Ashley Fredde/NC Health News In North Carolina, where a clinician practices can make all the difference for someone seeking maternity care — it’s the birth equivalent of “location, location, location.” Dozens of counties have no local obstetrics care, so families are forced to travel long distances for deliveries. That distance...

Katie Myers/The Waynesville Mountaineer A recently-leaked database indicates at least 10 signs in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 15 along the Blue Ridge Parkway have been flagged for possible removal under a new Trump administration policy. Hundreds of signs and educational displays across the National Park System are...

Annette Weston/WUNC News While the Department of Justice Civil Division announced last week that hundreds of settlements have recently been approved for victims of the toxic water aboard Camp Lejeune, and the associate attorney representing the federal government said he’s proud of the work done to speed up the compensation...

Paul B. Johnson/The High Point Enterprise A recount will be held in the Democratic primary contest for a Guilford County Board of Commissioners seat with the two candidates separated by 34 votes out of 7,298 ballots cast. Lisa McMillan leads Walter Johnson III in the race for District 7. McMillan...

Bill Moss/Hendersonville Lightning Shooting ranges, a land-use that for years has bedeviled Henderson County commissioners, Zoning Board of Adjustment members and homeowners near where they’re proposed, could get harder to site in the county. At the behest of Chairman Bill Lapsley, the Board of Commissioners is expected on Monday to...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro The closest race in Orange County from March’s primary elections is headed to a recount. During Friday’s canvassing count and meeting of the Board of Elections, the county election officials acknowledged incumbent Earl McKee’s call for a recount in the District 2 Democratic primary for the Orange...

Liz Bell/Education NC North Carolina has experienced a 13% net loss of child care programs since 2019, with record lows of licensed care expected in the next year, said Candace Witherspoon, director of the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) to legislators Tuesday. Families are struggling to afford...

Sally Kestin/Asheville Watchdog After losing his home and retiring as a remodeling contractor, Richard Helbig worked at an Ingles bakery for $13 an hour and as a dishwasher at an assisted living facility for $15 an hour. “I have to work longer and harder to make up for the fact...

Kip Tabb/Outer Banks Voice At the Albemarle Regional Planning Organization (ARPO) meeting held in Hertford on the morning of March 11, delegates learned that the fate of the Mid-Currituck County Bridge may be decided at the April 15 meeting of the ARPO. On that date, delegates from NCDOT District 1...

Liz Schlemmer/WUNC News New research using a sample of North Carolina middle and high school students found that they spend two to three hours of their school day on their smartphones. The study was published in JAMA Network Open this week by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Winston Center on Technology...

Gary D. Robertson/The Associated Press Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema acknowledges having a romantic relationship with a member of her security detail that began while she was a lawmaker, according to legal documents. But she also contends she shouldn’t be subject to a lawsuit by the man’s ex-wife who blames...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press Due to exhausted funds and concerns about excessive computer-screen time, some North Carolina public and private schools are considering reversing course on one-to-one device access and scaling back on in-class use. Districts across the country received billions in federal funding during the pandemic, hundreds of millions...

Sarah Krueger/WRAL News Hundreds of safety incidents occur every year in and around public buses in our area. Recently, WRAL News has covered a man accused of swinging a rusty machete at the downtown Raleigh bus station, and a stabbing there a few weeks later. WRAL Investigates wanted to know...

WSOC News The town of Mooresville wants a judge to toss out a lawsuit over the mayor walking around town hall after hours with a woman without his pants. A former IT worker claims he was fired in retaliation for reporting video of that incident, which happened in October 2024....

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily Four parks and recreation employees were put on paid leave in Southport this week, though one of them tendered her resignation as of Thursday. An investigation is underway into missing funds in the department, with a state agency heading the case. Port City Daily has learned...