Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Much of former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill’s memo that alleges financial irregularities in the district focuses on one man: former Novant executive Raki McGregor. Hill alleges that board member Stephanie Sneed went behind her back to ensure McGregor received a $30,000-per-month subcontract — after the McGregor...

Sarah White/The Waynesville Mountaineer As the One Big Beautiful Bill’s changes to Medicaid and food stamp protocols roll out, county employees are struggling to not only understand the new rules, but also garner the funding and manpower needed to implement them. This year, Haywood County commissioners budgeted an additional $1.7...

Ashley Fredde/NC Health News Three North Carolina legal aid organizations are suing state legislative leaders over a budget provision that redirects millions of dollars from programs that provide low-income residents with free civil legal services to attorneys who represent people who cannot afford a lawyer in criminal cases. “The $15...

Walker Livingston/Carolina Public Press The North Carolina Welcome Center on Interstate 26 near Tennessee sits on land that used to be an apple orchard in Madison County, right on the state line. Another nearby stretch of I-26 has become a hot-button issue in nearby Asheville right now, with a billion-dollar...

Tammy Webber & Allison Joyce/The Associated Press They’re piled on river banks, lodged in uprooted trees, embedded in sediment and jammed under logs. Many are tangled in mounds of debris up to two stories high. Two years after Hurricane Helene leveled forests, bulldozed houses and filled western North Carolina rivers...

Molly Steur/Education NC Pender County Schools Superintendent Dr. Brad Breedlove — who has served in public education for more than two decades — was named the Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2027 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year at a ceremony in Greensboro on Thursday. The annual honor is...

Alex Perri/Smoky Mountain News As telecommunication giants accelerate the nationwide phaseout of legacy copper phone lines, several Western North Carolina residents are receiving notice that the landlines they have relied on for decades are nearing retirement. Nantahala resident Susan Carpenter got one of these letters from her phone company, Verizon,...

Port City Daily The developer behind the 1,800-home Hilton Bluffs development has had its second pathway to development blocked Thursday. As first reported by WHQR, the New Hanover County Technical Review Committee has revoked the conditional approval it issued in March for Hilton Bluffs because of the changes to the...

Sally Kestin/Asheville Watchdog North Carolina’s higher education governing board received so many student complaints about a small Black Mountain Christian college with ties to a convicted felon that it has requested the North Carolina Department of Justice investigate the school “for potential unlawful misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, and otherwise engaging in...

Dasia Williams/CityView Cumberland County Schools’ seven-year repair plan outlines approximately $301 million in school facilities needs, with heating and cooling systems, roofs, and electrical work accounting for the largest shares of the list. The list includes $90.8 million for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; $65.4 million for roofing; $54.8 million...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio Much of former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill’s memo that alleges financial irregularities in the district focuses on one man: former Novant executive Raki McGregor. Hill alleges that board member Stephanie Sneed went behind her back to ensure McGregor received a $30,000-per-month subcontract — after the McGregor...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Polling deficit, disapproval of the president, and recent shifts in campaign strategy by super PACs are evolving a dynamic that further favors Democrat Roy Cooper over Republican Michael Whatley in North Carolina’s election for a seat in the U.S. Senate. However, Whatley’s campaign tells The Center...

Drew Jackson/The Raleigh News & Observer The new food hall at the NC State Fairgrounds has polished terrazzo tiles on the floor, a ceiling of exposed light bulbs dangling from silver threads and, of course, ice cream and hot dogs on the wallpaper. The fair will unveil the new Midway...

Chris Stiles/The Robesonian The Lumbee Tribal Council worked through revisions to a draft gaming ordinance during a special called meeting Thursday night. These revisions came after feedback received through four public hearings held across tribal territory last month. After about two hours of discussing the ordinance, which included Joshua Malcolm,...

Greater Fayetteville Business Journal Fayetteville City Manager Doug Hewett has announced plans to step down before the end of 2026. Hewett has served as Fayetteville City Manager since April 2016 and has worked in local government for more than 25 years. “It has been an honor to serve alongside the...