David Ford/WFDD Radio The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem is marking its 60th anniversary. It was the nation’s first public arts conservatory. The school first opened its doors for classes on September 21, 1965. Faculty there prepared young artists for professional careers in music, dance,...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice According to Logen Hodges, spokesperson for the NC Turnpike Authority, the next step in the Currituck Bridge project is a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, expected in late October, on the third permit required before applying for a Coast Guard permit. “The permits...

Taylor Knopf/NC Health News Adam, who has a history of childhood trauma and treatment-resistant depression, had never felt understood by any of his mental health providers. “Appointments were 15 to 30 minutes tops, and I felt that I was just part of an assembly line … like one in, one...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press One year ago, Tropical Storm Helene struck Western North Carolina. Rivers rejected their boundaries and trees slid from their mountains. Houses were uprooted from their foundations. Roads buckled under pressure. Lives were thrown from their course. The storm was cataclysmic. For 12 months, the region...

WFAE News North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby has launched a pretrial release task force in the wake of Iryna Zarutska’s murder. In a press release Newby says the task force will assess current practices and procedures to evaluate whether they adequately balance the need for judicial discretion...

Jack Hagel & Brian Murphy/WRAL News North Carolina lawmakers will consider as soon as Monday afternoon a proposal to provide $35 million to boost development plans at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The money would be given to the Centennial Authority, which owns and operates the arena, and used for...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily A recent political cartoon in a local paper has one Pender County commissioner feeling fearful for his life. However, the newspaper’s publisher says the commissioner is misinterpreting the image and its intent. At the Pender County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, Commissioner Jerry...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro The online activity of a detention corporal with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office drew attention of high-profile, conservative social media pages and led to his firing on Monday morning. A release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it terminated the employment of Brian Edwards after he...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio Bat Cave sits at the intersection of three highways – all of which had massive chunks of road that washed into the rivers and creeks below during the storm. Downed trees, landslides and bridges that crumbled made getting into and out of the area...

Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & Charlotte Ledger Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine Associates, one of the nation’s largest independent neurosurgery practices, will join Atrium Health on Oct. 1, 2025, the two providers announced last week. Nearly 300 Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine staff members across seven Charlotte-area clinics will become part of...

Makiya Seminera, Laura Hackett & Jose Sandoval/Education NC When 12-year-old Natalie Briggs visited the ruins of her home after Hurricane Helene, she had to tightrope across a wooden beam to reach what was once her bedroom. Knots of electrical wires were draped inside the skeleton of the house. Months after...

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The concept of “biochar” may dredge up images of ash and blackened organic matter, but the material could be a bright solution to several of the county’s Helene-related problems, especially now that it has been bolstered by a $1 million grant. The recently announced funding from...

Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online Saturday evening was one of celebrating coastal stewards, supporters and volunteers during North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Pelican Awards and Taste of the Coast fundraising event. The nonprofit organization that publishes Coastal Review was established in 1982 with the mission to protect and preserve the state’s...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice The NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced on Friday, Sept. 19 that two significant approvals were issued for the oft-delayed Mid-Currituck Bridge project. According to the announcement, DEQ’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) issued a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA)/Dredge and Fill Law permit for...

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC Radio A UNC-Chapel Hill program partnering with a dozen community colleges across the state has lost a federal grant to help train future preschool teachers to better serve students with disabilities. It’s part of the U.S. Department of Education’s crackdown on grants promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. The...