Aaron Sánchez-Guerra/WUNC Radio North Carolina is home to more than half a million people of Mexican origin, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. The Consulate of Mexico in Raleigh is tasked with serving thousands of them annually across the Carolinas and surrounding states. WUNC sat down with Roberto Burgos, the...

Christopher Milller/The (Concord) Independent Tribune As Cabarrus County continues to see its population increase — it is among the fastest growing counties in the state — so too does Concord-Padgett Regional Airport. Just in the past year, the airport, located at 7435 Zephyr Place NW, Concord, formed a partnership with...

Ben Humphries/EducationNC At a press conference on Wednesday, lawmakers and advocates unveiled a bill to restrict youth vaping in North Carolina. The bill would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco in North Carolina from 18 to 21. Federally, the required age has been 21 since 2019. It would also...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Amid commissioner budget discussions on Thursday, county manager Chris Coudriet confirmed progress on the Northside Food Co-op’s grocery store, planned for 10th and Post streets, has been halted at least temporarily. After a question about a hold on the store from Chair Bill Rivenbark, Coudriet told...

Kathy N. Ross/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Almost six months after Hurricane Helene, work will soon begin to start removing flood debris from the Pigeon River. The first phase will focus on removing debris that could pose a hazard to public structures, particularly bridges. An initial 22 sites have been identified, all...

Alice Scott/The Daily Tar Heel The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, Emancipate North Carolina and Muslim Advocates filed a lawsuit against UNC last week, accusing the University of violating the rights of the students and non-students involved in the pro-Palestine encampment on campus last spring. “We hope that...

Matthew Daly/The Associated Press The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees who help provide the scientific foundation for rules safeguarding human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other...

Ahmed Jallow/NC Newsline When 17-year-old Leon Gu died by suicide in 2020, his parents were shocked to learn they had been in the dark about an academic integrity issue he was facing at Wake Tech Community College, where he was dually enrolled. Dual enrollment allows high school students to take...

Anna Pogarcic/Education NC After the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees voted to allow salary-based premiums earlier this year, Board members recently began discussing what possible changes to the plan could look like. According to the Board, the State Health Plan is facing a $507 million deficit that could grow...

Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Rob Crane watched his father struggle with lung cancer for months before he died in his mid-60s. It was “really horrendous,” Crane said. As a doctor specializing in family medicine, Crane was inspired by that experience to start raising awareness about the effects of tobacco addiction....

Brian Murphy/WRAL News North Carolina and NC State played for the first time in football in 1894. They first clashed in men’s basketball in 1913. Under a new bill filed Thursday in the North Carolina House, the longtime Atlantic Coast Conference rivals would be required to play each other annually...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News The Town of Canton is about to receive a huge economic development boost after Rep. Chuck Edwards announced a $41 million appropriation from a Biden-era water resources program. “Our infrastructure is aged. It’s old. It’s falling apart,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. “This is historic, one...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online   A deal between Southport to sell hundreds of acres of land to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission remains on the table after elected officials there recently agreed to extend the city’s contract deadline with the state agency. Following what was, at times, a contentious...

Evey Weisblat/CityView  The Fayetteville Public Works Commission is unable to access more than $80 million in federal funding the utility was previously awarded for electric, water and wastewater infrastructure projects. The grants and low-interest loans became inaccessible following President Donald Trump’s executive orders and directives PWC said in its annual...

Daniel Sheehan/Wilmington StarNews Brunswick County residents are teaming up with an international human rights organization to advocate for access to clean water in historically Black neighborhoods. Several residents from historically Black neighborhoods of Brunswick County attended the board of commissioners meeting on Monday, March 17, to express concern about lack...