Jack Evans/Asheville Watchdog Than Axtell, a fly-fishing guide who has lived in western North Carolina for three decades, adores the unimpeded wilderness around the south fork of the Mills River — the rare place, he said, where one can spend a weekend backpacking, fishing the whole way, and rarely seeing...

Katie Myers/Blue Ridge Public Radio Hundreds of thousands of acres of public forestland across the Appalachian region could lose some protection under the United States Department of Agriculture’s plan to roll back the “Roadless Rule.” Since 2001, this federal regulation has limited new road construction through protected forestland. The rule...

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer When Helene struck last September, Haywood County was just 95 days from completing a four-year property revaluation that would have aligned property values on the tax rolls with increasing market values. Now, the county is regrouping to finish the reappraisal by 2027. However, property owners whose...

Deirdre Walsh, Claudia Grisales & Elena Moore/WUNC Radio Senate Republicans are racing the clock, trying to meet President Trump’s demand that they pass his domestic agenda bill by July 4th as they work to resolve major sticking points inside the GOP conference. While Senate committee leaders have made several significant...

Jill Doss-Raines/Thomasville Times A large contingent of Southmont residents pleaded with the Davidson County Board of Commissioners to reconsider plans to build a $65 million sports complex on 359 acres in the unincorporated community south of Lexington. One after another, speakers told the board during a public hearing June 9...

NBC News Employees at a North Carolina business said they were held inside for hours on Wednesday as ICE executed a search warrant on the property. According to ICE, roughly a dozen people were taken into custody after the operation at Buckeye Fire Equipment Company in Kings Mountain. Dozens of...

Andrew R. Jones/Asheville Watchdog A South Carolina woman has sued Asheville Academy for Girls, its owner and 15 other related programs and entities, alleging abuse, humiliation, sexual assault, forced labor and false advertising during her mental health treatment as a teen. The 51-page lawsuit, filed June 20 in the U.S....

Paul Woolverton/CityView The City of Fayetteville is in negotiations with a Florida company and other parties to build a long-awaited tower atop the downtown Hay Street parking deck next to Segra Stadium baseball park, a lawyer representing the city said in Cumberland County Superior Court on Monday. At least one...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press With less than two weeks before Yancey County officially exits its regional public library system, opponents to the change are making a last-ditch legal effort to force the county to reverse course. The two-year-long debate over the future of the library in Burnsville began with residents’...

Felicia Sonmez/WFAE Radio Catching a flight out of Asheville Regional Airport? Starting today, you’ll pass through a brand new terminal. After nearly two years of construction, the airport’s sprawling new North Concourse is finally open. The terminal, at 136,000 square feet, has floor-to-ceiling windows, new food and retail options, and...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro A significant project by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority is set to close parts of West Rosemary Street for roughly 18 months starting this fall. The focus of the West Rosemary project is replacing a water main line that’s more than 80 years old. OWASA Capital...

Alexander Bolton/The Hill Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), one of the most vulnerable Senate Republican incumbents facing re-election in 2026, warned Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) bluntly in a private meeting Tuesday that deep cuts to Medicaid could cost Republicans control of the House and Senate, according to a person...

Chris Burritt/Business North Carolina For decades overshadowed by the growth of the Charlotte and Raleigh regions, the Triad has grabbed bragging rights with a string of economic recruiting successes that, according to mayors, intensify challenges for the Piedmont area. “I love talking to my business colleagues from Charlotte and Raleigh...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio When the North Carolina lottery began in 2005, the idea was that all money would go to public education. The public believed the lottery dollars would supplement money already spent on K-12 schools. But over the last two decades, critics say the lottery money has, in part,...

Alice Scott/The Daily Tar Heel  UNC is temporarily pausing all human resource actions while awaiting further guidance on how the campus will implement a new UNC System-wide personnel cap, according to a statement from UNC Media Relations. “The University anticipates more guidance from the UNC System Office this week and...