One of North Carolina’s top physicians has some advice for talking with someone who is worried about the safety of vaccines: Listen. 

“My process as a provider has always been when a patient would come to me with certain information that wasn’t consistent with best science, I would engage into a dialogue,” Dr. Devdutta Sangvai, the NCDHHS secretary, told Cardinal & Pine’s Michael McElroy. 

“The worst thing you can do is to criticize somebody for having a difference of opinion,” he said. “The best thing you can do is … figure out how you can resolve it.”

In a new Bad Medicine story, we took a look at how vaccine hesitancy is driving a measles resurgence in America—including right here in North Carolina. 

And what, exactly, we can do about it. 

We talked to North Carolina physicians about the vaccine disinformation driv ing a resurgence in measles. Here’s what they had to say. (Graphic by Cardinal & Pine)

We’re so, so flattered you’re reading Cardinal & Pine’s newsletter. Here’s what’s in it today: 

The full moon rising over Oak Island Lighthouse, courtesy of C&P reader Beth Winchell. 

Show us your neck of the woods, NC. 

US Homeland Security Secrety Markwayne Mullin in March at the US Capitol. Mullin was in western NC Tuesday. (USA Today via Reuters)

We knew that recovery in western North Carolina was going to be a long haul. 

But it’s been hampered by a slow rollout of federal dollars into the region. During Kristi Noem’s tenure as the US Homeland Security Secretary, it was one of the main criticisms coming out of NC. 

Noem’s replacement, Markwayne Mullin—a former Republican senator from Oklahoma—will have to face that issue. 

He was in western NC Tuesday. Here’s what his visit was about. 

1. NC pushes rail expansion, including chance to take a train to the beach. WRAL

“Officials are looking to expand the state’s rail network, including routes that would better connect Raleigh to Greenville, Hamlet, Morehead City, Weldon and Winston-Salem to Charlotte.”

2. Republicans ask North Carolina court to approve settlement that could expose voters to wrongful purges, investigations. Democracy Docket

“Republican groups are asking a North Carolina court to approve a settlement that would expand how the state flags and removes suspected noncitizens from voter rolls — creating a new system that could send flagged voters to law enforcement and make sensitive data publicly available.”

3. Is achievement obsession harming NC university students? Carolina Public Press

“Students at top public colleges and universities in NC face cultural pressure for achievement that could harm more than help.”

From fresh produce to in-house tortillas, these Mexican markets in North Carolina carry all kinds of Latin goods. (Benigno Hoyuela/Unsplash)

If I had to pick a desert-island food, it would be Mexican. I’m not alone. 

The last decade or more has been fun for folks with tastebuds like mine, as we’ve been treated to an ever-expanding variety of local Mexican markets in North Carolina. 

We wanted to help everyone, including gringos like me, find the best ones. In a new guide, C&P contributor Karishma Desai scouts the top ones, from the coast to the Triangle and out west. Read it here. 

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Billy Ball. I’m an NC native and journalist. I tend to lean left on opinion, but I lean no way on facts. Today’s edition includes stories from Michael McElroy, USA Today Network via Reuters Connect, and Karishma Desai. It was edited by Brook Bolen.

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