Some 14,800 wildfires have burned 1,105 square miles so far this year — well above the 10-year average.

Oluchi Okananwa had her third double-double of the season and Duke beat Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina 47-38 in a grind-it-out defensive battle, sending the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

At least a half-dozen large wildfires continue to burn in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina and North Carolina.

Firefighters have announced progress on containing two of the largest wildfires burning in the North Carolina mountains, but are warning that fire danger remains from dry and windy conditions.

Dry conditions, wind and trees downed by Hurricane Helene are fueling wildfires in North and South Carolina.

Emergency crews in at least three states are battling small wildfires.

Sean Pedulla made a critical 3-pointer with 52.8 seconds left, and Mississippi topped North Carolina 71-64 in the NCAA Tournament after the Rebels squandered most of a 22-point lead in the second half.

Tyrese Proctor had 19 points and freshman star Cooper Flagg returned from an ankle injury as No. 1 seed Duke beat Mount St. Mary’s 93-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Tobacco Road is the center of the NCAA Tournament this week with three women’s first-round sites at Duke, North Carolina and N.

RJ Davis scored 26 points and went 6 of 6 from 3-point range to help North Carolina silence some skeptics with a 95-68 victory over San Diego State in their First Four matchup.

Auburn is the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, with Duke, Houston and Florida joining the Tigers on the No. 1 line in the March Madness bracket.

Tyrese Proctor scored 19 points on six 3-pointers, Kon Knueppel added 18 points and No. 1 Duke defeated 13th-ranked Louisville 73-62 on Saturday night to clinch its second Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in three seasons under Jon Scheyer.

Top-ranked Duke and the Atlantic Coast Conference have informed the NCAA Tournament selection committee that freshman Cooper Flagg will be available for March Madness.

North Carolina graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers committed a lane violation with 4.1 seconds left that negated a tying free throw in the Tar Heels' loss to No. 1 Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Kon Knueppel scored 28 points as No. 1 Duke overcame injuries to star Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown to beat Georgia Tech 78-70 and advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals.

The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament along with the last spots in the 68-team field will be riding on the outcome of a plethora of conference tournaments this week.

Duke has ended Auburn’s eight-week stay at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

Oluchi Okananwa had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 11 Duke rally from a 14-point deficit to beat No. 7 N.

Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 17 points to help No. 2 Duke beat rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night and clinch the outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

A former American Airlines flight attendant has pleaded guilty to secretly recording video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom.

North Carolina Republicans who are resolved to promote President Donald Trump’s agenda want to compel the new Democratic governor to aid the president's immigration policy.

Freshman Cooper Flagg had 28 points to help No. 2 Duke beat Wake Forest 93-60 on Monday night to clinch at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

Alberto Osuna’s bid to play baseball for defending College World Series champion Tennessee has received a setback.

Isaiah Evans scored 19 points and No. 2 Duke overcame freshman star Cooper Flagg’s injury scare to rout Florida State 100-65 on Saturday night.

Another $500 million would be spent toward Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina in legislation approved unanimously by the state House.

Zoe Brooks scored a career-high 33 points to help No. 13 N.

Snowy roads led to hundreds of crashes throughout Virginia and North Carolina, including a series of crashes on an interstate highway involving more than 50 vehicles.

An Amber Alert was issued on Wednesday after a 12-year-old Florida girl was declared missing over the weekend, according to the FDLE.

Officials have urged residents to stay off the roads in portions of Virginia and North Carolina, where a storm dropped heavy snow and caused hundreds of accidents in places that aren’t accustomed to significant accumulations.

Notre Dame is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time since 2019.

A growing number of volunteers has been delivering gifts to widows and widowers on Valentine's Day.

NFL coach Sean Payton says he can't think of a major American sporting venue that has aged as well as the nearly 50-year-old Superdome.

A flight attendant who was killed in the midair collision last week near the nation’s capital was remembered for his devotion to family and passion for travel.

It's a mix of art gallery, science exhibit and a 21st century funhouse.

North Carolina's former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has withdrawn his defamation lawsuit against CNN challenging a report that he made explicit posts on a pornography website’s message board over a decade ago.

A more than year-long legal battle between Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference continued to ratchet up Monday, with the conference turning to the Florida Supreme Court to try to halt a lawsuit filed by FSU.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said freshman big man Khaman Maluach was OK after vomiting on the court during the second half of Monday night’s win against North Carolina State.

President Donald Trump says he is considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to disasters in California and North Carolina.

North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and school officials have signed his official employment contract.

A settlement has been reached by North Carolina's Insurance Department and the industry that sells homeowner policies.

After a freezing winter storm shut schools, cut power and cancelled or delayed flights, the South is slowly thawing.

Snow and ice across the U.S. South are expected to relinquish their grip only slowly as the weekend continues.

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves claimed a spot in the season-opening Daytona 500 as part of a slew of rule changes NASCAR announced Friday.

A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma has lumbered eastward into the Deep South and elsewhere.

Authorities say the man who traveled armed to a pizzeria in the nation's capital nearly a decade ago because of a fake online conspiracy theory has been shot and killed by police in North Carolina.

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his NASCAR debut in next month’s Daytona 500 with Trackhouse Racing.

Imagine having 5 gallons of mayonnaise dumped over your head.

A 24-year-old woman from North Carolina died after a boat collided with a sailboat in the Florida Keys.

Officials are assessing the damage after a strong storm system moved across the southern U.S. over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people.

Authorities say a police officer has been fatally shot in a North Carolina supermarket and a suspect has been taken into custody.

A third endangered whale has been spotted entangled in fishing gear off the East Coast, marking an alarming end to the year for a species threatened with extinction.

Congress is allocating more than $100 billion in emergency aid to address extensive damage caused by hurricane and other disasters.

A giant salamander that evolved on the supercontinent Pangaea and outlived the dinosaurs has been proposed for federal protection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

North Carolina has interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position.

The ACC has fined N.

Johni Broome had 23 points and a career-best 19 rebounds to lead No. 4 Auburn to an 85-72 victory over No. 12 North Carolina in a Maui Invitational semifinal.

North Carolina coach Mack Brown won’t return for the 2025 season.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections’ top administrator wants a powerful legislator to retract a comment that he made suggesting this month’s results were being manipulated.

The chief operating officer for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency is no longer working in the position.

A career archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service says managers have been engaging in irresponsible and illegal behavior that has resulted in damage to Native American sites across the forested slopes of North Carolina.

New government data shows that U.S. drug overdose deaths appear to be showing a sustained decline.

Local officials are beginning to certify the results of this year’s presidential election in a process that so far has been playing out quietly, in stark contrast to the tumultuous certification period four years ago that followed then-President Donald Trump’s loss.

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has taken a more than $5 billion stake in Honeywell International and is calling for the industrial conglomerate to split into two separate companies.

Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press men’s college basketball poll of the regular season after winning a matchup of basketball bluebloods.

Top-ranked Kansas blew a 20-point first-half lead, then had to rally itself in the closing minutes for a 92-89 victory over No. 9 North Carolina on Friday night.

Hunter Dickinson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for No. 1 Kansas, which blew a 20-point first-half lead against No. 9 North Carolina before holding on for a 92-89 victory when the Tar Heels’ Elliot Cadeau missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Police say they have arrested a 23-year-old man suspected of shooting at least eight vehicles on a busy North Carolina highway as well as several area homes in recent days, in attacks that wounded a motorist.

Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies.

An expensive campaign by abortion-rights advocates for state Supreme Court seats has yielded mixed results.

Republican voters in North Carolina cast ballots in greater numbers than four years ago, while Democratic turnout sagged.

Hunter Dickinson was back on the court for No. 1 Kansas.

North Carolina elections officials say that more than 4.2 million voters cast ballots at early in-person voting sites, with turnout in western counties hit by Hurricane Helene outpacing the rest of the state.

Omarion Hampton had four touchdown runs and a 49-yard TD reception as North Carolina cruised to a 35-11 victory over Florida State on Saturday.

The debate over abortion rights is leading to expensive campaigns for state Supreme Courts in several states this year.

The cast of ABC’s hit show “Scandal” will reunite Nov. 17 for a live, virtual script reading to raise money for the western North Carolina area that was ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

The two men seeking to become North Carolina's next attorney general are both outgoing members of Congress who have represented the Charlotte area on Capitol Hill and previously in the state legislature.

The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus says news reports that quoted him saying the North Carolina Legislature should consider allocating the state’s presidential electors to Donald Trump before the votes are counted were taken out of context.

Some hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will receive one-time, direct cash payments of $1,000 on Friday.

The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one.

Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, GivingTuesday has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits in the U.S. It happens every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and this year, it is on Dec. 3.

North Carolina state legislators have approved over $600 million more toward Hurricane Helene recovery and relief.

Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, tensions over abortion have only intensified, setting the presidential election up as a referendum on fundamental rights for tens of millions of women.

The U.S. Postal Service says it has reopened all of its mail processing centers in areas of Florida and North Carolina hit by recent hurricanes.

North Carolina officials say the catastrophic flooding and destruction from Hurricane Helene likely caused at least $53 billion in damages and recovery needs in the state.

A sheriff’s office statement and data from the state show that the North Carolina county that is home to Asheville overcounted deaths caused by Helene by as many as 30.

Courts in Michigan and North Carolina on Monday rejected attempts by Republicans to disqualify the ballots of certain overseas voters.

Alabama's Mark Sears and North Carolina's RJ Davis headline The Associated Press preseason All-America men's basketball team.

Chandler Rivers scored on an interception return, Todd Pelino kicked three field goals and Duke beat Florida State for the first time in 23 all-time meetings, winning 23-16 on Friday night.

A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution that was sent to the 13 states for ratification has sold for $9 million in North Carolina.

A sheriff says witnesses reported seeing a group of armed people harassing hurricane relief workers in a remote Tennessee community last weekend.

Kamala Harris has used an appearance before a largely Black church audience in battleground North Carolina to call out Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the federal government's hurricane response.

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene downed power lines and washed out roads all over North Carolina’s mountains, the roar of gas-powered generators is both unpleasant and essential.

North Carolina football player Tylee Craft has died from a rare form of lung cancer.

One of the two companies that manufacture high-purity quartz used for making semiconductors from mines in a western North Carolina community harmed by Hurricane Helene is operating again.

North Carolina legislators have approved an initial $273 million relief package to help address Hurricane Helene’s devastation and recovery in the mountains.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fighting misinformation since Helene slammed into Florida nearly two weeks ago.

Hurricane Helene flooded the Weissmans' home last month.

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is again forcefully pushing back against false claims and conspiracy theories about how her agency is responding to Hurricane Helene.