WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1932, actress, director, and model Barbara Loden was born in Marion. Wife of producer and director Elia Kazan, she wrote, starred in, and directed the acclaimed independent film Wanda (1970), and appeared in Broadway productions and films like Splendor in the Grass. She also earned a Tony Award before her career was cut short by cancer.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse is one of 13 landmarks displayed on a new U.S. Postal Service American Icons stamp pane. Learn more in Et Cetera, then reply to share what your favorite North Carolina lighthouse is.

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Stein Signs $34B Budget Ahead of Deadline

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed a $34 billion state budget into law Tuesday, ending more than a year of negotiations and budget gridlock that left state agencies operating under prior spending plans.

The bipartisan measure includes an average 8% teacher pay raise, 3% increases for state employees with bonuses, a reduction in the personal income tax rate from 3.99% to 3.49%, and $700 million for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina. It also boosts public safety, education, and sports betting tax revenue sharing.

Stein’s approval of the GOP-proposed plan marks the state’s first comprehensive budget since 2023, providing stability for schools, agencies, and recovery initiatives following months of partisan standoffs.

Republican budget writers, led by Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, have framed the plan as reining in spending while cutting taxes.

DMV Wait Times Drop 87% Statewide

North Carolina drivers are now waiting 20 to 25 minutes at the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, down 87% from the hours-long lines they faced last spring.

The agency credits several changes rather than one fix. House Bill 125, signed last year, funded 64 new employees who were hired and trained within a month.

Roughly 250,000 transactions have moved online in the past six months, and a new tool lets drivers check live wait times before they leave home.

NCDMV communications manager Marty Homan said it “wasn't one thing” that caused the long waits or “magically” brought them down.

Duke Camera Peers at Big Bang Afterglow

A Duke University physicist built the camera for a new telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert designed to capture the Big Bang Afterglow—light from the universe’s first 380,000 years.

Eve Vavagiakis, an assistant professor of physics, leads Duke’s work on Prime-Cam, the instrument for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope. The 20-foot-wide telescope sits more than 18,000 feet above sea level.

The camera picks up faint microwave light invisible to the eye—the cosmic microwave background, or Big Bang Afterglow, that Vavagiakis calls the universe’s “baby picture.” Duke is the only U.S. partner in the project besides Cornell University, which leads it.

Vavagiakis has worked on the project for nearly a decade and plans to return to the Atacama site in August to see the telescope at work.

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➤ Statewide: Multiple county elections boards are moving to remove or deny early-voting sites on college campuses for the 2026 election, a shift tied to State Auditor Dave Boliek, whose office gained authority over elections in 2024. Boliek calls the changes common-sense efficiency. (More)

➤ UNC System: A UNC System associate vice president co-authored a federally funded evaluation of a program she leads without disclosing that role, publishing it in a journal that was dropped from a major research index in 2024. (More)

➤ Raleigh: A husband and wife, Scott Christofferson, 48, and Jennifer Christofferson, 44, died after a Nissan ran a red light and flipped a Fast Park airport shuttle on Glenwood Avenue on Saturday. Driver Barry Hayes, 70, faces charges including involuntary manslaughter. (More)

➤ Cleveland County paramedic Ashley Moore was killed when a vehicle rear-ended her ambulance on U.S. 74 near I-85 as she treated a patient in the back. Jared Logan, 35, of Gastonia, faces second-degree murder and impaired-driving charges. (More)

➤ Dillsboro: A magnitude 2.1 earthquake struck about 6 miles southwest of Dillsboro late Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It was the second small quake near the Jackson County town since a magnitude 2.7 in March. (More)

➤ Asheville: The 94th Asheville Open, the state’s longest continuously running sanctioned tennis tournament, began this week at Aston Park and runs through July 27. Organizers estimate it will bring $775,000 in direct spending to area businesses. (More)

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➤ Charlotte has been proposed as a host city for the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup as part of a joint U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica bid. It’s the only bid currently submitted. (More)

➤ Six veterans from North Carolina will compete in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, which open tomorrow in Detroit. The annual event is the world’s largest wheelchair sports competition solely for military veterans. (More)

➤ The Carolina Hurricanes turned down a trade offer from the New York Rangers for defenseman Alexander Nikishin that included a first-round pick and more. Carolina reportedly wants a roster-ready player in return for the promising 24-year-old, who posted 33 points as a rookie and helped the team win the Stanley Cup. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: World Cup | Wimbledon | MLB | WNBA

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➤ Charlotte-based Six Flags Entertainment, which owns Carowinds, named Mark Pauls its chief operating officer effective July 15. Pauls succeeds Tim Fisher, who began his amusement-park career at Carowinds and will stay on as a special advisor through December. (More)

➤ Atrium Health in Charlotte agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it used tracking pixels that shared patient portal data with Meta and Google without consent. The company denies wrongdoing and settled to avoid further litigation. (More)

➤ Davidson College will offer free tuition to students from families earning $175,000 or less starting in fall 2027, and will cover full costs, including housing and meals, for families earning $85,000 or less. (More)

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➤ Army specialist Khalfani Harris, a Charlotte-based taekwondo champion and 2023 Pan American Games gold medalist, will represent the U.S. at the 2027 Military World Games. Charlotte will be the first U.S. city to host the event. (More)

➤ More than 40 decorated golf carts rolled through Hatteras Village on July 2 for the 13th annual Hatteras Village Golf Cart Parade, a Fourth of July tradition that drew crowds along the route. (See Photos)

➤ The Bodie Island Lighthouse is one of 13 landmarks on a new U.S. Postal Service American Icons stamp pane curated by designer Ralph Lauren for the nation’s 250th anniversary, joining images like the American flag and the Empire State Building. (See Photos)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Iran has resumed missile strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials say, threatening the peace deal. (Hear Details)

➤ Ukrainian forces have struck deep into Siberia, putting Russia's largest refineries within reach for the first time. (Hear Episode)

➤ Discarded items found behind a Georgia Cracker Barrel have helped authorities crack a man's 1985 killing in Ohio. (Listen Now)