Really important news for anyone who plans on voting—which, I assume, is every one of us.

North Carolina Democrats have reached a settlement with Republicans over the fate of about 73,000 voters that the GOP wanted to boot off the voting rolls.

Republicans have been seeking to remove certain voters whose information state election officials are missing. That missing information does not mean folks aren’t valid NC voters. Republicans and NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin made a similar argument last year in an erstwhile attempt to overturn Griffin’s election loss in 2024.

Cardinal & Pine’s Michael McElroy reports that, under the terms of the new settlement, those 73,000 voters will not be removed from the rolls, but they will have to update their registrations at the voting booth with a valid Voter ID or cast a provisional ballot to have their vote counted.

To find out if your voter registration is complete, tap the button or the image below.

Help us get the word out about this important voting information and share this newsletter.

Here’s what else you’ll find in Cardinal & Pine’s newsletter today:

The photos of winter weather have been pouring in. 

This one, taken in Kings Mountain, was snapped by Cardinal & Pine reader Donna Logan. 

Missed your chance to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Check out the NC town of Beaufort’s weekend-long Mardi Gras celebration. (Shutterstock)

Mardi Gras came and went on Tuesday.

But you can still give in to this annual, pre-Lent celebration of indulgence and extravagance over the weekend. We won’t tell anyone.

The town of Beaufort hosts a weekend-long Mardi Gras celebration beginning Friday. For that and two more things to do this week in NC—including High Point’s big furniture blow-out sale—tap here or on the button below.

1. Opinion: Jesse Jackson—slandered, libeled, redeemed. The Living South

“Where I’m from, a white home in rural North Carolina, Jesse Jackson wasn’t a popular name. But the South might of never had a better champion for it on the big stage.”

2. Asheville won’t be getting a Costco after all—at least for now. USA Today via Reuters

“Western NC residents have been eagerly awaiting a CostCo, but a proposed plan to build one in Asheville has been withdrawn.”

3. Runaway pig caught after snack-fueled standoff with North Carolina deputies. ABC-13 News

“A North Carolina sheriff’s office truly brought home the bacon this week after deputies wrangled a runaway pig that wandered into a home apparently in search of snacks.”

4. What we can learn from North Carolina’s ‘Moral Mondays.’ In These Times

“As Trump intensifies his anti-democratic crackdown, North Carolina’s Moral Mondays movement offers a roadmap for organizers looking to fight back.”

North Carolina’s Pea Island Life-Saving Station is an incredible story. Check it out by tapping the image above. (Public domain)

We live in a time where it’s supposed to be … provocative to celebrate Black History Month?

We don’t really buy that at Cardinal & Pine. We think it’s the bare minimum to celebrate the historic accomplishments of all kinds of people. And for generations, we didn’t do enough of that.

There are still dozens of places across NC where the accomplishments of Black North Carolinians like John Coltrane or Nina Simone are underrepresented.

This week, Cardinal & Pine contributor Britteny Dee has a fascinating look at one often overlooked story—that of the Pea Island Life-Saving Station, the only all-Black station of its kind in America. This is a must-read and must-share.

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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 Michael McElroy, Ryan Pitkin, and Britteny Dee. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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