Welcome to the first edition of Shop Talk Weekly — unfiltered, unbiased, common-sense news for the working man and woman.
No spin. No bullshit corporate press releases dressed up as news. Just what’s actually happening, what it costs you, and what you can do about it. Every Sunday morning.
Here’s what’s in the toolbox this week.
Don’t keep me a secret — forward this to one working man or woman who’s sick of the noise.
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## 💰 THE WORKING MAN’S & WOMAN’S WALLET — LEAD FEATURE
### T-Mobile: The “Un-Carrier” That Picked Your Pocket
You want to know what I pay T-Mobile every month? Hundreds. Hundreds of dollars, every damn month, like clockwork — to a company that built its whole brand on telling you they weren’t like the other guys.
Remember the “Un-carrier”? Back in the 2010s, T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere ran around in a leather jacket talking trash about AT&T and Verizon, killing contracts, killing overage fees, rolling taxes into the advertised price. “We’re freeing consumers from the predatory practices of traditional U.S. wireless companies” — his words. And for a while, they actually meant it.
Then April 2020 happened. The Sprint merger closed. Legere walked out the door. Mike Sievert walked in. And the “Un-carrier” quietly became... just the carrier. A third overpriced giant in a three-giant market with nobody left to undercut.
Here’s what they’ve done to your wallet since:
**Wave one — May 2024.** They raised the price on legacy plans — Simple Choice, ONE, Magenta — $2 to $5 per line. “For the first time in nearly a decade,” they said, like they deserved a damn medal for waiting.
**Wave two — April 2025.** Another $5 per line on older plans. Magenta Max customers, ONE customers — the loyal ones who’d been there for years got the shaft.
**Wave three — June 2026.** This is the big one. They started *forcibly retiring* virtually every legacy plan in existence. Simple Choice. ONE. The entire Magenta family. Even grandfathered Sprint plans — some 1,100 billing codes, gone. Everybody gets shoved onto new “Experience” plans whether you like it or not, and their own internal emails admit about half of customers will pay more — up to $6 a line. Their own math says the average hike is about $4 a line. And buried in the same move, they killed the $10/month Kickback discount. Family of four on Kickback? That’s $40 a month in credits gone, *on top of* the per-line hikes.
Analysts at TD Cowen put that 2026 migration at **$288 million a year** in new revenue, as reported by PhoneArena. Your money. Their revenue. Must be nice.
$5 a line sounds like nothing — until it’s four lines, which is $240 a year, every year, for the exact same service you already had. Same towers. Same bars. More money.
**Then there’s the Price Lock.** In 2017, T-Mobile looked you in the eye and said: “T-Mobile will *never* change the price you pay for your T-Mobile ONE plan.” Put it in writing. In January 2024, they quietly redefined what “Price Lock” means. It no longer means “we won’t raise your price.” Now it means “if we raise your price and you quit, we’ll pay your final bill.” They sold you a lock, then changed what the word “lock” means. That’s not a price guarantee — that’s a going-away present. Fuck that.
The ad industry’s own watchdog told them to stop using the term. They kept using it. And now there’s a federal class action — *Oddo v. T-Mobile* in New Jersey — with customers from four states calling it what it is: bait and switch. Still in court. Still alive.
**Check your bill for this one:** “Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee.” Sounds like a government tax, doesn’t it? It ain’t. It’s T-Mobile’s own invention — a fee they charge you to cover *their* cost of following regulations. And it’s gone from $3.49 to **$5.49** a line in 18 months. Four lines, that’s another $96 a year in mystery fees that sit *outside* any price-lock promise, so they can raise it whenever the hell they feel like it. There’s a second federal class action — *Beets v. T-Mobile* in California — calling it a “concoction designed to increase T-Mobile’s revenue.” Twenty-three plaintiffs. Still in court.
**The autopay squeeze.** In 2023, they decided your $5-a-line autopay discount only counts if you pay by debit card or straight out of your bank account. Pay with a credit card like a responsible adult building credit and getting cash back? That’ll cost you — $5 a line, gone. Four lines, that’s $240 a year held hostage unless you hand them the keys to your checking account.
**$35 to “connect” a device.** Even when *you* do the connecting. Even for home internet you install yourself. Pure margin with a bow on it.
**And then there’s what they did with your data.** The FCC fined T-Mobile $92 million for selling customers’ real-time location data to middlemen — who turned around and sold it to bounty hunters and private investigators. A Missouri sheriff’s office was using carrier location data to track people — including a judge — without warrants. A federal appeals court looked at it and said, yeah, that happened. T-Mobile already paid the $92 million — and now it’s petitioning the Supreme Court for a do-over, asking to have the case sent back so it can argue for a refund after the Court’s June 2026 *FCC v. AT&T* decision. Let that sit for a minute.
The rap sheet, all paid: **$350 million** for the 2021 breach of 79 million customers. **$60 million** — the largest national-security penalty of its kind, ever — for letting unauthorized people at sensitive data. **$31.5 million** more to the FCC. And Washington State’s attorney general sued them *again* in 2025 over that same 2021 breach, saying it was “entirely avoidable.”
And here’s my favorite footnote: **AT&T is currently suing T-Mobile**, alleging T-Mobile built a bot that *impersonates AT&T customers* to steal their account info and poach them. (T-Mobile disputes it and says it removed the feature; the case hasn’t been decided.) They’re so aggressive about stealing customers they’re getting sued for how they do it. You can’t make this shit up.
A veteran with a *military discount* watched his T-Mobile bill climb to $113 a month, quit, switched to a smaller carrier — and now pays $500 a year instead of $1,356, with *better* coverage. A veteran with a military discount couldn’t afford them anymore. Let that sink in.
So here’s my advice, working man to working man and working woman to working woman: go look at your T-Mobile bill tonight. Actually look at it. Line by line. The fees with official-sounding names. The plan you didn’t choose. The discount that vanished. Then ask yourself what the “Un-carrier” ever did for you lately.
Me? I’m shopping. And I’m done being polite about this shit.
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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## 🏈 SPORTS WEEKLY
**The World Series nobody predicted — and somebody’s winning their first one ever**
Milwaukee waited 44 years for a World Series game. Friday night they finally got one, and it was worth the wait — right up until it almost wasn’t.
The Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3–2 in Game 1 at American Family Field. Christian Yelich tripled in a run in the first, William Contreras knocked in another, and rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski opened the game with a 103.5 mph fastball — the fastest pitch in World Series history since they started tracking them — and held Tampa Bay to one run over five innings.
Then came the ninth. Bases loaded, one out, and what looked like a game-ending double play got overturned on replay — the shortstop’s foot came off the bag a hair early. A run scored, the premature fireworks smoke was still hanging over the field, and closer Trevor Megill had to strike out Jonny DeLuca with the tying run in scoring position to finally end it.
Here’s the part that makes this series special: neither team has EVER won a World Series. Milwaukee lost theirs in 1982. Tampa Bay lost in 2008 and 2020. First time since 1980 that two never-champions meet — somebody’s drought ends this week, guaranteed. Game 2 is Saturday night in Milwaukee, 8 PM on FOX.
Game 2 went to Milwaukee too — Brewers 5, Rays 4 — and the Brewers take a 2–0 series lead.
**Football: Week 6 is in the books, Week 7 is half-started**
Thursday night, Chicago beat New England 30–24 at Soldier Field to open Week 7. The rest of the slate plays Sunday, with Dallas at Philadelphia on Monday night — and around here, that’s the one that matters. Both teams limp in at 2–4. The Eagles lost at home to Carolina last week; the Cowboys lost to Green Bay. Somebody’s season gets a little air Monday night, and somebody’s gets a lot heavier.
The rest of Week 6, quick: San Francisco stayed perfect at 6–0, beating Washington 23–17. Kansas City handled the Chargers 22–6 and sits at 5–0 with Minnesota — three unbeatens left in the league. Cleveland’s defense choked out Baltimore 13–10 in the upset of the week. Buffalo edged Las Vegas 33–30. Green Bay beat Dallas 23–13, and Arizona stole one from the Rams 18–16.
Sunday’s Week 7 games to watch: 49ers at Falcons, Chiefs at Seahawks on Sunday night, and Bengals at Ravens in a division fight where the loser takes real damage.
**NASCAR: The Chase just got tight, and Talladega is next — pray for everybody**
Tyler Reddick won at Phoenix last Sunday, passing Chase Briscoe late and holding off Ryan Blaney by eight-tenths of a second. But the real story was the wreck behind him: points leader Kyle Larson blew a tire with 28 laps left, slammed the wall, and finished 34th. His 49-point cushion? Gone. Christopher Bell is now five points back. Seven drivers sit within 56 points of the lead with three races left — Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead.
And the next one is Talladega. Sunday, 2 PM on NBC. The YellaWood 500, where points leads go to die. NASCAR also shrank the rear spoiler to 3.5 inches for this race to open up passing — April’s winner Carson Hocevar survived a 26-car wreck to win there, so buckle up.
Friday at Talladega, Sammy Smith won his first-ever Truck Series race in a chaotic finish. Kaden Honeycutt still leads the Truck points over Layne Riggs by about 43 with two races left.
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## 🌍 WAR & POLITICS WEEKLY
**Ukraine: Washington eased the pressure this week — and Kyiv said so, out loud**
The week’s biggest fight wasn’t on the battlefield. It was between Washington and Kyiv, in public.
The White House issued an executive order waiving major provisions of the new Russia sanctions law Congress passed — the Lindsey Graham sanctions act — just before they were set to take effect. The administration’s position: the relief keeps Moscow at the negotiating table. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the core dispute as the Donbas — roughly 11% of Ukraine’s territory that Russia wants but hasn’t been able to take by force, and that Ukraine refuses to hand over. Ending the war, Rubio said, will take compromise from both sides.
Ukraine’s answer was blunt. After Ukrainian drones struck the Saint Petersburg oil terminal — a major Russian export hub — President Trump criticized the strikes publicly, saying they could disrupt negotiations and drive up fuel prices. President Zelenskyy responded that waiving sanctions strengthens Moscow’s war effort and called potential U.S. alignment with Russia a “historic mistake.” Kyiv says it remains in contact with U.S. envoys about a peace framework.
Two more threads worth watching:
- **The Starlink question.** Reuters reported that the order to throttle Starshield — the military-grade version of Starlink — came from inside the White House; neither the administration nor Elon Musk has acknowledged giving it, and each has publicly said the call could only have been the other’s. Senator Richard Blumenthal has opened an inquiry — answers are due November 5, and SpaceX is set to brief Congress November 12. The Pentagon is the system’s biggest customer, and Ukraine’s military runs on it. On Saturday, Ukraine’s defence minister said speeds were back over 400 kph and the connection stable — which is why this one matters beyond the politics: a front-line lifeline got dialed down and back up, and Congress still wants to know whose hand was on the dial.
- **Air defense delays.** The Pentagon is delaying Patriot interceptor deliveries to Ukraine, and Kyiv says a previously agreed batch of air-defense missiles still hasn’t arrived — while Russian ballistic missile attacks continue. The White House also said this week that First Lady Melania Trump helped broker a localized ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky; Russian and Ukrainian officials describe the exact terms differently.
**At home:** Election Day is Tuesday, November 3 — nine days out. Gas prices are shaping up as a kitchen-table issue in the midterms: AAA says this month is on pace to be the most expensive October at the pump on record (see the Wallet, below). Closer to home, Delaware’s early voting is running now — and a reminder for our readers: there’s no early voting on Sundays. The last Saturday is October 31.
*Both sides’ positions above are stated in their own terms, as reported this week. We report; you decide.*
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## 🔧 SHOP TALK
Every mechanic’s got that one job. The one that fought you for a month. Broke every tool you owned. Had you standing in the driveway at midnight questioning every choice that led you there. Yeah — that one.
Now it’s your turn to tell it.
Drop your shop nightmare in the comments — the craziest, the funniest, the one that almost broke you. Don’t hold back. Every week I’m picking the **top 3** and featuring them right here.
And don’t just read — if you’ve *been* through what somebody wrote about, jump in. Half the fun is the comments section solving what the shop couldn’t.
So let’s hear it. What’s the job that almost killed you? Spill it.
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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## 🚗 RECALL ROUNDUP
**🚨 RECALL ROUNDUP**
Biggest week we’ve had since this column started, and it’s not just cars this time — it’s your fridge, your freezer, and your kid’s Halloween costume box too. Hot dogs by the million-pound, gelato sold right here in Delaware, speedometers that lie to your face, and a Porsche recall that just flat says *don’t drive it*. Here’s the whole list. Check it, then go punch your VIN into **NHTSA.gov/recalls** — every vehicle fix below is free at the dealer, same as always.
**🔥 Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid — the fuel line can let go**
The week’s biggest vehicle recall: **105,794** Land Cruiser Hybrids, **2024–2027**. A fuel tube connection up near the tank can work itself loose and disconnect — and on a hybrid, fuel can keep leaking until the gas engine shuts off. Leaking gas plus anything hot or sparking is a fire, full stop. Dealers inspect the connection and add a clamp, or replace the fuel tube outright — free. Owner letters go out **November 29**. Don’t wait on the mail if you smell fuel around yours. *(NHTSA campaign 26V673000; Toyota 1-800-331-4331.)*
**🧭 Ford F-Series — your speedometer might be lying to you**
**102,159** trucks: **2025–2026 F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550 and F-600 Super Duty**, plus **2026 F-150s** and exactly one lonely F-750. The analog speedometer and tach needles can freeze in place or swing around on their own, so the number on the dash may have nothing to do with the speed you’re actually doing — in a three-quarter-ton truck, in a work zone. No crashes or injuries reported, and Ford figures only about 1% of the trucks actually have the bad cluster, but there’s no way to tell by looking, so the VIN check is the only answer. This one’s a hardware swap, not a software flash — dealers replace the instrument cluster free, but parts aren’t expected until December. Interim letters go out **October 26**. *(NHTSA campaign 26V653000 / Ford 26C46; Ford 1-866-436-7332.)*
**📷 Range Rover — the backup camera is drowning**
**93,997** Range Rovers, **2022–2026**. The tailgate doesn’t have enough drain holes, so water pools right where the rearview camera lives and kills it. Backing up a vehicle that size with a dead camera screen is how parking lots turn into police reports. The fix is as low-tech as it gets: dealers drill more drain holes and replace the camera if it’s already damaged — free. Interim letters **December 11**, final fix letters after that. In the meantime, if your camera’s flickering or blank, that’s not a quirk, that’s the recall knocking. *(NHTSA campaign 26V678000; Land Rover 800-637-6837.)*
**🏎️ Porsche 911 & 718 — DO NOT DRIVE**
Smallest vehicle recall of the week, scariest sentence in it: **548** cars — 2024 **911 Turbo, Turbo S, GT3, GT3 RS, S/T and Carrera GTS**, plus **718 Cayman GT4 RS and Spyder RS**. The center-lock wheel bolt can fracture, and when it does, a wheel can come off the car. Porsche’s instruction is not “be careful” — it’s *do not drive the car until it’s repaired*. Dealers check the fastening system and replace the bad parts free. Letters **December 15**. If one of these is in your garage, your garage is where it stays. *(NHTSA campaign 26V682000; Porsche 1-800-767-7243.)*
**🐏 Ram 2500 — stability control can just quit**
**8,329** of the **2026 Ram 2500s**. A bad steering column control module can kill the electronic stability control — the system that’s supposed to catch the truck when it starts to slide — with the truck failing the federal stability-control standard outright. Dealers replace the module free. Letters **November 24**. A heavy-duty pickup with no stability net is a handful in an emergency lane change, so don’t sit on this one. *(NHTSA campaign 26V651000; FCA 1-800-853-1403.)*
**💺 Volvo EX30 — the headrest can come off in the crash**
**9,930** little electric Volvos — **2025–2026 EX30 and 2026 EX30 Cross Country**. The head restraint cushion can detach during a crash, which is the one moment in its whole life it’s actually supposed to be attached. Dealer fix is glue, and I wish I were kidding: they apply adhesive to reinforce the cushion, free of charge. Letters **November 30**. *(NHTSA campaign 26V671000; Volvo 1-800-458-1552.)*
**⚡ Quick hits from the truck world:** Ford’s also recalling **2,276** 2025–2027 **F-150s** for front seats that weren’t properly secured — a seat that moves in a crash isn’t restraining anybody. And on DJ’s side of the fence: Daimler is recalling **2,592** Freightliner and FCCC chassis (**2022–2027**, Cummins L9 diesels) because remote fuel filter hoses can separate — fuel leak, engine stall. If your shop or your fleet runs ‘em, you know what to do.
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**🥩 THE FRIDGE — Kayem hot dogs, bacon & deli meat: 1.58 MILLION pounds**
Now the big one for your kitchen. Kayem Foods out of Chelsea, Massachusetts is recalling **1,584,361 pounds** of ready-to-eat meat and poultry — hot dogs, bacon, sausage, hams, sliced turkey, the works — sold under **nine brand names: Kayem, Al Fresco, McKenzie, Triple M, Genoa, Deutschmacher, Jordan’s, Essem and Winnisimmet**. The products sat in a warehouse cooler that couldn’t hold temperature — meat stored warm is a bacteria farm — and it went on with products made between March 31 and October 7. Shipped to stores nationwide. No illnesses confirmed so far, and let’s keep it that way: check the USDA mark on anything in your fridge or freezer for **EST. M/P 7839, EST. P 20935A or EST. M 9520**. Match one? Don’t eat it. Throw it out or take it back for a refund. *(USDA FSIS recall 026-2026; Kayem 800-426-6100; USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline 888-674-6854.)*
**🍨 Lidl gelato — sold right here in Delaware, listeria**
This one’s ours. Lidl is recalling one lot of **Gelatelli Coffee & Vanilla Gelato with Coffee Sauce & Cookie Pieces** — the 16-ounce pints, clear tub, brown lid — because routine testing found **Listeria** in a sample. It was sold at Lidl stores in **Delaware**, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, DC, New York and points south between July 19 and October 15. Check the bottom of the tub: **lot 085261, best by MAR/26/2028, UPC 4 0564897 22458**. That best-by date is 2028, so a pint you bought in August could absolutely still be in your freezer — and freezing does not kill listeria. No illnesses reported. Toss it, or take it back to any Lidl for a full refund — no receipt needed. If you’re pregnant, older, or immune-compromised, this is not one to shrug at. *(FDA, announced Oct. 16–17; Lidl 844-747-5435.)*
**🐟 Starfish smoked salmon — listeria again**
Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc. is recalling **Starfish Seafood Premium Cold Smoked Norwegian Salmon Sliced** (8 oz vacuum packs) over possible listeria contamination. Distributed in New York, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio — close enough to home that it’s worth a look if you buy the fancy stuff. Check for **lot D080-148, best before 27.11.2027, UPC 4751048940099**. Same deal: don’t eat it, return it where you bought it for a full refund. *(FDA, posted Oct. 16; company (718) 858-6720.)*
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**👶 Costway high chairs — a baby can slip through**
From the CPSC’s Thursday drop: about **3,332 Costway Convertible High Chairs** — the kind that convert into a little table-and-chair set, sold in purple/white, red/white, blue/white and brown/white, May 2023 through July 2026, $84–$100. They were built **without a passive restraint system**, and there’s a gap between the feeding tray and the seat a child can slide through and get entrapped in, or fall out of. That’s the kind of sentence that ends with a kid in an ER. Stop using the chair. Costway sends a **free replacement high chair** — you’ll need a receipt or a photo of the chair, they email you a prepaid return label, and the new chair ships when they get the old one. *(CPSC recall 27-040; Costway 844-242-1885 or [email protected].)*
**🔦 Halloween warning — light-up toys with batteries kids can get to**
One week before Halloween, pay attention. **BAMAMON LED finger light toys** — the 32-piece boxes of little space-themed finger lights sold on **Amazon** for about $13 — are recalled, about **6,533** of them. The button cell batteries sit in compartments a child can open without any tool. A swallowed button battery doesn’t pass like a coin — it burns through tissue from the inside. Same problem, smaller numbers: **CIYTI light-up princess costumes** (Amazon, dress + light-up crown and wand, about **94** sold) — batteries a kid can reach. Both: stop use, keep them away from kids, full refunds — BAMAMON will ask for a photo of the toys in the trash; dead button batteries go to hazardous-waste disposal, not the kitchen trash. *(CPSC, Oct. 22; CIYTI recall 27-038.)*
**🔌 PowRyte pressure washers — CPSC says stop using them, period**
Last one, and it’s a warning, not a tidy recall — which makes it worse. CPSC is telling owners of **PowRyte pressure washers** (green and black, sold on Amazon and eBay, roughly $92–$320) to **stop using them immediately**: the plug has no GFCI immersion protection, on a machine whose entire job is spraying water while plugged into household current. Water, electricity, no ground-fault protection — you can finish that sentence yourself. CPSC’s instruction is unplug it, cut the cord, and dispose of it — because the manufacturer hasn’t answered the agency’s requests for a recall, there’s no refund program standing behind this one. If you’ve got one in the garage, retire it before it retires you. *(CPSC product safety warning 27-036, Oct. 22.)*
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That’s the week — the heaviest one yet. Million-pound meat recall, a Delaware freezer check, three six-figure vehicle recalls, and a Halloween warning with seven days to spare. None of the vehicle fixes cost a dime, the food goes back for refunds, and the toys go in the trash where they belong. Checking takes ten minutes. Not checking can cost a whole lot more.
*Recalls current as of Friday, October 23, 2026.*
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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## 💵 THE WORKING MAN’S & WOMAN’S WALLET — PRICES
**Gas: a little relief at the pump, a warning light on the dashboard**
AAA’s national average for regular, as of Saturday, October 24: **$4.30 a gallon** ($4.2957, to be exact). Delaware’s average: **$3.92** — about 37 cents under the national number, one of the cheaper states in the region (Maryland $3.99, New Jersey $4.18, Pennsylvania higher still).
The national average fell about 6 cents this week and sits roughly 20 cents below where it was a week ago — but don’t let the dip fool you. It’s still more than a dollar higher than last October (~$3.14), AAA says October 2026 is on pace to be the most expensive October ever at the pump, and diesel — the fuel every truck and delivery van in America runs on — averaged **$5.75** this week, nearly double last year’s $3.11. Diesel is the number that sneaks into the price of everything else.
Why so high: crude oil is hovering near $100 a barrel, with Middle East instability and worries about shipping through the Strait of Hormuz keeping pressure on. Brent crude hit its highest level in more than five months this week. Translation: fill up when you see a good price, because the trend line can turn on one headline out of the Middle East.
**Working math:** at Delaware’s $3.92, a 20-gallon fill-up runs about $78.40. Same tank at the national average: $85.90. Same tank last October: about $63. That’s real money out of a working family’s week, every single week.
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# 🌿 THE GREEN REPORT
*Issue #1 — October 25, 2026*
*Your weekly roundup of marijuana law in America — what’s changing, where, and when it hits.*
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## DELAWARE WATCH — THC Drink Rules Took Effect Wednesday (Oct 21)
This one’s ours, and it’s not coming soon — it’s here. As of **Wednesday, October 21**, Delaware’s new THC drink law (House Bill 373, signed by Gov. Meyer on July 23) is in full effect:
- **Where you can buy them shrinks.** THC-infused drinks move to licensed package stores, retail marijuana dispensaries, and authorized microbreweries only. No more bars, restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, or delis.
- **The cans get weaker.** Single-serving cans cap at **10 mg** of Delta-9 THC (plenty of stores have been selling 20 mg cans, some up to 50 mg). Multipacks cap at 60 mg; 750 ml bottles cap at 170 mg.
- **New taxes.** 50 cents per can, $8.50 per 750 ml bottle, on top of everything else.
- **21 and over, period.**
One catch worth knowing: the law carries a built-in kill switch. If federal hemp restrictions take effect, Delaware’s THC drink market shuts down automatically — and there’s a federal deadline sitting out there on **December 11**. Enjoy the new rules while they last; Washington may overrule them before Christmas.
*(Sources: Delaware Online, Sept. 23, 2026; HB 373 text, Delaware General Assembly; Delaware Code Title 4.)*
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## MARYLAND — Two New Protections Took Effect October 1
- **Firefighters and rescue workers** can no longer be punished at work for lawful off-duty *medical* marijuana use. (Impairment on the job is still a separate, reportable matter — the law protects the status, not showing up high.)
- **Veterinarians** are now shielded from professional discipline for recommending medical cannabis to animal patients.
Also in Maryland: the Cannabis Administration just closed informal comments on a batch of draft rule changes (licensing, labeling, ownership transfers, advertising). Nothing’s final yet — a formal 30-day public comment period comes next.
## MASSACHUSETTS — A Freeze, and a Fight to Un-Legalize
Two stories out of Massachusetts:
- **Growers frozen out.** State regulators voted October 8 to extend the moratorium on new marijuana *cultivation* licenses through **June 30, 2027**. Existing growers keep growing; almost nobody new gets in.
- **Repeal on the ballot.** On **November 3**, Massachusetts voters decide Question 8 — a ballot initiative that would *repeal* recreational marijuana sales statewide (medical would stay, and possessing up to an ounce would stay legal). This week, 63 state lawmakers — including the House Speaker and Senate President, from both parties — publicly lined up against the repeal, pointing at 400+ licensed shops and roughly $280 million a year in state tax revenue. If it passes, the repeal takes effect January 1, 2028.
## PENNSYLVANIA — Still Stuck in Neutral
Pennsylvania remains the big holdout on our border. The state Senate’s top Republican said this month he doesn’t expect recreational legalization to move this year and wants to wait for direction from Washington — while the Democratic House Speaker has suggested it could move in 2026. One thing did advance with unanimous committee support: a bill letting terminally ill patients use medical cannabis in hospitals.
## OKLAHOMA — Three New Laws Land November 1
- New employment protections tied to medical marijuana take effect.
- Edibles can’t be made in the shape of humans, cartoons, or animals, or look like regular candy; packages must state THC servings clearly.
- THC itself gets reclassified *upward* in state law (Schedule III to Schedule I) to close a trafficking loophole — the Attorney General’s office says licensed patients and businesses are not affected.
## ACROSS THE RIVER — New Jersey Liquor Stores Lose THC Drinks November 13
Delaware went one way, Jersey went the other. New Jersey liquor stores must stop selling THC drinks after **November 13** — after that date, licensed dispensaries get that business to themselves.
## WASHINGTON — Rescheduling: Half Done, Half Stuck in Court
The federal picture, plain and simple:
- Back in **April**, an Attorney General order moved FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed *medical* marijuana into **Schedule III** — a real, done deal for that slice.
- The **broader** move — all marijuana to Schedule III — is stuck. On September 29, the DEA’s chief administrative law judge paused the hearing to consider a Government Accountability Office report criticizing how the agencies document their scheduling work. On October 13, the DEA itself told the judge that report “has no bearing” on the science and shouldn’t delay things further. The judge still has to rule.
- Meanwhile, opponents are suing in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. Both sides have proposed a briefing schedule running into **February 2027** — opening briefs November 24 — so nobody should hold their breath for a final answer this year.
**Bottom line for Issue #1:** Delaware’s drink rules changed Wednesday, Maryland quietly protected its firefighters and its vets, Massachusetts is voting on whether to go backwards, and Washington is arguing about paperwork. Same time next week.
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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## 🤦 DUMBEST CRIMINAL OF THE WEEK
This week’s winner: Jay Barr, 26, who had a perfectly good ticket from Southern California to Seattle and decided stealing an airport tug sounded like a better plan.
For those who don’t know, an airport tug is the big ugly beast that shoves airplanes around the tarmac. Jay slipped through an access door, climbed in, and took it for a joyride — right up until he smashed it into another vehicle. Shocker.
Now here’s where it goes from dumb to legendary. Buckle up. With the tug wrecked, Jay didn’t run. He didn’t hide. He tried to steal vehicle number *two*: a lavatory servicing truck. That’s the truck that drains the toilets on airplanes. My man went from stealing a plane-pusher to trying to steal the poop truck. The POOP truck, Jay.
Cops grabbed him before he got the honey wagon anywhere near the runway. Charged with vehicle theft, trespassing, and vandalism.
Jay, buddy — the flight was *right there*. You were already AT the airport, you beautiful dumbass.
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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## 🔩 ASK A MECHANIC
Got a problem under the hood? A noise you can’t place? A repair quote that smells like bullshit?
Drop your question in the comments. Every week I’m answering the **top 3** — and if you’re a wrench-turner yourself, jump in and answer too. Best community answer gets a shout-out right here.
No question too basic, no truck too rusty. Fire away.
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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# 🔮 THE SUNDAY STARS — Full-Page Horoscopes
*Issue #1 — Week of October 25–31, 2026*
*Read ‘em, laugh at ‘em, blame the moon when they hit too close. For entertainment — the stars don’t sign paychecks.*
*The veil thins this week, working folks. Halloween falls on Saturday, the moon rides high and strange, and the cosmos has opinions about your toolbox, your love life, and that one coworker. Here’s what the heavens have in store...*
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## ♈ ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19)
The Ram charges into the week with Mars pouring gasoline on your already-questionable impulse control. Early in the week, a mechanical problem that has mocked you for a month simply... surrenders. You will fix it in eleven minutes and feel like a god. Ride that feeling carefully — by Thursday, Mercury whispers that the email you are about to send angry should sit in drafts until Friday. On Halloween, dress as something with horns. You already have the attitude; the costume is just honesty. **Lucky number: 9. Lucky tool: the impact driver.**
## ♉ TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20)
Venus wraps you in a warm blanket this week, Taurus, and for once you don’t have to share it. Money moves toward you midweek — small, quiet money, the kind that shows up because you did good work and somebody noticed. Don’t spend it on a tool you already own three of. A family conversation around the weekend needs your patience more than your opinion; bring both, lead with the patience. Saturday’s full-moon energy favors a hot meal, a warm house, and locking the doors early. **Lucky number: 4. Lucky snack: whatever’s in the slow cooker.**
## ♊ GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20)
Two minds, one body, and this week both of yours are working overtime. The Twins catch a rumor early in the week — check it twice before you repeat it once; the stars say the third version of the story is the true one. Wednesday brings a conversation with someone from your past that closes a loop you forgot was open. By the weekend your ruling planet turns your charm up to an irresponsible level. Use it at the Halloween gathering, not at work. Someone is going to ask you to fix something “real quick.” It is not real quick. Quote accordingly. **Lucky number: 22. Lucky phrase: “Let me look at it first.”**
## ♋ CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22)
The Crab’s shell gets a deep clean this week. The Moon — your ruler — drags old feelings up like furniture from a flooded basement, and surprise: half of it you can throw out. Home is your power spot all week; a small repair or rearrangement you’ve been avoiding will improve your whole mood once it’s done. Midweek, somebody in your house needs you soft, not solutions. Be the soft one. On Halloween you’ll be the person who makes the night feel safe for the little ones, and that’s not a small thing — that’s the whole job. **Lucky number: 7. Lucky comfort: soup.**
## ♌ LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22)
The Lion is being watched this week — in the good way. Somebody with actual influence sees you do the unglamorous work right when nobody was supposed to be looking. That lands somewhere around Tuesday, and it matters more than you think. Later in the week, resist buying the shiny thing; the stars show a better version of it arriving in November for less. Halloween is your stage, obviously. Roar responsibly. If there’s a costume contest, enter it. The crown energy is real right now. **Lucky number: 1. Lucky move: let somebody else talk first, then close.**
## ♍ VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sep 22)
Virgo, the cosmos has read your color-coded notes and is impressed. This week rewards the list-makers: a plan you built back in September quietly starts paying out, piece by piece, like a machine coming up to speed. Watch a health niggle around midweek — not serious, just your body asking for sleep instead of caffeine and spite. Somebody will hand you chaos on Friday and expect you to organize it. You will, because you always do, but bill them in gratitude. Halloween: your costume will be the most accurate one there, and only three people will appreciate it properly. They are your people. **Lucky number: 6. Lucky habit: the early night.**
## ♎ LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22)
Balance, Libra — and this week, you actually find some. A decision you’ve been weighing like it was evidence in a trial gets easier when new information arrives around Wednesday; trust it and move. Money and friendship cross paths late in the week — lend the time, not the cash, and everyone stays friends. Venus turns your words to honey on Halloween; if there’s somebody you’ve been meaning to say a kind thing to, Saturday night is cosmically approved. The scale tips in your favor when you stop trying to hold both sides up alone. **Lucky number: 14. Lucky word: “deal.”**
## ♏ SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21)
Your season, Scorpio, and the stars are not being subtle about it. The Sun in your sign sharpens everything — your instincts, your focus, and unfortunately your ability to hold a grudge at championship level. Let one go this week; the universe is offering a trade: drop the old grudge, pick up a new opportunity that shows up dressed as an inconvenience around Thursday. Secrets are your native language, but one you’ve been keeping from *yourself* surfaces before Halloween. Look at it. It’s smaller than you feared. Birthday Scorpios: the year ahead runs on your terms. **Lucky number: 13, obviously. Lucky shadow: yours.**
## ♐ SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
The Archer’s arrow points at the horizon this week, and the horizon is hiring. An idea you’ve joked about — the side project, the wild plan, the “one day” thing — gets a serious nudge Tuesday or Wednesday. Write it down before it evaporates; Jupiter is generous but forgetful. Watch your mouth on Friday: your honesty is a gift, but timing is the wrapping paper. Halloween finds you telling the best story in the room, and for once you don’t even have to exaggerate it. Much. **Lucky number: 3. Lucky road: the one you haven’t taken yet.**
## ♑ CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
Saturn, your demanding old boss of a ruling planet, finally approves your paperwork this week, Capricorn. Something long and slow — a payment plan, a certification, a reputation — crosses a line into “actually working.” Celebrate at your usual volume: quietly, with good food. A younger person is studying how you handle pressure, whether you know it or not; midweek gives you a chance to teach without lecturing. Halloween advice from the stars: go to the thing. Yes, you’re tired. Go anyway. You’ll be glad by the second hour. **Lucky number: 10. Lucky stone: the one you’ve been carrying uphill — you’re near the top.**
## ♒ AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Uranus crackles over your sign this week and the ideas arrive like lightning bugs in a jar — bright, weird, and impossible to keep. One of them, the strange one from Monday, deserves a real notebook page. A group project or crew effort midweek runs aground on one person’s ego, and the stars nominate you as the calm weird genius who reroutes it. Halloween is your natural holiday: the future is just the past in a costume, and you look good in both. Expect an unexpected message Saturday night. Answer it. **Lucky number: 11. Lucky invention: the one you build from spare parts.**
## ♓ PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
The Fish swim in deep water this week, Pisces, and the dreams are loud. Keep a notebook by the bed Tuesday night — the cosmos is sending something worth decoding, even if it arrives dressed as nonsense. Your compassion is a superpower and a leak in the boat at the same time; midweek, help the person, but stop before you hand them the whole ship. Creative work flows best Sunday and again Saturday. Halloween’s thin veil makes you the most psychic person at the party, which is fun right up until somebody asks you to prove it — then it’s hilarious. **Lucky number: 12. Lucky current: the one carrying you home.**
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*That’s the sky for this week. Whatever the stars say, you still have to show up Monday — but maybe show up like somebody the universe is rooting for.*
*Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.*
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