An advocacy group is providing support to candidates who want to expand support for child and elder care in the midterm elections. The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races. The announcement comes as the cost of child care continues to rise and as waiting lists for federal child care subsidies continue to grow. American families face a slew of costs, including surging gasoline prices driven by a war in the Middle East that is unpopular with many voters. Republicans have begun to back child care as an issue crucial to growing the workforce, but their proposals tend to be less dramatic than those offered by Democrats.

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FILE - Leqaa Kordia, center, demonstrates with pro-Palestianian protesters at Columbia University in New York, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

A law enforcement official says the shooter who opened fire in a classroom at Virginia’s Old Dominion University in an attack being investigated as an act of terrorism had a gun with an obliterated serial number. That could complicate efforts to determine how a man with a felony conviction obtained a firearm. The official says investigators will try to re-surface the number in order to trace the gun. The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the investigation. The FBI identified the shooter as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guard member who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State. FBI officials said ROTC students subdued and killed Jalloh to stop the Thursday shooting.

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Police arrive outside Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/John Clark)

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Bystanders are evacuated from Old Dominion University's campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Norfolk, Va. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)