Heidi Perez-Moreno/CityView The state board that oversees charter schools in North Carolina had so many concerns about the Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy in 2022 that it considered closing the Bladen County school. The academy had received a failing grade the previous school year from the state’s Department of Public...

Sharryse Piggott/WUNC News The State Library of North Carolina is now in a partnership with Wake County Libraries aimed at bridging the gap to make reading books more accessible to people with disabilities. “This partnership helps to ensure that a person’s physical condition or location never limits opportunities for lifelong...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News   A leaked draft of the FEMA Review Council’s final report on reform of the disaster response agency appears to shift considerable burden onto states, local governments, tribes and territories (SLTTs) while slashing the agency’s workforce by 50%, positioning federal response in the rear and largely...

Akilah Davis/WTVD News For nearly six years, Northgate Mall in Durham has sat empty. Now, plans for retail giant Target to move in could signal a new chapter for the long-vacant property. “It would be nice for another shopping center to come big time,” said Melinda Wilkins, who lives just...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio The North Carolina Department of Transportation has cancelled a tour of the neighborhoods near the controversial Interstate 77 express toll lane project, citing what it says are credible security concerns. DOT secretary Daniel Johnson was supposed to tour impacted neighborhoods near center city with community leaders and...

Mark Locklear/The Robesonian When Phillip Hicks arrived at UNC Pembroke as a freshman, the university’s cybersecurity program was still in its trial phase. This May, the Red Springs native will help make history as one of the first graduates of UNCP’s standalone Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program. For Hicks,...

Ahmed Jallow/NC Newsline North Carolina Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Wake County Democrat, called the state’s expansion of virtual charter schools “educational malpractice” and said it cheats both students and taxpayers. “How on earth are you allowing parents to send their kids to virtual charter schools that have consistently received a...

Paul B. Johnson/The High Point Enterprise Leaders of Guilford County are supporting a master plan for a long-term regional project involving the Randleman Regional Reservoir. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners was scheduled Thursday night to approve a resolution for the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority as the agency that...

Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press How do you put a price on a 122-year-old mass of concrete sitting in the middle of a river? The value of Craggy Dam on the French Broad River in Buncombe County is now at the center of a debate over river restoration, flood mitigation, power...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily   The New Hanover County Board of Education has taken an official step toward addressing its facility needs in the face of declining enrollment, after months of pondering whether it should reduce overhead. The board voted unanimously to direct Superintendent Chris Barnes to put together a...

Michelle Crouch/The Charlotte Ledger & NC Health News Two years after North Carolina legalized mobile sports betting, counselors say they are seeing the fallout: drained bank accounts, strained relationships and young people — especially young men — spiraling into anxiety and depression after losing more than they can afford. Calls...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Modernization reforming campaign finance reporting in North Carolina is to be guided by 10 principles, a panel of veteran politicos says. First-term Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek, creator of the Modernization of Election Data System Commission, said faster, easier and a more secure election system is...

Ted Clifford/Asheville Watchdog Mission Hospital has hired an outside consultant following its most recent Immediate Jeopardy sanction and committed to federal regulators that it will make sweeping changes, including reevaluating “the capacity and competency” of its leadership and staff, according to its enhanced plan of correction obtained by Asheville Watchdog....

Amanda Mohamad/WRAL News Latest inflation data showed a 3.4% increase in wholesale prices from last year, hitting grocery prices the hardest and increasing food pantry demand. Notably, vegetable prices jumped by 50% and fruit by 10 percent. This increase comes as oil prices also made a stark jump this month...

Andrew Marshall/The Waynesville Mountaineer Clyde is creating a back-up drinking water supply with a series of large wells — so that it will no longer be hostage to water shortages or water distruptions from neighboring Canton. Clyde gets its water from Canton, which in turn gets water from the Pigeon...