Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Hannah Vinueza McClellan/Education NC While many states — including North Carolina — have recently enacted legislation to vastly expand their private school voucher programs, implementation and design varies greatly from state to state, according to a new Future Ed report. These differences include the extent to which states help families navigate school choice options, impose […]

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press “Pumpkins were floating. Wicker baskets were floating. Ribbon was floating. Even our hardwood floors were floating.” That was the scene Steve Pace discovered in his flower shop in Boone the day after Tropical Storm Helene hit Western North Carolina, just ahead of the peak season for the region’s tourism-dependent economy. […]

Anne Blythe/NC Health News Like many people and business owners in western North Carolina left to pick up the scattered pieces after the remnants of Hurricane Helene pummeled the region, dentists have had to pivot to tend to their patients’ needs. Safe drinking water is critical to that care. And with key components of Asheville’s […]

Gwendolyn Glenn/WFAE Radio Charlotte lost a major leader, fundraiser and supporter with the passing this week of Jim Hynes at the age of 84. Hynes, a 1962 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, is one of those people who isn’t a household name but helped build the city into what it is today. He was chair […]

Pat Kimbrough/High Point Enterprise Supporters of a proposed affordable housing loan fund for High Point say that the city needs to contribute money to it to help it get off the ground. The High Point Community Foundation Housing Impact Fund would comprise mostly private money, but the city would also put in $2 million to […]

Madison Lipe/Wilmington StarNews PFAS exposure remains a concern for residents of the Lower Cape Fear region, but recent results from an ongoing GenX Exposure Study could provide some assurance for residents that water cleanup has been beneficial. In 2017, residents learned that their drinking water, which is sourced from the largest watershed in the state, […]

The Associated Press A North Carolina man whose alias is “AK Guru” has been charged with making and selling hundreds of machine guns built from existing and deconstructed weapons, federal authorities said. Earl Carter Jr., 72, is being held by federal authorities on charges of conspiracy to manufacture and deal in firearms without a license, […]

Port City Daily After an emergency meeting was called, with verbose feedback from Southport City Council against having to put their EMS crews on standby due to a new franchise agreement with the county, the two government entities have come to a resolve. City of Southport and Brunswick County staff met on Friday to discuss […]

Sarah Honosky/Asheville Citizen Times Ingles Markets estimates between $35 million and $55 million of inventory and property loss from Tropical Storm Helene, the company said an Oct. 29 release. The Black Mountain-based grocery chain is headquartered along the Swannanoa River, which crested to record-shattering levels, with heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides wreaking havoc across Western […]

Caleb M. Soptelean/The Sanford Herald “A celebration of something good that a region can do together.” With those words, Sanford Mayor Pro Tem Mark Akinosho encouraged those gathered Tuesday morning for the groundbreaking of the expansion of TriRiver Water’s filtration system, which will serve Sanford, Pittsboro, Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs. “You stuck your necks out […]

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News The Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly took its second step in flood recovery on Oct. 24, designating from the state’s $4.4 billion Rainy Day Fund an additional $604 million in funding and resources for disaster recovery in response to Hurricane Helene — far less than the $3.9 billion the state’s Democratic […]

Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Cassandra Brooks owns Little Believer’s Academy, which has locations in Garner and Clayton. She operates three NC Pre-K classrooms. But rising costs and stagnant resources have made it hard for her to do business. “Every day is just so stressful,” she said. NC Pre-K serves eligible 4-year-old children, based on criteria […]

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Like pouring water from a bathtub into a tea cup. That’s how Gaston County Emergency Management Director Scott Hunter described the impact of an inflow of floodwater from Lake Norman to the much smaller Mountain Island Lake, which is situated directly upstream along the Catawba River. The two man-made water bodies […]