Paul Andy Specht

3 days ago | wral.com | Paul Andy Specht |Will Doran

House Speaker Destin Hall stands amid other representatives as they discuss the North Carolina House's budget proposal at a news conference in the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)Millions of dollars in disaster relief funds are stalled in the North Carolina General Assembly as Republican leaders squabble over the details of a proposal to help victims of Hurricane Helene.

5 days ago | wral.com | Paul Andy Specht |Jack Hagel

The office of the lieutenant governor on Blount Street in Raleigh. (Photo courtesy of Richard Thomas Bower, Raleigh Public Record)Dan Forest’s term as North Carolina lieutenant governor ended like an episode of “This Old House.”An architect by trade, Forest took great pride in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in private donations to painstakingly renovate and refurnish the 140-year-old Hawkins-Hartness House, which serves as the lieutenant governor’s office.

1 week ago | wral.com | Jack Hagel |Laura Leslie |Will Doran |Paul Andy Specht

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein vetoed a pair of immigration-enforcement bills Friday, likely setting up the Democratic governor’s first override battle with the state’s Republican-led legislature. Stein rejected Senate Bill 153, which would require state and local government agencies to cooperate with deportation efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. He also vetoed House Bill 318, which was intended to make adjustments to an existing immigration law.

1 week ago | wral.com | Paul Andy Specht

WRAL's Dan Haggerty goes in-depth with ongoing book bans from school districts all over the area. Students could leave public school classrooms if they have religious objections to course material if lawmakers approve a slew of new proposals added to a bill Wednesday. A Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday approved changes to House Bill 805, which passed the House unanimously last month as an initiative to crack down on the exploitation of women and children.

1 week ago | wral.com | Brian Murphy |Paul Andy Specht |Jack Hagel

A North Carolina representative apologized to fellow lawmakers Tuesday for a social media post that brought her national attention following the weekend shootings of two Minnesota legislators. Representative Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, on Saturday posted an image of a protester’s sign featuring a guillotine and a fake severed head resembling President Donald Trump. The image, from an anti-Trump protest in Raleigh, led to calls for her resignation by Republicans, who said it showed poor judgment.