☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. After Victory, Vigilance
2. Around Our Network
3. What We’re Reading
4. Our Recent Stories

From sunrise to sundown, garbage trucks rumble past homes to the Sampson County Landfill, delivering roughly 1.8 million tons of waste each year from 44 counties.

Residents say the air is permanently tinged with the odor of rotting meat, sewage, and chemicals; that it’s contaminated the soil and groundwater; and that it’s attracted pests.

Decades of advocacy by residents of Roseboro’s predominantly Black Snow Hill neighborhood—plus a lawsuit filed by an environmental legal group—culminated in a landmark cooperative agreement last December with the dump’s owner, GFL Environmental. Now the residents are trying to hold them to it.

Promises Piled High

A year after an agreement was reached between Roseboro’s Snow Hill neighborhood and the company in charge of a massive landfill, community advocates say progress has been steady but slow.

“Every time we demand A, B, C, D, we’re told, ‘Calm down, give them time.’ But this is a billion-dollar company,” said Snow Hill’s Whitney Parker. “It’s been a lot of promises and press releases—but if anybody wants to challenge what we’re saying, show us the receipts.”

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Around Our Network

INDY reports that Durham’s school board is expected to vote on an immigration enforcement policy this week, facing pressure from teachers and advocates after last month’s Border Patrol activity.

Dozens of people from Fayetteville to Wilmington want state environmental regulators to reject Fuquay-Varina’s request to draw water from the Cape Fear River, CityView reports.

A new lawsuit claims Cumberland County Schools systematically violated federal disability law by delaying special education evaluations for children who showed clear signs of needing help, per NC Newsline.

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What We’re Reading

Oh Deer: The state Wildlife Resources Commission issued a warning about deer attacks after reported encounters in six North Carolina counties this year, per People magazine.

Mind Over Matter: North Carolina-based Mindpath Health has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle over allegedly fraudulently billing for mental health services, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina announced last week. Behavioral Health Business has more.

Survey Says: Novant Health is among a growing number of health care systems now charging patients to do self-administered surveys, NC Health News and Charlotte Ledger report.

Our Recent Stories

On the Hunt for North Carolina’s Biggest Trees

Two arborists’ uncommon hobby takes them deep into the woods to look for the state’s leafy giants.

How Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Is Shaking Up Health Care in N.C.

Some on the private market are already seeing higher premiums for 2026, and others who rely on Medicaid could lose coverage.

The Lawyers Who Kept Screwing Up

A section of the N.C. DOJ repeatedly erred and antagonized federal judges–even in cases they seemed guaranteed to win.

Kate Sheppard is the executive editor of The Assembly Network. She was previously a senior enterprise editor at HuffPost, a reporter at Mother Jones, and taught journalism and innovation at UNC-Chapel Hill.