Ben Schachtman/WHQR An investigation into the city’s recycling and trash division substantiated claims of timecard fraud, substance abuse, and other policy violations, leading to the termination of the two longtime, high-ranking employees. The city has also seen several other senior employees resign over the last several months. In late January,...

Rachel Heimann Mercader & Paul Woolverton/CityView President Donald Trump mixed politics with praise for the military, promises to soldiers, and criticism of former President Joe Biden during a sweeping, campaign‑style address at Fort Bragg on Friday with first lady Melania Trump. Melania Trump opened the event with a short introduction....

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Shining Rock Classical Academy’s governing board is weighing whether to end its high school operations by summer after a new financial sustainability report revealed the Dellwood Road campus is operating at a $300,000 deficit and would require more than $1.1 million in facility investments over the...

WCNC Film and television production activity in North Carolina generated an estimated $185.5 million in direct spending last year, marking the fourth-highest annual total since the state’s current film grant launched in 2015. The 38 productions that filmed across the state created more than 7,000 crew, talent and background extra...

Ben Horney/Front Office Sports The company that houses the Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte FC MLS club, and the facility both teams play in, has big plans over the next few years, including an $800 million arena renovation and the construction of a new music venue. “We do believe Charlotte has...

Rachel Crumpler & Taylor Knopf/NC Health News North Carolina’s three state-run psychiatric hospitals — Cherry, Central Regional and Broughton — serve about 570 patients each day. But hundreds more who need inpatient treatment wait weeks — even months — for a bed to open. The three state-operated facilities are designed...

Will Doran/WRAL News The North Carolina Retirement Systems began investing pension fund money in cryptocurrency in late 2025, after legislative leaders pushed through a law enabling such market bets over the objection of state employees whose paychecks fund the plan. Several months later, the state has seen more than half...

Benjamin Schachtman/WHQR In late January, the City of Wilmington fired the two top employees leading and overseeing the Recycling and Trash Services Division, following an investigation. In early February, the city confirmed that Public Services Director Dave Mayes and Superintendent of Recycling and Trash Rick Porter were no longer with...

Liz Bell/Education NC Miguel Cardona, former U.S. Secretary of Education, encouraged a room of bilingual educators and education leaders on Friday to rally around bilingual students and advocate for policies that strengthen their educational opportunities. During the Biden administration, one of Cardona’s priorities was his 2023 “Being Bilingual is a...

Jose Sandoval/Blue Ridge Public Radio Lake Lure had to be drained 20 feet after Hurricane Helene so engineers could clean out all the silt and grime. The town is slowly refilling the lake, hoping it will be ready for business Memorial Day weekend. The Town of Lake Lure hopes to...

Port City Daily Novant Health’s board of trustees has approved a multi-year master facility plan for the Coastal Region, featuring a new heart and vascular tower and a relocated rehabilitation hospital. The projects, estimated to cost upwards of $1 billion over the next five to seven years, are designed to...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro In the current academic year, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ total enrollment of roughly 10,700 students is its lowest in two decades. At that time, the district had three fewer schools – with Carrboro High, Morris Grove Elementary and Northside Elementary schools not having opened yet. Now, the...

Kyle Perrotti/Smoky Mountain News Following his first four years as Macon County’s sheriff, Brent Holbrooks is facing a primary challenge as he seeks a second term. Following former Sheriff Robbie Holland’s announcement that he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2022, Holbrooks emerged from a crowded Republican primary field that included multiple...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online Ocean Isle Beach hopes to pump tens of thousands of cubic yards of sand onto the beach at the easternmost tip of the island by this spring as an erosion stopgap. The Brunswick County town has asked the Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District for authorization...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio More than 3,400 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County educators have signed a petition demanding an end to staffing cuts, and more. An hour before the school board meeting, teachers, staff and students rallied on the front lawn of the district’s education building. They chanted “no more cuts,” and “a seat...