North Carolina
BRIEFS: N.C. DEQ announces $1.2M for flood resilience projects in Swannanoa and Rosman
Mecklenburg County's point-in-time count found 2,018 experiencing homelessness
Ben Ledbetter
Ben Ledbetter, MPA, is a former journalist. Down Ballot covers local and state news in the U.S.
North Carolina
A New Enbridge Pipeline Spurs Opposition in Central North Carolina
The 28-mile conduit is part of a huge natural gas infrastructure buildout in the state that Duke Energy says is necessary to keep up with demand, especially from a coming wave of data centers.
justice
Report: Free prison, jail calls linked to better outcomes
Northampton Co., NC residents win 32‑month pause on data centers; xAI now has 46 gas turbines without air permits in Mississippi; Rent Freeze No Sure Thing in First Vote By Mamdani-Majority Board
Food security
2.5 million Americans lost food aid in months after passage of GOP megabill, study finds
By Jacob Fischler (DC Bureau (States Newsroom)) Published: April 8, 2026 At least 2.5 million low-income people quickly lost help affording groceries under a Republican-passed law that added new requirements for the nation’s largest nutrition program and shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in costs from
Food security
Food Stamp Work Rules Don’t Increase Employment, Researchers Say
By Taylor Sisk Published: April 23, 2026 DELBARTON, W.Va. — A half-dozen cars had been in the queue for nearly four hours by the time the House of Hope mobile food pantry line began to move. Seventy or so more idled behind them by 11:30 a.m., when
Virginia
FBI raids office of Virginia state senate president
California to share data on immigrant drivers nationally, NC county creates safety net for uninsured
healthcare
Charlotte-based Atrium Health targets WakeMed in proposed combination
by Michelle Crouch and Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News May 1, 2026 By Michelle Crouch and Rose Hoban Atrium Health, the state’s largest hospital system, is seeking to combine with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, an independent nonprofit with five hospitals and roughly 350 physicians, according to
Education
COMMENTARY: North Carolina is ranked dead last in school funding. My daughter with autism is paying the price.
By Kristina Peck (North Carolina Newsline) Published: April 16, 2026 There is a version of N.C. Pre-K enrollment that takes twenty minutes. You fill out a form, submit a birth certificate, and your child starts school in the fall. That version does not exist for families like mine.
Health
Why UNC-Wilmington wants to launch a medical school
The medical school would offer a traditional four-year medical degree and a three-year accelerated track. It wouldn’t be a teaching hospital structure, a deviation from other medical schools in the state, but it would build upon the university’s existing portfolio of health care education.
North Carolina
NC Governor Stein signs $319M Medicaid funding plan
Bill that would eliminate Calvin Duncan's court clerk position in New Orleans heads to Louisiana governor
North Carolina
BRIEFS: Charlotte transit agency to hold meeting in Rock Hill about the end of bus route
NC DEQ to hold public hearing on proposed Craven County permit modification
housing
Emergency housing vouchers are ending early, leaving cities and renters scrambling
By Robbie Sequeira (Stateline) Published: April 27, 2026 A New York City mom and domestic violence survivor felt a flashback of fear when she received a notice in March that the emergency housing voucher she and her son have relied on since 2023 will run out soon. “It felt like