Welcome to The Line, a newsletter for Cary and Western Wake from The Assembly Network. The Line connects the dots for local life with timely info, relevant news, interesting people and expert guides. 

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Off the Top: We’re back after a brief publishing pause with a news-packed newsletter, including Chloe Courtney Bohl’s one-on-one interview with Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht.

  • “When I first started hearing things, I remember going home and staring at the TV with it being off for hours, going, ‘What is going on? How did I get here? What happened? Why did he do that? He’s my friend. I thought he was my friend. How did I not see that?'” Weinbrecht says in the INDY story.

🚉 Arriving Now

1. Join us for The Line’s launch party
2. 2026 resolutions from community leaders
3. New cheap rides around Holly Springs
4. Guess the coffee shop

–Sarah Day

New Year, New Line

Let’s be real, the fresh start of a new year is more ceremonial than literal. But it gives all of us an opportunity to envision what could be. 

For The Line, we’ll be moving from the early days of soft-launch mode to fully stepping into the community. That includes an in-person event, open to all, later this month. 

🗓️ RSVP for our launch party on January 28 at The Matthews House, to celebrate and be part of the future of local journalism in Western Wake County. 

What to expect:

  • Learn about the vision for local news, storytelling, and community connection. 
  • Fun, interactive elements that will give you the opportunity to shape The Line’s future. 
  • Meet the people behind The Line and The Assembly Network, North Carolina’s largest independent news network.

Timeline: Doors open at 5:30 p.m., followed by a short program, activities, and connecting with your neighbors. Drinks available for purchase. 

What else? To kick off 2026, The Line asked a few leaders in Cary, Apex, and Morrisville to share their community-wide resolutions. 

We want to convene forward-thinking conversations in this community, so we asked them a simple question: What would you like to see the community embrace to make Western Wake County a better place? Our first subject is Wendy Peele, vice president of the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce. 

Peele: Show Up For Each Other in 2026

My resolution for the Morrisville/Western Wake Community in 2026 is to formally commit to the principle of “Lead with Connection and Collaboration.”

The Town of Morrisville is experiencing not only rapid population growth but also a dramatic expansion of opportunity. We are exceptionally positioned at the intersection of innovation, education, entrepreneurship, cultural diversity, and a thriving life-science ecosystem. 

For this growth to remain inclusive, purposeful, and community-centered as we approach 2026, it is imperative that we intentionally embrace connection and collaboration. 

This resolution calls upon residents, businesses, non-profits, and civic leaders to look beyond their individual lanes and actively engage with one another. 

It means showing up locally by supporting small and minority-owned businesses, mentoring emerging leaders, participating actively in community events, and partnering across sectors to solve shared challenges. When we collaborate, we effectively circumvent silos, and when we connect, we solidify trust within the community. 

The life sciences sector plays a critical role in Morrisville’s future. This sector represents not just labs and facilities, but high-value careers, critical breakthroughs, and long-term economic opportunity. 

By intentionally connecting life science companies with educators, workforce partners, and the broader community, we can strengthen local talent pipelines, expand awareness of diverse career pathways, and create opportunities for students and job seekers right here in Western Wake. 

The Morrisville Chamber of Commerce has firsthand experience with the transformative power of collaboration. When businesses work with institutions like Wake Technical Community College RTP campus, talent pipelines are significantly strengthened. When nonprofits partner with employers, community needs are met more sustainably. When life science companies engage as active community partners through mentorship, workforce training, and local collaboration, innovation becomes rooted locally and accessible to all. 

As this community-wide resolution takes shape, Morrisville builds on what it already does so well, being not just a place people move to, but a place where they truly belong. Businesses thrive because they are supported, connected, and engaged. Innovation flourishes because all are welcomed to the table and valued as part of Morrisville’s success. 

The future within reach is one where growth does not outpace connection, but is deliberately guided by it. By choosing collaboration as our driving force in 2026, Morrisville can continue to lead as a welcoming, forward-thinking community where innovation elevates everyday life for everyone. 

Thanks Wendy! Look for future community leader resolutions Tuesdays in January.

💬 Share your thoughts: Reply to this newsletter or drop a note to line@theassemblync.com and tell what you think of this community resolution. 

🗓️ Collaborate IRL: Attend our event January 28 for an interactive community vision board! RSVP here.

In Brief | What I’d Tell You Over Dry January Mocktails

📣 Honk if you’ve seen it: A Cary group that started in a retirement community grew and diversified in 2025 to number in the thousands, including activists of all ages. You may recognize Cary Indivisible’s No Kings protest from the signs and flags at the corner of Maynard and Kildaire Farm roads in Cary. INDY reports on the origins of the group. 

🛞 New Holly Springs transit: The Holly Springs Hopper started service Monday, with rides around Holly Springs for a small fee, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Using the designated app or phone, residents or visitors to Holly Springs can request a ride starting at $2 for single trip with 1-2 people. The cost increases with more riders or if the ride is in covered areas outside town limits.

🎥 The movie theater in Park West Village in Morrisville is now closed, the Triangle Business Journal reports, to make way for a future $75 million-dollar redevelopment into apartments, offices, and retail space.

Guess the Coffee Shop

I’m out in Western Wake County talking over coffee and reporting for The Line. Can you guess where I am? 

Reply to this email or send your guess to line@theassemblync.com. The prize? Bragging rights, and maybe a shoutout in The Line!

Sarah Day Owen Wiskirchen is the head of newsletters for The Assembly Network and editor of The Line.