Mark Plemmons/The Independent Tribune Cabarrus Superior Court Judge Steven Warren granted a temporary restraining order preventing Lamarie Austin-Stripling from taking office until a suit against Cabarrus County Commissioners can be heard. The ruling was filed Wednesday afternoon. Austin-Stripling was appointed to replace Commissioner Chair Chris Measmer, who was appointed to...

Bill Moss/Hendersonville Lightning The Hendersonville City Council and City Manager John Connet say county commissioners pushed ahead to endorse a bill in the state Legislature to outlaw annexation-for-sewer even as negotiations were progressing — in the city’s point of view — to resolve the long-running conflict. In a letter it...

Kelly Kenoyer/WHQR For years, Black residents in Brunswick County have been left off of the public water system, forcing them to deal with lower-quality water from private wells. Now, as developments are popping up all around them, they’re standing up to demand access to county water. Barbara Clark-Hooper is a...

Greg Miller/Lloyd’s List When ships confront an obstacle — a congestion-clogged port, a drought-stricken canal, a militia-harried strait — they just sail around it. US port fees on Chinese vessels, when they begin in October, are just another hindrance to circumvent. Workarounds will be a burden for container lines, but...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio Zebulon Town Manager Gilbert Todd, left, and Assistant Town Manager Kellianne Williams resigned within days of each other. Todd says town commissioners told him to take “unethical” disciplinary action against Williams. The two top administrators of the fast-growing Wake County town of Zebulon resigned in the same...

Andrew R. Jones/Asheville Watchdog Nonprofit hospital system Novant Health cannot build a diagnostic center in South Asheville, the North Carolina health department has decided, saying that it would have duplicated services in the region. The March 28 decision from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of...

Stan Choe/The Associated Press Wall Street weakened Monday as investors worldwide get more skeptical about U.S. investments because of President Donald Trump’s trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve, which are shaking the traditional order. The S&P 500 sank 2.4% in another wipeout. That yanked the index that’s...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press For the state’s community health centers, like this one in Wilmington, it’s a challenge to cobble together enough funding to stay in business. For residents of rural North Carolina, quality health care can seem nonexistent. Let alone affordable. Now, one of the only options for...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Republican Jefferson Griffin is challenging the State Board of Elections’ plan to require only overseas voters from Guilford County to provide photo ID in order for their ballots to count in November’s race for a seat on the state Supreme Court. If the ID requirement is limited...

Jonathan Bym/The (Southern Pines) Pilot After nearly 25 years without adding a new 18-hole course into its scorecard, Pinehurst Resort announced Monday it will build its second full-scale course in just the past year. Pinehurst Course No. 11 will be located at the Pinehurst Sandmines location in Aberdeen, the same...

Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline On the week that North Carolina senators were busy rolling out a $32.6B spending plan, it was difficult to gain attention for legislation that some consider a longshot this session. But Senator Natalie Murdock (D-Chatham, Durham) refused to allow budget week to shift her focus from what...

Liz McLaughlin/WRAL News A hiker’s recent death along the Blue Ridge Parkway is raising new concerns about staffing shortfalls and public safety on one of the country’s most visited national park units. Jie Huang, 40, of Plymouth, North Carolina, died April 18 after falling into water near the Boone Fork...

Will Thomas/WTKR & The Outer Banks Voice The only way to get to Ocracoke is by boat or plane, with most people taking the hour-long or so ferry ride from Hatteras for free. North Carolina State Senators are now seeking to toll this route and all ferry routes in the...

WCHL Chapelboro Broadcaster Jim Lampley, who went to UNC and is a former WCHL staffer, returned to live in Chapel Hill after a long career of working at the height of sports television. His decades-long career spanning a variety of sports and major historical moments led to him embarking on...

Ben Humphries/Education NC The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission announced this month that it selected a record 530 teaching fellows for the 2025-26 academic year, continuing a trend of growth since the program was reinstated. The NC Teaching Fellows program originally ran from 1986 to 2015, when state funding for...