Saturday, September 19, 2026

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1987, UNC wide receiver Randy Marriott set a single-game school record for most receiving yards, with 247, in a 30-23 win at Georgia Tech.

Speaking of UNC football, the Tar Heels play Clemson today in an ACC showdown. Will you be watching?

The Pentagon just released more UFO files, and this batch digs into a secret military program most people have never heard of. Why was the government commissioning studies on wormholes? What happened to the three engineers who got sick after an encounter nobody can explain? And after six releases in five months, are we any closer to knowing what’s actually going on? Amy walks through the full timeline of the release program and breaks down what’s real, what we know, and what’s still a mystery on The Flyover Podcast. Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, AutoCamp, has turned more than one million guests into happy campers—and now hundreds of those guests have become investors as the outdoor hospitality brand sets its sights on expanding from eight locations to more than 100.

Stein Disputes Trump’s Crime Claims

Gov. Josh Stein said President Trump was “flat out wrong” to call North Carolina one of the nation’s worst states for crime.

Trump made the claim Wednesday at a Gastonia rally for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, saying “pro-crime politicians like Roy Cooper” had turned the state’s cities into “blood-soaked killing fields.”

Stein countered Thursday that 20 states have more violent crime. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, introducing Trump at the same rally, credited North Carolina with a nearly 11% drop that matches state data.

Whatley pointed to a pandemic-era settlement under Cooper that allowed early release for several thousand prisoners, saying it “created a revolving door.”

Stein also objected to Trump’s suggestion that more Helene recovery money hinged on Whatley winning. Trump told the crowd he was kidding.

Western North Carolina is still waiting on federal funds nearly two years after the storm.

Wake County Sets WakeMed Merger Vote

Wake County commissioners will vote Monday on changes that would clear the way for WakeMed to merge with Charlotte-based Atrium Health.

Under the deal, Atrium would become the sole corporate member of the nonprofit that owns WakeMed. The county would still appoint eight of the hospital board’s 14 members, with Atrium naming six.

WakeMed’s board approved the transaction unanimously in April, and commissioners were set to sign off May 4 before pushback from state officials led them to delay.

Opposition has crossed party lines. Republican State Treasurer Brad Briner asked the Federal Trade Commission to examine the deal, and Gov. Josh Stein’s office pressed the systems on whether prices would rise.

WakeMed says the combination will strengthen care and give it easier access to capital as it competes with UNC Health and Duke Health.

The vote is set for 2 p.m. Monday at the Wake County Justice Center in Raleigh.

Poll: Voters Back All Three Amendments

Two-thirds or more of likely North Carolina voters back each of the three constitutional amendments on the November ballot, a new Elon University poll found.

The property tax measure drew the most support at 72%. It would require the General Assembly to cap how much local governments can raise property taxes; the limit itself isn’t in the ballot language.

Capping the personal income tax rate at 3.5%, down from a constitutional maximum of 7%, drew 67%. The rate is now 3.99% and set to fall to 3.49% in 2027.

The photo ID amendment drew 63% support and the most opposition, 25%. It would lock a photo ID requirement for all voting, including mail-in ballots, into the constitution.

Republicans put all three on the ballot; most Democrat lawmakers opposed. Opponents say the tax caps would tie the state’s hands in a disaster or downturn.

A separate Carolina Journal poll found similar support.

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Inc: In Less Than 30 Days, This Brand Raised $1.2M From Its Own Guests

That’s Inc’s headline from July when outdoor hospitality market leader AutoCamp opened its doors to retail investors for the first time. The moral? Those who know the brand best sprung to action.

Less than 30 days. That’s how long it took for more than 350 AutoCamp customers to move from visitors to shareholders, investing $1.2M+ into the company’s future. A closer look at the company’s success is all you need to see why.

By merging iconic outdoor destinations like Yosemite, Zion, Cape Cod and Joshua Tree with boutique-hotel comfort, AutoCamp has transformed $732B in hospitality markets.

Now, after surpassing their initial $1.2M target, AutoCamp has extended the opportunity for those who missed out. And with 1M+ happy campers so far, there’s a big pool of potential investors.

AutoCamp already operates in eight locations nationwide today. Claim your early-stage stake in AutoCamp as they work to expand to 100+.

➤ Statewide: The UNC System will let its campuses propose in-state undergraduate tuition increases of up to 3%, the second straight year it has done so. (More)

➤ Charlotte: A school bus carrying about a dozen students caught fire Thursday morning on Tuckaseegee Road at Yahtzee Lane, and a passerby opened the back of the bus to help the children out. (See Video)

➤ New Hanover County: County Manager Chris Coudriet denied the latest site plan for Hilton Bluffs, an approximately 1,800-home development near Castle Hayne, after the developer stripped out two secondary access roads. One way in and out could delay emergency response, Coudriet wrote. (See Details)

➤ Greensboro: City Council approved a voluntary rezoning initiative Sept. 15 that lets property owners along the Downtown Greenway move to Central Business zoning, which allows retail, offices and denser housing. More than 100 properties could take part; the first hearings are expected in October. (More)

➤ Fayetteville: The city and NC Coastal Health Care held their annual Homeless Veterans Stand Down on Thursday, connecting at-risk and homeless veterans with clothing, health screenings, and housing information. Thirty-three JROTC cadets from E.E. Smith High School packed backpacks with blankets, ponchos and toiletries. (Read Story)

➤ Triangle: A glut of listings has flipped the Triangle into a buyer’s market, with Raleigh sale prices down 6.2% from a year ago, according to Redfin. Lexie Moll listed her 1920s Craftsman in May and is still carrying two mortgages. (More)

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➤ Today’s college football slate is headlined by UNC traveling to Clemson, Duke hosting Stanford, and NC State visiting Vanderbilt. The Charlotte 49ers also travel to Boone to play App State. (See Full Schedule)

➤ Wake Forest scored the game’s final two touchdowns, but its comeback bid fell short in a 33-20 loss to the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes. (More)

➤ UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick resigned Thursday as the school closed an investigation into the football program’s culture that found isolated conduct violations. The son of head coach Bill Belichick has been on medical leave since August. (More)

➤ Meanwhile, UNC freshman receiver Keeyun Chapman was suspended indefinitely after being charged with carrying a concealed handgun during a Chapel Hill traffic stop. He and CJ Sadler, who got his third speeding ticket since August, are out for today’s game at Clemson. (More)

➤ Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis is ahead of schedule in his recovery from June shoulder surgery and skated in a noncontact jersey Thursday. He played through a torn labrum and rotator cuff during Carolina’s run to the Stanley Cup. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: NCAAF | MLB | WNBA | Golf | Soccer

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Hotels Ditch Blackout Curtains for Beautiful Canyons

Guests are trading early-morning housekeeping wakeups for breathtaking views. And industry giants clearly think it’s no fad.

Marriott just launched the “Outdoor Collection,” opening properties in destinations like Jackson Hole. Hyatt partnered with a brand specializing in off-grid, safari-style tents.

Meanwhile, Hilton Hotels formed a first-of-its-kind partnership with outdoor-lodging leader AutoCamp. That makes AutoCamp the only outdoor lodging bookable for 200M+ Honors members at Hilton.com. And their boutique approach doesn’t compromise comfort for beauty.

They’ve been building toward this moment since 2013. 1M+ happy campers across 9 locations. An exclusive Airstream partnership no competitor can replicate. Now, AutoCamp’s inviting everyday people like you to invest for the first time.

The giants are validating the category. Claim your piece as an AutoCamp investor as they work to expand to 100+ locations.

This is a paid advertisement for AutoCamp Regulation Crowdfunding offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.autocamp.com. Forward looking statements were included here that the Company believes to be accurate given the current information. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors which if changed may affect the outcome(s). Past performance is not indicative of future results.

➤ The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians unveiled a reading trail circling its Marble clinic, posting the pages of The Colored Rabbits, a children’s book written partly in Cherokee. The tribe has worked for decades to keep the language alive, and students from its immersion school walked the trail first. (Read Story)

➤ Former CIA analyst Craig Gralley will discuss Echoes of Eden, his history of the Johnstone Settlement, at Dunn’s Rock Community Center on Sept. 25. Wealthy South Carolina rice planters founded the colony in the 1850s to escape Charleston’s yellow fever; it fell apart during the Civil War. (Read Story)

➤ A Hendersonville man stopped for a $1 Cash 5 ticket on his way fishing Monday and hit a $436,796 jackpot, beating odds of one in 962,598. His daughter didn’t believe him until he took her to lunch to prove it. He’s taking his twin grandsons on a cruise. (More)

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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, straight from the heart of the country.

➤ Newly released Pentagon UFO files reveal a secret military program studying warp drives and unexplained injuries. (Listen Now)

➤ The lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is disputing fellow jurors’ accounts of what happened behind closed doors. (Hear Details)

➤ Top tech executives are reportedly joining Trump’s state dinner for China’s leader, and AI is on the table. (Podcast Available)