Rusty Jacobs

Just a few weeks ago, Diana Dayal was hitting the books hard, preparing for the first of two medical licensing exams. The fourth-year UNC Chapel Hill medical student's clinical knowledge test had been scheduled for March 19.

"That's one not happening," Dayal, who wants to go into emergency medicine, said with a chuckle. "And then the other one was scheduled for mid-April."

The exam sites have been closed to contain the spread of coronavirus. And clinical skills tests, which involve the use of actors posing as patients, have also been postponed indefinitely.

Even as the number of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina climbs – and local governments begin issuing stay-at-home orders to contain further spread of the pathogen – evictions continue in some counties.

The Raleigh Police Department released body camera footage on Wednesday evening of an officer’s non-fatal shooting of Javier Torres. A judge authorized the release of the body and dash camera footage of the incident earlier on Wednesday.

Super Tuesday narrowed the Democratic presidential field to a race between two men: former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The majority of Democratic North Carolinians cast their ballots for Biden, giving him the state and adding fuel to his comeback after a landslide win in the South Carolina primary. And today former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he is suspending his campaign and endorsing Biden.

  The mood was triumphant on primary night at the Republican Party headquarters in Raleigh. U.S. Senator Thom Tillis won his GOP primary and will run for re-election against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.

Gov. Roy Cooper is running for re-election this year and, with more than $8 million raised and a little known challenger who has raised just over $1,500, he is highly likely to win his Democratic primary. The more significant contest is on the GOP side, between Lt. Gov. Dan Forest or State Rep. Holly Grange.

Not too long ago, a Democratic primary in North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District was little more than an exercise in futility: picking a candidate to run a losing campaign against an entrenched Republican incumbent.

After three days of one-stop, early voting, which started on Thursday, the number of accepted ballots cast in Democratic primaries is 44,189, over 13,000 more than the 30,539 Republican primary ballots. 

The battle over whether to call for additional witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial is expected to come to a head today with all indications rank-and-file GOP senators – excluding, perhaps, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski – will stick with their party and vote no.

Four Republicans would need to join all Democrats for the simple majority needed to approve the appearance of witnesses such as ex-Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Michael Dickerson’s voice rippled with the excitement of someone showing off a new sports car.

"This screen will now come up with every ballot, every precinct, every ballot style on it, and I can tap that screen and that gives that person that ballot," he said, his voice trailing off to a hush full of wonderment.

Updated on 12/27/19: A federal court is expected to issue an order next week to block a new North Carolina voter ID law from going into effect for the  primary elections in March. The law requires voters to show a photo ID to cast a ballot. A full trial is still needed to determine if the law should be permanently struck down.

State and county elections officials have been scrambling to educate voters as well as poll workers about the new photo ID law going into effect for 2020. A 12-page informational mailer put together by the North Carolina State Board of Elections will be printed and sent out to the more than four million households across the state.

A state court has given the green light to open candidate filing for North Carolina's 2020 congressional elections. The judicial panel ruled Monday that the importance of holding the state's March 3 congressional primaries on time was more pressing than the need to resolve lingering legal questions about North Carolina's new congressional map.

An investigation launched by the Republican-controlled General Assembly has concluded that Gov. Roy Cooper improperly handled negotiations over a $57.8 million fund related to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project.

A top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination made a campaign stop in Raleigh last night.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren energized a capacity crowd at Broughton High School with an unabashedly populist message.

A bill awaiting the governor's signature or veto aims to rid North Carolina voter rolls of non-U.S. citizens. But critics see it as a blatant attempt at voter suppression targeting a minority community.

Updated at 9:11 p.m.

Kay Hagan, a former bank executive who rose from a budget writer in the North Carolina Legislature to a seat in the U.S. Senate, died Monday. She was 66.

A Wake County Superior Court panel will decide whether to block the use of North Carolina's current congressional district maps in next year's elections, with candidate filing for the 2020 contests just around the corner.