City of Raleigh settles for nearly $1 million in police Taser death of Darryl Williams

WUNC - The City of Raleigh settled out of court for nearly $1 million after the family of Darryl "Tyree" Williams sued the Raleigh Police Department nearly two years ago. The city will pay $975,000 to Sonya Williams, who oversees her son's estate, as part of a Dec. 1 settlement agreement signed by the Raleigh City Attorney's Office. "Tyree" Williams was tased repeatedly before dying in police custody on January

NC Board of Education Focuses On Teacher Pay Amid Competing Funding Priorities

NC NEWSLINE - The North Carolina State Board of Education on Wednesday focused on increasing pay for teachers and other school staff as it discussed its legislative priorities for the upcoming 2026 short session. Geoff Coltrane, senior director of government affairs at the Department of Public Instruction, warned that he expects "very limited revenue" in the year ahead and that legislators in Raleigh may not even pass a full budget

The Fight To Govern Artificial Intelligence

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the U.S. economy, lawmakers, state attorneys general, and the White House are accelerating efforts to advance competing visions for national oversight. With Congress unable to pass comprehensive AI legislation, the policy vacuum has driven state leaders and federal officials to craft their own approaches-culminating this week in two major developments: a bipartisan state-led AI Task Force and President Donald Trump's

What Boycotting Looks Like 70 Years After Montgomery

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Doris Crenshaw was 12 years old on Dec. 5, 1955, when she and her sister eagerly rushed door to door in their neighborhood, distributing flyers prepared by activists planning a boycott of city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. "Don't ride the bus to work, to town, to school or any place on Monday," the flyers read, urging people to attend a mass meeting that evening. There was

Data Center In Person County: Microsofts Make Major Move

By Jheri Hardaway Staff Writer Woodsdale Township, NC - Person County is set to become the newest home for a Microsoft data center, a development expected to significantly boost the local economy. According to county property records and local press, Microsoft recently paid $26.85 million for a site spanning over 1,300 acres in Woodsdale Township. "Microsoft's presence in Person County will boost our local economy through direct and indirect means,

Fed Funding Changes Could Push Thousands of People Into Homelessness In North Carolina

  NC NEWSLINE - Nearly 3,000 North Carolinians could lose housing under changes to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's [HUD] competitive grant program for permanent housing, according to an estimate by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The alliance and other advocates are bracing for HUD reforms that will dramatically change the way the federal government funds permanent housing assistance programs. The changes could cost the state

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

THE CONVERSATION - The Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling next summer. In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order removing the recognition of citizenship for the U.S.-born children of both immigrants here illegally and visitors here only temporarily. The new rule is not retroactive. This change in long-standing U.S. policy sparked

African Nations Push For Recognition of Colonial Crimes and Reparations

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="828"] ALGIERS DECLARATION On the crimes of Colonialism in Africa (Photo Credit: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Embassy of Algeria in Amman)[/caption] ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - African leaders pushed Sunday to have colonial-era crimes recognized, criminalized and addressed through reparations. At a conference in Algiers, diplomats and leaders convened to advance an African Union resolution passed at a meeting earlier this year calling for justice and reparations

Women’s Ministry Holiday Extravaganza In Apex

On Sunday, December 8th, Apex First Baptist Church held a Holiday Extravaganza hosted by their Women's Ministry. The afternoon was filled with shopping, door prizes and holiday cheer. This event was success on all fronts. It brought the community together for one. Then you were able to do some Christmas shopping, and every vendor there was a small business. Some of the items that were available for sale were jewelry,

Competing GOP Proposals on ACA Policy

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer The Senate is barreling toward a major health-care showdown as enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, threatening steep premium hikes for more than 20 million Americans. Without congressional action, subsidies will revert to their original 2010 levels, driving up out-of-pocket costs and likely pushing many people out of the insurance marketplace. Yet Republicans remain sharply