Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press The Lumbee Tribe, or “People of the Dark Water,” as they’re sometimes called in reference to the murky waters of the Lumber River, have embraced a new nickname. They are “number 575” — the 575th American Indian tribe, and the second in North Carolina, to be...

Richard Stradling/The Raleigh News & Observer The legal battle over the stone quarry next to William B. Umstead State Park is far from over. A Wake County judge put the quarry’s future in doubt when he ruled in December that the state mining permit expires in 2031. It appeared that...

Paul Woolverton/CityView Residential electricity prices in and around Fayetteville would rise about 13.45% over the next two years under price increases the Fayetteville Public Works Commission is considering. The increase would be split, with a 6.5% boost as of May 1 of this year. In May 2027, the price would...

Emily Walkenhorst/WRAL News A Wake County school board committee discussed hundreds of millions of dollars in upcoming facility needs focused mostly on the district’s current schools, as Wake also plans to get rid of nearly 100 trailers hosting classrooms across the county. Wake County has more than 600 trailers housing...

Brian Murphy/WRAL News The NBA’s Trail Blazers have been a fixture in Portland for more than 55 years. But with an aging arena in need of repair and Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon’s purchase of the team likely to be approved this spring, some in Oregon are worried the franchise...

Peter H. Lewis/Asheville Watchdog The Dogwood Health Trust — the foundation responsible for enforcing HCA Healthcare’s compliance with the terms of its 2019 purchase of nonprofit Mission Health — has accelerated its oversight schedule in the wake of Mission Hospital’s latest violations of federal safety standards. In a statement to...

Lauren Rhodes/WUNC News Eric Andrews remembers hearing “rumblings” that something was changing in Chatham County around 15 years ago. That’s when the Pittsboro-based real estate broker at Realty World Carolina Properties said landowners began to come into his office with offers for their tracts of land. Once, he said he...

WECT The president of a metal fabrication and manufacturing company pleaded guilty on Thursday, Feb. 5, to charges involving taking $8.5 million in rigged procurements. Thomas C. Rollins of Wilmington was involved in a conspiracy to rig bids for maintenance, repair, and operations contracts affecting United States military installations. Court...

James Farrell/WFAE Radio Cabarrus County Schools is implementing a temporary enrollment cap at W. R. Odell Primary School and W.R. Odell Elementary School. The enrollment cap will start April 1 for new students in grades 1 through 5 enrolling for the 2026-27 school year, and it will remain in place...

WFDD Radio The Randolph County Board of Education is considering closing a school due to low enrollment and reductions in state funding. District officials say enrollment at Uwharrie Ridge Six-Twelve has been steadily declining despite multiple recruitment efforts. This year, it only had 369 students — roughly half of its...

Alan Wooten/The Center Square  More than a quarter-billion dollars has been generated for North Carolina coffers by sports wagering revenue since becoming legal in March 2024. January produced the fourth-largest month on record, according to figures from the North Carolina Lottery Commission. With $14,460,977 for state coffers, the 23 months...

Laura Hackett/Blue Ridge Public Radio North Carolina only has enough money to repair around 300 of the thousands of private roads and bridges damaged by Hurricane Helene, state officials said at a Monday meeting for the Governor’s Recovery Office of Western North Carolina. The state launched the $175 million program...

Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News Under a mountainside that had slipped again and again, residents of Thistle Ridge faced a grim reality — unstable ground, blocked roads and no clear path forward. For more than four years, bureaucratic delays and shifting priorities left a vital infrastructure fix stalled while families worried...

Ahmed Jallow/NC Newsline The Charter School Review Board on Monday unanimously approved a Wake County charter school’s request to separate its virtual program into a standalone charter school. The decision allows Pine Springs’ Virtual Academy, which enrolls more than 3,500 students from across the state, to break away from Pine...

Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press A months-long saga has unfolded surrounding the Cleveland County Board of Education’s decision not only about selling a shuttered school building but also about the buyer. The board has opted to forgo traditional bidding processes in order for the building to land in the hands of...