NC councilman resigned so he could accept $3M in tax money. Then he rejoined the council

A longtime Kannapolis City Council member resigned so he could avoid a conflict of interest and accept $3 million in federal tax money. But a month later, he was back on the job. Read more here.

What does NC Rep. Tricia Cotham stand for? Here’s what her voting history shows

After a Charlotte-area legislator flipped from the Democratic to the Republican Party, giving the GOP a supermajority in the N.C. House, I dug into her voting history as part of our breaking news coverage. This article shows her policy positions and how she might vote on tightly contested issues in the future.

Click here to read more.

Messages show fired Rowan medical examiner didn’t think hole in man’s head was bullet wound

A former Rowan County medical examiner told superiors she saw a hole in the head of a dead man, but she didn’t think it was a gunshot wound because there was no exit point, no mention of foul play, no gang affiliation, no drugs and “nothing suspicious.”

The truth was much more than just a fatal car crash. Click here to read more.

Fibrant in Focus series

In a five-part series, I examined the state of a city-owned fiber optic network in Salisbury, N.C. Among other things, I found that city officials made the system look profitable on paper. In reality, it was draining more than $3 million from the general fund each year.

High water in a low land: Why we flooded—And why we might again, no matter what we do

In the early hours of Aug. 30, Drainage District 7 staff averted a potentially massive failure. The story behind a small detail that saved a big portion of southeast Texas.

Concord officer, Rowan native Shuping remembered as reliable, hard worker

The story of Jason Shuping, who was gunned down in Concord, N.C. while responding to a call near Concord Mills.