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Panthers deal with Charlotte drawing scrutiny

For the Carolina Panthers, the price of getting $650 million in public money is that they’re going to have state auditors looking over their shoulder as they go about renovating Bank of America Stadium. Both Tepper Sports and city of Charlotte officials have signaled that they’re amenable to the extra...

By Ray Gronberg

April 2, 2026

Treasurer: Rocky Mount on “extremely short leash” over finances

Local Government Commission members say Rocky Mount’s financial troubles stem from a bad culture that started at the top, with the city’s elected officials. They agreed Wednesday to warn the city that it’s at risk of having the commission take over its financial affairs and is on what State Treasurer...

By Ray Gronberg

April 2, 2026

How Page won: focus on home turf

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page’s GOP-primary win over Senate leader Phil Berger has been the talk of the state’s political class since his 23-vote margin of victory was solidified in a post-balloting canvass. Everyone wonders how he did it. One of Page’s advisers, pollster/strategist Patrick Sebastian, has been happy to...

By Ray Gronberg

April 1, 2026

Get to know Rep. Beth Helfrich

Under ordinary circumstances, it’s rare for a state House seat to flip from one party’s control to the other’s, but first-term Rep. Beth Helfrich managed the feat in 2024 when she won northern Mecklenburg County’s District 98 seat. The Democrat, former schoolteacher and Davidson resident defeated former Huntersville Mayor Melinda...

By Ray Gronberg

April 1, 2026

LGC to scrutinize Rocky Mount, Littleton

Local Government Commission members intended to grill officials from Rocky Mount and Littleton Wednesday afternoon on why they haven’t been able to get their municipal finances in order. The situation in both is to the point that State Treasurer Brad Briner’s office has warned them the LGC could end up...

By Ray Gronberg

April 1, 2026

Panel: Make State Bar discipline probes confidential

A legislative advisory committee wants to keep State Bar proceedings confidential, protecting lawyers accused of misconduct from public notice until the regulators censure, suspend or disbar the accused. Proponents say the change is needed to protect lawyers from unfair social media posts before the State Bar takes action. Backers on...

By Ray Gronberg

March 31, 2026

Dems pushing opposition to Duke rate increase

The N.C. Utilities Commission is holding hearings this week and on into April to hear from the public about Duke Energy’s request for a set of rate increases. Advocacy groups opposed to the increases have been working to boost attendance. The Washington-based Climate Power Education Fund sent mailers touting the...

By Ray Gronberg

March 31, 2026

Is Cabarrus County a property-tax outlier?

It was a bit eye-catching earlier this month when the Locke Foundation, advocating for a levy limit on property taxes, said the biggest increase in the local tax burden over the past decade occurred in ruby-red Cabarrus County. As this is not what people generally think happens in Republican-run counties,...

By Ray Gronberg

March 31, 2026

Affordability “covering the gamut,” pollsters say

North Carolinians aren’t happy about the cost of healthcare, with 17% telling pollsters that they’ve skipped needed care because they can’t afford it. But the consultants who orchestrated the poll, Paul Shumaker and Morgan Jackson, say that’s in line with broader concerns about the affordability of, well, almost everything. “If...

By Ray Gronberg

March 30, 2026

McDowell touts federal insurance policy change

.S. Rep. Addison McDowell, R-6th, is claiming partial credit for a Federal Housing Finance Agency decision he says will help keep homeowners-insurance costs down. The FHFA recently announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow owners with federally backed mortgages to have only actual-cash-value coverage for roof replacements. That...

By Ray Gronberg

March 30, 2026

Zaas returning to Duke Health to become its CEO

Dr. David Zaas takes over as CEO of Duke Health on May 1, putting him in charge of an $11 billion enterprise and one of the state’s largest employers. The move comes less than three months after Zaas became CEO of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem. He had...

By Ray Gronberg

March 26, 2026

UNC’s new provost introduces himself

Wednesday’s trustee meetings featured the first appearance in that venue of UNC Chapel Hill’s new provost, Magnus Egerstedt. The native of Sweden is an expert in what he calls “swarm robotics,” which focuses on how to control dozens or hundreds of drones at a time. It’s a field that these...

By Ray Gronberg

March 26, 2026

Satellite campus still a political minefield for UNC

A campus trustee is warning UNC Chapel Hill officials to keep an eye on political considerations as they pick developers to help them get the planned Carolina North satellite campus off the ground. “It’s easier to get support from some of the institutions that we will need support from in...

By Ray Gronberg

March 26, 2026

Get to know Rep. Celeste Cairns

Celeste Cairns is a GOP state representative for Carteret County and part of Craven, first elected in 2022. She won re-election in 2024 with 70% of the vote. She is deputy majority whip. The University of Georgia graduate is a former employee of Deloitte who also worked for Willis Corroon...

By Ray Gronberg

March 25, 2026

State fiscal forecast: cloudy

Legislative and executive-branch fiscal forecasters say they anticipate the state will collect $34.7 billion in general-fund revenues in fiscal 2026-27, about 1% less than what they think the state’s likely to collect by this summer. In dollar terms, that’d be $360 million less than in fiscal 2025-26, which nonetheless is...

By Ray Gronberg

March 25, 2026