The News & Observer’s top stories on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, span politics, education, business and celebrity news across North Carolina.
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From a $1 million scholarship withdrawal to a Kelce family visit in Raleigh, here’s a rundown of what’s making headlines.
$1M scholarship pulled from UNCW: Linda Upperman Smith is withdrawing her family’s 30-year-old endowed scholarship from UNC Wilmington after the school said it could no longer restrict the funds to African American students under the UNC System’s Equality Policy. She plans to move the money to an HBCU, likely Howard University.
Read more: Family pulls $1M scholarship fund from NC university, citing anti-DEI policy
Woodhouse resigns from auditor’s office: Dallas Woodhouse, former head of the North Carolina Republican Party, resigned Monday from his role as elections liaison at the State Auditor’s Office following controversies over his influence on early voting plans. Text messages showed he pressured counties to reject sites at Western Carolina University and to eliminate Sunday voting in Pasquotank County.
Read more: Dallas Woodhouse resigns from NC auditor’s office after early voting controversies
NC scraps parking minimums statewide: Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 162, eliminating minimum off-street parking requirements for most housing and commercial projects across North Carolina beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Supporters say the law will cut development costs, reduce flooding risks and free up land for more housing.
Read more: NC just ended most parking requirements for developers. Here’s what it could mean.
State senator lobbied for husband’s company: State Sen. Sophia Chitlik, a Durham Democrat, lobbied congressional offices in 2024 on behalf of American Efficient, her husband’s Durham energy company, while it was under federal investigation. (She says she and her husband, Benjamin Abram, are legally separated.) The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission later hit the company with a $1.1 billion penalty in April 2025 over what it called a major fraud scheme.
Read more The Kelce family matriarch dined at North Hills restaurant with her entourage
Read more: As candidate, NC senator lobbied for husband’s energy company amid federal probe
Jordon Hudson’s UNC records requests: Jordon Hudson, who is in a relationship with UNC football coach Bill Belichick, filed four public records requests with UNC-Chapel Hill in June, only one of which produced documents. The records revealed her attempts to influence the school’s social media coverage of Steve Belichick and to monitor commentary about Bill Belichick.
Read more: Jordon Hudson asked UNC for records in June. Here’s what turned up
Rare NC fish finally named: Scientists at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences formally described the Carolina redhorse (Moxostoma carolina) in April, more than 60 years after the sucker fish was first collected in 1961. The Latin name enables the fish to be listed as a state threatened species under North Carolina’s State Endangered Species Act.
Read more: It took 60 years to name this rare NC fish. Now the state can act to save it.
Donna Kelce dines in Raleigh: Donna Kelce, mother of NFL star Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s new mother-in-law, dined at North Hills French restaurant Coquette this week with a group of friends. The visit came less than two weeks after Swift and Travis Kelce’s July 3 wedding at Madison Square Garden.
Read more: The Kelce family matriarch dined at North Hills restaurant with her entourage
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
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