James Farrell/WFAE Radio Thousands of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees could see a pay raise in July. The proposal would be funded by recently approved Mecklenburg County funding. The proposed raise is the second phase of an overhaul in CMS’ compensation for nonteaching staff such as bus drivers, custodians, maintenance workers and...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Only five months since inception and three this fiscal year topped the tax proceeds from sports wagering in May, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reported Monday morning. Eight licensed sports books produced $11,740,881 for state coffers. Sports wagering since inception has averaged $347,921 per day....

Kip Tabb/Outer Banks Voice Dare County Health and Human Services Director Sheila Davies introduced the resolution opposing offshore drilling. After learning that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is considering opening the waters of the East Coast to offshore drilling for gas and oil, the Dare County Commissioners unanimously...

Diana Matthews/The (Whiteville) News Reporter The Lake Waccamaw Town Council could vote Tuesday on a budget that would raise residents’ property tax rate 36% from what they are now paying. It would be the second hike in the rate since 2023. Water and sewer rates would rise as well. Citing...

Anne Vilen/Education NC When calamity strikes, as it often has in the Appalachian community of Swannanoa, North Carolina, the “proud, fierce, and maybe a little crazy” working folks who live in the valley along the Swannanoa River “get up off their knees and get to fix’n the problem together,” says...

Liz Biro/Coastal Review Online Every summer, the women of Ocean City Beach organized crabbing trips to Topsail Island’s north end. On a waxing moon, when the tide was exactly right, moms and their kids skimmed the saltwater shallows hunting blue crabs, as many as they could carry. The fat jimmies...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Hunger and a lack of access to healthy food continues to plague parts of Western North Carolina, eight months since Tropical Storm Helene tore through the mountains. The storm ripped apart bridges, roads and farmland. Even now, some cannot easily access grocery stores — the...

Laura Sullivan/WFAE Radio When Shalana Jordan finally arrived at her parents’ trailer home in Swannanoa, N.C., alongside the river, she paused and let out a long sigh. The building was ripped open on one end, all the furniture was smashed up against the other end and a black pickup truck...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer So far, 71 flood victims in Haywood County are seeking a buyout of their damaged homes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, leaving a patchwork of vacant property across the county in Helene’s wake. The number doesn’t include dozens more contemplating a buyout but still deciding....

Kevin Griffin/The (Greensboro) News & Record Greensboro Councilman Zack Matheny received support from his colleagues as he faced insults and claims of conflict of interests and ethical violations at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Matheny has long been the subject of scrutiny over his dual role as both an elected official...

Dawn Attride/Sentient In Duplin County, North Carolina, there is a pollutant that hangs in the air, the water and the soil. It tumbles in the breeze and into homes through open windows, settling as a thin film of dust on their kitchen tables. It gloops together in masses of sludge...

Paul Specht/WRAL News Jason Simmons became chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in March 2024 — only six months before voters would start casting their ballots in an election featuring races for president, governor, and more. Simmons had big shoes to fill. The previous state party chair, Michael Whatley,...

Larry Lage/The Associated Press Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit. “That’s just such a small part of the entire...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, is the only state lawmaker who’s been in office since the early 1980s, but the former House speaker is no longer serving as Senate minority leader after his fellow Democrats backed Sen. Sydney Batch for that role instead. Blue says he’ll still have...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily UNCW is in the early stages of developing a new basketball arena and potential concert venue, a step-up for a team increasingly gaining more recognition on the national level. Last fall, UNCW Athletics launched a feasibility study into upgrading Trask Coliseum, either through renovation or a...