Happy Friday the 13th, or for the not superstitious Cardinal & Pine readers, happy Friday.

We begin, as we often do on Fridays, with our Good News Friday roundup.

We started making these columns weekly around the time that COVID-19 and the election drama made us feel like pulling our hair out. And most 40-something-year-old men like me don’t have extra hair to pull out.

Today, Cardinal & Pine contributor Ryan Pitkin wrote about some fun stories, including the North Carolina athletes representing at the Winter Olympics in Milan.

Mystique Ro, a former track star at Queens University in Charlotte, poses at the skeleton world championships in 2025. Ro is representing the US in the same event at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The Cardinal & Pine team will be off Monday for Presidents Day, but we’ll see you back here Tuesday.

I’m grateful you’re reading this newsletter, NC. Here’s what’s in it today:

Cardinal & Pine reader Pete Reinheimer photographed our namesake braving the snow recently in Lenoir.

Billy Ball Explains NC premieres every Wednesday afternoon on YouTube. 

An important “in case you missed it”:

Newly unearthed documents show that ICE, the federal government’s immigration enforcement arm, is considering new facilities in North Carolina.

1. GOP wants to use controversial ‘election integrity’ software ELLY in NC. NC Newsline

“Conservatives in North Carolina want to deploy ELLY, a modified version of the controversial software Trump’s allies used to file mass voter challenges in Georgia in 2024.”

2. Fact-check: Did Cooper prison settlement release suspect in fatal Charlotte stabbing? PolitiFact

“Republicans say that a man accused of killing a woman on a Charlotte commuter train was ‘released’ from prison as part of a 2021 settlement struck between civil rights groups and then-Gov. Roy Cooper. Public records and officials disprove the claim.”

3. NC pension plan’s crypto bet is down millions. Why supporters remain confident. WRAL

“State legislators pushed for North Carolina’s pension plan to start investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies last year, over objections by many of the state employees who rely on the plan’s stability for their retirement. The state’s fund managers have faith in their investments.”

(Shutterstock)

Last week in this space, you folks crushed it. As many of you correctly answered, we were in downtown Wake Forest.

The fastest right answer, though, came from Cardinal & Pine reader David Whitehead, who points out it is his hometown. This week, David, you are the king of NC knowledge.

Let’s check out where we are this week. Fastest one to get it right is the winner!

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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 and NC Newsline. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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