Brian Murphy/WRAL News  The University of North Carolina has suspended discussions about the future of the Smith Center until the Tar Heels hire their next men’s basketball coach and that coach has had time to develop his program, potentially pushing any decision on a basketball arena decision into the future....

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tim Hall, a K-12 Social Studies Instructional Specialist at Vance County Schools and former president of the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies, learned in real time that he didn’t know how to teach...

Andrew Marshall/The Waynesville Mountaineer A tear-jerker of a video extolling the virtues of Haywood County has won two major national awards, and if you watch it, you’ll see why. The video, produced by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority as part of its 2025 rebranding, took home Gold and Best...

Emma Cooke/WCHL Chapelboro Orange County’s Board of Commissioners recently met with Mebane to discuss ways to plan for the future of the city and how to accommodate its growing population. Although currently the county’s smallest municipality, it is also its fastest growing one. In Dec. the city’s council adopted “Mebane...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio An estimated 130 people in Buncombe County are still homeless as a result of Hurricane Helene. And the total number of unhoused people has increased to 824, a 9% uptick from last year. That’s according to the Point-in-Time Count, an annual, HUD-mandated survey that relies...

Lydia Winstead/The Daily Tar Heel Even before UNC junior Eloise Herdegen began to learn Russian at UNC, she had experience speaking the language and studying abroad in Kyrgyzstan. In the summer before her first year at UNC, she participated in the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, a  weekslong program...

Rachel Crumpler/NC Health News The Central Prison Healthcare Complex bustles with activity. Inside the 600,000-square-foot Raleigh facility, incarcerated men from across North Carolina shuffle through the five-story building for medical care, ranging from dental procedures, imaging, specialty care or even surgery in one of two on-site operating rooms. Some arrive...

Mary Helen Moore/Axios Raleigh  NIL money is allowing some Duke basketball players to live in downtown Durham’s most high-end apartment building. Why it matters: In the NCAA’s new era, Division I athletes have gained access to a lifestyle that just five years ago would have risked sanctions or been reserved...

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio A board member for the North Carolina Department of Transportation said Wednesday night that if Charlotte rejects a plan to build toll lanes on Interstate 77, he would question whether the state should fund other transportation projects in the city. Opponents of the I-77 project said DOT...

Rian Stockett/WLOS News After receiving federal approval, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will move forward with its newest plans for the Interstate 26 Connector project. It affects the northern section of the project, from the Haywood Road/I-240 interchange to the north end. “We can begin construction, which is...

Brianna Atkinson/WUNC News UNC-Chapel Hill is set to spend $4.79 billion next fiscal year, according to a new all-funds budget approved by the Board of Trustees. Chief Financial Officer Nathan Knuffman presented the plan to the trustees this week. He said UNC-Chapel Hill is still facing multiple funding uncertainties, both...

Akilah Davis/WTVD News Fort Bragg serves as a major economic engine for the Fayetteville area, but when soldiers deploy, small businesses often feel the strain. Now, with new deployments on the horizon, some owners say they are already bracing for the impact. “I know it is tax time right now....

Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press After the State Board of Elections conducted the statewide canvass Wednesday, nearly all primary election results are official. That may not be the case in Yancey County, where there is at least one pending election protest that may be considered by the state elections board. Each...

Morgan Casey/Border Belt Independent Ben Bahr, an internationally recognized researcher of neurodegenerative disorders, had two job offers in 2009: one from the University of Hawaii and another from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. When he picked the latter, a lot of people asked why. “I get more work...

Martha Quillin/The Raleigh News & Observer Tessa and Leo Sharp figured things couldn’t get much worse than Hurricane Helene, which dropped up to 2 feet of rain across mountainous Mitchell County in September 2024. The storm and resulting record flooding sent so much debris down the Nolichucky River, which runs...