Dave DeWitt

A new governor and a new legislature are in place and ready to make big changes. The UNC system may let in more out-of-state students. And what does the latest Bank of America settlement mean for homeowners?

Tomorrow night, Concord-based folk-rock band The Avett Brothers will play in Raleigh at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball Gala. But before they do, bassist Bob Crawford will join host Frank Stasio to talk about the evolution of the band from three guys in a van playing 200 shows a year to a Grammy-nominated, chart-topping phenomenon.

During the height of the recession, The Johnson Nursery Corporation owed its bank more than $1.5 million. But a few shrewd decisions and a lot of hard work has pulled the company out of the red and put it solidly in the black — and earned the company the award of Small Business of the Year from Business NC magazine.

Today, the News and Observer of Raleigh is putting in place an online paywall — a subscription fee for people who want to read more than 15 articles a month on the paper's website. Host Frank Stasio talks about the changes and the evolving economies of the newspaper business with N&O publisher Orage Quarles, III.

For nearly a quarter century, Steve Ford edited the editorial page at the News and Observer of Raleigh. During that time, he wrote about disgraced politicians, fights over student assignment and a wide array of other issues facing the state and Triangle. Ford retired earlier this month, and today he joins host Frank Stasio to look back at his career and the changing nature of editorial pages.

In 1991, Nathan Bowie and his uncle killed two men — Nelson Shuford and Calvin Wilson — outside an apartment complex in Catawba County. Bowie was 20 years old at the time. The crime was inexcusable and Bowie received the death penalty for it. But the case was complicated by a number of factors that could have kept Bowie off of death row.

The Wake County school board has a new chairman and another new student assignment plan; Chapel Hill is embroiled in its own fight over reassignment; and the legislature and the State school board are tussling over virtual charter schools. Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC Education Reporter Dave DeWitt about these and other education topics.

Rachel Myrick is the latest UNC-Chapel Hill winner of the prestigious Rhodes scholarship. The student body vice president and Morehead scholar has worked in a domestic violence shelter in Belize, designed and taught her own course at Carolina, and organized a TED conference on campus.

In the past two years alone, it has cost the state and federal governments more than $22 million to repair Highway 12. The iconic road on North Carolina's Outer Banks is a lifeline for permanent residents and an economic boon to the region and the state during tourism season. But the shifting sands of the barrier islands may make a permanent road impossible in the near future.

North Carolina State University has a new football coach, and the Charlotte Bobcats are winning games. It's been a busy few weeks in the sports world across North Carolina. WUNC's Dave DeWitt joins host Frank Stasio to discuss the many changes, and the stories behind the sports headlines.