Adam Wagner/WUNC News With flu deaths spiking in North Carolina, state health officials are urging people to get their annual flu vaccines. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday that 63 additional people died from the flu in the state, bringing this season’s total to 134 deaths....

Steve Harrison/WFAE Radio A Superior Court judge on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking to remove Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden from office, but ruled that the effort could move forward later — if it’s approved by the district attorney. Five Mecklenburg County residents filed the petition earlier this month, alleging...

Albert Samaha/The Washington Post Sports bettors worked with dozens of players across NCAA men’s basketball to rig the outcome of at least 29 games, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment unsealed Thursday, the latest development in a widening scandal stretching across collegiate and professional basketball. Among the defendants named by...

Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline A state House committee on involuntary commitment of people with mental illnesses began after Iryna Zarutska was killed last year by a man with a long criminal history and a schizophrenia diagnosis. Now, another death has brought new immediacy to the committee’s work. At the request of...

Annie Dance/The Carolina Journal State officials overseeing western North Carolina’s disaster recovery efforts acknowledged ongoing funding gaps, federal reimbursement delays, and housing challenges during a Jan. 9 meeting of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) at Isothermal Community College in Spindale. Each month, the advisory committee...

WRAL News The former Newton Grove police chief, who was charged with secret peeping and indecent liberties with a minor, now faces more charges. Greg Warren was charged with trafficking, opium or heroin and possessing a weapon of mass destruction. The 50-year-old Warren appeared in Sampson County court on Thursday...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education again failed to elect a new chair and vice chairperson during a heated meeting Tuesday night. The board’s been in a stalemate for nearly a month, which has allowed Chairperson Deanna Kaplan to retain her role despite not receiving a nomination....

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily One local beach town is trying out a new tactic to entice jobseekers to its doorsteps, following a request for action from its town manager. Earlier this week, the Carolina Beach Town Council voted unanimously in favor of increasing merit raises from 2% to 4% to...

Rachel Heimann Mercader/CityView Accusations of secrecy, mismanagement, and withheld documents have fractured the nonprofit Fayetteville‑Cumberland County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, putting the future of the taxpayer‑funded MLK Park project in jeopardy. Some civic leaders are even calling for committee chair Stanley Ford to resign. “I’m hurt and embarrassed...

The High Point Enterprise The remaining machinery and equipment of High Point upholstery manufacturer Woodmark Furniture, which closed last fall as a result of its parent company going out of business, will be liquidated at auction next week. Parent company Howard Miller Co. announced the Jan. 20 auction on Thursday....

WRAL News The federal government granted another $116 million in disaster relief funding to North Carolina intended to support the state’s recovery from Hurricane Helene and to prevent future disaster damage across the state. Some of the money is for public assistance programs, and some is for what’s called disaster...

Caroline Vakil/The Hill Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is touting a more than $9.5 million haul in the fourth quarter of fundraising of 2025, easily outpacing former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Whatley’s haul in the North Carolina Senate race, according to figures first shared with The...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio North Carolina is facing a looming deadline to find more funding to cover new federal work requirements for Medicaid. President Trump’s megabill that became law last summer requires most Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer or receive job training at least 20 hours a week. But it will...

Zachery Eanes/Axios Raleigh A pair of Raleigh’s newest office towers has been sold for $210 million — a significant decrease from the record sum of $330 million the two towers fetched in 2022. Why it matters: The new owner is a partnership between Raleigh’s largest landlord, Highwoods Properties, and the...

Amy Diaz/WFDD Radio Randolph County Commissioners could be voting on new bylaws for the recently dissolved public library board of trustees in the coming weeks. Back in December, the commissioners dismissed all of the trustees after they voted to keep a book about a transgender boy in the children’s section...