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Mayor defending Rocky Mount casino-site deal, despite audit

Rocky Mount’s mayor is defending the city’s acquisition of a prospective casino site in 2023, even though State Auditor Dave Boliek’s staff says the purchase helped put the city in a financial hole. “This land makes a big difference in terms of creating live, work [and] play environments within the...

By Ray Gronberg

March 16, 2026

Hospital facility fees attacked — and defended

Stalled legislation that would restrict the use of “facility fees” by hospital systems could reduce healthcare costs for North Carolina families by at least $200 million a year. That’s the estimate from the N.C. Association of Health Plans, whose leader, Peter Daniel, spoke Tuesday to members of a House-Senate joint oversight...

By Ray Gronberg

March 11, 2026

Legislators briefed on Medicaid’s rising autism-care costs

Legislators balk when they see the financial cost of Medicaid-funded autism-care services, but the human costs of not paying bother them every bit as much. The House and Senate’s Medicaid oversight panel delved into the issue on Tuesday, hearing from the state Department of Health and Human Services that the...

By Ray Gronberg

March 11, 2026

A three-way stab at examining education

Gov. Josh Stein, Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall have announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education The 28-member group is directed to examine teacher training and student advancement, administrative operations, educational leadership, and accountability. Stein, Berger and Hall jointly appointed the panel’s...

By Ray Gronberg

March 11, 2026

Auditor reports on Rocky Mount’s troubles

A big pay increase for police was one of the early links in the chain of events that plunged Rocky Mount’s government into a financial crisis, State Auditor Dave Boliek and his aides say. Widely reported at the time, Rocky Mount’s 2023 decision to raise the starting pay of police...

By Ray Gronberg

March 10, 2026

Meyer resigns; Orange, Caswell and Person Dems to pick replacement

Orange, Person and Caswell counties need a new state senator. On Monday, District 23 Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, announced that he’s resigning as of March 31 to become the executive director of the N.C. Justice Center. Meyer announced the move on Facebook, a day after posting there that the state...

By Ray Gronberg

March 10, 2026

Park Service: Last sections of Blue Ridge Parkway to reopen in late 2026

National Park Service officials say it’s going to take until late this year to repair enough of the damage from Hurricane Helene to get the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway back in service. The remaining closures affect much of the parkway between Mount Mitchell and Linville Falls. Current...

By Ray Gronberg

March 9, 2026

Legislative quandary: Paying for the ferry system

Among the many questions that’s hanging fire amid the House-Senate budget deadlock is the future of North Carolina’s coastal ferry system. The chambers roughly settled on a package of capital aid for the system, the Fiscal Research Division’s Aaron Cornell told members of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight committee earlier...

By Ray Gronberg

March 9, 2026

Get to know Rep. Ed Goodwin

The Lumbee’s ultimately successful fight for federal recognition has gotten a lot of attention over the years, but Chowan County Rep. Ed Goodwin has taken up the cause of another tribe — the Tuscarora. In each of the last three legislative sessions, the Republican has introduced a bill to extend...

By Ray Gronberg

March 9, 2026

McCrory-era policy a roadblock to N.C. 12 work

Keeping N.C. 12 open along the Outer Banks is a constant battle with Mother Nature — and, apparently, with former Gov. Pat McCrory’s legacy. N.C. Department of Transportation engineers say they’ve spent $94.2 million over the last 15 years or so cleaning sand off the road or repairing storm damage...

By Ray Gronberg

March 6, 2026

Rucho resigns from state elections board

Former state Sen. Bob Rucho resigned from the State Board of Elections on Thursday after officials found he’d made campaign contributions to the incumbent sheriffs in Iredell and Catawba counties. The $259 contribution to Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell occurred last October; a $1,000 donation to Catawba Sheriff Don Brown followed...

By Ray Gronberg

March 6, 2026

Scout faces class-action over marketing plan

Volkswagen dealers have filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court to prevent the German carmaker from selling its Scout line of EVs direct to the consumer. Filed Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia, the complaint accuses VW of breaching its contract with its dealers across the country. It seeks an injunction and...

By Ray Gronberg

March 5, 2026

Wilkes towns get LGC backing for water project

North Carolina’s Local Government Commission has given Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro permission to borrow $15.2 million from the state to build themselves a new water intake on the Yadkin River. The joint project’s one Town Manager Ken Noland told the commission has taken the entirety of his 27-year tenure to...

By Ray Gronberg

March 5, 2026

GOP criticizes Cooper’s handling of lacrosse case

Republicans’ search for a Willie Horton to use against former Gov. Roy Cooper on the campaign trail in this fall’s U.S. Senate race are now looking to the Duke lacrosse case. The woman whose false rape allegation touched off that now-notorious controversy, Crystal Mangum, left prison on parole on Feb....

By Ray Gronberg

March 4, 2026

Sawyer weighs in on I-77 widening

A key Republican senator is backing the N.C. Department of Transportation’s decision to stretch out the timeline for finding a potential toll-lane partner for the next stage of the widening of Interstate 77 in Charlotte. The three-month delay will give the agency time to “get additional feedback from the community,”...

By Ray Gronberg

March 4, 2026