Erik Verduzco/The Associated Press Park ranger Jesse Anderson leads dozens of people on a weekly hike in North Carolina to see some of the most unique living things in the world — plants that supplement the nutrients they get from sunlight by digesting ants, flies and spiders. But the Venus...

Allen G. Breed/The Associated Press The brightly colored sign along the S-curve mountain road beckons visitors to the Gemstone Mine, the “#1 ATTRACTION IN CHIMNEY ROCK VILLAGE!” But another sign, on the shop’s mud-splattered front door, tells a different story. “We will be closed Thursday 9-26-2024 due to impending weather,”...

Brianna Atkinson/WUNC Radio Martin General Hospital closed in 2023, but a new state appropriation is set to reopen the facility as a Rural Emergency Hospital. A new state initiative for rural healthcare will help reopen a hospital in Martin County. The NC Care Hospital investment will provide $150 million to...

Peter Castagno/Port City Daily Emergency response, in particular fire service funding, was at the forefront of a county commissioner discussion after a wildfire triggered evacuations and a now-lifted state of emergency. Meanwhile, an advocacy group pushes the county for extended water access to reduce fire risk. After Potential Tropical Cyclone...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Darlene Fore is terrified. She’s a nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville: a hard, but stable, federal job. Last year, her family was devastated by Tropical Storm Helene. Now, as she reaches 60 years old, her job, and her retirement benefits, could...

WFAE Radio Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings on Sunday night disclosed the details of a $305,000 settlement agreement with the city and said he plans to retire at the end of the year. Charlotte City Council agreed to pay Jennings in a closed session vote last month, after the chief...

Tim Henderson/NC Newsline Like many moderate-income workers, public school teachers Julia and Scott Whitnall didn’t think they’d become homeowners in their early 30s. Especially in California. “We never felt homeownership was in our cards. But we did it!” Julia Whitnall said. “We’re extremely happy.” The couple moved May 16 to...

Paul Nielsen/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer A post-Helene budget crunch in Waynesville could force hard choices for the Downtown Waynesville Commission — to cancel some of its events or to axe planned downtown improvements. The town budget allocates $2,000 more for the Downtown Waynesville Commission next fiscal year compared to the current...

Jimmy Tomlin/The High Point Enterprise Did a controversial handgun carried by a High Point Police officer discharge accidentally two years ago, without the officer ever putting his hand on the trigger? The gun’s manufacturer says that’s impossible, but the recently retired officer — who was shot in the leg with...

Sydney Brainard/WCHL Chapelboro With every passing second, more and more of the North Carolina coast is eroding. Some of the most intensely affected coastal areas, like Rodanthe, where videos of homes pitching, heaving and crumbling into the sea have been going viral since 2020, have erosion rates as high as...

WFDD Radio The electric company Caudill’s in Kernersville, has released a statement after a fire destroyed its historic building on Saturday night. In reads, in part, “Last night, we experienced a heartbreaking total loss at Caudill Electric as our building went up in flames. Watching it burn was incredibly difficult...

Ely Portillo/WFAE Radio On Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson announced that Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown faces federal indictments on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stemming from allegedly fraudulent loan applications for COVID relief funds. According to...

Jennifer Berry Hawes & Mollie Simon/ProPublica When Hurricane Helene plowed over the Southeast last September, it caused more inland deaths than any hurricane in recorded history. The highest per capita death toll occurred in Yancey County, a rural expanse in the rugged Black Mountains of North Carolina devastated by flash...

WRAL News Memorial Day weekend continues to to be one of the most popular weekend for folks to hit the road and skies. This year, AAA forecasts a record 45.1 million people in the U.S. will travel at least 50 miles from home during the five days of the long...

Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline The firm that will run North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene recovery program in the western mountains, as it sought to win the critical contract, described itself as the only one up to the task. “Only the HORNE Team has the system, expertise, and experience required to deliver this...