Stanford University

New Jersey holds its general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with voter registration closed as of October 13 and mail-in ballot requests due by October 27. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide. Top races include the U.S. Senate contest, where Democratic incumbent Cory Booker faces Republican Justin Murphy and several third-party and write-in candidates. All 12 of New Jersey's House seats are also on the ballot, with the 2nd Congressional District drawing particular attention as Republican incumbent Jeff Van Drew, who switched parties in 2019, defends his seat against Democratic challenger Zack Mullock, mayor of Cape May, and independent Ramon Mora Jr.

Rural Liberty County, Texas, illustrates a growing divide in Texas public education: charter school systems expanding quickly into fast-growing rural areas while traditional school districts struggle to finance new facilities. Cleveland ISD, overwhelmed by growth tied to the Colony Ridge development, has seen voters reject multiple bond proposals since 2019, forcing staff cuts and budget shortfalls even as it faces possible state takeover over failing academic ratings. Meanwhile, ILTexas, a charter network invited into the region by the state in 2020, has opened new, well-resourced campuses and is now outpacing traditional districts in enrollment growth.

Statewide, rural districts added over 156,000 students since 2021 while urban districts lost nearly 90,000, but Texas's funding formulas—capped fast-growth allotments, property-wealth calculations skewed by owner-financed land deals, and reliance on local bond votes—leave traditional districts unable to build ahead of demand. Charters face no such constraints and can cap enrollment. Experts warn that without funding reform, Texas's dual public school systems could increasingly compete for the same students and dollars rather than complement each other.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), 34, is reportedly dating progressive YouTuber Jack Cocchiarella, 24, according to TMZ. The pair met in spring 2025 when Cocchiarella interviewed Ansari and have reportedly been seeing each other since. Both declined to discuss their personal lives in detail, with Ansari instead criticizing ICE enforcement actions and the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran, saying her focus remains on helping Democrats retake the House.

Ansari, a first-term congresswoman representing Arizona's 3rd District, became the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress in 2024. She has previously pushed back on an online petition alleging undisclosed ties to Iran, calling the claims misinformation. Cocchiarella, a Dartmouth-turned-Columbia graduate with more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers, has interviewed prominent Democrats including Zohran Mamdani, Gavin Newsom and Hakeem Jeffries. He previously faced sexual assault allegations at Dartmouth, which he has denied, and later settled a related lawsuit.

The California attorney general's office has dropped all felony charges against five Stanford University students prosecuted over a June 2024 campus protest against Israel's actions in Gaza. The students were among 12 who barricaded themselves in the university president's office for an hour, demanding Stanford divest from companies tied to Israel. They had faced felony conspiracy to trespass and vandalism charges, first announced in April 2025 by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen.

Five students went to trial in early 2026, which ended in a hung jury. A judge later ordered Rosen to recuse himself over a conflict of interest, after evidence emerged he was using the case to fundraise for his reelection campaign. The state attorney general's office then took over and reached a resolution dropping all charges in exchange for 100 hours of community service and roughly $50,000 in restitution. Three students who had earlier accepted plea deals will also have their convictions overturned. Civil rights groups, including CAIR's San Francisco Bay Area chapter, welcomed the outcome, arguing the felony charges were disproportionate to the protest activity.

An illegally operating Bitcoin mine in El Reno, Oklahoma, drained roughly 3.8 million gallons of the city's water supply in August, traced to a fire hydrant connected to a private line at a property owned by Athlon Blockchain Technology LLC. The resulting pressure loss forced school cancellations and a courthouse closure during a heat wave. City officials say Athlon had been under a stop-work order since 2023 over code and construction violations, but continued operating without their knowledge.

The incident has drawn attention to Oklahoma's 2024 Blockchain Basics Act, which supporters billed as bringing regulation to crypto mining but which critics say instead strips cities of power to zone against or otherwise restrict mining operations, mirroring model legislation pushed nationally by the Satoshi Action Fund, a Bitcoin mining advocacy group. Some lawmakers who backed or abstained on the bill now say they regret it, arguing it favored industry interests over local control and left towns like El Reno with few tools to stop noncompliant operators from jeopardizing public infrastructure.

A new state audit has intensified debate over Arizona's Parents as Paid Caregivers program, which pays parents to care for children with severe disabilities. Auditors found the state could have saved up to half a billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 had officials fully implemented cost-control measures required under a 2025 law, including a new assessment tool that Gov. Katie Hobbs suspended amid threatened litigation from advocacy groups.

The program's costs have surged as it expanded from covering adult children to minors during the pandemic; related attendant-care spending rose from $77 million in 2019 to nearly $615 million in 2025, with the parent caregiver program driving much of the increase. About 8,800 children now receive parent-provided care, up from roughly 3,469 in 2023.

Republican lawmakers, including Rep. David Livingston and Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, call the program "out-of-control" and want deeper cuts, while Hobbs' office and disability advocates warn that reducing hours could force children into costlier institutional or foster care. A legislative hearing is expected early next year.