Month: January 2026

8. Waynesville Plaza locked in lawsuit with paint store

Aarik Long/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The owners of the Waynesville Plaza allege that the remaining three years on a lease with Sherwin-Williams were terminated, allowing the landlord to increase the rent by nearly $4,000 per month. They’re now suing the paint company for not paying up. A lawsuit is picking up steam between the owner of […]

Written by on January 20, 2026

9. Helene: Arboretum embraces challenge, change in species

David Beasley/The Center Square On the morning before Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina in late September of 2024, Drake Fowler was already expecting trouble with the weather ahead. The 434 acres of public forests and gardens had already been hit with 10 inches of rain the night before the hurricane hit, remembered the executive […]

Written by on January 20, 2026

10. Carolina Curious: Why does part of Greensboro sometimes smell like butter?

April Laissle/WFDD Radio If you commute through Greensboro on I-40 near Elm Street, you’ve probably noticed it: “Every so often, especially in the mornings or evenings, you’ll go outside and there’s this smell of buttered popcorn in the air,” said Greensboro resident Tim Leisman. That scent is coming from the nearby Mother Murphy’s Flavors factory. […]

Written by on January 20, 2026

Locke looks at farm exposure to trade wars

An analysis commissioned by the John Locke Foundation warns that trade wars could take a $695 million bite out of North Carolina’s agriculture sector. Written by NC State professor Jeffrey Dorfman, it says the state’s tobacco, sweet potato and cotton farmers are particularly vulnerable to retaliation from China, the European Union and other countries. In […]

Written by on January 20, 2026

Agencies point out errors in auditor’s lapsed-salary report

State agencies say N.C. Auditor Dave Boliek’s lapsed-salary report is riddled with errors that exaggerate how much money is actually available for legislators to reallocate. These include but go beyond the report’s inclusion of 619 unfunded slots in the state Commerce Department. As previously reported here, many of those are on the books so officials […]

Written by on January 20, 2026

2. Eviction prevention contract gets one more month of ARPA funds

Scott D. Yost/Rhino Times Guilford County commissioners are set to approve a one-month extension of the county’s contract with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Center for Housing and Community Studies at their Thursday, Jan. 15 meeting in order to allow the full use of remaining federal pandemic relief funds without committing any new […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

3. Buncombe sheriff candidate faces eligibility challenge ahead of primary

Dee Pridgen/828 News Now Buncombe County sheriff candidate Victor “Vic” Morman is facing a formal challenge to his eligibility to run for office, an issue that will be considered during a special meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Elections on Jan. 20. The meeting is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and will address a protest […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

4. Waynesville dog park rebuild in limbo

Paul Nielsen/The Waynesville Mountaineer Rebuilding Waynesville’s dog park may not be a top spending priority for town leaders as the post-Helene financial crunch sets in. Town council was presented with a new cost estimate to rebuild the dog park at its meeting Tuesday night — around $431,000 — with the bulk of the money hopefully […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

5. After losing a university, Laurinburg is on the hunt for jobs

Colin Campbell/WUNC News For the past 65 years, Saint Andrews University has been a major economic engine for the small town of Laurinburg, in Scotland County near the South Carolina line. And with more than a thousand students and staff in a town of about 15,000 people, the university was a big part of the […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

6. Merit bonuses increased in Carolina Beach amid employee retention concerns

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily One local beach town is trying out a new tactic to entice jobseekers to its doorsteps, following a request for action from its town manager. Earlier this week, the Carolina Beach Town Council voted unanimously in favor of increasing merit raises from 2% to 4% to try and improve recruitment and […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

7. Funders seek to claw back grants in bankruptcy of Absher’s Only Hope WNC

Bill Moss & Amy B. McCraw/Hendersonville Lightning Amid more than 20 charges of alleged child-sex abuse that suggest a moral bankruptcy at Only Hope WNC, the nonprofit agency has filed a petition to liquidate its assets and pay creditors the proceeds. The last remaining leaders of the organization founded by Michael Absher in 2010 to […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

8. County water options studied

Elena Marsh/The Southern Pines Pilot The Moore County Board of Commissioners is still exploring the feasibility of a few future water sources. The current preferred option, a reservoir at Crystal Lake, would provide an asset the county owns outright, but it is not without its challenges. At a work session on Wednesday, commissioners asked State […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

9. UNCA students and community members hold a ‘walk out’ on campus

Jose Sandoval/Blue Ridge Public Radio Several dozen UNC Asheville students and community members gathered outside of Highsmith Student Union on Friday to protest the development of portions of the Millennial Campus property, which includes 45 acres of urban forest. The walk-out was organized by local artist Spenser Beals who got the students involved. They were […]

Written by on January 19, 2026

10. Report on over 3,300 ICE arrests in NC finds very few on the Outer Banks

Outer Banks Voice A Jan. 15 story on NC Local reports that Immigration and Customers Enforcement agents (ICE) arrested more than 3,300 people in North Carolina between President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, 2025.  The data show that very few of those arrests have occurred on the Outer Banks and more broadly, […]

Written by on January 19, 2026