North Carolina
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
Local Government
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.
Education
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
State and Local Government
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
North Carolina
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.
Agriculture
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
North Carolina
Brunswick County opposes Fuquay-Varina's interbasin transfer request
Other local governments in southeastern N.C. also oppose the request
electric vehicles
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
Iran
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
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
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