Rickie Houston/WilmingtonBiz The New Hanover County Airport Authority this week approved $78 million worth of work on a project at Wilmington International Airport (ILM) and adopted the airport’s $94 million budget for fiscal year 2026. The $78 million is for phase 2 of the airport’s road, curb and parking garage...

Eric Olson/The Associated Press Conference commissioners lauded a judge’s approval of a $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement as a means for bringing stability and fairness to an out-of-control college athletics industry but acknowledged there would be growing pains in implementing its terms. In a 30-minute virtual news conference Monday, commissioners...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio In addition to the potential federal funding cuts that public broadcasters across the country are facing, PBS North Carolina could also lose a big chunk of its state funding this year. The Senate budget would slash $4 million of the roughly $10 million the TV network receives...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press In April, Attorney General Jeff Jackson stood shoulder to shoulder with local law enforcement outside the Haywood County courthouse to launch Safe to Rebuild, an effort to fight looting of property and contractor fraud amid Tropical Storm Helene reconstruction. The gesture, Jackson told Carolina Public Press,...

WRAL News North Carolina’s car insurance rates will increase by an average of 5% statewide, according to the Department of Insurance. The increase will take effect on new and renewed policies on and after Oct. 1, according to the state. The 5% increase is far less — 17.6% — than...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Thousands of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees could see a pay raise in July. The proposal would be funded by recently approved Mecklenburg County funding. The proposed raise is the second phase of an overhaul in CMS’ compensation for nonteaching staff such as bus drivers, custodians, maintenance workers and...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Only five months since inception and three this fiscal year topped the tax proceeds from sports wagering in May, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reported Monday morning. Eight licensed sports books produced $11,740,881 for state coffers. Sports wagering since inception has averaged $347,921 per day....

Kip Tabb/Outer Banks Voice Dare County Health and Human Services Director Sheila Davies introduced the resolution opposing offshore drilling. After learning that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is considering opening the waters of the East Coast to offshore drilling for gas and oil, the Dare County Commissioners unanimously...

Diana Matthews/The (Whiteville) News Reporter The Lake Waccamaw Town Council could vote Tuesday on a budget that would raise residents’ property tax rate 36% from what they are now paying. It would be the second hike in the rate since 2023. Water and sewer rates would rise as well. Citing...

Anne Vilen/Education NC When calamity strikes, as it often has in the Appalachian community of Swannanoa, North Carolina, the “proud, fierce, and maybe a little crazy” working folks who live in the valley along the Swannanoa River “get up off their knees and get to fix’n the problem together,” says...

Liz Biro/Coastal Review Online Every summer, the women of Ocean City Beach organized crabbing trips to Topsail Island’s north end. On a waxing moon, when the tide was exactly right, moms and their kids skimmed the saltwater shallows hunting blue crabs, as many as they could carry. The fat jimmies...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Hunger and a lack of access to healthy food continues to plague parts of Western North Carolina, eight months since Tropical Storm Helene tore through the mountains. The storm ripped apart bridges, roads and farmland. Even now, some cannot easily access grocery stores — the...

Laura Sullivan/WFAE Radio When Shalana Jordan finally arrived at her parents’ trailer home in Swannanoa, N.C., alongside the river, she paused and let out a long sigh. The building was ripped open on one end, all the furniture was smashed up against the other end and a black pickup truck...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer So far, 71 flood victims in Haywood County are seeking a buyout of their damaged homes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, leaving a patchwork of vacant property across the county in Helene’s wake. The number doesn’t include dozens more contemplating a buyout but still deciding....

Kevin Griffin/The (Greensboro) News & Record Greensboro Councilman Zack Matheny received support from his colleagues as he faced insults and claims of conflict of interests and ethical violations at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Matheny has long been the subject of scrutiny over his dual role as both an elected official...