Newsletters

Plus: 3 things happening in NC this week Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. “3 things happening” is Cardinal & Pine’s weekly look at the storylines and events worth your time.  It’s a short week. But that doesn’t mean North Carolina isn’t busy.  This week, a popular hiking and music festival returns to Highlands…

Plus: A bipartisan plan to regulate data centers. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Below, we have a mysterious shipwreck and a plan to take on data centers, but first: Memorial Day weekend is here. And for the first time in a long time, there’s rain in the forecast for much of North Carolina. …

Plus: About Virginia Foxx’s letter to a 10-year-old Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. It is a curious thing that, in America, we talk about “separation of church and state” as a founding idea. But ideas aren’t the same thing as actual laws and policies, and in truth, many of our laws are closely…

Plus: Checking out the viral food stars of NC. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Below, we have an incredible view of the “blue ghost” fireflies, an important vote in the NC House, and viral food stars of NC, but first:  If I want our new video series, Billy Ball Explains NC, to do…

Plus: A presidential hopeful in western NC Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Below, we have one incredible phone call from the GOAT, a surfside view at Carolina Beach, and signs of a political sea change in western NC. But first:  In 2024, Carolina Beach—one of North Carolina’s most popular vacation spots—was flooded by…

Plus: Your guide to NC’s best water parks Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Below, we’ve got a big Asheville controversy and everything to know about NC waterparks this year, but first: We started this newsletter in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, like you, I’m still a little traumatized from the whole…

Plus: A big event for rural veterans on Saturday Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. We’ve got a view from Lake Hickory, the fight against political dark money in NC, and a huge event for rural veterans, but first:  If you’ve been reading Cardinal & Pine since the beginning, you know about the red…

Plus: What NC’s oyster farmers are up against Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Cardinal & Pine’s Michael McElroy has the latest on a developing story on US Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican representing parts of western NC.  Edwards was recently accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.  According to a new…

Plus: This could change politics in NC. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Since 2010, politics in America has changed.  The US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowed corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.  It has increasingly made non-local politics into a game played only by the…

Plus: If you don’t know George Masa, you need to Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Below, we’ve got a spectacular view from the Blue Ridge Parkway, a long-awaited proposal to do something about data centers, and an unforgettable story about the photographer who helped to found a western NC jewel. But first:  The…