Union County

The Union County Commission voted unanimously Monday night to ban events from county parks that are judged "obscene," "sexualized," or "not suitable for young children."

An EF-1 tornado with winds up to 90 mph spun up near Unionville, North Carolina, as storms pounded the area Wednesday morning, damaging buildings and power poles and threatening nearby schools just as students arrived for class.

The Roadmap of Need highlights swaths of the state with big challenges. In the Charlotte region, Union County stands out as having unusually good conditions while spending relatively little on public education.

Mecklenburg County tax assessor Ken Joyner told county commissioners on Wednesday that the line between the two counties is in dispute because the maps they’re using don’t match. The problem first surfaced in 2001.

The Union County school board unanimously approved a new calendar Tuesday morning that starts classes on Aug. 9, almost three weeks earlier than the Aug. 28 date set by the state's school calendar law.

The Union County school board voted Monday morning to follow state requirements to quarantine students exposed to COVID-19, but district staff still won't take part in contact tracing. Union County is one of three North Carolina districts that doesn't require masks.

North Carolina's top health official, Dr. Mandy Cohen, told the Union County school board it could face "legal action" if it doesn't change the district's quarantine rules by Friday. But the board has no plans to meet.

Students and staff who don't have a positive COVID-19 test or symptoms should "return to work or school immediately," the district said.

Authorities have arrested and charged a man wanted for months in a shootout that left a popular North Carolina teacher and another man dead. The Alamance County sheriff’s office says the U.S. Marshal Service arrested Gar-yon-ded-weh Stepney on Monday.