A fire hydrant. A fridge. A problem. A big ballerina. The one with the "big ole' fanny."
These are all things sports commentators are calling D.J. Burns, the star big man on the NC State men's basketball team. Just call him good. Burns is bulky but nimble, and his personality's big too, which is why the fans get goofy when he touches the ball.
Burns starred again and his team pulled off another upset Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. These guys are supposed to stink. They did all year, but right now their wins looks inevitable. It's a lot of fun, and it's why basketball in NC is so rich. For more on NC's stars of the NCAA Tournament, check out our rundown here.
NC State's women—who play in the first round of the women's tourney Saturday—have been a threat for a while, so let's make it official: Wolfpack basketball is for real. Go D.J., Go D.J., go. |
Let's get to the rest of the news this Friday: |
- Holler at us: Who are you pulling for in March Madness?
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Here's what you said about keeping or scrapping Daylight Saving Time
- We're hiring! Tell your friends.
- Why NC homeowners could be getting crushed by new insurance rates this year
- Inside the "culture war" on our college campuses
- What in the heck is the "full worm moon?"
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If our state had a national pastime, it would be college basketball. We go crazy on it this time of year. Our March Madness is madder. With three universities—on both the men's and women's side—competing in the NCAA Tournament, tell us who you're pulling for! |
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Last week, we asked you about daylight saving time, that biannual sleep buster. Here's what you told us. |
We're looking for a new reporter
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This is your chance to join one of NC's fastest-growing newsrooms. We're looking for a multimedia reporter.
We need a versatile journalist adept at original reporting, kitchen-table storytelling, and approachable explainers. We’re passionate about making the news real—and interesting—to our audience, putting people over policies and cutting through the spin to speak directly to NC.
Check out the job listing here. |
Why NC homeowners could be hit with higher insurance rates this year
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North Carolina homeowners and renters could be hit with higher insurance rates later this year, and in the state’s coastal counties like Carteret, New Hanover, and Brunswick, those rates could be astronomically higher. Here's what you need to know: |
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In January, the North Carolina Rate Bureau (NCRB) proposed an average insurance rate increase of 42.2% statewide, which was rejected by Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey.
- The NCRB, an entity created by the General Assembly in 1977, proposes rate hikes, The Commissioner of Insurance can either accept these hikes, reject them in favor of a hearing held at a later date, or negotiate a settlement agreement at a different rate.
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Causey said at the time of the rejection that the increase requested by the NCRB was too high. “I haven’t seen the evidence to justify such a drastic rate increase on North Carolina consumers,” he said.
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In 2021, the Rate Bureau requested a 24.5% average rate increase, which was negotiated down to 7.9% prior to the hearing date set by Causey. This time around, a hearing will take place on October 7th, unless a settlement is reached between Causey and the Rate Bureau before then.
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But State Sen. Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg County), Causey’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 5 election, believes it is important that the hearing take place this year.
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“The Rate Bureau brings him a rate hike, it’s always very high," Marcus told us. "And he says, ‘I am going to hold a hearing, and then the public can see.’ Then he never holds the hearing, and instead what he does is he goes into a private room and makes a private settlement,” Marcus said. “And he will come out of that room, the current commissioner, and basically, in not quite so many words, tells the public ‘trust me, I just made you a great deal in there.’”
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Inside ‘the culture war’: An ideological battle on college campuses
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A look at how college campuses walk the fine line between allowing free speech and condemning hate speech, following Candace Owens' March 6 visit to UNC. (Visual by Adrian Tillman) |
After conservative commentator Candace Owens' visit to UNC this month, we published a fascinating piece from the UNC Media Hub on the tense political climate on NC's college campuses. Just like the rest of our institutions, the "culture wars" have become a thing. Politics is divisive. And universities have a tough job straddling that divide. They have an obligation to create environments where everyone feels safe to explore views and ideas, one professor of media law said.
“And universities have to walk a line, university leaders in particular, have to walk a line between supporting the principle of free speech and sometimes condemning extremist views, racist views, hate-filled views, or conspiracies and lies. And that is not always an easy line to walk for university leaders."
Check out the story here. More NC politics: |
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What in the world is the "full worm moon?" That's the name for March’s full moon—which will reach peak illumination on the 25. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the "Worm Moon" has origins in Native American, European, and Colonial American sources. The most likely source for the name came from Captain Jonathan Carver in the 1760s. Captain Carver “visited the Naudowessie (Dakota) and other Native American tribes and wrote that the name Worm Moon refers to a different sort of ‘worm’—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.”
Another fun fact? Since March’s full moon is happening after the spring equinox this year, it’s also referred to as a Paschal Moon. Happy moon-watching, NC. |
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