In today’s news: UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham says he’ll move out of the AD role next year, with Steve Newmark coming in. Also: UNC hires James Orr to help with undergraduate enrollment and success; Chapel Hill approves a controversial housing plan; Gov. Stein signs 15 bills, including one that requires schools to ban in-class use of personal devices (and also requires them to teach social-media literacy); Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell looks back at his first term in office as he prepares to run for reelection; a local chef appears on the Food Network show “Chopped”; a Tar Heel tennis alum gets his first win at Wimbledon; and three UNC baseball stars earn All-America honors.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck recaps the day’s news, from local government to business developments to UNC sports. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s daily news reports, which you can hear live during “This Morning with Aaron Keck” every weekday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.

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Trending today: Victor discusses the surprising ecological impacts of border walls – including one in Belarus that’s threatening a specific population of wild animals. Also, Aaron gets extremely cynical for about 15 seconds – and Victor’s attempt to diss the whole concept of border walls is met with Aaron’s imaginative engineering for modern castles with high-tech moats.

Want to know what folks are talking about on social media? Every weekday on 97.9 The Hill’s “This Morning with Aaron Keck,” Victor Lewis scours the Internet for the day’s top trending stories, from weird news to wacky crimes to odd business ventures and everything in between. Click here to listen back to all our past What’s Trending segments – and tune in to “This Morning” on 97.9 The Hill every weekday at 7:45 to hear What’s Trending live on the air.

What’s Trending is made possible by Dynamic Electric. Listen now:

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Sports expert David Glenn joins Aaron for an extended conversation on the House v. NCAA settlement, which frees up colleges and universities to start paying student-athletes directly. We won’t fully know the impact of that change until it’s implemented, but Aaron and David discuss what some of the biggest effects might be, both for good and for ill – including a few you might not have considered.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

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In today’s news: the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is searching for two suspects in a recent Hillsborough theft. Also: Hillsborough mayor Mark Bell confirms he’s running for reelection; a local pollster says Thom Tillis’ decision to retire won’t affect the 2026 Senate race as much as you think; Disney brings a housing development to Pittsboro; a $6 million Pittsboro recording studio goes up for sale; employees vote to unionize at a Chapel Hill Starbucks; and a pair of Tar Heel athletes earn big honors.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck recaps the day’s news, from local government to business developments to UNC sports. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s daily news reports, which you can hear live during “This Morning with Aaron Keck” every weekday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.

Listen:

The post The Morning News: Theft in Hillsborough, Disney Living in Pittsboro appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Thom Tillis isn’t running for reelection next year, and national pundits say that’s great for Democrats – but is it really? Tom and Aaron discuss polling that suggested Democrats were already likely to pick up that Senate seat in 2026 anyway, partly because Tillis was so unpopular even among GOP voters – so Tillis’ decision probably won’t move the dial as much as you might think. Also, Tom digs into Zohran Mamdani’s upset win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, which PPP was the only major polling outfit to call correctly. (Which in turn makes WCHL the only news outlet in the country that covered the only pre-election survey that actually got the outcome right.)

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

Every other Monday, Aaron is joined at 8:30 a.m. by Tom Jensen, the director of Public Policy Polling, for a longstanding regular segment called “What We’re Thinking,” looking at recent survey numbers and discussing what they tell us about American public opinion – election-related and otherwise.

Listen: 

The post What We’re Thinking: Tillis Is Out, But Does It Matter? appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Filling in for Victor, Michael Koh comes in with a bone to pick about live-action remakes of animated classics: they hue too closely to their original source material. (Aaron qualifies: that’s actually fine when the original source material is really good, less so when the original film wasn’t actually ever that great to begin with.)

Want to know what folks are talking about on social media? Every weekday on 97.9 The Hill’s “This Morning with Aaron Keck,” Victor Lewis scours the Internet for the day’s top trending stories, from weird news to wacky crimes to odd business ventures and everything in between. Click here to listen back to all our past What’s Trending segments – and tune in to “This Morning” on 97.9 The Hill every weekday at 7:45 to hear What’s Trending live on the air.

What’s Trending is made possible by Dynamic Electric. Listen now:

The post What’s Trending: You Just Pointed At All Of Me appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

In today’s news: Carrboro is named an All-America City by the National Civic League, one of ten recipients nationwide. Also: Thom Tillis says he won’t run for reelection after coming out against Donald Trump’s budget bill; Gov. Josh Stein vetoes a regulatory bill in Raleigh; Orange County Schools get to work on summer projects; UNC releases the non-conference schedule for Tar Heel men’s basketball; RJ Davis signs with the Lakers; and the Tar Heel football team gets ready for the upcoming season, with a bunch of incoming transfers.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck recaps the day’s news, from local government to business developments to UNC sports. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s daily news reports, which you can hear live during “This Morning with Aaron Keck” every weekday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.

Listen:

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Still recovering from this week’s heat wave, Brad and Aaron look ahead to next week’s July 4 festivities. Both of them recommend parades – coupled either with great food (in Brad’s case) or fireworks (in Aaron’s). Brad also has a recommendation for folks who want to celebrate America while being romantic in the comfort of their own home – assuming your AC works, that is. (Otherwise, “the comfort of your own home” becomes an oxymoron.)

Are you looking for romantic date-night ideas in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the greater Triangle community? Memorable restaurants, cultural experiences, special events, great places to get outdoors? Every Friday morning at 8:30, Aaron Keck and his husband Brad Bednar go on 97.9 The Hill and offer their recommendations during “Date Night” on This Morning with Aaron Keck. Click here to listen back to all their past segments – and tune in to This Morning every Friday at 8:30 to hear “Date Night” live on the air.

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Work is underway now on the new South Green Flats condominium community in Carrboro’s South Green development. When it’s done, the community will have over 50 one- and two-bedroom units for sale (starting in the low $300s) plus seven commercial spaces across three buildings. Developers say the first units should be move-in ready sometime next year.

Aaron welcomes Tom Wiltberger of Terra Nova Global Properties and Mark Moshier of Legacy Real Property Group to discuss the project.

Conversation presented by Terra Nova Global Properties. Visit SouthGreenFlats.com for more information on the new development.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

Listen:

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Filling in for Victor, Michael Koh runs down a recently-published list of 109 folksy sayings to describe how hot it is outside. (Why 109? Our thinking is because that’s what the heat index was projected to be, but your guess is as good as ours.)

Want to know what folks are talking about on social media? Every weekday on 97.9 The Hill’s “This Morning with Aaron Keck,” Victor Lewis scours the Internet for the day’s top trending stories, from weird news to wacky crimes to odd business ventures and everything in between. Click here to listen back to all our past What’s Trending segments – and tune in to “This Morning” on 97.9 The Hill every weekday at 7:45 to hear What’s Trending live on the air.

What’s Trending is made possible by Dynamic Electric. Listen now:

The post What’s Trending: How Hot Was It? appeared first on Chapelboro.com.