Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Protection of access to care for Medicare beneficiaries, particularly in rural and underserved areas, has drawn a proposal from a North Carolina congressman in part combatting a 2024 rule finalization from the Biden administration. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in November finalized the rule...

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News With President Donald Trump back in power, a Republican-led push for work requirements for Medicaid is gaining momentum. In recent days, Republican governors in South Carolina, Arkansas and Ohio have sought permission from the federal government to kick jobless beneficiaries off their states’ rolls. Russell T....

Caroline Parker/Education NC Four schools took on so much damage during Hurricane Helene that their students needed to relocate. Some temporarily, some permanently. Public schools in Henderson, McDowell, Watauga, and Yancey counties had to pivot once students returned after the storm. Here are updates on those buildings from the superintendents...

Rusty Jacobs/WUNC Radio Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin is getting financial help from fellow Court of Appeals judge Tom Murry in his legal battle to win a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. That contribution raises ethical questions the state’s judicial code of conduct does not clearly answer. In November,...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Asheville’s Mission Health has been trying to help the city recover in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene. But medical staff and state officials have not softened their stance toward the beleaguered hospital. New North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, for one, is not backing...

Richard Stradling/The (Raleigh) News & Observer Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s governing board held a meeting Wednesday to hear ideas for redeveloping part of Lake Crabtree County Park. Instead, for more than 3 1/2 hours, the board mostly heard why people think the park should remain as it is. RDU is looking...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Work to remove tree trunks, stumps and natural debris strewn in creeks and rivers by Fred flooding in 2021 had finally gotten underway — but was abruptly put on pause after Helene hit That’s because the federal funding awarded to Haywood County to remove Fred debris...

Marshall Terry/WFAE Radio This week The Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter focused its attention on East Charlotte, which is undergoing tremendous change. At the heart of it is Eastland Yards, an 80-acre mixed-use development on the former Eastland Mall site. The Charlotte Ledger’s Tony Mecia joins me now for more. Marshall...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online The nation’s burgeoning offshore wind energy industry has created thousands of jobs, boosted work in shipyards and ports, and includes a supply chain that spans 40 states, according to a new report. Billions of dollars have been invested in things like new and retrofitted vessels for...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education voted against a policy change that would have allowed the district to hire applicants who test positive for cannabis. The district’s current policy states that candidates with positive drug tests would not be eligible for employment for six months. If they...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro  After nearly four years of negotiations and planning, a major acquisition of land in Hillsborough officially added more than 200 acres and a popular historical attraction to the Eno River State Park. The North Carolina State Parks system announced Tuesday that property, including the Historic Occoneechee Speedway...

Chris Megerian, Zeke Miller & Lisa Mascaro/The Associated Press President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal loans and grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country. The memo, which was issued Monday by the Office...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ fourth-grade reading scores were higher than the average for large urban districts across the country, and around average for eighth graders, according to the latest Nation’s Report Card, the results of federal assessments administered by the National Center for Education. But overall, reading scores have...

Rose Hoban/NC Health News At 10 a.m. today, when a Senate committee is scheduled to begin the first confirmation hearing for Robert F Kennedy Jr., the president’s choice to take charge of the country’s health and well-being, many in North Carolina’s health care and public health communities will be paying...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio In the final weeks of his unsuccessful campaign for governor, then-Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson struggled to raise money, while spending much of his remaining funds on campaign consultants, legal bills and parties. Campaign finance reports for the final quarter of 2024, released this month, provide new information...