Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press With the county’s supermarket, downtown restaurants, manufacturing sites and prisons struggling to reopen in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene, Mitchell County now has the highest unemployment rate in North Carolina at nearly 9% — almost three times higher than roughly a year ago. Recovery...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio The town of Matthews isn’t going quietly in its fight to keep the Silver Line light rail. To counter the city of Charlotte and the rest of Mecklenburg County — who want to run a bus rapid transit line to Matthews instead of a train — Matthews...

Spencer Kimball/CNBC Cleveland Cliffs is partnering with rival Nucor in a potential bid for U.S. Steel, whose takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel was blocked by the White House earlier this month, sources tell CNBC’s David Faber. Cleveland-Cliffs would purchase all of U.S. Steel for all cash and then sell off...

Miles Parks/WUNC Radio For Donald Trump and his supporters, concerns about election administration quickly dissipated once it became clear he would win the 2024 presidential election, and in surveys since, most Republican voters say the election was run well. But for the wing of the Republican Party that has been...

Caroline Parker/Education NC The choir at North Buncombe High School was unable to perform at its annual fall concert due to the impacts of Helene. The district has 45 schools serving over 22,000 students, they were out for nearly four weeks, and the concert was scraped altogether. During the December...

Will Atwater/NC Health News Despite the damage to its building and the disruption of service brought by Hurricane Debby in August, Sanford’s Helping Hand Clinic staff were better prepared to handle the chaos because of earlier guidance it had gotten for dealing with extreme weather. “We were closed for 11...

Jimmy Potts/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer With Canton working to recover from the devastating damage of Hurricane Helene, Mayor Zeb Smathers did not shy away from supporting recent comments made by Haywood County commissioners criticizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response. During the mayor’s comments portion of Thursday’s Canton Board of Aldermen...

Zachery Eanes & Christine Clarridge/Axios Raleigh A Durham biotech firm founded on technology built at Duke University has raised $175 million to fund clinical trials of its treatment that tunes gene activity within the body. Why it matters: The fundraising round by Tune Therapeutics is one of the largest in...

Savanna Tenenoff/Wilmington StarNews A Brunswick beach town council has chosen to go against many residents’ wishes with a change to the town’s unified development ordinance, which could pave the way for a new chain hotel. The Sunset Beach Town Council during its Jan. 6 meeting voted in favor of changing...

The Watauga Democrat “It is important to let people know what you believe in and to not spread negativity about what you don’t have,” said David Jackson, CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. Jackson has been a supporter of AMOREM’s mission to provide quality, thoughtful, loving care to...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio In College Park and other southeast Raleigh neighborhoods, modern-looking, multi-story homes are going up next to much smaller homes that have been here for nearly a century. They often sell for more than a half-million dollars, while the older homes can be valued at around $100,000. The...

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi/The Raleigh News & Observer Newly elected State Treasurer Brad Briner said Thursday that health insurance premium increases for 2026 are under consideration for State Health Plan members due to financial shortfalls. Briner’s comments came during a meeting of the State Board of Education in a discussion...

Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise To help you navigate the economic year ahead, the Kenan Institute kicks off 2025 with a rundown of five issues that will be top of mind for business leaders and policymakers, along with our analysis. While this annual exercise is never easy, significant uncertainty about...

Rusty Jacobs/WUNC Radio An attorney representing the Republican candidate in a tight race for the North Carolina Supreme Court went before a Wake County judge this week without notifying opposing counsel to seek an order blocking certification of the election. In some instances, under state and federal rules of procedure,...

Asheville Watchdog A Mission Hospital pharmacy program that provides and tracks patients’ medications to ensure their safety has been plagued by nearly constant turnover for years, Asheville Watchdog has learned. Despite warnings from a supervisor about dangerous errors that could result from staff departures, hospital leadership did not take significant...