Canes parade attendance rises and community figures mourned: Monday’s top stories
Catch up on the top stories from The News & Observer for Monday, June 22, 2026. From record-breaking parade crowds to local losses and long-stalled development, here’s what’s making news across the Triangle.
Canes parade draws record crowd. Raleigh now estimates 180,000 people flooded downtown Saturday for the Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup victory parade, a record for any event in the city. By comparison, the Canes’ 2006 downtown parade drew 8,000 people while a parade at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) attracted 30,000.
Downtown ‘crane lot’ finally moving. After a decade frozen with an unused crane looming overhead, the long-stalled site at 2510 Hillsborough St. is being reborn as a 7,800-square-foot mixed-use commercial building across from N.C. State. New owner CityPlat has already signed Rally House and an undisclosed national food and beverage tenant.
Orange County commissioner dies at 67. Orange County Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford died unexpectedly Sunday from complications following hernia surgery at UNC Hospitals. Elected to her District 1 seat in 2018, Bedford had just been elected to another four-year term in March and previously served on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education from 2003 to 2015.
Mecca’s longtime owner dies at 68. Paul Dombalis, the third-generation owner of The Mecca — Raleigh’s oldest restaurant, founded in 1930 — died Thursday, June 18. Dombalis took over the diner-style downtown staple in 1990 and operated it until selling it to restaurateur Greg Hatem in 2018.
Brind’Amour snubbed by Hall of Fame. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was not among the six inductees chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2026, despite winning the Stanley Cup as a coach this year. In his playing career, Brind’Amour competed in 1,484 regular-season games and finished with 1,184 points.
Special report
Wake schools pay $2M+ in special-ed settlements. The Wake County school board has approved $2.2 million in payments to settle 20 special education complaints since January 2025. The settlements include $190,952 for the family of an 8-year-old boy with a rare heart condition after a state judge blocked the district’s attempt to transfer him to an alternative school.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.