Without school vaccine mandates, many kids may never see a doctor
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The end of an era: Roxboro’s Cole’s Pharmacy closes after 69 years
By Jessie Butner Roxboro Courtier-Times Uptown Roxboro sat quietly under Friday’s abysmal gray and cloudy chill all afternoon – with the exception of 117 N. Main Street. Inside, a crowd of people, congregating at tables or waiting in line, found no shortage of conversation, but little elbow room. The aroma of food that sizzled as…
NC health insurance consumers left in limbo by Congress
By Lucas Thomae Carolina Public Press For months, Adrian Pitts followed the news with bated breath as Congress fought — and eventually shut down the federal government — over whether to extend COVID-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace health plans. Pitts, a 57-year-old small business owner and Hendersonville resident, was one of the beneficiaries…
10 things to know about measles as cases rise in North Carolina
By Michelle Crouch Co-published with The Charlotte Ledger Measles, once considered eliminated in the U.S., is back in a big way. Driven by declining vaccine rates and growing vaccine hesitancy, the United States experienced its largest number of measles cases in decades in 2025, with 2,242 cases reported across the country and outbreaks in Texas,…
NC faces tight deadline, high costs to implement Medicaid work requirement
By Jaymie Baxley North Carolina has less than a year to implement a federal rule requiring “able-bodied” Medicaid participants to prove they are working, volunteering or attending school for at least 80 hours a month. A provision of the federal budget — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law last summer by President…
New year, new definition: Feds set to limit water protections
By Jennifer Allen Coastal Review The two agencies that enforce the Clean Water Act have proposed changes to the waterbodies considered jurisdictional, or under federal protection, and the deadline for the public to comment is here. The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers published on Nov. 20 in the Federal Register the “Updated…
PFAS, microplastics and what comes next for North Carolina’s water
This story has been updated with additional information. By Will Atwater In North Carolina, debates over how to regulate emerging water contaminants are moving from the lab to the policy arena — and this week, those debates could translate into binding policy. The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, which sets statewide water quality standards, is…
