All NC barbecue news this week…

– Usually Raleigh’s WRAL picks their five favorite barbecue joints but this year they left it up to their readers

– October is now officially Barbecue Festival Month, at least according to the (somewhat biased) Lexington City Council

– This coming weekend on the streets of Raleigh, the NC Whole Hog Barbecue State Championship will be held at the same time as the International Bluegrass Music Assocation’s awards show, convention, and music festival, which recently relocated from Nashville to the capital city for the first of at least a three-year run

– You can catch the second airing of Bob Garner’s segment discussing his “Book of Barbecue” on UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Bookwatch” Thursday at 5pm

– Sadly, there was a salmonella outbreak at a barbecue event in Shelby earlier this month with 89 ill and 13 hospitalized; hopefully everyone makes a full recovery