Kate Denning/Carolina Public Press As the semester winds down for students across the state and the holiday season kicks into gear, some North Carolina parents have found themselves scrambling for childcare when their children have days off — and wondering why they seem to be out of school more than...

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News North Carolina is seeking $1 billion from the federal government for a wide-ranging plan that could reshape rural health care across the state. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services hopes to secure the funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, an initiative created under...

Trey Nemec/CityView The Spring Lake commissioners said Monday they do not want the Town of Fuquay-Varina to take water from the Cape Fear River Basin and move it to the Neuse River Basin. The Wake County town is asking state environmental officials for permission to withdraw 6.17 million gallons a...

Shaun Gallagher/WRAL News UNC Health and Cigna have not reached an agreement as of Monday, leaving Cigna subscribers facing “out of network” costs for UNC providers and hospitals. UNC Health released a statement saying it has been “unable to reach a new, fair agreement with Cigna.” The current contract between...

Charlie Fossen/Port City Daily Faced with continued complaints over rapid growth and smoke permeation from land-clearing burns, Brunswick County commissioners devoted time last week examining whether they have the legal authority to slow development or restrict open burning. The discussion, requested by Commissioner Randy Thompson, focused on two issues residents...

The Associated Press & WFDD Radio Michael Jordan’s bitter fight against NASCAR heads to federal court Monday in a jury trial that could rip apart the top motorsports series in the United States. The antitrust allegations leveled by Jordan-owned 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports has exposed salacious personal communications,...

Paul B. Johnson/High Point Enterprise Local nonprofit leader Dell McCormick kept up with developments and implications of the federal government shutdown as the deadline neared Nov. 1, but that didn’t fully prepare him for the unprecedented impact he witnessed at his group’s food pantry. McCormick said that the food pantry...

Colin Campbell/WUNC Radio Part of the South of the Border roadside attraction — on Interstate 95 on the line between North and South Carolina — has been put up for sale. The owners are selling 30 acres that include the Pedroland amusement park, the “SOB Convention Center,” a motel building,...

Jonathan Bym/The (Southern Pines) Pilot Robbins’ Police Department in recent years has worked to crack down on drugs in the town limits, but it also has tracked down grant funding through the federal government to help fund policing efforts. During the last Board of Commissioners meeting, Town Manager Clint Mack...

Michelle Crouch/Charlotte Ledger & NC Health News Advocate Health CEO Gene Woods’ compensation surged to $25.8 million in 2024, a 49 percent jump from the $17.3 million he earned the previous year, according to a recent tax filing. Woods’ total pay leading the Atrium Health parent company has more than...

Rob Stein & Sydney Lupkin/WFAE Radio The Food and Drug Administration intends to get tougher on vaccine approvals, as top officials raised concerns about the risk of COVID vaccines for children. Speaking on Fox News Saturday morning, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would no longer “rubber-stamp new products...

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily After weeks of complaining, residents near Southport Elementary and its students will breathe without concern of smoke inhalation. A 1,390-unit development by Indigo Plantation and off of 9th Street no longer will be conducting land-clearing burns. Mayor Rich Alt, with help from Rep. Charles Miller [R-19]...

Sarah Michels/Carolina Public Press Barring any last-minute legal snafus, North Carolina is a week away from the official start of the 2026 elections — the candidate filing period. From Dec. 1 to Dec. 19, candidates running for a spot in Congress, the state legislature, courts and various local offices must...

Aarik Long/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The shock and awe of I-40’s collapse into the Pigeon River Gorge left drivers stranded, terrified and desperate — a scene most would flee from. But in stepped six brave heroes at the N.C. Highway Patrol and the N.C. Department of Transportation, who worked tirelessly to...

Joy Crist/Island Free Press A delegation of roughly two dozen local, state, and federal officials toured the rapidly eroding Buxton shoreline on Monday, walking through the area where 15 oceanfront homes collapsed over a six-week span in the fall, and where dozens more remain at risk. North Carolina Department of...