Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger is down by 23 votes to Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page. It’s not the end of the story. Elections aren’t over until the last vote is counted — and even then, maybe not. That may be the case in the close...

Julian Berger/WFAE Radio A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the case of a U.S. citizen detained and charged with a felony for allegedly assaulting Border Patrol agents during its November operation in Charlotte. Miguel Angel Garcia Martinez, 24, was charged with using his vehicle to assault, resist or impede federal...

Theresa Opeka/Carolina Journal North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek said his office will soon release a series of major audits, including reviews of the state Education Lottery, voter-approved bonds, and the UNC system, as part of a broader effort to expand oversight of government spending. For the first time, the...

Shaun Gallagher/WRAL News To breathe easier, it’s helpful to have some plants around, quite literally. It’s Biology 101 really. Your carbon dioxide converts into oxygen through those plants. But that’s what makes it so ironic at the plant shop at the corner of S. Salisbury & W. Hargett in Downtown...

David Ford/WFDD Radio North Carolina’s top elected officials have announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education. Governor Josh Stein, Senate Leader Phil Berger and Speaker of the House Destin Hall announced the plan in a joint press release. Stein called the new bipartisan commission of 28...

Bradley George/WUNC News A federal report says employees who worked in a now-closed building at North Carolina State University could have been exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. The report states, however, that more research is needed to prove a definitive connection between cancer cases among employees and exposure to those chemicals....

Catherine Muccigrosso/The Charlotte Observer A 10-year-old Charlotte-area technology company has found a new application for its circuit breaker. Atom Power is shifting focus from electric vehicle charging equipment to the burgeoning data center industry. Atom Power developed the world’s first commercial solid-state circuit breaker, which is drawing attention from hyperscale...

Penelope Lopez/WTVD News As the war in Iran enters its second week, tactical gear shops in Cumberland County are seeing a spike in business, with both companies and service members seeking protective equipment in response to the overseas conflict. Local store owners say the surge in demand has been noticeable...

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online Even as the proposed Mid-Currituck bridge project has been uncharacteristically zipping along in the planning process, a new analysis of two revenue options has cast doubts on the project’s future, with serious concerns raised about the latest estimated construction costs that hover around $1.2 billion. The...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro After weeks of debate and waffling between which elementary schools to study, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education made its choice at its recent meeting of the campuses it will further explore for potential closure. In a split vote, 4-3, the board decided to request...

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,...