Jacob Biba/Asheville Citizen Times The Buncombe County Democratic Party has tapped an environmental advocate, volunteer firefighter and community organizer to fill an open seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. At a Dec. 18 special election held at party headquarters in East Asheville, Drew Ball beat out nine other...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online Dr. Jordan Poler did not want to create an environmental problem by trying to solve one. More than a decade ago, the University of North Carolina Charlotte professor decided to focus on chemistry that could be both sustainable and have minimum impact on the environment. He...

Rachel Crumpler/NC Health News Ninety-five percent of incarcerated people in North Carolina will eventually be released back into the community — roughly 18,000 people return home each year from state prisons and thousands more from county jails. It’s a day that people yearn for, but also a day met with...

Julian Berger/WFAE Radio A center aimed at expanding job opportunities for people in east Charlotte has raised $5.5 million of its $20 million goal to help get its work started. Spark Centro, run by Charlotte’s Latin American Chamber of Commerce, will house nonprofits focused on workforce development, entrepreneurship training and...

Abigail Celoria/WUNC Radio Back in July, Gov. Roy Cooper and the Department of Health and Human Services announced a plan to relieve medical debt for North Carolinians. In exchange for federal funding, North Carolina hospitals would agree to forgive eligible medical debt, set new standards for charity care, and limit...

Joe Bruno/WSOC News Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles told Channel 9 she is undecided on whether she will run for re-election in 2025. Lyles has been mayor since 2017. Filing for Charlotte City Council and the mayoral election is in July. “I have not made (a decision),” Lyles said. “Come down...

Lilly Knoepp/Blue Ridge Public Radio   While disaster workers were still carving out roads in washed away mountainsides after Hurricane Helene, some national publications focused instead on misinformation swirling in the communication-less region. Many stories focused on rumors that the federal government sent the hurricane to the mountains to steal...

The Associated Press President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan Wednesday to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown, instead telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate — days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. Trump’s sudden entrance into the debate and new demands sent Congress...

Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press As long as there are elections, there will be lawsuits — and in many cases, election protests. This is true particularly in North Carolina, a swing state where “margins matter,” Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper said. “North Carolina is often ground zero for...

Jennifer Fernandez/NC Health News Child advocates want the North Carolina General Assembly to regulate the sale of intoxicating cannabis products, many of which are packaged to look like popular candy and snacks. They argue that products with tetrahydrocannabinol — or THC, the psychoactive compound that creates the “high” from cannabis...

 Paul Nielsen/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Waynesville’s town council has delayed a vote on tougher building standards in flood-prone areas, as they ponder whether the measures would be too great a burden for hundreds of property owners in the 100- and 500-year flood plains. The proposed measures aim to protect homeowners from...

Evey Weisblat/CityView North Carolina researchers have confirmed that GenX and other PFAS have contaminated not just the water, but also the fruits and vegetables grown near the Fayetteville Works Plant. The goal of the study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, was to determine the extent to...

Shea Carver/Port City Daily Wilmington-area performer Madonna Nash apologized publicly to Edward Teach Brewery owner Gary Sholar and its employees, after defamation charges were dropped against her. The apology appeared on her personal social media page, shared by the brewery’s business page as well. “I take full responsibility for the...

WFAE Radio North Carolina’s next huge storm could feature relief delivered by drone. According to a news release, the state Department of Transportation will develop a program that places drones in communities ahead of a big storm. After the storm hits, emergency responders will launch the drones into the wreckage...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro   As six people were set to be tried in court last Friday over their participation in the pro-Palestine encampment on UNC’s campus this spring, each saw their cases dismissed. Orange County District Court Judge Samantha Cabe allowed the dismissal of one demonstrator’s case from among those...