WFAE Radio The North Carolina Office of State Human Resources says the federal government shutdown means 200 state employees will be furloughed starting today. The employees would be placed on leave without pay until the shutdown ends, though health coverage will continue through October. Federal Court in the state will...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News As Western North Carolina settles in for what could become a protracted federal government shutdown, a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson tells The Smoky Mountain News the agency’s disaster response operations remain fully funded and active, with payments to survivors, debris removal and other essential recovery...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online A new steel manufacturing company’s plans to open a factory in Hertford County will be “transformational” for the area, according to a state senator who worked behind the scenes to help land what is anticipated to be a nearly $1 billion investment project. Sen. Bobby Hanig,...

Andrew R. Jones/Asheville Watchdog A year ago, Susan Embler sat trapped in the hills above Swannanoa after Tropical Storm Helene rendered the road to her roughly 20-person community inaccessible. Lacking cell service and WiFi, cut off from the rest of the world, Embler tried in vain to send text messages...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press The University of North Carolina System reported record numbers of enrollment across 16 of its 17 institutions for the 2025-26 year, leading to an enrollment jump of 3.4% for the system as a whole. This includes significant growth at Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Fayetteville...

WRAL News A Duke alumna prepares to make history as one of the first women to possibly set foot on the moon and soon Mars. Anna Menon, 39, is one of ten people selected as NASA’s new astronaut candidates. The Houston native holds a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from...

Curt Anderson/The Associated Press Former Republican U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who was defeated in 2022 in a North Carolina primary, is looking for a comeback by running for Congress again, this time from Florida. Cawthorn, 30, announced in an online video Wednesday that he would seek the southwest Florida seat...

Will Atwater/NC Health News Larry Baldwin stood before a crowd of about 60 people gathered in Northampton County for the screening of The Smell of Money, a documentary that follows rural North Carolinians standing up to the industrial hog industry, and he posed a question. “This is a beautiful room,”...

Christine Zhu/NC Newsline Enbridge Gas North Carolina is asking for a 12.37% increase to its residential natural gas rates, which it says would result in a $6.30 increase in the average residential customers’ monthly bill. Last week, the North Carolina Utilities Commission heard expert testimony from Enbridge employees on the...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily State regulators are to begin enforcing new air quality requirements at two Port of Wilmington facilities after finalizing plans to control industrial dust following years of community concerns. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality approved dust control plans for wood pellet...

Nikolai Mather/WHQR Nigel Edge has been charged with multiple counts of murder following Saturday night’s shooting at American Fish Company, which left three dead and five injured. During the proceedings, District Attorney Jon David shared additional allegations about Edge, who could face the death penalty. Edge made his first court...

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC Radio The North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools has won a nearly $53 million federal grant to support the state’s charter schools. The association will use most of the funds on 42 subgrants to charter schools seeking to open or expand seats to more students. The subgrants...

Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press Swaths of downed timber are a common sight throughout Western North Carolina after Tropical Storm Helene, even a year later. Near Roan High Knob, along the North Carolina-Tennessee state line in Mitchell County, 100-mile-per-hour winds uprooted and shredded hundreds of trees, leaving a 25-acre patch of...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online When the Army Corps of Engineers issued its final decision on the terminal groin project here more than eight years ago, the document conveyed a prescient warning. A terminal groin “may increase erosion along the easternmost point of Ocean Isle Beach, down-drift of the structure.” Today,...

Henry Taylor/WCHL Chapelboro Following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, the UNC Board of Trustees reviewed current plans to bolster campus security, and reviewed recent upgrades during committee meetings on September 24. UNC Police Chief Brian James addressed the board directly, providing...