Will Hofmann/Asheville Citizen Times East Fork Pottery is suing Travelers Insurance after the company denied its business interruption insurance claim after Tropical Storm Helene. The nationally known pottery company is one of many in Western North Carolina still seeking insurance payouts almost a year after the storm, experts say. Among...

Jenna Fryer/The Associated Press The legal fight between NASCAR and two race teams, one owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, heated up Monday ahead of a critical court hearing as both sides filed new motions over antitrust claims. NASCAR said in its filing that it plans to issue...

Mebane Rash/Education NC The first day of school is full of wonder for me and for many of us. Seeing the big yellow buses hit the road. Hearing the banter about Friday night football. Seeing the students’ smiles, their eyes lit up, their double thumbs up, and their nervous anticipation....

Nick de la Canal/WFAE Radio North Carolina lawmakers return to Raleigh this week to continue hammering out the state budget, and one of the biggest questions hanging over them is the future of Medicaid expansion. Nearly 680,000 North Carolinians have gained coverage since the program launched in 2023. But President...

Leah Rosenbaum/The War Horse It’s been six months since a now-infamous email presented millions of federal workers with a pivotal decision: They could reply “resign” to give up their job and receive full pay and benefits through the end of September. Or they could stay in their positions and hope...

Brian Tress/Outer Banks Voice In the wake of Hurricane Erin, teams with N.E.S.T. (Network for Endangered Sea Turtles) began assessing sea turtle nest damage along the Northern Outer Banks. Prior to the storm, a total of 29 nests had been laid — 18 remained intact in the ground, while 11...

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC Radio As many North Carolina students return to school Monday, they’ll have to get used to putting away their phones. A new state law aims to restrict cell phone use in schools statewide by requiring students to turn off their phones during class time. Many individual schools and...

The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The owners of the The Swag and Cataloochee Ranch have gifted $750,000 toward the restoration of Helene-ravaged Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Through their nonprofit the Colquitt Foundation, David and Annie Colquitt gifted the funds to the Friends of the Smokies to help...

DJ Simmons/WFDD Radio The SECU Foundation is awarding a $300,000 grant to Legal Aid of North Carolina to expand services in rural areas. The funds will support software development and statewide implementation of Legal Aid’s Innovation Lab. The lab aims to foster collaborations between community partners, law schools and tech...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press East Carolina University is officially pursuing the idea of reopening Martin General Hospital, the shuttered hospital in Eastern North Carolina. But first, it needs $220 million — and for cuts to Medicaid to stop coming. That’s starting to seem increasingly unlikely. The uncertainty around the...

The Associated Press North Carolina will get an in-season close-up for its first season under coach Bill Belichick. In a social media video posted by the program Sunday, Belichick told the players that streaming provider Hulu will feature the Tar Heels in what he described as a season-long show “that...

WRAL News Back-to-school drivers in Raleigh will have to navigate lane closures on a busy commuter route. An eastbound lane on Tryon Road near Brisk Gallop Way remains closed while emergency repairs to a broken sewer line continue. A spokesperson for Wake County Public Schools said the closure is forcing...

Jennifer Shutt/NC Newsline The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a lower court’s ruling, allowing the Trump administration to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in National Institutes of Health grants that addressed diversity, equity and inclusion issues. The 5-4 ruling narrowly divided the court, with Chief Justice John Roberts,...

Nick Fogleman/The Watauga Democrat Beef prices across the United States have hit record highs, and producers in Watauga County are feeling the strain of a shrinking national cattle herd, rising costs and mounting development pressures. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that ground beef prices, which...

Paul Specht/WRAL News A program designed to protect North Carolinians from people charged with sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and other crimes faces a murky future as officials seek permanent funding for an organization that monitors alleged perpetrators across the state. The program is operated by the North Carolina Criminal...