VOLUME 10 ISSUE 49 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026
NSJONLINE.COM
PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Abbey road The Theravada Buddhist monks’ 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., took them through North Carolina the past two weeks. Day 88 of their trek saw them greeted by crowds in Liberty on Jan. 21.
North Carolina mostly spared by massive winter storm
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BRIEF this week
Duke, Mensah reach agreement, clearing way for transfer Durham The legal fight between Duke and Darian Mensah is over. Now the quarterback can transfer elsewhere after bringing the Blue Devils an unexpected Atlantic Coast Conference title. The school and Mensah’s agency released statements Tuesday confirming they had reached a settlement without providing any details. It came roughly a week after Duke filed a lawsuit seeking to block Mensah’s efforts to transfer and reach a contract with another school to play elsewhere next season. The case was scheduled for a hearing Thursday in Durham County Superior Court, with a judge having granted Duke’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking Mensah from doing anything beyond entering his name into the transfer portal. Attorneys for both sides filed a joint motion with the court Tuesday morning for dismissal.
Trump wants “honest” investigation into Minn. ICE shooting Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump said a “big investigation” was underway into the killing of protester and ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. Trump’s comment Tuesday is the latest marker of his sudden turnabout on the issue as his administration confronts growing pushback on federal agents’ tactics in the second fatal shooting from the aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota. The White House on Monday tried to distance Trump from comments by high-ranking administration officials who branded Pretti as a domestic terrorist.
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Children’s hospital funding part of budget impasse Republican leadership in both houses of the General Assembly remain at odds By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The budget impasse in the North Carolina General Assembly between the Republican-controlled Senate and House has continued into
2026, with the issue of funding for the proposed N.C. Children’s Hospital resurfacing this week. Specifically at issue between the two chambers is releasing the final third year obligation of $103.5 million for the N.C. Children’s Hospital, as well as disagreements about health care-related “mini-budgets” amid broader state budget negotiations that stalled in mid-2025. See BUDGET, page A3
Schools and businesses throughout the state closes, and thousands of flights were canceled across the country By Kate Brumback and Julie Walker The Associated Press A MASSIVE winter storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the U.S. in the early part of the week, bringing subzero temperatures and halting air and road traffic. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast were left without electricity, but North Carolina avoided the worst of what was expected to be a catastrophic event. In a video statement Monday on his official government X account, Gov. Josh Stein thanked North Carolinians for staying off the road during icy
Races to watch ahead of NC’s March primaries
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General Assembly incumbents who are running unopposed this year
Some Democrats and unaffiliateds are reportedly running as Republicans By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — With the March 3 primary approaching and early voting underway, there are several key races worth keeping an eye on. Key General Assembly races include the primary between Trump-endorsed Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) and Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page. House Speaker Destin Hall, who just finished his first year in that role, has drawn Dem-
ocrat Iris Bender from Lenoir as a challenger. Several House members are not seeking reelection, including Democratic Rep. Brian Cohn (Granville), and Republican Reps. William Brisson (Bladen), Ted Davis (New Hanover), Stephen Ross (Alamance) and Matthew Winslow (Franklin). The first three Republicans cited retirement as the reason. Rep. Kelly Hastings (R-Gaston) had initially said he would not seek reelection, citing term limits. However, after no other Republican candidates chose to run, he reconsidered. Notably, some Democrats and independents have been See PRIMARIES, page A2
conditions, saying there were no traffic fatalities caused by the storm in the state. Stein also said the majority of power outages were in the western part of the state. As of Monday night, there were just over 2,300 homes and business without power in the state, with more than half located in Transylvania and Henderson counties. “It is a unique storm in the sense that it is so widespread,” weather service meteorologist Allison Santorelli said in a phone interview. “It was affecting areas all the way from New Mexico, Texas, all the way into New England, so we’re talking like a 2,000-mile spread.” President Donald Trump approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states, including North Carolina, by Saturday. The Federal Emergency Management See STORM, page A3