Michael Graff

1 week ago | axios.com | Katie Peralta Soloff |Michael Graff |Zachery Eanes |Laura Barrero |Ashley Mahoney |McKenzie Rankin

We've rounded up a dozen of North Carolina's best beaches — as decided by readers — from the northern Outer Banks to Sunset Beach. Why it matters: It's nearly summer, and we live in one of the finest states in the land for beach season. Of note: Beaches are listed in no particular order. Oak IslandOak Island. Photo: Zachery Eanes/AxiosLocated 30 minutes south of Wilmington, near the mouth of Cape Fear, Oak Island's small-scale charms have remained even as Brunswick County's population soars.

1 week ago | charlotteoptimist.com | Michael Graff

Federico Rios made a quick stop for Lunchables at the Food Lion on Beatties Ford Road one morning a few years ago, when he noticed a woman sprinting across the parking lot. Ahead, he saw what she was chasing, in this city where people are always chasing something. The No. 7 city bus was pulling away. Rios had places to be — drop-off at Oaklawn Language Academy for the kids, then work for him — but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the runner.

1 week ago | victoriaadvocate.com | Michael Graff

I love the Rocky movies. As hard as it is to watch my film hero get beaten almost to the point of death, I can handle it because I know how the story ends. So why is it so difficult to trust the Author of my story—especially when Scripture assures me it will end in victory? Romans 8:17b says, “. . . if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” This means struggles in life are not meaningless; they are part of God’s greater plan.

3 weeks ago | charlotteoptimist.com | Michael Graff

Hello. Maybe you’re here because you’ve followed my work over the years, or maybe you’re hungry for new ideas for local media, or maybe you arrived by mistake and you’re already trying to close the window. In any case, I’m grateful. Welcome to The Charlotte Optimist. More on what it is below. But first, a quick story:I was having lunch last month with Ric Elias, a longtime friend and trusted weathervane, when he mentioned that one of his dear friends died that morning.

1 month ago | theassemblync.com | Michael Graff

Jack Cobb closed his work laptop at about 8 p.m. on a cold and drizzly February night in south Charlotte and stirred up an old fashioned. He settled into his couch with a book that stretched his understanding of faith and values, Dominion, which traces 2,000 years of Christianity’s command over the Western world. Cobb was somewhere around the turn of the first millennium when his phone buzzed. The caller was his colleague and close friend at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.