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Shea Carver/Port City Daily Brunswick County commissioners will have final say over development decisions after the North Carolina General Assembly unanimously approved a bill stripping the authority from the county planning board. Supporters believe it will increase accountability for elected officials as one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing counties grapples with mounting infrastructure demands. On July […]

David N. Bass/The Carolina Journal The most exclusive and expensive private schools in North Carolina receive little or no money from the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program, while the program’s largest recipients are predominantly lower-cost religious schools, according to a Carolina Journal analysis of state disbursement data. Of the 703 schools that received scholarship funds in […]

Bill Moss/The Hendersonville Lightning  Speakers on Wednesday morning lined up to strongly support a $25 million bond referendum to fund farmland preservation, saying that the bond issue would be a worthwhile investment to prevent farms from becoming subdivisions and to protect the county’s rural character. Among the speakers were former state Rep. Chuck McGrady, who […]

Moss Brennan/Watauga Democrat UNC Health Appalachian is financially stable for the first time in about a decade — and President and CEO Nathan Nipper says the system plans to use that footing to expand, with a master facility plan headed to its board this summer and a mobile MRI arriving this fall. “It’s been challenging, […]

Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz New Hanover County’s Holly Shelter Business Park is set to get its first infrastructure and a new name in the coming months. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $6.5 million infrastructure construction contract and renaming on Monday. Once developed, the approximately 300-acre master-planned industrial park is expected to accommodate […]

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Gaston County commissioners voted Tuesday to provide an additional $5 million to Gaston County Schools, weeks after approving a flat budget for the district and promising to revisit funding later. The new funding package includes $2.1 million to increase the local teacher supplement, along with additional money to match state raises for […]

Outer Banks Voice Southern Shores officials are asking residents to oppose a potential NCDOT project at the intersection of NC 12 and US 158 in Kitty Hawk that proposes converting the existing at-grade intersection into an interchange to improve safety and mobility. From July 1–31, the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is accepting public input […]

Ana Risano/The Southern Pines Pilot Local municipalities continue to oppose proposed changes to the county’s highway zoning standards that would drastically reduce guidelines for development along Moore’s main roads. Right now, the county codes include a detailed Highway Corridor Overlay District, which features development rules for construction on thoroughfares outside of municipal boundaries, including U.S. […]

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC News The new state budget raises the rates the state pays licensed child care providers for slots serving children from low-income families. Advocates say this is a lifeline to rural child care centers in North Carolina. “For the providers, it’s really essential to be able to have the subsidy to keep their doors […]

Dylan Halper/The Duke Chronicle Duke University Health System believes it deserves more money from Medicare, the federal program that provides health insurance to the elderly and those with disabilities. The system’s hospitals are currently involved in two lawsuits against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his capacity as secretary of the Department of Health and Human […]

Kip Tabb/Outer Banks Voice The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has lost its top. Now 47 feet shorter than its listed 198 feet, the lantern levels and the watch level directly below it were removed after extensive cracks were found in the brackets supporting the top levels. “These brackets were cracked beyond belief, beyond what anyone could […]

Caroline Yaffa & Paul Specht/WRAL News A North Carolina Republican operative who was hired to be a liaison between State Auditor Dave Boliek and elections boards across the state resigned from the auditor’s office Monday. The move comes just days after Boliek reassigned Dallas Woodhouse — and after some of the state’s top officials traded […]

Will Atwater/NC Health News Across North Carolina, the debate over AI data centers is intensifying as local residents, county officials and state lawmakers clash over whether to block or accept new projects — and who should bear the risks and benefits. That tension was on full display at a recent Edgecombe County commissioners meeting. “This […]