WEB EXCLUSIVE Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this monthlong holiday, we rounded up stories of some of Raleigh’s own fabulous females previously featured in the pages of Raleigh Magazine. These influential women are making a difference in their communities and showing that women, no matter how young or old, can have a significant impact on our city—and the world. #GirlPower!
Click the links or photos below to read the full stories.
Secretary Mandy Cohen, an internal medicine physician and head of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, has been the face of the state government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic—you’ve likely found her to be a composed, reassuring presence during televised COVID-19 updates alongside Gov. Roy Cooper.
On the 60th anniversary of Angus Barn, owner Van Eure reflects on the restaurant’s legacy (her father, Thad Eure, co-founded Angus Barn, along with Charles Winston in 1960) and what it has taken for her to maintain operations despite the pandemic.
Avid public speaker and Walk West VP Sharon Delaney McCloud shares her experience preparing for a TEDx Talk on speaking to bereaved parents—or vilomahs, as she refers to herself after losing her daughter to cancer in 2005—at Cary’s SAS Institute in December 2019.
Shirley Polk, a local biker and the marketing manager of CORE Fitness Studio (founded by husband JoJo, who also teaches there), shares her story on postpartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), an uncommon form of heart failure that she was diagnosed with after giving birth in 2017.
For Wannet Mims, founder and CEO of Raleigh-based Logistics Healthcare Management and co-founder of A Plus Family Care, taking care of her community is just as important as taking care of her patients.
North Garner Middle School student Mariya Hunter is well on her way to becoming an influential young lady with the publishing of her first book, Lucile and the Big Race at just 11 years old.
The opening of bars (indoors) and other mandates provide a glimmer of light at the end of this very long tunnel.
WEB EXCLUSIVE North Carolina is at a turning point in the coronavirus pandemic. In a press conference held Wednesday, Feb. 24, Gov. Roy Cooper announced he is easing a number of restrictions and ending the modified stay-at-home order due to the state’s declining and stabilizing case count, hospitalization and death rates. “We have reasons for hope in North Carolina,” Cooper said in the press conference. “We’re making progress.”
Cooper’s new COVID-19 guidelines, which go into effect this Friday, Feb. 26, include the following:
The modified stay-at-home order has been lifted—North Carolinians are no longer restricted from leaving their homes between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and establishments are allowed to stay open during that time.
Alcohol can now be served on-site until 11pm.
Restaurants, breweries, wineries, retail stores, gyms, museums, aquariums, barbers (and other personal care establishments), pools and outdoor amusement parks remain at 50% operating capacity.
Bars and taverns, indoor amusement parks, movie theaters, and indoor sports arenas may open indoors at 30% capacity, with a cap of 250 people. Larger indoor venues with a capacity of over 5,000 people are allowed up to 15% capacity with no individual-person cap. This is the first time that most of these establishments have been able to open indoors since March.
Businesses that were operating at 30% capacity—outdoor sports fields and venues, outdoor bars, outdoor amusement parks, and other outdoor businesses—no longer have a 100-person cap.
Mass gatherings increased to 25 indoors and 50 outdoors.
Cocktails to-go are permitted through March 31.
The mask mandate and social-distancing guidelines remain in effect.
“Easing these restrictions will only work if we keep protecting ourselves and others,” said Cooper in the press conference. “Today’s action is a show of confidence and trust, but we must remain cautious. We’re depending on people to stay responsible; carelessness could lead to a backslide.”
Cooper warns that we are still far from the end of the pandemic, however. Millions of North Carolinians still need to get vaccinated, and the state is in short supply. So far, over 1 million people in NC have received the vaccine, and Cooper is working to get more from the federal government.
The fact that vaccinations are going up and case numbers are going down is a sign that North Carolina is headed in the right direction. “People deserve a pat on the back,” Cooper said. And a drink (inside of a bar! After 9pm!) if we do say so ourselves.
Lonerider’s new Brew It Forward series benefits local nonprofit organizations.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Not all heroes wear crepes. No, that’s not a typo—it’s the name of Lonerider Brewing Company’s newest beer release, a pastry stout that will be available on draft and in cans starting Friday, Feb. 26. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of “Not All Heroes Wear Crepes” will go toward InterAct, a provider of domestic violence and sexual assault services in Wake County that’s dedicated to saving and rebuilding lives and securing safer futures for victims and survivors and their families (heroes in their own right!).
“InterAct has a very important mission. We are humbled to be allowed to help,” says Lonerider CEO Sumit Vohra. “InterAct’s role in elevating the bravery in our community makes us proud. Thank you for all you do. And, most importantly, a shoutout to the heroes; it takes courage—and you have that in spades.”
Not All Heroes Wear Crepes is the first release from Lonerider’s new Brew It Forward series, a philanthropic effort that will consist of multiple brews, each of which will benefit a different organization with which the award-winning brewery has teamed up.
Philanthropy and a commitment to giving back to the community are very important aspects of Lonerider’s culture. In the past 12 years, the brewery has raised more than $750,000 in financial support and continues to provide products and services to a number of nonprofit organizations throughout the Triangle.
“This brew celebrates the strength and courage we see every day at InterAct,” says Allison Strickland, InterAct’s interim co-executive director and chief development officer. “We are grateful and proud to partner with Lonerider Brewing to celebrate our heroes—survivors of abuse.”
If approved, a new apartment building could replace Goodnights Comedy Club.
Bridging the gap between the Warehouse District and Hillsborough Street to wildly up DTR’s walk score is the just announced sprawling 865 Morgan, a grand new mixed-use property. Sitting on the site of longstanding laugh house Goodnights Comedy Club and slated to break ground in Q1 2022, the new development by HM Partners (of Edison Lofts, Dawson, Powerhouse Square fame, among others), if approved, will span 3 acres, complete with 401 apartments, 9,000 square feet of retail space and a parking deck. “My goal is not just to build, but to improve the community,” says Gregg Sandreuter, HM Partners managing partner.
And, live comedy fans, before your chuckles turn to tears, know that HM Partners reached an agreement with Goodnights, which will continue to operate at another unidentified location. “Regardless of where we are, Goodnights will continue its tradition of bringing the best comedy to the Raleigh area and will always support the local scene,” says Reven MacQueen, Helium’s senior manager of development and East Coast operations. Adds Sandreuter, “Goodnights will be in Raleigh for a long time to come.” So, not so much a goodnight (aka goodbye) as many more good nights ahead. goodnightscomedy.com
Downtown Cary’s new modern dive serves up casual food and drinks with contemporary flair.
When most people think of a dive, they usually picture a not-so-glam, well-worn, shabby establishment offering up cheap food and drinks. At Hank’s Downtown Dive, the vibe is exactly the opposite.
Downtown Cary’s newest “dive” oozes class and charm—without being stuffy—balanced with a bright, relaxed atmosphere that gives the space a homey, neighborhood bar and restaurant feel—think brightly painted walls, floral wallpaper, cozy booths, an impressive recessed patio and a “sunroom” that shines with so much natural light that it essentially feels like you’re sitting outside (come spring, sliding doors will open up onto the patio as well, allowing for even more of an outside feel).
Hank’s is the brainchild of Cary’s SideBar owner Matthew Bettinger; his wife, Catherine; and their business partner, Jeff Kinard, who together came up with the concept just before COVID hit—and named the spot after Bettinger’s dog, Henry.
Bettinger describes the restaurant as “bohemian” and maintains that there’s more to dives than just the name. “A dive is an homage to a place where you feel most comfortable,” he says. And thanks to the interior design and decorating by Catherine (including locally made furniture), Hank’s will most certainly be cozy—and serve as a place in which you might find yourself multiple times a day.
Bettinger tapped Cary native and friend Evan Cordes—the pair worked together at the former South restaurant in North Hills—to create the menu. Coming from Atlanta’s saturated market, Cordes felt that Cary’s supportive and excited attitude was refreshing. Plus, a lot had changed since he moved from the area 15 years ago. “It’s nice to be back,” he says.
Throughout construction—the pair took over three former businesses on East Chatham Street and all but demolished the spaces completely to renovate Hank’s with the contemporary yet welcoming flair Bettinger envisioned—almost every day at least one curious passerby popped their head in to see what was going on.
“I feel like my job is to offer hospitality, and, in a really interesting way, Cary’s community offered it back to us and really made us feel like we were a part of it,” reflects Bettinger.
He says it was the Cary community that helped shape Hank’s into what it will ultimately open as. Last year’s pop-ups gave Bettinger and Cordes a better understanding of what people wanted and, during the pandemic, their ideas pivoted.
Cordes says his food menu (encompassing both lunch and dinner) evolved into “casual but not overly simplistic” dishes that place a large focus on quality of ingredients, including sandwiches, hearty salads, and a variety of tempting bar bites and appetizers he hopes will be shared among tables post-pandemic—plus special features at dinnertime highlighting seasonal produce. Vegetarians, vegans and those with other dietary restrictions will delight in the composed and transparent dishes on offer.
Bettinger’s signature complex (and oh-so-delicious) cocktails found at SideBar will take a backseat at Hank’s—replaced instead with draft cocktails and kegged beers that only add to the spot’s casual vibe.
Although Hank’s is located right across the street from The Cary Theater, Bettinger hopes that the establishment will serve as a respite for Cary and surrounding Triangle residents—to grab a beer after work or enjoy a nice dinner and a couple cocktails before catching a flick. And whether you consider Hank’s a quintessential “dive” or not, it’s most certainly worth the visit. I mean, kegged cocktails?! C’mon!
