Saturday, September 6, 2025

Good Morning! On this day in 2019, Hurricane Dorian’s eye missed Cape Fear, North Carolina, by about 30 miles and instead made landfall on Hatteras Island in the morning hours. Dorian’s winds and storm surge from the Pamlico Sound inflicted severe damage on Ocracoke and other areas of the southern Outer Banks.

An injured sea turtle named Bee Balm is recovering at a Surf City rehabilitation center, thanks to the help of a Wrightsville Beach volunteer organization. See today’s Et Cetera section for more details.

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Don’t feel like reading the national edition of The Flyover? Tune in to The Flyover Podcast! New episodes drop daily—watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, all in under 15 minutes.

RNC Backs Whatley

The Republican National Committee will provide financial support to Michael Whatley’s Senate campaign against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, an unusually early investment in a highly contested race.

National party rules dictate that the RNC must stay neutral during a primary, but can offer aid to candidates if all three of a state’s RNC members approve the aid. Known as Rule 11, the caveat gives Whatley extra financial resources and backing in what is shaping up to be a key Senate election.

Whatley, the former chair of the RNC, announced his campaign at the end of July after GOP Senator Thom Tillis announced he was not running for reelection. President Trump announced his support of Whatley in a Truth Social post.

$1.5B Construction Project to Begin in Concord

Red Bull, Rauch North America, and Ball Corporation will begin construction Sept. 9 on a $1.5 billion beverage campus at the former Philip Morris manufacturing site in Concord.

The project, first announced in 2021 but delayed, is expected to create up to 700 jobs and span 2.4 million square feet of building space. Officials say the operation will fill up to 3 billion cans of Red Bull products annually upon full buildout.

The plan was first announced in 2021 under then-Gov. Roy Cooper and included a $740 million investment. Initial estimates said the site would only create 400 jobs.

Civil Rights Leader Dead at 83

Civil rights leader and two-star general Joseph McNeil, a member of the A&T Four, has died. He was 83.

McNeil grew up in Wilmington and was an ROTC student at North Carolina A&T State University. He retired as a two-star general from the Air Force Reserve in 2001.

He was one of four A&T State University freshmen—along with Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, and David Richmond—who began a sit-in protest after being denied service at a whites-only counter and returned repeatedly in the following days. More protesters joined, reaching at least 1,000 by the fifth day, and within weeks, sit-ins spread to over 50 cities in nine states.

Greensboro’s Woolworth’s counter was desegregated within six months.

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➤ Statewide: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued mandates requiring states to remove references to gender-affirming language in Personal Responsibility Education Programs, a sex education program focused on reducing teen pregnancy. (More)

➤ Also statewide: Lawmakers voted to override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of Bill 805, a law that requires schools to post searchable library catalogs online and gives parents the power to block their children from borrowing certain books. (More)

➤ More statewide: Schools across the state participated in Students Demand Action, a nationwide effort by high school and college students that calls for stricter gun control. (More)

➤ Franklinton: A bus carrying high school students was struck by another student, injuring nine, though none required hospital transport. (More)

➤Greensboro: Dash and body camera footage from a May 14 arrest shows police detaining two men suspected of weapons possession and finding ski masks and shell casings in their vehicle. (More)

➤Gastonia: Police unveiled their Real Time Crime Center this week, enabling officers to analyze crime scenes through live camera footage and respond accordingly. (More)

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➤ UNC football coach Bill Belichick reportedly banned New England Patriots’ staff from the program while granting only limited access to all NFL personnel. (More)

➤ Duke’s decision to pay top-of-market price for quarterback Darian Mensah is fueled by the belief that its football program can become elite, according to the school’s athletic director. (More)

➤ The Carolina Hurricanes unveiled new away jerseys this week, inspired by a 2023 design, adding patches of the North Carolina state flag and mascot Stormy to the shoulders. (See Uniforms)

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➤ The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau began filming the second season of its successful YouTube series, The Outer Edge, on Wednesday, interviewing local historian and author “Keeper James.” (More)

➤ The Yiasou Greek Festival in Charlotte, now in its 47th year, celebrates Hellenic culture with food, traditional dances—including the Western Hemisphere’s largest Greek folk-dance festival—and art from local vendors. (περισσότερο)

➤ The Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Patrol rescued a turtle with a damaged shell in Little Lollipop Bay, naming it Bee Balm. They transported it to Surf City for treatment. (See Bee Balm)

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