Outgoing Senate leader Phil Berger is still the General Assembly’s champion fundraiser, but House Speaker Destin Hall is shaping up as a potential inheritor of the mantle. Berger’s campaign committee reported taking in $3.1 million through the end of June, for the cycle that saw that saw the Rockingham County lawyer fall 23 votes of […]
Taxpayers in most of the state shouldered $8.4 million in costs for 2025’s off-year city and town elections, State Auditor Dave Boliek says in a report that cites wide disparities in the per-vote cost of the voting. The 2025 vote saw jurisdictions in 91 of North Carolina’s 100 counties go to the polls, with the […]
The four men most often mentioned as potential successors to Phil Berger as the next Senate president pro tem between them have raised $2.7 million so far this election cycle. Senate Majority Leader Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, has raised just under $1.3 million. He occupies a known, R+1 swing seat and is up against Democratic […]
Jack Evans/Asheville Watchdog Consider the dead tree. To the living things of the forest, and to the environmentalists who love them, a dead tree is critical infrastructure. A standing one — a snag — may house beetle larvae, which are eaten by woodpeckers, who excavate the softening wood for nests, which are then abandoned and […]
Analisa Sorrells Archer/Education NC The day that North Carolina’s State Board of Community Colleges announced the selection of Dr. Monty Sullivan as the next system president and CEO, Sullivan’s wife, Kelley, wrote on Facebook: “The community college mission is in our DNA.” In an interview with EdNC, Sullivan echoed that sentiment. His father left school […]
Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News Congress included an exemption in last year’s federal Medicaid work requirement law for people who are “medically frail” — a category that encompasses people with serious or complex medical conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis and other illnesses that can make it difficult to maintain employment. The provision was intended […]
Walker Livingston/Carolina Public Press Every Wednesday afternoon in the heart of Swannanoa, volunteers hand out seasonal produce while community members flow through the produce market in an old church building that nonprofit Bounty and Soul hosts. Last week, it was summer squash, fresh tomatoes and watermelon for the summer season. Swannanoa is an unincorporated rural […]
Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio The N.C. Department of Transportation is offering a sweeping community benefits package that could total as much as $300 million as it seeks support for the proposed Interstate 77 toll lanes project, which would run from south of uptown Charlotte to the South Carolina border. The benefits would be aimed at communities […]
Henry Taylor/WCHL Chapelboro UNC announced Monday morning it has placed Michael Lombardi, general manager for the Tar Heel football program, on paid administrative leave. The change is effective immediately. As of July 27, the university has not provided the reason behind taking this action. “As is standard procedure with personnel matters, leadership, staff, and student-athletes […]
Coastal Review Online An advocacy organization created to improve transportation access to Ocracoke Island and the Outer Banks is urging state lawmakers to the North Carolina Ferry Division’s deadline to begin collecting tolls on all of its ferry routes by one year. In a July 23 email to members of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight […]
Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz Local transportation officials will hear an update this week on an unsolicited proposal for the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. Delaware-based firm Delivering Bridges LLC submitted a proposal to replace the aging bridge to the N.C. Department of Transportation in February. During a meeting of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning […]
Aarik Long/The Waynesville Mountaineer A bill passed overwhelmingly by the N.C. General Assembly and signed by Governor Josh Stein earlier this month legalized elk hunting in the state with a caveat. Only two permits, each for a single male elk, will be up for grabs by hunters. One will be auctioned to the highest […]
Sophia DePhillips/Port City Daily Ferry service to and from Bald Head Island are running on a limited schedule after shoaling at the Bald Head Island entrance channel has created unsafe conditions. Shoaling is the build-up of sand and sediment, creating shallow waters and typically occurs on the island two to three times annually. However, the […]
North Carolina’s leading trade group for the restaurant industry has sharpened its attack on a prospective move by the state ABC Commission to establish “minimum baseline pricing” for liquor. A poll conducted for and released by the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association says the idea is unpopular, with 55% of its 803 participants signaling opposition. […]
Morehead City businessman Harry Smith has changed his mind and won’t be serving on the State Ports Authority board. Gov. Josh Stein appointed Smith earlier this month to a six-year term on the authority, which oversees the ports in Wilmington and Morehead City. In a note to port officials today, Smith said he’s joining the board of […]
