBTQ+ history from Nazi Germany to today, with a keynote by curator Jake Newsome. Free. (Details)

🎤 Tuesday, October 6

Tom Jones: DPAC, Durham, 8 p.m. The Come Gather Round Tour. (Details)
Astronomy on Tap: Fullsteam's theater in the Boiler Room, American Tobacco Campus, Durham, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Astronomy talks and trivia over beer. Free. (Details)
Carolina Science Cafe: Haw River Tap & Table, Carrboro, 6 to 7 p.m. UNC's Deb Aikat on who counts as a journalist when newsfluencers and AI are in the mix. Free. (Details)

🥕 Wednesday, October 7

Wednesday Market: Durham Central Park, 3 to 6 p.m. The midweek farmers' market wraps up in mid-October, so there aren't many left. (Details)

🌕 Thursday, October 8

Good Moon: Sylvan Esso with Meshell Ndegeocello: DPAC, Durham, 7 p.m. Night one of three, with Tyler Childers on another night. (Details)
V.E. Schwab: Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Union, NC State, Raleigh, 6:30 p.m. Talking "Victorious," the last Villains book. Public tickets through Quail Ridge Books include a signed copy. (Details)
Discovery Drop-In & Storytime: Duke Gardens, Durham, 10 a.m. to noon, with stories at 10:30 and 11:30. Free; parking fees apply. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

That's the short list. Everything else we're tracking, well into November, is on the calendar.

💬 Heard Around Town

A Raleigh neighbor's plea after a morning on the greenway near Lake Raleigh: if you care about your dog, keep it on a leash. (Thread)
Someone asked r/bullcity whether anyone beach-bound could take a few hermit crabs home. Update: the crabs have been returned, released by harvest moonlight. (Thread)
A call for a Durham Scream Club: meet at the Eno River and scream until your nervous system reboots. No introductions, no small talk. (Thread)

🍴 Openings & Closings

Lula & Sadie's has closed: the Chapel Hill Road restaurant, known for Sunday jazz brunch, served its last customers Sept. 20. Owner Harry Monds blames rising costs. (9th Street Journal)
Two Halloween pop-up bars in Raleigh: Killjoy on Glenwood South runs The Haunting through Oct. 31, and Wye Hill's apothecary-themed Witch, Please! runs through Nov. 1. (Raleigh Magazine)

🏡 Triangle Pulse

📊 Stat of the brief: The 30-year mortgage rate averaged 7.28% in the week of Oct. 1, the highest since November 2023. (Freddie Mac, week of October 1, 2026)

Durham-Chapel Hill asking prices went the other way — the median list price is down 4.6% from a year ago, to $427,988. (Zillow research data, week ending September 19, 2026)

Before You Go

Mary Anne Jobe spent her retirement as a docent at the NC Museum of History and was known on West Morgan Street for chatting with passersby from her front porch. Her house is now the Jobe House, a shared office, gallery, and artist residence for VAE Raleigh, Arts Access, and Artspace's artist-in-residence. There are three pink rocking chairs on the porch.

🧠 Brain break: today's Daily Fury is live. Five questions, the same five for everyone. Defend the Triangle's honor. Also check out a special Triangle sports version of Five Clues.

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