Feds finish audit of CATS security process
Federal officials have given Charlotte Area Transit System a month
Health Care
State Health Plan rolls out first “preferred providers”
State Health Plan trustees have approved “preferred provider” contracts with the clinic networks of UNC Health and two other groups, State Treasurer Brad Briner’s office
Conservative group eyes case against nurse-practice limits
A California-based conservative group wants to take on North Carolina’s restrictions on advanced-practice nurses, even as the so-called SAVE Act remains bogged down on the General Assembly. The Pacific Legal...
Duke Health gets OK for tax-exempt bond issue
Duke Health has gained access to up to $275.7 million in tax-exempt bonds to cover the cost of its purchase in April of the former Lake Norman Regional Medical Center....
Budget & Taxes
State-pension investment returns improve
North Carolina’s public retirement-system investments earned an estimated 13.3% return in calendar 2025, just under the average for well-stocked peer investment funds. It “was a
State pension fund sets request for legislative support
Trustees of the state’s largest public-employee pension plan have confirmed that they’ll ask legislators for a 2026-27 employer contribution equivalent to 17.49% of covered salaries. The decision in effect means...
Trustees want $25M in admin cuts at UNC Chapel Hill
Trustees at UNC Chapel Hill have given Chancellor Lee Roberts and his team orders to find $25 million in administrative spending cuts and a green light to start laying off...
Education
School vouchers: More used in blue counties
Two UNC Charlotte professors have published a study that suggests K-12 school vouchers aren’t as heavily used in the places where they’re likely the most
Info about colleges’ NIL program hard to come by
UNC System schools are mostly sticking to the position that the details of the name, image and likeness programs they use to pay their athletes aren’t up for public discussion. Spokespeople for...
WSSU only UNC school holding out against tuition increase
Only one of the UNC System’s 16 universities — Winston-Salem State — wants to continue holding the line on in-state undergraduate tuition heading into the 2026-27 academic year. Thirteen others...
Elections
Insurance Dept. sees no fraud in Rockingham Co. dispute
North Carolina’s Department of Insurance closed the books on a complaintalleging that Rockingham County officials illegally asked the county’s insurance to pay for their defense
Immigration battle changing political calculus, some Dems say
Federal immigration crackdowns are politicizing and energizing Americans in ways that haven’t happened in decades, a group of Black politicians and political activists say. But both political parties are behind...
Buckhout claims $2M+ war chest
First District Congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout says she’s raised more than $2 million so far in her second bid for the U.S. House seat currently held by Rep. Don Davis....