Mecklenburg County Community Support Services has released the 2025 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report.The annual number of people who stayed in emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing increased 6% from fiscal year 2024. As of June 2025, there were 2,404 people experiencing homelessness in Mecklenburg County, down 14% from last year. But the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time in 2024 increased 11%.The report says more than 77% of the low-cost housing stock available in 2015 was lost by 2024. Several factors were involved, including redevelopment, a focus on construction of high-end housing, rising construction costs, and rental price increases.

The Charlotte Hornets lost to the Houston Rockets on Thursday night 105-101. After the game, point guard LaMelo Ball was asked about his traffic accident Wednesday at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets. He said he’s glad everyone was OK."Uh, it’s unfortunate just everybody cool, so just blessings. God is great," he said.

The federal government plans to pay to keep coal plants open longer. It recently selected Duke Energy’s two-unit coal-burning plant to receive up to $34 million.

The back-and-forth over I-77 toll lanes continues, street vending in NoDa is now illegal, Birkdale Village in Huntersville faces new restrictions after a disturbance involving hundreds of young people, and Charlotte FC is kicking off a new season.

We’re about a week and a half from North Carolina’s March 3 primary. One of the biggest races is for the U.S. Senate seat Republican Thom Tillis will vacate. Several Republicans are vying to face former Gov. Roy Cooper, including Michele Morrow, who drew national attention in 2024 when she ran for state superintendent of public instruction. Carli Brosseau wrote about those challenges for The Assembly. She joined WFAE’s Marshall Terry.

Former Gov. Roy Cooper made a stop at a local church in Greensboro to discuss rising health care costs and the need for more affordable health care.

Over two dozen laptops were distributed in Charlotte Thursday to help nonprofits that focus on helping those in need.

The student-led Sustainable Schools Coalition wants the Durham Board of Education to develop a Climate Action Plan, as agreed by the board in 2021.

88-year-old Rock Hill resident Wali Cathcart’s family story stretches across generations of Black struggle in America, from slavery to integration. For Cathcart, many of those challenges and triumphs played out through his love of baseball, a sport that didn’t fully integrate for Black players until the late 1950s. As part of Black History Month, WFAE explores Cathcart’s journey from living under Jim Crow segregation to being honored for promoting equality.

Joseph Terrell wrote his song, "Genuine American Hero" after Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an immigration enforcement officer last month.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is trying to increase scores on the DIBELS exam, a test that measures early literacy skills for students in kindergarten through third grade. One school is trying out a new strategy: teaching families how they can help prepare their children.