Kate Santaliz/Axios  Rep. Chuck Edwards told a 20-something female staffer it was “disappointing to feel something that used to be easy has gotten complicated” after she did not want to have dinner with him in May 2025, according to a text exchange reviewed by Axios. Why it matters: The female...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved 142 buyouts in Buncombe County on Friday, bringing the total number of approved properties up to 189 in the county. The agency allocated a total of $59 million, which will also support the acquisition of 11 properties in Haywood...

Bill Moss/Hendersonville Lightning Democratic nominee Jamie Ager looks to be on strong financial footing as the campaign for the 11th Congressional District seat enters the summer, outraising incumbent Rep. Chuck Edwards and emerging from the first quarter with more cash on hand. It’s one more sign that the congressional race...

Paul Nielsen/The Waynesville Mountaineer After years of public backlash over high-density development in Waynesville, a recommendation to lower the allowed number of units per acre town wide is on the table. A divided Waynesville Planning Board recommended Monday that town council adopt a new set of zoning rules that would...

Lily Levin/Smoky Mountain News Tribal council on May 7 took multiple steps to protect Qualla Boundary rivers and forests, both through supporting land management practices and standing against environmental harm. Among those was a resolution “supporting the removal of Ela Dam and the restoration of Longperson” — which called the...

Travis Bland/WUNC News The Triangle, like much of North Carolina, is experiencing a historic drought, causing lower water supplies and restrictions to be put into place. But planning, interconnection and a major partnership by Triangle-area water systems puts the region at an advantage for withstanding the dry spell and maintaining...

Mackenzie Thomas/Carolina Public Press A Carolina Public Press investigation has uncovered a history of disciplinary action around alleged misconduct while working for at least one previous governmental employer for a former Vance County detention officer who was arrested last month on sexual assault charges. Former Capt. Shannon Charles Holley, an...

Shea Carver/Port City Daily Who is downtown Wilmington for and what is its aim? That’s the question the recently finished Greater Downtown Plan aims to broadly answer, though the Wilmington Planning Commission expressed some skepticism during the finished plan’s debut on Wednesday. The Greater Downtown Plan is intended to outline...

Nolan Mckendry/The Center Square   The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation aimed at stopping American taxpayer dollars from helping finance foreign shrimp operations that Gulf Coast lawmakers say have undercut domestic shrimpers for decades. The Save Our Shrimpers Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, would require U.S....

Dasia Williams/CityView After weeks of emotional pleas from parents, educators, and Spring Lake leaders, the Cumberland County Board of Education voted Tuesday to close J.W. Coon and Manchester elementary schools ahead of the 2026–27 school year. The two votes—each 5-3—followed months of debate over aging facilities, declining enrollment, and long-term...

Colin Campbell/WUNC News A state House committee voted Tuesday to close an affordable housing tax loophole that’s causing major budget problems for urban counties. Representative Erin Paré, R-Wake, says real-estate investors are abusing a tax exemption designed to help nonprofits build and operate affordable rental housing. It’s costing local governments,...

Elvis Menayese/WFAE Radio Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to withdraw its support for the controversial I‑77 expansion project, a decision that some residents say is encouraging but not yet reassuring. The council voted 6–5 to direct its representative on the regional transportation planning body to rescind the city’s support...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Renewable solar energy represents a key component of Duke Energy’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2050, but a surprise order from the chairman of the North Carolina Utilities Commission directed the company to halt its procurement of new solar energy resources until a new carbon...

Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm one person from North Carolina is among the passengers evacuated from the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak. That passenger, along with 15 other Americans, was transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s...

Catherine Kozak/Coastal Review Online Large amounts of underground oil contamination left behind decades ago at a former beachfront U.S Naval facility may finally be gone after the recent completion of an intensive seven-month excavation project, but additional sampling will still need to be done in the fall to confirm that...