ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — More than 100 breweries and retailers across North Carolina are pulling up chairs to celebrate the third annual North Carolina Pint Day on Sunday, April 12.

Pint Day is an initiative to help promote, prepare and protect independent craft breweries in North Carolina.

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Each year, the North Carolina Brewers Guild celebrates with a limited edition collectible pint glass. This year’s glass was designed by Asheville-based artist Sadie Tynch.

According to the North Carolina Brewers Guild website, the design illustrates a blend of North Carolina’s native wildlife, botanical life, music, agriculture and community.

“Three years in, NC Pint Day has become something bigger than the glass itself,” said Lisa Parker, Executive Director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild, in a news release. “ North Carolina’s independent craft breweries have long doubled as third spaces and community anchors, the kind of places where a neighborhood fundraiser gets organized, a local band plays their first show, or two strangers end up talking for hours. This glass is a celebration of that!”

According to a news release, with every glass bought, $1 will be sold directly to the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild’s work for advocating, educating, and promoting the state’s craft brewing industry.

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NC Pint Day is part of the Guild’s Hop into Spring campaign that encourages North Carolinians and visitors to explore, enjoy, and support local breweries across the state.

For a full list of participating breweries, visit here.

Last season, the North Carolina Tar Heels massively underwhelmed in Bill Belichick’s first season as the head coach. In the 73-year-old head coach’s inaugural campaign, North Carolina went 4-8 and finished 14th in the ACC.

While the Tar Heels were one of the most disappointing teams in 2025, they have multiple players expected to be selected at some point in the 2026 NFL Draft. In the upcoming draft, defensive backs Thaddeus Dixon and Marcus Allen are the most notable Tar Heels in this year’s class. Here is a look at how North Carolina has developed its players who have entered the 2026 NFL Draft.

Belichick’s Influence

Throughout Belichick’s career, he has developed elite defensive players, and while that wasn’t evident last season, his influence has extended to the coaching staff, with Steve Belichick as the defensive coordinator.

Dixon, who is projected as a Day 3 pick, spoke on Belichick’s impact and how his ideologies and practices on the defensive side of the ball are more advanced than those typically seen in college.

• “Being around a dude like that, with so much football knowledge, who could coach all 22 positions on the field – it was really a blessing,” Dixon said. “Coach Bill Belichick does a lot. He cares a lot about the game and about his players. I learned so much – stuff that can never be taken away from me, stuff I can take into the league.”

• “He runs his program like an NFL team,” Dixon continued. “He treats us like men – not really as college athletes, but as grown men. He gives us the freedom to do what we need to do to take care of our business. Obviously, that freedom can be taken away at any time, but it’s about being a professional each and every day – the way he goes about his days, with afternoon practices and meetings and stuff like that. It really sets us up to be in position for stuff like this.”

Increased Opportunities

With a slew of injuries to the secondary, including Dixon, who missed seven games last season, North Carolina was forced to deploy multiple defensive backs out of position. In turn, Dixon also filled several roles in the depleted secondary.

As for Allen, he proved to be a sticky defender in man-to-man coverage, which is monumental at the next level. Defenses have shifted to operating more often in zone defenses, but in key situations and pivotal moments, defensive coordinators lean on cornerbacks to lock down their assignments in blitz packages.

AUBURN, WASHINGTON (WTVD) — The family of Miss North Carolina 2024 Carrie Everett spoke exclusively with ABC11 just days after her passing, from their home in Auburn, Washington.

Her parents sat at the center, surrounded by Carrie’s grandmother and older siblings.

“It’s hard. We’re not going to pretend. It’s been the hardest moment of our life as a family,” said her mother, Mary Everett. The 22-year-old passed away the evening of Easter Sunday, surrounded by family, after an aggressive battle with signet ring cell carcinoma, which is an advanced form of cancer.

The family shared a video of loved ones singing Carrie’s favorite praise song, a tribute reflecting her Liberian roots. Her father, Bishop George Everett, says he continues to lean on his faith. He also shared one of his proudest memories from his daughter as she visited a church after winning the Miss North Carolina crown and choosing not to wear it inside.

“And she said, ‘I will not wear this crown in the presence of the King of Kings,’” he said.

Carrie was the youngest among her siblings, described by her family as both compassionate and bold. “She was never shy to tell the way she felt about things, sometimes not even sparing feelings, but that’s who she was,” said her older brother, Abenego Kondiano.

“In this battle, she would always say she didn’t set out to be an inspiration, but she wanted to fight to live so with her life she could love people,” said her sister, Rufina Everett.

The family says Carrie was multitalented and had a deep love for singing. She began her pageant journey after placing second in the Miss Auburn Outstanding Teen pageant. After moving to North Carolina for college, she went on to win Miss Johnston County and ultimately Miss North Carolina 2024.

She later chose to attend North Carolina Central University, fulfilling her dream of attending an HBCU. Her family calls her a true child of North Carolina.

“Thank you for loving her, supporting her, supporting her in prayer. It meant a lot,” said her mother. Memorial services for Carrie will be held in Washington on April 18th, with additional services planned in North Carolina at a later date.

Her remains will then be taken to Africa, where she will be laid to rest in Liberia. “Heaven gained an angel. That’s what she was to us,” her mother said.