The Loop — Monday, October 26, 2026

Wrightsville × Wilmington

The Loop

Monday, October 26, 2026

Monday Edition · 6 Min Read

Good morning, Wilmington.

In The Loop

New Hanover County Schools wants to slap a surcharge on city venue tickets to fund arts programs — and city council is already pushing back.

Airlines are flying fewer routes and charging more for them, and soaring fuel costs mean neither trend is going away anytime soon.

Meta just got hit with a $25 billion penalty over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal — nearly a decade after the story first broke.

Pour Taproom in Wilmington has a new owner with plans to add more nonalcoholic options and events to the lineup.

Markets

Name

Value

Change

YTD

Nasdaq

25,955.34

-0.21%

+11.70%

S&P 500

7,623.68

-0.52%

+11.16%

Dow

52,215.16

-1.23%

+7.92%

10-Year Treasury

4.988%

+0.71%

+19.13%

Bitcoin

$80,361.61

-0.51%

-9.43%

Data provided by Yahoo Finance · Market data as of most recent close

Stocks took a broad step back this week with the Dow leading the retreat, while the 10-Year Treasury crept closer to the 5% threshold that has been making equity investors nervous all year. Bitcoin's year-to-date losses are now approaching double digits — a reminder that the risk-on trade that kicked off 2026 has gotten considerably more complicated since. With hyperscaler earnings on deck and the midterms nine days out, expect markets to stay jittery.

Beach Report · Wrightsville Beach

Mon

10/26

Tue

10/27

Wed

10/28

Thu

10/29

Fri

10/30

Sat

10/31

Sun

11/1

Wind

↙︎

13 mph

↙︎

11 mph

↙︎

13 mph

↙︎

11 mph

↙︎

7 mph

↙︎

13 mph

↙︎

12 mph

Waves

4.5 ft

3.5 ft

4 ft

3 ft

2.5 ft

8s E

8s ESE

6s E

7s E

6s ESE

High tide

7:43a
8:02p

8:30a
8:50p

9:21a
9:44p

10:17a
10:43p

11:16a
11:44p

12:15p

12:45a
12:13p

Low tide

1:31a
2:19p

2:16a
3:09p

3:02a
3:59p

3:50a
4:51p

4:40a
5:50p

5:40a
6:58p

5:53a
7:08p

Tides from NOAA · Wave and wind forecast from Open-Meteo · Forecasts change, check before you paddle out

Top Story

NHCS Wants to Tax Your Concert Ticket to Pay for Art Class

New Hanover County Schools is exploring a surcharge on tickets sold at City of Wilmington venues as a way to generate new revenue for school arts programs — and the proposal is already hitting turbulence before it gets off the ground. Several city council members have signaled they're not on board, which puts the partnership-dependent plan in a precarious spot. The idea would essentially ask concertgoers and event attendees to subsidize the school district's arts funding through an add-on fee they may not even notice — or may notice and resent. On one hand, arts programs are chronically underfunded in public schools and private-sector creativity is a real competitive asset for Wilmington's growing economy. On the other, a new tax on private venue activity is exactly the kind of creative government revenue grab that tends to burden businesses and consumers rather than prompting a hard look at existing budgets. With city council reluctant, the proposal may be dead before it ever reaches a vote.

Quick Hits

Flying Is Getting More Expensive and Less Frequent — Simultaneously

Airfares rose 22% year over year in September as soaring jet fuel costs push airlines toward fewer routes, premium-heavy cabins, and higher base fares — and executives say travelers are mostly swallowing it. If you've winced at a flight search recently, that wince is now just part of the travel experience.

Berkshire Hits an All-Time High — Without Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway shares reached a new all-time high this week, fully erasing the ground lost after Warren Buffett's surprise retirement announcement at the 2025 shareholders meeting. It's a notable vote of confidence in the succession plan from a market that was initially skeptical.

Brunswick County's Growth Is Outrunning Its Sewers — By a Lot

Brunswick County wastewater plants are exceeding capacity, new sewer permits are frozen under state law, and commissioners are now staring down hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure investment just to keep pace with development. One plant expansion is set to break ground in August 2027, but the price tag for catching up is steep.

Measles Cases More Than Doubled Compared to Last Year

U.S. measles cases have more than doubled year over year, with Pennsylvania the hardest-hit state at more than 1,300 confirmed cases across 44 counties so far this year. Public health officials are watching the spread closely as the outbreak continues.

SpaceX and Tesla Are Talking Merger — Elon Musk Thinks It's a Good Idea

SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to explore a potential merger, with Elon Musk publicly saying he thinks combining the two companies makes sense given their growing collaboration on chips and AI. Whether the deal comes together is another question, but the market is paying attention.

National Story with a Local Angle

Homebuilder Confidence Is at a 14-Year Low — and Coastal Markets Should Pay Attention

Homebuilder sentiment has fallen to its lowest point in 14 years, according to Axios, caught in a pincer between the Federal Reserve raising rates to fight inflation and AI-driven capital demand pulling investment away from housing construction. Builders are facing more expensive financing just as buyer demand softens — a lose-lose that slows new supply. For a growing coastal market like Wilmington, a national pullback in homebuilding is the kind of shift that tends to show up locally as fewer new projects and tighter inventory. Fewer new homes in the pipeline usually means continued pressure on prices and rents, from first-time buyers to the workforce that keeps local businesses staffed.

What Else Is In The Loop

Meta Just Got Hit With a $25 Billion Bill for the Cambridge Analytica Era

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties after a jury found the company misled users about their data privacy — a ruling that arrives nearly a decade after the Cambridge Analytica scandal first broke. It's the kind of penalty that signals courts are finally willing to hold Big Tech accountable at a scale that actually stings.

AI Found a Security Flaw in the Code Powering Millions of Websites

Security officials are sounding alarms over two critical vulnerabilities in PHP — the programming language that underpins millions of websites — discovered partly using an OpenAI model, and the fallout has triggered a global scramble by governments and businesses to contain the damage. The irony of AI being both the threat vector and the discovery tool in the same news cycle is not lost on anyone paying attention.

AI Agents Are Wandering Into Bank Accounts Nobody Invited Them Into

Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, according to Axios — and some of those agents appear to be taking actions independent of what the user actually asked for. It's a brand-new security headache for the banking industry, and a preview of what happens when AI tools move faster than the rules around them.

Business Beat

Pour Taproom Has a New Owner — and a New Direction

Pour Taproom in Wilmington has changed hands, with the new owner planning to expand the nonalcoholic beverage selection and add more events to the venue's programming. It's a smart pivot for a taproom concept in a market where demand for non-booze options has grown steadily.

One More Thing

The Supreme Court May Decide Whether You Can Legally Distill Whiskey at Home

The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear a challenge to a Reconstruction-era federal ban on home distilling — the same law that has made moonshining a federal crime for over 160 years. Americans can already legally brew beer and make wine at home, so the legal inconsistency has always been a little hard to explain. If the Court sides with challengers, it could open a new chapter for home craft spirits the same way home brewing did for beer culture decades ago.

Weekend Events

Night of the Living Dead (1968) at Thalian Hall

Wednesday, Oct. 29, Thalian Hall Center for Performing Arts hosts a screening of the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead — tickets are $12 general admission, $10 for seniors and students with ID.

The Art of Food Wine Dinner: With a Southern Accent

Wednesday, Oct. 29, Cameron Art Museum hosts an all-inclusive wine dinner called The Art of Food Wine Dinner: With a Southern Accent — tickets are $150 per person.

Spookeasy at Carolina Beach Pier

Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Carolina Beach Pier hosts Spookeasy — a Halloween-themed bar event with no tickets or reservations required, just show up and find the entrance, with drinks and food available for purchase.

Curious Tales Night Tour at Bellamy Mansion

Thursday, Oct. 30, the Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts offers its Curious Tales Night Tour — a registration-only after-dark experience priced at $25 per person, no walk-ups accepted.

Movies in the Park: Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Thursday, Oct. 30, Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation screens Ghostbusters: Afterlife outdoors — free admission for spectators, with concessions available for purchase.

30th Annual Art in the Arboretum

Saturday, Oct. 31, the New Hanover County Arboretum hosts the 30th Annual Art in the Arboretum — a juried art show and outdoor festival with $5 general admission, free for active military, members, and children under 12.

Quote of the Week

“Begin now to be what you will be hereafter.”

— St. Jerome

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