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The Wake County Courthouse in downtown Raleigh, NC on April 4, 2021. A bill that was recently passed in the senate about raising the minimum age for juvenile delinquency from 6 to 10 now moves to the house.

N.C. Senate passes bill to raise the minimum age for juvenile delinquency

By Kelli Rainer | Apr. 8, 2021

Of states with a specified minimum age, North Carolina currently has the lowest in the nation.

Gov. Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper announce their victory in the 2020 election on Nov. 3, 2020 on the steps of the N.C. Democratic Party headquarters in Raleigh.

Divided N.C. House passes bill to limit governor’s emergency powers along party lines

By Guillermo Molero | Apr. 7, 2021

The Emergency Powers Accountability Act would require the governor to receive approval from a majority of the Council of State – the collective name for the heads of the state's senior executive offices – before exercising any emergency powers or declaring a state of emergency.

A young boy with a skateboard walks past the Chapel Hill Department of Housing in the Northside neighborhood of Chapel Hill on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020.

Column: Stuck in the middle

By Ben Rappaport | Apr. 6, 2021

"Chapel Hill demands housing choice. Legislation like Senate Bill 349 is how we get it."

DTH Photo Illustration: Some N.C. senators recently announced the introduction of a Hate Crimes Prevention Act that would require states and local authorities to publish data on hate crimes.

Lawmakers file new bills to increase scope and scale of punishments for hate crimes

By Susie Webb | Apr. 5, 2021

The mirrored bills would expand the definition of a hate crime and increase the scope and scale of punishments for hate crimes. The introduced Hate Crimes Prevention Acts would also require law enforcement training on how to identify and respond to a hate crime. Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said that this act would have impacted his department’s investigation of the 2015 murders of three Muslim students, Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

Students of Frank Porter Graham Elementary school walk from carpool toward the school early in the morning on March 26, 2021. CHCCS have recently reopened in-person instruction, although many children are still learning virtually.

Statewide coalition demands action to ensure a sound, basic education for all students

By Bethany Lee | Mar. 30, 2021

The coalition and call for change came in response to several years of a constant decline in state school funding, ranking N.C. as one of the lowest in the country in terms of school funding and equity.

Fourth year pharmacy student Vera Pervitsky prepares syringes at the end of a day of vaccinations at the Friday Center on Monday, Mar. 22, 2021. Pervitsky has been working around five shifts a month in vaccine prep since February. "I think it's really rewarding to be able to give back to the community... just to know you're making an impact," she said.

COVID-19 vaccine eligibility process for all North Carolinian adults accelerated

By Cloris Huan | Mar. 30, 2021

All adults in North Carolina will be eligible to be vaccinated soon following a new timeline announced by Gov. Roy Cooper on March 25. The new timeline allows the second part of Group 4, other essential workers and people in group living settings to become eligible for the vaccine March 31, one week earlier than anticipated.

Karma Lee is the owner of Buckwheat Farms which has been open in Apex for 23 years. "Last year when the pandemic hit, we weren't even sure we were going to be able to be open for business, but when we found out we were, we knew we had to make a lot of changes," said Lee.

Local farms adjust their businesses to provide COVID-19-safe fun this spring

By Kelli Rainer | Mar. 28, 2021

Spring has sprung, and these local farms have found ways to provide outdoor, COVID-19-safe fun for their communities.

The COVID-19 Flag Memorial is seen in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. The number of flags represents the number of American deaths due to COVID-19.

North Carolina's rural counties are hit disproportionately by COVID-19. Here's why.

By Kayla Guilliams | Mar. 23, 2021

Although rural counties have a lower population density than urban ones, they still faced periods of critical community spread. From September through November, nearly twice as many new cases were reported in rural counties than urban and suburban ones, according to the NCDHHS.

Students gather in Sup Dogs on Franklin Street to watch UNC's 91-73 defeat of Duke basketball on March 6, 2021.

Some N.C. businesses can now open at full capacity as more COVID-19 restrictions eased

By Sonia Rao | Mar. 23, 2021

COVID-19 restrictions in North Carolina will once again be eased starting Friday, March 26 at 5 p.m., Gov. Roy Cooper announced at a Tuesday news briefing.

High school junior and Apex resident Julia Husbands receives the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination at the Friday Center on Monday, Mar. 22, 2021.

Where to get vaccinated in Chapel Hill and the Triangle area

By Brian Rosenzweig | Mar. 23, 2021

The following list explores vaccination options in the Triangle areas, with notes on what vaccines are being offered, how appointments are made, how vaccines are administered and what locations and transportation services are available.

Students and alumni sit together to listen to other members of Chapel HIll community in honor of the 8 lives lost in Atlanta on March 16, 2021.

Editorial: Atlanta shooting underscores need for meaningful hate crime legislation

By Editorial Board | Mar. 22, 2021

We can no longer ignore the unique and distinct racism faced by Asian Americans. Progress involves recognizing implicit biases, educating ourselves and, most importantly, pressuring our legislators to enact meaningful change.

Demonstrators hold up signs during a rally at the Peace and Justice plaza on Franklin Street against the coup in Myanmar on March 6, 2021.

'My family is back there': Myanmar protests resonate with Orange County refugees

By Bethany Lee | Mar. 22, 2021

“These are my people and my country that are dying,” Gan Poo, a Burmese-American who participated in the March 6 Chapel Hill protest, said. “My family is back there, and we want to help save them.”

Pharmacist and 1995 UNC alumna Sue Patel prepares a syringe with a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 in the Friday Center on Chapel Hill.

North Carolina, Orange County look for ways to equitably distribute vaccine

By Trevor Moore | Mar. 21, 2021

Since vaccinations have become available, Orange County BOCC Chairperson Renne Price said the county has been doing everything in its power to continue supporting racial equity. But some community members don't think vaccinations in Orange County are as equitable as they could be.

“Shaw Rising,” a documentary about the first HBCU in the South, won an Emmy. Photo courtesy of Goodtree Studio.

North Carolina filmmakers win regional Emmy for documentary on Shaw University

By Kayla Guilliams | Mar. 17, 2021

"Shaw Rising" tells the story of Shaw University’s history, the first historically Black university in the South. The film premiered on UNC-TV on February 26, 2020, and won a regional Midsouth Emmy in the Documentary/Historical category on February 26, 2021.

Tornado warning in effect for Orange County, surrounding areas

By Susie Webb | Mar. 17, 2021

The National Weather Service is warning of severe storms across central North Carolina on Thursday afternoon. Here's what you need to know.

Dr. Jim Thomas, as photographed in 2012, is an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. His research interests include the ethical practice of public health during a pandemic.

We talked with an epidemiologist about vaccine ethics, new CDC guidance and more

By Jacob Meredith-Andrews | Mar. 17, 2021

The Daily Tar Heel sat down with UNC epidemiology professor Jim Thomas to reflect on the past year of ethical dilemmas under COVID-19 and how institutions and individuals can make better decisions as vaccines become more widely available.

A pair of bills were approved by a judiciary committee that would allow city councils and county commissioners to post public notices on government websites instead of requiring them to be posted in newspapers.

Two N.C. House bills may allow some county governments to stop posting public notices

By Will Weider | Mar. 9, 2021

If both bills are passed, local government could publish legal notices online instead of requiring them to be printed in newspapers.

DTH Photo Illustration. Only two weeks after students were expected to leave their on-campus housing and attend classes remotely, students living off-campus are struggling with internet accessibility.

Broadband Task Force discusses bringing internet to rural Orange County communities

By Trevor Moore | Mar. 9, 2021

Approximately 5,000 residential units in Orange County are not adequately serve with broadband, Jim Northrup, chief information officer for the county, said. Orange County Commissioner Earl McKee was concerned that these internet access issues were amplified due to COVID-19. So he petitioned to start the Orange County Broadband Task Force, which held its first meeting on March 3.

Ruffin Residence Hall on North Campus on February 22, 2021. Ruffin Residence Hall was originally named after Thomas Ruffin, but the University decided to rename it after his son, Thomas Ruffin Jr., in 2020.

Campaign launched to remove all Confederate statues from courthouse grounds

By Charles Vanderford | Mar. 9, 2021

As part of the campaign, NC CRED will create and maintain a website to provide information on confederate monuments in the state, work in coalitions to empower local communities to remove monuments through legislation and compile an accurate history of these monuments.

Heidi Kim, an associate English professor and director of the UNC Asian American Center, poses for a portrait in the center on Monday, Mar. 8, 2021. "I've lived through multiple waves of anti-Asian American violence," says Kim. "You start to realize there's an underlying racism that's always there."

Advocates respond to recent rise in violence against Asian American community

By Praveena Somasundaram | Mar. 9, 2021

Though violence against Asian Americans has risen particularly in major U.S. cities, community members say anti-Asian racism is not new — and that there is much work that needs to be done to address it.