N.C. Senate to have new majority leader

California leaders lionized César Chávez. Now, they face a reckoning with his past; El Paso jail scheduled unauthorized mental health tests for Walmart gunman, records show

Virtual Crisis Care Helps Rural Communities Access Mental Health Resources in Emergencies

by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder March 2, 2026 In rural counties where access to emergency mental health resources is limited, Virtual Crisis Care programs are giving law enforcement on-demand access to behavioral health professionals, reducing unnecessary hospitalizations or confinement in jail.  Supported by the Helmsley Charitable Trust, Virtual

In N.C., Stokes County Approves a Data Center Rezoning, Triggering a Citizens’ Lawsuit

The data center would be on 1,844 acres that abut or include farms, homes and the burial grounds of Native American and enslaved people.

Mississippi school district is addressing its educator shortage

After a Decade of Missteps, a Texas City Careens Toward a Water-Shortage Catastrophe; Only 13 of the nearly 100 known lynching sites in Virginia have historic markers. A new state program seeks to change that

Asheville employs more municipal workers than similar-sized cities. Is it necessary for a busy tourist town or a sign of bloat?

Staffing under consideration as Asheville faces $26 million budget gap. The long-term challenge: building the tax base

The long history of silent meditation retreats and the individuals who helped shape them

The Burmese meditation master Sayagyi U Ba Khin played a key role in shaping the meditation retreats that are popular today.

North Carolina Created Complaint Systems for Its Industrialized Farms. They Don’t Work Very Well.

Complaints become part of the record only if a violation is found, but the state has only 14 inspectors for thousands of hog, poultry and cattle farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs.

Labor Department struggling to deliver on H-2A promise for farmers

N.C. clinics offer a path forward to obtaining a driver's license for the previously incarcerated; Boil water advisories, water main breaks stress cash-strapped New Orleans families

Brunswick County opposes Fuquay-Varina's interbasin transfer request

Other local governments in southeastern N.C. also oppose the request

Pricing Into Adulthood: Students Navigate Charlotte’s Housing Crunch

Link to original story: Pricing Into Adulthood: Students Navigate Charlotte’s Housing Crunch - Queens University News ServiceIn Charlotte, cranes dot the skyline and “For Rent” signs line busy corridors — but for many college students, those signs signal competition rather than opportunity. The city continues to grow at one of

National EV funding fight hits home along Charlotte’s I‑77 corridor

by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News March 5, 2026 By Will Atwater Ron Ross, 70, has spent decades in Charlotte’s Historic West End watching traffic thicken on nearby I‑77 and working alongside his neighbors to fight for cleaner air and a healthier future — one that includes electric

War puts Iran’s participation in World Cup, training plans in Tucson, Arizona in doubt

Voters push for change in closely watched NC primary contests

What does it mean to be a new national park? Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia may soon find out

By Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee Ocmulgee Mounds, a site in central Georgia with 12,000 years of Indigenous history, may be on the verge of becoming the newest U.S. national park. This is the flagship designation of the National Park Service system, which includes many types of

Health

Taboo tics like shouting curses and slurs are uncommon in Tourette syndrome − but people who have them suffer harsh social stigma

Obscene language tics, called coprolalia, don’t reveal what people with Tourette’s think and feel. In fact, tics often compel people to say or do precisely what they most wish to avoid.

civil rights

Norman C. Francis, a stalwart New Orleans leader in civil rights, business and education dies at 94

Francis was the first Black president of Xavier University and integrated Loyola University's law school

South Carolina

BREAKING: Spartanburg County Council calls meeting for Friday regarding possible new data center

If approved, the facility would be the fifth for the Upstate South Carolina County

North Carolina

California Pays Farms to Make Biogas from Hog Waste in North Carolina, Where Locals Say It’s Fueling Pollution

Last year, six farms were the first in the Tar Heel State to get funding from California’s program offsetting its transportation emissions. Their permits to make biogas already have civil rights complaints against them for the pollution from the process.

Mitchell County

N.C. continues to pursue cleanup of illegal mine in Mitchell County

Since the August order, the state has conducted multiple inspections at the mine and has observed that Horizon 30’s attempt to prevent harm to the site has not been successful

Mental Health

Who gets a bed in NC’s state psychiatric hospitals — and who waits?

The three state-operated facilities are designed to serve North Carolinians with the most complex mental health needs, including those who can’t be treated safely in community-based facilities.

Federal Government

Lawmakers seeking answers following FAA restrictions in El Paso, Texas region

NOLA group works to improve conditions for Mardi Gras clean-up workers, MS senators call for improved disaster response after winter storm, Tribal court hearing for former Swain, NC sheriff delayed

Jesse Jackson

A ‘servant leader’ honored: The nation pays tribute to Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon

How Jesse Jackson was shaped by Southern segregation − and went on to reshape American political life

Federal Government

The whistleblower, the Forest Service, and an endless battle in North Carolina’s mountains

Scott Ashcraft warned that the agency was imperiling Native American gravesites and artifacts. Then his three-decade career fell apart.

Helene

N.C. announces $5.7M for Flood Resilience Projects in the French Broad River Basin

Down Ballot Staff Reports Today in Woodfin, Governor Josh Stein announced $5.7 million in grants from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint to reduce flood risk in the French Broad River Basin. The announcement includes eight projects that will create new floodwater storage,

Environment

A Troubled Hog Farm in Wayne County, North Carolina, Is Hit With a New String of Violations

Equipped with both a biodigester to capture methane from hog waste and a system to spray what’s left of the feces and urine onto nearby farm fields, the former White Oaks Farm continues to pollute the surrounding environment.