Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released school performance data the first week of September. The state saw a slight decrease in “D” and “F” school grades this year. But even in celebrating that trend, state education officials made a point to talk about the issues...

Dan Kane/The (Raleigh) News & Observer A dredging company launched with $15 million in state money must cease its work in the Oregon and Hatteras inlets after digging deeper and wider than permits allowed hundreds of times, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday. EJE Dredging Service is led...

Will Atwater/NC Health News The Northern Red Cardinal has worn the crown as North Carolina’s official bird for eight decades, but judging by the numbers in a new report, another bird is king. In 2022 state poultry operations “housed”nearly 357 million chickens and turkeys, up from 250 million in 2007,...

Susan Spear/The Greensboro News & Record In the early 1990s, Ryan Routh looked like a blonde crooner from the Beach Boys. He appeared to be a preppy, congenial, “normal’’ guy with a successful business, said a retired Greensboro Police Department officer who had more than 100 encounters with Routh over...

Will Doran/WRAL News Lawyers for churches and schools from all around North Carolina are working together at the N.C. Supreme Court, seeking to undo a recent law that made it easier for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue. The state government has come down on the side of the...

Laura Browne/Education NC Educators, elected officials, and other stakeholders gathered in Raleigh last week to discuss diverse viewpoints regarding the use of cellphones in schools. The convening, hosted by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation on Sept. 12, focused on making policies to regulate phone use rather than a total...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro The Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an incentives deal for Morinaga America Foods on Tuesday night, a final piece of the puzzle to help advance the Japanese company’s major expansion planned for Mebane. Board members approved more than $2.9 million in tax incentives for the...

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline There’s a legal fight going on over whether UNC Chapel-Hill digital IDs that live on student, staff and faculty phones are legitimate IDs that can be used for voting. Democrats say they are. Republicans say they aren’t. The North Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Committee...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio Buncombe County’s tax assessor R. Keith Miller was fired Tuesday, two weeks after attempting to retire. The unanimous vote to remove Miller came amid allegations from county leaders that he violated government rules when he purchased a beach property in Hilton Head, S.C., with an...

Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online While potential tropical cyclone No. 8 was moving across the Carolinas Tuesday, parts of central and southeastern North Carolina was dealing with the aftermath — historic rainfall, road washouts and flash flooding. National Weather Service forecasters began tracking the low-pressure system off the coast of the...

Gary D. Robertson/The Associated Press A North Carolina appeals court on Tuesday overturned a former county sheriff’s fraud and obstruction convictions, declaring allegations related to falsifying his firearms training requirements didn’t meet the necessary elements for those crimes. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals vacated the convictions against...

Marshall Terry/WFAE Radio It’s time now for a fact-check of North Carolina politics. Immigration and border security have taken center stage in this year’s election with Republican candidates criticizing the border policy of President Joe Biden and Democrats. Though North Carolina is about 1,000 miles from the southern border, some...

Josh Sullivan/WUNC Radio Raleigh’s City Council voted in favor of partially closing South Street and Lenoir Street in order to move forward with the expansion of the beloved amphitheater on Tuesday. Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said that the primary reason for her yes vote was the need for positive foot traffic...

Katie Peralta Soloff & Zachery Eanes/Axios Raleigh At some prominent North Carolina universities — UNC Charlotte and Duke, for instance — the share of Black and Hispanic first-year students rose this year, bucking a trend at other well-known institutions like UNC-Chapel Hill. Why it matters: A year after the Supreme...

Gwendolyn Glenn/WFAE Radio North Carolina A&T State University received an increase of 12,000 enrollment applications this year compared to a year ago. This follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling banning affirmative action in admissions decisions. Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that race could not be used by...