Somehow, someway, there’s a really important election in November.

And one of the most important races on the ballot in North Carolina will be the race for one of NC’s two US Senate seats. One seat is held by Republican Ted Budd. The other is held by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis.

The two frontrunners for Tillis’ seat are former NC Gov. Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley, who once led the NC GOP and the Republican National Committee.

In a new episode of Billy Ball Explains NC, we took a look at why disaster relief—or the lack thereof—figures to play a big part in the race. Make sure to “like” and subscribe so that Billy Ball Explains NC can keep growing.

Thanks for reading Cardinal & Pine. Make sure to share this newsletter with your friends and family. I think it’s one of the best in the state.

Here’s what you’ll get today:

A hearty shout-out to venerable Cardinal & Pine reader Lucy Grist for this view of the morning crossing in Beaufort.

Want to know if someone’s from NC or not? Ask them to pronounce “Beaufort.” 😂

A tobacco farm near Winston-Salem, NC. (Richard Hamilton Smith/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Agriculture is one of those things that you can’t extract from North Carolina’s culture. 

Wherever you grew up, chances are there was a cornfield down the road. I used to play hide-and-seek in them. 

Today, Cardinal & Pine’s Michael McElroy took a look at a new report from the conservative John Locke Foundation examining the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on our farms.

The study, published this month, finds that Trump’s widespread tariffs could ultimately cost farmers nearly $700 million in lost revenue and lead to the elimination of 8,000 jobs, a double whammy that risks nearly $2 billion in “potential total economic losses” for North Carolina’s largest industry.

Let’s dig into why.

1. Why the ICE killings in Minneapolis could change everything. The Living South

Why the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good recall a wave of violence in Alabama in 1965 that changed America.

2. Lumbee Tribe buys land off I-95 for possible casino. WUNC

“Lumbee Chairman John Lowery, who’s also a state legislator, says tribal members will vote on whether to build a resort and casino.”

3. US East Coast bomb cyclone could bring heaviest snow in decades to North Carolina. AccuWeather

“A storm will rapidly intensify along the Atlantic Coast of the United States this weekend and is forecast to bring accumulating snow to parts of the Southeast.” 

4. Duke Energy plans massive natural gas power plant in Davidson County. But where, exactly? Inside Climate News

“The powerful North Carolina utility is cagey about the exact location, but there are clues, and environmentalists want to know. In any event, a fossil fuel buildout is on.”

We’ve seen it asked a million times:

If climate change is real, how is it so damn cold outside? Cardinal & Pine contributor Ashley Adams took a look at the winter goings-on this week.

In short, climate change isn’t measured by days-long events. It’s measured by trends over weeks and months and years. And the evidence is clear that the planet is getting warmer.

That said, Adams also digs into how the changing climate doesn’t just warm things. It also makes the weather, well, wilder. Let’s take a look.

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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 and Ashley Adams. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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