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 Congress to agree on immigration enforcement.

Most Americans now say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that handles immigration policing, has gone too far. The violence in Minneapolis, including the killing of two protesters, seemed to be the tipping point. 

Democrats are calling for big changes at ICE. They want to unmask agents, tighten the process for ICE to get warrants, create an enforceable code of conduct, and other things. Republicans are opposing most of those proposals. Check out the latest from NC Newsline.

Demonstrators gather during a rally against federal immigration enforcement at Federal Courthouse Plaza on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

What do you think? Are changes necessary at ICE? Why?

Make sure to give us your name and where you’re writing from. We’ll publish your answers in an upcoming Cardinal & Pine newsletter. 

Here’s what else is in today’s email:

A Cardinal & Pine reader sent us this jaw-dropping view from Cherokee County, looking southeast towards Murphy. 

Beautiful. 

Snow in the NC mountains. (Jo Crebbin via Shutterstock)

We’ve all had fun in the snow. 

But extreme weather takes a toll on the state, especially on the state’s power grid. Cardinal & Pine correspondent Jessica F. Simmons reported this week on the thousands of people who lost power during the storm and why. 

Simmons also dug into why even extreme cold weather events fit the pattern of climate change. Let’s all get informed.

1. What is nationalized voting? What to know about Trump’s statement. USA Today via Reuters

“This week, President Trump called for Republicans to pursue nationalized voting. Here’s what that means and why it matters.”

2. It’s 2026 and you’re uninsured. Now what? KFF Health News

“The number of uninsured people in America is expected to surge, chiefly because of the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But there are still ways to find health care.”

3. Storm response costing NC millions as state scrambles to buy more salt, pay overtime. WRAL

“Back-to-back weekend storms — including one covering the entire state — have cost North Carolina $5 million on salt alone.”

Photo from 1970 shows Wilmington native and former Negro League baseball player Marshall Boney, top center. Top left is Melvin Johnson, who played with Boney on the all-Black Winston-Salem Pond Giants baseball team. Front and center is Boney’s wife, Annie. (USA Today via Reuters)

Black History Month is a time to celebrate our state’s heroes. The unsung and the sung kind. Here’s one of the unsung ones.

Let’s learn about Marshall Boney, a baseball player from Wilmington whose career peaked in the years before Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in Major League Baseball.

Boney played in the short-lived Negro leagues, a product of segregation. One baseball historian says that Boney, who died in 1975, is possibly one of the best baseball players that Wilmington ever produced.

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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 NC Newsline, Jessica F. Simmons, and USA Today via Reuters. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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