John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog While the City of Asheville has restored potable water to its 63,000 customers, it’s still struggling with high turbidity at its main reservoir, North Fork. Filtering that cloudy water remains a challenge, but major assistance is on the way this week in the form of a $39...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Since his election in 2022, Haywood County Commissioner Terry Ramey has been known for lying — about his delinquent taxes, about his votes, about being assaulted — but this time, his acquiescent appearance in a YouTube video that spread misinformation about the county’s powers to circumvent...

Chelsia Rose Marcius & Maria Cramer/The New York Times  A furious manhunt was underway in Manhattan after the head of one of the nation’s largest health insurers was gunned down on Wednesday morning in what the police called a “brazen targeted attack.” A gunman lay in wait for the executive...

Anne Blythe/NC Health News The growing season for many eastern North Carolina crops might be fallow right now, but that hasn’t stopped Margaret Sharp, a community impact director for the American Heart Association, and others from cultivating the seeds of a new healthcare program for farmworkers. Sharp, a Wayne County...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Two independent chemistry experts say lead could be more widespread in Asheville’s drinking water following Tropical Storm Helene than the city has suggested and both call for more public education and testing. Sally Wasileski, chair of the UNC Asheville chemistry department, and Abigail Cantor, a chemical engineer...

Jeff Brady/WUNC Radio The small town of Carrboro, North Carolina is suing one of the country’s largest electric utilities, Duke Energy, over climate change. While states and cities have filed lawsuits against big oil companies, suing utilities is less common. The arguments are similar though. Carrboro alleges Duke knew about...

Rebecca Noel/The Charlotte Observer Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ new attendance policy is allowing more leniency for students. Previously, if a CMS student missed 11 or more class periods, did not make up missed time or have a medical waiver, he or she would receive an automatic F in the course under the...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Charlotte Douglas International Airport is proposing more flight paths for departing aircraft, in order to disperse noise over a wider area. CLT currently has eight paths for departing aircraft — four to the north and four to the south. The airport is proposing that the Federal Aviation...

Gary D. Robertson/The Associated Press The very close election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat heads next to a hand recount even as election officials announced a machine recount of over 5.5 million ballots resulted in no margin change between the candidates. The statewide machine recount — in which...

Peter Castagno/Port City Daily Several local governments are considering expansive revisions to flood protection regulations after experiencing severe flooding in recent months. A controversial hurricane recovery bill, Senate Bill 382, contains a provision that could put a brake on those initiatives. General Statute 160D-601 allows municipalities to initiate downzoning amendments...

Paul Woolverton/CityView Power on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners took a major shift Monday night from the old guard to the new when newly elected Commissioner Kirk deViere defeated longtime Commissioner Marshall Faircloth in the election for chair of the board. The vote was 4-3 for deViere vs. Faircloth....

Jacob Biba/Asheville Citizen Times Unemployment rates rose sharply across Western North Carolina in October, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s monthly report released Nov. 27. The latest unemployment figures, which aren’t seasonally adjusted, provide another glimpse of the economic toll Tropical Storm Helene has taken when it ripped...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Two months after the first floor of their home beside Mountain Island Lake was filled with 4 feet of floodwaters, Robert and Linda Brown’s floor is still covered with a layer of mud, half an inch thick and cemented in place. The Browns have lived in...

Mebane Rash/Education NC On Nov. 19, 2024, in a statement posted on Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Linda McMahon, 76, to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education in his administration. His statement says she is a “fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights.” It says she will “fight tirelessly” to expand...

Jennifer Fernandez/NC Health News Whooping cough cases in North Carolina have risen sharply in 2024. There have been close to 600 reported cases — 6.4 times more than last year at this time. Nationally, cases are 4.8 times higher, federal data shows. The highly contagious respiratory illness tends to rise...