hark! local songs we loved in 2025 (a list that only scratches the surface). 💕 @indyweek.bsky.social

Here are our staff’s favorite stories published throughout the year, which we are putting outside our paywall as a special gift to you.

The FDA on Monday approved a pill version of the weight-loss injectable drug Wegovy, offering patients who fear or are uncomfortable with needles a more palatable option.

Orange County Public Transportation will be piloting a one-year, fare-free model for its fixed-route transit services beginning Jan. 2, 2026. Here are the details:

New charter schools in North Carolina are struggling to enroll enough students to stay solvent. One High Point school’s mid-fall implosion shows the consequences for families. www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

I spent the last year helping to edit the fabulous op-eds published in @The74. Here are our 13 most read, most talked-about and most powerful education essays of 2025 #EduSky www.the74million.org/article/our-...

My latest looks at why new charter schools in North Carolina are struggling. www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

Really important story by @dougbockclark.bsky.social: The Shrinking Governor Inside the North Carolina GOP’s Decade-Long Push to Seize Power From the State’s Democratic Governors

BREAKING: Former NC superintendent candidate Michele Morrow is running for U.S. Senate, where she'll square off against former NCGOP Chairman Michael Whatley. #ncpol

Via @insideclimatenews.org | The discovery of TFA in blood and water samples raises questions about Chemours’ role in adding to the pollution burden. www.theassemblync.com/news/environ...

SCOOP: Last Friday, the Trump administration quietly cut tens of millions of dollars in Education Department grants for efforts to expand instruction and improve social services in K-12 community schools. www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

"Should she run again in southeast Mecklenburg’s District 105 in 2026, Cotham will be up against Kelly VanHorn in the Republican primary, a teacher who State Board of Elections records show previously voted as a Democrat." www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

"Accusations of grooming, mentions of vulvas, and hurling of books—not an ordinary morning in the North Carolina State Legislature, but just another day in America’s culture wars." indyweek.com/news/chccs-l...

Exclusive from INDY: Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam will challenge incumbent congresswoman Valerie Foushee in the March Democratic primary for NC's 4th district.

State Senate leader Phil Berger got the most sought-after endorsement any Republican could hope for: President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that he was backing Berger’s reelection bid amid a primary challenge from Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

"Superintendent Anthony Lewis has argued that principals know the procedures and that publicizing those plans would make them less effective and could even bring more unwanted attention to Durham." indyweek.com/news/dps-dae...

A former teacher alleges that she repeatedly alerted Cumberland County school administrators that some students showed signs of disabilities and needed prompt evaluations, but as she continued raising concerns, school administrators became hostile. ncnewsline.com/2025/12/02/l...

“Few groups have so persistently tested the patience of this state’s federal judiciary as the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Public Safety Section,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers wrote. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

WFAE reports: New data shows immigration enforcement in North Carolina has surged since President Trump took office, with arrests tripling statewide. www.wunc.org/2025-12-03/i...

A 2020 plan to build a merged data science school at UNC-CH failed, @koriedean.bsky.social reports. The new plan excludes computer science and statistics departments. www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

“The fact that more autistic kids are getting care is not a basis to just turn around and say, ‘Okay, let’s cut the care,’” said Michael Easley Jr., who represented families of children with autism in a lawsuit against the NC health department. www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

On Tuesday, three photojournalists were hit by police munitions while covering a federal immigration arrest that drew hundreds of protesters to St. Paul’s East Side. They believe police targeted them for doing their jobs.

Talking with the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition’s Loftin Wilson about the coalition’s work, how the opioid epidemic is changing, and county efforts to distribute opioid lawsuit settlement funds to save lives.

Border Patrol’s N.C. Operation Was a Test for What’s Next www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

The government reopened last week, ending the longest shutdown in the nation’s history. But funding for some Head Start programs, including those run by Southeastern Community Action Partnership, is still in limbo, Heidi Perez-Moreno reports. borderbelt.org/head-start-c...

Psst! Black Friday starts early this year — get your Assembly subscription now for 40% off. www.theassemblync.com/subscriptions/

How Rural N.C. Lowered Overdose Deaths—But Will Struggle to Keep Pace www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

‘Where Are My Friends?’ Teachers Say Operation Charlotte’s Web Rattled Students www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

Durham Public Schools Face Another Shortfall as Enrollment Drops indyweek.com/news/durham/...

Battle of The Books greensborothread.com/news/educati...

I’ve spent a lot of the last three years investigating the rise of anti-trans politics. Often, it came back to the controversy over trans women athletes. So I teamed up with @pablo.show to look into the leading figure on the issue: Riley Gaines. www.motherjones.com/politics/202... 1/

In Alabama, millions of dollars in taxpayer money are going to private schools that teach that humans lived among dinosaurs, and that rock music and mental health conditions are signs of rebellion. Our latest story on the rollout of the state’s new CHOOSE Act: www.al.com/educationlab...

Really good reporting by the Daily Tar Heel www.dailytarheel.com/article/79c6...

Wake County school board extends contract of Superintendent Robert Taylor. Here’s how long. He’s now under contract to June 2029. Board didn’t give a raise in recognition of no new school employee raises this year due to lack of state budget. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e... #wcpss #nced

Attendance drops in Wake, Durham, Chapel Hill schools during Border Patrol surge. On Tuesday, 19,471 Wake County students were absent, or nearly 1 in 9 kids. That was 7,841 more absences compared to a normal day. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e... #nced #ncpol #wcpss

Solidarity with Steven, and thank you for doing the work. I didn't realize he had been targeted by a bogus pizza delivery. This happened to me also. The notion that someone could impersonate the FBI to make a false DV report (or worse yet, that the local PD just fabricated it) is really disturbing.

The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation www.propublica.org/article/andr...

Across North Carolina, at least 103 books were challenged in 2024, 91 of which were housed in school libraries, Jasmine Gallup reports. indyweek.com/culture/as-b...

We're live blogblogging the @chccs.bsky.social meeting on school enrollment trends triangleblogblog.com/2025/11/17/l...

BREAKING: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will be deployed in the Raleigh area on Tuesday, Democratic legislative sources briefed by Gov. Josh Stein’s office told The Assembly and INDY on Monday. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Fear, Protest, and Preparation As 80+ Are Reportedly Detained in Charlotte www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

‘We Were Willing to Take a Stand’: Cumberland County Teachers Explain Why Walkouts Fell Flat www.cityviewnc.com/stories/we-w...

"Cumberland County previously offered one of the lowest local supplements in the region—roughly $1,200 per teacher, according to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. That was lower than neighboring Hoke, Robeson, Scotland, Harnett, and Moore counties." www.cityviewnc.com/stories/cumb...

U.S. Border Patrol agents are slated to arrive in Charlotte as soon as Saturday, November 15, @jacobbiba.bsky.social reports. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees on Thursday narrowly voted to raise in-state undergraduate tuition by 3 percent, or $211, for next academic year—a complete about-face from the day before, when it appeared a board committee had killed the plan. www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

The Healthy Opportunities Pilot, launched in 2022, had benefits beyond health and quality-of-life improvements. UNC-Chapel Hill researchers found it saved $1,020/year per recipient on health care costs and participants had “significantly lower” ER visits than peers. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

NEW: DHS launched a $200mln+ ad campaign, featuring, Kristi Noem, aimed at stemming illegal immigration. We found the firm secretly hired for the work has ties to Noem. @justinelliott.bsky.social, @josh-kaplan.bsky.social & @amierjeski.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/kris...

Without a state budget deal to fund increasing Medicaid costs, N.C. DHHS cut reimbursement rates—the amount paid to providers who care for low-income patients enrolled in the government health program—between 3 percent and 10 percent depending on the service. www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

At her last board meeting as interim superintendent, Catty Moore reviewed how Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools ended up in a financial crisis and identified lingering problems, including high turnover in HR and finance staff. journalnow.com/news/local/e...

Federal immigration agents could arrive as soon as this weekend, after month-long Chicago operation that spurred mass protests and court action. ncnewsline.com/2025/11/13/b... Story by @galenb.bsky.social #nc #Charlotte #ncpol