Month: July 2025

6. What happens at Surry DSS. Director told staff not to cooperate with NC probe, sources say.

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press “The state is not your friend,” a local social services director told employees as she urged them not to cooperate with a NC Department of Health and Human Services probe into her agency’s child welfare operations, Carolina Public Press has learned. Surry County Department of Social Services Director Sharon Schueneman made […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

7. State Board won’t raise the score cutoff for teacher licensure test — and other Board meeting highlights

Cheyenne McNeill/Education NC The State Board of Education’s virtual meeting on Thursday covered multiple topics, including policy amendments, a review of the Charter Schools Annual Report, and an update on cut scores for the edTPA exams. To start, the Board welcomed three new advisors: Freddie Williamson, Superintendent of the Year from the Public Schools of […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

8. Wilmington council bars fossil fuel companies from portion of investment portfolio

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily The City of Wilmington’s investment portfolio, at least the portion it has direct control over, now is intended to be free of fossil fuel assets. At its Tuesday meeting, the Wilmington City Council voted 5-2 for a resolution directing the city manager — the newly appointed Becky Hawke — to “support […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

9. Work at Navassa Kerr-McGee site to take longer than planned

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online When contractors began cleaning up debris from the grounds of a former wood treatment plant in Navassa last year, they expected they’d be removing old railroad ties, pieces of treated wood and tires. “We didn’t expect to see a tank there,” Ngozi Ibe said of the underground storage vessel at the […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

10. Sanford annexes 470-acre Vermilion project

Caleb M. Soptelean/Sanford Herald The largest residential annexation in recent years in Sanford, but maybe ever, was approved 6-1 Tuesday, July 15, with Councilman Charles Taylor voting no. The Cherokee Land Co. and the Dalrymple and Moore families requested it for 470 acres east of Colon Road between Post Office Road on the north and […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

1. Before Tropical Depression Chantal swamped Hillsborough, the town had been counting on FEMA

Lisa Sorg/Inside Climate News About nine hours after Tropical Depression Chantal inundated central North Carolina last week, Jeff Mahagan’s phone woke him at 3 in the morning. The person working on call at the Hillsborough wastewater treatment plant was scared. Mahagan, the town’s deputy utilities director for water treatment, didn’t immediately grasp the severity of […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

2. NC Republicans in Congress respond to Democratic governor’s letter on Trump budget

Will Doran/WRAL News North Carolina Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives say they voted for the new budget plan backed by President Donald Trump largely because of its large income tax cuts and ramped-up federal spending on immigration enforcement. They also said its large cut to Medicaid funding “restores integrity and sustainability to our […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

3. NHC bond capacity a potential hurdle for NHHS, other school projects

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily The New Hanover County Board of Education heard several options for long-needed repairs to the 104-year-old New Hanover High School last week, yet how those capital projects would be funded may be more complicated than expected. The master plan, which Port City Daily first reported about two weeks ago, showed three […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

4. Wildfire funds in NC’s latest Helene bill will help state hire contract personnel for fire response

Adam Wagner/WFAE Radio The most recent Helene relief package included $15 million to bolster the N.C. Forest Service’s efforts to fight wildfires in western North Carolina. House Bill 1012, which Gov. Josh Stein signed into law in late June, provides the funds for wildfire assets and preparedness, as well as contract firefighters and equipment. Helene […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

5. Behavioral health urgent care hopes to fill critical need in Robeson County

Heidi Perez-Moreno/Border Belt Independent James Granger says primary care doctors shouldn’t just focus on patients’ physical health. Their mental well-being is just as important. “Being able to do both, to understand both aspects, makes sense to us in being able to send that person on their journey,” said Granger, the chief operating officer for Southeastern […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

6. Exclusive: Trump team withholds $140 million budgeted for fentanyl fight

Brian Mann/WUNC Radio The Trump administration has delayed and may cancel roughly $140 million in grants to fund fentanyl overdose response efforts, according to four staff members with close knowledge of the process at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The staffers shared detailed information with NPR about the funding disruption and potential cuts […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

7. Charter school forced to relocate temporarily after Chantal flooding

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press When Tammy Finch entered the Orange County charter school she co-founded to assess the damage from Tropical Depression Chantal, instead of seeing children in the halls, she saw a fish. The Expedition School was hit hard by Chantal earlier this month due to its location inside the Eno River Mill, a […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

8. HPU shows progress on major projects

Paul B. Johnson/High Point Enterprise Construction crews at High Point University are nearing completion of two major projects while starting another one. Construction on the buildings for the Workman School of Dental Medicine and Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law is at least 90% complete. A grand opening ceremony for the dental school building is […]

Written by on July 17, 2025

10. Transylvania County opts out of Army Corps debris removal to use new state program

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio For Transylvania County property owners still needing help to remove Hurricane Helene storm debris, county officials have changed contractors and will start using a newly formed state program. The change comes after the federal funding that was being used to pay the Army Corps of Engineers ran out, according […]

Written by on July 17, 2025