---
title: North Carolina News
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[ ![Audit: Councilmen pay thousands in unpenalized late utility bills](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/4b94aab874.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/audit-councilmen-pay-thousands-in-unpenalized-late-utility-bills)

 By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Information systems auditing of a North Carolina city has led two City Council members to pay thousands to clear unpenalized late utility bills, and given clarity to what

 

 

 

 

[ ![Election 2026: Poll-leading Cooper joins bandwagon abandoning Platner](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/f3e3e4f609.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/election-2026-poll-leading-cooper-joins-bandwagon-abandoning-platner)

 By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Candidates for North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat this fall continue to play close with national party politics just more than eight weeks before voters start marking ballots.

 

 

 

 

[ ![Homelessness bill gets a veto; 12 others signed into law](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/619f3eb004.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/homelessness-bill-gets-a-veto-12-others-signed-into-law)

 By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Pending decisions on whether to override vetoes, the General Assembly’s short session work concluded with 12 bills signed Wednesday by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

 

 

 

 

[ ![Judge rejects bar owners’ motion](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/d721e2aa44.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/judge-rejects-bar-owners-motion)

 By Carolina Journal Staff

(Carolina Journal) – A Superior Court judge on Tuesday rejected a request from North Carolina bar owners seeking to split two pieces of their lawsuit over government-mandated COVID-19 closings in 2020 and

 

 

 

 

 

[ ![North Carolina businesses creation exceeds 103,000 in first 6 months of ’26](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/ba2e7e3a96.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/north-carolina-businesses-creation-exceeds-103-000-in-first-6-months-of-26)

 By Katherine Zehnder | Carolina Journal

(Carolina Journal) – Eighth-term Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall announced a record high 100,000 new business developments in North Carolina in the first half of 2026.

 

 

 

 

[ ![State budget signed into law](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/619f3eb004.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/state-budget-signed-into-law)

 By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – For the second time in nearly 11 years, North Carolina has a signed budget.

 

 

 

 

[ ![Jaleeyah’s Law toughens penalties tied to gangs, recruiting minors](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/joomgrabber/2026-07/76216fcfbb.jpeg) ](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/jaleeyahs-law-toughens-penalties-tied-to-gangs-recruiting-minors)

 By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Prevention of violent crime, protection of the most vulnerable and stronger tools for lawmen and prosecutors are in Jaleeyah’s Law, a crackdown on gang violence signed into North