When the AC died at Courtney Bowman's Raleigh Cheesy shop during the summer heat, she did something that required real courage - she got vulnerable on Instagram. No script, no polish, just honest desperation. The community's response was immediate and overwhelming: over $15,000 in orders within days. Meanwhile, Jared Haworth of Lightship Neon is fighting Raleigh's 1970s signage rules that keep creative neon signs from adding personality to our neighborhoods. His hot-pink neon chicken at Little Rey doesn't just advertise - it winks at you, saying "something good is happening here." Both stories ask the same question: What happens when we let people see who we really are? From struggling businesses to city character, these Wake County stories show that authenticity creates stronger community bonds than polished perfection. Sometimes the best moments happen when we stop hiding and let our real selves - and our neighborhoods - glow.

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When the same Raleigh rideshare trip costs $14 on one app and $84 on another, you know something's broken. Steve explores how algorithmic pricing is turning getting home into a high-stakes gamble, then discovers a local Wake County startup using AI to actually make government services work better for residents. From surge pricing mysteries to multilingual government support, these overlooked stories reveal what happens when technology gets too smart—and when it gets smart in the right direction.

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Two strangers. Two different places. But the same decision — to show up when no one was watching.

In Raleigh, a retired Enloe High School theater teacher named Koko Thornton just won a national award, thanks to a former student who decided she deserved recognition. For 24 years, Thornton focused not just on theater skills but on helping students "see their own potential inside of them." Connor Kruger, now studying acting at USC, nominated his former teacher for the 2025 Inspiring Teacher Award at the Jimmy Awards.

Meanwhile, on a Nebraska highway, a pregnant woman made a split-second decision to help a stranger whose pickup truck caught fire. She was hospitalized after being overcome by smoke and heat, but her instinct to help rather than drive past reveals something worth noting about human nature.

Both stories share the same thread: people who see what needs doing and just do it, whether it's recognizing potential in students for decades or stopping to help someone in danger on a Sunday afternoon. Plus, a skeleton joke that might shake you to your bones.

Good Morning Wake County brings you authentic conversations about overlooked stories that matter, delivered from Wake Forest, North Carolina, for people who want to know what's really happening without being told how to feel about it.

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