RDU On the Rise: Grocery store wars, frozen treats, and the rise of the nerds

Happy Friday! It’s July 15, some of us are still sunburned from our Independence Day vacations, and this is the RDU On the Rise newsletter.

I’m Will Doran, a state politics reporter for the News & Observer. In writing this newsletter I’m taking a mental break from combing through hundreds of pages of new state budget documents. It’s tedious but important, since politicians never want to tell us everything they’re spending our money on (flashback to 2017 when I broke the story on $250,000 going to Richard Petty).

Here I am a couple weeks ago at the very scenic legislative building, for the budget press conference. I’m on the far left with the Carolina Blue tie (#GDTBATH) and glued to my phone, probably checking Twitter.

Photo credit goes to Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican who turned the camera around on us for a change. But I won’t bore you with state budget talk in this newsletter. If that interests you, find all of our recent coverage here.

Instead, let’s talk sports! And Esports! And the rise of the nerds! (Or at least one of them, in Raleigh, who’s about to be very rich.) But first, let’s enjoy some ice cream, and watch some grocery store wars go down.

The Triangle grocery scene, plus frozen treats

Big news: North Carolina is America’s best state for business. And speaking of money, one of the places we spend the most green none other than the grocery store. That’s why Brooke Cain, David Raynor and Kevin Keister teamed up to research and reveal which stores have the highest and lowest grocery prices in Raleigh. Dive into the results — they may surprise you.

▪ Brooke had fun spotting some wild stuff while reporting on this project. Check out the weird and cool things she saw.

▪ Want a tip or two? Try these 10+ practical ways to save money on your grocery and food bills.

With all that extra cash you’re going to have now thanks to that article, why not spend it wisely: Buy some ice cream! July is National Ice Cream Month. And the weather demands that we chill out. It’s great to live in the Triangle, where there’s no shortage of options to find unique, flavorful ice cream and frozen treats.

▪ These 18 ice cream and custard shops will help you sweat out summer. Here’s a snapshot of some of the N&O’s favorite spots, courtesy of Ilana Arougheti and Kayla Guo.

▪ My vote goes to Maple View in Hillsborough. That’s mostly because of the fun nostalgia from when I first went to their farm as a sophomore at UNC, six of us squeezed into someone’s tiny car, windows down on a summer day, belting out Blink-182. (The ice cream is good too, for the record). But now it’s your turn: Tell us your favorite by voting in our newest poll.

What the heck is happening in college sports?

I joked this week that Fayetteville State University might end up in the SEC in a case of mistaken identity. There’s just so much confusion, it seems something so silly might actually happen.

If you want real analysis instead of my bad jokes, check out last Sunday’s massive story spread (and podcast) from sports writers Andrew Carter and Luke DeCock. It’s important to anyone who grew up watching the ACC Basketball tournament at school when teachers would push TV carts into the classroom.

▪ Learn about how the ACC started the conference expansion trend it’s now dreading,

▪ why the ACC’s future might depend on Notre Dame, and

▪ what both UNC and NC State might do, and how that might affect Duke, too.

Meanwhile, a new sport is continuing to gain prominence here: Professional video gaming, or Esports. Kayla Guo wrote about PNC Arena hosting an Apex Legends tournament with $2 million in prizes last week. It’s just the latest one, after Raleigh hosted a big Halo tournament last year. Local and state leaders see the tournaments as an economic development boon.

(I’m dangerously close to breaking my promise from earlier to shut up about the state budget, but let’s just say Guilford Technical Community College recently came across 749,000 new reasons to be happy about an Esports program on campus.)

As young nerds are getting rich playing video games, the not-as-young nerds are breaking into the C-Suite here in Raleigh. Tech reporter Brian Gordon (who is brand new, so give him a follow on Twitter) recently profiled incoming Red Hat boss Matt Hicks, who made the rare jump from IT developer to CEO of the multi-billion-dollar IBM subsidiary.

Other notable reads

▪ Raleigh’s mysterious ”Drunktown Guy” is finally unmasked — sort of — by a longtime NC journalist and podcaster.

▪ There’s an odd scandal in Johnston County where a local firebrand politician is in some sort of vague trouble. What even are the allegations? All we know is that they got Johnston County School Board member Ronald Johnson suspended without pay from his day job at the Smithfield Police Department.

▪ The 2022 Emmy Award nominations are out, and Raleigh and Durham were well represented. Check out the roundup of projects and artists with ties to the Triangle.

▪ Laura Goodwin, a 44-year-old Cary woman, joined a short list of swimmers who have crossed the English Channel this week. Bravo!

Need weekend plans?

Now that former president Donald Trump canceled his rally today in Greensboro because he had to appear in court, as Danielle Battaglia reported, my Friday night has suddenly cleared up. If you’re like me and still searching for plans, here are a few ideas:

▪ Friday in Raleigh: Chris Brown and Lil Baby play Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek. A total 180 from The Chicks earlier this week (check out Scott Sharpe’s photo gallery here).

▪ Saturday in Raleigh: The Barenaked Ladies play Red Hat Amphitheater. If I had a million dollars I would buy you all a ticket — but not a real ticket, that’s cruel.

▪ Saturday in Chapel Hill: There’s a food truck rodeo from 12-5 p.m. at Honeysuckle Tea House at 8871 Pickards Meadow Rd.

▪ Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Durham: The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour has seven short films from the renowned festival. Shows are all weekend, for $10 a ticket, at the Carolina Theatre at 309 W Morgan St.

▪ Or you can spend your weekend inside listening to Aja on repeat, in all its jazzy glory, in preparation for Steely Dan’s Tuesday night show in Durham at DPAC.

Until next time!

Thanks for starting your weekend with me. Next week, breaking news reporter Aaron Sánchez-Guerra will bring you this newsletter. He’s funny and a great musician, in addition to a great reporter, so give him a follow on Twitter and check out his latest reporting.

▪ Know anyone else who’d like to get this email? Send this their way and they can sign up here.

▪ Does your inbox need more newsletters? We’ve got options. Subscribe to a few here.