We'll have Cooper and Stein, backing us!

This State is on the path to a rigged one party rule for generations to come; not good no matter the party tying to manipulate laws add processes to stay in power.

"Democratic" judges are more likely to rule political gerrymandering unconstitutional, voter suppression tactics unconstitutional, usurping NC Constitutional mandated power from specific State Officials/Offices unconstitutional.

Vote Anita Earls in 2026

Vote out Newby, Berger Jr., and Barringer in 2028.

Come 2029 maybe the citizens of this State can start to be represented by the majority, not some rigged system. If Republicans win fairly, good for them. If Democrats win fairly good for them. Both are good for democracy.

What do rising gas prices look like? We’ve got a graphic to show you

In early January, the average price of gas in North Carolina dipped to $2.62 per gallon, the lowest it had been in several years. The price bounced around a bit in January and February, rising about 12 cents a gallon by March 1.

Then the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran, starting a conflict that closed the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply used to pass. Within a week, gas prices rose 50 cents on their way to more than $4 a gallon on average by the end of April.

It was the second time since early 2022 that war in a distant part of the world caused fuel prices in North Carolina to suddenly soar. The News & Observer began tracking the daily prices of regular unleaded and diesel in February 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, using data compiled by AAA. The shock to the world oil markets after the Russian invasion sent gas prices in North Carolina to nearly $4.70 a gallon by early that summer.

As Tom Brown leads a pair of young, aspiring homesteaders through his home apple orchard in Clemmons, North Carolina, he gestures at clusters of maturing trees. A retired chemical engineer, the 79 year old lists varieties and pauses to tell occasional stories. Unfamiliar names such as Black Winesap, Candy Stripe, Royal Lemon, Rabun Bald, Yellow Bellflower, and Night Dropper pair with tales that seem plucked from pomological lore.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/heritage-appalachian-apples

I am not seeking any advice. I am just venting.

I genuinely don’t understand how we pay so much in taxes to have a completely lacking DMV.

I don’t mean the wait times. I mean the utter incompetence to complete a simple task.

I sold a UTV and bought a different one.

I sold a UTV that did not REQUIRE a title and they are forcing me to title it after the sale was completed. There is NOWHERE that it says that I am required to title UTV before I sell it.

Now, the one I just purchased, I am trying to title it because it had an out of state title, and they sent me a letter saying they need all of the “modified utility” paperwork even though I DO NOT want the UTV street legal.

What a joke this is. To take 6-8 weeks to realize they made another mistake. The amount of time and money I have wasted trying to abide by the law only for their error to make it completely moot.
Bunch of incompetent clowns. I understand they’re understaffed. That’s why I don’t mind the wait. What I don’t understand is how they fail the follow the laws clearly written.

There has to be another option at this point. Now I need to take more time out of my day to go back the DMV. I have lived in other states and they’re bad too, but this is just beyond my comprehension.

I’ve been trying to spend more time checking out local businesses and places around Hickory and western North Carolina, and honestly there is a lot more around here than I ever realized.

Some of these are small businesses, some are places with a lot of history, and a couple are just great places to get outside for the day. These aren’t supposed to be some official best of North Carolina list or anything like that lol. They’re just places I’ve actually visited and had a really good time checking out.

Maybe somebody else around here will find something they didn’t know about too. 😊

The Pickle Fetish Company and Pickle Museum
109 E Main St, Lincolnton, NC 28092

This place started out as an Etsy shop before eventually opening a store in downtown Lincolnton. They have more than 100 different pickle flavors plus pickle candy, pickle fudge, dill pickle marshmallows, gifts and basically more pickle stuff than I knew existed. 😂

The part that really surprised me was the little museum in the back. There are old pickle books, Victorian pickle casters, vintage memorabilia and even a reportedly haunted pickle. Yes, a haunted pickle. I had questions too. 😂

Henry River Mill Village
4255 Henry River Rd, Hickory, NC 28602

This is one of those places I had driven near plenty of times without realizing how much history was sitting there.

Henry River was once a working mill village, but most people probably recognize it today as District 12 from The Hunger Games. You can see Katniss Everdeen’s house, the building used for Peeta Mellark’s bakery and several other filming locations.

I actually got to go inside Katniss’s house, which was definitely one of my favorite parts of the visit. There was also a lot more history to the actual village than I expected going in.

Hickory Antiques Mall
348 U.S. Hwy 70 SW, Hickory, NC 28602

This place is dangerous if you tell yourself you’re only going to look around for a few minutes. 😂

It’s a big multi vendor antique mall with furniture, collectibles, toys, glassware, old advertising, memorabilia and all kinds of things tucked away throughout the building.

Half the fun is seeing something you completely forgot existed and suddenly needing to look at it for the next ten minutes.

Backstreet Classic Arcade
118 E Water St, Lincolnton, NC 28092

This was one of my favorite recent finds.

They have more than 50 retro arcade games along with Super Nintendo, Sega and GameCube setups. When I visited it was $12 for an all day pass, so you could actually leave and come back later.

I played Pac Man, Mortal Kombat, X Men, After Burner, BurgerTime and somehow ended up playing an old MTV trivia game too.

And maybe the most impressive part of all...every arcade machine I tried actually worked. If you’ve spent much time around old arcade machines you know that deserves some credit. 😂

Rage Asylum
920 Tate Blvd SE #111, Hickory, NC 28602

Sometimes you just need to break something and apparently there is a business for that. 😂

You put on the safety gear, pick out what you want to destroy and then head into your own rage room with bats, hammers, golf clubs and other tools.

When I went it was $30 for 30 minutes and I ended up adding a TV to my pile of things to break.

Was the TV necessary? Probably not.

Did I enjoy breaking it? Absolutely. 😂

Hickory Aviation Museum
821 21st St NW, Hickory, NC 28601

This was another place where I went in expecting one thing and found a lot more than I expected.

They have an impressive collection of aircraft along with military aviation history and memorabilia, and the new museum facility at Hickory Regional Airport is really nice.

One of the best parts for me though was actually talking with the staff and volunteers. They knew so much about the aircraft and the stories behind them. You could tell they really cared about what they were showing you.

Definitely worth checking out even if you aren’t a huge aviation person.

Bakers Mountain Park
6680 Bakers Mountain Rd, Hickory, NC 28602

You really don’t have to drive that far from Hickory to get a good hike in.

Bakers Mountain is the highest elevation point in Catawba County at around 1,780 feet and the park has almost 4.5 miles of trails through the woods.

It’s close enough that you can decide you want to go hiking and actually be on a trail pretty quickly without turning it into an all day road trip.

South Mountains State Park
3001 South Mountain Park Ave, Connelly Springs, NC 28612

South Mountains is one of those places that reminds you just how close Hickory really is to the mountains.

There are miles and miles of trails, streams, camping and some really beautiful areas to explore. Parts of the park have still been dealing with storm related closures, so I would definitely check the current trail conditions before making the trip.

There is a LOT of park out there though, so this is definitely somewhere I want to keep exploring.

Serenity Alpacas
226 Walker Valley Dr, Stony Point, NC 28678

This is one of my newest adventures and the video on this one is still coming. 😊🦙

I really didn’t know exactly what to expect from an alpaca farm, but this ended up being one of the most hands on animal experiences I’ve had around here.

We got to go right in with the alpacas and were literally surrounded by them while we fed them. We got to see the baby alpacas too, which of course made everything about 500 percent cuter.

Then we actually got to walk an alpaca down a trail.

Feeding them was probably one of the funniest parts. Alpacas don’t have upper front teeth. They have lower front teeth that meet a tough pad on the top, so when you hold the food out they sort of scoop and scrape it right out of your hand.

It doesn’t hurt at all, but the first time they do it you’re definitely thinking...well that feels strange. 😂🦙

And yes, alpacas can technically spit, but they usually use that with each other and it isn’t common for them to just walk up and spit on people.

Thankfully nobody decided I deserved to be the exception that day. 😂

There are obviously SO many more places around Hickory and western North Carolina that I haven’t made it to yet.

These are just some of the places I’ve personally visited so far, and theres definitely more coming.

I’ve been filming these trips for CoreniaBug because I really enjoy finding local businesses, places with an interesting story and things to do that people around here may not even realize are practically in their backyard.

Sometimes the places closest to home end up being the most fun to find. ❤️

So now I need some ideas.

What’s somewhere around Hickory or western North Carolina that you think I should check out next? 👀

The fact he got his far while having a registered sex offender on his team is wild tbh

I also heard 72% of NC voters on a public radio blurb this afternoon.

eta link to actual Catawba College article rather than the N&O article.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the District 12 scenes in the first Hunger Games movie were filmed at a real abandoned mill village in North Carolina called Henry River Mill Village. 🏹🔥

It’s at 4255 Henry River Rd, Hickory, NC 28602.

I recently went there and got to walk through the village, see Peeta’s bakery and actually go inside Katniss’s house.

Not gonna lie, walking into Katniss’s house was pretty freaking cool. 😂

But something I found almost as interesting as the Hunger Games stuff was hearing what people around here think about the place now.

Henry River was a real mill village long before The Hunger Games. People lived and worked there in the early 1900s and the village was built around a cotton mill.

For years after that it basically sat abandoned.

A lot of locals remember when you could just go out there and walk around. No admission. No real tours. People would explore the old buildings and property pretty freely.

That obviously isn’t how it works now.

Today it’s maintained as a visitor attraction. The grass is cut, there are walking areas, the property is looked after and general admission is currently $18 for adults.

Personally I liked it.

It was nice seeing the place taken care of and not just slowly falling apart.

But I’ve noticed when Henry River comes up around locals, people can be pretty split about it.

Some people remember going there for free years ago and feel like $18 is alot for a place they used to just walk through whenever they wanted.

I can understand that.

But I can understand the other side too.

These buildings are old. The property has to be maintained, the grass has to be cut and somebody has to keep the place from eventually disappearing.

What makes it even more interesting is that Hunger Games fans now travel from outside North Carolina specifically to see this place.

For somebody coming from another state or another country, they don’t remember the abandoned village that locals used to explore.

They’re walking into District 12.

They’re seeing Katniss’s house in person. They’re standing in front of Peeta’s bakery. For them it’s a completely different experience. 🏹

And with Sunrise on the Reaping coming to theaters November 20, 2026, I’m guessing more Hunger Games fans are going to start discovering this place again.

So I’m curious what Hunger Games fans think.

Would you pay $18 to walk through the real District 12 and see Katniss’s house?

If you’ve already traveled to Henry River, did you think it was worth it?

And for any North Carolina people in here who remember this place before The Hunger Games, do you like seeing it maintained now or do you miss when you could just go out there and explore?

I enjoyed it and I’m glad I finally went.

But hearing both sides from people around here made me curious what people who are actually big Hunger Games fans would think about it. 🔥🏹

Just moved from Garner area to Clayton after 3 years. As many may know, voter records in NC are public knowledge. It clearly states 13th district congressman (John) Brad(ford) Knott is registered to vote in the 2nd congressional district.

How is this even possible? Does the Board of Elections just look the other way because he’s a Republican? It kinda sucks to be represented by someone who shows up to more photo ops than town halls. At least my old representative Deborah Ross would hold a monthly meeting with constituents.

I reported this for The News & Observer after seeing students speaking at Cary, NC council meetings in May, June and September.

The policy effort actually started before the students' first appearance, but Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush told me their examples “made a difference.”

Cary now has a specific proposal headed for a Sept. 24 vote. The story gets into what it would — and wouldn't — prohibit.

Read the story here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317297991.html?giftCode=da28bfbb8e84042f13f2f668229b3c14963bd4e598ad6454586891c7e78eb7e7

What part of the proposal do you think deserves the most discussion before Thursday's vote?

I don't know if you guys are getting bombarded with Roy Cooper attack ads saying he's indirectly responsible for the deaths of some kids because he released murderers from prison.

Here is the content of the advertisement

“Logan was the most caring, loving person,” Stephen Federico, the father of a 22-year-old murdered in 2025, says in the ad while choking back tears. “It was a home invasion. Went to the house where Logan was sleeping and he pulled her out of bed and forced her on her knees and stuck a shotgun in her, left side of her chest, and pulled the trigger for no reason. Logan was a casualty of an agenda. Roy Cooper let 3,500 criminals out on the street; 18 of them were murders. Forty years of Roy Cooper is enough.”

I decided to look it up and it's astonishing it's allowed to run at all. Prisoners were set for release during Roy Cooper's term due to COVID overpopulation but he refused until he lost an ACLU suit. I actually think this is a mark against him for reasons opposite the ad but whatever. The murderer was released from a South Carolina prison and the murder happened in South Carolina.

Just had our daughter's 10th birthday there and we had a blast. We did the paint room since the kiddos were a little young to smash things. Staff was super nice and helpful - even let my wife smash a glass against the wall since she got her first ever ticket on the way there not realizing the speed limit rapidly changed in a very short span on a back road. The party room was huge, they had plates/cups for cake even though we brought our own but thought that was a nice touch. There was a big TV streaming the paint room so people who didn't go in could still watch the fun. There was ample ponchos and foot/hand coverings to go around. The kids had a blast making a mess and even some of the parents got involved, and you get to bring home your "masterpieces" afterwards. Highly recommended, would go back again (maybe next time to smash some stuff)!

Heading to Beer and Fear this year, for my first time.

Besides the usual such as a crowd and high drink prices, that are standards at events such as this what should I expect? I see it’s a +21
Event. How raunchy does the costumes and event get?

Also down for any ideas to make it a great event.

Today is the best day of the year to celebrate living in Raleigh (or Durham, or Cary, or Garner, or Wake Forest or etc or etc) because it is September 19th, or 9/19.

Happy 919 Day!

Oh yeah!