North Carolina
NC elections officials look to cut some Sunday voting, campus polling sites
Republicans took control of elections administration in mid-2025 and, in some counties, they have quickly moved to enact two longtime party goals: Eliminating Sunday hours and campus polling places during early voting.
Those decisions have now led to political disputes in a handful of counties statewide, which will be up to the GOP-majority State Board of Elections to settle in a meeting Tuesday.
The state board is scheduled to review and vote Tuesday on early voting plans in a dozen counties, including Cumberland, Harnett, Wayne and others. All failed to receive unanimous support at the county level so now require final approval by the state elections board.
The plans are for the March primaries only. But the outcomes Tuesday could give clues to how willing the state board might be to allow similar strategies in November.
Republican state lawmakers’ most recent effort to target Sunday voting — part of wider-ranging changes to state election law passed in 2013 — was struck down in federal court as unconstitutional for being motivated by intentional racial discrimination. Black voters use Sunday voting disproportionately more than white voters.
At the time, Republican lawmakers argued in court that they should be allowed to target Black voters because the majority of Black voters are affiliated with the Democratic Party. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit strongly disagreed, striking down the law in a harshly worded ruling, calling it “the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow.”
Republicans haven’t tried seriously since then to eliminate Sunday voting statewide. Some did cosponsor a bill at the legislature to do so in 2025, but GOP leaders didn’t allow it up for a vote. It remains to be seen whether new county-by-county efforts to target Sunday voting will meet similar legal fates.
So far, two small-scale efforts to target Sunday voting have been allowed in the state. WRAL reported in August that GOP officials in Davidson and Union counties asked to cut back on Sunday voting for the 2025 municipal elections, which the state elections board approved in 3-2 votes along party lines.
“I do not want us to regress back to a previous time,” Democratic board member Siobhan Millen said at the time, as she voted against those plans.
Most of the board’s Republicans offered no explanation for eliminating Sunday voting for that handful of 2025 races, WRAL reported at the time. Republican board member Stacey Eggers said he thought it was important to let elections workers get some rest.
Details of the plans
Sunday voting isn’t the only contentious topic on agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. Attempts to eliminate on-campus voting sites at N.C. A&T University, UNC-Greensboro and Western Carolina University are up for discussion. So are other contentious plans from areas including Cumberland, Harnett and Wayne counties.
The state board already approved early voting plans for most of North Carolina’s 100 counties, since most counties approved their plans in a bipartisan, unanimous fashion. Every county elections board has three Republicans and two Democrats.
Tuesday’s meeting is meant to focus on the dozen counties where March early voting plans didn’t win unanimous approval, due to political or logistical disputes.
In Cumberland County, for example, there are multiple competing issues. The county election board’s professional staff suggested using five early voting sites, all in Fayetteville. The board’s political appointees, however, want seven sites. Complicating matters further is that the board’s political appointees also don’t fully agree on where to put those extra sites. All agree with having at least five sites in Fayetteville and one in Hope Mills. But there’s a dispute over whether to put a sixth site in Fayetteville, or to open one in Spring Lake instead.
Disputed early voting plans from Guilford and Jackson counties, meanwhile, revolve around the efforts to eliminate college campus polling places. Other counties are fighting over Sunday voting, including Wayne and Pitt counties, home to Goldsboro and Greenville.
In Pitt County, the GOP majority on the county elections board says only a few dozen dozen people have bothered showing up to vote on Sundays in each of the past few primary elections. Paying to keep the sites open for such little return isn’t a good investment for the county, they argue in filings to the state, not to mention the fact that there are fewer and fewer people who want to help work at local polling places.
“Pitt County, like every other county in the state, is seeing a significant drop in civic engagement, particularly with election workers,” the board’s Republicans wrote to the state. “Finding workers to manage and work in locations, especially on Sundays, is extraordinarily difficult.”
In Harnett County, the dispute is over an attempt to shut down the polling place at Western Harnett High School in Lillington and replace it with two new sites, one at the Benhaven Community Center and the other at the Anderson Creek fire department.
North Carolina
Oklahoma a win away from national title after roughing up North Carolina ace in Game 1 of CWS finals
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — His team one win away from the national championship, Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson won’t mess with success.
The Sooners’ offense is producing at a level higher than any team to play in the College World Series since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field 15 years ago.
When it looked as though OU’s pitching could implode after being nothing short of magnificent the last week, Cord Rager settled in after a rocky first inning and combined with two relievers to shut down North Carolina the rest of the way in a 9-3 victory in Game 1 of the CWS finals Saturday.
“I’m just going to stay out of their way,” Johnson said. “I don’t know any other way to do it. You think we’re going to go out and hit tonight and take 100 groundballs somewhere? We’re not going to do that. I can promise you that. Just stay out of their way.”
Deiten Lachance homered twice off North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro early and the Sooners (42-22) used a four-run fourth inning to pull away for their ninth straight win. Rager, Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius allowed only two runners to reach second base after the Tar Heels (53-12-1) struck for three runs in the first.
Oklahoma won national titles in baseball in 1951 and 1994 and will go for its third on Sunday. North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3 on Monday.
“North Carolina’s a really good team,” Johnson said, “and we picked a fight today. They’ll be ready for us tomorrow.”
OU ended DeCaro’s uncharacteristic bad day in the fourth inning. The Sooners scored all four runs that inning with two outs starting when Kyle Branch broke a 3-all tie with a two-run single. Branch came home on Jason Walk’s base hit and Camden Johnson singled off Walker McDuffie to make it 7-3.
DeCaro (11-3), who came in with a 2.31 ERA, was charged with all seven runs after having not allowed more than three in any of his previous starts.
“I think they just really punished the mistakes,” DeCaro said. “I feel like for the most part I made some pitches, and then whenever I did leave a ball over the plate, especially with two strikes, they capitalized.”
Lachance homered for a 2-0 lead in the first inning and again in the third to tie it at 3. The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Canadian known as “Big Maple” has hit all 18 of his homers in the last 32 games, including six in the last eight.
“I’m just trying to catch barrel at the plate right now and just help the team, just pass the baton,” Lachance said. “That’s a big thing for us.”
Oklahoma has hit 45 of its 93 home runs in the last 17 games. OU has connected 28 times in 11 NCAA Tournament games, and its 10 homers in four CWS games are the most by a team since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field in 2011. The Sooners are batting .331 and averaging better than eight runs per game in the CWS.
“Their approach is to get an ‘A’ swing off. That’s clear,” Carolina coach Scott Forbes said. “They’re not afraid to strike out.”
Rager (7-3), who threw 15 2/3 shutout innings over his previous three outings, steadied himself in the second inning and lasted through the fifth.
“After the first inning, I stopped playing for myself,” Rager said. “I just started playing for the guys around me, for the team. I really had to try to really be a pitcher today because I didn’t have my best stuff.”
Carolina’s Carter French made the defensive play of the CWS in the third when Walk sent a drive to deep right. As French went back to make the play, his glove got lodged under the padding running across the top of the fence. His glove was a bit crumpled as the ball landed in it. He held onto it and displayed it to the umpire.
“The great thing about baseball when you’re playing in a weekend series is you move on quickly,” Forbes said. “That’s what our team will do. They just beat us today.”
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This version corrects the spelling of Oklahoma pitcher Gavyn Jones’ first name.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
It was an eventful offseason in Chapel Hill, but the North Carolina Tar Heels recovered quite nicely, incorporating a formidable coaching staff and roster in just a few months.
Upon his arrival, head coach Michael Malone was faced with an uphill battle to revamp a roster, but he passed that test with flying colors. North Carolina’s style of play will look vastly different from last season, based on the players it acquired this offseason.
With that in mind, here are predictions for the five most efficient scorers on the Tar Heels’ 2026-27 roster. It is important to note that efficient scoring doesn’t necessarily mean each and every player on this list will also lead the team in scoring.
1. Matt Able
The 6-foot-6, 211-pound forward shot 41.6 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range last season at North Carolina State. That efficiency is a high baseline, as Able will be surrounded by more talent and placed in more advantageous spots in Malone’s system.
At North Carolina, Able could eclipse 40 percent from three-point range and near 50 percent from the field. Able doesn’t require a high volume of shot attempts to produce, which is why he is one of the most exciting players for me to watch next season.
2. Sayon Keita
Again, this doesn’t mean I expect Keita to emerge as one of the leading scorers on the roster. That being said, the former Barcelona center should be operating exclusively near the basket, and the majority of his shot attempts should come from close proximity.
Keita’s offensive production, for the most part, will generate from lobs, put-back dunks, and layups. There will be times Keita will be asked to create his own points in the post, but he will predominantly operate in the paint.
3. Jarin Stevenson
Malone prioritized retaining Stevenson, and the Alabama transfer’s role will expand in 2026. The 6-foot-9, 216-pound forward was an afterthought at the beginning of last season, but in ACC play, Stevenson’s production and efficiency took a major leap.
In the final nine games of the season, with Caleb Wilson out of the lineup, Stevenson averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. When Stevenson officially re-signed with North Carolina, Malone stated that he envisions the senior forward fulfilling a role similar to Aaron Gordon when Malone coached in Denver. With a potentially elite backcourt, Stevenson will have ample space to drift into, providing manageable looks at the basket.
4. Terrence Brown
Last season at Utah, the 6-foot-3, 174-pound guard shot 45.3 percent from the field, which is very impressive considering that he was a ball-dominant guard in the Big 12. However, Brown struggled from three-point range, shooting 32.7 percent from beyond the arc.
While I expect that to improve under Malone, Brown still expects to be shooting a handful of low-percentage shots along the perimeter. This is not to say that Brown will struggle; rather, it reflects where his shots will come from on the floor.
5. Neoklis Avdalas
The Virginia Tech transfer possesses a versatile skill set and can play both backcourt positions and on the wing. The 6-foot-9, 216-pound guard is a legitimate point guard option, according to his former coaches, and Malone is obviously aware of that.
Last season, Avdalas shot 38.6 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from three-point range, which was a disappointing output. However, those percentages should improve at North Carolina.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Waste Management is providing up to $18 million in grants to help clean up additional debris from Hurricane Helene in the western region, state officials said Friday.
According to NCDEQ, applications are being accepted for the Debris Recovery & Disposal grant program, which is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the American Relief Act of 2025.
The program provides up to $18 million in grants to local governments, councils of government, and nongovernment organizations, according to NCDEQ.
State officials said applications are being accepted through Sept. 14. The maximum award is $3 million. The grants may be used for up to three years.
Counties, municipalities, councils of government, and nongovernmental organizations in FEMA-declared disaster areas due to Helene are eligible for the grants, according to NCDEQ.
According to NCDEQ, eligible projects include collecting and disposing of non-hazardous debris from private or public properties, clearing and managing debris at streambanks, floodplains, farmland, and local park lands, and removing debris to improve solid waste and recycling infrastructure.
Applications may be emailed to Chris Hollinger with the Division of Waste Management at chris.hollinger@deq.nc.gov.
State officials advise applicants to email or call Hollinger at 919-707-8284 or contact Jason Watkins at jason.watkins@deq.nc.gov or 336-776-9674 to discuss the eligibility of their project before applying.
More information about applying can be found on the NCDEQ website.
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