Hope (Arkansas) and Stranger Things

👋 Good Morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, January 1, 2026 and this is the 52nd consecutive weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

Today is the start of a new year, and it puts one full year of The Peak Weekly in the books.

Thank you all for your support over this past year.

According to Beehiiv, the email platform I use, I have written 92,800 words over the past year and the newsletter has grown large enough to populate the city of Hope, Arkansas.

Tell me this isn’t kind of strange:

Hope, AR was founded in 1873 as a stop on the Cairo and Fulton Railroad.

Apex, NC was incorporated the same year (1873) and grew around the station on the Chatham Railroad.

Both towns have historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And in both towns, the original train depot remains a central symbol of the community.

Anyway, thank you all again for supporting the Peak Weekly. And also, quick shoutout to the The Raleighwood Inbox who has sent us quite a bit of new subscribers over the past few weeks.

I’ve never met or spoken to the creator of that newsletter, but thanks for the love! Feel free to give them a follow for all the great things happening in Raleigh.

This is probably the shortest of all the weekly updates in the past year. It’s pretty quiet right now, but I’m sure we’ll get back to some more action by next week 🙂 

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

Miscellaneous Info:

🔒️ Town Closure
All Town offices and facilities will be closed today. Thursday/Friday waste pickup will be delayed one day.

🏥 Children’s Hospital
As of the end of 2025, the state’s financial contribution to the NC Children’s Hospital coming to Veridea is stalled and remains in limbo. Senate Leader Phil Berger remains a champion of the project, proposing an additional $638 million in state investment to ensure the hospital's success. Despite the political friction, the health systems are moving forward with site preparation and planning. A groundbreaking is anticipated for 2027, with the hospital expected to open in the early 2030s. Once operational, the campus is projected to create approximately 8,000 permanent jobs and significantly boost the economy of Wake County and the town of Apex. Full story here

🎄Recycle Your Christmas Tree
Through the month of January, you can drop off your undecorated live Christmas tree at 6120 Old Smithfield Road for it to be recycled. Since 2012, residents have donated nearly 60,000 trees to the Happy Trails program, producing approximately 1,156 tons of nutrient-rich mulch used to maintain Wake County park trails.

🏞️ Park Pilot
Beginning today, January 1, 2026, the Town will launch a pilot initiative to expand morning operational hours. This pilot will run up to eight months and will include the opening of all park entrance gates during all hours. Park hours will be changed from 6:30am opening to 5:30am opening and park entrance gates will no longer be locked.

Upcoming Voting Information:

🗳️ Wake County Board of Commissioners
For the first time, the Board is growing from seven to nine members. This means that every voter in Wake County will be voting for two new At-Large seats, in a particularly crowded race.

• Democratic Primary: A crowded field of seven candidates are vying for two spots.
  

• Republican Primary: No primary is needed as only two candidates filed; they will advance straight to November.
  

• District 3 (Most of Apex): Our current representative, Cheryl Stallings (former Apex Town Council), is running for re-election. Because she is unopposed in her primary, she will not appear on your March ballot, but will be on the General Election ballot in November. Make sure to show up then to cast your vote for Cheryl!
  

• District 4 (Parts of Apex): Commissioner Evans (District 4) is not on the ballot. She was re-elected in 2024 and her term continues through 2028.

🏃 Other Races on the Ballot:

Depending on where you live in Apex, you may also see:

• NC House District 37: A three-way Democratic primary to decide who faces incumbent Erin Paré.

• NC Senate District 17: A Republican primary between Sarah Al-Baghdadi and Shirley Johnson.

• U.S. Senate: Major party primaries to fill the seat of retiring Senator Thom Tillis.

🗓️ Important Dates for Apex Voters

Feb 6, 2026: Voter Registration Deadline

Feb 12 – Feb 28, 2026: Early Voting Period

March 3, 2026: Primary Election Day

A Few Things to Do This Week:

Today, January 1

🔠 Music Bingo
8pm - 10pm | The Backyard Bar

Saturday, January 3

🧑‍🌾 Apex Farmers Market
9am - 12pm | The Depot

🤟 Deaf Coffee & ASL Chat
1pm - 4pm | Panera Bread

🍕 Pizza Party with Presti Pizza
5pm - 9pm | Southern Peak Brewery

🎸 Flamenco and Covers with Eduardo & Mara
8pm - 11pm | Peak of the Vine

Wednesday, January 7

🧇 Stranger Things Trivia Night
6:30pm - 8:30pm | Southern Peak Brewery

🔠 Music Bingo
7:30pm - 9:30pm | Rudy’s Pub & Grill

Upcoming Dates

✂️ Ribbon Cuttings

January 6 - Kim’s Yong-In Martial Arts

January 8 - OneLife Fitness

January 23 - Salon Hue

🏛️ Local Government

Tuesday, January 6
Salem Streetscape Stakeholders Meeting
8:30am - 10am | Town Hall

Thursday, January 8
Neighborhood Beautification Grant Info Session
6pm - 7pm | Virtual Meeting

Tuesday, January 13
Regular Town Council Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

A Look Ahead

January 16 | 6:30pm
Black Author Exhibit & Creative Contest Presentation | Senior Center

January 17 | 8am
MLK Unity March & Breakfast Reception | Multiple Locations

January 18 | 11am
MLK Worship Service | Apex First Baptist Church

January 19 | All Day
National Day of Service | Various Times/Locations

January 21 | 10am - 12pm
🎬️ Wednesday Morning Movie | The Halle

January 23 | 3pm - 4pm
✂️ Ribbon Cutting for Salon Hue

January 25 | 3pm - 4:30
🎸 Classical Concert Series | The Halle
The Guitar, a Historic Perspective with Duo Romantico

In Case You Missed it…

🏘️ Apex Announces Developer Roundtable to Advance Affordable Home Production
The Town of Apex Community Development & Neighborhood Connections (CDNC) Housing Division will convene local and regional development partners for a Developer Roundtable, “Partnering to Build Homes for All in Apex,” on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Apex Senior Center. View the Press Release here.

👶 Postpartum Kits
Pelvic Health Fund, a nonprofit with the mission of improving access to pelvic health supplies, recently received a very generous donation of postpartum kits. The kit contains 4 instant freezer perineal pads, 2 reusable cold/hot pads, a peri bottle, and 4 mesh absorbent boy shorts. They reached out asking if we could help spread the word. They are free of charge to anyone in need; just apply here.

📸 Flock Cameras
Did you know that for the past 11 months, Flock Cameras in Apex have been watching you, recording you, and sharing that data to a third-party cloud? If you missed it last week, read about it here.

📄 Peak Plan 2055
Results of the survey and the 373-page presentation were shared a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, you can read about it here.

A Final Note:

That’s it! Short and sweet this week but we should get back to some more action by next week. Thank you for taking time out of your day today to read this week’s edition of The Peak Weekly.

Happy New Year!

And, as always, if you have any ideas of how to make this newsletter better, want to nominate a local business or organization to be featured, or anything else, please respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

See you next Thursday... 😘