Buc-ee’s delays opening of 1st NC travel center. More stores are planned. The Texas-based travel center is still laying the groundwork for construction, which could take a year or more.

The Texas-based travel center is still laying the groundwork for construction, which could take a year or more.

Vulgar email targets NC lawmaker on Iran war. The surprise was where it came from “This is not some frat boy who’s just had a couple of beers.”

“This is not some frat boy who’s just had a couple of beers," said State Rep. Brian Turner, a Buncombe County Democrat. N&O higher ed reporter Jane Winik Sartwell looked into who sent a vulgar response to Turner's campaign email.

Buc-ee’s delays opening of 1st NC travel center. More stores are planned. The Texas-based travel center is still laying the groundwork for construction, which could take a year or more.

Ground work has progressed since November at the future Buc-ee's site in Mebane, but no building permits issued yet. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a...

Are some car meetups and street takeovers getting worse in Raleigh? After the Raleigh Police Department seized six cars in one weekend, we checked in with them to get their perspective. Here’s what we found.

What may seem like harmless fun to some car enthusiasts can actually get your ride seized by police. N&O writer Lexi Solomon talks with a Triangle man who saw it happen. FREE LINK

Woman killed in Hillsborough stabbing was ‘a precious soul,’ her sister says Paula Floyd had arrived at the home on March 6 for her regular housecleaning gig. The homeowner was arrested.

Paula Floyd had just showed up for work at a housecleaning client's house Friday in Hillsborough NC when her family's life was shattered. FREE LINK

Democratic leaders from Chapel Hill want vacant NC Senate seat. What comes next A Senate 23 district committee from Person, Orange and Caswell counties will choose the new senator in April.

Jonah Garson and Allen Buansi have faced each other before in the race for state House District 56. Now, they are competing for a higher office. FREE LINK below

Developer bringing 55+ homes to Pittsboro pledges plan for traffic, barred owls Corbinton is the latest in a slew of subdivisions popping up around the town as it plans for explosive population growth.

More homes planned for Pittsboro will be within walking distance of the county library and a senior center.

Driver found smoking drug pipe after ramming patrol cars in Orange, Alamance chase The Durham driver and his passenger were charged and are being held without bail in the Orange County jail.

They fled deputies, hit a Highway Patrol stopstick, and continued through traffic and fields, but 2 people were arrested Wednesday after the driver stopped for one last hit.

What does Chapel Hill want at Carolina North? Council puts concerns in a letter. Carolina North could drive the growth of Chapel Hill’s Martin Luther King Jr. corridor and affect housing, traffic and businesses.

Chapel Hill pens a letter to UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts outlining its vision and concerns about the future Carolina North satellite campus.

Chapel Hill gives parking to land high-paying jobs and keep UNC startup in town Eats2Seats could bring 41 jobs to Chapel Hill, and the council considers helping developer preserve affordable housing.

Eats2Seats has grown from a UNC student's startup to a company with over 38K employees in 13 states.

Southern Roots, food and family stories: Mama Dip’s daughter publishes cookbook Chapel Hill author Spring Council grew up shaped by family kitchens, the art of setting a table, and the push for equal rights.

Mama Dip's Kitchen in Chapel Hill is gone, but her daughter Spring Council is keeping the stories of the restaurant and its community alive. Plus 100 Southern recipes to try!

NC woman’s spent a year in jail on a murder charge. Why both sides want her out. Patricia Ayers, 32, was arrested in 2024 in her boyfriend Mikel Johnson’s death. But Durham police may have charged the wrong woman.

N&O reporter Lexi Solomon has a knack for finding stories that might fly under the radar. In this case, she found a Durham woman being held for a year on murder charges, even though she might have been framed.

Duke professor named hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files The professor asked Epstein to help contact a “redhead” and arrange a private tour of Ferrari factory, according to the documents.

N&O reporter Josh Shaffer's behind-the-scenes look at the Duke professor's emails with Epstein is actually more fascinating than his desire to find a redhead he recently met.

Some NC roads may remain covered with ice and snow for days, NCDOT says Interstates and other main highways are in good shape, but many two-lane secondary roads in the Piedmont and near the coast will take longer.

If you live in the country, you quickly learn the sun will do more to clear your road than the NC Dept of Transportation. N&O reporter Richard Stradling asked the NCDOT about its timeline.

The healing balm of sunshine and a snowy Sunday A hill near a golf course in downtown Durham is just the place to leave the world behind.

The sledding hill rarely sees this kind of snowfall, but when it does, everybody gets pumped for some fun! Check out this cute slice of life from N&O reporter Virginia Bridges

Orange County jurors must weigh conflicting stories when double murder trial resumes As jury deliberations extend from hours to days, the fate of defendant Issiah Ross is not clear.

An Orange County jury could resume deliberations in a 2022 double murder of two teenagers on Wednesday, Jan. 28. N&O reporter Virginia Bridges recounts the story so far.

UNC ditches Old Well logo. Here’s how much it’s paying for the branding refresh The interlocking NC logo, once primarily used for athletics, now represents the entirety of the university. That decision didn’t come cheap.

The pricetag is a little shocking, especially when UNC-Chapel Hill has an army of students in marketing classes on campus.

What exactly is academic freedom? UNC System tries to define it It’s “essential to the university’s mission,” yet has no comprehensive definition. What does academic freedom actually protect? What does it leave out?

Meet Jane Sartwell, our new higher education reporter at The News & Observer, and learn more about what's happening at UNC-Chapel Hill, including how the university is attempting to define academic freedom.

Roads are still dangerous in some parts of the Triangle, despite significant melting on Monday.

Why wasn’t the Triangle’s winter storm worse? There’s one big reason The Triangle woke Sunday morning to an underwhelming winter storm: an inch or so on the ground after expecting worse.

The Triangle prepped for the storm of the decade, but it turned out to be a few inches of ice. N&O reporter Josh Shaffer asked why

Helpful info for NC residents still navigating black ice

Think this is cold? In 1940, a boulder-sized iceberg floated past the NC coast Accounts of the meteorological rarity appeared in newspapers across the state, and it hearkens to an ancient past when icebergs were common

Reports of the iceberg drew skeptics in 1940, but N&O reporter Josh Shaffer learned that glaciers up to 1,000 feet thick once drifted past the Outer Banks on the way to Florida.

What Raleigh’s new smoking ban means for vaping indoors See what fines people and businesses that break the rules could face, and when the new rules take effect.

N&O reporter Anna Roman found similar efforts to address a loophole in indoor smoking rules are underway in Charlotte and could begin in Durham.

Chris Palmer and his dog Zoey went missing as they both faced their final days.

Monks welcomed in Pittsboro on walk for peace, bringing tears, flowers and hope The 2,200-mile Walk for Peace stretches from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., with Raleigh and the Triangle roughly three-quarters of the way

The 2,200-mile Walk for Peace stretches from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., with Raleigh and the Triangle roughly three-quarters of the way

How Chapel Hill is changing rules to streamline development, build more housing Homeowners and builders can now add bigger duplexes and houses on smaller lots in some existing neighborhoods.

It's the latest in several changes over the last few years aimed at making it easier for developers to meet Chapel Hill's critical housing need.

Teen pleads guilty in Raleigh's Hedingham mass shooting. Motive remains unknown. On Tuesday, his attorneys said Austin Thompson can’t explain why he shot and killed his older brother and four other people in a 2022 shooting rampage.

Evidence, including a note left behind after Austin Thompson killed his older brother in Wake County, will remain sealed until his February sentencing, N&O reporter Josh Shaffer reports.

Details are thin at this point, but it looks like Carolina North -- UNC's long-planned campus in Chapel Hill -- will finally break ground in 2027. What would you like to see there? FREE LINK

Durham school principal and 2 district administrators indicted on criminal charges Superintendent Anthony Lewis shared the news with families in an email Wednesday morning. Here’s what we know.

N&O reporters Lexi Solomon and Virginia Bridges report Durham Public Schools officials are also investigating, and the 3 administrators arrested were suspended with pay.

Man accused of killing teens in Orange County claims self-defense as trial starts Issiah Ross was charged with murdering Lyric Woods and Devin Clark shortly before his 18th birthday after fleeing to Delaware.

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