The News & Observer
Leandro lawsuit tossed, NC public school fight continues
Public education supporters are livid that the North Carolina Supreme Court threw out the Leandro school funding case, but they say they aren’t giving up the fight for more public school funding. Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed the 32-yearold...
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UNC approves contract for new men’s basketball coach
Michael Malone officially became the new Tar Heels men’s basketball coach Tuesday after the UNC Board of Trustees approved his new contract. “Michael was the first coach we engaged with as part of the search process because of his reputation as a...
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Recent rain wasn’t enough to make a dent in statewide drought
Locally heavy downpours may have washed a layer of pollen from cars and patio pavers on Sunday, but they weren’t enough to get the Triangle or much of anywhere else in North Carolina out of drought. As of March 31, all 100 counties of the state were...
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Duke Gardens reopens April 8 with upgraded amenities
For years, the entrance to one of the Triangle’s most picturesque landscapes was a stretch of asphalt and a single building. But as the gates swing open this week, the $30 million Garden Gateway project will reveal a Sarah P. Duke Gardens that has...
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Western NC Helene rebuilding program faces funding shortfall
It’s been just over a year and a half since the remnants of Hurricane Helene struck Western North Carolina, and so far, 30 homes out of more than 3,500 active applications have been completed through the state program that uses federal funds to...
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NC State alum Gainey returns home as men’s basketball coach
Justin Gainey bought a Tshirt, but he couldn’t get Final Four tickets. He watched the game from his hotel. Gainey, despite coaching at Tennessee, wanted a piece of his alma mater’s historic run in the 2024 ACC Championship and NCAA Tournament. Almost...
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Raleigh Ponzi scheme mansion reborn as $6M luxury home
A sprawling North Raleigh mansion that was once owned by a real-estate fraudster, then abandoned to squatters and graffiti artists, has been reborn as $6 million palace featuring its own helipad, basketball court and floating spiral staircase. At...
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Helene-ravaged Nolichucky River faces pollution from illegal mine
Tessa and Leo Sharp figured things couldn’t get much worse than Hurricane Helene, which dropped up to 2 feet of rain across mountainous Mitchell County in September 2024. The storm and resulting reThe cord flooding sent so much debris down the...
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END OF THE ROAD FOR THE BLUE DEVILS
Duke guard Cayden Boozer covers his face as he leaves the court with his teammates after falling to Connecticut, 73-72, on Sunday in Washington. The No. 1-seeded Blue Devils were just a few seconds from a trip to the Final Four when their season came...
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No Kings demonstrations fill downtown Raleigh streets
Protesters carrying signs moved silently through the streets of downtown Raleigh Saturday afternoon. Their destination: the State Capitol. And while they may have moved incognito on their way to the state’s seat of power, they showed up to bring the...
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Will Wade one and done at NC State, has eyes on LSU reunion
Will Wade made a lot of promises a year ago, when N.C. State introduced him as its new head men’s basketball coach. The Wolfpack would finish in the top half of the ACC, he said. The Pack would make the NCAA Tournament, and imloyalty? prove on last...
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Davis out after five years as UNC’s head basketball coach
Hubert Davis will not return for a sixth season as North Carolina’s head coach, the program announced Tuesday night, marking the end of a five-year tenure defined by both historic highs and mounting inconsistency. Details of the separation were not...
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Second recount shows Berger trailing Page in GOP primary
Two recounts later, the result remains the same: North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger trails his Republican primary opponent, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, by 23 votes. Election officials in Guilford and Rockingham counties completed a...
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‘Fairy hair’ brings clients joy, but is she breaking a law?
State officials warned Leslie Stern with a letter. Then they sent inspectors to shops and events she was working at in Wilmington, Durham and Winston-Salem. It wasn’t illicit contraband they were after. It was information about glittery threads of...
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Can Chapel Hill add housing density without losing its past?
Historic properties don’t always stay frozen in time, instead growing and changing to meet modern needs, a process that can lead to renovation and demolition. That means anything is possible with a 1.24-acre site composed of four lots and five homes...
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Wake County teachers, parents protest proposed special-ed cuts
Teachers and parents protested across Wake County Thursday morning against special education cuts that would lead to the elimination of 130 teaching positions. The Wake County school system plans to cut $18 million from the special education budget...
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Raleigh to place new stop signs intersections on Clark Avenue
The city will erect stop signs at three intersections on Clark Avenue near N.C. State University, including the one with Pogue Street where a biology professor was hit and killed in a crosswalk last fall. The signs, due to go up within the next week,...
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Wake County schools planning more budget cuts as costs go up
Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor plans to ask for a local funding increase of around $25 million this year along with higher school meal prices and budget cuts in areas such as special education. Taylor will preview on Tuesday the budget...
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Growth in NC homeschooling leads to more programs for them
Bennett Place is often filled with school groups, but on Friday it was dozens of homeschool students who walked through the rural farm site to learn more about North Carolina history. More than 100 homeschool students and their parents visited the...
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Displaced NC families finally return home post Storm Chantal
Nearly eight months after tropical storm flood waters ravaged Carrboro’s Weatherhill Pointe neighborhood near Morgan Creek, Peter and Catherine Burke, both in their 80s, have finally returned home. Despite torrential rain, movRepair ers pulled up to...
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2 votes separate Senate leader Berger and Sheriff Page
It’s not over yet. In unofficial results with all precincts reporting, just two votes separate the leader of the North Carolina Senate, Phil Berger, and his challenger in the Republican primary election, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. “We are...
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NC’s voucher program changing how private schools operate
North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program has exploded in growth with many private schools either encouraging or requiring families to apply for a taxpayer-funded voucher to help cover tuition costs. A News & Observer analysis of state data...
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UNC System’s new definition of academic freedom approved
The UNC Board of Governors authorized a new definition of academic freedom on Thursday, a move that enshrines an explanation of the concept into UNC System policy — but also places key limits on what kind of faculty activity it protects. Academic...
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FBI raises terrorism alert over fears of retaliation by Iran
FBI Director Kash Patel said he put the bureau’s counterterrorism and counterintelligence teams on high alert Saturday after the U.S. and Israel launched a sweeping military assault on Iran. Iran retaliated with strikes on U.S. military bases and...
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MrBeast’s team stopped answering ECU emails, records show
East Carolina University appeared eager to keep the conversation going. In an email last March to a MrBeast representative, school chancellor Philip Rogers requested they meet to advance the content creator training partnership that both sides had...
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Crews put people first during apartment fire, chief says
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of a fire that injured six people and displaced 70 residents at a Morrisville apartment complex Monday night, officials said at a news briefing Tuesday afternoon. The fire appears to have begun around...
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6 injured, dozens displaced in Morrisville apartment fire
person was taken to the hospital and five people were treated on the scene for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a Morrisville apartment complex on Monday night, Feb. 23. The three-alarm fire ignited around 6 p.m. at the Camden Westwood...
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No snow at RDU, but Northeast blizzard cancels 116 flights
The blizzard in the Northeast is causing travel problems in the Triangle, as airlines cancel flights and Amtrak cuts back on rail service. By 9 a.m., 116 flights at Raleigh-Durham International Airport had been canceled Monday, most involving cities...
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New luxury hotel could block main street view
Twenty years ago, almost to the day, Raleigh blew up the hulking gray Convention Center at the south end of Fayetteville Street, bidding explosive farewell to a boxy eyesore that occupied downtown with the grace of a high school gym. And when the dust...
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NC forests to get $290 million for recovery, feds say
It takes a “geologic event” to reroute rivers, reshape mountains and alter ecosystems, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that happened when Hurricane Helene hit Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in 2024. The USDA won’t argue that the...
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A RIVALRY GAME FOR THE AGES
N.C. State’s Jordan Snell and Matt Able celebrate following the Wolfpack’s 82-58 win over North Carolina on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, at Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
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Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate, died Tuesday morning, his family said in a statebecame ment. He was 84 years old. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to...
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Judge allows protesters back on UNC campus
Hill banned four protesters from campus after they were arrested for refusing to clear out of a proPalestinian encampment in April 2024. Last week, a judge ruled that this was likely a violation of their First Amendment rights, ruling against...
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NC State superfan Ketchie, 14, remained true to the end
N.C. State mascot Ms. Wuf sat on the edge of Grayson Ketchie’s bed Wednesday and held his hand as he lay with a wash cloth across his forehead. He curled up under a “Tuffy” blanket, surrounded by a stream of visitors — most of whom wore red — in his...
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Is there land for a Wake County landfill? Leaders weigh options
Could a new landfill be in Wake County’s future? It’s one option Wake leaders are considering as they try to figure out what to do with the county’s trash once the South Wake Landfill is full. “We fully expected there to be no land that met our...
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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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31 former NC State athletes accuse trainer of sex abuse
Thirty-one former athletes have now signed onto a lawsuit accusing N.C. State University officials of not protecting the men from a trainer’s alleged sexual abuse and harassment on campus. The amended lawsuit is part of a legal battle that began in...
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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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Protesters urge lawmakers to invest more in public schools
Public school advocates rallied in front of the General Assembly on Wednesday to lobby for more school funding and for restrictions on charter schools and private school vouchers. Participants at a “wEDnesdays for Public Schools” protest organized by...
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Wake County Animal Center closing during repair work
and maintenance are forcing the Wake County Animal Center to temporarily close, even as Wake County leaders consider the design of a new $57 million animal shelter. The Wake County Animal Center, at 820 Beacon Lake Drive, will close for about six...
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Expansion work at RDU’s main terminal becoming visible
A multi-year effort to expand the main terminal at Raleigh-Durham International Airport is well underway, but you probably haven’t noticed. Starting this week, you will. Overnight Thursday, workers erected a big plastic sheet over the north end of the...
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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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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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Monks on cross-country walk for peace expected in Raleigh
A group of Buddhist monks walking from Texas to Washington, D.C., for peace will travel through Raleigh and other parts of North Carolina in January. The group is documenting its 120-day journey on Facebook, sharing videos, photos and quotes to...
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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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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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Man who helped catch billionaire asks Trump not to pardon
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday not to pardon Durham billionaire and major GOP campaign donor Greg Lindberg, who was convicted in a federal case connected to an attempted bribe of the...
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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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Tillis, allies fought years of obstacles to aid Lumbee
An unusually large group of onlookers in the Senate gallery caught Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s attention. She turned toward the group, sitting in an area of the gallery normally reserved for friends and family of her colleagues. More than 80 members 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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