Celeste Gracia

The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association estimates nearly half of all hotel workers in the state will be laid off as the coronavirus pandemic curtails travel.

Duke Health is now using recycled N-95 masks in its three hospitals amid a critical shortage prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The masks are being decontaminated through a process that was already being used to clean other medical equipment.

Updated 10:32 a.m. March 6, 2020

A second person in North Carolina has tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Updated at 9:02 a.m. 3/5/2020

 UNC-Chapel Hill is expanding university affiliated travel restrictions to Washington State, California and Japan as the coronavirus continues to spread.

A state health task force is encouraging North Carolinians to be prepared for the potential spread of the new coronavirus in the United States. 

The Durham Police Department will soon have a fully staffed unit dedicated to investigating sexual assault cold cases.

Almost 10% of students at NC State University experienced homelessness in the past year, and nearly 15% dealt with food insecurity in the past month.

Employment in North Carolina's tech industry grew by nearly 21% between 2013 and 2018, the third highest growth rate in the sector nationwide.

A growing number of counties across North Carolina have passed resolutions in recent weeks declaring their support for Second Amendment rights.

  A group that manages herds of wild horses in coastal North Carolina is warning drivers to watch out for the animals taking advantage of unseasonably warm weather by sleeping on the sand at night.

The State Board of Elections has told county boards to stop issuing voter ID cards immediately.

A new report finds the North Carolina General Assembly cut funding for the state Department of Environmental Quality by approximately 34 percent over a decade. Only three other states in the country cut more funding for environmental regulators in the past decade.

Doctors at Duke University Hospital became the first in the United States to perform a new type of heart transplant this week. 

A federally funded energy assistance program in Wake County hopes to reach more families in need this winter. The program pays residents’ energy providers up to $400 to help cover the expenses of heating their homes. Wake County residents over the age of 60 and individuals receiving benefits from the state Division of Aging and Adult Services are invited to apply for the program.  

The President of Durham Association of Educators says future demonstrations by teachers will depend on how lawmakers react to their calls for a comprehensive budget agreement that meets their demands.

Updated at 8:54 a.m.

Voters in Durham overwhelmingly approved the city's $95 million affordable housing bond, now the largest housing bond in North Carolina history.

Unusually large seashells have washed ashore at Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Volunteers at the visitors center found lightning whelks and knobbed whelks as large as 12-inches long over the weekend, according to park officials. Some are stained with color gradations that suggest they were buried deep in sediment underwater.

Former and current employees of the Durham Parks and Recreation Department are speaking out against an alleged hostile work environment.

The Southern Environmental Law Center is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over public records related to conservation efforts for red wolves in eastern North Carolina.

The election for president of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP planned for this weekend will be rescheduled.

A woman from the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP alleged on Wednesday that a longtime chapter member sexually assaulted her.

North Carolina tobacco farmers say Hurricane Dorian destroyed at least 20 to 25 percent of their total harvest, hurting the state's overall tobacco industry, according to David Thomas, of the U.S. Tobacco Cooperative.