Sarah White/The Waynesville Mountaineer When Canton’s leaders decided not to host Pickin’ in the Park last year, WPTL owner Terryll Evans kept the tradition alive — first moving the bands and cloggers to a parking lot, then a picnic pavilion. But this year, Pickin in the Park could be on...

Gary D. Robertson & Bill Barrow/The Associated Press North Carolina does not mind electing Democrats as governor, but it is a different matter when it comes to sending them to the U.S. Senate. Roy Cooper, who led the state for two terms, is trying to change that with a campaign...

Pew Research Americans are more likely than people in other countries surveyed in 2025 to question the morality of their fellow countrymen, according to Pew Research Center surveys in 25 countries. We asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country. A bar...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  Taylor Swift’s 2022 Eras Tour gets credit as the trigger, Congress couldn’t help, and more than three dozen state attorneys general – including North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson – are poised for a breakup. The trial for the owner of Ticketmaster began Monday. Live Nation will try...

Celeste Gracia/WUNC News The developer of New Hill Digital Campus is withdrawing its annexation and rezoning applications for the property that was set to house the proposed 300 MW data center. This comes as “the Town continues its deliberations over zoning ordinance changes necessary to permit data center development within...

Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog David Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap – bloated staffing – will linger. Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5...

Mark Jurkowitz/Outer Banks Voice The fishing community and many on the Outer Banks breathed a major sigh of relief in June 2025 when a NC Senate measure that would have imposed a shrimp trawling ban died in the NC House. The hard-fought victory came after protestors opposed to the measure—which...

Ally Kadlubar & Willie Daniely, WRAL News Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is considering closing one or more of its elementary schools as it faces budget issues and declining enrollment rates. The school board has identified five schools that are more than 55 years old, saying it’s a financial decision between...

Pat Kimbrough/The High Point Enterprise A new concept plan envisions a series of changes with the goal of improving the safety, walkability and connectivity of the S. Main Street corridor. The Plan South Main project, led by the Southwest Renewal Foundation, with funding assistance from the city of High Point,...

Matt Lamb/The Southern Pines Pilot Following the second appearance in as many months, Trevor Hansen of Koontz Jones Design/V3 and Travis Greene of Moore HL Properties received a nod of approval from the Pinehurst Planning and Zoning Board on a conditional rezoning for a new neighborhood. The zoning map amendment...

Jennifer Allen/Coastal Review Online As North Carolina’s population grows, local and state governments, elected officials, educators and nonprofit groups are bracing for the demands more residents will put on the state’s already taxed and aging water infrastructure. The 2026 Emerging Issues Forum: Future Forward Water held Feb. 25 brought together...

Michelle L. Price & Rebecca Santana/The Associated Press President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response. Trump, who said he would nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen....

Anna Claire Vollers/NC Newsline State Medicaid budgets will be reduced by a total of $665 billion over the next decade, after President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts federal investment in the health insurance program, according to a new analysis. Researchers from RAND Health, a policy and research...

CNN Newsource & WRAL News A Raleigh firefighter and Marine veteran is facing charges after he was forcibly removed from a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Cell phone video shows 44-year-old Brian McGinnis, a Green Party Senate candidate, yelling, “No one wants to...

Dan DeWitt/Asheville Watchdog David Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap – bloated staffing – will linger. Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5...