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Sadler outraising Cunningham for upcoming primary

The Rev. Rodney Sadler has raised more than twice as much money for his state House party primary as District 106 incumbent Rep. Carla Cunningham. Year-end finance reports to the State Board of Elections show that Sadlerpulled in just under $121,820. Cunningham raised $57,449, but started the race with a...

By Ray Gronberg

February 17, 2026

Judge dismisses climate-change suit against Duke

Saying the issue’s too much a political matter, a Business Court judge has dismissed Carrboro’s climate-change lawsuit against Duke Energy. Judge Mark Davis — a former state Supreme Court justice returned to the bench in 2021 by former Gov. Roy Cooper — said a jury could only resort to “utter...

By Ray Gronberg

February 16, 2026

Stein picks engineer for Utilities Commission

Former Duke Energy and Strata Clean Energy engineer John Gajda is joining the N.C. Utilities Commission. Gov. Josh Stein announced on Friday that’d he’d picked Gajda for the slot on the commission that opened up when lawyer and former chair Karen Kemeraitstepped down. Given recent legislatively dictated changes to his...

By Ray Gronberg

February 16, 2026

Lumbee I-95 land deal spurs questions

In December, the Lumbee Tribe’s for-profit arm paid a combined $6.8 million for two tracts of land alongside Interstate 95, where a Native American-owned casino may someday emerge. That was $3.6 million more than the combined properties’ sale price a few days earlier. Deeds recorded with Robeson County show that...

By Ray Gronberg

February 16, 2026

Jackson presses on in rent-fixing lawsuit

State Attorney General Jeff Jackson says North Carolina’s apartment-rent price-fixing lawsuit against RealPage continues, even though the federal government is moving to settle its end of the case. “If I can’t get a fair deal from them, I’ll just take it to trial and let a jury decide,” Jackson said...

By Ray Gronberg

February 15, 2026

Highway Patrol pay lags neighbors, country

State Highway Patrol pay is at the bottom of the barrel nationally and isn’t even all that competitive with other North Carolina law-enforcement agencies, Highway Patrol Col. Freddy Johnson says. As of fall 2025, North Carolina’s starting pay for troopers ($55,000) ranked 49th out of the 50 states and its...

By Ray Gronberg

February 15, 2026

NCI keeps investments cautious pending state budget decisions

The General Assembly’s budget impasse has left NCInnovation in limbo, at least when it comes to handling the $500 million endowment provided by legislators in 2023. Directors of the Durham-based nonprofit agreed Wednesday to hold off until April on deciding whether to give investment managers at Wells Fargo the green...

By Ray Gronberg

February 12, 2026

Stein: No place for antisemitism among Democrats

Gov. Josh Stein has denounced comments from a state Democratic Party activist who in social-media postings equated Zionism to Nazism. “Antisemitic comments and conspiracy theories have no place anywhere, including in the N.C. Democratic Party,” Stein said. “We must fight against antisemitism and all other forms of hate whenever and...

By Ray Gronberg

February 12, 2026

Measmer leading Crutchfield in fundraising

When it comes to General Assembly primaries, the Phil Berger-Sam Page GOP battle in Senate District 26 commands most of the attention for understandable reasons. But it’s not the only show in town. Down in Cabarrus County, appointed incumbent Sen. Chris Measmer is trying to hold on to the seat...

By Ray Gronberg

February 11, 2026

NC Chamber supporting push to lower H-2A wage rates

The NC Chamber is backing a Trump administration move to lower the minimum wage rate for migrant farm workers hired under the H-2A visa program. Lawyers representing the Chamber in late January filed a friend-of-the-courtbrief in a California federal-court case, opposing an attempt by the United Farm Workers to get...

By Ray Gronberg

February 11, 2026

Page fundraising now at $46K

State campaign-finance reports are still trickling in, but in the most closely-watched legislative primary, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page says he’d raised $46,466 as of the end of 2025. This includes $20,903 in new receipts as of the second half of the year. Page is running in the District 26...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

NCSU involved in “Golden Dome” anti-missile project

NC State has a chance to participate in a $151 billion federally funded R&D program designed to bolster the country’s defenses against missile attacks. The Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency in December and January qualified 2,440 companies and universities to compete for grants under what it’s calling the “Scalable Homeland...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Duke re-checks numbers, finds power-load record

It turns out that Duke Energy did set a power-load record after all during the Carolinas’ recent run of bad weather. On Jan. 27, it saw an hourly peak of 37.308 gigawatts, about a tenth of a percent higher than the old record that had stood for a year. Duke...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Charlotte hearing: Brickbats for the sheriff, flowers for everyone else

With one prominent exception, Monday’s House oversight hearing into Charlotte’s safety situation turned into a bit of a love fest. Appearances from Mecklenburg County DA Spencer Merriweather, Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and City Manager Marcus Jones came and went with barely a word of criticism. “I...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Berger adds to campaign war chest

Senate leader Phil Berger’s fundraising haul for the 2025-26 election cycle has topped $2.4 million, far exceeding the total reported by his rival for the District 26 GOP nomination. The longtime Rockingham County legislator’s campaign banked another $684,268 during the second half of 2025, according to its report to the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026