Below, we have a pioneering program at a North Carolina prison, and a look at the local electric co-ops providing an alternative to Duke Energy, but first: 

Little League softball runs through North Carolina. We can say that definitively now, after a Johnston County team took home the trophy at the Little League World Series Sunday in Greenville. 

That story leads off our new edition of Good News Friday, where every week, we round up our favorite positive news stories from around the state. 

The win marks the fourth time in 11 years that a North Carolina team has captured the Little League World Series title. 

This week's Good News Friday also includes a LEGO tribute to the Greensboro sit-ins and a NC university's plan to take on our spiraling energy costs.

Read Good News Friday here. 

The North Carolina team takes the field in the Little League Softball World Series title game. Here's how they did. (Photo via Little League Softball World Series)

If you love the Cardinal & Pine newsletter, share it with your friends and family! It's how we grow and beat the pesky social media algorithms.

Here's what we have in this Friday edition of the C&P newsletter: 

Big love to Allison Tune for this peaceful view from Lake Higgins in Greensboro. 

This is one of my favorite parts of the C&P newsletter. It's 100% North Carolina-created vibes. Want to share your View from NC? Send it to us!

Ray Holmes proudly wears the face paint and stickers his kids put on him during Parent Day at Sampson Correctional in North Carolina. (Rachel Crumpler / NC Health News)

Today we published a fascinating new story about a North Carolina prison program that's doing things a little differently. 

At Clinton's Sampson Correctional Institution, a medium- and minimum-custody prison in rural NC, local prison staff are doing something called "Parent Day." 

The program acknowledges how hard it is to have a parent in prison. And vice versa, how hard it is for an incarcerated person to have a child on the outside. 

About a third of NC's prison population, or roughly 11,000 people, have children who are under the age of 18. 

For four hours, the NC prison allowed inmates to connect with their kids: playing board games, eating, and doing a little arts and crafts. It's also an opportunity to get something as simple as a hug. 

North Carolina Health News covered "Parent Day" recently. Read it here. 

More at Cardinal & Pine:

1. Halting the loss of farmland in Western NC. Carolina Public Press

"Henderson is the largest farming county in Western NC, but like other areas has been rapidly losing farmland. Some hope to reverse that."

2. 8 North Carolina towns with a slower pace of life. WorldAtlas

"North Carolina's smaller towns often settle into their surroundings rather than push against them. [...] These are eight towns where the pace of life is in no hurry."

3. Top NC court upholds conviction tied to cannabis odor again. Carolina Journal

"Friday's unanimous decision in State v. Schiene marked the court's third ruling since May affirming that authorities in North Carolina can use cannabis odor to justify a warrantless search."

4. Opinion: NC’s State Board of Elections must stand up for student voters. Spring Hope Enterprise

"If approved, these plans will make voting harder not only for students, but for hundreds of faculty, staff and community members who work on, or live around, these campuses."

(Alisha Bube via Shutterstock)

Last week, we tested your knowledge of one of NC's most popular sports—stock car racing. 

Many of you correctly named the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, featuring Lightning McQueen from Disney's "Cars." But the fastest fingers belonged to C&P reader Ellen Weinberg. 

This week, we have another challenge for NC aficionados. Be the fastest to tell us where we are! 

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Billy Ball. I'm an NC native and journalist. I tend to lean left on opinion, but I lean no way on facts. Today's edition includes stories from Ryan Pitkin, North Carolina Health News, and Kelly Glass. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

Cardinal & Pine is free for everyone. Your support makes our work possible.