James Farrell/WFAE Radio In September, Union County Public Schools celebrated becoming the highest-performing school district in North Carolina. Two months later, the district is embroiled in a bitter dispute over teacher pay — a conflict that has led to mass teacher absences, public bickering between school and county leaders, and...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press Is crime getting worse in Charlotte? It’s a simple question that’s trickier to answer than one might think. On the whole, no, crime rates in North Carolina’s largest city are down compared to last year. But homicides in Uptown Charlotte, the city’s central business district which...

Jay Price/WUNC Radio In an unannounced policy change, the Department of Veterans Affairs is making it harder for male veterans with breast cancer to get care and disability benefits. Critics are calling it a misguided attempt to bend science to the Trump Administration’s war on gender ideology. The change reverses...

Emily Thomas/Education NC Dr. J.W. Kelley had been president of McDowell Technical Community College for just two months when Hurricane Helene hit. New to the town and the role, Kelley quickly found himself leading the institution through one of the worst storms in western North Carolina’s history. While nothing could...

Emily Sawaked/Port City Daily Be still their bleating hearts — ownership of miniature goats is now allowed in one New Hanover County beach town. On Nov. 12, Carolina Beach town council unanimously approved a text amendment submitted by resident Jasmine Miller to permit the ownership of domesticated miniature goats —...

Andrew Marshall/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer What to do when you’re stuck on an iced-over interstate, facing multiple hours of gridlock traffic, and you’re towing a food truck full of seafood? If you’re Richard Gray, you pull over and start offering your food to anyone who needs it — for free. And...

Watauga Democrat MountainTrue has received a $750,000 grant from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund to expand its regional debris cleanup and river restoration program — a historic recovery effort employing displaced workers, restoring damaged waterways, and strengthening communities across the southern...

Jose Sandoval/Blue Ridge Public Radio UNC Asheville will partner with a consulting firm to establish and guide its Millennial Campus Development Commission, the university announced Tuesday. This latest development comes months after the university halted negotiations for its controversial development of portions of its Millennial Campus property, which includes 45...

Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Yet another company has abandoned Edgecombe County, one of the poorest corners of North Carolina, after making promises it couldn’t keep. This time, it’s Natron Energy, the battery manufacturing company that planned to bring 1,000 jobs and a $1.4 billion investment — until the company...

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News The parents of more than 20 children with autism notched a recent victory in a lawsuit that accused the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services of discrimination after it slashed Medicaid reimbursement rates for certain behavioral health providers. During a hearing in Wake County on...

Jonathan Bym/The (Southern Pines) Pilot The Robbins Board of Commissioners on Thursday expressed its intent to keep the Charlie Brooks Reservoir and the nearby dam connected to the water intake on Bear Creek in its hands. Commissioners approved a resolution drafted by town attorney T.C. Morphis, made at the request...

A.P. Dillon/North State Journal The Guilford County Democratic Party selected High Point City Councilwoman Amanda Cook to fill the remainder of former statehouse Rep. Cecil Brockman’s term during an executive committee meeting on Saturday. “After a vote of the HD60 CEC, the Guilford County Democratic Party has selected Amanda Cook...

Pat Gruner/The Daily Reflector East Carolina University’s Board of Trustees reviewed plans to build a chancellor’s residence on property adjacent to the old residence near campus this week, the same day officials gave a nod to a 3% tuition increase. The full board on Friday approved both items Jessica Bossierre,...

Ben Humphries/Education NC What happens in a region ravaged by a natural disaster, where communications are disabled and the power is cut off indefinitely? How do its residents react? How is help delivered to those in need? Last year, the people of western North Carolina — and others across the...

Jennifer Ludden/WUNC Radio The Trump administration is upending its homelessness policy, with deep cuts to funding for long-term housing. Instead, it will shift money toward transitional housing that requires work and addiction treatment. In a statement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the new policies will “restore accountability”...