FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1969, screenwriter and television producer Taylor Sheridan was born in Chapel Hill. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Hell or High Water, created the hit series Yellowstone, and directed Wind River.

The ACC announced its new football championship tiebreaker policy effective this season. Learn more in Top Stories.

Today’s sponsor is Miso Robotics, offering investors the opportunity to get in early on an AI-powered restaurant automation company before it goes public.

ACC Overhauls Title-Game Tiebreakers

The ACC has rewritten the tiebreaker policy that determines who reaches its football championship game after a five-loss Duke team reached last season’s title game ahead of then-No. 10 Miami, and it takes effect with the 2026 season.

Under the old math, Duke edged Miami despite five losses, beat No. 20 Virginia for its first outright ACC title since 1962, then missed the expanded College Football Playoff. Miami still made the field and reached the national championship game, where it fell to No. 1 Indiana 27-21.

The new policy leans on three principles: head-to-head results matter most; no team is punished or rewarded for how many league games it played; and the overall body of work breaks any remaining tie.

The overhaul also reflects the league’s move to a nine-game conference schedule. “Our game will feature the two most deserving teams,” Commissioner Jim Phillips said at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte.

Audit Flags Hundreds of Old Landfills

A new state audit found that 534 of North Carolina’s 688 known pre-regulatory landfill sites—78%—have never been checked for contamination.

The report, released Monday, warns that more than 80% sit within 1,000 feet of homes, schools, or drinking water supplies. Most predate modern environmental rules adopted in 1983.

Several of the highest-risk sites are in the Cape Fear region, including the former Burnt Mill Creek Landfill in Wilmington. View an interactive map of all of the state’s landfills here.

Cleaning up a single site costs about $1.9 million, which would push the total for the remaining locations toward $1 billion. Since 2007, the Department of Environmental Quality has assessed just 97 of them.

State Auditor Dave Boliek called it a long-standing government failure, saying taxpayers funded a program that left most sites unexamined.

Ski Hit-and-Runs Now a Crime

Leaving the scene of a collision on a North Carolina ski slope is now a crime under a law signed this month by Gov. Josh Stein.

The Winter Sports Safety Act, effective Oct. 1, makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to leave the scene of a skiing collision without giving your name and address, or to misuse a lift ticket or season pass. It covers all six of the state's ski areas, from Cataloochee to Sugar Mountain.

Skiers who crash into someone must now give their information to the other skier, ski patrol, or resort staff before leaving, with exceptions for medical emergencies. The updated statute also adds twice-daily resort inspection duties and formally recognizes snowboarders.

The measure passed with bipartisan support.

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Big Money Gets In Pre-IPO in AI

AI stocks now make up about 45% of the S&P 500. But, in AI, the smart money increasingly moves sooner because the biggest breakout gains often happen when investors get in before companies go public. In fact, last year, a whopping 67% of private-stage investments were in AI companies, up from 9% in 2022.

And yet, those opportunities are almost always reserved for the 1%.

Restaurant robotics pioneer Miso Robotics isn’t, and 40K everyday folks like you have already joined big money players like industry powerhouse Ecolab as investors.

Miso’s Flippy Fry Station AI robot has logged 200K+ hours in kitchens across the $1T fast-food industry. Its tech is used by big-name customers like White Castle, Jersey Mike’s, Cinnabon, and more. And Miso just acquired ~300 patents from Zume Pizza, a food robotics pioneer that raised $450 million.

Flippy alone represents a $4B/year revenue opportunity in the US. Become an early-stage shareholder in Miso today. Hurry to earn bonus shares.

➤ Statewide: Gov. Josh Stein asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to uphold the state law barring people convicted of felonies from possessing firearms, weighing in on a case challenging the ban. (More)

➤ Also Statewide: Republican Michael Whatley, the former RNC chairman, launched a seven-figure ad campaign in his U.S. Senate bid for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis, spotlighting a tour of all 100 counties and his call for tax relief. (More)

➤ Coastal NC: The National Hurricane Center is tracking two Atlantic systems: a tropical wave near Cabo Verde and a low forming off the Southeast coast that could stir rough surf for North Carolina beachgoers this weekend. (More)

➤ NC Schools: A new law folded into the state budget requires every public school district to create an 11-member Community Media Advisory Committee to review challenges to books and instructional materials through a uniform process. (More)

➤ Charlotte-Mecklenburg: Police reported a drop in overall crime for the first half of 2026, though homicides ticked up slightly, and called youth gun violence—often born of social media disputes—their leading concern. (More)

➤ Surf City: A man died after being pulled from the surf on Wednesday afternoon. Bystanders and first responders performed CPR, but couldn’t revive him. The incident is under investigation. (More)

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➤ NC State football coach Dave Doeren, entering his 14th season, said during the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte on Wednesday that the Wolfpack has “a lot more left in the tank,” with quarterback CJ Bailey back for a third year. (More)

➤ Carolina Panthers quarterback Will Grier, a Charlotte-area native who set a state high school record with 77 touchdown passes, retired this week shortly before training camp. (More)

➤ The Mooresville Spinners, a collegiate summer baseball team, say town officials won’t allow them to return to the renovated Moor Park stadium when it reopens in 2027, potentially ending the Spinners’ 11-year run after five league championships. (More)

➤ Tepper Sports CEO Kristi Coleman is steering a busy Charlotte summer, with Bank of America Stadium set to host the MLS All-Star Game on July 29 before an $800 million renovation brings new seats and audio-video systems. (More and All-Star Game Details)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: The Open | MLB | WNBA

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➤ Gov. Josh Stein and lawmakers from both parties touted a new effort to train high school students for electrical and infrastructure trades during a stop at Cleveland Community College in Shelby on Monday. (More)

➤ The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday declined to revive pandemic business-loss claims by the North Carolina-based Golden Corral and Summit Hospitality Group against their insurers, upholding earlier dismissals despite a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling that favored restaurant coverage. (More)

➤ Developer Capital Growth Buchalter paid $3.5 million for nearly 4 acres in Hampstead, at Sloop Point Loop Road and U.S. 17, for what could become the first Wawa in Pender County. (More)

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“Cobots” Are Transforming This $1T Market

They’re not replacing humans; they’re working with them. That’s the promise of “cobots,” or collaborative robots.

In a robotics market NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called “one of the largest industries ever,” the cobot segment is projected to grow 15X by 2035.

And Miso Robotics is proving its value in the $1T fast-food industry.

Their Flippy fry station AI robot boosts restaurant profits up to 4X, already logging 200K hours in live kitchens alongside human employees for brands like White Castle.

Flippy carries $4B/year in U.S. revenue potential on its own. And that's just one piece of Miso’s platform.

Big-name brands like Jersey Mike’s and Cinnabon just became customers. Industry powerhouse Ecolab already invested. Join them as an early-stage shareholder in Miso today. Hurry for bonus shares.

This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com

➤ NCDOT rolled out an interactive “Projects Near Me” tool that lets residents enter a location and see the road and infrastructure work underway around them. (See Map)

➤ Four litters of red wolf pups were born in the wild in eastern North Carolina this year, with 12 to 16 surviving their first months—a hopeful bump for the world’s only wild red wolf population, which is currently down to about 22 adults. (More)

➤ Contender, a nearly 14-foot male great white shark—and the largest of the species tagged in the Atlantic—triggered a Z-ping near the Outer Banks on July 10 as researchers tracked his path up the coast. (See Photo)

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➤ 7 Hidden Signs Your Body Is Crying Out for Magnesium. Think your anxiety, muscle tension, and irregular heartbeat are just part of getting older? Think again. Groundbreaking research reveals how a single mineral deficiency could be behind dozens of common complaints after 50. Even more intriguing? Many of the medications commonly prescribed to older adults might be making this deficiency worse. Before you accept another prescription, there's something crucial you need to know about magnesium. (Learn more)

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ President Trump's longtime teleprompter operator is accused of using inside knowledge of the president's speeches to win $100,000 in bets. (Hear Details)

➤ Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth is now mandating annual testosterone screening for service members over 30 years old across the entire military. (Hear Episode)

➤ The Trump administration is moving to fence off a historic public square beside the White House, escalating a broader security overhaul. (Listen Now)