Month: July 2026

8. The ‘hub-and-spoke’ model for addiction treatment in North Carolina

Taylor Sisk/Education NC Holly Warren was recently leafing through one of her old medical school textbooks, trying to recall how much instruction she’d received in addiction medicine — trying to recall, “Did we even talk about this? Was it even on our radar?” “And it really just wasn’t,” Warren said. She received an excellent education […]

Written by on July 19, 2026

9. Work begins for periodic update of state coastal habitat plan

Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality staff are in the process of updating the state’s long-term strategy to protect coastal habitat, a necessity for a sustainable seafood industry. According to the strategy called the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, or CHPP, the need for a coastwide habitat plan came about in the […]

Written by on July 19, 2026

10. County in ‘good position’ with increased budget

Chris Stiles/The Robesonian The Robeson County budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which was approved by the county’s Board of Commissioners in June and took effect on July 1, saw an overall increase of just over 7.5%, with increases for the General Fund and Water Fund among the highlights. “It’s not really a whole lot […]

Written by on July 19, 2026

1. ‘Anything can stop working’: NC is funding a fraction of its $10 billion school infrastructure backlog

Colin Campbell/WUNC News  Public schools in North Carolina are facing billions of dollars in unfunded school construction projects, and a lottery-supported grant program is only able to address a fraction of the requests it receives. As one of the state’s poorest school districts, Halifax County hasn’t had enough funding to make needed repairs and renovations […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

2. Clock is ticking on I-77 toll lanes

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio The controversy over the proposed toll lane on Interstate 77 in south Charlotte has been raging for seven months. And it’s far from over. The new Republican-written state budget includes a provision meant to get the toll lanes back on track. If Charlotte and other local governments don’t back the toll lanes […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

3. ‘Smidge of accountability.’ Budget tweaks NC school voucher funding as state audit planned.

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press The long-awaited state budget signed by Gov. Josh Stein last week included a number of provisions for the state’s private schools and Opportunity Scholarship Program, including reallocating some funds from the voucher program back to public schools. Researchers and critics of North Carolina’s private school vouchers have long said the state […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

4. Democrats on NC Elections Board call for investigation into recently resigned staffer

Will Doran/WRAL News Earlier this year State Auditor Dave Boliek put a former leader of the North Carolina Republican Party, Dallas Woodhouse, in charge of overseeing county elections boards. Woodhouse resigned last week amid allegations of putting pressure on some of those boards to make partisan decisions for how voting will operate this year. Now, […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

6. ‘Industry in their backyard’: Residents concerned about wetlands in quarry expansion proposal

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily Within 10 miles of Sledge Forest, a limestone quarry has been proposed for expansion much to the chagrin of neighbors and environmentalists. At a  public hearing on July 14, speakers raised concerns about irreparable damage to the local environment. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources held […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

7. Wake County introduces initiative to move 400 people living in encampments into permanent housing

Chloe Courtney Bohl/IndyWeek A Wake County initiative announced Monday sets an ambitious goal of moving 400 people from homeless encampments into housing in the next 18 months. Led by the Wake County Continuum of Care (CoC), the county’s umbrella organization for homeless services, with help from local government and private sector partners, the plan involves […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

8. App State awarded $1.4 million to bolster western NC’s special education workforce, partner with local school systems

Molly Steur/Education NC A new career pathways program at Appalachian State University will kick off this fall, designed to “address the shortage of special education teachers in rural Appalachia,” according to a recent article from Appalachian Today. The program is funded by a more than $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

9. NC’s largest cities poised to strengthen curfews amid growing ‘teen takeovers’

Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline “If we don’t get a handle on this, the consequences may become fatal.” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson told the city council’s safety committee Tuesday that “teen takeovers” have become a growing problem nationwide. It works like this: A post appears on social media inviting youth to gather at a designated spot. […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

10. County Clerk and District Court Judge settle lawsuit

Matt Lamb/The Southern Pines Pilot After nearly six months and over a dozen court filings, Clerk of Superior Court Todd Maness and District Court Judge Beth Tanner have reached a settlement agreement for their ongoing litigation. Maness agreed to drop his defamation suit against Tanner, and Tanner has dropped her motions for sanctions against Maness, […]

Written by on July 16, 2026

1. NC families fear losing access to autism therapy as new rules take effect

Jennifer Fernandez/NC Health News Before getting therapy, Abril Chavez Diaz’s 5-year-old autistic son, Angel, would have meltdowns that lasted for an hour, she said. He has made a lot of progress since he’s started with applied behavior analysis therapy, she told supporters and lawmakers at a June 19 event at the facility of ABA provider […]

Written by on July 15, 2026