North Carolina legislators talked a lot about drugs on Wednesday, with a Senate committee agreeing to rules for hemp-derived consumables and House members moving to crack down on the sale and use of “gas station heroin.” The state House put on a fast track proposed legislation to make unauthorized sales...

The dates may have changed, but the host of concerns raised over the past few years have not as the North Carolina State Ports Authority’s plan to deepen and widen Wilmington Harbor is cast back into the public spotlight. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District hosted Thursday its...

A Wilmington City Council member has long dismissed concerns that his position at a prominent commercial real estate firm could pose a conflict of interest, though emails obtained by Port City Daily show he communicated with his business partner about a development change affecting the company. Last month, Wilmington City...

The headline of a June 19, 1983, article in the StarNews showed one party’s popularity in Brunswick County: “10 Democrats trying for sheriff’s job in Brunswick.” Each of the 10 men looked to fill the unexpired term of the Democratic sheriff who had been forced to resign after he was...

Steven Hardy-Braz rode more than 11,000 miles in the first 11 months of 2021. An avid road cyclist from Farmville, he took every precaution — reflective clothing, bright lights, mirrors. He also had a camera mounted on the back of his bike. On Nov. 21 of that year, as Hardy-Braz...

North Carolina students are reporting fewer mental health challenges and suicidal behaviors, according to results from the 2023 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The biannual survey, which anonymously surveys middle and high school students, has been conducted in the spring of every odd year since 1993. The last survey was...

The U.S. surgeon general has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in the The New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is...

A campaign by St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and other area churches has used $17,738 in donations to abolish $4.5 million in medical debt in six counties. This is the second year Father Paul Castelli has led the effort to abolish crippling medical debt. In 2023, the Easter Medical Debt Jubilee...

Ahead of a multi-year, $140 million renovation to Dabney Hall, faculty and students in the chemistry department have flagged concerns about the safety of the project. Construction and safety managers involved in the project say the University is confident the occupied renovation will be conducted safely. According to a September...

A lawsuit in eastern North Carolina could force almost one-quarter of the state’s public school districts to start their school years later than they’d like in 2025 and beyond — a legal battle that is causing consternation among coastal business and local education officials. About 27 of the state’s 115...

She opens the door wearing a gray tank top, Hello Kitty pajama pants and pink fuzzy slippers. With her 6-year-old son standing quietly beside her, she listens patiently as Liz Purvis begins discussing what’s at stake in the election this November. The woman, Cynthia, tells Purvis she doesn’t watch the...

As Eric Spirtas does his research before possibly buying the Canton paper mill site, he says he’s discovering the property’s unique nature. “You’re not like anybody,” the president of Spirtas Worldwide said, pointing to the downtown location and the many possibilities for the site. Pactiv Evergreen shut down the mill...

UNC Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort announced six program eliminations, including four academic departments and two language concentrations. Religious studies at UNC Asheville hasn’t always had its own department. In the early 2000s, it was considered a branch of the philosophy department and offered to students as a minor. That...

State lawmakers dropped language from a bill that would have shielded autopsies from public review, but the Senate’s thumbs-up on the revised measure June 12 may not be the end of the issue. The previous language could return in a future session, state Sen. Danny Britt Jr. (R-Lumberton) said at...

In 2023, the drinking water produced by the Fayetteville Public Works Commission had as much as 28 times the maximum level of “forever chemical” contaminants in it than the Environmental Protection Agency will allow under new standards announced this spring. Since the EPA did not set a standard until April...