RDU On the Rise: Lawmakers return to Raleigh, and we’re there to keep tabs on them
This is Jordan Schrader, your host for this week’s RDU On the Rise.
I’m writing this on Groundhog Day, which is an underrated holiday, and not only because it’s the birthday of my amazing wife. (This is our 10th Groundhog Day of marriage).
The day is also, of course, the subject of one of the great holiday movies. And it’s a time of hope, of looking to the future with excitement.
And sometimes, of accepting that it won’t all be sunny skies. On Thursday, Garner’s groundhog Snerd delivered one of those cloudier forecasts, my colleague Josh Shaffer reports.
Even sadder news: Raleigh’s groundhog, Sir Walter Wally, has “retired” from the daily grind — OK, one-day-a-year grind — for lack of a supplier. And Charlotte’s groundhog died after her own “retirement.” (At least they didn’t announce it to the crowd at the ceremony, as they did in Quebec after the passing of Fred La Marmotte.)
Long live Snerd. But I’m going to hope that his prediction this year is a bust and look forward to seeing the daffodils at Dix Park bloom early this year.
In more rodent news
Of course, it wasn’t all groundhog news this week.
There was beaver news, too.
And beyond the fun of a few critter stories (whether invasive or inanimate), there was plenty going on this week in the Triangle.
In human news
Our politics team was back to patrolling the halls of the state legislature to chronicle the first full week of the legislative session.
One notable piece of news emerged this week after Dawn Vaughan pressed Senate leader Phil Berger on whether he would support a repeal of the unconstitutional and racist literacy test that is still on the books.
Berger said he’s ready to remove it.
(In fact, there are several parts of the state constitution that may not hold up to 2023 standards. Vaughan pressed Berger on whether he’d want to change anything else in it. “You’re trying to bait me now,” Berger joked. He didn’t take the bait.)
Otherwise, there were plenty of new bills that were just new versions of previously tried legislation — prompting at least one reporter, NC Tribune’s Colin Campbell, to write that it looked an awful lot like — you guessed it.
Groundhog Day.
Get the latest on state government from Lars Dolder, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi and Avi Bajpai, plus D.C. news from Danielle Battaglia.
Joining the team at the General Assembly this year are freelancers Kyle Ingram and Heidi Pérez-Moreno.
Also give a follow to our Under the Dome Twitter account for all the #ncpol developments.
Subscribe to the team’s politics newsletter and find our weekly podcast at campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
Triangle happenings
For Black History Month, reporter Kimberly Cataudella put together a collection of fun, engaging and educational events taking place across the Triangle.
This weekend, catch the NC MLK Black History Month Parade in Durham.
Not into parades, but enjoy music? N&O staffers rounded up a playlist of their favorite tunes by Black artists, bands, musicians and composers.
Some good news for my wife, a sort-of-vegetarian, on her birthday: Fiction Kitchen is coming to the Raleigh shopping center known as Gateway Plaza, joining a bunch of other trendy restaurants there, Korie Dean reports.
The Triangle is booming with new restaurants, parks, and residential buildings, and it’s poised to grow even more this year. We’re keeping our eye on five places in particular.
Price Point: What does $210,000 get in the Triangle’s housing market today? Chantal Allam shows you. Plus, if you’re interested in real estate and all things development, check out her newsletter On the Market by signing up here.
Also check out the story of an apparent rise in the local homeless population, told first-hand by Mary Helen Moore, who helped count the folks living on the street and in the woods.
And one long read for over the weekend: Should North Carolina be setting more people free who are locked up for crimes committed as young people? Jacob Biba looks at that question.
Thanks for reading
I’ll hand you off to visual journalist Kaitlin McKeown, who will bring you next Friday’s RDU on the Rise.
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