WRAL Daily Download

The North Carolina General Assembly gets back to work this week when the state House and Senate begin the long legislative session. Lawmakers left some key issues unfinished last year — issues ranging from Medicaid expansion to medical marijuana to sports betting. They’ll try again on those and other failed efforts, and focus on some new priorities. WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain joins us to break it down.

The new year brings a new edition of the WRAL Promise Tracker — the annual check-in to see whether North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is making good on promises he made on the campaign trail. WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain breaks down progress the second-term Democratic governor is making on his biggest goals as he faces resistance in the Republican-controlled state legislature.

Fifty vultures were found dead in Fuquay-Varina near the town’s water tower. Some environmentalists believe they were poisoned. But state wildlife officials say they may be the victims of the avian flu. The dead birds are being tested. Meanwhile, the community is buzzing about the mysterious deaths. WRAL reporter Matt Talhelm walks us through his reporting on this story.

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Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field Monday night during a game in Cincinnati. In this episode, we speak with WRAL Sports Director Jason Jennings about his interview with North Carolina State University basketball coach Kevin Keatts who once witnessed a player from the opposing team collapse right in front of him. How and why does this happen? Can it be prevented? How are the teams affected by these situations?

North Carolina education officials are projecting a shortage of nearly every type of public-school teacher in the state. That could complicate state leaders’ goals to get students ready for college or the workforce — part of an agreement in the nearly 30-year-old education adequacy lawsuit. WRAL Education Reporter Emily Walkenhorst shares what she learned after speaking with educators who worry the state isn’t making progress toward meeting its goals because of difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers.

WRAL PolitiFact North Carolina reporter Paul Specht in 2022 fact-checked officials at nearly every level of government, correcting claims about everything from inflation to the state’s redistricting process. In this episode, Specht reviews PolitiFact NC’s list of most-read articles from 2022, revealing how the fact checks came together and discussing what surprised him about the list.

WRAL’s Hidden History Reporter Heather Leah takes us on a journey to the past to look at North Carolina’s holiday traditions, some which still take place today. Others which are long gone, but still evoke magic when the stories are told again and again and passed down through generations.

https://www.wral.com/then-and-now-scenes-of-fayetteville-street-at-christmas-through-the-decades/19393267/

https://www.wral.com/remembering-raleigh-10-christmas-memories-youll-only-have-if-you-grew-up-in-raleigh/19396373/

Mcadenville almost disappeared during the Great Depression, but it was saved by a man who loved Christmas. And now, every year for more than sixty years, the town comes alive to celebrate the holiday and welcomes visitors from all over to view its magical transformation into a place worthy of a Hallmark holiday movie. In this episode, WRAL history writer Heather Leah takes us behind the scenes of North Carolina’s secret Christmas destination.

https://www.wral.com/almost-abandoned-the-magical-origins-of-nc-s-very-own-christmas-town/19415540/

You may have driven by them a hundred times—a lit tree dangling over Raleigh’s Beltline, or the tiny festive house in the former Christmas village on New Bern Avenue. WRAL’s Hidden History reporter, Heather Leah, shares the fascinating stories behind these holiday traditions with us in this episode.

https://www.wral.com/solved-the-family-story-behind-raleigh-s-little-christmas-tree-hanging-over-the-beltline-since-1988/19384781/

https://www.wral.com/mysterious-miniature-house-hidden-remains-of-a-popular-christmas-village-from-the-1960s/19401417/

You may have seen the sign dated 1943 on a windy road in the Smoky Mountains. It’s just outside the Bryson City and reads “Welcome to the Road to Nowhere: A broken promise!” You can follow the road through a dark tunnel, but then it mysteriously ends in the side of a mountain. WRAL’s Hidden History reporter Heather Leah breaks down the mystery for us in this episode.

https://www.wral.com/road-to-nowhere-abandoned-tunnel-s-history-connects-to-underwater-ghost-town-in-nc/19960234/