TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2026

Good morning! On this day in 1908, North Carolina voters approved statewide prohibition of alcohol sales by a 62% to 38% margin—becoming the first state to do so. The ban took effect in January 1909.

The Flyover North Carolina team would like to send a shoutout to the 12% of our readers who answered yesterday's poll question that they know more than three languages. We're impressed! Today's edition is abbreviated as our staff takes time to celebrate Memorial Day with their families. We'll be back with the full lineup tomorrow.

After President Trump warned the Iranian World Cup team to steer clear of American soil "for their own life and safety," Iran has now found a new country willing to host them instead. On The Flyover Podcast, Ayla Brown shares the surprise nation stepping in to take the team, plus what Iran has to say about the world's sporting event being held in America. Tune in here!

Later today, you'll receive a message from our partner, Insurify, about how car insurance rates have risen and how comparing quotes in one place could help you find a lower rate in just a few minutes.

Rip Currents Slam NC Coast

Memorial Day weekend opened with a rip current emergency along North Carolina's coast, as officials reported at least 33 rescues at beaches near Wilmington on Saturday alone. There were 25 rescues at Carolina Beach and eight at Wrightsville Beach, according to forecasters.

Conditions stayed dangerous into Sunday, with Wrightsville Beach crews rescuing 15 people from rip currents, officials said.

The National Weather Service declared high rip current danger stretching from the Outer Banks south to Wilmington through Memorial Day, urging beachgoers to stay out of the water entirely.

If caught in a rip current, swimmers are advised against fighting it and should, instead, swim parallel to shore to break free, then angle back toward the beach.

NC Schools Chase Creative Revenue

College athletics departments—including NC State, UNC, and Duke—are scrambling for creative revenue as a landmark legal settlement forces schools to share tens of millions directly with athletes.

The House settlement added a $20.5 million annual expense for ACC schools starting in 2025-26. NC State projects a deficit of more than $18 million this year alone. “There’s no magic pill … so you’d better be creative,” said Wolfpack Athletic Director Boo Corrigan.

NC State booked Guns N’ Roses and Noah Kahan to headline Carter-Finley Stadium concerts this July, and UNC struck gold when the Savannah Bananas played two sold-out shows at Kenan Stadium in April, generating more than $1 million for the athletics department.

Duke inked a deal with Amazon to broadcast marquee basketball games, while both UNC and NC State will open their 2026 football seasons overseas—chasing new audiences and new dollars.

Flying together with our sponsor

Buffett's ‘Phone’ Rule Could Make This Company Soar

Warren Buffett famously said that "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die."

But what if your phone could do it for you? 📲

That's exactly what Mode Mobile has created: technology that turns idle phone time into passive income. With 490M+ users in their ecosystem and $1B+ in earnings and savings, their EarnPhone is being called the Uber of smartphones.

With 32,481% revenue growth, they were named the fastest-growing software company in 2023 by Deloitte, and with 7 billion smartphones worldwide their market could be significantly larger than Uber’s.

They’ve just secured their Nasdaq stock ticker $MODE, and you have until Friday to invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.50/share.

🚨 Last chance to invest. Price changes on 5/29.

➤ Statewide: NCDOT is launching a major overhaul of its popular DriveNC.gov traveler information website tomorrow, May 27, introducing improved real-time traffic updates, new features, and a redesigned platform. It marks the first significant update since its creation after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. (More)

➤ Statewide: The April unemployment rate held steady from March at 3.7%, in step with the national rate, which remained at 4.3% for the same period. (More)

➤ UNC-Chapel Hill: The Tar Heels women's lacrosse team fell 14-11 to Northwestern in the NCAA Championship game on Sunday, finishing the season as national runners-up. (More)

➤ Raleigh: The Carolina Hurricanes headed to Montreal for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, with the series tied 1-1. (See Results)

➤ Asheville: The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission stocked Lake Julian in Buncombe County with 1,333 catfish in time for Memorial Day weekend fishing. (More)

➤ Greenville: Thousands turned out at ECU's Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Sunday for a shot at joining MrBeast's Beast Games, the YouTube megastar's competition series. (More)

Flying together with our sponsor

The next Uber? One Shark Tank Investor thinks so

Imagine turning down Uber at a valuation of $10 million, only to watch it go public at over $80 billion. That’s exactly what happened to Mark Cuban.

But fellow Shark Tank investor Kevin Harrington may have learned from Cuban’s mistake, investing early in what investors are calling the Uber of Smartphones.

That company is Mode Mobile, and like Uber did with cars, they’re turning smartphones into income-generating assets. They’ve generated $115M in revenue and helped users earn and save +$1B. And investors have one final opportunity to invest in their pre-IPO offering before their share price changes on Friday.

⚠️ Last chance to invest alongside Kevin Harrington at $0.50/share.

This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile Regulation A+ offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.modemobile.com/ *Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur. *Mode cumulative revenue includes full year revenue of businesses acquired in 2025.