Justin Smith/The (Whiteville) News Reporter Southeastern Community College has seen steady enrollment increases in each of the last five years, with much of the growth coming from high school students and workforce programs, according to a recent report. “I’d like to congratulate everybody on our enrollment growth. That’s a big...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press Durham Public Schools’ network of Montessori schools is more than 20 years in the making, and its newest project — Lucas Montessori, formerly known as Lucas Middle School — is preparing to welcome students back this fall for the first time since its transition. Lucas joins...

Dee-Ann Durbin/The Associated Press Delivery drones are so fast they can zip a pint of ice cream to a customer’s driveway before it melts. Yet the long-promised technology has been slow to take off in the United States. More than six years after the Federal Aviation Administration approved commercial home...

Bradley George/WUNC Radio Psychiatric residential treatment centers in North Carolina will test a new de-escalation method for dealing with youth in crisis, the state Department of Health and Human Services announced last week. Commonly known as PRTFs, these facilities offer inpatient treatment for children with complex behavioral health needs. When...

Nick Fogleman/Watauga Democrat The Town of Boone has listed approximately 20 acres of the Bolick Property for sale after determining that previously proposed municipal development plans were no longer financially viable. The sale was approved by a 4–1 vote during the June Town Council meeting. The parcel was subdivided from...

Scott D. Yost/Rhino Times In Guilford County government these days, the top job comes with the top paycheck: Brand new County Manager Victor Isler now makes $315,000 a year – the highest salary on the list of managers, assistant managers and department and division directors in our local county government....

Heidi Perez-Moreno/Border Belt Independent Sonya Hillburn used three decades of retirement and personal savings to open Above & Beyond Wellness & Medical Spa in Elizabethtown in 2021. Local banks refused to give her a business loan, she said, since she could not prove the business would make money. It took...

Will Atwater/NC Health News As the Trump administration keeps pushing to change the focus of scientific research and roll back environmental regulations — moves that critics say favor industry over public health — members of North Carolina’s scientific and environmental communities are speaking out. They’re raising alarms about the effect...

Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press Later this year, the first of 18 flash flood warning sirens will be installed at the Cruso Fire and Rescue department in southern Haywood County. One of just three siren systems in Western North Carolina, local leaders hope the devices will save lives in a region...

Sergio Osnaya-Prieto/Education NC More than 62,000 North Carolina public high school seniors are set to receive direct admission to select colleges and universities across the state this fall thanks to the NC College Connect program, according to a press release from the UNC System Office. During the State Board of...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Prominent civil rights leader William Barber II spoke against Charlotte’s proposed 1-cent tax for roads and transit from the pulpit Sunday, saying it would hurt low-income residents who have been negatively impacted by recent property tax increases. Barber became famous last decade leading the Moral Monday movement...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee continued her series of town halls in North Carolina’s fourth congressional last week by holding an event at Carrboro’s Drakeford Library Complex. The Aug. 5 event, which was not widely publicized, drew dozens of attendees and featured the two-term Democrat answering questions on...

Nick Bentley/WNCN Wawa has chosen North Carolina as the place for its first ever travel center, and hopes to invest more than $675 million in the state. According to a press release from Wawa, the travel center will be built in Hope Mills and a special grand opening is planned...

Scott Bolejack/Johnstonian News A development firm proposes to plant a 40-foot landscape buffer between its shopping center on Clayton Boulevard and neighboring single-family homes. But those neighbors told the Clayton Planning Board on July 28 that a previous Town Council had promised them a 125-foot “no development” buffer along their...

Jesse Deal/The Stanly News & Press     A nonprofit water utility corporation based in Richfield has been awarded nearly $5 million in state funding for a major infrastructure upgrade. Gov. Josh Stein and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently announced that the Pfeiffer–North Stanly Water Association will receive...