Friday, October 30, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1629, England’s King Charles I granted a vast tract south of Virginia, including present-day North and South Carolina, to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath. The grant named the territory Carolana, “land of Charles,” the origin of the name Carolina.

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Stein Announces $13M for 911 Upgrades

North Carolina’s 911 Board has handed out more than $13 million this year to upgrade equipment and buildings at emergency call centers across the state, Gov. Josh Stein’s office announced Tuesday.

The grants go to public safety answering points—the dispatch hubs that field 911 calls—in 14 communities from Charlotte to Bertie County. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police drew about $1.9 million for radio consoles, Robeson County got about $1.1 million for radio replacements, and Bertie County received $748,000 for new consoles.

Wilson County received roughly $1.3 million, while the State Highway Patrol claimed the largest award—about $4.1 million for dispatch consoles and logging recorders.

The board, housed in the state’s Department of Information Technology, oversees 124 call centers staffed by nearly 3,000 telecommunicators and says it has invested more than $104 million in them over the past decade.

State Auditor Tracks Charlotte Stadium Spending

North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek released the first in a series of reports tracking Charlotte’s $650 million share of the Bank of America Stadium renovation.

The overall project runs $1.3 billion, split evenly between the city and Tepper Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Panthers and Charlotte FC. Records show about $3.1 million spent so far, including $2.5 million on the Panthers’ new field house.

Boliek framed the reviews as real-time oversight rather than a postmortem, saying the bonds amount to borrowing on “the people’s credit card.”

The Charlotte City Council approved the subsidy 7-3 in June 2024, a deal that keeps the Panthers and Charlotte FC in the city through at least 2040 and encourages them to stay through early 2046, but has drawn criticism as a costly giveaway. The city plans to repay the debt with Mecklenburg County hospitality taxes.

A Guide to Halloween Fun across NC

Halloween falls on a Saturday for the first time since 2020, and North Carolina towns statewide have planned costume crawls, haunted trails, trick-or-treat events, and more.

The National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend a record $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, and downtown Wilmington merchants are banking on “Saturween” crowds with costume events and seasonal treats.

In the Triangle, the Haunted Forest at Panic Point in Franklin County draws crowds to its five attractions, while Raleigh’s famous Oakwood Halloween House showcases a lawn filled with zombies and skeletons.

Charlotte-area and Western North Carolina communities will host Halloween trick-or-treating events as well, including Valdese’s Treats in the Streets, Boone Boo!, Kannapolis Sweet Street Trunk-or-Treat, and Taylorsville’s Hometown Halloween this weekend. View a list of additional haunted attractions and events here.

A Note from Cole, CEO of The Flyover

Dear Reader,

Every year, auditors count how many copies America’s biggest newspapers actually put in people’s hands. The new numbers are brutal.

Of the 25 largest papers in the country, 24 shrank last year. Average decline: 12.5%. Nearly a quarter-million daily papers, gone in a single year. The Denver Post now prints about 24,000 copies a day. The Arizona Republic, 33,000. The Houston Chronicle, 35,000. The Dallas Morning News, under 40,000. These are metros of millions. And the steepest collapse in the country belonged to The Washington Post: down 21% in a single year to fewer than 88,000 print copies.

The industry will tell you it’s the internet. It’s a convenient story, because it means none of this is their fault.

Here’s the story they won’t tell: Americans didn’t stop caring about the news. They stopped trusting the people delivering it. Somewhere along the way, the papers stopped reporting what happened and started campaigning for what they wanted to happen—and their readers noticed. Trust in the media now sits at the lowest level ever recorded.

So no, that’s not an audience drifting away. That’s a jury coming back with a verdict.

And here’s the part the industry really doesn’t want to talk about: those readers didn’t give up on news. They went looking for someone who would just tell them the truth. Millions of them found their way to The Flyover’s network of morning news publications built on one simple deal:

We call things what they are.

We keep the spin out and trust you with the facts.And Flyover North Carolina stays free.

It turns out that when you just give people the facts and trust them to think for themselves, people respond.

So today I’m asking: will you help us continue? If news that plays it straight is something you want to see thrive, will you stand behind us?

Chip in and support the news that gives it to you straight—and free, every morning.

Will you make a generous donation to support Flyover North Carolina?

While the biased legacy media is failing, will you join our movement to keep the bias out of the news, free to your inbox every morning? I’d be grateful if you did.

Give $10
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Our promise: we answer to you. Help us keep it.

— Cole
CEO, The Flyover

Flying together with our sponsor

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➤ Statewide: The U.S. Department of Justice will send election monitors to Wake, Alamance, and Mecklenburg counties for the Nov. 3 election, part of a roughly 1,000-monitor push across all 50 states. The DOJ says monitors will only observe and report. (More)

➤ Also Statewide: Federal prosecutors indicted 18 more noncitizens, including one living in the U.S. illegally, on charges of voting in North Carolina’s 2024 election, bringing the number charged statewide this year to 30. (More)

➤ Outer Banks: NCDOT reopened N.C. 12 near Pea Island Visitor Center with a one-lane detour at 4 p.m. Thursday after nor’easter damage caused its closure. (More)

➤ Fort Bragg: The City of Fayetteville’s FAST transit system is helping the post develop a free, on-demand ride service, the Bragg Connector, for soldiers and military families. It’s expected to launch next summer. (More)

➤ Asheville: North Carolina wildlife biologist Ashley Hobbs urged the Asheville City Council to restore funding for bear-resistant trash cans and strengthen penalties for feeding bears amid rising home break-ins and trash conflicts. (More)

➤ Cabarrus County: After District Court Judge David Cloninger died unexpectedly on Oct. 18 at age 62, the county Republican Party nominated Jennifer Taylor, the county’s chief assistant district attorney, to replace him on the Nov. 3 ballot. Votes already cast for Cloninger will transfer to Taylor. (More)

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➤ The Carolina Panthers fell 27-19 to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football, as Bryce Young’s late touchdown pass to Jalen Coker narrowed the deficit but couldn’t overcome Jordan Love’s three scoring throws. (More)

➤ The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 Thursday night as Mark Jankowski scored early in the third and Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves to extend his franchise-record season-opening win streak to nine. (More)

➤ Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher will assist NC State’s national search for a new head football coach after the Wolfpack fired Dave Doeren following a loss to Stanford, according to the NC State Athletic Department. (More)

➤ Charlotte FC: Liel Abada came off the bench to score his first career hat trick in 15 minutes as Charlotte FC routed CF Montreal 4-0 on Wednesday night, clinching a 2026 MLS Cup playoff berth and snapping a three-game winless streak. (More)

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➤ Skip the oven and grill for this genius microwave hack. Rocket Chef delivers crispy, juicy meals in minutes! Turn your microwave into a searing hot grill for burgers, grilled cheese, pizza, leftovers and more. Learn More

➤ Dollar General paid North Carolina more than $500,000 in fines over the past five years after failing price-scan inspections, state records show, as Attorney General Jeff Jackson sues the retailer over alleged pricing practices. (More)

➤ Bracco, an Italian diagnostic imaging company, will invest $230 million to build its first U.S. facility to produce injectable contrast media for hospitals in Sanford, a Lee County project expected to create about 200 jobs. (More)

➤ Wastequip’s Toter brand will close its two Statesville locations by Dec. 22 and lay off 96 workers. The company makes the two-wheeled roll-out trash carts used in cities nationwide. (More)

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Still Paying the Same Car Insurance Rate?

The average U.S. driver now pays about $194 a month for car insurance. If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, it may be worth checking whether you’re still getting a competitive rate.

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➤ Carolina Panthers rookies dressed as superheroes and other beloved characters to surprise more than 100 patients and families at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital for Halloween, continuing an annual tradition dating to 2004. (See Photos)

➤ Babies in WakeMed’s neonatal intensive care unit in Raleigh celebrated their first Halloween in handmade costumes—mermaids, ladybugs, leprechauns, and firefighters—sewn by WakeMed’s Sewing Volunteers for the tiny patients and their families. (See Photos)

➤ Durham’s Beverly Mahone, a North Carolina Central University writing consultant known to millions online as “Auntie Bev, the Vocabulary Builder,” has spun her viral grammar videos into a brand, with a new book, Auntie Bev’s House of Good Grammar, and a Vocabulary Bingo game. (More)

Flying together with our sponsor

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes.

➤ Protesters clashed with riot police in Madrid, demanding the prime minister’s resignation after Wednesday’s train crash killed nearly seventy people. (Hear Details)

➤ Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly grew close to a suspected Chinese spy whom U.S. intelligence spent a year tracking. (Hear Story)

➤ A popular WNBA star said the FBI is monitoring roughly 20 people tied to stalking and threats against her. (Listen Now)