Below, we have a blast from NC’s weird past and a breaking news story on ICE, but first: 

Every week, we pull together a few feel-good stories to send you into the weekend with a headwind. We call it Good News Friday. 

This week, we found a tearjerker in the NC State women’s basketball program. A happy tearjerker. 😂

Coach Wes Moore pranked a walk-on player from Cary with an $18,000 bill for tuition and room and board. Then he tore it up and announced she was now on scholarship with the team. 

The reaction is priceless. Check out that story, and two more feel-good bits, in today’s Good News Friday at Cardinal & Pine. 

Cary native Audrey Ericksen (center), a senior guard with the NC State University women’s basketball team, landed a surprise scholarship from the school this week. (@packwomensbball on Instagram)

Friday, have I ever told you I loved you? 

We have a very full newsletter today. Here’s what you’ll find below:

This week, we were treated to the Buck Moon, so named because this full moon occurs at that time of year when the deer get their antlers. 

C&P reader Kaaren Haldeman captured this beautiful view from Lake Junaluska. If you have a cool view from NC, don’t be shy, y’all. Send it to C&P!

During the three weeks Prisciliano was detained at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, he became very ill and called his family daily for emotional support. (Photo via Facebook)

In June, Prisciliano Trejo Ricano was arrested by ICE. The 29-year-old Mexican man was living in Durham. 

A little more than a month later, he was dead, killed by an aggressive form of leukemia that went untreated for weeks while he was in federal custody, according to a new report from Enlace Latino NC, a nonprofit, Spanish-language newsroom in North Carolina.

Family and immigrant rights advocates told Enlace that Prisciliano complained about his worsening symptoms, but wasn’t given medical care. His family learned on July 16 that he was being taken to an Atlanta hospital, and eight days later, he died. 

Prisciliano is one of 50 immigrants who have reportedly died in ICE custody since President Trump returned to the White House in 2025. 

Read his story here. 

[Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in Spanish by Enlace Latino NC. Cardinal & Pine used Google Translate to publish it in English.]

The famed and murderous ‘Green Goblin truck’ from Wilmington-shot film ‘Maximum Overdrive,’ released in 1986.

Let’s be honest.

No one is going to give any prestigious awards to “Maximum Overdrive,” a 1986 film about machines going homicidal because of a … passing comet. 😂

But the movie, which was directed and filmed in Wilmington by famed horror novelist Stephen King, has earned a special place in many people’s heart—including mine—because it’s just so goofy. 

This week marked the 40th anniversary of the movie’s debut. It was released to a chorus of boos from movie critics. Here’s one take from a critic:

“Someone once said to me: ‘Stephen King didn’t direct this movie. Cocaine directed this movie.’ And it certainly shows.”

Ouch.

So we’ll give the movie its laurels with this fun write-up about “Maximum Overdrive” and its strange, strange story. 

Check it out.

More at Cardinal & Pine:

1. Endangered Indiana bats found in North Carolina for first time in 10 years. WBTV

“Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the U.S. Forest Service, and Brown Environmental 13 announced on July 20 that they captured five reproductive female Indiana bats in the Nantahala National Forest in Graham County.”

2. North Carolina police officer arrested after alleged misuse of Flock cameras. ABC-13

“Seth Elliot, an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, was charged Wednesday with illegally accessing a government computer, according to a press release from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.”

3. A tornado did touch down this week in western NC. Here are the details. WBTV

“The twister touched down near the Allegheny community in Madison County shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28.”

Tokar via Shutterstock

Last week, we had beaches on the brain in this section. 

This was a particularly tricky one because, if you’ve ever been to the Outer Banks, there are a lot of piers and beaches that look just like that. So it took a real master to name Topsail Beach.  

The only C&P reader to get it right was Carter Hammett-McGarry. Carter, we stand in awe of you. 👏 

Let’s run it back, NC. Where are we this week? 

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, Enlace Latino NC, and USA Today Network via Reuters Connect. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

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