Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Feb. 27 that the Department of War, previously the Department of Defense, would be severing ties with several elite universities, including five of the eight Ivy League schools and others like MIT and Georgetown. Included in that same announcement were...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio The news of Kristi Noem’s firing from the Department of Homeland Security late last week brought bipartisan enthusiasm in North Carolina as the state waits for millions of federal relief dollars after Hurricane Helene. President Trump’s new pick to lead DHS is Markwayne Mullin,...

Christine Zhu/NC Newsline North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek declined Monday to recuse himself from oversight of a state Senate race recount in which one candidate says Boliek has a conflict of interest. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page holds a narrow lead of 23 votes over Senate leader Phil Berger...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Lou Bissette was the hard-charging, 45-year-old mayor of Asheville in 1989, when he heard the exciting news that state lawmakers had green-lighted the construction of the Interstate-26 Connector. Three years later, no longer in office but helping to lead a group pushing the project, he was thrilled...

Marc Levy/The Associated Press One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme that allegedly raked in millions of dollars off of big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday. Jalen Smith appeared in federal court in Philadelphia and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges,...

The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal Mission Roll Call and the Fayetteville Woodpeckers have announced a local partnership, making Mission Roll Call the official Naming Rights Partner of Segra Stadium’s club level. “We are proud to be partnering with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers,” said Ray Whitaker, COO of Mission Roll Call in...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News A new study shows students in schools in states without firm cellphone policies spend a third of their school day on their phones. The results detail the magnitude of a problem education leaders, politicians and advocacy groups have been attempting to solve in recent years, as bipartisan...

Rachel Heimann Mercader/CityView When Fayetteville rolled out its public forum under the city’s new rules and schedule on March 2, the new setup brought both expanded speaking time and a few early kinks—along with renewed calls for greater transparency in how the council conducts its business. The council voted in...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Last week, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released its annual report on teacher attrition, vacancies and employment trends, giving us our latest window into schools’ efforts to recruit and retain educators. Teacher attrition — a measurement of teachers who leave North Carolina public schools entirely...

Sarah White/The Waynesville Mountaineer When Canton’s leaders decided not to host Pickin’ in the Park last year, WPTL owner Terryll Evans kept the tradition alive — first moving the bands and cloggers to a parking lot, then a picnic pavilion. But this year, Pickin in the Park could be on...

Gary D. Robertson & Bill Barrow/The Associated Press North Carolina does not mind electing Democrats as governor, but it is a different matter when it comes to sending them to the U.S. Senate. Roy Cooper, who led the state for two terms, is trying to change that with a campaign...

Pew Research Americans are more likely than people in other countries surveyed in 2025 to question the morality of their fellow countrymen, according to Pew Research Center surveys in 25 countries. We asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country. A bar...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Taylor Swift’s 2022 Eras Tour gets credit as the trigger, Congress couldn’t help, and more than three dozen state attorneys general – including North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson – are poised for a breakup. The trial for the owner of Ticketmaster began Monday. Live Nation will try...

Celeste Gracia/WUNC News The developer of New Hill Digital Campus is withdrawing its annexation and rezoning applications for the property that was set to house the proposed 300 MW data center. This comes as “the Town continues its deliberations over zoning ordinance changes necessary to permit data center development within...

Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog David Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap – bloated staffing – will linger. Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5...