Transgender rights

Many of those polled indicated strong feelings about efforts in the legislature that would put certain strictions on the rights of transgender people. We obviously have a history in this state of legislative involvement with the issue, dating back to the notorious HB2 bill that earned national attention. It's a different paying field now with more states making similar moves to what North Carolina Republicans are proposing. Among our respondents, the efforts aren't popular. Just over 60 percent said they strongly or somewhat disagree with the proposals, while only 34 percent supported them. In fact, half of respondents said they strongly disagree with them.

Despite playing a starring role in the history of NASCAR, the Triad region's power players don't express a love for the sport. More than half say they've never been a fan, and about a quarter say their support is either fading or gone. Depsite the high-profile return of NASCAR to North Wilkesboro in May, less than 10 percent say they've always been and still are fans. NASCAR has work to do in our region.

The poll on summer desserts was also a landslide --- all hail banana pudding, which captured an impressive 43 percent of the vote, far outpacing runner-up ice cream. Cobbler came in third among the desserts you'd pick for the outdoor grilling season. I led-off the question with a mention of pig pickin' cake, which some trace the origins to North Carolina. But cake was the bottom-tiered choice, picking up only one percent.