Helen Chickering/Blue Ridge Public Radio A key corridor in Asheville is back in service as of Friday afternoon, as Swannanoa River Road (N.C. 81) reopened between Biltmore Avenue and Bleachery Boulevard. The reopening follows six months of cleanup, restoration and construction after Hurricane Helene flooded the Swannanoa River and destroyed...

Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press More than 61,000 voters challenged by NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin have 15 business days to prove their eligibility, or have their ballots removed from the count in Griffin’s 2024 bid to unseat Justice Allison Riggs, according to a Friday ruling from a three-judge panel...

Brian Shrader/WRAL News For decades, Johnston County didn’t look all that different from other parts of rural North Carolina. It relied heavily on agriculture and other industries that started to crater at the end of the 20th century. “We really took it on the chin in the mid 90s with...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Special-use permits are on the chopping block as Wilmington city council and staff feedback favors conditional zonings instead. However, the planning commission has chosen to go through another month of analysis before it issues any recommendation. Aside from the approval of two Kerr Avenue developments —...

Jack Evans/Asheville Watchdog A series of deals between federal and state agencies, finalized last week, will allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to mine rock on more than 600 acres of the Pisgah National Forest as part of its efforts to rebuild I-40 along the Pigeon River Gorge. The...

Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Lindsi Franklin’s son, Isaac, was 9 years old in June 2024 when doctors found an abscess in his stomach and a section of diseased bowel. He was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s disease — Isaac’s immune system had decided that his own intestines were an enemy. Franklin’s...

Mebane Rash/Education NC The U.S. Department of Education said in a press release Thursday that it is requiring K-12 school districts and state departments of education to certify compliance with federal civil rights law within 10 days as a condition of receiving federal dollars. The press release specifically requests certification...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio North Carolina Forest Service crews work to dig a fire line near Holbert Cove road on March 26, 2025. Trees blown down by Hurricane Helene impeded hundreds of firefighters working to control wildfires that burned thousands of acres throughout the Carolinas last month. And...

Paul Nielsen/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer People were so ready to use the Depot Street bridge that two cars drove around “street closed” signs as Waynesville officials were preparing for a ribbon cutting Friday morning to officially reopen the vital link into downtown. That meant that a car driven by Mayor Gary...

Pat Kimbrough/The High Point Enterprise Southside residents gave city leaders an earful Thursday night over concerns about water quality, gentrification and other issues in their neighborhood. They reported discolored water coming out of the faucets in their homes and fears of industrial pollution in Richland Creek, which runs through the...

Collin Binkley, Annie Ma & Makiya Seminera/The Associated Press A crackdown on foreign students is alarming colleges, who say the Trump administration is using new tactics and vague justifications to push some students out of the country. College officials worry the new approach will keep foreigners from wanting to study...

Stan Choe/The Associated Press Wall Street shuddered, and a level of shock unseen since COVID’s outbreak tore through financial markets worldwide Thursday on worries about the damage President Donald Trump’s newest set of tariffs could do to economies across continents, including his own. The S&P 500 sank 4.8%, more than...

James Farrell/WUNC Radio The North Carolina State Board of Education members said Wednesday that they still have reservations about a state pilot program that gives grants to a company that uses a video game to teach kids science, technology, engineering and math concepts. Plasma Games develops a science-fiction-themed video game...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News One in 10 North Carolina teachers quit from 2023 to 2024 – 9.9% – according to the State of the Teaching Profession report released Wednesday afternoon. It’s a slight improvement from the previous report and continues to reflect a change in the state’s teacher workforce, with more...

Peter Castagno/Port City Daily Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) introduced a bill directing state regulators to adopt industrial PFAS discharge limits and safe drinking water standards. Environmentalist groups that previously criticized the local senator’s PFAS legislative record broadly expressed support for his new legislation. Sen. Michael Lee introduced SB 666...