April Laissle/WFDD Radio Forsyth County is seeking clarity from the North Carolina General Assembly about whether adopted siblings can legally marry each other. The issue was included in its list of legislative priorities, which the county submits to its lobbyist for advocacy at the state level. This year, there were...

Brian Gordon/The (Raleigh) News & Observer FHI 360, a global research nonprofit headquartered in downtown Durham, announced more indefinite furloughs Monday, citing continued frozen payments from the U.S. Agency for International Development. After furloughing a third of its U.S. staff in February, the organization said 45% of its domestic workforce...

Daniel Sheehan/Wilmington StarNews The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement project was slated to have a big year in 2025. Last year, the project made headway when three design alternatives were proposed following a preservation project to extend the life of the current bridge. The project was awarded a $242 million...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer N.C. Rep. Mark Pless is carrying the ball for five Maggie Valley property owners who feel they are unfairly subjected to town taxes or zoning rules. Pless has filed a bill that would remove eight parcels from the town limits, which would collectively save the five...

Will Hofmann/Asheville Citizen Times Despite a natural disaster, two Western North Carolina national park sites remained among the most visited in the country in 2024, though a March 5 National Park Service memo indicated the Trump administration wishes to obscure information relevant to the number of visitors. While major sections...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: What measures are they taking to control the resuspension of sediment from the tributaries flowing into the North Fork reservoir? Some background: the mountainous area around the reservoir experienced severe erosion, including landslides, that resulted...

Moss Brennan/The Watauga Democrat Former Watauga County Schools Superintendent Scott Elliott has taken on a new role to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. Elliott will serve as the deputy director for engagement for the newly formed Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) and work with agencies...

Ashley Belanger/ARS Technica Donald Trump’s sudden decision last week to attack the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act after he previously offered assurances that he wouldn’t has sent shockwaves across the industry and has even given some Republicans whiplash. Soon after Trump told Congress that the CHIPS Act is a “horrible,...

Chantal Brown/Education NC The North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation has brought on a new chief advancement officer. The foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is meant to support the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). Its board stewards the endowment, raises awareness and funds to develop and advance the...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio A Trump Cabinet official says the Department of Housing and Urban Development will not approve Asheville’s proposed plan for $225 million in disaster recovery if that spending plan includes programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote that “DEI is dead...

Port City Daily The planning board in neighboring Brunswick County will take up multiple projects Monday. Around 600 units — a mixture of single-family homes and townhomes — are being proposed from Holden Beach to Ocean Isle, Bolivia to Supply. Another 2,500 units, already approved in September, are requesting to...

Stan Choe/The Associated Press The U.S. stock market’s sell-off cut deeper on Monday as Wall Street questioned how much pain President Donald Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to get what he wants. The S&P 500 dropped 2.7% to drag it close to...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Who gets to claim the title of American Indian? That is the question at the center of a fight over potential federal recognition for the indigenous Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. For more than a century, the Lumbee — with a claimed membership of 60,000 people...

Brian Murphy/WRAL News North Carolina bettors wagered more than $6.1 billion in paid wagers and almost $500 million more in free or promotional bets in the first 12 months that online sports betting has been legal in the state. Sports betting launched on March 11, 2024. The North Carolina Lottery...

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline State employees are criticizing plans to make their health insurance more expensive, saying options officials are considering will hurt hiring and recruitment efforts and tarnish a benefit of working for the state. The State Health Plan spends more money than it takes in. Its Board of Trustees...