It’s the Friday before Memorial Day, so we’re just sitting here waiting for a massive news dump to keep us from the long weekend. Send us your best bets on what the news might be!
—Kate Sheppard
☀️ In Today’s Edition
1. When Catching ‘Em All Gets Competitive
2. Around Our Network
3. What We’re Reading
4. Our Recent Stories
When Nathan Osterkatz and Caleb Rogerson started meeting at Amante Gourmet Pizza in Carrboro to play Pokémon in the fall of 2019, they couldn’t have imagined where the trading card game would take them.
Nathan, a 15-year-old who lives just outside of Durham, is currently ranked second in his division, while Caleb, who is 18 and lives in Apex, is third in his. And that’s not just in North Carolina or even the United States. That’s in the world.
Reporter Storms Reback, an aspiring Poképarent himself, traveled to the regional championships with his son to figure out what it is about the game that draws in people of all types.
More Than a Card Game
Two North Carolina teens have become international Pokémon stars. As a fledgling Poképarent, I traveled to Atlanta to see why the game attracts such a broad spectrum of humanity.
And if you personally gotta catch ’em all, you can also check out an audio version of this story from our friends at WUNC’s The Broadside.
Have a news tip for our team? You can reach us at scoops@theassemblync.com.
A Message from our Chapel Hill Visitors Bureau
Around Our Network
Reporter Michael Hewlett was on WUNC’s Due South this week to talk about efforts to shutter the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was at Fort Bragg yesterday for the final ceremony of All American Week, CityView reports.
A two-year legal dispute between the board chair at Saint Augustine’s University and a former trustee has reached an anticlimactic détente, per INDY.
In Robeson County, Border Belt Independent reports that community members are speaking out against a proposal to expand the county-owned landfill for the seventh time in 30 years.
At 13 stories tall, the King Cotton Hotel was once a landmark in the Greensboro skyline. Now it’s a vacant lot. For The Thread, Gale Melcher looked at its legacy.
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What We’re Reading
Clean Up, Clean Up: Some N.C. communities are getting grants from the EPA again, per WUNC.
To Dye For: N.C. Health News reports that the food coloring that gives Cheerwine its red tinge is under scrutiny in the state House. Proposed legislation would prohibit certain food additives, including specific red, yellow, blue and green dyes.
Here Comes the Sun: Under the leadership of Mayor Mondale Robinson, the town of Enfield is undertaking an ambitious clean energy plan that includes a solar farm, weatherization resource center, and resilience hub. Canary Media has the story.
Our Recent Stories
DOGE Cuts Come for N.C. Domestic Violence Orgs
“This isn’t something we’re going to bake sale our way out of.”
Helene’s Unheard Warnings
As Hurricane Helene barreled toward Yancey County, there were no evacuation orders. Few grasped what was coming.
State Fires a Disaster Relief Subcontractor Founded by Former ReBuild NC Boss
A mid-level state official steered a contract to the firm run by her former bosses at ReBuild NC.
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