Thought of the Day
A bad workman always blames his tools.
February 21st 2025
Furry Friday: Meet Sadie!
Meet Sadie the Lady, a 2-year-old 45 lb pointer mix looking for her forever home. This sweet and spicy diva has a heart of gold! She is a total lovebug and once she bonds with you, she will be your loyal companion for life. If you’re looking for a rescue dog to spoil, Sadie is the lady for you.
Sadie is the perfect mix of playful and couch potato. She needs to play daily but also enjoys lounging on the couch and cuddling with her favorite human. Sadie’s ideal home will include someone who works from home or spends a lot of time there, just because she really loves her people. If left at home she does not prefer a crate but will be on her best behavior waiting on the couch for your return.
Sadie is fully potty trained and can get a little overexcited on a leash walk, but responds well to training from her patient and consistent human. She is super smart and a quick learner! Sadie would do best with a submissive dog where she can be the boss but would also be happy to be the only dog. No cats please. Sudden movements can make her nervous so humans 12 and over would be best.
If you are looking for a loyal, loving, sweet, silly and sassy companion, Sadie is the perfect match for you. Please give this lovable pup the patience and chance for a loving home she deserves. This dog is currently in a foster home and not at the shelter. If you’re interested in learning more about Sadie, please email [email protected] with the subject line of “Sadie 246564”.
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North Carolina’s insurance commissioner is out of the hospital after heart surgery
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey was released from the hospital Thursday, a spokesperson said, 10 days after undergoing heart surgery that wasn’t revealed publicly until well after it occurred.
Department spokesperson Jason Tyson said the Republican commissioner, who won a third four-year term in November, underwent the “elective” surgery at Duke Hospital in Durham to “correct a congenital heart defect.”
Causey “is currently recovering and doing well,” Tyson said in a statement provided before the commissioner’s release. “He has been in regular contact with the Department of Insurance almost daily and has been briefed and directed work.”
Causey, 74, told the News & Record of Greensboro in a phone interview Wednesday that only a handful of people at his department were aware of the Feb. 10 surgery. He said it wasn’t disclosed beforehand because “we didn’t want to alarm anybody ahead of time unnecessarily and there was just too many important matters that needed tending to to make any mistakes.”
The newspaper said Causey’s surgery was revealed Tuesday at a Greensboro City Council meeting that he didn’t attend. Causey, who is from the Greensboro area, had been involved in annexation and rezoning hearings about some local land.
Causey said the defect was discovered in late 2023 when he received a body scan during a health screening. Further examination showed Causey had developed an aneurysm, the newspaper reported.
Causey decided to delay the surgery following consultation with a surgeon. Causey ran for reelection in 2024, and continued monitoring showed the aneurysm remained stable, he said.
The insurance commissioner is one of 10 statewide elected executive branch officials that compose the Council of State. Causey ran unsuccessfully for commissioner several times before his initial election in 2016.
Trump loyalist Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite deep Democratic doubts
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday narrowly voted to confirm Kash Patel as director of the FBI, moving to place him atop the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency despite doubts from Democrats about his qualifications and concerns he will do Donald Trump’s bidding and go after the Republican president’s adversaries.
“I cannot imagine a worse choice,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told colleagues before the 51-49 vote by the GOP-controlled Senate. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the lone Republican holdouts.
A Trump loyalist who has fiercely criticized the agency, Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil as the Justice Department over the past month has forced out a group of senior bureau officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Patel has spoken of his desire to implement major changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint at headquarters in Washington and a renewed emphasis on the bureau’s traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering and national security work that has come to define its mandate over the past two decades. But he also echoed Trump’s desire for retribution. Patel raised alarm among Democrats for saying before he was nominated that he would “come after” anti-Trump “conspirators” in the federal government and the media.
Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Democratic Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel as the right person for the job.
“Mr. Patel wants to make the FBI accountable once again -– get back the reputation that the FBI has had historically for law enforcement,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said before Patel was confirmed. “He wants to hold the FBI accountable to Congress, to the president and, most importantly, to the people they serve — the American taxpayer.”
Democrats complained about Patel’s lack of management experience compared with previous FBI directors and they highlighted incendiary past statements that they said called his judgment into question.
“I am absolutely sure of this one thing: this vote will haunt anyone who votes for him. They will rue the day they did it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.
He added: “To my Republican colleagues, think about what you will tell your constituents” and family “about why you became voted for this person who will so completely and utterly disgrace this office and do such grave damage to our nation’s justice system.”
About a half-dozen Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gathered outside FBI headquarters earlier Thursday in a last-ditch plea to derail his confirmation.
“This is someone we cannot trust,” said Sen. Adam Schiff of California. “This is someone who lacks the character to do this job, someone who lacks the integrity to do this job. We know that, our Republican colleagues know that.”
Patel’s eyebrow-raising remarks on hundreds of podcasts and in other interviews over the past four years include referring to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as “criminal gangsters,” saying some Jan. 6 rioters were “political prisoners” and proposing to shut down the FBI headquarters and turning it into a museum for the so-called deep state.
At his Senate hearing in January, Patel said Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding the broader point that he was trying to make. Patel has also denied the idea that a list in book he authored of government officials who he said were part of a “deep state” amounted to an “enemies list,” calling that a “total mischaracterization.”
FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and served for more than seven years but who repeatedly angered the president and was seen by him as insufficiently loyal. He resigned before Trump took office.
Since Wray’s resignation, the FBI has been led by interim leaders, who have clashed with the Justice Department over its demands for details about the agents who investigated the Capitol riot — a move seen as a possible prelude to broader firings. Patel denied having any knowledge of discussions about potential firings, but a letter from Durbin last week that cited information that he said had come from insiders suggested that Patel may have been covertly involved in that process.
Trump has said that he expects some of those agents will be fired.
Patel is a former federal defender and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor. He attracted Trump’s attention during the president’s first term when, as a staffer on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, Patel helped write a memo with pointed criticism of the FBI’s investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Patel later joined Trump’s administration, both as a counterterrorism official at the National Security Council and as chief of staff to the defense secretary.
Robot umpires are getting their first MLB test during spring training
By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System, which potentially as early as 2026 could be used to aid MLB home plate umpires, but not replace them.
Starting in 2024, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season.
How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work?
Stadiums are outfitted with cameras that track each pitch and judge whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone. In early testing, umpires wore ear buds and would hear “ball” or “strike,” then relay that to players and fans with traditional hand signals.
The challenge system adds a wrinkle. During spring training, human umps will call every pitch, but each team will have the ability to challenge two calls per game, with no additions for extra innings. A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for big league teams with video reviews, which were first used for home run calls in August 2008 and widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season.
Only a batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a call, signaling with the tap of a helmet or cap; and assistance from the dugout is not allowed. A challenge must be made within 2 seconds, and the graphic of the pitch and strike zone will be shown on the scoreboard and broadcast feed. The umpire then announces the updated count.
MLB estimates the process averages 17 seconds.
Where will ABS be tested?
MLB has installed the system in 13 spring training ballparks that are home to 19 teams. The Florida stadiums, all in the Florida State League, are the stadiums of Detroit, Minnesota, the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto, plus the ballpark shared by Miami and St. Louis.
Five test sites in Arizona all are shared: the Diamondbacks/Colorado, Chicago White Sox/Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland/Cincinnati, Kansas City/Texas and Seattle/San Diego.
About 60% of spring training games are slated for trial, although teams could play vastly different numbers of games with ABS testing. The Diamondbacks are slated for 29 ABS games, while the Cubs have just seven.
What is the technology?
A Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras was installed and used to track pitches and whether they are within a strike zone based on the height of each batter, who is measured without shoes before a team’s first test game. MLB estimated the calibration process at less than one minute for each player.
There are eight cameras at most of the spring training ballparks in the test and 12 at the Diamondbacks/Rockies stadium.
While the strike zone actually called by big league umpires tends to be oval in shape, the ABS strike zone is a rectangle, as in the rule book.
Developing a consensus on what a computer strike zone should be has been an issue.
When did MLB first start using ABS?
MLB started experimenting with ball/strike technology at the independent Atlantic League in 2019.
A challenge system was tried in 2021 at eight of nine ballparks that make up the Florida State League. ABS was promoted to five Triple-A parks in 2022 and expanded to all Triple-A stadiums in 2023, the robot alone for the first three games of each series and a human with a challenge system in the final three. That system was in place at the start of 2024, but MLB switched to an all-challenge system last June 25.
How successful were teams with challenges last year?
Overall return rate over the full Triple-A season was 51%, with challenges by the defense winning 54% and by the offense winning 48%. Challenges with the two-challenge limit in place averaged 3.9 per game, including 2.2 by the offense.
The success percentage has been slightly better for video reviews in the major leagues. Teams increased their success rate on video reviews to 53.7% last season, led by the Boston Red Sox at 67.9%.
Just 1.6% of first pitches were challenges, but the figure increased to 3.9% for two-strike pitches, 5.2% for three-ball pitches and 8.2% for full counts.
Challenge percentages were more likely later in the game. While 1.9% of pitches were challenged in the first three innings, 2.5% were challenged from the fourth through the sixth, 2.8% in the seventh and eighth and 3.6% in the ninth.
How has the computer strike zone changed over time?
MLB has changed the shape of the ABS strike zone several times.
It started with a 19-inch width in 2022, then dropped it to 17 inches — matching the width of home plate. Narrowing the strike zone led to an increase in walks and only small changes in strikeout rates.
The top of the striker zone was 51% of a batter’s height in 2022 and 2023, then raised to 53.5% in 2024 after pitchers’ complaints the top had been too low. The bottom of the strike zone has been 27% since 2022 after initially being set at 28%.
A batter’s stance is not taken into account.
ABS makes the ball/strike decision at the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. The contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube, and a strike is a pitch that crosses any part.
Strikeout rates increased 0.5% and walk rates rose 1% in full ABS games and 0.8% in challenge games.
How will ABS impact broadcasts?
Concerned the strike zone box on broadcasts could tip whether to challenge and cause fans to yell at players to challenge, MLB plans to experiment with several broadcast alternatives, among them: show the box but not the ball; show the ball but not the box; and to show only corners of the box.
How can players give feedback?
Dugout iPads available to all teams will have an application called ProTABS that allows players to check pitches against their individual strike zone. Information will update after every plate appearance and players can give MLB comment on single pitches and the overall system.
Snowy roads lead to hundreds of Virginia and North Carolina crashes as Arctic air brings record cold
By BEN FINLEY, MAKIYA SEMINERA and SARAH BRUMFIELD Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Officials in Virginia and North Carolina asked drivers to avoid travel Thursday as unusually heavy snow led to hundreds of accidents, including crashes on an interstate that involved more than 50 vehicles. Meanwhile, a polar vortex sent temperatures plunging from the Northern Great Plains all the way to Louisiana.
Two separate collisions stopped traffic on Interstate 40 in Orange County, North Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon and the stopped vehicles were struck from behind, including a tractor trailer that hit a passenger vehicle, causing a fatality, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. A total of 53 vehicles were involved in 12 crashes in the area, the highway patrol said. The driver of the tractor trailer was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and exceeding a safe speed for conditions.
The highway patrol responded to nearly 1,200 collisions statewide on Wednesday, according to Sgt. Christopher Knox. Crashes on Wednesday also closed portions of Interstate 95 and I-85 near Raleigh, North Carolina.
Virginia State Police reported early Thursday that there had been nearly 500 crashes statewide since heavy snow pounded parts of the mid-Atlantic on Wednesday. At least 45 crashes involved injuries but no fatalities.
Emergency workers in Suffolk, Virginia, rescued two people from an SUV that crashed into water on Wednesday afternoon, according to the city’s Department of Fire & Rescue. Photos the department posted on social media showed rescuers stretching a ladder to the vehicle’s roof and helping one person clinging to the roof rails crawl across the ladder to land.
Wednesday’s snowfall in Norfolk, Virginia, ranked as the eighth-highest, one-day snowfall total the coastal city has ever recorded, Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Scott Kleebauer said. Norfolk officially recorded about 10.2 inches (about 26 centimeters) of snow, he said.
High snowfall isn’t unprecedented, he said, but it’s “certainly rare.”
“This is probably one of those one-in-10-years type storm,” Kleebauer said.
Children in the city of 230,000 on the Chesapeake Bay used boogie boards to sled down a small hill, while some adults cleared off cars with leaf blowers. Many roadways were still covered in slush, if not snow, while authorities urged everyone to stay off the roads to give plows time to come through.
Mary Stokes, whose family owns a small environmental consulting firm, said employees weren’t able to go out into the field to conduct mold testing and other types of work to help homeowners and businesses stay compliant with environmental laws.
“We’re obviously not going to make them take a vacation day when they physically can’t come to work,” Stokes said while clearing off her SUV. “But we’re not making any money. It can definitely be a financial hit.”
Jared Brooks, a surgeon at a local hospital, predicted that schools wouldn’t reopen in Norfolk until at least Monday. The temperature wasn’t expected to rise above freezing on Thursday.
“People aren’t used to driving in these kinds of conditions,” Brooks said while shoveling the sidewalk outside of his house. “And they just don’t slow down appropriately. And they get kind of crazy. People just need to stay home and not even try to drive unless they have to.”
Schools were closed or relying on remote learning throughout large parts of Virginia and North Carolina, while several thousand electric customers were without power Thursday morning. About 1,800 flights were canceled or delayed on Thursday across the U.S., including about 250 flights in and out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.
Meanwhile, an arctic air mass was bringing widespread, record-breaking cold to the central United States, and forecasters expected some locations in the Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley to experience their coldest temperatures on record this late in the season, according to the Weather Prediction Center. In Detroit, crews are fixing a large water main break that left dozens of people without power and heat amid temperatures well below freezing.
Frigid temperatures broke daily cold records Thursday across 45 weather stations ranging from North Dakota to Louisiana, Kleebauer said. Parts of Texas also broke daily cold records set in 2021 when a deadly winter storm caused the state’s power grid to mostly collapse.
In Nebraska, Grand Island set a new record for Feb. 20 of minus 24 Fahrenheit (minus 31 Celsius), breaking the old record of minus 11 F (minus 24 C) set in 1938, while Hastings set a new record of minus 20 F (minus 29 C), eclipsing the record of minus 12 F (minus 24 C) in 1918. In Missouri, new record lows were set in several cities, including Springfield at minus 12 F, breaking the record of 7 F (minus 14 C) in 1918, and Joplin at minus 9 F (minus 23 C), breaking the record low of 16 F in 1963, 1978 and 2021.
The National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kansas, was forecasting one more day of dangerous cold for western Kansas, with wind child dropping below minus 20 F in some locations Thursday morning. Wichita schools have been closed due to the cold since Tuesday, while many other Kansas schools opened late on Thursday.
But a “big change” is on the horizon, Kleebauer said. Thursday is expected to be the “last truly cold day” across the country as temperatures rise next week, he said.
___
Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland. Seminera reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Gary Robertson in Cary, North Carolina, and Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
Sen. Mitch McConnell won’t seek reelection in 2026, ending long tenure as Republican power broker
By BRUCE SCHREINER and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday that he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a decadeslong tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce GOP populism of President Donald Trump.
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, chose his 83rd birthday to share his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky and to retire when his current term ends. He informed The Associated Press of his decision before he addressed colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor.
“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said, as aides lined the back chamber and senators listened from seats. “Every day in between I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business right here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
His announcement begins the epilogue of a storied career as a master strategist, one in which he helped forge a conservative Supreme Court and steered the Senate through tax cuts, presidential impeachment trials and fierce political fights. Yet with his powerful perch atop committees, and nearly two years remaining in his term, McConnell vowed to complete his work on several remaining fronts.
“I have some unfinished business to attend to,” he said.
Once he finished his speech, a fellow GOP senator rose to ask permission for applause in the chamber, which is usually not allowed under Senate rules, and the senators, staff and guests in the gallery clapped for the long-serving leader.
McConnell, first elected in 1984, intends to serve the remainder of his term ending in January 2027. The Kentuckian has dealt with a series of medical episodes in recent years, including injuries sustained from falls and times when his face briefly froze while he was speaking.
The senator delivered his speech in a chamber the famously taciturn McConnell revered as a young intern long before joining its back benches as a freshman lawmaker in the mid-1980s. His dramatic announcement comes almost a year after his decision to relinquish his leadership post after the November 2024 election. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a top McConnell deputy, replaced him as majority leader.
McConnell’s looming departure reflects the changing dynamics of the Trump-led GOP. He’s seen his power diminish on a parallel track with both his health and his relationship with Trump, who once praised him as an ally but has taken to criticizing him in caustic terms.
In Kentucky, McConnell’s departure will mark the loss of a powerful advocate and will set off a competitive GOP primary next year for what will now be an open Senate seat. Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, seen as a rising star in his party for winning statewide office in Republican territory, has said he has no interest in the Senate, though he is widely viewed as a contender for higher office.
McConnell, a diehard adherent to Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and muscular foreign policy, increasingly found himself out of step with a GOP shifting toward the fiery, often isolationist populism espoused by Trump.
McConnell still champions providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid to fend off Russia’s invasion, even as Trump ratchets up criticism of the country and its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The senator plans to make it clear Thursday that national defense remains at the forefront of his agenda.
“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks. “But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it. So, lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term: I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
McConnell and Trump were partners during Trump’s first term, but the relationship was severed after McConnell blamed Trump for “disgraceful” acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by his supporters. A momentary thaw in 2024 when McConnell endorsed Trump didn’t last.
Last week, Trump referred to McConnell as a “very bitter guy” after McConnell, who battled polio as a child, opposed vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as the nation’s top health official. McConnell referred to Trump as a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist” in a biography of the senator by The Associated Press’ deputy Washington bureau chief, Michael Tackett.
Before their falling out, Trump and McConnell pushed through a tax overhaul largely focused on reductions for businesses and higher-earning taxpayers. They joined forces to reshape the Supreme Court when Trump nominated three justices and McConnell guided them to Senate confirmation, tilting the high court to the right.
McConnell set a new precedent for hardball partisan tactics in 2016 by refusing to even give a hearing to Democratic President Barack Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Putting the brakes on the Senate’s “advise and consent” role for judicial nominees, McConnell said the vacancy should be filled by the next president so voters could have their say. Trump filled the vacancy once he took office, and McConnell later called the stonewalling of Garland’s nomination his “most consequential” achievement.
Later, when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died weeks before the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden, McConnell rushed Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation through the Senate, waving off allegations of hypocrisy.
McConnell also guided the Senate — and Trump — through two impeachment trials that ended in acquittals.
In the second impeachment, weeks after the deadly Capitol attack by a mob hoping to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, McConnell joined all but seven Republicans in voting to acquit. McConnell said he believed Trump couldn’t be convicted because he’d already left office, but the senator also condemned Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection.
McConnell over the years swung back and forth from majority to minority leader, depending on which party held power. He defended President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq war and failed to block Obama’s health care overhaul.
McConnell, the longest-serving senator ever from Kentucky, ensured that the Bluegrass State received plenty of federal funding. Back home he was a key architect in his party’s rise to power in a state long dominated by Democrats.
He is married to Elaine Chao, and they have long been a power couple in Washington. The senator referred to her as his “ultimate teammate and confidante.” Chao was labor secretary for Bush and transportation secretary during Trump’s first term, though she resigned after the Capitol insurrection, saying it had “deeply troubled” her.
McConnell’s parting words reflected his devotion to the Senate and his disdain for his detractors.
“The Senate is still equipped for work of great consequence,” he said. “And, to the disappointment of my critics, I’m still here on the job.”
___
Schreiner reported from Louisville, Ky.
6 Weird Roadside Attractions
North Carolina’s Weirdest Roadside Attractions
BEEP
Shangri-La Stone Village
This miniature village began as a hobby for retired farmer Henry Warren, and decades later, it still charms visitors along N.C. Highway 86. Constructed with stone, concrete, and quartz sourced from a nearby quarry, the site features 27 small buildings, each about five feet tall, including a library, theater, church, and schoolhouse.
As you explore, look closely for hidden trinkets scattered throughout the village, placed by Warren and past visitors, adding a touch of mystery to this unique roadside attraction.
The World’s Largest Chest of Drawers is Here
In High Point, the “Furniture Capital of the World,” you’ll find a massive 38-foot-tall chest of drawers complete with dangling socks to honor the region’s hosiery industry.
Known as the Bureau of Information, the 19th-century dresser dates back to 1926. The dresser had a complete makeover and transformation in 1996 by Sid Lenger. After Sid Lenger died in 2003, a real estate developer had the socks repainted neon green and orange. The elegant wood finish was also repainted with a coat of gray. This caused a stir with locals who considered it disrespectful to Sid Lenger’s work.
The chest was eventually sold to High Point University in 2018 and Brian Davis, an artist and designer, jumped at the opportunity to restore Lenger’s original vision. The socks were repainted with purple and yellow on one and pink and blue on the other; a nod at the city’s University and minor league baseball team.
Lazy 5 Ranch
For a family-friendly adventure in Mooresville, North Carolina, head to Lazy 5 Ranch, where you’ll encounter giraffes, antelopes, zebras, red kangaroos, camels, lemurs, and more fascinating animals.
Enhance the experience by purchasing a feed bucket, perfect for creating unforgettable memories. Keep your camera ready to capture the joy of hand-feeding these exotic creatures right through your car window!
Metal Zoo
Get ready for a zoo like no other in Greenville, North Carolina. Local sculptor Jonathan Bowling transforms salvaged scrap metal into intricate masterpieces, and you can admire many of them at the “Metal Zoo.”
Just down the street from Bowling’s studio on Dickinson Avenue, the sculpture park is filled with whimsical animals frozen in motion: a horse galloping across the field, pigs sharing a meal, tails, and ears swaying in the breeze—each crafted from golf clubs, saucepans, tire chains, nuts and bolts, old car parts, and other repurposed materials.
Croatan National Forest
Take a scenic drive through the East’s only true coastal forest in Havelock, North Carolina, where you’ll pass bogs, raised swamps, tidal rivers, and the Bogue Sound.
From your car window, you can observe a wide variety of wildlife, including alligators, otters, and waterfowl, as well as land animals like black bears and deer. The full loop around the forest takes about two hours, leaving you plenty of time to explore other nearby attractions.
Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park and Museum- Wilson, NC
The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Historic Downtown Wilson is a one-of-a-kind destination, born from a community-driven effort. It features the whimsical, recycled sculptures crafted by Vollis Simpson. These vibrant pieces come to life, spinning in the wind and spreading joy to everyone who visits.
February 20th 2025
Thought of the Day
First kiss and last sip never forgets.
RJ Davis scores 21 to help North Carolina beat NC State 97-73
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 21 points, Seth Davis added 15 on 6-of-9 shooting and North Carolina never trailed Wednesday night as the Tar Heels beat in-state rival N.C. State 97-73.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 13 points and Ian Jackson 12 for North Carolina (16-11, 9-6 ACC).
Drake Powell made a layup that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good just over four minutes into the game, sparking a 10-0 run that made it 16-6 about three minutes later. Trey Parker made two free throws at the other end but Seth Trimble answered with a jumper before Jackson and Jae’Lyn Withers each hit a 3-pointer in a 12-2 spurt that pushed the lead to 18 midway through the first half.
UNC shot 57% (35 of 61) from the field, outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-21 and led by double digits for the final 33 minutes.
Jayden Taylor led N.C. State (10-16, 3-12) with 19 points and Dontrez Styles added 18 on 7-of-10 shooting. Paul McNeil Jr. made 5 of 8 from the field and finished with 14 points in 14 minutes. Marcus Hill Jr., the team’s leading scorer this season at 12.8 per game, scored a season-low two points.
Davis made just 6 of 18 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range but went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line for the Tar Heels.
The Wolfpack, who beat Boston College 70-62 last time out, have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
The Tar Heels have won seven straight home games against N.C. State and are 168-81 all-time versus the Wolfpack.
North Carolina play host to Virginia on Saturday. N.C. State also plays Saturday, when Wake Forest visits.