Carolina Public Press

Carolina Public Press is a nonprofit news organization that operates independently and focuses on providing nonpartisan, thorough, and investigative journalism. Our goal is to deliver the essential facts and context that the people of North Carolina require. With award-winning journalism, we aim to break down barriers and highlight important issues that are often ignored or underreported, serving the needs of our state's 10.2 million residents.

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Feeling the burn: An exodus of staff — for years — has made it hard for the N.C. Forest Service to fight wildfires

1 week ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

Extensive personnel shortages at the N.C. Forest Service hampered the agency’s ability to manage the wildfires that raged in Western North Carolina this spring, state and county officials say. According to Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler,100 positions are vacant at the agency. Fast forward to late March and early April when wildfires burned through nearly 8,000 acres of forest in Henderson and Polk counties.
Stein has wins in first 100 days, says he's there to get the job 'done'

1 week ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Lucas Thomae

RALEIGH — When Gov. Josh Stein took office in January, he inherited the fallout from one of the worst natural disasters in the state’s history. The estimated $60 billion recovery from Hurricane Helene has been Stein’s “top priority as governor,” the Democrat told Carolina Public Press. His initial days in office have shown it.
Mission Health drama continues with accusations of 'profit over patients'

2 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

Accusations of understaffing. Weekend pay bonuses slashed. A death in the emergency room. It’s been an exhausting start to 2025 for nurses at Mission Health in Asheville. Mission Health operates the hospital in Asheville and five smaller, rural hospitals across the North Carolina mountains. The health system has faced extreme scrutiny for decades — even before it was purchased by the largest hospital corporation in the country, HCA Healthcare, in 2019, and its Asheville nurses unionized in 2020. Gov.
Western NC forest plan under pressure from storm devastation, lawsuit and Trump

2 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jack Igelman

A decade in the making, the future of the forest plan to manage Western North Carolina’s national forests is now hazy, threatened by a lawsuit, a presidential executive order accelerating timber production, and the scars of Hurricane Helene, which leveled thousands of acres of forest.
Troubled water: NC cities can dump a chemical linked to cancer in rivers. The EPA may change just how much.

2 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

The Cape Fear River Basin is the source of drinking water for 1.5 million North Carolina residents. It is also where three municipal governments — Asheboro, Greensboro and Reidsville — are legally dumping dangerous levels of 1,4-dioxane, a colorless industrial solvent linked to cancer.
Asheville's jobless rate — NC's highest — is 'new and unwelcome' territory

3 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

Six months later and still out of a job. That’s the reality for nearly 13,000 Asheville residents half a year after Tropical Storm Helene struck Western North Carolina. In the wake of the historic storm, hundreds of businesses closed. The region’s multibillion dollar tourism sector took a devastating hit. Thousands of people were severed from their jobs. Many have not returned to the workforce.
After worst season in North Carolina history, corn farmers want 'hope'

3 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

Corn farmers on food stamps and taking second jobs. Equipment not being repaired. Debts going unpaid. That’s the reality for many North Carolina corn growers this spring. Last year was the worst season for the crop in state history, according to Ronnie Heiniger, a corn specialist at N.C. State. Drought wiped out acre after acre in eastern North Carolina last summer. Hurricane Helene devastated any crops left in the mountains.
'I want to build bridges': Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt on being a unifier, leader and daughter of a Democratic icon

3 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Lucas Thomae

GREENSBORO — Just after noon in front of the manufacturing building at Guilford Technical Community College, first-year student Khniya Hames recited her lines. “She has remained dedicated to education and public service throughout her life. … She also served in North Carolina’s House of Representatives. …” Hames gazed toward the crystal-clear sky as she tried to remember factoids about Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt.
Pause and effect: Threat of Trump funding freeze is making the future tense for North Carolina nonprofits

4 weeks ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Lucas Thomae

As President Donald Trump and his appointees rifle through the country’s balance sheets looking for federal spending to slash, many North Carolina nonprofits are operating in a state of financial uncertainty, hoping they’re not the next target of the administration’s cost-cutting ambitions.
Under the weather: Lengthy drought has NC farmers 'praying for the rain'

1 month ago | carolinapublicpress.org | Jane Sartwell

Last year was an all-time low in the history of North Carolina farming, thanks to drought and flood. Farmers are desperate to catch a break in 2025. But just as planting season begins, large swaths of the state are still plagued by dry conditions. At the same time, an active wildfire season has complicated matters. “We really need a good start,” Jacob Morgan, the extension director for Jones County, told Carolina Public Press.