Duke Energy Offers $500,000 To Support Small Businesses In NC

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The Duke Energy Foundation today announced $500,000 in grants to support nonprofit-led programs that help small businesses start, grow and thrive across North Carolina. Zoom in: Nonprofit organizations can apply for $25,000 grants, which will then fund microgrants of up to $5,000 to individual small businesses. Funding can be used by local businesses like restaurants and retail stores to complete renovations, buy equipment or technology, purchase inventory or

For Black women in abusive relationships, gun‑control loopholes can engender deadly disparities

The Conversation - In April 2026, Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was shot and killed by her husband while their divorce was pending. She had done what she was supposed to do. She had initiated the legal process to leave Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia. It didn't save her. What happened to Wanzer Fairfax has a name: femicide. Femicide is the intentional killing of women on the basis

Fela’s Legendary ‘Zombie’ Album Fifty Years Later

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - When in 1976 teenager Yunusa Yau and his friends grew tired of Nigerian soldiers' high-handedness in their school, they turned to a satirical song - "Zombie," by Fela Kuti, the title track of his album released that year. By then, the military had been in power for a decade, following a coup. A brutal civil war killed at least three million people, rocking the fledgling democracy

The Squabbles Over Early Voting Sites Are Déjà Vu For Several North Carolina Counties

CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS - When history repeats itself, it's usually not so quickly. During the lead up to the primary election, students at Western Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and University of North Carolina-Greensboro raised alarms about the exclusion of campus early voting sites from county plans. At WCU, it was a break from longstanding tradition. NC A&T and UNCG hadn't hosted midterm primary early voting

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth Removes All Women & Some Black Service Members From Navy Promotion List

[caption id="attachment_18188" align="alignnone" width="1231"] Screenshot[/caption] Richard Luscombe, Joseph Gedeon and Aram Roston The Guardian The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stripped nine navy officers including women and Black service members from a promotion list last month, according to a person familiar with the matter, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 advancing as nominees to become one-star admirals. Hegseth's unusual intervention violated promotion rules designed to be merit-based

The ‘Black Church’ responds to acquittal of store owner in shooting death of Black teen

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="880"] The mother of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmike-Belton stands with her attorney Todd Rutherford, National Action Network, NAACP and Richland County pastors opposed to the not guilty verdict.[/caption] South Carolina Public Radio | By Rochelle Dean National and local civil rights activists and preachers speak out on the not guilty verdict for Rick Chow. The Richland County store owner was acquitted Monday in the 2023 shooting death of a

Durham Mother Sues Property Owner Over Son’s Death In Laundry Room

NC NEWSLINE - The mother of a Durham man who died of heart failure after he became trapped in the laundry room of her downtown apartment building has sued the property owner and management firm. Debra Davies seeks compensatory damages for the estate of Jason Pulliam, who was 39 at the time of his death. Davies also asked the court to award her damages for the "infliction of emotional distress"

Dr. Chatgpt Is Getting Remarkably Good At Diagnosing Health Problems, But Actual Doctors Are Still Better At Treatment Options

THE CONVERSATION - A father is worried about his toddler, who has been running a fever for two days and pulling at one ear. A 65-year-old woman has been getting winded on her morning walks and feeling more fatigued than usual. Both reach for their phones and type their symptoms into an AI chatbot. "Your child likely has an ear infection," the father learns. "Your symptoms could indicate a cardiac

What To Know About The New World Screwworm Fly & Its US Reappearance in the US

AP NEWS - The New World screwworm fly is threatening the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry for the first time in more than half a century, as officials race to eradicate a deadly flesh-eating parasite not seen in Texas since 1966. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced two new cases Monday, including the first outside Texas in a dog from just across the state line in Lea County, New Mexico.

States face tight timeline as feds unveil new Medicaid work requirement rules

NC NEWSLINE - The federal government released new guidance this week on how states should roll out the Medicaid work requirements that will affect  healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. The new interim rule, issued by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is intended to give states more details on how they're supposed to verify the work status for about 20 million adults enrolled in Medicaid, the publicly