Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily A letter from local officials will be sent to legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly asking for Brunswick County to have some say over open-burning regulations when it comes to developers clearing land. Brunswick commissioners unanimously approved sending the letter to Senator Bill Rabon and...

Sarah White & Becky Johnson/The Waynesville Mountaineer Haywood residents voiced a resounding “no” to Duke Energy’s proposed rate hikes during a public hearing for the Western North Carolina region last week. “It’s just abhorrent to me that we’re now looking at an 18% increase in electric rates here,” Waynesville resident...

Pat Kimbrough/The High Point Enterprise City-commissioned architects have advised against incorporating the First Baptist Church of High Point sanctuary into a possible new municipal headquarters. Preserving the 405 N. Main St. structure would make it difficult to develop a new City Hall and parking deck next to it on the...

Coastal Review Online The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that its officials are considering new design options for the Carolina Bays Parkway Extension project in Brunswick County after feedback from the public. NCDOT, in collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, is planning to extend S.C. Highway...

Caleb M. Soptelean/The Sanford Herald Near the end of a nearly five-hour meeting, the Sanford Council on Tuesday night voted 6-1 with Chris Petty dissenting to approve zoning regulations for data centers. The public hearing, which included a few non-related items, started at 6 p.m. and ended at 10:50 p.m....

John Staton/Wilmington StarNews A trailer and a release date have been released for a movie that filmed in the Wilmington area in 2025, and which features several big-name actors. “Driver’s Ed,” a comedy directed by Bobby Farrelly (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”), will screen in some theaters and...

Will Doran/WRAL News North Carolina lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to a $319 million package to fully fund the state’s Medicaid program, heading off fears for the one-in-four people statewide who rely on the program. The bill passed the House 112-1 and passed the Senate 48-1. Both chambers, however, delayed...

Adam Wagner/WFAE Radio North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and anti-data center advocates statewide are paying increased attention to a decades-old sales tax exemption intended to help boost the increasingly controversial industry. Under North Carolina law, data centers that cost at least $75 million do not need to pay sales and...

Justin Jouvenal/The Washington Post The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for a soldier seriously wounded while attempting to thwart a suicide bombing in Afghanistan to sue a contractor that the military found was negligent in the incident. The 6-3 ruling will make it easier for soldiers hurt in...

Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz Wilmington’s first social district is set to become a weekly event, following approval from city officials this week. In September, the Wilmington City Council green-lighted a social district in the Brooklyn Arts District on the first and third Saturdays of each month from noon to 5 p.m. Earlier...

Brenna Flanagan/Port City Daily Pender County Schools staff debuted a several million dollar budget increase at the school board’s first budget session on Monday. The school district is projecting a need of $4 million to maintain its existing services, with an additional $2.5 million estimated in advancements. If both increases...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press As the legislative short session kicked off Tuesday, House Democrats wasted no time acting on the NC Supreme Court’s reversal of a key decision on the Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina lawsuit, known by most as the Leandro case. In 2022,...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro Durham Technical Community College began site work and early steps of construction at the site of its future affordable housing community this month. The college shared an update on Apr. 1 saying work had begun at the school-owned property 902 South Briggs Avenue, where a 124-unit multi-family...

Elena Marsh/The Southern Pines Pilot The Life Care Pregnancy Center is celebrating its 34-year anniversary with the unveiling of a new pregnancy care mobile unit, Mobi, to serve clients in remote areas. The mobile pregnancy center is designed to reach women in underserved areas, and bring pregnancy information and resources...

Penelope Lopez/WTVD News Twenty firefighters in Fayetteville are testing their skills this week, taking the next step in their careers by testing for lieutenant positions as demand for strong leadership grows. With 25 structural fires reported in the past month and nearly 300 last year, officials say the need for...