Multiple Forsyth County leaders spoke out against a local government bill that would change all of their respective municipal elections, apart from those in Winston-Salem, from nonpartisan to partisan. Sen. Paul A. Lowe Jr., D-Forsyth, said House Bill 1064 was a “hodgepodge of local stuff,” disagreeing with Sen. Timothy D....

A pilot program that outfitted DWI offenders with alcohol monitoring bracelets proved successful in breaking the cycle for those with drinking problems, but state funding for the pilot period has run out — leaving it up to local jurisdictions whether to continue it. The Waynesville Police Department is one agency...

I have an idea for the University of North Carolina Asheville and the Asheville Ideas Fest folks: Consider ending it. If you’ve got a $6 million budget deficit and your chancellor just decided to cut four academic programs and curtail a fifth to save money, maybe you shouldn’t be putting...

Following a heated exchange with another county commissioner during a closed session, Swain County Commissioner David Loftis was expelled from the board’s June 18 meeting. While closed sessions are typically not accessible to the public, the incident that led to the expulsion was captured by a microphone that apparently was...

Consumer electronics giant Apple Inc. is delaying plans to build a corporate campus in Research Triangle Park. But the company says it’s still committed to growing in the region. Apple executives briefed state officials last week on its plans to move forward with one of the region’s biggest economic development...

Advocates believe homebuyers will be able to make more informed decisions after a rule requiring sellers to disclose detailed information about their properties’ flood risk and history goes into effect at the beginning of next month. The change may also impact the state’s real estate and insurance markets. In March,...

Rik Emaus came home one afternoon in August 2021 to find his teenage daughter distraught. “She just had this absolute look of loss and pain that I’ll never forget,” Emaus said, recalling how he found his daughter sitting on the couch holding a picture of her and three friends in...

The Charlotte City Council voted 7-3 Monday night to approve spending $650 million worth of tax money to help renovate Bank of America Stadium. Under the deal, Tepper Sports and Entertainment would contribute $150 million of its own money to the improvements in the next four years, for a total...

The state is requiring two companies with facilities near the Port of Wilmington to adopt additional control measures after investigating resident complaints about the impact of dust in their neighborhoods. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) issued a news release Monday stating Enviva Pellets and...

North Carolina environmental organizations are celebrating a recent decision in a coastal North Carolina man’s challenge to remaining federal wetland protections under the Clean Water Act. The case is ongoing. Robert White of Pasquotank County, who operates various businesses in area, brought the case in March, challenging what he contends...

An oceanfront home in Rodanthe on the Outer Banks collapsed into the Atlantic in late May. It was the sixth home since 2020 to fall into the ocean in the small village on Hatteras Island. A new bill could give beachfront property owners an added incentive to remove threatened homes...

Moore County Airport officials and the Convention and Visitors Bureau have opened discussions into the possibility of commercial flights returning to the airport for the first time since 2007. Airport Director Rick Cloutier presented the CVB board Monday with an air service development study done by Volaire Aviation Consulting regarding...

Appalachian State University has rescinded its evening parking pass requirement, allowing drivers once more to park for free on the university’s Boone campus after 5 p.m. on weeknights and on Saturdays and Sundays, with the exception of football games and other special events. The university’s Board of Trustees approved the...

Faced with a 13-acre mixed use development in the heart of their community, the Whalehead Property Owners Association (WPOA) has filed suit in Currituck County Superior Court against Currituck County and CB Land Development, a company created by SAGA Construction to build the project. A hearing on the suit is...

Flooding in the Midwestern U.S. collapsed a railroad bridge and sent water surging around a dam Monday after days of heavy rains that have forced hundreds of people to evacuate or be rescued from rising waters. The flooding brought additional misery to parts of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota...