--- title: North Carolina News description: Constitutional amendments for November, two tied to taxes, advance By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Voters in November will have a choic... canonical_url: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news?start=112 language: en-US date: 2025-11-17T21:50:38Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news?start=112. markdown-tokens: 899 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news?start=112. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. [ ![Constitutional amendments for November, two tied to taxes, advance](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-05/37d1c861a4.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/constitutional-amendments-for-november-two-tied-to-taxes-advance) By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Voters in November will have a choice on lowering the cap for personal income tax in North Carolina and asking the General Assembly to generate a property tax [ ![Election 2026: Whatley gets another breath of Trump tailwind](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/fabbafa281.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/election-2026-whatley-gets-another-breath-of-trump-tailwind) By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Needing a lift as polls favor his opponent, Republican Michael Whatley on Tuesday got another breath of tailwind from the White House. [ ![Defibrillator plan for public schools proposed after cardiac arrest death](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/d56628e201.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/defibrillator-plan-for-public-schools-proposed-after-cardiac-arrest-death) By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor (The Center Square) – Two years ago, 13 North Carolina students suffered cardiac arrest while at school, one of whom died. [ ![Duke Energy rate hikes affirmed by Supreme Court](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/c347fffdfc.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/duke-energy-rate-hikes-affirmed-by-supreme-court) By Carolina Journal (Carolina Journal) – Duke Energy rate hikes from 2023 challenged by the state attorney general have been affirmed by the North Carolina Supreme Court. [ ![Bill: Funding increase sought for USDA grants tied to artificial intelligence](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/6515eed47f.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/bill-funding-increase-sought-for-usda-grants-tied-to-artificial-intelligence) By Katherine Zehnder | Carolina Journal (Carolina Journal) – Legislation to increase funding for artificial intelligence projects through U.S. Department of Agriculture grants with a goal of ensuring programs educate farmers on the latest AI technology to advance [ ![Absentee voting 15 weeks away, and voters are fleeing Democrats, Republicans](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/cc474ebe39.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/absentee-voting-15-weeks-away-and-voters-are-fleeing-democrats-republicans) By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – For the third time in five weeks, voter registrations increased more in the unaffiliated bloc than overall in North Carolina. [ ![Diesel prices modestly tumble](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-06/01716b09bb.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/diesel-prices-modestly-tumble) By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Diesel fuel prices have fallen by a dime in the last week, more than a quarter in the last month, and traditional unleaded gasoline has nominally inched down