Below, we have a tribute to the late, great Southern icon, Dolly Parton, and a rainbow over Wilmington, but first:

Everyone loves secret food destinations.

Today, we published a look at an under-the-radar taco destination in Asheville called Xico Chico. The name is cute.

Because Xico Chico is a barnacle on the exterior of Xico, a popular Mexican restaurant that’s getting rave reviews in western NC. 

As the story reports, Xico isn’t serving up tacos, but its speakeasy-style sibling, Xico Chico, is. They sell them out of a secret window (photographed below). 

“It allows people to experience the tastes of Xico but a little more casual and a little less expensive,” the shop’s co-owner and executive chef said.

Read the story here. 

The secret taco window at Xico Chico in Asheville. Tell us more. (USA Today/Reuters)

Happy Tuesday, NC. Here’s what you’ll find below in the C&P newsletter: 

C&P reader Martha Arter caught this perfect rainbow over Wilmington recently. 

Do you have a View from NC that beats this one? Share it with us!

A swimmer finds cooler temperatures in Lake Jordan. A new report from C&P considers how climate change is impacting “heat domes” in North Carolina. (Harry Powell/Shutterstock)

A heat dome, according to C&P’s Jessica F. Simmons, is a meteorological phenomenon that happens when a large area of high pressure in the atmosphere settles over a region and holds hot air in place.

Scientists say a heat dome is like a lid over a pot. The air beneath it sinks, compresses, and warms.

But, as Simmons writes, climate change can take a heat dome from annoying to dangerous. 

According to Climate Central’s analysis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) temperature records, Charlotte’s average July temperature rose 3.2 degrees between 1970 and 2025. In the Raleigh-Durham area, average July temperatures rose 4.9 degrees over the same period.

A heat dome is a weather pattern, but climate change makes the heat it traps more dangerous. This is important info to know.

Read the story here.

More at Cardinal & Pine:

1. SpaceX Starlink launch visible in NC skies Tuesday morning. WRAL

“Early risers were able to watch as SpaceX launched from Cape Canaveral Tuesday morning.”

2. Battleship North Carolina launches statewide license plate art contest. WECT

“A piece of North Carolina’s naval history could soon become a permanent fixture on the state’s highways, and local artists are being asked to help design it.”

3. Rethinking involuntary commitment in NC while trying not to break the system. Carolina Public Press

“New law creates studies through pilot programs to find solutions for involuntary commitment in NC that balance hospital and jail concerns.”

4. What Trump’s mail-in voting win at the Supreme Court means for NC voters. WRAL

“Monday’s win for President Donald Trump at the U.S. Supreme Court won’t immediately block mail-in voting in North Carolina or in any other state. But it does leave the door open for such a result in the coming weeks.”

Singer and actress Dolly Parton, shown at a party following the premiere of her movie “Nine to Five” in Los Angeles, Dec. 12, 1980. Parton, an icon in the rural South, passed away this week. (AP Photo/Harms, File)

On Tuesday, we learned that Dolly Parton, a musician and all-around entertainer with a deep connection to the Great Smoky Mountains, has died.

Usually in the media, we call someone by their last name. But Dolly was always “Dolly.” Though she grew up over the hills in Tennessee, anyone raised in the South knew Dolly from the TV, the radio, the movies, the theme parks, and her many charitable contributions. 

One of those, Dolly’s Imagination Library, we’ve written about at Cardinal & Pine. The program’s helped millions of kids get free books, including kids here in NC. 

Dolly’s often mentioned as an icon for LGBTQ+ folks, because of her warm affection for the community—a rarity in country music still. But Dolly should be a hero to anyone who came up in a part of the South that’s often not talked about. 

We’ll miss her. Read C&P’s story on Dolly’s Imagination Library here. 

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 Jessica F. Simmons, Sam Cohen, and USA Today Network via Reuters Connect. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

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