Sally Kestin/Asheville Watchdog The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved and paid more than $63 million to residents of Buncombe County in housing and financial assistance for Tropical Storm Helene. FEMA had paid a total of nearly $174 million in North Carolina as of Oct. 26, one month into the...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Retail outlets in East Asheville, from big box stores like Walmart to specialty tourist destinations like Antique Tobacco Barn, are struggling to return to normal after Tropical Storm Helene ravaged the area in late September. Retail locations that remain closed for an extended time not...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and the majority of the Charlotte City Council voted last week to “end” the employment of the city attorney, Patrick Baker, according to a memo obtained by WFAE and people familiar with the matter. The memo does not disclose the reason for Lyles’...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio A claim that the Helene death toll in Buncombe County is more than three times higher than state officials are reporting has gone viral over the last week. But, after a thorough fact-check, BPR News has found plenty of evidence the claim is not...

David Klepper/The Associated Press Russia has helped amplify and spread false and misleading internet claims about recent hurricanes in the United States and the federal government’s response, part of a wider effort by the Kremlin to manipulate America’s political discourse before the presidential election, new research shows. The content, spread...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Lost in the aftermath of the damage Hurricane Helene dealt to Canton is the fact that when the storm hit on Sept. 27, the town still hadn’t fully recovered from deadly flooding in 2021. But on Oct. 24, Mayor Zeb Smathers and Canton’s governing board approved...

Aaron Sánchez-Guerra/WUNC Radio The largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River is heading to the polls and could make a decisive impact in North Carolina’s 2024 election. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina of approximately 55,000 members reside in their ancestral homeland of Robeson County as well as...

Peter Castagno/Port City Daily Access to clean water remains a chief issue for Pender County residents as leaders agreed to carry out a $400,000 study to determine the best methods for limiting PFAS pollution. Pender County Commissioners unanimously approved a $400,000 contract with Cary-based engineering firm WithersRavenel at the Monday...

Madison Lipe/Wilmington StarNews The New Hanover Board of Education, school district staff and county staff have been discussing ways to fund much needed expansions, renovations or even new school buildings. As New Hanover school district leaders discuss renovations, expansions and possibly new school buildings, they’re grappling with which needs to...

Outer Banks Voice In his weekly newsletter released on Friday, Oct. 25, State Senator Bobby Hanig addressed the continuing deadlock over re-instating Jockey’s Ridge State Park as an Area of Environmental Concern and stated his intent to get legislative approval in the upcoming session. “It’s been frustrating to see the...

John Boyle/The Asheville Watchdog The floodwaters rose so fast at Thanh Bui’s house the morning of Sept. 27, she had to swim to safety. Bui, 55, and her 30-year-old son, Quintin Ho, had been up much of the night, monitoring the howling winds and rainfall of Tropical Storm Helene. Ho...

Gareth McGrath/USA Today Network Pender County has passed a resolution asking for a moratorium on new shellfish farms in its coastal waters. Onslow County has approved a similar request. Both counties say it’s unfair that shellfish farms can be established in their waters, but not in neighboring counties like New...

Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynewsville) Mountaineer A lawsuit over the stalled sale of the Canton paper mill following the flood has not deterred the prospective buyer, Eric Spirtas, who claims the delay was due in part to Pactiv Evergreen’s refusal to provide proof of insurance. “If they had insurance policies, you would...

Rusty Jacobs/WUNC Radio Litigation and elections in North Carolina go hand in hand. And in the days and weeks after this election, it seems very possible that trend will continue — even, potentially, with the fate of the race for U.S. president at stake. Court battles over redistricting in North...

Grace Vitaglione/NC Health News Carol Moore has always had “a heart for seniors.” When she was a teenager, she took care of her grandmother. Then she looked after her mother in law who had rheumatoid arthritis. Now a senior herself at 73, she said her peers are often “overlooked.” Moore...