Sarah White & Kathy Ross/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Some residents in the Dogwood Lakes neighborhood and the lower end of Beantown Road are worried a bad situation is repeating itself with an encampment along Jonathan Creek bringing back memories of a similar situation four years ago. The property owner, meanwhile, says...

Will Doran/WRAL News At their last formal meeting before Halloween, held Tuesday, some of North Carolina’s top elected officials were feeling spooked by a potential threat to trick-or-treaters: THC-laced candies, cookies and other treats whose packaging mimicks well-known brands. THC is legal, in small amounts, in North Carolina. The chemical...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Next week, the Wilmington City Council is set to discuss the acquisition of a property for parks and recreation use, with a resolution asking New Hanover County and the New Hanover Community Endowment to help pay for it. Some elected members from both the city and...

Richard Craver/The (Greensboro) News & Record A 2-year-old Greensboro boy who died July 17 at Valleygate Dental Surgery Center had not had any dental procedures before experiencing a fatal medical emergency, the N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners said Tuesday. The cause of death for Er’Mias Mitchell has not been...

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC Radio With a federal government shutdown now in effect, State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green has sent guidance to public schools on what to expect. Green’s message assures public school administrators that he expects most federal funding to continue to flow to schools, although federal support and new initiatives...

Rachel Crumpler/NC Health News After Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested in late August and accused in the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee aboard a Charlotte light rail train — a killing that has drawn statewide and national attention — a capacity evaluation was quickly ordered by the court. The...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio It’s been just over a year since Helene swept through Western North Carolina, leaving a trail of destruction that has yet to be fully repaired. In Watauga County, students missed nearly a month of school due to the damage. And for those who lost housing, or whose...

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Haywood County has seen an increase in cases of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in school-aged children in recent weeks. The disease is a common childhood illness that can cause fever, sore throat, mouth sores, and a rash on the hands and feet. It spreads easily...

Korie Dean/The (Raleigh) News & Observer Last fall, a group of key UNC-Chapel Hill stakeholders gave interviews to an external public relations firm, hired by the university, and described their thoughts on the school and its reputation. Part of the firm’s findings from those interviews: “Carolina has lost its ‘Way.’”...

Liz Bell/Education NC More and more adult learners are seeking short-term training for higher wages instead of degrees, according to national research. That’s also the case for the students reengaging with community college through NC Reconnect, an initiative launched in 2021 by the John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE), a private...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press The University of North Carolina System reported record enrollment numbers overall. Year-over-year increases occurred at 15 of its 16 higher education institutions for the 2025-26 year. For the system as a whole, enrollment jumped 3.4% from the previous year. This includes significant growth at Historically Black...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Michael Whatley’s first trip to Western North Carolina as President Donald Trump’s hand-picked Hurricane Helene “recovery czar” was not the sort of open, public event many victims of the storm had hoped for; instead, Whatley appeared Sept. 22 at a closed-door FEMA Review Council meeting in...

Haylee Kennedy/CBS 17 News The fight for better teaching conditions and learning environments continues for the North Carolina Association of Educators. The traditional school year started just over a month ago, and teachers are already facing brown water pouring out of cafeteria sinks, apparent mold on lab tables and chairs...

Zachery Eanes & Mary Helen Moore/Axios Raleigh President Trump is unleashing a new round of tariffs on furniture with the stated goal of reviving North Carolina’s furniture manufacturing industry. Why it matters: After the South lured factories and thousands of jobs from the North with the promise of cheap labor...

Sunnya Hadavi/Niner Times In the weeks following the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, news about the case was on everyone’s minds. For UNC Charlotte students, the murder had a much deeper impact, prompting the question: “Are other young people safe on the light rail?” Concerns about personal and campus safety...