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  • 🏅 NC athletes showing out at the Olympics

    Plus: Name this North Carolina market Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. 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…


  • This NC street newspaper is made by homeless folks

    Plus: Primary election dates you need to know Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. None of this matters very much if we don’t vote. My take: Voting is the thing that makes powerful people give a damn about basic “Joe Schmoes” like me. They might not want to listen to us, but when we…


  • 3 new ICE facilities in NC?

    Plus: Bull fighting in Raleigh Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. The big news today is ICE, the federal agency in charge of enforcing immigration laws. Republicans funded a massive increase in the agency’s budget. But their aggressive tactics, including here in North Carolina, have cost them a lot of support in the last…


  • Lost Obamacare subsidies hitting in NC

    Plus: Buddhist monks’ journey nears its end. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. A few years back, I covered the prominent civil rights leader Bishop William Barber II when he came to eastern NC. Barber was speaking on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He talked about the enormous changes that we’d…


  • ❤️ 8 viral animal stars in NC

    Plus: Last days of the Dambo trolls Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. This newsletter should do more than tell you the news. It should help you prepare for the week, too. Every week, we publish “3 things happening in NC” with that in mind. This week, Cardinal & Pine contributor Ryan Pitkin checks…


  • The NC maestro who just won a Grammy

    Plus: Name this historic NC downtown Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Art is the lie that tells the truth.  I’m paraphrasing a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso. Today’s “Good News Friday” column celebrates a ground-breaking piece of art that’s telling a lot of truth.  This week, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra director Kwamé Ryan took…


  • NC’s prisons are in crisis mode

    Plus: Another arctic blast is heading our way. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. In 2017, five prison employees in North Carolina were killed in two separate incidents. It was the deadliest year in state history for NC corrections workers. Afterward, state investigators pointed the finger at prison understaffing. It’s apparent that our state…


  • Social media is broken. How to fix it.

    Plus: What our readers think about ICE Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. I’m going to say something that we can all agree on: Social media is a disaster. It’s addictive, misleading, vindictive, very often wrong, and designed and operated to make us hate each other. But it is not unfixable. If you’ve been…


  • What’s next for ICE, Border Patrol?

    Plus: NC’s Black baseball pioneers, remembered Share with a friend     Hey, it’s Billy. We start today’s newsletter with a national story. Members of the US House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that should end the partial government shutdown that began over the weekend. It sets up a two-week span for members of…


  • This NC town is racing … outhouses??

    Plus: A live look at rare snow on the Outer Banks ❄️ Share with a friend   How we’re reporting on immigration right now Immigration has become one of the most closely watched and emotionally charged issues in the country since President Trump returned to office. We’ve seen an increase in ICE raids, legal battles,…