Tuesday!

☀️ Today's weather: A beautiful day ahead. Sunny skies, with highs in the mid-70s and lows around 50.

📬 Enjoying the newsletter? Consider becoming a member and further support our work.

Today’s newsletter is 879 words — a 3.5-minute read.

The 2026 midterms have taken a deeply personal turn as campaigns, including here in Georgia, use other people's family tragedies as political ammunition — sometimes over the objections of the families themselves.

Why it matters: Some attack ads, like Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson's spots and mailer against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, feature photographs of murdered children and anguished 911 calls, forcing grieving families to relive their worst moments.

Zoom in: Earlier this month, Jackson used images of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was fatally shot in July 2020 near a burned Wendy's that had become a protest site, and her mother's anguished 911 call, to criticize Bottoms' public safety record.

• Turner's parents, who are suing the city and several former officials over their handling of protest zone, demanded the ads come down, accusing the campaign of exploiting their grief without permission.
• Jackson's campaign acknowledged the family's suffering but said it would continue airing the ad, arguing that Bottoms' handling of the unrest contributed to Turner's death.

Catch up quick: A Fulton County jury convicted Julian Conley of multiple charges including murder in Turner's killing. He was sentenced to life without parole, plus 25 years.

• Jerrion McKinney entered Alford pleas to aggravated assault and other charges and received a 40-year sentence. He must serve 20 years in prison.

Yes, but: Some families choose to tell their stories to help campaigns.

• The mother, sister and stepfather of Laken Riley, the nursing student who was killed while jogging on a University of Georgia running trail, appeared at a 2024 Trump rally. Her mother and stepfather endorsed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins for U.S. Senate.
• Riley's birth father has expressed anger over his daughter's death being used for political purposes.

Zoom out: Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign has launched a $4 million ad campaign featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.

• In the ad, Donna Arthur calls her daughter a liar and disputes her account of childhood homelessness.
• Acton says her late stepfather — who was married to her mother until his death — sexually abused her as a child, and she hasn't spoken to her mother in decades. Acton's brother corroborated her account, while court records and contemporary news reports support key details.
• President Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep running his attack on Acton, despite objections from some fellow Republicans.

Go deeper

The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 64-55 Monday night in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

Why it matters: The Dream must win Thursday's home game to keep their title hopes alive.

• The Valkyries lead the series 3-2 and are one victory from the first championship in their two-year history.

State of play: The teams tip off in Atlanta on Thursday at 12:30pm at State Farm Arena.

Breast cancer mortality has fallen nationally over the past decade, but where women are most likely to die from the disease hasn't changed much.

Why it matters: Breast cancer death rates remain disproportionately high in lower-income states, particularly across the Southeast, David Radley, a senior scientist at the Commonwealth Fund, tells Axios.

By the numbers: The U.S. recorded 18.7 breast cancer deaths per 100,000 women in 2024, according to the latest CDC data. (Fewer than 1% of breast cancers in the U.S. occur in men, per the American Cancer Society.)

• Highest rates were in D.C. (24.1), Oklahoma (22.5), Mississippi (22.5) and West Virginia (22.4).
• Georgia's rate isn't far behind at 21 per 100,000 women.
• Rhode Island (14.4), North Dakota (15) and Massachusetts (15.2) all recorded the lowest rates.
• The national death rate has declined by roughly 2 per 100,000 women over the past decade, per government data.

Between the lines: More mammograms alone won't close the gap.

• Black women have relatively high breast cancer screening rates but are more likely to die from the disease than white women, the Commonwealth Fund's recent report finds.
• Longer delays between an abnormal screening and follow-up care can give cancer more time to progress.
• Lack of insurance, high deductibles, and difficulty accessing specialists may help explain the disparities, particularly for rural and lower-income women, Radley says.

Share this story

🍽️ West Midtown restaurants are banding together to revive the neighborhood's dining scene after a wave of closures in late 2024 and early 2025. (AJC)

🏕️ Cherokee County will take over management of nine federally owned recreation sites starting Jan. 1. (WSB)

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will retain ownership, while the county will oversee daily operations and keep an estimated $845,000 in annual fee revenue to support the parks.

🚨 A Douglasville man faces federal charges after authorities say he threw a Molotov cocktail toward Atlanta's ICE building on Oct. 20. (CBS Atlanta)

⏲️ Thomas is sticking to his family tradition of voting with his wife on Election Day.

🗳️ Kristal was in and out of Northside Library within 5 minutes when she voted early on Saturday. The poll workers were also very pleasant. Go vote!

This newsletter was edited by Crystal Hill.