Will Atwater/NC Health News In recent years, North Carolina environmentalists and researchers have raised more red flags about how much plastic debris is accumulating in the environment — in creeks and parks and on roadsides. This comes alongside awareness of how those plastics are increasingly showing up inside the human...

Pat Kimbrough/High Point Enterprise A technology company confirmed Wednesday that it will not go forward with development of a proposed data center in north High Point. DC Blox did not cite a reason for withdrawing its plans for what was touted as a potential $300 million project, which would have...

Baron James/WNCN North Carolina is getting millions more in new federal funding to keep the S-line corridor project on track. As state and federal leaders Wednesday toured the Durant Road grade separation project in North Raleigh, they praised the project’s progress report as part of a much bigger plan—to create...

Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog In the nonprofit world, disaster-inspired surges in charity are called “episodic giving,” and Tropical Storm Helene was like no other episode in recent memory. In the aftermath of the September 2024 storm, contributions at least doubled at six local nonprofits with major roles in recovery and, at...

Paul Woolverton/CityView Under pressure from state Sen. Tom McInnis, Fayetteville city council members and Cumberland County commissioners have been meeting this week to negotiate how the two governments could merge their 911 call centers. They hope to reach an agreement by next week in what has been a long-running, fraught...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Two bills related to diversity policy and a third on immigration became law in North Carolina on Wednesday through override of first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes. A third bill on diversity policy next goes to the Senate where an expected successful override would also make...

Adam Wagner/WUNC News A proposed federal consent decree between Chemours and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency likely fails to provide further protections to communities downstream of the chemical company’s Fayetteville Works plant, N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in an interview with Wednesday. “This is an insult to the people...

Keaton Eberly/WNCN The Carolina Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup championship run generated $13.4 million in economic impact for Wake County, according to figures released on Wednesday by the team, Visit Raleigh and the National Hockey League. Officials said three sold-out Stanley Cup Final home games at Lenovo Center, along with three Hurricanes...

Nora O’Neill/The Raleigh News & Observer Duke Energy Carolinas has reduced its proposed residential rate increase from about 18% to 11.6% after months of criticism from customers, consumer advocates and state officials. The reduction, filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission ahead of a July hearing, is the first time...

Greg Childress/NC Newsline After a spirited debate Wednesday, the North Carolina Senate approved a bill that would require local governments to regulate and police homeless camps and make homeless shelters drug-free zones. Critics say it amounts to criminalizing homelessness. Sen. Brad Overcash (R-Gaston) said House Bill 437 is needed because...

Randall Kerr/WRAL News Wednesday is the deadline for Saint Augustine’s University to show federal agencies how it spent millions of dollars of grant money. The school was required to hand over documentation by noon. We’re talking about money that was supposed to go toward student improvement, renovations and high-tech expansion...

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online If the Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel’s draft report to the state last week was a master class in explaining ocean beach erosion processes along the state’s 320-mile Atlantic Coastline, there may have been some state legislators who were wishing they could cut class. Lawmakers hustled...

Ana Risano/The Southern Pines Pilot The long-awaited plan to bring a YMCA to Southern Pines has ended with an official withdrawal from an affiliate of the global nonprofit. On Tuesday, the Southern Pines Town Council heard about the YMCA of the Sandhills decision to not go forward with plans to...

WTVD One of the nation’s leading online universities is expanding its business here in North Carolina. Western Governors University held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday for its new 48,000-square-foot office in the Glenlake Office Park on Edwards Mill Road in Raleigh. The office will eventually house as many as...

WFAE Radio The North Carolina Turnpike Authority is adjusting toll rates on parts of the I-485 Express Lanes beginning Sunday. The changes affect five segments of the express lanes and are intended to keep traffic moving as demand grows. Some tolls will increase by up to 25 cents during peak...