Toyota is building its first car battery manufacturing plant in Randolph County off U.S. 421, about 20 miles southeast of Greensboro. The highway has been designated “Future Interstate 685.” Toyota Interstate highways continue to multiply in North Carolina. State and local officials on Monday unveiled signs for “Future I-685,” which will someday follow U.S. 421 […]
Insufficient child care is keeping 300 individuals out of the labor pool in Watauga County, a new study estimates. “If you put all 300 of those people under one roof, that would be a top-10 business, based on employee count, in Watauga County today,” David Jackson, president and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of […]
Red Lobster, America’s largest seafood chain known for its shrimp and Cheddar Bay biscuits, has filed for bankruptcy. Its seafood restaurants are in hot water after a series of bad choices by a parade of executives, including an ill-fated promotion for all-you-can-eat-shrimp starting at $20. Almost 580 locations in the U.S. and Canada are expected […]
After being closed for five months, a key North Carolina license plate office will reopen at the coast. The previous operator’s contract ended and the office closed in Shallotte on Dec. 20, 2023, according to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. A new operator has been chosen in the Brunswick […]
Alan Freeman has worn several hats when it comes to the homeownership topic. He’s a home buyer and seller. Recently, Freeman moved into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Oakdale, a small area between Oakwood and Mordecai near downtown Raleigh. “We were only really looking for places that were walkable or bikable,” Freeman said. The search […]
Federal child care relief funding runs out in less than seven weeks. Hundreds of providers, parents, and advocates showed up at the North Carolina legislature Thursday to call for emergency funding to replace it. Without intervention, about 20% of the state’s child care facilities are at risk of closing within a year afterward, a survey […]
Three lawsuits filed in 2024 against the U.S. Forest Service highlight concerns that the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest Land Management Plan is failing to protect mature and old-growth forests, safeguard endangered species and evaluate the climate impact of timber cutting accurately. The Forest Service finalized its forest plan for Western North Carolina’s two national […]
The leadership of North Carolina’s public university system is expected to vote this week to repeal its diversity policies, raising questions of what’s to come for thousands of minority students at the state’s 17 UNC System campuses and hundreds of professors and staff who work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. DEI programs in higher […]
Haywood County fly anglers are trying to counteract a massive reduction in the trout stockpile, viewing it as a detriment to trout fishing and a hindrance to the outdoor industry. Trout stocked in Western North Carolina rivers and streams will be curtailed by two-thirds over the next few years due to a major renovation of […]
Recently, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority awarded a contract to Lindsey Architecture, P.C. to provide the architectural and engineering design services for the Authority’s “Terminal Modernization Project.” The total estimated fees and expenses under the contract come to $13,428,986. That’s just for the design phase; once that phase is complete, a whole lot more money […]
A prominent clean energy nonprofit issued a new proposal to revise Duke Energy’s carbon plan to expand rooftop solar throughout the state, arguing the strategy would address climate change and result in lower costs for ratepayers. NC WARN is a Durham-based nonprofit focused on promoting the clean energy transition in North Carolina. On Tuesday, the […]
Developers looking to build a high-end automotive motorsport park have chosen a 400-acre tract near the Moore-Montgomery county line for the project. The Uwharrie Motorsports Park and Resort would represent a $100 million investment on Leach Road north of NC 24-27 and south of Spies Road just a few miles east of the Montgomery County […]
In its final week of classes, Western Carolina University became the subject of a video that went viral on social media in which a trans woman was filmed inside a women’s bathroom on campus. In a video posted by Payton McNabb, a student at WCU, on X at 5:04 p.m. on May 2, an unidentified […]
A 2021 lawsuit filed against the University of North Carolina School of the Arts alleging years-long sexual misconduct has been settled for $12.5 million. The settlement agreement announced Friday ends litigation filed by 65 UNCSA alumni. The plaintiffs alleged sexual abuse and misconduct at the UNCSA from the 1970s to the 1990s, according to a […]
The Alamance-Burlington Board of Education approved budget cuts and a plan to ask county commissioners for more funding for the 2024-2025 school year. The board gave a “reluctant unanimous vote” for plans proposed by interim superintendent Dr. Bill Harrison at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. Under the approved budget, several positions will be cut or […]
