Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Local

Power co-op seeks relief from biogas demands

North Carolina’s largest electric co-op wants legislators to change a law that forces utilities to buy renewable-energy credits tied to the use of methane put on the market by Down East hog farms. The credits likely will cost “our members more than 50 times the cost of a renewable energy...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Cary spending money “carelessly,” auditor says

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s team found tens of thousands of dollars in dubious spending by Cary’s government, including $65,653 spent ghostwriting a vanity book for its former town manager. Other questionable expenses include: $37,301 to pay Town Councilwoman Lori Bush’s tuition for a master’s in public policy program at Northwestern...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Blue Cross taps partners for state PBM deal

UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx and Puerto Rico-based Abarca Health are the key players in the nine-company consortium Blue Cross put together to become the State Health Plan’s pharmacy benefits manager. Abarca will handle claims processing and administration for the group, while Optum will manage drugmaker rebates and drugstore-network pricing, Blue Cross...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Smith joins NCPorts board

As any of his social-media followers knows, Harry Smith likes his boat. He’s now in a position to have over the handling of some that are a lot bigger. Gov. Josh Stein has appointed the former UNC System Board of Governors chairman to the board of the State Ports Authority....

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Court of Appeals overturns medical non-competes

A divided, all-Republican state Court of Appeals panel has voided one-year non-compete clauses it says could have kept two nurse practitioners on the sidelines of the medical profession. The offending contracts with UNC Health-affiliated Southeast Regional Physician Services would’ve forced both to “stop any work remotely related to the practice of...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

A change atop North Carolina’s Business Court

North Carolina’s specialized Business Court is getting its second new chief judge in as many years. Incumbent Business Court Judge Adam Conrad will step up to the chief’s job on Aug. 1. He replaces current Chief Judge Michael Robinson, who is retiring from the Business Court. Robinson had been chief judge...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

State Health Plan picks Duke Health for Triangle care slot

State Health Plan managers have picked Duke Health to serve as the plan’s middle-tier, “access” provider in the Triangle. The decision means members who are Duke Health patients will face about the same co-pays in 2027 that they do now. It also means that WakeMed — currently seeking to merge...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Boliek reports a deficit — his own

State Auditor Dave Boliek is one of North Carolina’s top watchdogs of local-government finances, but some of his targets might have reason to grumble about rocks and glass houses. His office’s fiscal 2024-25 financials show that it incurred a $904,505 deficit on the year, in part because of the computer...

By Ray Gronberg

July 15, 2026

WakeMed: Future borrowing capacity too low

WakeMed has told Wake County commissioners it can likely borrow only another $300 million to $400 million in the short term without affecting its Wall Street-assigned bond ratings. So without its planned merger with Charlotte-based Atrium Health, WakeMed says, “it would take 10 years” to raise the capital it needs...

By Ray Gronberg

July 15, 2026

Auditor: Landfill clean-up would take a century at current funding level

North Carolina’s effort to clean up old landfills is so poorly funded that the Department of Environmental Quality hasn’t been able to even investigate 78% of the 688 it knows about, State Auditor Dave Boliek says. At current rates, it’ll take the department about 99 years to inspect, strategize for...

By Ray Gronberg

July 14, 2026

Blue Cross regains State Health Plan contract

Three years after losing it, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has won back the State Health Plan’s business, and then some. Plan trustees on Friday voted to hire Blue Cross to serve as its third-party claims processor, a job the Durham-based insurer had performed until it fell...

By Ray Gronberg

July 13, 2026

UNC Health, Novant make state’s “preferred provider” list

State Health Plan managers say making UNC Health and Novant two of the plan’s three preferred care providers will have its greatest fallout in the Charlotte area, given that Atrium Health is winding up on the “non-preferred” list. The decision means plan members will face less in co-pays if they...

By Ray Gronberg

July 13, 2026

Feeling the need, the need for speed …

One of the changes CNBC made this year to its Top States for Business ranking system is the addition within it of metrics for the speed of permitting decisions for construction and other needs. It says it’s relying in part on data from Labrynth, an AI firm that puts out...

By Ray Gronberg

July 13, 2026

N.C. back to second in CNBC Top States for Business

North Carolina has slipped out of the top spot in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business rankings, but only dropped to second behind the new No. 1, Ohio. Released Thursday, the new rankings continue a six-year, post-pandemic run that’s seen North Carolina hold down the No. 1 or No. 2...

By Ray Gronberg

July 13, 2026

Rocky Mount, audited again

State Auditor Dave Boliek and his team have found plenty more to criticize Rocky Mount officials about, in a new report on the city’s handling of a utility-billing problem late last year. The fallout included delayed bill payments from a pair of city councilmen, Verb Roberson and T.J. Walker, who...

By Ray Gronberg

July 13, 2026