Will Doran/WRAL News More than $6.5 billion in medical debt has been relieved for more than 2.5 million North Carolinians over the past year, through a program set up by the state and paid for with federal funds. Poor credit scores, dragged down by debt, can make it hard for...

Ahmed Jallow/NC Newsline The debate over whether North Carolina should continue running its own liquor system came up again this week, as House lawmakers again weighed the system’s efficiency against the hundreds of millions of dollars it funnels to state and local governments. State lawmakers have discussed ending the state’s...

Kayla Bradshaw & Jackson Auchincloss/The Daily Tar Heel At a UNC Students for Justice in Palestine tribunal demonstration on Thursday, a crowd of about 40 gathered in front of the flagpole on Polk Place to watch members of the group condemn the University’s affiliation with individuals and groups they deemed...

Paul B. Johnson/The High Point Enterprise Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, met the 15-year-old he’s accused of having sex with through a dating app five months ago while the teenager was in the Atlanta area, the Guilford County district attorney said during a court hearing Friday. During the hearing in Guilford...

Liz Carey/NC Health News A new program touted to give $50 billion in federal funding to rural hospitals won’t necessarily keep rural hospitals from closing, according to several experts in rural health. The funding is part of a compromise made in Congress to help rural communities after H.R. 1, the...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News North Carolina public schools aren’t evaluating students for special education in a timely manner, they’re not resolving complaints quickly enough, and they’re not properly helping most disabled students 16 and older prepare for adulthood. Those are among the findings of a new federal report that found the...

Jennifer Fernandez/NC Health News Most people likely know pertussis by its more common name — whooping cough, which comes from the “whoop” sound made as the person tries to catch their breath in between violent coughing spells. The Corbin family in Chapel Hill is well acquainted with the other nickname...

Katie Dukes/Education NC At the Oct. 6 meeting of the North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, two child care providers were asked what advice they would give to their younger selves or to someone else thinking of opening a child care program in North Carolina. “Don’t...

Ashley Fredde/NC Health News For some North Carolinians, the road to retirement is anything but even. While some workers can count on employer-backed savings plans, nearly half of North Carolinians will be left navigating the path to their golden years without a map, according to an AARP analysis. The AARP...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily More details have emerged on a Southport alleyway dispute since Monday, when the Southport Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to request its former mayor, Joe Pat Hatem, withdraw his claim of ownership. Now, Hatem and other aldermen are alleging the vote was influenced by incorrect information...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News When Amazon drivers in Franklin showed up for work Oct. 8, they were met not with their usual routine but instead with news that the facility will close on Dec. 10 — right around the time a new one opens 31 miles west in Hayesville. For...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro Ever since this summer’s decision by Orange County to reject parts of Union Grove Farm’s agritourism expansion and the farm’s decision to appeal for its proposed music stage, Oct. 8 was circled on the calendar for a high-profile Board of Adjustment hearing. But the date came and...

Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz Global Nuclear Fuel, a GE Vernova-led alliance with Hitachi Ltd., plans to fabricate a new nuclear fuel product at its Wilmington facility, starting early next year. Development of the new product, called GNF4, began in 2023 and is a “significant investment” for the company, according to spokesperson Jon...

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News Before he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009, Job Gilliam paved roads in the winding mountains of western North Carolina. Today, the 49-year-old can barely move around his home in rural Catawba County without assistance. His autoimmune disease caused lesions to develop on his spinal...

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline Gov. Josh Stein said he will soon have a “comprehensive mental health plan” to send to the legislature, following several recent violent deaths charged to people with mental illnesses. Some elements of his plan will require funding, Stein said, but some won’t. “We’ll have it all laid...