Weather

• 91º | Partly Cloudy | 20% chance of rain

Civic

• City Council will vote on creating a social district at its next meeting on Tues., July 5. The social district would allow people to openly consume alcoholic beverages outside of restaurants within a designated area. The proposed area for the district would cover the Fayetteville St. area + City Market and, if approved, may be in effect by August 15. 🍹 (CBS17)
• A North Carolina State Budget proposal was unveiled Tuesday. Proposed changes include an additional 1% raise for state workers, increased starting salaries for entry-level teachers, and a $1 billion allocation for a State Inflation Reserve. Voting on the budget is expected to be held by week’s end. (The News & Observer)

Biz

• Jim Datin, a former life sciences CEO from Chapel Hill, is investing $13 million in the Downtown South Project to help expand an already growing life sciences field in the Raleigh-Durham area. The project will include a 21-story multi-family building and a 27-story office building. 🏗️ (Triangle Business Journal)

Award

• WUNC won three awards at the 2022 Public Media Journalists Association Awards, which reviewed over 1,500 entries. Award winners include Jay Price winning first for his Nationally Edited Feature and the podcasts “Me & My Muslim Friends” + “Great Grief” with second place honors.🎙️ (WUNC)

Sports

• The proposed state budget includes $15 million to keep the ACC headquarters within the state for at least the next 15 years. Last summer, the Greensboro-headquartered conference announced possible plans to relocate. If passed, the proposed funding could keep the conference in NC, though legislation doesn’t specify a particular city. (The News & Observer)

Network

• Future community leaders — join Leadership Raleigh, a Raleigh Chamber program designed to study and develop leadership skills + styles. Two programs are available to join starting this October, comprising eight class days over ten months. Learn more about tuition and scholarship options and apply by Fri., Aug. 1. 💼
• An LGBT+ coworking space may be coming to Raleigh. Harmony, the NC LGBT+ Allied Chamber of Commerce, is looking to build an inclusive space with offices, pop-up retail shops, and meeting rooms for LGBT+ businesses and professionals to utilize. Harmony is currently looking to fundraise + continue developing site plans.  (WRAL Tech Wire)

Trending

• Nearly three months after taking a trip to space, UNC professor Jim Kitchen is going to dive into the Mariana Trench. This dive will make him the fifth person to travel to both outer space and the innermost part of the Earth. Jim will spend four hours exploring the hadal zone — the area of the ocean below 20,000 ft. 🌊 (The News & Observer)