Ferrel Guillory/Education NC At their fourth monthly session on Monday, members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education engaged in a spontaneous, unscripted discussion over the pay of North Carolina public school teachers that ranks in the bottom 10 among states. “There just needs to be an acknowledgement that if we’re going to address […]
Andrew Jones/KFF Health News Soybean fields surround Angie Lowery’s home on a plot of rural land in southeastern North Carolina’s Robeson County. Dozens of antique gas station signs, 20 feet tall, dominate her front yard. A framed re-creation of The Last Supper, Lone Ranger posters, and a 3-foot-wide tobacco harvesting basket adorn the walls of […]
Cristin Severance/WRAL TechWire WRAL sits down for an extended conversation with SAS founder and CEO Dr. Jim Goodnight to discuss the company’s 50-year history, the future of artificial intelligence, innovation, and what’s next for SAS. This is a transcript of that conversation. Cristin Severance/WRAL: SAS is obviously rooted in North Carolina, but it quickly gained […]
Cece Nunn/WilmingtonBiz State transportation officials have rejected a private firm’s proposal to replace the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and charge drivers a toll of up to $2.75 per crossing. However, N.C. Department of Transportation officials are continuing to pursue a publicly delivered toll option. NCDOT officials evaluated what would have been a public-private partnership (P3) […]
Jackson Kitts & Seyun Park/The Duke Chronicle In the same fiscal year that Duke began its cost-cutting measures, most top administrators received a salary increase. Information about the compensation of the University’s highest-paid officers and employees becomes publicly available after Duke files its Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service, which it is required to […]
Zachary Turner/WFAE Radio A huge new Amazon data center development and the diesel-burning generators to power it are the subject of a hearing Thursday afternoon in Rockingham. The 650-acre project will include 21 data center buildings powered by nearly 600 diesel generators. In order to proceed, Amazon and Duke Energy have requested Title V permits […]
Sophia DePhillips/Port City Daily As a result of a state law allowing students to miss up to four hours of school per week for religious instruction, New Hanover County Schools Board of Education decided Tuesday to cancel a planned public hearing on whether to partner with a nonprofit Bible-study group. In a 5-1 vote, with […]
Scott Yost/The Rhino Times Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston is about to add another chairmanship to his lengthy resume on Saturday, Aug. 1, when he takes over as chairman of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. Alston, who is, of course, seemingly chairman for life of the Guilford County Board […]
Moss Brennan/The Watauga Democrat The Boone Planning Commission recommended denial of a proposed 185-unit student housing development off Beverly Heights Avenue on July 27 after hours of near-unanimous opposition from residents at a joint public hearing with the Boone Town Council. The commission’s recommendation is advisory. The applicant can go before the Boone Town Council, […]
Diana Lopez/NC Health News As North Carolina weathers one of its worst droughts in more than 18 years, farmers are seeing the results in withering yields of corn, fruits and other crops. This has affected their bottom line, to be sure, but the effects are more widespread. Hunger relief programs that rely on local produce […]
Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & The Charlotte Ledger In 2020, Charlotte businessman Michael Estramonte set out to build a nonprofit treatment center to create more space for kids in mental health crisis. The idea quickly won support from state and local lawmakers. Since 2023, the Katie Blessing Center has secured more than $40 million in […]
Tom Fiedler/Asheville Watchdog Will Rogers, who called himself the Cowboy Philosopher in his newspaper columns and stage acts, had it right when he was asked about his partisan politics: “I don’t belong to any organized political party,” he replied. “I’m a Democrat…. If people agree with each other all the time they’d be Republicans.” Jamie […]
Jill Doss-Raines/The High Point Enterprise Duke Energy plans to build two 1,360-megawatt natural gas power plants in eastern Davie County and will build its largest-ever liquefied natural gas facility nearby in western Davidson County. Bill Norton, Duke Energy’s communications manager, said that the projects will be multibillion-dollar infrastructure investments. “After further analysis, we believe […]
Mebane Rash/Education NC Asheville-Buncombe Tech Community College (A-B Tech) has been awarded $29.2 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) for construction of the proposed Western North Carolina (WNC) Futures Factory, according to a press release from the college. Announced July 27, the funding targets Hurricane Helene recovery and manufacturing innovation. “These investments recognize […]
Jane Winik Sartwell/The Raleigh News & Observer UNC-Chapel Hill is pouring millions of dollars into developing a satellite campus two miles north of campus, a 230-acre tract of land now dubbed Carolina North. But there are some old and unusual strings attached to the development, thanks to a former professor’s will that’s over 85 years […]
