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  RALEIGH, N.C.-The North Carolina Department of Commerce recently awarded grants to eight local governments to support housing and public improvements for low- and moderate-income North Carolinians. The grants, totaling more than $12 million, were awarded from the department's Community Development Block Grant - Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG-NR) program. "Strong neighborhoods depend on affordable homes and economic opportunities," said Governor Josh Stein. "These grants will enable local leaders to improve housing

THE BUSINESS INSIDER - To believe in American capitalism has long meant believing in a mostly laissez-faire approach from the government - it sets the rules of the game, but it doesn't have a piece on the board. Markets pick winners and losers, not Washington. The strong thrive, the weak fail. That consensus has been eroding for years, and finally, the dam has broken: The US government has become a

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Angie Brooks was a diplomat, jurist, and global leader whose life reflected intellectual achievement and courage, particularly as a black woman in the mid-20th century navigating education, law, and international politics. Because her parents could not afford to raise her, she was fostered to a widowed seamstress in Monrovia. By the age of eleven she had taught herself to type and earned money copying legal

THE CONVERSATION - As child care costs outpace wages, more families are facing difficult decisions about whether to scale back work in order to care for loved ones. Caregiving remains the top reason women ages 25-54 leave the workforce. And it's not just parents who struggle. Nearly 60 million Americans provide care for an adult family member, and two-thirds say they have trouble balancing their jobs with their caregiving responsibilities.

THE GUARDIAN - It is an image of an unnamed black man with his eyes closed and his innards exposed. Drawn with care and precision, the image may be the only anatomical drawing of a black body made during the Victorian age. Now it is part of a new exhibition that focuses on the work of Joseph Maclise, a surgeon and artist whose work - including his 1851 atlas Surgical

AP NEWS - The Trump administration made work requirements for low-income people receiving government assistance a priority in 2025. The departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development have worked to usher in stricter employment conditions to receive health care, food aid and rental assistance benefits funded by the federal government. The idea is that public assistance discourages optimal participation in the labor market and that

(AP)-States will share $10 billion for rural health care next year in a program that aims to offset the Trump administration's massive budget cuts to rural hospitals, federal officials announced Monday. But while every state applied for money from the Rural Health Transformation Program, it won't be distributed equally. And critics worry that the funding might be pulled back if a state's policies don't match up with the administration's. Officials

By Jheri Hardaway Staff Writer In the world of entrepreneurship, the "third time" is often cited as a charm, but for Victoria Scott-Miller, the founder of Liberation Station, this third iteration feels less like luck and more like a spiritual homecoming. From the humble beginnings of selling books out of a car trunk to navigating the complexities of physical storefronts that didn't quite fit the vision, Scott-Miller has arrived at

Zebulon, N.C. - Mayor Jessica Harrison has been appointed chair of the National League of Cities' 2026 Race, Equity and Leadership (REAL) Council. Harrison was elected to a one-year term and will help develop and guide programs for local elected officials from communities with similar demographics, size or geographic characteristics. The appointment was announced by National League of Cities President Kevin Kramer, a Louisville, Kentucky, council member. "This council's work

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Liberation Station, North Carolina's first Black-owned children's bookstore, has officially reopened its doors in Raleigh.  Now the Miller family-owned bookstore returned before a large and celebratory crowd in a recommitment to its original mission: creating a safe, affirming space where children can see themselves reflected as heroes, leaders, and central figures in the stories they read.  For owner and founder Victoria Scott-Miller, the moment represents