Senators voted 31-17 on Monday to pass a regulatory reform bill that will exempt UNC System institutions from local zoning and land-use regulations in Orange, Buncombe and Watauga counties. The provision builds on an existing exemption in Wake County for NC State, and comes amid local controversy over UNC Asheville’s planning for a public-private project […]
Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press One year ago, Tropical Storm Helene struck Western North Carolina. Rivers rejected their boundaries and trees slid from their mountains. Houses were uprooted from their foundations. Roads buckled under pressure. Lives were thrown from their course. The storm was cataclysmic. For 12 months, the region has focused on recovery, rebuilding […]
WFAE News North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby has launched a pretrial release task force in the wake of Iryna Zarutska’s murder. In a press release Newby says the task force will assess current practices and procedures to evaluate whether they adequately balance the need for judicial discretion with the need for consistency […]
Jack Hagel & Brian Murphy/WRAL News North Carolina lawmakers will consider as soon as Monday afternoon a proposal to provide $35 million to boost development plans at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The money would be given to the Centennial Authority, which owns and operates the arena, and used for public infrastructure improvements associated with […]
Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily A recent political cartoon in a local paper has one Pender County commissioner feeling fearful for his life. However, the newspaper’s publisher says the commissioner is misinterpreting the image and its intent. At the Pender County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, Commissioner Jerry Groves spoke about the Pender-Topsail […]
Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro The online activity of a detention corporal with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office drew attention of high-profile, conservative social media pages and led to his firing on Monday morning. A release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it terminated the employment of Brian Edwards after he was put on administrative leave […]
Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio Bat Cave sits at the intersection of three highways – all of which had massive chunks of road that washed into the rivers and creeks below during the storm. Downed trees, landslides and bridges that crumbled made getting into and out of the area almost impossible for days after […]
Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & Charlotte Ledger Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine Associates, one of the nation’s largest independent neurosurgery practices, will join Atrium Health on Oct. 1, 2025, the two providers announced last week. Nearly 300 Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine staff members across seven Charlotte-area clinics will become part of Atrium, which operates under the […]
Makiya Seminera, Laura Hackett & Jose Sandoval/Education NC When 12-year-old Natalie Briggs visited the ruins of her home after Hurricane Helene, she had to tightrope across a wooden beam to reach what was once her bedroom. Knots of electrical wires were draped inside the skeleton of the house. Months after the storm, light filtered through […]
Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The concept of “biochar” may dredge up images of ash and blackened organic matter, but the material could be a bright solution to several of the county’s Helene-related problems, especially now that it has been bolstered by a $1 million grant. The recently announced funding from the North Carolina’s Department of […]
Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online Saturday evening was one of celebrating coastal stewards, supporters and volunteers during North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Pelican Awards and Taste of the Coast fundraising event. The nonprofit organization that publishes Coastal Review was established in 1982 with the mission to protect and preserve the state’s coast and has offices on […]
Project Kitty Hawk has spent $74.1 million of the $97 million the General Assembly gave it back in 2021 to expand the UNC System’s online degree offerings for adult learners, its leaders say. As of this fall, project-affiliated degree programs at N.C. Central, Appalachian State and East Carolina were serving 1,875 students, officials say. The […]
The Senate’s promised rewrite of the state’s laws regarding bail would eliminate the ability of judges and magistrates to release individuals accused of crimes after they sign a written promise to appear in court. That falls short of being a strictly defined elimination of so-called “cashless bond” because it would still allow court personnel to […]
UNC System President Peter Hans intends to hire a new “chief AI officer” as part of a broader strategy to ensure the university’s 16 campuses aren’t left to deal with new technology on their own. The hire will “help us oversee AI strategy for the system and aid our campuses with their own integration,” Hans […]
Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice The NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced on Friday, Sept. 19 that two significant approvals were issued for the oft-delayed Mid-Currituck Bridge project. According to the announcement, DEQ’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) issued a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA)/Dredge and Fill Law permit for the Mid-Currituck Bridge, and the […]
