Gov. Josh Stein welcomed Gastonia’s Sgt. David Rowland and K‑9 Bo to the Executive Mansion Wednesday, honoring Rowland with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and presenting Bo a "pup‑preciation" certificate. The awards spotlight the K‑9 team's lifesaving tracks.

Kerwin Pittman bought the shuttered Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro and plans to convert it into a reentry campus as North Carolina’s prisons face major staffing and budget strains.

Wake Forest's free July 3 Fireworks Spectacular returns to Heritage High with live music, veterans leading the Pledge and a late-night fireworks finale.

Families say Chapel Hill High’s yearbook omitted students who receive special-education services, raising questions about district policy and federal disability protections.

A Brightspeed contractor struck a water main in Elm City, leaving the town without water for hours and prompting residents to demand long-term fixes.

New district data show about 18% of Wake County students are chronically absent this year, with the largest gaps among Hispanic, LEP and special‑education students. Wake is launching a task force and a community campaign to try to reverse the trend.

A Cary resident scratched a $100,000 Cash Payday ticket bought in Durham and claimed $72,018 after taxes at the lottery’s Raleigh headquarters. The $30 game launched in March and still has dozens of big prizes unclaimed.

A Chapel Hill resident took home $72,011 after a $100,000 Powerball prize doubled with the 2X Power Play.

Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez will become Wake Forest University’s 15th president on July 1 as Rice prepares an international search for his replacement.

Broken HVACs left classrooms in the 80s at two Durham schools; the district deployed temporary fans and portable AC units while crews troubleshoot and order parts.

North Carolina is forming a statewide collective of domestic-violence fatality review teams to spot patterns and recommend prevention steps.

An Aberdeen man won a $130,000 Cash 5 jackpot after buying a $1 ticket at a Southern Pines Circle K; he claimed $93,613 after taxes at the NC Lottery headquarters.

A plan to add four athletic fields at Hilltop Needmore has split Fuquay-Varina — parents say youth sports are at a breaking point while neighbors fight to save the park's hills and trails.