The great states of North Carolina and Ohio have beef. 

It centers around the famous Wright Brothers, whose 1903 flight at Kill Devil Hills changed the world. To celebrate, NC began offering the “First in Flight” license plate in 1982.

In 1998, Ohio, the birthplace of the Wright Brothers, began issuing its own “Birthplace of Aviation” tags.

I think we all know where Cardinal & Pine stands on this whole fracas. 

This week in Kill Devil Hills, the National Park Service will be honoring the historic flight with Wright Brothers Day. This year’s celebration includes a dedication to aviation pioneer and inventor William P. Lear, the founder of the Lear Jet line.

Read about it in “3 things happening in NC” this week. 👇

Wright Brothers Day, a celebration of the historic first flight on the NC Outer Banks, is Dec. 17. (Shutterstock)

10 days and counting to Christmas. How’s the shopping going? 

Here’s what’s in today’s email: 

Despite the extreme cold, fall is still with us. Cardinal & Pine reader Gaines Townsend captured it nicely with this view from Wilmington. 

Got a beautiful view from NC? Send it our way.

Just one more day remaining in Cardinal & Pine’s year-end drive.

Your support shapes what we’re able to cover in the enormous year ahead, and keeps it free for everyone who turns to us.

(Dylan Rhoney/Cardinal & Pine)

Cardinal & Pine’s Dylan Rhoney has a must-read report on an NC man’s detainment by ICE, and the medical emergency that prompted his transfer to a Charlotte-area medical facility.

The man, David Cardenas, fled Nicaragua with his family in 2022 after the government threatened to close his jewelry business. He’s requested asylum from the US. While he awaits word on that request, Cardenas was granted permission to stay in the country on a work permit if he attended yearly check-ins with US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).

This month, immigration agents arrested him when he showed up for one of those appointments in Charlotte. For days, the man was denied visitation with his family, but Rhoney reports good news for him. Click below to read and share.

More on this story: 

1. President Trump to speak Friday in Rocky Mount. WRAL

“President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak on Friday in Rocky Mount, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley announced. Whatley is running in the GOP primary.”

2. What happened when immigration agents showed up at this North Carolina woman’s house. NPR

“A North Carolina woman left her front yard Christmas tree half-decorated after immigration agents questioned men helping her. The unfinished tree stands as a symbol of the immigration crackdown.”

3. North Carolina Supreme Court delay on key education case draws criticism from advocates. NC Newsline

“The North Carolina Supreme Court issued a new round of opinions last week, but once again left unresolved the Leandro school funding case, a decades-old legal fight over the state’s obligation to provide a ‘sound, basic education’ to its public school students.”

4. Video: The 2026 elections are going to be really hard for the politicians in charge. Cardinal & Pine

“Cardinal & Pine Senior Editor Billy Ball appeared on a recent episode of PBS NC’s ‘State Lines.’”

Suzanne and Sean. (Uncloseted Media)

Here’s a fascinating take from a rural North Carolina woman named Suzanne Graydon. 

Graydon writes about her longtime friendship with her best friend, Sean. Sean came out to Graydon when he was 18 years old. Graydon, who was raised a Christian, wasn’t sure what she thought at first. 

In the 20 years since then, their friendship has only grown deeper. And Graydon says she’s reconciled her support for Sean with her faith. 

“To me, being an ally to Sean means being there for him no matter what,” she writes. “I want him to know that this is a friendship worth sticking with and I am never going to leave him. God says that ‘I will never leave or forsake you,’ and that is how I feel about my allyship with Sean.”

People are complicated. Most of the time, they’re awesome too. Check out Graydon’s story by clicking the button.

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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 Ryan Pitkin, Dylan Rhoney, and Uncloseted Media. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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