Rusty Jacobs/WUNC Radio Political polls, including the latest from Elon University, show this year’s presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is in a dead heat in North Carolina. Voters are split on issues like the economy, abortion access, immigration, and threats to democracy. You see those same fault...

Ayanna Alexander/The Associated Press Strewn across the coastal plains and backroads of North Carolina lie institutions that could be pivotal in the battleground state in Tuesday’s elections — 10 historically Black colleges and universities steeped in a history of activism. Now, local student government associations and other organizations at these...

WFAE Radio On a late October evening in North Carolina’s capital city, a massive stage in a dark auditorium is backlit by tall screens, and bass-thumping music and vocals are filling the space. There’s a table of judges in front of the stage. Think American Idol but with a clearly...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Recent emails indicate city staff are putting a plan in place should the City of Wilmington become the last North Carolina municipality to relinquish the use of red-light cameras. The city has 13 cameras installed across Wilmington as part of its four-year, seven-month agreement with American...

Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer Canton officials have approved $1 million in budget modifications to cover flood cleanup costs, with some shifts coming even before the storm hit. Half the funds came from the N.C. General Assembly grant to offset mill closure impacts, while the rest were internal budget shifts from...

Paul Garber/WFDD Radio The High Point Furniture Market is winding down the second of its biannual events this week, and it comes with the return of a major brand founded in North Carolina. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams abruptly ended operations and shut down its factory in Taylorsville in August...

Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & Charlotte Ledger Five hospitals responsible for nearly all of North Carolina’s lawsuits filed against patients for medical debt have committed to erasing all of their existing judgments, The Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News has learned. Atrium Health, the state’s largest health care system, announced in September...

Mary Helen Moore/The News & Observer Durham County Manager Kimberly Sowell has resigned after over six weeks of unexplained paid leave. County commissioners emerged from a closed session meeting around 9:15 p.m. Monday and voted unanimously to accept her resignation, effective immediately. Chair Nida Allam and County Attorney Larissa Williamson...

Becky Johnson/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The washed out road and bridge leading to Kit Gruelle’s house was in such bad shape, she and her Upper Crabtree neighbors feared they might be stranded for days if not weeks. “It was scary because what if someone had a medical emergency, we were trapped,”...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Asheville Water Resources faces “a really big week” in its effort to reduce the murkiness in its North Fork Reservoir, department spokesperson Clay Chandler said Monday. Chandler said at the daily Buncombe County Helene briefing that a type of in-lake filtration system — three layers of suspended...

Liz Bell & Katie Dukes/Education NC Unlike North Carolina’s K-12 schools or community colleges, child care programs aren’t consolidated under a public system. That makes it harder for early childhood programs to acquire funding and coordinate recovery from disasters such as Hurricane Helene, creating short- and long-term effects on children,...

Brianna Atkinson/WUNC Radio East Carolina University and UNC-Chapel Hill are partnering on a multimillion dollar renewable energy project for coastal communities. It will last for five years, and researchers from the two public universities will work to improve marine technology in the town of Nags Head. The project will have...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News Student cellphone use and education technology are going under review in Wake County schools. The Wake County school system plans to send out a districtwide survey on the issues as early as next month. District officials plan to present their survey plans to the Wake school board’s...

Jonathan M. Gitlin/ARS Technica Today, Polestar electric vehicles gained access to the Tesla Supercharger network. That means US Polestar drivers have access to 17,800 more DC fast chargers than they did yesterday—once they get a NACS adapter, which can also be ordered today from their local Polestar service point. But...

Kara Fohner/Gaston Gazette A federal lawsuit filed against the Gaston County Police Department by two Black police officers alleges that the police department repeatedly discriminated against the two officers by passing them over for promotions in favor of less qualified white candidates. Gaston County Police  officer Nick Jamoulis and Cpt....