A celebration of all things cannabis is poised to draw hundreds of people to Haywood County this weekend, and is drawing its share of critics, as well. The first annual Stoner’s Ball coming to the Smoky Mountain Event Center is making no bones about serving up a “legal high” with...

Guilford County has been tracking infant deaths for decades, yet officials there continue to struggle with high death rates and no answers. Jean Workman and Leandra Vernon with Every Baby Guilford hope to change that with the formation of North Carolina’s only Fetal and Infant Mortality Review program. “As time...

Gross wagering revenue at an 18% tax rate brought the state $11,969,318 in March, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission says. Bettors won more than $590 million, and it wasn’t even a full month. Legal online gambling opened March 11, just in time for the Tobacco Road spectacle known as...

A preference in Moore County to keep businesses local doesn’t just apply to thrift stores and ice cream parlors, for the county commissioners, it also applies to healthcare. At the Tuesday evening meeting, chairman Nick Picerno presented a resolution requesting the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to...

This Saturday, North Carolina will become the 39th state with access to medical marijuana as the Eastern Band of Cherokee opens the first marijuana dispensary in the state. The Great Smoky Cannabis Company will host a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a grand opening at 10 a.m. A spokesperson for...

The Wilkes County commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of a motion asking Commissioner Stoney Greene to resign from the board Tuesday night, with Greene casting the lone vote against the motion. Commissioner Greg Minton made the motion at the end of the meeting under “new business.” Commissioner Keith Elmore seconded...

A year ago, Allyson Cooksey-Jones was only vaguely aware that the city of Charlotte was going to allow duplexes and triplexes in all residential neighborhoods. Then early this year, a single-family home sold near her on Chevington Road, in the Governor’s Square neighborhood in south Charlotte. The developer tore it...

Almost six years ago, Tomeka Isaac said she came very close to joining a list no one wants to be part of — the tally of Black women who have died related to pregnancy. In May 2018, Isaac’s pregnancy took a turn at 35 weeks when she passed out. She...

When Buncombe County’s Tourism Development Authority decides which projects to fund using visitors’ dollars next week, a powerful organization will be watching closely. The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association warned in a letter last week to the Charlotte City Council that spending occupancy tax dollars on affordable housing could...

The city of High Point says it’s taking steps to comply with new federal drinking water standards announced last week for PFAS pollution. Samples from the city’s water system have contained levels of the chemicals above 4 parts per trillion, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set as the new...

Emergency room understaffing at Mission Hospital in Asheville is costing taxpayers by making EMS workers wait longer to offload patients, Buncombe County is claiming in a proposal filed earlier this month to join North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s lawsuit against the hospital’s owner, HCA Healthcare. The attorney general’s lawsuit,...

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin will not run for a third term. On Tuesday, Baldwin shared an eight-minute video announcing her decision and the “personal information” behind it. “Last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she said. “I was one of the lucky ones. Mine was caught in stage one....

North Carolina’s mandatory business closures in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic were partially unconstitutional, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. It’s the latest step in a long-running lawsuit brought by an advocacy group for bars, the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association. The association acknowledged in its...

Another 30 acres of land in Brunswick County will be used to continue its momentum of economic development. After investing nearly $19 million to purchase hundreds of acres of land last year, Brunswick County leaders unanimously decided last month to buy even more land in the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park...

Though last week Leland Town Council conceded to revise its significant property tax-rate increase from 70% to 17%, residents gathered on the town hall campus Saturday to express discord. By Monday, the town staff had a revised budget for council at its agenda review meeting, to be officially presented Thursday....