Lisa Sorg/Inside Climate News Steel skeletons of two-story buildings jut from the landscape strewn with building supplies, the site of a $10 billion Amazon data center touted as the largest economic development project in state history. Yet many residents vehemently oppose it. Richmond County officials secretly crafted the deal, which...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square Judicial accountability, in the form of public reprimand, censure, suspension or the removal of trial judges from office for misconduct, are in a proposal awaiting the North Carolina governor’s signature. The chief justice would be authorized to suspend without pay, pending investigations, judges from District Court...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pushing forward its proposal to deepen the Wilmington Harbor by an additional 5 feet and widen segments of the shipping lane up the Cape Fear River. The Corps-prepared final Wilmington Harbor 403 environmental impact statement, or EIS, sticks with...

WSOC News John Stanley Ross, the director of bands at Appalachian State University, resigned effective July 9 after a university investigation found a sustained pattern of alleged sexual misconduct, officials at the university announced on Thursday. The resignation followed a June 26 notice of intent from the university to discharge...

Nick de la Canal/WFAE Radio After losing two election directors already this year, Anson County has a new interim leader. State Board of Elections executive director Sam Hayes on Wednesday appointed Gerald Poplin, a former Stanly County elections board member, to serve as interim elections director while the state searches...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio Just days before the first day of school, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps announced that he will be leaving the district earlier than expected. Phipps took office on December 1, 2025, joining the district amid its recovery from a major financial crisis. His employment contract was...

Kristen Johnson/The Raleigh News & Observer  After nine years of partnership, the city of Durham has terminated its co-hosting agreement with Beyond Fences for Barktoberfest, the city’s annual canine celebration in Durham Central Park. The sudden decision leaves the nonprofit without enough time to independently run its signature fall event,...

Liz McLaughlin/WRAL News Recent rain has eased drought conditions across much of North Carolina, but experts say the effects of months of dry weather don’t disappear overnight. As lakes and groundwater levels drop, water temperatures can rise, algae can flourish and, in some cases, contaminants can become more concentrated because...

Ryan Martinolich & Keaton Eberly/WNCT & WNCN Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse has been stripped of her title just over a month after winning the crown and weeks before she was scheduled to represent the state at the national competition. Boltinhouse, a Duplin County native who was crowned Miss...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio State education officials say a new survey of North Carolina high school students shows many risky behaviors such as substance use have fallen to their lowest levels in two decades, while mental health concerns have eased from pandemic-era highs. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that the...

Haylee Kennedy/WNCN Parents, teachers and students took part in a heated debate during a Wake County Public School board meeting regarding a potential gender-based dress code in the classroom. “I also sent my kids to public school so that they would experience some of the diversity that I lacked as...

Miana Massey/WSOC Children’s advocates joined Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden Wednesday in a push to reopen the juvenile jail. The sheriff’s office closed the jail in 2022, sending children and teenage inmates to other counties. In May, Channel 9 reported on McFadden’s plans to reopen the facility, known as Jail...

Christine Zhu/NC Newsline The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District to its “Districts in Play” program, targeting longtime Republican incumbent Rep. Richard Hudson. This program focuses on competitive districts held by vulnerable Republicans across the country as Democrats seek to regain a majority in the...

Dylan Halper/The Duke Chronicle Duke’s graduate schools admitted significantly fewer doctoral students in their last two application cycles, which the schools largely attributed to uncertainty over federal research funding. Specifically, Duke admitted 32.4% fewer doctorate students for the 2025-26 academic year than the 2024-25 academic year, which had a complete...

Jason DeBruyn/WUNC News After travelling around the moon and back, astronaut and three-time N.C. State University graduate Christina Koch will come back to the Raleigh university to celebrate her accomplishments. Koch flew with the Artemis II mission in April, which slingshot around the moon and captured never-before-seen photos of the...