David Ford/WFDD Radio North Carolina’s top elected officials have announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education. Governor Josh Stein, Senate Leader Phil Berger and Speaker of the House Destin Hall announced the plan in a joint press release. Stein called the new bipartisan commission of 28...

Bradley George/WUNC News A federal report says employees who worked in a now-closed building at North Carolina State University could have been exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. The report states, however, that more research is needed to prove a definitive connection between cancer cases among employees and exposure to those chemicals....

Catherine Muccigrosso/The Charlotte Observer A 10-year-old Charlotte-area technology company has found a new application for its circuit breaker. Atom Power is shifting focus from electric vehicle charging equipment to the burgeoning data center industry. Atom Power developed the world’s first commercial solid-state circuit breaker, which is drawing attention from hyperscale...

Penelope Lopez/WTVD News As the war in Iran enters its second week, tactical gear shops in Cumberland County are seeing a spike in business, with both companies and service members seeking protective equipment in response to the overseas conflict. Local store owners say the surge in demand has been noticeable...

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online Even as the proposed Mid-Currituck bridge project has been uncharacteristically zipping along in the planning process, a new analysis of two revenue options has cast doubts on the project’s future, with serious concerns raised about the latest estimated construction costs that hover around $1.2 billion. The...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro After weeks of debate and waffling between which elementary schools to study, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education made its choice at its recent meeting of the campuses it will further explore for potential closure. In a split vote, 4-3, the board decided to request...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Feb. 27 that the Department of War, previously the Department of Defense, would be severing ties with several elite universities, including five of the eight Ivy League schools and others like MIT and Georgetown. Included in that same announcement were...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio The news of Kristi Noem’s firing from the Department of Homeland Security late last week brought bipartisan enthusiasm in North Carolina as the state waits for millions of federal relief dollars after Hurricane Helene. President Trump’s new pick to lead DHS is Markwayne Mullin,...

Christine Zhu/NC Newsline North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek declined Monday to recuse himself from oversight of a state Senate race recount in which one candidate says Boliek has a conflict of interest. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page holds a narrow lead of 23 votes over Senate leader Phil Berger...

John Boyle/Asheville Watchdog Lou Bissette was the hard-charging, 45-year-old mayor of Asheville in 1989, when he heard the exciting news that state lawmakers had green-lighted the construction of the Interstate-26 Connector. Three years later, no longer in office but helping to lead a group pushing the project, he was thrilled...

Marc Levy/The Associated Press One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme that allegedly raked in millions of dollars off of big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday. Jalen Smith appeared in federal court in Philadelphia and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges,...

The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal Mission Roll Call and the Fayetteville Woodpeckers have announced a local partnership, making Mission Roll Call the official Naming Rights Partner of Segra Stadium’s club level. “We are proud to be partnering with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers,” said Ray Whitaker, COO of Mission Roll Call in...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News A new study shows students in schools in states without firm cellphone policies spend a third of their school day on their phones. The results detail the magnitude of a problem education leaders, politicians and advocacy groups have been attempting to solve in recent years, as bipartisan...

Rachel Heimann Mercader/CityView When Fayetteville rolled out its public forum under the city’s new rules and schedule on March 2, the new setup brought both expanded speaking time and a few early kinks—along with renewed calls for greater transparency in how the council conducts its business. The council voted in...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Last week, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released its annual report on teacher attrition, vacancies and employment trends, giving us our latest window into schools’ efforts to recruit and retain educators. Teacher attrition — a measurement of teachers who leave North Carolina public schools entirely...