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North Carolina Democrats are making a big push this year to win back rural counties that have flipped to Republicans in recent elections.

The court ruling is the latest development in a decades-long dispute between North Carolina school boards and the state’s tourism industry over when the majority of the state’s public school students should begin and end their summer vacation.

In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced $27.25 million will be invested in the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound. USFWS Director Martha Williams talks about this funding and its implications.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its final land protection plan for the refuge in eastern North Carolina. The plan emphasizes working with willing private landowners to help expand conserved land.

The popular convenience store and gas station chain Wawa will celebrate the grand opening of its first North Carolina store in Kill Devil Hills in May.

In Bertie County, a newly built housing complex intended for teachers will open this summer.

Lake Mattamuskeet is the largest natural freshwater lake in North Carolina. The lake has experienced declining water quality for decades, leading to harmful algal blooms. A proposal would address these algal blooms using a chemical treatment.

The study found military personnel stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20% higher risk for a number of cancers. The list includes some types of leukemia and lymphoma and cancers of the lung, breast, throat, esophagus and thyroid.

A federal district court judge heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging a Republican-drawn map for North Carolina's state senate districts.

While North Carolina’s urban areas are seeing rapid growth, more than 20 of the state’s 100 counties have seen their population decrease in recent years as residents move away for better opportunities elsewhere. Those population declines are sharpest in northeastern North Carolina.