Good News Friday is Cardinal & Pine’s weekly roundup of positive news stories from around NC. For past editions of Good News Friday, tap here.
Here’s what you’ll get in today’s edition of Good News Friday:
- $550 million infusion keeps Raleigh-to-Richmond train project chugging
- Three new red wolf pups make North Carolina home
- Josh Stein presents Order of the Long Leaf Pine to 14 North Carolinians
My mother-in-law is taking the Amtrak train from Charlotte to Washington DC today, which is a good way to travel—but has so much room to improve. It’s fortunate that she’s a veteran of the early church service because she has to be at the station at 6:30 a.m. to take a ride that will last more than eight hours.
For context, I could drive from my house in east Charlotte to DC’s Union Station in under six hours.
I would love to see more officials around our country fight for the development of actual high-speed rail infrastructure. Unfortunately, at this point that feels like something that might be happening on some parallel timeline where we aren’t distracted by simply keeping democracy alive. But I digress.
An infusion of federal and state funding announced this week will help advance the S-Line Raleigh to Richmond Innovating Rail Program, a project that will reduce travel times between the two capital cities—and by extension between North Carolina and the actual US capital—by more than an hour.
It’s not high-speed rail, but in the timeline we’re living on, I’ll take it.
$550 million infusion keeps Richmond-to-Raleigh train project chugging
Gov. Josh Stein and NC Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson joined the Federal Railroad Administration in Raleigh on Thursday to announce $550 million in federal-state partnership funding to help develop the S-Line Raleigh to Richmond Innovating Rail Program, a project that is expected to reduce train travel times between Raleigh and Richmond, Va., by more than an hour.
The project will create a shortcut by adapting current freight rail lines between the two cities for passenger service, creating a more direct northern route whereas passengers from Raleigh currently need to travel east to Selma before heading north through Rocky Mount.
The NC Department of Transportation expects to finish the preliminary bridge between Raleigh and Petersburg, Virginia, next month, with a target completion date in July 2028.
“Living in the number one state that people from other states are moving to, North Carolinians need good transportation options that get them where they need to be when they need to get there,” Stein said on Thursday. “The S-Line will connect North Carolina residents to more transportation options within the state and beyond so they can get to school, work, or anywhere else they need to go. I am grateful to our federal partners and congressional delegation.”
Three new red wolf pups make North Carolina home
Two red wolf pups are settling into their new surroundings at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham after this week’s swap with the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) in South Salem, NY. The swap saw a breeding pair from Durham and their five pups head north to South Salem to live in a more fitting habitat.
One of the wolves that arrived at Raleigh Regional Airport on Tuesday was brought to a separate North Carolina facility, according to NC Newsline. The Durham museum welcomed another of the WCC’s mated red wolf pairs, Sabine and Mac Tíre, to continue its role in the critically endangered species’ conservation program.
“Red Wolf conservation depends on organizations coming together and making thoughtful decisions about where individual animals can make the greatest contribution to the program,” Sherry Samuels, senior director of animal care at the Museum of Life and Science, said in a release. “We’re proud of the role the Museum has played in that effort and look forward to getting to know Sabine and Mac Tíre while continuing to provide a home for Red Wolves here in Durham.”
As of August 2026, there are estimated to be less than 40 red wolves living in the wild (22-23 adults and 14-15 pups) and 295 living in captivity, according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Josh Stein presents Order of the Long Leaf Pine to 14 North Carolinians
On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Stein inducted the latest slate of accomplished North Carolinians into The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor a North Carolina governor can give to a state resident.
Launched in 1963, persons named to The Order become honorary North Carolina “ambassadors,” according to The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Society, an organization that remains separate from the governor’s office but preserves the history of the award to “promote its ideals of civic leadership, service and accomplishment.”
This year’s slate of inductees includes educators, faith leaders, law enforcement, and former President Biden’s EPA head, Michael Regan.
Here’s the full list of honorees:
- Valencia Abbott, Rockingham County – Rockingham Early College High School social studies teacher; 2025 North Carolina History Teacher of the Year; Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History 2025 National History Teacher of the Year
- Kevin Baker, Guilford County – Executive director of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority
- Bishop Larry Brown, Moore County – Minister at Taylortown’s House of Prayer
- Judge Julianna Earp, Guilford County – Former Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases on the North Carolina Business Court
- Lara Gerald, Forsyth County – President of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust; former North Carolina State Health Director
- Deena Hayes-Greene, Guilford County – Guilford County Board of Education member; Co-founder and managing director of the Racial Equity Institute
- Allen Joines, Forsyth County – Mayor of Winston-Salem
- Stephen Lee, Guilford County – Former Northern Guilford Middle School career and technical education teacher
- Kelly A. Moore, Guilford County – Greensboro Police Department Director of Forensic Services
- Paula Rakestraw, Rockingham County – Former executive director of the Rockingham County Partnership for Children; Rockingham County Board of Education member
- Michael Regan, Wake County – Former Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for Governor Roy Cooper; former administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Judge Michael L. Robinson, Forsyth County – Former Chief Judge of the North Carolina Business Court; former Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases
- Tim Tsujii, Forsyth County – Forsyth County director of elections
- Officer Michael Smith and Sergeant Liam Whelan, Forsyth County – Winston-Salem Police Department
