Cardinal & Pine

For seven months, Allison Bustillo was held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without being charged with a crime. The 20-year old aspiring nurse, who spent much of her life in North Carolina, saw her health rapidcaly decline while in detention and with no resolution in sight, she decided in September to voluntarily depart the US and return to her home country of Honduras, a place her family fled in 2014.

Bustillo spoke with Cardinal & Pine about her health since leaving ICE custody, the experience of immigrant families like hers, and why she still hopes to return to the US someday despite what she endured.

Click the link below to read Allison’s story: cardinalpine.com/2025/11/06/she-left-the-us-after-…

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2 months ago | [YT] | 5

Cardinal & Pine

"You can’t focus on reading with an empty belly.
Take what you need.
♥️ Your neighbor
North Carolina, let’s do this."

If you’ve got a few extra cans or nonperishable snacks, drop them in your neighborhood’s Little Free Library.

Small acts of care go a long way — especially right now.

Find a Little Free Library that shares food using the Sharing Box tag in the free mobile app.

2 months ago | [YT] | 5

Cardinal & Pine

Hundreds of North Carolinians are still waiting for housing help a year after Hurricane Helene.

Read the story at NC Newsline and follow @cardinalandpine for more.

3 months ago | [YT] | 9

Cardinal & Pine

From Charlotte to Durham and across NC, people are mobilizing on Saturday to push back against the Trump administration.

Here’s how to plug in:

Find your closest No Kings event (go to nokings.org/#map)
Travel safely, arrive early
Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and carry a sign if you want!
Document your experience — send us your videos! Or tag us in ones you post.

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3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 13

Cardinal & Pine

Federal officials told North Carolina health leaders that without a resolution to the government shutdown, “there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits,” USA Today reported this week.

More than 700,000 households in NC rely on SNAP benefits, which help provide nutritious meals to families, and breast-feeding consultation and other vital services to new mothers. The vast majority of these households include a senior, child, or person with a severe disability, state health officials say.

This summer, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina told Cardinal & Pine that the state was already facing the worst hunger crisis in decades and would be unable to meet demand amid Trump cuts to SNAP and other food aid programs.

That was before the shutdown.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 3

Cardinal & Pine

The federal government shutdown is beginning to affect the public, but it’s also serious business for federal workers, who will go without paychecks for the duration.

President Trump said the Pentagon would tap undesignated funds to ensure military members got their Oct. 15 paychecks, but it won’t be enough to cover Oct. 31 paychecks.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 5

Cardinal & Pine

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned US generals and admirals to DC last week to preach a ‘warrior ethos’ and vow an end to “woke” policies. That includes higher fitness standards, prohibitions against facial hair, and less severe restrictions against hazing, harassment and bullying.

Does the formatting on slide 7 work ok? As I say in the thread above, the full quote was so circuitous that it doesn’t work great in a QC.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 5

Cardinal & Pine

NC Wesleyan University is doing something unique to help students deal with homesickness.
For this and more good news from around North Carolina, click the link below for today's edition of "Good News Friday."

cardinalpine.com/2025/10/03/good-news-friday-how-n…

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3 months ago | [YT] | 0

Cardinal & Pine

Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 307 into law last week, praising provisions that make it harder for violent offenders to qualify for pre-trial release.

But the law also shortens the appeals process in death penalty cases and sets in motion a process that could eventually bring firing squads and the electric chair to North Carolina, provisions Stein called “barbaric” in a video statement.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 1

Cardinal & Pine

Kanye’s ‘betrayal list’ inspired us to make one for North Carolina. From construction to toll lanes, the struggle is real. What would you add?

3 months ago | [YT] | 0