Will Michaels

City council members in Monroe have voted to suspend plans to purchase a drone.  The council voted unanimously last week to shelve the project.  

The city's police department said earlier this month it planned to purchase a drone for $42,000, which would be offset by funds from drug busts.  Mayor Pro Tem Lynn Keziah cited concerns about how the public would receive the project and conflicts with the local company involved.  The council agreed to discuss the issue at a later date.

State regulators plan to measure air quality above deposits of natural gas. North Carolina lawmakers are moving to ease regulations on hydraulic fracturing. 

Advocates of the proposed light rail line from Chapel Hill to Durham say local governments should plan early to set aside money for affordable housing near train stations.  Researchers with Triangle Transit Authority met with Durham residents earlier this month. 

TTA research associate Geoff Green says the agency examined how property values changed when other metropolitan areas decided to build light rail.

This week's budget proposal from Gov. Pat McCrory includes tweaks to funding for economic development programs. 

The governor unveiled his spending plan Wednesday.  It would add money to a new economic branding strategy as well as a program that supports main streets in small communities.  But it cuts funds for two non-profits and a foundation that provide grants meant to support job growth.

Researchers from N.C. State say an invasive species of ant is slowly spreading through North Carolina's forests.

Five North Carolina teams made the NCAA men's basketball tournament, including the ACC's Big Three in the Triangle. 

Duke is a number 2 seed in the Midwest region and faces Albany Friday afternoon.

"We're excited with the position we're in," forward Ryan Kelly tells GoDuke.com.

"We've got some time to prepare and every team we face from this point on is capable of being us and we're certainly capable of beating them.  That's how we have to approach it.  A loss is the end of your season, so we just have to keep winning."

N.C. State moves to Friday's quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament after a strong victory in the opening round. 

The Wolfpack took down Virginia Tech Thursday afternoon, 80-63. N.C. State took control after going on an 11-0 run in the second half.  Coach Mark Gottfried says guard Lorenzo Brown shut down Virginia Tech's Erick Green, the leading scorer in the nation.

"Lorenzo made his mind up he was going to do a good job on him and I thought he did," Gottfried said.

Duke and N.C. State Universities are among eight schools in the country now providing scholarships for British students to study engineering in the US.

North Carolina is among 39 states to reach a settlement with Google over privacy concerns about the company's Street View feature.

Google used cars equipped with cameras and antennas to capture street level photos across the country from 2008 to 2010.  Authorities say the vehicles gathered personal information over open wi-fi networks during that time. 

"In broad terms, it might include URLs of web pages and possibly partial or complete email communications,"  says Kevin Anderson, head of the Consumer Protection Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice.