Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & Charlotte Ledger As Atrium Health continues its push to join forces with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, its leaders have repeatedly pointed to another North Carolina deal as evidence of what to expect: its 2020 combination with Winston-Salem-based Wake Forest Baptist. “Don’t judge us by...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice  On the morning of Monday, Aug. 24, State Senator Bobby Hanig announced he has retired from that post. The decision comes a few months in advance of his term expiring on Jan. 1, 2027. In his statement, Hanig thanked his constituents for “allowing me the honor...

Frank Daniels IV/The Southern Pines Pilot A resolution formalized Whispering Pines residents’ stance against commercial air service at the Moore County Airport. Months of meetings and two surveys culminated during the Whispering Pines Village Council meeting Monday in a presentation from residents Bill Bruton and Kurt Thompson. The two provided...

Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog Bus riders like John Rowe illustrate the tension between building ridership and providing broad coverage that all transit networks must address — and that has stymied the Asheville City Council. It was set to vote Tuesday on a plan aimed at boosting the efficiency of Asheville Rides...

Laura Hackett/BPR News Asheville may soon join the growing list of communities, including the towns of Hillsborough and Pittsboro, that are canceling contracts with Flock. On Tuesday, Asheville City Council will vote on a resolution that would force an early termination of the police department’s contract with the Atlanta-based company...

Paul B. Johnson/The High Point Enterprise The Guilford County Republican Party has replaced its at-large candidate for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners after the initial candidate withdrew from the race because of personal matters limiting his campaigning. The executive committee of the party chose Michael Perdue to replace Tony...

Sophia DePhillips/Port City Daily The Pender County GOP has tallied its executive committee to decide who should fulfill Brad George’s seat on the Pender County Board of Commissioners. The recommendation, now to be taken up by commissioners, came down to one vote. Pender County Board of Education member Beth Burns...

Molly Steur/Education NC The Innovation Project (TIP) and Modern Classrooms Project (MCP) have launched the first cohort of their statewide partnership, which aims to “accelerate student-centered learning aligned with high-quality math curriculum in North Carolina.” According to a recent press release, three districts will participate in MCP’s two-year Math Mentorship...

Rachel Heimann Mercader/CityView After months of public frustration and lingering questions about transparency, the Spring Lake Board of Commissioners voted Monday to appoint interim Town Manager Dennis English as the town’s next permanent manager. The vote followed a public forum where residents submitted written questions in advance. Only five were...

Liz Schlemmer & Eli Chen/WUNC News Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ Board of Education took one step Thursday night in a larger plan to rezone students from across the district. District officials say this process is an effort to “rightsize” its schools due to falling enrollment. What did the school board...

Cindy Bae/WTVD Despite historically low unemployment and jobless claims, some North Carolina workers say finding a new job remains difficult as employers remain cautious about hiring. Denise Shipman said the job search process has become more challenging. “It’s not good,” Shipman said. “The way everything is set up now …...

Morgan Casey/The Assembly The farmworkers who plant and harvest thousands of acres of cotton for Z.V. Pate, Inc. are always looking for signs of trouble. Since the crop sprouted in May, they have regularly scanned plants at the edges of the company’s fields in North Carolina and South Carolina for...

Rebecca Noel/The Charlotte Observer Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education member Charlitta Hatch will ask to release the findings of the investigation into Superintendent Crystal Hill at Tuesday’s board meeting, she told The Charlotte Observer. The board placed Hill on paid leave June 17 and launched an investigation into “matters involving administrative...

Cierra Noffke/WilmingtonBiz Community members and health system officials gathered in the Arboretum Education Center Thursday for a public hearing on competing applications from three major healthcare providers vying for acute care beds in New Hanover County. In June, Atrium Health, Novant Health and UNC Health submitted proposals to the state...

Thomas Lester/Furniture Today Top 100 retailer Broad River Retail will open an Ashley 7.0 store in Orangeburg, S.C., in time for Black Friday. The Fort Mill, S.C.-based retailer, which owns and operates Ashley stores in the Carolinas, northeast Georgia, the Pacific Northwest and Maine, purchased a former ACE Hardware location...