N.C.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright Tours Duke Energy's Roxboro Coal Plant, Touting Up to $28.4 Million in Federal Upgrade Funds
The Defense Production Act grant pays for repairs at two coal units that Duke plans to retire on Jan. 1, 2034, and Duke is adding about $44 million from customers; supporters call it reliability spending, and critics call it propping up a plant that is shutting down.
Stein Signed 'Iryna's Law' One Year Ago, on Oct. 3, 2025; Its Bail Limits Are in Force and North Carolina Has Held No Executions
The crime law named for Charlotte stabbing victim Iryna Zarutska passed with votes from 17 House Democrats and no Senate Democrats. The governor signed it while calling its execution-method language "barbaric."
Judge Denies Bond to NC Highway Patrol Sergeant Indicted on First-Degree Murder Charge in Death of Cumberland Sheriff's Capt. Adam Bean; Order Notes Self-Defense Claim
A grand jury indicted Sgt. Nekime Oxendine on Sept. 8 in the March 27 shooting outside a Hope Mills home; court papers filed since then show he says he fired in self-defense.
NC Highway Patrol, SBI and ALE Sign ICE 287(g) Task Force Agreements Ahead of Oct. 1 Reporting Deadline Under Senate Bill 153
The Highway Patrol, State Bureau of Investigation and Alcohol Law Enforcement signed agreements that let trained officers question people about immigration status and make some immigration arrests, and the prison system signed a narrower deal. The 2025-26 state budget set Oct. 1 as the deadline to report the agreements and policies to lawmakers.
NC's Four Medicaid Managed-Care Plans Start a Joint Fraud Task Force, With Autism Therapy Billing a Top Focus
The plans launched the group in August through their trade association, which calls it the state's first. It lets their fraud investigators share billing data on providers they have in common, as autism-therapy spending faces a state audit and new rules.
Gov. Stein Directs N.C. Revenue Department to Waive State Penalties on Highway Use of Dyed Diesel Through Dec. 31, 2026
The Sept. 30 directive lets farmers use their untaxed off-road diesel in highway vehicles during harvest without state penalties. Federal penalties still apply unless the IRS grants its own relief, which Stein has asked for.
UNC System Reports Record Preliminary Fall 2026 Enrollment of 260,199, Up 1.4%; 11 of 16 Campuses Grew
Preliminary figures show N.C. Central up 9.1% and Winston-Salem State up 4.8%. Five campuses lost students, including Appalachian State, UNC Asheville and N.C. State. This was also the first fall that new in-state students paid higher tuition after a nine-year freeze.
Stein Attends Charlotte Openings for Daimler Truck Financial and Capital Group Offices Tied to 876 Pledged Jobs
The state backed both finance projects with job grants when they were announced in 2025 and 2026, and Capital Group now says its Uptown site could eventually hold up to 1,000 workers.
Gov. Stein Opens North Carolina's Largest DMV Office in East Charlotte; State Reports 23-Minute Average Wait in August
The Albemarle Road office replaces a nearby branch that closed. The governor's office says it is one of four facility upgrades paid for by 2025's House Bill 125. It also says average statewide waits fell 86% in a year, a figure that depends on a baseline taken at the worst point of the crisis.
Stein Asks NC Supreme Court to Reverse 2-1 Ruling That Upheld Party-List Limit on His Judicial Vacancy Picks; Arguments Set for Nov. 10
A 2024 law makes the governor fill Supreme Court and Court of Appeals vacancies from three names chosen by the departing judge's political party. Gov. Josh Stein says the state constitution gives that choice to the governor alone, and Republican legislative leaders say lawmakers may set the process.
NC Legislature Returns Sept. 28 for Veto Override Votes on Judge Suspensions, Public Camping Bills
Under the adjournment resolution, lawmakers may take up vetoed bills for override votes, appointments, and a handful of other specified categories such as election-law and redistricting bills. Two of the bills Gov. Josh Stein vetoed are House Bill 377, which would let the chief justice suspend trial judges without pay during misconduct probes, and House Bill 437, which bans unauthorized camping on public property and creates drug-free zones around homeless service providers.
Court Preliminarily Approves Plan to Pay Consumers From $96.5 Million in Generic Drug Price-Fixing Settlements; NC Attorney General Urges Claims by March 8, 2027
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 47 other states and territories say people who bought certain generic drugs between May 2009 and December 2019 can now file claims, while the drugmakers that settled deny any wrongdoing.