Wilson Energy consumers will soon see an increase in monthly costs due to what ElectriCities of North Carolina CEO Roy Jones called “an overreaction” by Duke Energy Progress in 2022. “There definitely will be rate impacts,” City Manager Grant Goings said. “We wouldn’t need to educate the public if everything...

About 100 people waited anxiously for the Buncombe County Planning Board to take a much-anticipated vote on Monday about regulations for new short-term rentals such as those found on websites like Airbnb and VRBO. They will have to wait at least another 100 days as the board voted to postpone...

Twenty-six bigger operating rooms, with 59 pre- and post-operative suites. Eighty ICU beds and 15 observation beds. All within 375,000 square feet inside a $425 million building. Those are just some of the numbers around the North Carolina Surgical Hospital, the latest addition to the UNC Hospitals campus in Chapel...

Seven months after a provision added to the 2023-24 North Carolina state budget prohibited municipalities from establishing single-use plastic bag ordinances, a group of Western North Carolina environmental advocates is pushing back. On Earth Day, against the scenic backdrop of a clear blue sky and the majestic French Broad River,...

VinFast Auto announced Tuesday it officially signed agreements with 12 new dealers in the U.S., including a dealership in Greensboro. VinFast is already selling cars in the Triangle at Leith VinFast in Cary, which opened late last year. The 12 new VinFast dealership stores are anticipated to begin opening this...

High Point home furnishings company Theodore Alexander will consolidate its local operations at a new campus in Randolph County. President Ed Teplitz said the wholesaler plans to move its warehouse, upholstery factory and corporate offices to 3761 Old Glenola Road in Archdale by the end of 2024. Its High Point...

When it comes to growth, it seems like hospitals can’t get enough of it. Across the country, a tidal wave of hospital mergers and acquisitions in recent years has created multi-billion-dollar hospital giants that serve large swaths of the population. For example, just in North Carolina: Atrium Health’s massive combination...

When Drew Kromer became chair of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party last year, he had ambitious goals. Raise more money. Register more voters. Increase turnout. Soon after, Kromer, who is 27, found an unlikely benefactor: Jeff Blum, a 77-year-old New Yorker with Massachusetts ties who is a longtime Democratic Party organizer....

A second 911 call raises additional questions about an accident that seriously injured a lobbyist at the December wedding of state Rep. Destin Hall, who’s in line to become state House speaker in January. As The Assembly reported last week, Cory Bryson, 34, one of Hall’s groomsmen and a legislative...

The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon. The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a...

New Hanover County beaches could again mine sand from nearby inlets to nourish their oceanfront shores under a proposed law recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would exempt a handful of federal coastal storm risk management projects on the East Coast from a rule that prohibits...

The usual plodding journey toward a tight budget and minimal tax hike hurtled off the rails Wednesday when Waynesville’s police and fire chiefs declared the town’s conservative fiscal approach was undermining the morale of their departments and their ability to protect citizens. The public works director and recreation director then...

Two Robeson County commissioners are accused of bribing at least 21 voters in the March primary, according to a court petition filed Thursday. Commissioner Wixie Stephens allegedly paid at least nine residents up to $60 to vote for incumbent Judy Sampson in the March 5 Democratic primary for the commissioners’...

As the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) and North Carolina Rules Review Commission (RRC) head to court over regulatory language for coastal development and use, Jockey’s Ridge State Park is in danger of losing its Area of Environmental Concern (AEC) protections. The AEC protections, among other things, prohibit removing sand that...

Five large buildings are for sale along the Hay Street and Person Street corridor in downtown Fayetteville — including the former Prince Charles Hotel — and a sixth one, the former AIT Building, was almost sold in March. Downtown properties for sale include: -The eight-story former Prince Charles Hotel on...