Jakob Emerson/Becker’s Payer Issues Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is seeking sanctions against LifeBrite Community Hospital of Stokes (N.C.) in a longstanding legal dispute that centers around allegations of fraudulent billing practices. The dispute began in 2018 when LifeBrite accused BCBSNC of withholding at least $15.5 million in...

Bill Moss/The Hendersonville Lightning The N.C. Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that the city calls an “unnecessary and troubling overreach” to “circumvent local control” of Hendersonville city utilities, the latest salvo in the long-running conflict between the Henderson County Board of Commissioners and the City Council over growth on...

Dan Kane/The (Raleigh) News & Observer Two years ago, Senate leader Phil Berger sought to pass legislation to bring casinos to North Carolina, including one to his home county to counter a gambling complex opening just across the border in Danville, Virginia. That was big news. North Carolina had banned...

Lena Geller/IndyWeek The Durham County Farm Campus project—a long-awaited agricultural education center and incubator farm—passed a milestone Monday as county commissioners received the final feasibility study for the 129-acre Orange Factory Road property. A presentation of the study revealed both ambitious plans and looming challenges for the project, which has...

Evey Weisblat/CityView After numerous and prolonged difficulties with recent capital projects, the City of Fayetteville has hired an engineering consulting firm to help improve its Construction Management Division. The Fayetteville City Council made the decision to hire the firm, Freese & Nichols Inc., at its work session on Monday, after...

Tyler Davis/The (Henderson) Daily Dispatch In short order during a brief meeting Wednesday afternoon, the four-strong Henderson-Vance Industrial Park Board approved moving forward with a sale of the shell building to Linde Gas and Equipment. The Ireland-based global gas and gas supply company offered $3 million even, a figure that...

Gary D. Robertson/The Associated Press The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat conceded last November’s election on Wednesday to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, two days after a federal judge ruled that potentially thousands of disputed ballots challenged by Jefferson Griffin must remain in the final tally. In...

WRAL News North Carolina’s tourism economy remained strong in 2024, despite Hurricane Helene’s impact on many popular destinations in the state. Gov. Josh Stein announced Wednesday that travelers spent more than $36.7 billion on trips to and within the state in 2024. That is a new record for tourism spending....

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News   North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson visited Canton last week, meeting with local officials and new mill site owner Eric Spirtas, who gave tantalizing tidbits of what’s in store for the 185-acre parcel and promised a bold master plan within six months....

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online Amidst the tedium of a generally uneventful two-day meeting of the state Coastal Resources Commission last week, embers of prior tensions flared anew when Commissioner Jordan Hennessy contended that the panel had not properly authorized its lawsuit seeking to restore a protective environmental rule for Jockey’s...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Securing federal relief funds after Tropical Storm Helene has been a challenge. Now, a new NC agency must prove it can wisely manage a $1.4 billion home rebuilding program after the last effort fell short. State lawmakers are still fuming after ReBuild NC, the recovery office...

Richard Stradling/The (Raleigh) News & Observer The Raleigh City Council has endorsed charging tolls on Capital Boulevard between Interstate 540 and Wake Forest, but, as some council members made clear, not enthusiastically. The tolls will allow the N.C. Department of Transportation to accelerate plans to turn the congested four-lane road...

Adam Wagner/WFAE Radio Raw milk sales in North Carolina would only be available through herdshares, under a provision introduced in the N.C. Farm Act. This photo shows a sign at the Chapel Hill Farmer’s Market advertises raw milk on a recent Saturday morning. After receiving hundreds of phone calls and...

Port City Daily A local senator’s bill to regulate e-bikes moved one step forward Tuesday. This came two weeks after New Hanover County commissioners also took up discussions about whether it should give a second look at ordinances regarding e-bikes. Senate Bill 576 was referred to the Senate Transportation Committee;...

Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer There is a potential buyer for property on Buck Mountain, which was once home to Ghost Town in the Sky. Owner Jill McClure said a deal looks promising, though there is no contract in place. McClure inherited Ghost Town from her late aunt Alaska Presley, who...