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Billy Ball Explains NC: NC GOP outraged over gay Santa book

December 23, 2025

NC Republicans’ fury about a gay Santa book is one big performance, but it hurts real children.

Video: Lumbee recognition in North Carolina

January 7, 2026

NC’s Lumbee Tribe is headed for federal recognition after decades of waiting. Cardinal & Pine Senior Editor Billy Ball talked about it recently on PBS NC’s “State Lines.”

Here’s how people in North Carolina are coping with the SNAP freeze

November 3, 2025

“My biggest worry is keeping food on the table for my children,” said one North Carolina parent of the SNAP freeze. “Parents like me are doing everything we can to survive, and sometimes it becomes a daily struggle.”

The nation’s oldest and largest Indigenous sorority is bracing for DEI orders

May 16, 2025

This story was originally reported by Alexis Wray of The 19th. Meet Alexis and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. Felicia Warwick grew up in Pembroke, North Carolina, seeing red jackets with green and yellow Greek letters stitched alongside the zipper. When she saw women wearing them, she knew they had…

What’s with all the still uncounted provisional ballots in NC in 2024?

November 14, 2024

As part of North Carolina’s thorough election canvassing process, county boards of elections are still researching provisional ballots to see whether they should be counted, a process that could still affect close contests like the state Supreme Court race between Justice Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, who are separated by fewer than 8,000 votes.

Gay Santa has the NC GOP outraged

December 17, 2025

Plus: A farewell to a teacher. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. If there’s a point to our new video series, “Billy Ball Explains NC,” it’s to pull back the curtain on politics. Politicians say and do things, and their reasoning isn’t always as straightforward as you’d think. Take North Carolina Rep.…

North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe hoping for a long-awaited federal recognition

April 22, 2025

North Carolina’s Lumbee have been waiting for generations for the federal government to fully recognize them, bringing with it financial benefits and rights. They’re hoping support from President Trump will help them get it.

🚨 Fixing Your Ballot If You’re on Jefferson Griffin’s List

April 7, 2025

A recent court decision has sent shockwaves through the state. Plus: Saturday’s ‘Hands Off’ protests. And: Houston coach Kelvin Sampson’s NC background. Share with a friend In “Notes of a Native Son,” the writer James Baldwin offered this in the autobiographical note: “I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly…

Here’s how the GOP push to cut Medicaid would impact rural North Carolina

February 18, 2025

A push by Congressional Republicans to slash federal funding for Medicaid could have “dire consequences” for the more than 1.2 million rural North Carolinians who depend on the program.

7 most notorious true crime cases in North Carolina history

July 17, 2025

North Carolina has seen its fair share of notorious true crime cases. Here are some of the most well-known.