Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro While the Town of Hillsborough ended its conservation call for water and sewer customers after flooding damaged and contaminated its treatment plants, the road back to normal operations appears to be long for the small town. Historic rain from Tropical Depression Chantal led to flooding levels not...

Spencer Musick/Furniture Today Howard Miller, a family-owned clock and furniture maker with a storied and near century-long history, will wind down operations and close its manufacturing plants by early next year, according to a statement released by the company. The company employs about 195 people at facilities in Zeeland and...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online When contractors began cleaning up debris from the grounds of a former wood treatment plant in Navassa last year, they expected they’d be removing old railroad ties, pieces of treated wood and tires. “We didn’t expect to see a tank there,” Ngozi Ibe said of the...

Christopher Long/The Wilson Times Wilson native Rashaad McNeil is just days away from the world premiere of his autobiographical documentary debuting at Triangle Cinemas in Raleigh. “Voice of a Dreamer” tells the story of McNeil’s pursuit of his dreams, from industrial work to creative ventures. “I worked at Firestone for...

WRAL News The North Carolina Zoo shared the sad news Monday that Pat Simmons, the zoo’s director and CEO since 2015, has died after a fight with cancer. Simmons died Monday after battling cancer for nearly five years, according to the Asheboro zoo. “To know Pat was to love her....

Outer Banks Voice The Town of Duck is pleased to announce the hiring of Connor Winstead as the new Development and Infrastructure Director/Assistant Town Manager. Winstead officially begins with the Town on Monday, July 14. Winstead brings a wealth of knowledge and a strong background in public service to the...

Will Doran/WRAL News North Carolina Democrats’ hopes of weakening Republicans’ legislative power are resting on the shoulders of a Rocky Mount preacher. James Gailliard, a former legislator who was unseated in 2022, is mounting a political comeback that — if successful — could weaken GOP lawmakers’ political power and force...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Asheville-based Mission Health has seen several busy months so far in 2025, with some important wins after facing significant adversity in 2024. Even so, pushback from community leaders, employees and judges continues. While even some of the critics of its flagship Mission Hospital in Asheville...

Mary Helen Moore/WUNC Radio May was North Carolina’s second-busiest month on record for new business starts, new data shows. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said 17,377 companies launched in May. The only month with more new startups was June 2021, when the economy was roaring back after the COVID-19 pandemic....

Lisa Sorg/Inside Climate News Boxy, gunmetal gray buildings loom over a labyrinth of ducts and tubes and catwalks, beyond which 100 train cars loll on their tracks. Smokestacks wait to exhale. This is StarPet, a mammoth factory in north Asheboro that manufactures PET polymers, derived from fossil fuels and used...

Scott Horsley/WFAE Radio Azraiel Raines dreamed of working for the State Department, when she graduated from Idaho State University with a degree in global studies. But the State Department is not hiring. In fact it cut more than 1,300 jobs this past week as part of a broader government downsizing....

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily More than 400 cities nationwide have a curfew for youth and if one council member gets his way, Wilmington may be added to the list. Councilman Luke Waddell is advocating for action against “lawlessness and severe public disorder” in downtown Wilmington, following the July 4 weekend....

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A whooping cough outbreak has hit Haywood County, with six cases confirmed as of July 10 — up from five cases when the outbreak was first reported two days prior. County health officials are working to keep that number from growing, but the respiratory infection presents...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News A land purchase approved by Canton’s governing board July 10 will bring more parking to the town’s increasingly popular downtown area near Sorrells Street Park while also marking another milestone in the town’s flood mitigation strategy. “It was actually offered to us by the ABC store....

Pat Kimbrough/High Point Enterprise Alex Dummit says she founded her High Point company to combine business and philanthropy. As CEO of The Sage Plant, she’s putting this principle into practice with the development of a “micro-community” that will include new housing in a distressed part of the city. “I think...