The Herald Sun
Defense points to acne medication in shooter’s hearing
Defense lawyers for the Raleigh teen who killed five people in a mass shooting began presenting their evidence in his sentencing hearing Tuesday, depicting a seemingly normal child subjected to a sudden mental episode brought on by his acne...
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Lawmakers bring local leaders to Raleigh for grilling
Local officials from across North Carolina are being called to Raleigh to be grilled by lawmakers on two state House committees. Contentious exchanges between local and state government officials in a hearing room in Raleigh have become more common in...
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ACC announces fine for UNC court storming
The ACC fined UNC $50,000 for violating the league’s event security policy after fans rushed the court following the Tar Heels’ 71-68 win over Duke on Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center, the conference announced Sunday night. Blue Devils coach Jon...
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Farewell to whimsical N&O illustrator Grey Blackwell
In its final years in its old office on Mcdowell Street, The News & Observer occupied a dingy labyrinth of mostly empty rooms and dusty hallways where ghosts floated past with green eyeshades and inky finjoke gers, operating machines nobody had turned...
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Mother of confessed Hedingham shooter testifies at hearing
The mother of the confessed killer in Raleigh’s deadliest mass shooting took the witness stand Wednesday and testified that she “may never know why” Austin Thompson killed five people in their Hedingham neighborhood. “Austin,” she said, addressing her...
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Grant will allow removal of dozen abandoned boats in NC waters
The N.C. Coastal Federation has received a grant from a national boating organization to remove a dozen abandoned boats from waterways in five coastal counties. The money will help continue a years-long effort by the nonprofit, the state Wildlife...
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Cooper’s hurricane recovery record under scrutiny in Senate race
As former Gov. Roy Cooper campaigns for U.S. Senate, Republicans argue that hurricane recovery under his administration took too long for many families. The issue has taken on new political relevance as disaster response and recovery become a point of...
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Residents brave cold temps for Dix Park winter wonderland
With powdery snow underfoot and a bright sun overhead, hundreds of Raleigh residents flocked to Dorothea Dix Park on Sunday to enjoy the results of the second winter storm in as many weeks. At Harvey Hill, parents formed a line at the top of the hill...
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Picturesque, problematic: Snowstorm blankets NC
A winter storm moved across North Carolina on Saturday, crowning the landscape from the mountains to the sea in powdery snow nearly two feet deep in places, but also leaving thousands without power or stranded on unnavigable roads. High winds and...
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Vigil held at VA after Pretti’s death ‘hit home’ for nurses
When she watched video of the moments before a Border Patrol agent shot Alex Pretti, Libby Manly could see the nurse in him. Manly saw Pretti helping a woman after federal agents shoved her to the ground. She saw, true to the demeanor of a nurse, how...
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Budd joins Tillis in call for investigation of Minn. killing
U.S. Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina called for an investigation into the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federbut al agents in Minneapolis, saying his death was “a tragedy that should never have happened.” In a lengthy statement released...
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KEEPING A WINTRY WATCH
A bald eagle perches on driftwood in a pond near the Crabtree Creek Boardwalk in Raleigh on Jan. 27, 2026, as the morning sun begins to melt snow and ice from the weekend.
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Skies will clear, but travel remains iffy in Central NC
Many roads remain covered with snow, slush and ice in the Triangle and surrounding counties Monday morning. But with temperatures inching above freezing and the sun expected to return in the afternoon, road crews will make progress as the day goes...
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Winter storm brings slick roads, outages, picturesque views
As North Carolinians peered out frosty windows Sunday to see what was in their grab bag of winter weather, most found at least a crust of ice but fewer problems than expected. Describing the changing nature of the precipitation as the storm arrived in...
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Teen pleads guilty in Raleigh’s Hedingham mass shooting
Editor’s note: This story contains details of violence that some may find disturbing. Austin Thompson, still only 18, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the worst mass shooting in Raleigh’s history, killing five people and wounding two...
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UNC launches Carolina North plan for tech, housing, shops
The time is now to develop the Carolina North campus in ways that will benefit the university, Chapel Hill and North Carolina residents, Unc-chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts told UNC Board of Trustees members Wednesday. The announcement did not...
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Walk for Peace monks expected in Raleigh in coming days
A small procession of Buddhist monks — accompanied by Aloka the Peace Dog — is making a 2,300-mile pilgrimage from Texas to Washington, D.C., and expect to arrive in the Triangle in the coming days. The Walk for Peace passed through Charlotte on...
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Hundreds honor Martin Luther King’s legacy in march
Hundreds of families, activists and politicians marched through downtown Raleigh on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In a political era many attendees described as bleak and divisive, marchers looked to King and his teachings as an...
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New Alligator River bridge taking shape in Eastern NC
Workers will soon drive the last of hundreds of concrete columns into the bottom of the Alligator River that will hold up a new 3.3-mile bridge connecting the Outer Banks with the rest of North Carolina. Work on the new bridge began nearly a year ago,...
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Man accused in Orange County killings to claim self-defense
The attorney for an Alamance County man accused of fatally shooting two teenagers in Orange County in 2022 said in court Monday that he will argue it was self-defense when the jury trial starts later this week. Issiah Ross, 21, is accused of killing...
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Slain teacher Welsh’s house inspires tributes
Early Thursday, someone stopped outside Zoe Welsh’s house on Clay Street and dropped a bouquet of flowers on the curb, tucking a card behind a daisy: “So much love,” it read. Five days after the Wake County teacher died in her house while calling 911...
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Hundreds of teachers protest for more funding for schools
Hundreds of North Carolina teachers called out of work on Wednesday to participate in protests urging state leaders to provide more money for public education. Leaders of NC Teachers in Action say 650 to 750 educators at 52 schools, including 30 in...
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Teacher’s accused killer has violent history, schizophrenia
The man charged with killing Wake County teacher Zoe Welsh has a long history of mental health troubles, including being diagnosed with schizophrenia, and has bounced between homelessness and jail for over a decade, court records show. Ryan Camacho,...
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Maduro tells US judge he was ‘kidnapped’
Nicolás Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan president, and his wife pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges including drug trafficking and other crimes, two days after they were captured in a U.S. military raid in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital....
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New NC laws on gender identity, prescription drugs, pensions
Several new North Carolina laws take effect with the new year on Thursday. They include measures touching on sex and gender — echoing actions taken by President Donald Trump — changes aimed at reining in prescription drug costs, shifts in who makes...
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PASS THE PEAS AND CORN BREAD, PLEASE
Peggy Goodson purchases collards at the State Farmers Market on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C.
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Couple rescues NC modernist home, then restores it
When news went viral that the modernist house at 606 Transylvania Ave., built by NC State’s famed architect George Matsumoto, was slated for demolition, concerned residents fired off some 100 Facebook posts. Most condemned the decision. One...
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Bus driver turned award-winning teacher is changing lives
Shane Henderson doesn’t stop being an award-winning teacher when class ends at Pittsboro Elementary School. Henderson’s fourth-grade students are as likely to see their beloved teacher cheering them on at a weekend or afterschool event as they are in...
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Cary residents worry over mobile home park’s possible closure
In the middle of Chatham Estates Mobile Home Park, a little girl in a pink Bluey shirt spins herself around atop a concrete slab. She twirls with her blue backpack in her outstretched hand — bunny ears on the top and a mermaid stitched on the...
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Clyde Jones, critter-making Picasso with chain saw, dies
Clyde Jones, the self-taught folk artist who carved thousands of eccentric “critters” with his chain saw and found international fame as “the Picasso of driftwood,” has died. He was 86 or 87, depending on which year he was born, which he confessed...
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HOLIDAY LIGHTS MEET NATURE’S COLORS
A vivid winter sunset sets over downtown Raleigh on Dec. 22 as the low angle of the sun intensifies the evening light. The 538-foot-tall PNC Plaza rises above the skyline illuminated in red and green for the holidays. The winter solstice has passed,...
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Elephant C’sar, oldest of his kind in US, has died at NC Zoo
C’sar the elephant, the N.C. Zoo’s longest-tenured and one of its most charismatic residents, has died. The park announced C’sar’s passing on Monday, Dec. 22, saying he died peacefully on Dec. 19 under the care of a team of experts who had been...
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‘Iryna’s Law’ could increase strain on mental health system
A North Carolina law known as Iryna’s Law is expected to increase the number of people who need behavioral health services, adding pressure to an already strained mental health system, according to a top official with the North Carolina Department of...
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‘Stand your ground’ shooting led to conviction, prison, then freedom
The film begins with John Mcneil sitting on a stool in an empty room, staring into the camera, recalling the phone call that started his nightmare journey. As the camera rolls, Mcneil tells how his son called one day in 2005 from their home outside...
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UNC basketball connects with pediatric cancer patients
When 7-year-old Jude Rifkin woke up Sunday morning, he had one question for his mother. “Is today the basketball shoe day?” It was. Rifkin had been thinking about this day for a while. Rams and basketballs would go on the side of his sneakers....
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Cary town manager resigns amid scrutiny over spending
Cary Town Manager Sean Stegall has resigned, three weeks after he was placed on paid administrative leave and concerns were raised about the town’s questionable spending. His resignation, which occurred over the weekend, was announced late Monday at...
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Retired TV meteorologist recovers from kidney transplant
It’s not uncommon for the Triangle’s TV reporters and anchors to share personal anecdotes on air or online. But in his decades delivering weather forecasts to local viewers, Bill Reh didn’t talk about the diagit nosis that, just this year, had a...
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As he challenges Berger, sheriff faces investigation
The most powerful Republican in North Carolina is being challenged in his primary election by a longtime local sheriff, who is now facing a state investigation — over his handling of vending machine revenue. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger...
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TROLLING FOR SNOW IN DIX PARK
Sophia Ashe, 14, and her mother, Kim Zdanowicz, head back up the slope at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh while attempting to sled in a dusting of snow that accumulated overnight on Tuesday morning. A whimsical troll sculpture made from reclaimed wood by...
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Noncriminal ICE arrests rose in NC before Border Patrol surge
New federal data brings more evidence that immigration enforcement agents are not primarily targeting people with violent criminal records, despite recent messaging from the Department of Homeland Security. When Border Patrol agents rolled into...
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NC Christmas tree growers hope for a brighter season
In what might be counted as a generous gift, Christmas tree experts say it appears not a single North Carolina tree grower was put out of business by the remnants of Hurricane Helene that ripped through the mountains in September 2024. Flooding and...
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NC sees record number of jobs promises in 2025
by Jetzero’s historic hiring promise in the Piedmont, North Carolina has secured a record number of jobs commitments in 2025. Companies have pledged to create more than 33,000 jobs statewide, the most ever during a calendar year, with a few weeks left...
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Samaritan’s Purse rebuilt house destroyed by Hurricane Helene
It took just a few hours for Hurricane Helene to wash Bob Tatum’s home down the Toe River and smash it under a bridge. And it took Samaritan’s Purse only four months to rebuild it, top to bottom, free of charge. The Boone-based charity learned of Bob...
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Raleigh Convention Center fire causes over $2M in damages
A fire Monday night at the Raleigh Convention Center caused damages in excess of $2 million, Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin said Tuesday. Officials described the fire, reported at 9:29 p.m., as a “natural gas incident” that started on the...
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‘A terminal diagnosis’: NC hemp seller fights new law
As part of a new law passed to reopen the federal government, a last-minute provision taking effect next November could upend the booming hemp industry in North Carolina and across the country. The new law is “very much intended, by all intents and...
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Lawmakers help constituents navigate bureaucracy
State lawmakers hear from their constituents every day. Legislative inboxes are filled with messages from people, back home in the district and throughout the rest of the state, writing to share thoughts on how lawmakers are spending their time in...
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CELEBRATING NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE
Miss Indian North Carolina Page Freeman, a member of the Lumbee, Coharie and Waccamaw-siouan tribes, performs a Women's Southern Traditional dance during a Native American Heritage Month celebration at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh on Tuesday, Nov....
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Raleigh family struggles despite NC medical debt relief
Randall Edge, says he felt a burden lift after he received help through North Carolina’s medical debt relief program. But it hasn’t been enough. Edge, 54, is still barely staying afloat. And this year, he received another bill he’s not likely to be...
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‘Disaster investors’ flip Carrboro homes for big profits
In a quiet cul-de-sac in Carrboro’s Weatherhill Pointe, the flood-ravaged home at 309 Berryhill Drive sits empty, gutted to the bones, and padlocked. The woman who once lived there — who asked not to be named over privacy concerns — sold it fast to an...
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6 facts about first lady’s visit to North Carolina
Last Wednesday, we Tar Heel reporters caught a rarified glimpse into the White House world when first lady Melania Trump flew into Jacksonville for a quick afternoon, bearing holiday wishes for Marines and their fidgety kindergartners. We tagged along...
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Wakemed says no Medicare deal with Unitedhealthcare
Wakemed officials said Tuesday that Unitedhealthcare has stopped negotiating days before the deadline for reaching a Medicare deal, an impasse that threatens to place its Medicare Advantage patients “out-ofnetwork” for health care. In a letter to...
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NC Tiktok star ordered to pay $1.5M in affair lawsuit
A jury on Monday sided with the woman who accused North Carolina Tiktok influencer Brenay Kennard of ruining her marriage with her ex-husband. A Superior Court judge then ordered Kennard to pay $1.5 million for alienation of affection and $250,000 for...
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National Park units in NC mountains relying on outside funds
National Park units in the North Carolina mountains are staying largely open during the federal government shutdown, but it’s taking pritains vate and local government donations along with volunteer labor to make sure visitors have a nearly normal...
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Suspect charged in fatal shooting of Wakemed police officer at Garner Healthplex
A Wakemed campus police officer was shot and killed Saturday morning in Garner. The officer, Roger Smith, was on duty in the emergency debeen partment lobby at 9 a.m. when “a struggle ensued,” Wakemed said in a statement Saturday afternoon. Smith had...
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SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
The moon rises over downtown Raleigh, Wednesday evening, Nov. 5, 2025. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, this supermoon, one of three of 2025, is the closest supermoon of the year.
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DMV says license office waits are halved from 2 months ago
People are wasting less time waiting at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles. The average wait time at driver’s license offices statewide was roughly half in October what it was in the month ending Sept. 8, according to new data from the agency....
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19 Triangle restaurants in new American South Michelin Guide
The newest Michelin Guide includes 19 restaurants in the Triangle, from avant garde fine dining to a barbecue trailer in the Raleigh suburbs. For a century, the Michelin Guide has been the most coveted culinary honor in the world, bestowing its star...
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New species of tyrannosaur discovered in Raleigh museum
The most ferocious predator of the ancient world had a smaller, lightweight cousin: a new species of tyrannosaur uncovered in a Raleigh laboratory. For years, paleontologists at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences thought its “Dueling Dinosaurs” exhibit...
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Families scramble for help as shutdown stalls food stamps
Betty Hernandez’s van was repossessed this week. “I’m honestly considering just letting it be auctioned out and letting my credit take the hit because of the payment that comes with it,” said the 30year-old mom of three. Her family bought the van...
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Zebulon neighbors shocked after deaths of four children
Rachel Ross woke up Wednesday and told her mother, Debra Riley, they needed to do something after seeing the tragedy that unfolded next door. Only the day before, Ross and Riley woke up to police cars blocking off their street as deputies removed four...
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NC man accused of killing his 4 children over 4 months
A Zebulon man charged in the deaths of four of his children allegedly killed them in separate incidents over a period of four months, officials said Wednesday. Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, faces four charges of murder in the deaths of 6-yearold...
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ATTENDANCE DIPS AT NC STATE FAIR
Riders enjoy the Techno Jump ride at the N.C. State Fair in Raleigh on Saturday. The N.C. Dept. of Agriculture reports that 946,811 people attended this year’s fair over its 11 days. The numbers are down around 5% from 2024 when 998,926 people attended.
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See what Raleigh Convention Center expansion will look like
The Raleigh Convention Center is growing by nearly 300,000 square feet, and renderings showing what the facility will look like have just been released. The 298,100-square-foot expansion, including flexible event space and additional meeting rooms,...
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Giant troll installation at Dix Park nears completion
Growing up in Denmark, Thomas Dambo regularly rented a cassette tape with a little troll girl who protected a forest. As an adult, Dambo worked at a warehouse where he always saw a huge pile of scrap wood in the back, waiting to be thrown away. “I...
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Local food bank braces for federal shutdown fallout
Ron Pringle is treating the government shutdown like an impending hurricane. “We have to look at it just like it’s a natural disaster,” he said. “I’ve gone through several hurricanes and floods . ... And just because this is not an act of nature, it’s...
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Protesters accuse GOP of racial gerrymandering with new map
As protesters chanted about “racist maps” and Democratic politicians accused North Carolina Republicans of disenfranchising Black voters, lawmakers on Tuesday moved ahead with a new congressional map intended to pick up another seat for the GOP. “Now,...
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My 5 favorite parts from our first ‘foodie’ event
I’m part of The N&O’S food and dining journalism team, writing this with a full belly and high spirits after our first ever “Foodie’s Tour of the NC State Fair” event. A group of 20 joined me and my teammates Chyna Blackmon, Drew Hill and Ethan Hyman...
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With Medicaid cuts, mom fears losing nurses keeping son alive
Mary Mac Jenkins, the impact of North Carolina’s Medicaid payment cuts isn’t theoretical — it’s deeply personal. Her 9-year-old son, Miles, lives with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and depends on round-the-clock care. Most of that care comes...
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Thousands gather across Triangle for No Kings protests
Across the Triangle, North Carolinians joined millions of protesters across the world opposing the Trump administration’s “authoritarian policies.” “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” was a chant used by protesters in Raleigh and...
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After closing Surplus Sid’s, Barry Keith reminisces, looks ahead
Barry Keith may be the “Emperor of Carrboro” — a man of mystery and chaser of women — but to the people who know him, he’s just “Sid.” As for the rest, “if it ain’t the truth, it’s the way it should have been,” he said last week, while having lunch...
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Everything to know about 2025 NC State Fair
It’s time to open the gates to North Carolina’s largest annual event: the 2025 N.C. State Fair. Get ready for eleven days of thrill rides, deep-fried delights, livestock shows, live music and more as the fair returns to Raleigh Thursday, Oct....
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A nor’easter closed sections of NC 12 on the Outer Banks
Residents and visitors along the N.C. Outer Banks were stuck more or less in place Monday morning as crews worked to clear water and sand from N.C. 12 and inspect the road for damage after a nor’easter. The state Department of Transportation reported...
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Amid shutdown, Chantal flood victims left waiting
In 2017, when Rebecca and Ryan Blough paid $350,000 for their two-story transitional home in Pittsboro’s outskirts, they thought they’d found a “diamond in the rough.” Nestled in the woods on a 1.2-acre lot, it backed up to a creek and boasted a...
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Final leg of Raleigh’s Outer Loop under construction
Rural southeast Wake County has been changing for years, as new homes and subdivisions rise amid patches of forest and fields of hay and soybeans. Now even bigger changes are underway, as enormous piles of downed trees, rows of pipes and a 10-mile...
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‘I will never retreat’: UNC professor defends his record
At 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, Dwayne Dixon was set to enter New West Building to teach his first class since UNC reinstated him — “Embodying Japan: Cultures of Sport, Beauty and Medicine.” The first thing Dixon said he would tell his students? It’s easy...
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