April 3, 2024

SUBSCRIBE | REFER

Today’s Forecast

77º | 80% chance of precipitation
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. | Sunset 7:38 p.m.

Weather Sponsorship_Air Experts_1.3.24-12.31.24

Are you a poet (and totally know it)?

Grab a cozy spot (and maybe an iced coffee) to let your creative juices flow. | Photo by RALtoday

Calling all readers: In honor of National Poetry Month, you’re officially invited to enter RALtoday’s poetry contest.

This contest is open to all, and the rules couldn’t be more simple: Turn our Wednesday, April 3 newsletter into a poem.

We’ll clarify. Using only the words that appear in this newsletter, craft an original poem of up to 75 words. Unlike an erasure poem, the words do not have to appear in the order they’re found — mix and match how you please.

Any English word appearing anywhere in today’s newsletter is fair game, including the ones you’re reading right now (we’ll throw some fun ones at you: Red. Ambivalent. Fungi.). If a word appears once, you can only use it once.

The rules:

Submit your poem here by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 14.
Include a title + author’s name in your submission. Titles are an exception to the rule, and do not need to pull words from the newsletter.
Poems, excluding title and author’s name, must be 75 words or less.

The fun stuff:

While we’ve placed a pretty big limitation on your poem’s words, the form + direction is up to you — and we can’t wait to see what you all come up with.
The Editorial team behind RALtoday will narrow submissions down to a group of finalists based on style, originality, artistic quality, and creativity. Finalists will be announced in an upcoming newsletter, and we’ll ask our readers to vote for their favorite poem. We’ll feature the winner’s poem in a newsletter during the last full week of April.
Pro tip: To make the process easier on yourself, we recommend printing out today’s issue, highlighting the words you find most interesting, and crossing them out as you include them in your poem.
Don’t forget to keep track of your articles (words like “the” or “and”).

Happy writing, Raleigh.

Submit your poem

Events

Wednesday, April 3

Best of North Carolina Art | Through Saturday, May 25 | 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Gallery C, 540 N. Blount St., Raleigh | Free | This curated collection includes landmark pieces by influential NC artists.

Thursday, April 4

Chair Yoga | Thursday, April 4 | 10-11 a.m. | North Regional Library, 7009 Harps Mill Rd., Raleigh | Free | Practice some easy mobility exercises right from your seat.
Movies in the Garden: “The Sandlot” | Thursday, April 4 | Raleigh Little Theater, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh | $1-$20+ | Kick off MLB season with this baseball classic from ’93.

Friday, April 5

Newcomers Club of Raleigh Monthly Coffee | Friday, April 5 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m. | Sertoma Arts Center, 1400 W. Millbrook Rd., Raleigh | Free | Meet other new Raleighites and learn more about the Old North State over some joe.
City Beats and Visual Vibes Event | Friday, April 5 | Moore Square, 201 S. Blount St., Raleigh | Free | Jam out to tunes from an “America’s Got Talent” competitor, an 8-year-old local talent, a marching band, and so much more.

Plenty more events

Click here to have your event featured.

▼SPONSORED▼

Giveaway

Celebrate 75 historic years with Village District’s Anniversary Giveaway

Don’t miss the anniversary party on Saturday, April 20, featuring live music, pop-ups, and more. | Image by 6AM City

The oldest shopping center in the southeast turns 75 this year, and the party is just getting started.

We’ve partnered with Village District to give away $1,000+ worth of shopping, dining + comedy experiences. One lucky winner will walk away with:

$250 Lorena Luca gift card
$250 Bailey’s Fine Jewelry gift card
$100 Onward Reserve gift card
$100 Cantina 18 gift card
$50 MODE Consignment gift card
$75 MADISON gift card
$100 Goodnights Comedy Club gift card
$40 Goodberry’s Frozen Custard gift card
A Village District 75th anniversary swag bag

Ready to win? Head to our Instagram account, click on the giveaway post, and follow the instructions to enter. The giveaway closes on Tuesday, April 16 at 10 p.m. ET + the lucky winner will be announced on Thursday, April 18.

Enter to win

News Notes

Closing

The Triangle’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore will move out of downtown later this month. Liberation Station stood on Fayetteville for less than a year and plans to close after Saturday, April 13. According to owner Victoria Scott-Miller, this isn’t the end of Liberation Station, though further details haven’t been announced.

Try This

Live music will be popping up in Smoky Hollow every Thursday through June as part of Thursdays in the Hollow. Don’t miss rockin’ local artists performing a variety of genres for free from 5 to 7 p.m.

History

Join the City of Raleigh Museum for the Timely Connections lecture series focusing on the history of Raleigh and the Southeast. The first talk is tomorrow, April 4 on Black migration after the Civil War and Black resistance in Eastern NC.

Community

Hey, small business owners — the City of Raleigh wants to hear your thoughts via this survey for biz owners with less than 50 employees. The feedback may be used to help create potential partnerships and support small + local minority-owned businesses.

Home

Tired of rising electricity bills? See how Freedom Solar can set you free from high energy costs by helping you make the power move to solar — plus, get details on grid-ditching incentives, like start-to-finish installation, rebates, and a 25-year warranty (yes, you read that right).*

Wellness

Put some spring in your step with a private spa soirée at Woodhouse North Hills. Grab a group of three to eight pals + for a party package of champagne and charcuterie, Himalayan Salt room sessions, spa swag bags, and more. Start planning your Retreat.*

Shop

Ditch the men’s dress pants — the Dealmaker Pant is the ultimate pant for work or play, with an impeccable fit and feel. Save 15% with code COMFORT15.*

Sports

🏀 Meet the Cinderella of men’s basketball

Off the court, DJ Burns Jr. has gone viral as a big man with a stellar personality. | Photo by Mitchell Northam, WUNC

NC State men’s basketball is the Cinderella story of this year’s NCAA Tournament, landing in the Final Four as an 11 seed after a historic conference tournament run and a less-than stellar regular season. Here’s a rundown on the leaders of this powerhouse Pack.

Let’s talk about the big man first. DJ Burns Jr. has been instrumental for the Pack with an average of 18.3 points per NCAA Tournament game. Helping him turn the tables is DJ Horne, shooting 37% from beyond the arc in the tournament.

On the defensive side, Mohamed Diarra has notched an average of 11.8 rebounds per game and set the ACC Tournament record for rebounds with 60 over five games all while fasting in observance of Ramadan.

To get to this point, the Pack won nail-biters against Texas Tech, Oakland, Marquette, and Tobacco Road rival Duke. Now there are just two games standing between the Pack and the championship title, the first against No. 1 Purdue on Saturday, April 6 at 6:09 p.m — and of course, we’re rooting for the under~~dog~~ Wolfpack.

The Buy

A variety of snacks for runners and bikers. The Fuel Goods Collection offers boxes filled with food that will fuel your lifestyle.

Share RALtoday

Share the good news. Get rewarded.

Have someone who needs to stay in the know? Get amazing rewards for every new subscriber you bring by sharing your unique referral link (below).

Facebook

Twitter

{{profile.vars.rh_totref_21}} friends are looped into all things local because of you.

Claim your rewards

The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Allie

From the editor

It’s like Jubala knows me. The champ of our coffee shop bracket is offering the Red Tower espresso tonic in honor of the Wolfpack’s double Final Four appearances. It’s made with blood orange and raspberry with espresso poured over top. I’ll take two if it means both teams advance to the championship.

And don’t fret, a piece about NC State’s women’s team is incoming, too.

Missed our previous newsletter?

›

Send Us A Scoop, Question, or Feedback

Feedback on Today's Newsletter

Did you like today’s newsletter?

😍 Loved it 🙂 Solid effort 😞 Changes needed

* This content is paid advertising, or contains links to our Six & Main marketplace, or affiliate partners which we may receive a commission from. ^ This content is created by our content studio.

Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.

P.O. Box 2505, Greenville, SC 29602

ADVERTISE | CAREERS | ETHICS | PRIVACY | SHOP