The State of Things

The Small Ponds combines the vocal and instrumental talents of Triangle musicians Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas, backed by Jesse Huebner and Skillet Gilmore. Their music has been described as gorgeous art folk.

The partnership that fuels the heralded local band Filthybird is both creative and romantic. Renée Mendoza and Brian Haran found personal salvation and professional redemption when they met in Greensboro, NC a few years ago.

Gambling is big business in Western North Carolina. A new report by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that Harrah's Cherokee Casino pours more than $380 million into the local economy there. That has led to improvements in life expectancy, poverty rates and even education in the area.

Classic rock meets classical music as the North Carolina Symphony takes on the music of iconic British band Queen. In “The Music of Queen,” hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody to Love” and “We Will Rock You” have been arranged for a symphony orchestra by guest conductor Brent Havens.

A new exhibit at Duke University explores the footprint of Simón Bolívar in the United States. Bolívar was the liberator of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama from Spanish rule in the 19th century. He was heavily influenced by the principles of the American Revolution and spent time in the United States learning about the new democracy. Numerous towns, cities and memorials in the U.S. have been named or erected in Bolívar’s honor.

Nearly 55 million Americans live in communities that are governed by homeowners associations, or HOAs. In exchange for dues, residents have access to neighborhood amenities like pools, parks and club houses. But more and more, HOAs are responsible for providing services and maintenance once offered by city and municipal governments – like trash pick-up and sewage system repairs.

In a move to help reduce the rate of unemployment, more North Carolinians are getting a clean slate. In the last 10 years, expungements of criminal records have tripled.

It's tough to imagine the 112,000 muck-filled, bug-swarmed acres of the Great Dismal Swamp looking like paradise. But for enslaved people in the 18th- and 19th-century, the swamp provided protection from those who wished to keep them in bondage.

A fiery tractor trailer crash on I-40 claimed three lives earlier this month and the trucking company involved had numerous safety violations. The accident was one of the latest in a recent rash of deadly highway crashes involving big rigs. Other major accidents in recent months involved budget bus lines that also that have long lists of citations for, among other things, driver fatigue.

North Carolina entrepreneur Josh Whiton had his first business at the age of five when he sold tadpoles to his neighborhood friends. Now, he is the CEO of TransLoc Inc., a company that tracks city buses in real time.