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“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.

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.”

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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...

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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

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.

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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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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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!

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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

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.

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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.

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.

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

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.

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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.

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?

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The News & Observer@newsobserver.com · 10mo ago

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

Schools make plans as the area waits for road conditions to improve after the weekend’s winter storm.

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

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.

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The News & Observer@newsobserver.com · 10mo ago

Helpful info for NC residents still navigating black ice

The NWS has since issued a Cold Weather Advisory set to take effect this evening.

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.

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

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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.

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.

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The News & Observer@newsobserver.com · 10mo ago

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

Heartbreaking twist revealed in case of missing man and dog on NC’s Outer Banks

The man was facing a terminal illness when he vanished, relatives say.

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The man was facing a terminal illness when he vanished, relatives say.

The News & Observer @newsobserver.com · 10mo ago

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

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

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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