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. Brenden Jones, a top Republican in the state House of Representatives.

Recently, Jones went nuclear on Chapel Hill-Carrboro school leaders during a legislative committee hearing. He accused them of disobeying the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which forbids LGBTQ-friendly content in elementary schools. That includes, apparently, children’s books that have a gay couple in them.

He was angry about a book about a gay Santa that reportedly isn’t even in the school system’s library. Let’s break down the story in just a few minutes.

Make sure to like and subscribe when you’re there so we can break the YouTube algorithm and make a difference. 🙏

The latest “Billy Ball Explains NC” is now available. Click here to watch.

ICYMI, here are some of the highlights of our new Cardinal & Pine video series:

Happy midweek, NC. Let’s get to the rest of the news.

This extraordinary view from the Buck Springs Gap overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway comes from Cardinal & Pine reader Brian Allemana.

Tough to beat that one, Brian.

Benevolence Farm’s tiny home community groundbreaking ceremony was held on Nov. 20, 2025, in Alamance County. The expansion comes as more than one in four people in North Carolina leave state prisons homeless—a gap the state aims to close. (Rachel Crumpler/NC Health News)

This is a fascinating story about an innovative approach to reentry.

NC Health News reports on the development of Benevolence Farm, a program in Alamance County that’s aimed at helping people transition from incarceration to life after incarceration.

“About 95 percent of the more than 32,000 people in North Carolina prisons will one day return to the community — about 20,000 releases each year,” they report. “Yet many struggle to secure housing because of stigma, a shortage of affordable housing and landlords who are unwilling to rent to people with criminal records.”

Benevolence Farms’ approach is to build tiny homes on a 13-acre property in Graham. They hope to be done by fall 2026. It will reportedly double the program’s housing capacity. Check it out and share.

1. NC funnels $50 million to Helene repair projects that don’t qualify for FEMA. Asheville Citizen-Times

“Many Helene repairs did not qualify for FEMA funds, so North Carolina leaders are expected to spend $50 million through 80 grants in western NC.”

2. Video: NC pastor says ICE took a community member and denied visitation. Cardinal & Pine

“A NC pastor talks to Cardinal & Pine about ICE’s arrest of a Raleigh man who later suffered a medical emergency. ICE reportedly denied his family visitation afterward.”

3. NC’s Lumbee closer to long-sought federal recognition after US Senate approves defense bill. WRAL

“A wide-ranging defense spending bill, approved by the Senate on Wednesday, would grant federal recognition to the Lumbee. It would become the biggest tribe east of the Mississippi with President Donald Trump’s signature. Trump says he supports the recognition.”

4. Lumbee recognition means eastern North Carolina could get a casino. Axios

“A reservation can now be created in Robeson County, unlocking the potential for legal casinos and marijuana sales in the eastern part of the state.”

As the writer of this newsletter (and a lover of our public school teachers), I want to take a moment of personal privilege:

I learned late Tuesday that one of my most beloved teachers passed away in Elizabeth City. Julie Bridges taught English to thousands of kids in eastern NC. I was one of them. 

Though I didn’t speak with her much in the last 25 years, Mrs. Bridges changed my life. Aside from my parents, she was one of the first people who told me I could write. And it doesn’t really feel like it counts until a neutral party says it.

Like so many teachers, it was obvious that she would be doing that job if they paid her in peanuts. She was funny and passionate. She made it look like learning and doing what you love is the secret to life, if such a thing exists.

Sitting in her class was like an awakening. School doesn’t have to suck. And what you have to say should be said from a mountaintop. It’s hard to imagine me doing what I do without her.

This is for all the teachers who show up, put their souls into it, and change lives every day in this state. Whether you know it or not, there are kids out there who are going to think about you for the rest of their lives.

RIP, Mrs. Bridges. ♥️

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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 NC Health News and USA Today via Reuters. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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