Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Two resolutions aimed at the state government — one advocating for the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and the other supporting law changes to address student vaping — were voted down by the New Hanover County Board of Education Monday. According to...

Sarah White/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Haywood County’s tax collection rate has fallen for the third year in a row, but municipalities within the county aren’t seeing the same downturns that County Tax Collector Sebastian Cothran credits to Helene. “Helene did not impact any of our collection rates,” said Wanda Lurvey, Canton’s...

Katie Dukes/Education NC The number of licensed family child care homes (FCCHs) in North Carolina has decreased by 22% since before the pandemic. During the five years when pandemic-era funding was used to stabilize the state’s licensed child care programs, the number of licensed FCCHs decreased by 19%. Since the...

Lily Levin/Smoky Mountain News As you enter Chimney Rock, you will see bulldozers and construction workers and other visceral reminders of Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic impact. But as you absorb the village’s incredible landscape and people, you’ll notice shops newly reconstructed and others half-filled with merchandise, a proud proclamation of their...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily A long-simmering debate over who controls development in Brunswick County took a turn at a recent commissioners’ meeting, as a motion was put forward to strip the planning board of its final authority on major projects. During an Aug. 4 meeting and after a lengthy discussion...

Adam Wagner/WUNC Radio North Carolina regulators have formally denied a Mitchell County quarry’s effort to obtain a permit after it operated without one for months. Earlier this month, a Mitchell County Superior Court judge issued an injunction directing mine operator Horizon 30, LLC, to cease digging at the Carter Quarry...

Zachary Turner/WFAE Radio A contentious 2024 Hurricane Helene relief bill shifted the balance of power in the regulatory body that oversees Duke Energy’s carbon plan — giving Republicans greater influence over the commission. State Treasurer Brad Briner appointed commissioner Donald van der Vaart, a vocal proponent of fossil fuel expansion,...

Laura Leslie/WRAL News North Carolina state lawmakers didn’t take any votes at their scheduled work session Tuesday. The veto overrides that were on the House calendar for Tuesday will be rescheduled for September. No override votes were taken because some House and Senate Republicans were absent, and Republicans need all...

David Beasley/The Center Square The aircraft manufacturer that made a record job-creation commitment for a new plant at Piedmont Triad International Airport has informed the state that more than 2,000 of those jobs may be contractors rather than permanent employees. A state board approved that on Tuesday. JetZero Inc., a...

Regan Butler, Caleb Herrera & Alice Scott/The Daily Tar Heel  Without warning or departmental consultation, University facilities workers boarded up a student-created mural depicting Palestinian resilience, following orders from Chancellor Lee Roberts and Interim Provost Jim Dean. The artwork, which hung in the Hanes Art Center lobby for over a...

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online In the sadder, more gruesome labor of wildlife conservation, a new count of dead wildlife on the asphalt of two strips of highway within Alligator River Wildlife Refuge continues to reflect the merciless decimation of living creatures by vehicular traffic. A new report, “US 64 Roadkill...

Morgan Casey/CityView Community leaders opened the Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s 2025 State of the Community event with an optimistic picture of Fayetteville and Cumberland County’s economy. Fayetteville’s housing market is moving faster than other metropolitan areas in the state, David Zeitz, president of the Longleaf Pine Realtors, told about 600 attendees...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog In the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene’s destruction last year, business owners’ optimism about rebuilding ran high in Asheville, even in the face of the enormity of the task ahead. But 11 months later, that optimism has evolved into tempered determination for many, and a realization...

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...

Kim Jarrett/The Center Square  North Carolina far exceeded its projected revenues of $64 million in its first year of legal gaming, bringing in $116 million, a Georgia House committee studying the legalization of sports gaming in Georgia was told Monday. Former North Carolina Rep. Jason Saine touted the benefits legalized...