MORNING LINEUP
Jay Pavey, a Republican member of the Jackson County Board of Elections, told GOP members of the state elections board on Aug. 20, 2026, that if they voted for a plan that received a single positive vote through coercion, it would hurt their party. (Photo by Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline)
By Lynn Bonner
The Republican majority on the state Board of Elections voted against including Sunday hours as part of early voting plans in most counties where local boards could not agree on weekend schedules.
Republicans on county boards who presented their early voting plans to the state board on Thursday said it’s not worth opening polling sites on Sundays because too few people vote that day, and that Sunday should be reserved for church and family.
In the state’s largest public school district, Wake County teachers are invited to fulfill their back-to-school wishlist for free at the Tools4Schools store near downtown Raleigh. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)
By Clayton Henkel
There is perhaps no clearer sign that summer is drawing to a close than the arrival of school supplies in big box stores and school supply drives in most counties.
On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Stein delivered school supplies collected over the summer to W.M. Irvin Elementary School in Concord. It’s the eighth year the governor’s office has partnered with the State Employees’ Credit Union, the North Carolina PTA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Carolina, and Communities in Schools of North Carolina to distribute supplies to students in need.
By Laura Leslie
A judge has ruled that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill does not have to release its investigative report on problems at its School of Civic Life and Leadership.
The decision, communicated in Orange County by Superior Court Judge John M. Morris, R-Rockingham, to attorneys Thursday, means the university’s findings on faculty complaints about the controversial school can be kept secret from the public, even though state taxpayers footed the $1.2 million bill for the seven-month investigation and the resulting report.
By Christine Zhu
As North Carolina students and teachers head back to school, Gov. Josh Stein highlighted the state’s commitment to education during a Thursday press conference.
North Carolina’s 2026 budget delivers the largest average teacher pay raise for the state in 20 years, Stein said, and the largest increase in starting teacher pay in about 50 years.
MORE NEWSLINE
Roadless no more? Feds eye rule change in areas of national forests |Jack Igelman, Carolina Public Press
Cities turn to AI to speed housing permitting |Robbie Sequeira
Federal judge halts proposed HHS changes to teen pregnancy prevention program | Kelcie Moseley-Morris
MORE HEADLINES
NEWS
Trump warns of ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran, but Tehran is well acquainted with sanctions|APnews.com
US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, relieving long-deployed USS Lincoln|APnews.com
NC elections board rejects most Sunday voting, campus sites in disputed counties |Raleigh News & Observer
State board of elections approves Cullowhee voting plan, bringing back 2 polling locations|WLOS.com
NC governor says ABC’s proposed price floor for liquor is ‘off the table for now’|Raleigh News & Observer
These are NC’s highest-paid state government employees. Who earns the most? |Raleigh News & Observer
Roy Cooper's 'Make Stuff Cost Less' tour stops in Hendersonville|
WLOS.com'We have made a lot of progress': Governor Stein says DMV wait times dropped by 90%|Raleigh News & Observer
Wake schools has more than 98% of teaching positions filled|WRAL.com
WCPSS announces changes to how it transports students with disabilities, after complaints|WUNC.org
ECU Health issues scammer alert for MyChart phishing emails|
Washington Daily news
COMMENTARY
Paige Masten: Trump’s endorsement may boost Balkcom in NC-11. It may also cost her. |Raleigh News & Observer
Sara Pequeño: Republican-led culture wars are losing where it matters most |
USA Today / Raleigh News & Observer
To outcompete China, unhandcuff America’s biotech innovators |
TheHill.comThreats against judges are up. Now DHS is turning them into targets.|
USA Today
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