Taylor Knopf/NC Health News A new kind of mental health service is available in Wake County, and it offers a voluntary alternative to hospitalization for people experiencing mental distress. It’s called a peer-run respite house; it’s the first of its kind in the Triangle area and only the third to...

Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer As Canton residents face increasing water outages thanks to an aging system, their town board has cleared some official hurdles to make sure grant money is in place to both improve that system and plan future wastewater treatment. In recent years, Canton residents have been plagued...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio Forsyth County’s newly elected Soil and Water District Supervisor Edward Jones is a registered sex offender, with an address listed in another county. According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Sex Offender Registry, Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old in 2001, when he...

Rodney Overton/CBS 17 News Several juveniles are at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh Sunday night for possible injuries after a melee involving nearly two dozen young people at an inpatient and outpatient psychiatric and addictive disease hospital, Raleigh police said. The large fight broke out just after 6:45 p.m. Sunday at...

Eve Goldman/Niner Times UNC Charlotte’s Air Institute’s first-of-a-kind partnership with the Charlotte Douglas International Airport aims to transform the aviation industry by using the airport as a “living lab” to advance research, workforce development and community engagement. With additional support from the city of Charlotte, community organizations and industry partners,...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A new chunk of Interstate 40 crumbled into the Pigeon River this week, dealing a blow to the anticipated reopening of one lane in each direction in January on the Haywood County route to Tennessee. Heavy rains last week, coupled with the freeze-thaw cycle, destabilized the...

Sarah Honosky/Asheville Citizen Times Like many in line at a North Asheville church that afternoon, Misty Marshall had an eviction notice. She said the process was due to begin that morning, but she called her apartment complex to ask for a few more hours of leniency. “This is my last...

Daniel Sheehan/Wilmington StarNews A proposed bridge has residents across several counties talking. In October, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) asked for comments from the public regarding plans for the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The department shared three alternatives of varying heights and designs. Alternate A...

Axios Many in the meatpacking industry were happy to see Donald Trump reelected — but are also fearful it won’t be able to operate without the workers he may try to deport. Why it matters: Meatpacking, more than almost any other industry in this country, relies on foreign-born labor, whether...

Brianna Atkinson/WUNC Radio The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is dismissing all remaining criminal cases against protesters who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus last spring. The decision came a day before some trials were set to begin. In April, hundreds of protesters held a pro-Palestinian encampment at UNC....

Matthew Daly/The Associated Press Michael Regan, who championed environmental justice as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will leave the agency Dec. 31, three weeks before the end of President Joe Biden’s term. In a letter Friday to agency employees, Regan said he was proud of the EPA’s work to...

Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press Nearly four years after it began, an investigation into the financial reporting of Mark Robinson campaign in 2020 has been completed, leading to fines and a settlement. In a closed session earlier this month, Robinson’s campaign committee agreed to pay the State Board of Elections $35,000...

Felicia Sonmez/Blue Ridge Public Radio The regional nonprofit Mountain BizWorks has awarded nearly $3.69 million in grants to small businesses that experienced severe impacts from Hurricane Helene. The money will go to 276 local businesses in Buncombe County. Noah Wilson, director of sector development for Mountain BizWorks, said at Thursday’s...

Keely Arthur/WRAL News This month, North Carolina State University officials announced plans to remediate, renovate, and reopen Poe Hall. The announcement came just over a year after toxic chemicals were discovered in the building, prompting its closure. However, even with a comprehensive remediation plan, students say the university will face...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily The City of Wilmington’s Chestnut Street parcels have officially been sold, and though the developer’s commitment to transform them into a grocery store may have decreased its market value, the city is emphasizing the value it will bring to downtown. Thursday was the deadline for upset...