The issues surrounding raw milk have gotten most of the attention in the Senate’s debate about this session’s farm act, but there’s also a debate going on about herbicides and any legal liability associated with them. Senate Bill 639 includes a provision that says the manufacturer of a state-registered pesticide has fulfilled its legal duty to warn the […]
Liz McLaughlin/WRAL News When Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters finally receded last September, Alex Webber thought the worst was over. The co‑owner of On Your Bike Café and repair shop had fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, searching for higher ground in the North Carolina mountains. Instead, she found 3 feet of mud, a gutted storefront and an insurance […]
Luke Garrett/NPR The fate of legislation to enact President Trump’s domestic policy agenda moves to the GOP-controlled Senate this week, where a handful of Republican spending hawks are criticizing the price tag of the president’s mega-bill, which would grow the national debt by trillions of dollars, and calling for changes. In May, the House narrowly […]
Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Jennifer Burch is a second-generation pharmacist who’s been working at Central Pharmacy in Durham since she was a teen. Some of her current customers have been coming to the store since the days when she still worked with her father. In those days, when they worked with pharmacy benefits managers, they […]
Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A Republican business owner from Maggie Valley has announced his intention to challenge N.C. House Rep. Mark Pless, also a Republican, for the seat representing Haywood and Madison counties. It’s rare for a sitting legislator to face opposition in a primary. The challenge is a reflection of Pless’ strong-arm leadership style […]
Jonathan Bym/The (Southern Pines) Pilot Rockingham Speedway is back on the market after Rockingham Properties LLC listed the track for sale last week, less than two months since NASCAR racing was brought back to the venerable track in April. The track was purchased by Rockingham Properties and owner Dan Lovenheim in 2018 for $2.8 million. […]
Alan Wooten/The Center Square Only 21,559 voter registrations separate Republicans from catching Democrats, the weekly update from the North Carolina State Board of Elections says. The final day of May listed 7,522,857 registrations split 37.8% unaffiliated, 30.7% Democrats and 30.4% Republicans. The trend is a continuing a turn of two decades for Democrats, punctuated by […]
Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press Tropical Storm Helene underscored the dangers of aging dams and flood-control infrastructure in Western North Carolina. Leading up to the storm, some signs already indicated that something more needed to be done should a natural disaster strike. A substantial number of aging dams are in poor condition throughout the state with […]
Paul Garber/WFDD Radio Poultry and livestock are important drivers of North Carolina’s economy. A new technology from Appalachian State University will help keep the animals safe from parasites. Researcher Zach Russell recently earned a grant from NCInnovation to develop his lab’s AI-driven robotic microscope. The $2.3 million grant is the largest from the organization in […]
Paul Woolverton/CityView A walk through downtown Fayetteville shows the city’s former commercial heart presents a mixed picture of its health, but signs of growth. A passer-by might find homeless people wrapped in blankets, surrounded by battered baggage filled with their belongings, snoring in the evening in a doorway. A promised downtown anchor tenant development atop […]
Paul B. Johnson/The (High Point) Enterprise The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will consider $75.9 million in economic incentives for a major economic development project during a special meeting and public hearing at 10 a.m. June 12. The name of the manufacturing company, its location within the county and job creation weren’t revealed in an […]
The Trump administration’s crackdowns on student visas affect a sector that as of the 2023-24 academic year was bringing 24,468 international students and $914.5 million to North Carolina’s economy. According to the annual “Open Doors” report from the Institute of International Education — also funded by the U.S. State Department — more than three-quarters of the the international students […]
Gov. Josh Stein and new DMV commissioner Paul Tine are pledging to work with legislators and State Auditor Dave Boliek to improve the operations of the beleaguered agency. “We are tackling this problem head-on,” Stein said, even as his aides noted that his budget proposal and the House’s agree DMV needs to add 61 more […]
Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Nearly 2,000 women in Harnett County give birth each year. But the county’s only hospital no longer has a space fully equipped for them to deliver. Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn closed its maternity care unit in 2023, citing financial trouble. Harnett County women must now travel to seek care, […]
Mary Helen Moore/WFAE Radio Republican leaders in the General Assembly are discussing whether to cut off the money large cities get for street paving projects. Since 1951, communities have gotten state money to maintain local roads through the Powell Bill. According to the Department of Transportation, most of that money goes to resurfacing over 20,000 […]
