Daniel Sheehan/Wilmington StarNews New Hanover County purchased the 60-acre Bryan Tract for $11.6 million to create a community greenspace. The county’s two-thirds ownership stake reduced their cost to $3.86 million, funded without raising property taxes. Future development is possible for several large properties, including the 65-acre Beau Rivage tract and...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Western North Carolina’s congressional representative and a state senator pushing a bold Helene-related recovery plan are at loggerheads over the bill’s potential effects, with both issuing barbed statements about the other’s take on the proposal. U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards says a state bill sponsored by Republican state...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily A general aviation project is now in a holding pattern as two of the airport’s tenants seek relief from Superior Court and the Federal Aviation Administration. ARQ Realty has pulled back on its plans to construct a 30-acre private-aircraft base at Wilmington International Airport after airport...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review North Carolinians whose raw drinking water sources are contaminated with chemical compounds will have to wait at least another two months before proposed rules establishing monitoring requirements for dischargers go out for public comment. The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee unanimously voted earlier this...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Canton’s toilets will continue to flush thanks to an agreement born of urgency but put on paper with cooperation and cautious optimism. After a closed session discussion on May 8, the Town of Canton Board of Aldermen/Women approved an interim agreement with Two Banks Development to...

Kristen Blair/Education NC More than 1,500 students have enrolled or been offered seats at 10 new North Carolina charter schools expected to open this fall. Enrollment numbers for these “Ready to Open” (RTO) schools were presented for the first time to the North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) on...

Paul Nielsen/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Damage repair from Helene is picking up steam in Maggie Valley. Town alderman recently approved more than $400,000 in contracts for three storm-related projects with the bulk of the money going for two sewer projects. The biggest fix is a $332,000 project to repair damage to...

Michael Koh/WCHL Chapelboro An Orange County property owner is facing numerous charges after a party on his land attended by more than 2,500 people led to underage, intoxicated revelers wandering through traffic and numerous calls for assistance. Dwight B. Poole, 60, is charged with six counts of aiding and abetting...

Jose Sandoval & Lilly Knoepp/Blue Ridge Public Radio Vecinos, a non-profit free clinic and rural health center dedicated to serving uninsured and underinsured residents, has opened a new permanent location in Franklin. The new Macon County community health hub will serve residents of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, and Swain counties...

Audrey Kashatus/Watauga Democrat On a wet, early April afternoon, the air was thick and humid, moisture hanging heavy. Rain was spitting down slowly after a few hours of steady showers. Everything was wet. Nestled in a valley amongst rivers and creeks, Valle Crucis is a small community just west of...

Christopher Long/The Wilson Times Officials in Wilson believe that now’s the right time for downtown to undergo a rebrand, and they’re looking to residents to determine what that rebrand should look like. “Rebranding now is a strategic decision driven by several factors: community identity, economic development, highlighting assets and future...

Peter Castagno/Port City Daily A former lead regulator of the commission charged with overseeing Duke Energy joined a law firm that frequently represents Duke and other utilities in rate cases and other matters before the agency. International law firm McGuireWoods announced it hired former North Carolina Utilities Commission chair Charlotte...

Adam Wagner/WUNC Radio A $10 million budget appropriation that city of Oxford leaders say is key to a regional water project would be shifted elsewhere under a legislative technical corrections bill, a move Democrats allege is revenge for winning a competitive election in the N.C. House of Representatives. House Bill...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Of all the companies that have come to North Carolina in recent years, from Toyota to Google to Amazon, cryptomining operations don’t exactly spring to mind. But the state, because of its vast swaths of land, is increasingly being targeted by these outfits looking to...

Hannah Vinueza McClellan/Education NC State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis and state Superintendent Mo Green recently sent a letter to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education asking members to address reports of a $16 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25. The letter also raises concerns about the...