Lawmakers began questioning the head of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles Thursday, an interrogation that comes as the division faces mounting delays in issuing driver licenses and identification cards — and as lawmakers seek more control over who runs the division. DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, who underwent a...

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council has voted to amend Tribal Code to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, opening the door for North Carolina’s first recreational marijuana dispensary to open on the Qualla Boundary by the end of the summer, despite the drug being illegal in the...

Nearly 100 Asheville nurses rallied outside Mission Hospital on Wednesday morning, less than a month before the renegotiation of their contract with HCA-owned Mission Health. With the backing of their union, the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), nurses at the hospital are seeking to draw attention to what they see...

A judge is blocking a popular North Carolina tourism area from defying the state’s school calendar law. The Carteret County school board had adopted a calendar for the 2024-25 school year that starts classes Aug. 13 — two weeks earlier than allowed under state law. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge...

This fall’s presidential ballot in battleground North Carolina appears poised to lengthen after three political movements seeking to run candidates filed voter signature lists with state election officials by a Monday deadline. Groups that want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West on the ballot — the “We The People”...

Children’s Village Academy, a K-8 charter school in Kinston, will be forced to close at the end of this month. The North Carolina Board of Education Thursday rejected its appeal for a fresh start, with one member calling it “a school that appears to be unable to pay its bills...

A new economic engine for Waynesville would open up the railroad track corridor through town to more types of development, under a proposal originating from the town planning board. After more than a year of discussion on the idea, the Waynesville planning board unanimously endorsed maps for a so-called Railroad...

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again; however, the Summerfield Town Council is trying to do something a little similar: Very quickly assemble an entirely new town staff in a matter of days – because every member of the town staff...

A former Greensboro top official has been named the interim town manager for the town of Zebulon. Taiwo Jaiyeoba abruptly resigned from his position as Greensboro’s city manager in March. Two senior-level city employees later told WFDD he had violated the city’s sexual harassment policy. That wasn’t discussed on Tuesday...

At last night’s New Hanover County Board of Education meeting, members voted four to one to further amend policies 7300 and 3200, which outline staff responsibilities and selection of instructional materials, respectively. The motion, introduced by board member Pat Bradford, will effectively eliminate student art, family photos, and foreign nations’...

Mission Hospital has been found to be compliant with federal standards after a state inspection late May at the HCA Healthcare-owned facility, according to an email HCA North Carolina Division President Greg Lowe sent to employees Tuesday. The finding paves the way for an immediate jeopardy sanction, the toughest penalty...

Republican lawmakers in Missouri blocked a bill to widen access to birth-control pills by falsely claiming they induce abortions. An antiabortion group in Louisiana killed legislation to enshrine a right to birth control by inaccurately equating emergency contraception with abortion drugs. An Idaho think tank focused on “biblical activism” is...

Drinking water for at least 2.5 million North Carolinians is contaminated with the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS at levels exceeding new federal standards, according to an EWG analysis. Across 49 drinking water systems, some far exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s PFAS standards finalized in April. Levels of the...

The safety requirements that led Toyota, Honda and other Japanese carmakers to falsify certification tests may be overly stringent and outdated given advancements in automobile design and technology, fueling calls for their review. Despite revisions since the standards were enacted in 1951, regulations haven’t kept up with the times, Takaki...

Eleven deaths in the county jail, a subsequent lawsuit and criminal charges against an employee proved too much for an insurance company to keep the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office as a customer. The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners had warned the sheriff if this were to take place it would...