Scott Horsley/WFAE Radio Azraiel Raines dreamed of working for the State Department, when she graduated from Idaho State University with a degree in global studies. But the State Department is not hiring. In fact it cut more than 1,300 jobs this past week as part of a broader government downsizing....

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily More than 400 cities nationwide have a curfew for youth and if one council member gets his way, Wilmington may be added to the list. Councilman Luke Waddell is advocating for action against “lawlessness and severe public disorder” in downtown Wilmington, following the July 4 weekend....

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A whooping cough outbreak has hit Haywood County, with six cases confirmed as of July 10 — up from five cases when the outbreak was first reported two days prior. County health officials are working to keep that number from growing, but the respiratory infection presents...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News A land purchase approved by Canton’s governing board July 10 will bring more parking to the town’s increasingly popular downtown area near Sorrells Street Park while also marking another milestone in the town’s flood mitigation strategy. “It was actually offered to us by the ABC store....

Pat Kimbrough/High Point Enterprise Alex Dummit says she founded her High Point company to combine business and philanthropy. As CEO of The Sage Plant, she’s putting this principle into practice with the development of a “micro-community” that will include new housing in a distressed part of the city. “I think...

Kip Tabb/Outer Banks Voice After more than a year and a half of discussion and meetings, the Dare County Housing Task Force is transitioning to a housing nonprofit. “It is my goal to have the paperwork filed by the end of the year. So we are actively working on that,”...

Jaymie Baxley & Anne Blythe/NC Health News On Tuesday evening, just days after President Donald Trump signed into law the new federal budget passed by Congress, several dozen people took a seat in the Pullen Park Community Center in Raleigh. Two of the capital city’s Democratic state lawmakers — Sen....

Adam Wagner/WUNC Radio Gov. Josh Stein has vetoed House Bill 96, saying language preventing local government regulation of pet shops had swayed him against the squatter legislation he originally supported. “This bill would facilitate inhumane puppy mills in North Carolina. Without this provision, I would sign the legislation. With it,...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press Public school regulation of cellphone use is now law in North Carolina after Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 959 last week. The new law prompts public schools to develop a wireless device policy that will limit students’ access to their cellphones and other wireless electronic...

Stella Mackler/WFAE Radio Move over tobacco — there’s a new cash crop in town. Part of the “battery belt,” North Carolina will soon be home to four major factories producing lithium-ion batteries, the power behind electric vehicles. But President Trump’s sweeping federal reconciliation bill eliminated tax credits for purchasing an...

Sally Kestin/Asheville Watchdog Jennifer Horton was still relishing her history-making victory last November as Buncombe’s first Black woman county commissioner when she received jolting news. Her business running five adult assisted living homes in Buncombe would be cut off from public funding under a state law prohibiting payments to facilities...

Paul Garber/WFDD Radio A federal trial over North Carolina’s Congressional and state senate maps wrapped up Wednesday in Winston-Salem. At issue is whether some of the boundaries are gerrymandered along racial lines. Attorneys for GOP mapmakers in the state legislature say they are legally drawn along partisan lines, and race...

WRAL News Zebulon’s former town manager Gilbert Todd has announced he will run for mayor in November. His announcement on Thursday came less than three months after Todd resigned from his role with the town. In April, WRAL News reported that citizens were concerned after Todd and assistant town manager...

Chloe Collins & Kara Fohner/Gaston Gazette The city of Gastonia opened the old Salvation Army building Monday to use it as a cooling station, but it’s still unclear what the future of the building will be. Jennifer Stepp, a member of the Gastonia City Council, said that she received a...

Paul Nielsen/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A temporary fix from a delayed blow from Tropical Storm Helene that destroyed a key sewer line is currently costing Maggie Valley around $10,000 a month. And the town will incur that cost for the next eight months until repairs can be made. Alderman started that...