Nick Fogleman/Watauga Democrat North Carolina’s Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilley recently visited Watauga County, beginning his trip by delivering school supplies collected through the Governor’s School Supply Drive. The supplies were specifically designated for Watauga County Schools to help relieve pressure on teachers, who often spend out-of-pocket to equip their...

John Staton/Wilmington StarNews Take a walk around downtown Wilmington and, most of the time, it’s bustling. Not just with patrons of bars and restaurants, something downtown has long been known for, but also with shoppers. For many retail merchants downtown, high traffic “translates well to sales. It’s busy,” said Jake...

Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & The Charlotte Ledger For years, Charlotte’s health care market has been dominated by two names: Atrium Health and Novant Health. Between them, the two hospital systems hold a near lock on the region’s hospitals, a growing share of its doctors and much of its specialty...

Celeste Gracia/WUNC Radio Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, a conservation policy that protects undeveloped areas in national forests. The deadline to submit public comment is Friday, September 19 – three weeks after the comment period opened. “To avoid public...

Ben Humphries/Education NC At the State Board of Education’s meeting last Thursday, the Board voted 5-4 to extend an interest-free grace period on the remaining $3.4 million debt in state funds overdrafted by Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS). Starting Oct. 1, per the vote, interest will accrue at a rate of...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online When the proposed flood insurance rate maps for Onslow County were released back in 2016, Jacksonville officials were surprised to say the least. The preliminary maps created under North Carolina’s Flood Plain Mapping Program shifted more than 800 additional structures in downtown Jacksonville into a high-hazard...

Andrew Marshall/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Operate a hotel for long enough, and eventually you feel like you’ve seen everything. But for Pisgah Inn owner Bruce O’Connell — in the hospitality trenches since 1979 — the last year takes the cake. “I’ve been through sewer plant failures, rockslides, other parkway closures that...

Jessica Stump & Anna Oakes/Watauga Democrat This fall, Appalachian State University reports continued steady growth, welcoming a record-setting enrollment of 21,798 Mountaineer students — a 1.1% increase over fall 2024. Fall 2025 enrollment at App State was boosted by a 28% rise in online students and the highest-ever number of...

Ashe Post & Times After a year of recovery and New River-clean ups, the New River Conservancy (NRC) and The Conservation Fund are donating a three-acre parcel property to Ashe County to serve as the first public access on the North Fork of the New River. Utilizing donations from across...

Jule Hubbard/Wilkes Journal-Patriot Wilkes County’s labor force, defined as the number of people working plus those unemployed but looking for work, reached a record low of 24,969 in July. The N.C. Department of Commerce listed Wilkes with 1,012 people unemployed and an unemployment rate of 4.1% in July. The state...

Scott Bolejack/The Johnstonian News The next home of the Tobs must be within 35 miles of Wilson. That’s nonnegotiable, says Greg Suire, the team’s president. Like the Asheville Tourists, Durham Bulls and High Point-Thomasville HiToms, another Suire team, the Wilson Tobs are synonymous with baseball in North Carolina, he said....

Lora Lavigne/WRAL News Crabtree Valley Mall is preparing to welcome a new and improved shopping center while also saying goodbye to several small businesses. As previously reported, Crabtree Valley Mall is making big moves. It’s getting a $60-million facelift after being sold to a California-based developer. The businesses that rent...

Andrew R. Jones & Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog Citing potential violations of federal civil rights laws, the U.S. Department of Justice has sent a letter to Buncombe County threatening to investigate and take enforcement against the county if it approves recommendations from the Asheville-Buncombe Community Reparations Commission, according to a DOJ...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News North Carolina education leaders are again mulling a revision to the state’s most visible school accountability measure: school performance grades. They’re the letter grades — A, B, C, D or F — earned by every North Carolina public school each fall, when the state’s standardized test scores...

The Outer Banks Voice The Ocracoke Access Alliance (OAA) has formed to push for greater state and federal investment in ferry services, NC-12, and other critical infrastructure that ensures safe and reliable access. In announcing the new coalition, Justin LeBlanc, OAA’s Executive Director said, “The North Carolina Ferry System is...