The News & Observer
EPA repeals climate pollution limits for power plants
Most coal- and natural gasfired power plants in North Carolina no longer will face federal limits on their greenhouse gas emissions, drawing pushback from state leaders and environmental groups. The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday...
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Raleigh wants to redesign Nash Square
Nash Square has evolved significantly since its creation over 200 years ago, and city parks officials are eyeing another new design. There’s a lot that’s going to change about the square, said city planning supervisor T.J. McCourt at a Raleigh City...
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Apex street work delays hurt downtown businesses
Above Salem Street, a sign welcomes visitors: “Downtown Apex is open for business!” Below it, excavators tear into one side of the street while the afternoon sun beats down on the other. Between them, cars creep single file along the oneway...
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25 years later, the Triangle remembers 9/11
The Triangle awoke on September 11, 2021 to a sunny fall Tuesday. But things would take a dark turn about 8:45 a.m. With no smartphones pinging news headlines, many people first started hearing the news on the network morning shows or on the radio...
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Raleigh council wants to rein in Glenwood South’s party scene
Raleigh City Council members want Glenwood South to change. Council member Jane Harrison — who represents the district — said despite the area’s reputation as a nightlife hub, it’s more than bars. There are a diverse array of businesses and dense...
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Growth, traffic strain Durham emergency service response times
In a critical medical emergency, eight minutes can mean the difference between life and death. In Durham County, that response time is under pressure as population growth, more traffic and a shortage of staffed ambulances stretch the county’s...
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Rare NC butterfly’s fate uncertain as caretakers leave
A woman walking on the boardwalk at Fort Macon State Park stopped when she saw Laura Taylor wearing longsleeves and a cargo vest sagging under the weight of myriad gadgets despite the 95 degree heat. “Have you had any luck?” she asked. She added,...
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Raleigh adds warnings for 'Peace Street Peeler' bridge
A railroad bridge over West Peace Street is technically slightly higher than its posted clearance of 12 feet and 4 inches, according to the city of Raleigh. That hasn’t stopped five vehicles from scraping or wrecking into the “Peace Street Peeler"...
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Hundreds protest as tech billionaires attend G20 meeting
The Carolina Inn on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus is no stranger to the occasional high-profile guest. But on Wednesday, it was full of them. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with a net worth of $3.3 billion. Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, with a net worth valued...
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Wake, NC school test scores reach pre-pandemic levels
The Wake County school system saw its largest singleyear gain in test scores in more than a decade — finally reaching pre-pandemic achievement levels this year. New statewide data released on Wednesday shows that Wake’s passing rate on state exams...
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Pullen Park lake will soon be filling with water again
The water is returning to the lake in Raleigh’s Pullen Park. Lake Howell, where ducks, geese and pedal boats normally glide, was drained last winter, so contractors for the city could replace the crumbling concrete retaining walls around the...
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Can Raleigh make Moore Square a family-friendly destination?
Raleigh’s downtown business community gathered Wednesday, handing out awards and celebrating growth, but one part of downtown remained a sore spot: Moore Square. “If I’m going to have you believe me when I tell you the good things happening downtown,...
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Rocky Horror star Tim Curry draws tribute at Raleigh Rialto
They came sporting leather corsets, ripped stockings, glittery top hats, kilts and the occasional tuxedo — a horde of unabashed freaks stretching for blocks down Glenwood Avenue at midnight, gathered for a raucous, giddy, semi-naughty vigil. For...
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Wake County teachers weigh state pay raises
RALEIGH North Carolina teachers are getting some of their largest pay raises in recent years, but some educators say it’s not enough during a time of rising inflation and healthcare costs. The Tools4Schools store in Raleigh was filled this week with...
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North Carolina set to receive funds from Meta settlement
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is promising hundreds of millions of dollars to North Carolina in settling a landmark federal case over whether its social media platforms were addictive and caused harm to kids and teens. It’s also...
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NCSU honors astronaut with building – and something sweet
Pink hair, ripped jeans and an “inexplicable love of rockets.” That’s how astronaut Christina Koch remembers herself as an undergraduate at NC State University. Walking into those first classes, she said she felt like “everyone else in this room...
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Gov. Stein greets Wake students starting the new school year
Conn Elementary School had some unexpected greeters on Monday morning as Gov. Josh Stein welcomed students starting their first day of classes. Stein, State Superintendent Mo Green and Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor shook hands and posed for...
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Raleigh to shut entrance to downtown bus station
The city will soon close a pedestrian tunnel the connects GoRaleigh’s Moore Square bus station with Wilmington Street and the heart of downtown as part of a broader effort to try to make people feel safer. City officials say they will block off both...
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Rehabbed Piedmont engine gets special America 250 paint job
North Carolina’s passenger rail service welcomed back one of its locomotives Tuesday with a traditional christening ceremony, a new number and a paint job that honors the country’s 250th birthday. The nearly 50-year-old engine, one of eight that move...
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Church’s free summer meals ease grocery burden for families
Kenya Lawrence walked into Redeeming Love Missionary Baptist Church one Wednesday this summer with two of her children to pick up lunch. That day, they had ground beef and cheese with tortilla chips, vegetables and chocolate milk. The meals provided...
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How minimum lot sizes shape housing in the Triangle
Multifamily zoning in the Triangle isn’t regional — it’s concentrated in just a few cities. A new two-year analysis from the National Zoning Atlas digitized and standardized all 8,400 zoning districts in North Carolina, including every city and county...
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How gel from shark heads may inspire future antibiotics
the coast of Morehead City, the Capricorn rocks as the crew hauls in an Atlantic sharpson nose shark. Hands fly everywhere — measure, tag, release, all within minutes — a maneuver practiced hundreds of times before. In the controlled commotion,...
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NHTSA administrator sees Raleigh truck underride crash test
When the SUV crashed into the side of the truck trailer at 40 mph, Jonathan Morrison was among the first to move in for a closer look at the car’s crumpled hood. Morrison leads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency in...
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Lawsuits accuse Lyft of negligence after NC assaults and crash
After two incidents involving Lyft drivers this year left a Durham couple dead and a Raleigh woman assaulted, civil rights attorney Ben Crump is suing the rideshare company for what he says is “gross negligence” of their drivers. In February, two...
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In a Durham food desert, wastewater becomes a tool for advocacy
On a road downstream of Grant Street in Durham, a large gray cylinder sits atop a manhole cover, sucking up sewage water every hour — and potentially changing the fight against food insecurity for this historically Black neighborhood. Duke University...
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Raleigh appeals judge’s ruling on nightlife permit ordinance
Raleigh is challenging a judge’s ruling that struck down a city ordinance intended to regulate nightlife. The city is arguing that the suit brought against it by bar owners may be rendered “moot” by new developments and that the judge erred in his...
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How dogs are helping save North America’s smallest turtles
Noses down, tails up, two Labrador retrievers zigzag through a soggy mountain wetland in Western North Carolina, hunting for a prize humans would need a lot of luck to find: North America’s smallest turtle. This July, three conservation groups...
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James Comey filings reveal NC role in ‘86 47’ seashell case
The text arrived shortly after James Comey Jr. posted a photograph of seashells he said he had found on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. “I have held my tongue for a long time,” the writer, an estranged acquaintance, wrote Comey’s wife, Patrice. But...
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NC House declines to advance hemp regulation bill
Legislation dealing with hemp did not make it across the finish line in the House on Tuesday. The Republican-led North Carolina House declined Tuesday to take up a bill that would tighten regulations on hemp products, in a week that could be the last...
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NC bill would require state auditor to do election audits
An elections overhaul bill that has gained traction in both chambers of North Carolina’s state legislature worries some that the state auditor could gain too much power. A final vote could come this week. A provision in House Bill 958 requires the...
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Durham tackles landfill crisis with waste sorting study
Inside a cavernous warehouse at Durham’s waste and recycling center, a crew of sanitation workers in yellow vests sorted through loads of garbage, collected from homes across the city that Wednesday morning. They placed each item into one of nearly 30...
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Billionaire's fraud case leaves some victims wary of speaking out
Debbie Griffiths worked in healthcare her entire life, saving more than $600,000 for her retirement. Then she saw it all disappear. She is one of 100,000 people across 47 states who had their money misused by Durham billionaire Greg Lindberg. A...
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Wake County’s new school welcomes 430 students
The golden carpet was rolled out Thursday for students at Wake County’s newest school. Buzzy the Bee greeted the 430 students arriving at Hilltop Needmore Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina as the Middle Creek High School band serenaded the crowd...
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North Carolina tightens vape shop rules but gaps remain
North Carolina lawmakers included new vaping-enforcement and youth-access provisions in the state’s morethan-600-page budget passed in July. But an advocate says the changes fall short of what’s needed to keep vapes out of kids’ hands. On the...
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Wealthy neighborhoods breed insecticide-resistant mosquitoes
Mosquitoes in Wake County are rapidly evolving resistance to the insecticides most commonly used to kill them, according to two new studies from NC State University. The trend is strongest in wealthier neighborhoods where residents spray more...
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NC debates minimum liquor price policy
North Carolinians can now weigh in on if distilled spirits like whiskey and vodka should have a government-mandated minimum price. The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is conducting a study on whether it should impose minimumbased...
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Museum a living tribute to Shorty Lawson, hard-working tenant farmer
In his short life, Shorty Lawson owned the reputation as hardest-working man around Person County: first on the job, last off it, plowing tobacco by mule, hauling water by bucket, living off hogs he killed, fish he caught, axes with handles he carved...
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Woman says Rougemont castle dream cost her everything
Robert Mihaly told Julie Seel he needed someone who believed in him and time to focus on finishing the castle he had spent decades building, Seel testified this week. She tried to give him just that, she said, but it ended up costing her nearly...
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Durham nonprofits build benches for bus stops across the city
Erin Batten-Hicks frequently rides the bus to work, school and other commitments. She often carries everything she needs for the day, including a computer, books, a lunch bag and sometimes a bike helmet or change of clothes for hot days. A bench at...
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State audit finds gaps in NC landfill oversight
An overwhelming majority of North Carolina landfill sites that operated prior to statewide regulations have not been adequately monitored of late, posing potential risks to public health and the environment, according to a new state audit. The Office...
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An emergency childcare group offers help for NC families
Days after delivering her second son, Silke Knebel got an infection from her C-section scar that kept her in bed. She had no one nearby to call to hold her baby, get medicine, or help her stand up. “I didn’t want any parent to have to experience this....
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NC’s Castle Mont Rouge at center of bitter legal battle
For nearly 30 years, one man has been building a castle by hand on a North Carolina mountaintop. Stone by stone, Robert Mihaly transformed the top of Red Mountain, raising a four-story fortress above a rolling forest of old oaks. He crowned its...
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NC state auditor’s new report on Cary finds ‘excessive’ spending
Following months of reports of mismanagement in the town of Cary, the State Auditor’s Office confirmed a lengthy list of “questionable expenses” and an “intimidating” work environment under former Town Manager Sean Stegall in a new report released...
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Jury deadlocks in murder trial of Durham’s ‘top Blood’
A judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the case of a selfproclaimed “top Blood” charged with killing a Durham club promoter whose body was never found. Darrius Tyson, 34, was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping in the March...
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Animal Center seeks adopters as shelter exceeds capacity
The Wake County Animal Center is asking people to adopt and look for lost pets after a post-Independence Day surge has pushed the shelter beyond the number of animals it was meant to hold. The shelter is currently caring for about 630 animals. From...
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Appeals court limits police action on anonymous tips
A federal appeals court overturned a North Carolina man’s 30-month gun possession sentence, limiting the actions of officers responding to vague, anonymous tips in high-crime areas. In a 2-1 decision released Thursday, the majority of the U.S. Court...
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Loud, nighttime calls by tree frogs draw visitors to Downtown Cary Park
CARY Queenk, queenk, queenk. On summer nights, Downtown Cary Park comes alive with a wild chorus echoing from the ponds. It’s not a quirky new sound system — it’s the green tree frog, the headliner of Cary’s summer nights. Most easily heard late at...
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Why WakeMed says it needs Atrium merger to fix Raleigh campus
When you walk out of the visitors parking deck at WakeMed’s Raleigh campus on New Bern Avenue, you stand before the sprawling medical center’s two newest buildings containing the heart center and the children’s hospital. But behind the modern glass...
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Raleigh marks America 250 celebration with heat and history
aAs hundreds gathered at the North Carolina state Capitol to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Gov. Josh Stein thanked them for braving temperatures nearing triple digits Saturday. “Now every one of you who is here...
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Professed Bloods leader accused of killing NC man goes to trial
The trial of a Durham man accused of murdering a club promoter whose body has never been found began Monday with jury selection. Darrius Lavale Tyson, 34, is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree kidnapping in the March...
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Out! Raleigh Pride brings visibility to LGBTQ+ organizations in the area
Throughout the afternoon of Out! Raleigh Pride, a blondhaired street preacher stood atop the steps to the old Wake County Courthouse. He flipped through Bible pages with his left hand and warned through the mic in his right hand about a “gay...
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More Helene recovery funds on the way, NC budget writer says
Fully recovering from the aftermath of Helene’s path through Western North Carolina is going to take a lot of state and federal funding, along with support from the private sector. That was clear in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 storm. And the...
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Neighbors respond to developers eyeing this rural NC community
Late-spring sunlight seeped through the leaves in southeastern Alamance County, but it cast its full light on the fields where Lloydtown and Morrow Mill roads meet. Wall lettuce, field garlic, musk and sow thistles surround the roadside entrance to a...
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Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup win brings surge of fans to parade
If the Carolina Hurricanes’ victory over the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup was indeed a perfect storm, the storm surge arrived in downtown Raleigh Saturday, when an estimated 150,000 people gathered for a loud, boisterous...
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Big changes at NC highway exit as Buc-ee’s breaks ground
Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin said he’s happy Alamance County officials reached out when they did about building the state’s first mega-size travel center in Mebane. He was just moving past Orange County’s decision to reject Buc-ee’s first...
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NCDOT asks lawmakers for help with ferry diesel costs
North Carolina’s ferry system may need to cut back service during the busy summer months if it does not get help paying its unusually high fuel bills, state officials say. The cost of the diesel fuel the state uses in its ferry fleet is up 75% on...
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This year, Holly’s Nest will take in 150 orphaned baby deer
The collection of hard-luck critters relaxing around Holly’s Nest Animal Rescue already includes four beavers sleeping in the bathtub, a skunk nestled in the back bedroom and a one-legged duck nicknamed “Pogo Stick” hopping around the pond...
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NC law denies victim status in fentanyl death case
Winter brought Nicole Holliday’s mother back into her life, but spring took her just as quickly. A little over a year ago, Holliday was working from her Wake Forest home when her grandmother called with the news. “Nicole, they found your mom dead,”...
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Much has changed since 2006 Stanley Cup run
The last time the Carolina Hurricanes hoisted the Stanley Cup, 30,000 fans packed into the sizzling-hot parking lot of what was then called the RBC Center — a riotous celebration that drew Caniacs from Gov. Mike Easley to a 6-year-old girl. That...
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Canes season ticket holders had early access to Stanley Cup seats
Carolina Hurricanes season ticket holders had a three-hour window Saturday to purchase tickets to Stanley Cup Final games before everyone else could buy seats. Even with the early access, though, some season ticket holders weren’t able to buy tickets...
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Lawmakers propose cap on Triangle property taxes
Triangle homeowners are seeing property tax bills ranging from 60% higher to around double what they were a decade ago. And now, many local governments across the Triangle are considering tax-rate increases in their budgets for fiscal year 2027, which...
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Canes tickets come at a steep price
Being there for hockey history comes with a hefty price. Tickets to the Stanley Cup Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights went on sale Saturday and fans found steep prices for the opportunity to watch the Canes in the first...
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WakeMed merger documents won’t change before Wake decision
Wake County commissioners decided earlier this month to wait 90 days before voting on WakeMed’s planned merger with Charlotte-based Atrium Health to “allow ample time for public feedback.” But the public forums WakeMed finished this week have been...
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