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Welp, looks like we have a Senate race underway. Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley officially announced he is running at an event in Gastonia on Thursday. Republicans are quickly coalescing behind him, as our partners at NOTUS report.

Former Gov. Roy Cooper’s campaign, meanwhile, broke a record for early fundraising. The race to fill Thom Tillis’ seat is expected to be one of the costliest next year. And if the number of text solicitations blowing up my phone this week is any indication, also one of the most irksome.

—Kate Sheppard

☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. Naming the Bones
2. From N.C. to Space
3. Asterra’s Counterclaim
4. What We’re Reading
5. Our Recent Stories

Ann Ross, a forensic anthropologist at N.C. State University, works in a sun-bathed lab featuring a collection of saws, claw hammers, crowbars, machetes, and a device that creates 3D images of skulls. 

Here at the North Carolina Human Identification and Forensic Analysis Lab, Ross is working to identify human remains from cases that have long gone cold, using cutting-edge DNA analysis. So far, the effort has helped a woman answer the 46-year-old mystery of a missing uncle and a pair of elderly sisters learn what happened to their brother in 1976, among others.

There’s no shortage of cases to take on. North Carolina has a backlog of about 280 unidentified bodies, according the State Bureau of Investigation. And with the help of a self-trained software expert now applying her skills to genealogical sleuthing, the lab is hoping to solve more of them.

Naming the Bones

A forensic anthropologist and a volunteer sleuth are working to identify nearly 300 bodies that have been sitting in police storage across the state for years as their cases ran cold. 

“As the sun rose over the barren desert, the rumbling tones of the theme from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ would reverberate throughout the space station.”

That was the first sentence of a story I wrote for The Daily Tar Heel in April 2008 about my then-roommate, who had spent part of her sophomore winter break at a Mars simulation in the Utah desert.

Today, that roommate—NASA astronaut Zena Cardman—launched to the International Space Station as commander of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission.

Cardman, a Williamsburg, Virginia native with undergraduate and master’s degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, was last year’s commencement speaker. She was supposed to go to space last year, too, but got bumped after problems with a spacecraft forced NASA to make room on her intended flight for two other astronauts. Once she reaches the Space Station, she’ll be part of a “long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.”

I found the old story about her this week thanks to the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center’s online archive—and was pleased to learn my writing wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as I feared.

During that simulation, Cardman searched for microorganisms that survive in extremely cold, dry settings—thought to be one of the closest approximations to Mars on Earth.

“The experience was also a preview of her dream career as a NASA astronaut,” I wrote then.

A preview indeed. Next stop, Mars.

—Emily Stephenson

Have a news tip for our team? You can reach us at scoops@theassemblync.com.

In a blistering court filing last week, state Rep. John Bell’s hemp company accused its former business partner of engaging in “organized criminal activity,” including wire and bank fraud, tariff evasion, threatening a former employee, and lying about its financial condition.

The allegations are included in Asterra Labs’ response to MC Neutraceuticals’ federal lawsuit, which The Assembly and Axios Raleigh first reported on in July. In its complaint, MC accused Asterra, which Bell runs, and its parent company, Rise Capital, of threatening to use their political connections to coerce MC into paying more than $1.5 million.

Jeffrey Billman has more on the counterclaim.

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What We’re Reading

Music Man: The Charlotte Ledger profiles David Childers, a lawyer, poet, and “N.C.’s most underrated songwriter.”

Act Now Or Else: The Forsyth County school system is asking the state for $50 million to cover its outstanding debt or risk having to take “draconian measures,” the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

On a Bender: The New York Times takes a dip in the French Broad River in search of the elusive giant hellbender.

Our Recent Stories

The Berger King

Phil Berger has been the state’s most powerful politician for more than a decade. He no longer looks invincible.

UNC-Chapel Hill Unveils Plan to Cut $70 Million in Response to Funding Pressure

The university said the savings—equivalent to 2 percent of its operating budget—will include cuts to nonresident financial aid, staff positions, and other areas.

Dueling Separation Allegations Shed Light on Michele Morrow’s Political Plans

The former candidate to lead the state’s public schools has started a political organization and angled for a Trump admin job.

The Quiet Power of Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles

With an understated style and moderate agenda, the 72-year-old mayor will likely cruise to a fifth term this fall.

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