Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz Republican incumbent Sen. Michael Lee and Democratic challenger David Hill outlined their policy positions and priorities Thursday morning during the Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s Power Breakfast: Election 2024. The two are locked in a contentious race to represent District 7 – an area encompassing much of New Hanover...

Mary Helen Moore/The (Raleigh) News & Observer Consultant Robin Hunden began his presentation Thursday with a hail of compliments for Durham. “You’re so unique and authentic as a destination,” Hunden told the City Council, praising the restaurant scene and thriving downtown. Then came the tough love. The Durham Convention Center,...

Tyler Davis/The (Henderson) Daily Dispatch Family members of Javion Magee and civil rights attorneys representing them held a brief press conference outside of Vance County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. Minutes prior, the family had been in the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, meeting with Sheriff Curtis Brame and command staff, reviewing what...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online Bald Head Island ferry passengers may likely see a change to the ferry schedule later this year, but not one that would bump hourly departures to every 90 minutes. Groups representing ferry passengers have reached a settlement with Bald Head Island Transportation Inc. to operate on...

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck/CNN Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released school performance data the first week of September. The state saw a slight decrease in “D” and “F” school grades this year. But even in celebrating that trend, state education officials made a point to talk about the issues...

Dan Kane/The (Raleigh) News & Observer A dredging company launched with $15 million in state money must cease its work in the Oregon and Hatteras inlets after digging deeper and wider than permits allowed hundreds of times, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday. EJE Dredging Service is led...

Will Atwater/NC Health News The Northern Red Cardinal has worn the crown as North Carolina’s official bird for eight decades, but judging by the numbers in a new report, another bird is king. In 2022 state poultry operations “housed”nearly 357 million chickens and turkeys, up from 250 million in 2007,...

Susan Spear/The Greensboro News & Record In the early 1990s, Ryan Routh looked like a blonde crooner from the Beach Boys. He appeared to be a preppy, congenial, “normal’’ guy with a successful business, said a retired Greensboro Police Department officer who had more than 100 encounters with Routh over...

Will Doran/WRAL News Lawyers for churches and schools from all around North Carolina are working together at the N.C. Supreme Court, seeking to undo a recent law that made it easier for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue. The state government has come down on the side of the...

Laura Browne/Education NC Educators, elected officials, and other stakeholders gathered in Raleigh last week to discuss diverse viewpoints regarding the use of cellphones in schools. The convening, hosted by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation on Sept. 12, focused on making policies to regulate phone use rather than a total...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro The Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an incentives deal for Morinaga America Foods on Tuesday night, a final piece of the puzzle to help advance the Japanese company’s major expansion planned for Mebane. Board members approved more than $2.9 million in tax incentives for the...

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline There’s a legal fight going on over whether UNC Chapel-Hill digital IDs that live on student, staff and faculty phones are legitimate IDs that can be used for voting. Democrats say they are. Republicans say they aren’t. The North Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Committee...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio Buncombe County’s tax assessor R. Keith Miller was fired Tuesday, two weeks after attempting to retire. The unanimous vote to remove Miller came amid allegations from county leaders that he violated government rules when he purchased a beach property in Hilton Head, S.C., with an...

Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online While potential tropical cyclone No. 8 was moving across the Carolinas Tuesday, parts of central and southeastern North Carolina was dealing with the aftermath — historic rainfall, road washouts and flash flooding. National Weather Service forecasters began tracking the low-pressure system off the coast of the...