Sharryse Piggott/WUNC News An Orange County judge ruled Friday that a former graduate student charged with shooting and killing a UNC-Chapel Hill professor in 2023 was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Tailei Qi faced a first-degree murder charge for the fatal shooting of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied […]
Tom Snyder/WRAL TechWire I have been spending a lot of time at the beach lately, without actually spending any time on the beach. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, watching eight startups take the stage at the conclusion of a new accelerator program. The following morning, I squeezed into […]
Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press A potential Tennessee Valley Authority power transmission line running from the Hiwassee River in Tennessee through North Carolina’s far southwest may impact archaeological sites through the heart of the ancestral Cherokee homeland. The 27-mile single-circuit transmission line will cut a 100-foot-wide right-of-way from the Appalachia Hydro Plant in Reliance, Tennessee, to […]
Rachel Moody/WFDD Radio The High Point Police Department is deploying a new alternative crisis response team to better address issues like homelessness, substance use, and mental health. The help, outreach, prevention and engagement, or HOPE, team will include a licensed social worker and two crisis counselors. They’ll identify and direct individuals to emergency housing, food […]
Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog Former Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell backed the renewal of Asheville PEAK Academy’s charter with a glowing letter of recommendation to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The city was including PEAK in its plans to redevelop the Deaverview Apartments public housing complex, she wrote in November, because of “the Academy’s […]
Paul Specht & Will Doran/WRAL News Several North Carolina lobbyists who had been named in a public corruption scheme involving influence-buying at the state legislature could soon have their criminal charges dismissed, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told WRAL on Thursday. Her office in April brought charges against four lobbyists for gambling and liquor […]
Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily The North Carolina Department of Transportation held two public hearings this week before it chooses its design for the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement, expected by the end of the year. Almost all Wilmington-area residents who signed up to speak called for the 65-foot bridge and no tolls — or another […]
Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News Sweeping federal restrictions on Medicaid, the government-funded health insurance program that covers one in every four North Carolinians, are about to take effect. Recently described by Melanie Bush, head of NC Medicaid, as “probably the most significant changes in the history” of the program, the provisions are part of H.R. 1, […]
Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Ophthalmologist Jay Singleton has performed more than 30,000 eye surgeries in his career. For more than 20 years he’s run a vision center in New Bern, where patients receive routine checkups and treatments for eye disorders. But for most of his career, Singleton performed his surgeries inside the local hospital, CarolinaEast […]
Rebecca Noel/The Charlotte Observer A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employee raised concerns about $30,000 monthly payments the district made to a consulting firm without an official contract with the company. She made the allegation in a human resources complaint filed Aug. 21. It was later shared with The Charlotte Observer, and the employee requested anonymity for fear […]
Celeste Guajardo/WUNC News Shaun Ingram keeps his black aviator sunglasses on as he sits inside a local community center. Metal chairs form a rough circle in the center of this large room where the Richmond County Coalition for Justice and Black Empowerment meets every Thursday. “ The Coalition came together based off Black land, the disenfranchisement […]
Corey Williams & Kristin M. Hall/The Associated Press The death of a Black Mississippi woman found hanging from a tree has stirred distressing memories of the grim history of lynchings across the U.S. South. The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found behind an abandoned home in Jackson, the state capital, on Aug. 3. Jarques […]
Brian Murphy/WRAL News University of North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the son of head coach Bill Belichick, is resigning following an internal investigation that found actions within the football program that demonstrated “a disregard for Carolina’s values and standards of conduct,” the University said Thursday. Steve Belichick has been on medical leave for more […]
Connor Smith/WECT A massive Bladen County pork processing plant recently paid more than $35,000 in federal penalties following an investigation into an employee death earlier this year, records show. In January, 43-year-old Abundio Villa Miranda died at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel. Lisa Lanier, an attorney for his family, said he died after […]
Pat Kimbrough/The High Point Enterprise Developers of a new business park in north High Point say its location is proving to be a big draw for current and prospective tenants. Sandy Ridge Business Center co-owner Michael Hunter said the first building at 8229 Tyner Road is fully leased with three companies that have warehouse and […]
