At the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen’s work session Monday, Mayor Kia Anthony announced that former finance director Gay Tucker had repaid the town over $18,000. Tucker was sentenced in 2022 to four years in prison for embezzling $567,070 over a five-year period from the Town of Spring Lake. “This...

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper drew sharp contrasts with Republican lawmakers in his last budget proposal, calling on legislators to stop cutting taxes and pullback on spending programs for private schools. “They can choose desperately needed investments to educate our children and our workforce, along with tax cuts for...

The Haywood Community College is requesting several hefty funding increases from the county to cover new and expanding programs that will move the college — and county forward. HCC President Shelley White made the case for the funding increase to county commissioners last week. While the fate of the requested...

Coastal recreational and commercial fishermen will have to report certain fish harvests under a new North Carolina law that takes effect later this year. Preliminary details are scant as to how the two state agencies tasked with overseeing the reporting requirements will implement the program, one that is slated to...

The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority on Wednesday voted to award nearly $10 million in funding to a dozen local projects as part of its inaugural Legacy Investment From Tourism (LIFT) grants – but notably, the panel steered clear of funding affordable housing. The Authority considered 14 projects in the...

A coalition of public interest groups has filed a lawsuit against Biden administration officials and agencies, asking for preliminary injunction to stop the construction of a wind turbine project off the shore of Virginia. The suit was filed in the name of saving the whales. The lawsuit claims the Virginia...

An updated feasibility study is complete regarding the viability of passenger rail between Wilmington and Raleigh. According to the newly released draft report, conducted by WGI Inc. engineering firm of West Palm Beach, the price from the last study — completed in 2005 — to bring passenger rail from the...

The North Carolina General Assembly begins its annual work session Wednesday with a little extra money to spend and limited pressing issues to address before key elections this fall and longtime state government leaders depart. Following their landmark 2023 session that expanded Medicaid, restricted abortion, broadened gun rights, swelled private-school...

A great blue heron rests peacefully along the lake of Camp Carefree. The air is crisp, the birds are chirping, and the Stokesdale site is living up to its name. Canoes and kayaks sit next to a playground on the lake’s left. A wooden pirate ship stands on the right....

The State Board of Community Colleges voted on Friday to create a permanent grant director position at the system office with the goal of bringing in additional grant money to the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). This full-time grant director will help the system increase its federal, private, and...

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...