Scott Bolejack/Johnstonian News The Smithfield Historic Foundation is stepping in to preserve one of downtown’s most iconic buildings — and the town is getting behind the effort. At their meeting on July 1, Town Council members voiced support for the foundation’s plan to purchase and restore the former Howell Theatre...

Allen G. Breed/The Associated Press Heavy rain and flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal forced dozens of people to flee their homes in central North Carolina, officials said Monday. The Chapel Hill Fire Department and neighboring agencies completed more than 50 water rescues, many of them in areas...

Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Doctor: “Good evening, Just checking in.” Advanced practice nurse: “Hi! All is well here. No changes or concerns.” A phone with a text conversation shows a conversation with an advanced practice nurse and a supervising physician. Those texts cost one advanced practice registered nurse in North...

Morgan Casey/CityView 82nd Airborne soldiers William Rambin and Jesus Naranjo were 8 miles deep in the pine forests surrounding Fort Bragg as part of a training exercise when they got called to shoot the mortar system they were carrying. Their squad was a mile outside of the shooting range. By...

Sarah Honosky/Asheville Citizen Times At the end of the street of one-story bungalows, a boom truck lowered roof trusses onto a home’s new wooden frame. From the base of the green wall sheathing to the roof, the house promised to look similar to the others on the street — a...

Max Tendler/WUNC Radio A support system for the Triangle’s formerly incarcerated residents expanded this week as Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs and Services unveiled their second mobile support center. The aid-on-wheels program, which began this past January, served 3,000 individuals in its first 70 days, illustrating the “urgent need,” the organization...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Across Western North Carolina this fall, local governments will hold their first municipal elections since Hurricane Helene ravaged the region and saddled many small, rural towns across the mountain west with damages that in most cases approach or exceed millions. As these communities recover, the candidate...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online There have been nights Clint North has lost sleep thinking about his land. Ten years from now, he knows exactly what he wants the hundreds of acres of land he’s bought up in this unincorporated area of Pender County to look like: exactly the same, if...

Renee Spencer/Wilmington StarNews The North Carolina Forest Service is facing critical staffing shortages, impacting daily operations and wildfire response. Low pay, limited career advancement, and poor work-life balance are the primary reasons employees leave. While employees enjoy their work, many cannot afford to stay due to low salaries and the...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice At their July 8 meeting, the Southern Shores Commissioners are expected to approve a resolution formally adding their voice to those opposing the opening of the waters off North Carolina to offshore energy drilling. That follows a mid-April announcement from the Department of the Interior and...

Abigail Eggers/The Watauga Democrat A new business has found its home in the old Goober Peas location just outside of Boone. Crop and Trade is a producer-owner and worker-owner-run store that opened June 1. The business was co-founded by a former frequent visitor to Goober Peas and a Boone native,...

Adam Wagner/WUNC Radio With a final vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, a sweeping tax bill that will touch almost every sector of the economy and overhaul industries like energy and health is headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. In North Carolina, Gov. Josh...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Officers with the State Bureau of Investigation and the Cherokee Indian Police Department arrested Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran last week following a joint investigation into alleged sexual assaults he committed against women on Cherokee land. Sheriff Cochran, 72, was suspended from office by a superior...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News Thousands of people who switched careers to become North Carolina public school teachers are leaving their roles within three years, new data shows, the latest indicator of the hiring challenges plaguing school districts across the state. Temporarily licensed teachers — largely people who enter the profession from...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily The ongoing dispute between the Pender-Topsail Post & Voice and Pender County has escalated, with the local newspaper issuing a lawsuit against the county and several commissioners. Filed on Tuesday, July 1, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the lawsuit...