Hello, NWA. Let's make it a good Wednesday.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 79 and a low of 59.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Susan Tonymon!

📱 Your local news, right in your feed. From the latest headlines to things to do around town, stay in the know with us on Instagram.

Today’s newsletter is 765 words — a 3-minute read.

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.)

• Arkansas recorded 419 breast cancer deaths that year, or 19.7 per 100,000 women.

Zoom in: Arkansas requires insurance companies to cover 3-D mammograms if they cover screening mammograms.

• Some uninsured women can receive mammograms through the state's BreastCare program.

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.

Northwest Arkansas' housing market is giving buyers more leverage, new Redfin data show.

Why it matters: More homes to choose from and longer selling times may be giving NWA buyers additional negotiating room.

By the numbers: Listings increased by more than 20% in seven NWA-area ZIP codes.

• The share of listings with price cuts in Fayetteville's 72701 rose 11.5 percentage points from a year earlier.
• Fayetteville's 72703 had 1.3 months more housing supply than a year earlier.

🗳️ The Washington County Election Commission on Monday unanimously denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to allow federal "election monitors" to access polling sites on Election Day. (Fayetteville Flyer)

🔮 The University of Arkansas College of Engineering launched a Vision 2035 plan that includes goals of dedicating $60 million in scholarships and fellowships, adding 50 tenure-track positions and supporting internships and a K-6 STEM pipeline. (Northwest Arkansas Business Journal)

💰 Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, along with the Federal Trade Commission and 19 other states, is suing Dollar General, accusing the company of deceptive pricing practices by routinely charging customers more at the register than the displayed prices. (Griffin's Office)

Worth left us a movie rec before he went on sabbatical. Enjoy.

My anesthesiologist at a recent medical procedure read the fear creeping in on my face as he riffed on a well-practiced patter about how he uses fentanyl. "What's wrong?"

• "I just watched the movie 'Coma.' You're not gonna put me down and harvest my organs, are you?"
• "Oh, you don't have anything we want," he said without hesitating a whit.

State of play: The imagery of nude bodies suspended by wires in an immense warehouse both titillated and horrified me as a kid. "Coma" delivered.

• I recently watched it for the first time since my first viewing on its release in the theater — that was 1978. TCM showed it as a double header of Michael Crichton medical dramas. Expectations were low.

But it held up across nearly 50 years. The plot of someone deliberately putting patients in a coma so their organs could be stolen and sold on the black market for profit is perhaps more terrifying today than it was then.

• The movie's pace was a step in the right direction, a beat or two quicker than many of the 1970s "thrillers."
• Maybe I was at the right impressionable age, seeing some plots and movie devices for the first time. It's hard to say.

The bottom line: If you're looking for something with an odd twist and some massive overacting this spooky season, try "Coma."

Past Halloween movie musings from Worth:

• Five awful movies for your Halloween (dis)pleasure
• Halloween movies for background noise
• Six flix picks for October: Decades o' thrillers

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Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing this newsletter.

🤷‍♀️ Alex isn't into horror movies. It's a flaw she's accepted about herself.

👻 Worth is on sabbatical, probably watching his curated list of films ahead of Halloween.