NC Voices Earlier this month, President Donald Trump officially implemented tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on 70 countries. Small business owners in the Triangle are saying that these tariffs are already affecting their bottom lines. “I can’t charge $30 for a chocolate bar, I can’t raise your price three...

Elisabeth Rosenthal/KFF Health News Wary of inflation, Americans have been watching the prices of everyday items such as eggs and gasoline. A less-noticed expense should cause greater alarm: rising premiums for health insurance. They have been trending upward for years and are now rising faster than ever. Consider that, from...

John Peters/The Mount Airy News The chairman of the Surry County Board of Elections resigned shortly before noon on Thursday, two days after he was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including felony child abuse, in the city of Wilmington. Among the accusations are that he spiked the food of...

WRAL News Two self-proclaimed religious leaders were arrested Wednesday on federal indictments for their alleged roles in a nationwide forced labor and money laundering conspiracy. The two people involved are 53-year-old David Taylor and 56-year-old Michelle Brannon, both associated with the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC), formerly Joshua Media...

The Associated Press The Democratic National Committee is seriously considering scrambling the party’s 2028 presidential primary calendar. And South Carolina — the state that hosted the Democrats’ first-in-the-nation contest in 2024 — is far from a lock to go first. That’s according to several members of the DNC’s new leadership...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Two resolutions aimed at the state government — one advocating for the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and the other supporting law changes to address student vaping — were voted down by the New Hanover County Board of Education Monday. According to...

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Haywood County’s tax collection rate has fallen for the third year in a row, but municipalities within the county aren’t seeing the same downturns that County Tax Collector Sebastian Cothran credits to Helene. “Helene did not impact any of our collection rates,” said Wanda Lurvey, Canton’s...

Katie Dukes/Education NC The number of licensed family child care homes (FCCHs) in North Carolina has decreased by 22% since before the pandemic. During the five years when pandemic-era funding was used to stabilize the state’s licensed child care programs, the number of licensed FCCHs decreased by 19%. Since the...

Lily Levin/Smoky Mountain News As you enter Chimney Rock, you will see bulldozers and construction workers and other visceral reminders of Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic impact. But as you absorb the village’s incredible landscape and people, you’ll notice shops newly reconstructed and others half-filled with merchandise, a proud proclamation of their...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily A long-simmering debate over who controls development in Brunswick County took a turn at a recent commissioners’ meeting, as a motion was put forward to strip the planning board of its final authority on major projects. During an Aug. 4 meeting and after a lengthy discussion...

Adam Wagner/WUNC Radio North Carolina regulators have formally denied a Mitchell County quarry’s effort to obtain a permit after it operated without one for months. Earlier this month, a Mitchell County Superior Court judge issued an injunction directing mine operator Horizon 30, LLC, to cease digging at the Carter Quarry...

Zachary Turner/WFAE Radio A contentious 2024 Hurricane Helene relief bill shifted the balance of power in the regulatory body that oversees Duke Energy’s carbon plan — giving Republicans greater influence over the commission. State Treasurer Brad Briner appointed commissioner Donald van der Vaart, a vocal proponent of fossil fuel expansion,...

Laura Leslie/WRAL News North Carolina state lawmakers didn’t take any votes at their scheduled work session Tuesday. The veto overrides that were on the House calendar for Tuesday will be rescheduled for September. No override votes were taken because some House and Senate Republicans were absent, and Republicans need all...

David Beasley/The Center Square The aircraft manufacturer that made a record job-creation commitment for a new plant at Piedmont Triad International Airport has informed the state that more than 2,000 of those jobs may be contractors rather than permanent employees. A state board approved that on Tuesday. JetZero Inc., a...

Regan Butler, Caleb Herrera & Alice Scott/The Daily Tar Heel  Without warning or departmental consultation, University facilities workers boarded up a student-created mural depicting Palestinian resilience, following orders from Chancellor Lee Roberts and Interim Provost Jim Dean. The artwork, which hung in the Hanes Art Center lobby for over a...