Ryan Oehrli/The Charlotte Observer County Sheriff Garry McFadden disparaged staff members and said he would never trust them, an audio recording obtained by The Charlotte Observer shows. “I said, let me tell you this. I’ll tell you this in front of Chief White and Chief Collins: I will never, ever...

Connor Smith/WECT After 25 years in the Wilmington Police Department, Mike Fanta says it only took a couple of months for him to realize working under Chief Donny Williams wasn’t sustainable. These days, Fanta doesn’t hold back when talking about his former boss, someone he says manages like a dictator....

Brianna Atkinson/WUNC Radio Two of the state’s private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are partnering with Duke University to increase representation in the medical field. Students from Bennett College, a women’s-only institution in Greensboro, and Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh will participate in a 15-month intensive program to study...

Alexa Wandersee/Port City Daily New Hanover County leadership is on the books for a meeting with state board of elections staff — though not until after Thanksgiving — to address concerns over thousands of uncounted ballots holding up official election results in two county races. Originally, it was expected there...

Rylee Wilson/Becker’s Payer Issues CVS Health’s new CEO is prepared to make “hard choices” to turn around Aetna’s performance. On a Nov. 6 earnings call, transcribed by Seeking Alpha, CVS CEO David Joyner said benefit design and price changes in Medicare Advantage are one example of necessary actions to improve...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Two days after Haywood Chamber President and CEO David Francis announced the creation of a small business grant recovery program for businesses impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Haywood County Tourism Development authority jumped on board — in a big way — while tempering its own expectations...

Rusty Jacobs/WUNC Radio Just four years ago, a race for the North Carolina Supreme Court came down to a little more than 400 votes. Ultimately, after recounts failed to alter the outcome, Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, the Democratic incumbent, conceded defeat to Republican Paul Newby. Now, the outcome in this...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press One week after Tropical Storm Helene hit Western North Carolina, Asheville resident Sonya Lynn woke up with stomach cramps that she could only compare to going into labor. “The cramps woke me out of a dead sleep,” Lynn told Carolina Public Press. “I started noticing...

Hannah Vinueza McClellan/Education NC Superintendent-elect Maurice “Mo” Green gave his first press conference on Wednesday following his victory, sharing plans for how he will support the state’s more than 2,500 public schools and lead the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) when he takes office in January. Green, the Democratic candidate,...

Alexandria Sands/Axios Charlotte The Mecklenburg County Democratic Party executive director resigned effective immediately Wednesday, comparing her experience at the organization to that of “professional Black women during the Jim Crow era,” according to an internal letter obtained by Axios. The resignation came a day after Vice President Harris lost the...

N.C. Health News Even as former President Donald Trump coasted to victory in North Carolina, Democrats maintained control of the governor’s office: Voters cast 160,000 more votes for state Attorney General Josh Stein in his successful gubernatorial campaign than the Republican presidential candidate received. This contrast at the top of...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News A state-mandated countywide property reappraisal that was nearly complete and slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, has been shelved by Haywood County commissioners until Jan. 1, 2027, due in large part to property damage incurred during Hurricane Helene. “Pushing this reappraisal back is going...

Tiana Kennell/Asheville Citizen Times On Nov. 1, Wicked Weed Brewing’s staff for its sour and barrel-aged beer-focused Funkatorium brewpub and adjoining Cultura restaurant at 147 Coxe Ave., were called by management to the South Slope property for a mandatory meeting that ended with most of the service industry workers unemployed....

Moss Brennan/The Watauga Democrat A little more than a month after the remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed into the High Country, local assessments show just how much damage it left in its wake. According to Watauga County Emergency Services, 1,135 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Of those, 118 were destroyed,...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice In an election that proved to be a good one for local Republicans and incumbents, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that when the votes are counted, Dare County reliably and almost uniformly breaks about 60-40 for the GOP. All told, a little more than 25,000 votes...