Month: December 2025

4. Christmas tree experts say industry is harvesting more trees despite impacts from inflation, Helene

Sharryse Piggott/WUNC Radio As Christmas approaches, pop-up markets selling fresh-cut Christmas trees are becoming more common across the city. The Raleigh Farmers Market remains one of the most popular destinations, offering locally grown North Carolina Fraser firs. While tree farmers are selling more Christmas trees than last year, experts say inflation has impacted the state’s […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

5. Did the largest Pokémon printer just sign a massive lease in Morrisville?

Brian Gordon/The (Raleigh) News & Observer An unnamed Triangle company has agreed to fill more than 1 million square feet of a local campus, in what the site’s developers say is the largest U.S. leasing deal of 2025. Charlotte-based Trinity Capital Advisors and the Florida investment firm Starwood Capital Group announced Tuesday that a “Morrisville-based […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

6. Pinehurst man pleads guilty in $6 million federal bid rigging case

The (Southern Pines) Pilot A Pinehurst man who was the president of a construction company pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in connection with a bid rigging scam that federal officials say defrauded the Defense Department by as much as $6 million. Brett Sanborn was the president of a construction company that provided goods and […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

7. Taylor files for Sauls’ House seat, sets up primary with Womack

Caleb M. Soptelean/The Sanford Herald A longtime Sanford City Councilman threw his hat into the ring for the Republican nomination for state House in District 51, which includes all of Lee County and part of Moore County. Charles Taylor — who is the only Republican on the city council — filed Monday afternoon for the […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

8. Vorbeck won’t run again, slams local GOP

Richard Sullins & Gordon Anderson/The Rant Lee County Commissioner Taylor Vorbeck announced during Monday’s meeting of the Lee County Board of Commissioners that she won’t seek another term, and in a lengthy and at times emotional speech slammed her own party organization for having an “unelected dictator” and being “ran by fear, bullying and control, […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

9. Ruling leaves Whiteville hopeful but unsure about $3.7 million for flooding

Joseph Williams/The (Whiteville) News Reporter A U.S. District Court judge ordered a federal disaster-mitigation program reinstated last week after finding the Trump administration acted unlawfully in its attempts to shut it down earlier this year. The ruling could allow the City of Whiteville to recoup millions in grant funding for its Mollies Branch Canal Restoration […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

10. 2 vie for N.C. House District 4 seat

Sam Dietrich/News Argus Marcella Barbour, a Republican, filed as a candidate in the N.C. House District 4 race and will challenge incumbent Republican Jimmy Dixon in his reelection bid for a ninth consecutive term in 2026. Barbour and Dixon will face off in the March Republican primary, with the winner heading to the general election […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

3. Christmas tree experts say industry is harvesting more trees despite impacts from inflation, Helene

Sharryse Piggott/WUNC Radio As Christmas approaches, pop-up markets selling fresh-cut Christmas trees are becoming more common across the city. The Raleigh Farmers Market remains one of the most popular destinations, offering locally grown North Carolina Fraser firs. While tree farmers are selling more Christmas trees than last year, experts say inflation has impacted the state’s […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

4. Did the largest Pokémon printer just sign a massive lease in Morrisville?

Brian Gordon/The (Raleigh) News & Observer An unnamed Triangle company has agreed to fill more than 1 million square feet of a local campus, in what the site’s developers say is the largest U.S. leasing deal of 2025. Charlotte-based Trinity Capital Advisors and the Florida investment firm Starwood Capital Group announced Tuesday that a “Morrisville-based […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

5. Pinehurst man pleads guilty in $6 million federal bid rigging case

The (Southern Pines) Pilot A Pinehurst man who was the president of a construction company pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in connection with a bid rigging scam that federal officials say defrauded the Defense Department by as much as $6 million. Brett Sanborn was the president of a construction company that provided goods and […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

6. Taylor files for Sauls’ House seat, sets up primary with Womack

Caleb M. Soptelean/The Sanford Herald A longtime Sanford City Councilman threw his hat into the ring for the Republican nomination for state House in District 51, which includes all of Lee County and part of Moore County. Charles Taylor — who is the only Republican on the city council — filed Monday afternoon for the […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

7. Vorbeck won’t run again, slams local GOP

Richard Sullins & Gordon Anderson/The Rant Lee County Commissioner Taylor Vorbeck announced during Monday’s meeting of the Lee County Board of Commissioners that she won’t seek another term, and in a lengthy and at times emotional speech slammed her own party organization for having an “unelected dictator” and being “ran by fear, bullying and control, […]

Written by on December 18, 2025

8. NC board orders reruns of two local elections after poll worker problems

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline It’s unusual for the North Carolina Board of Elections to order a redo of an election. But Wednesday, they did it twice: once in a mayor’s race where one candidate now leads by a single vote, and again for a small Hertford County town where 7 of the 25 people who cast […]

Written by on December 18, 2025