☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. What Remains of St. Andrews
2. Celebrating Our Wins
3. Around Our Network
4. What We’re Reading
5. Our Recent Stories

For decades, drivers turning from U.S. 401 onto the campus of St. Andrews University in Laurinburg saw crepe myrtles, pine trees, and flags adorned with azure shields.

Now, the welcoming greens and blues clash with yellow caution tape, orange “road closed” signs, and red warnings telling trespassers to stay away. Silver barbed wire surrounds the athletic fields.

St. Andrews, which opened in 1961, was once a home for free thinkers seeking a liberal arts education in rural southeastern North Carolina. But the blocked roadways across campus are symbolic of an institution that is gone and a local community that is struggling to cope.

What Remains of St. Andrews

Following the school’s closure, Laurinburg grapples with the fallout and a now-empty campus property at the heart of the community.

Smells Like Team Spirit

The Assembly Network has been recognized with 35 awards from the North Carolina Press Association this year. That includes The Assembly‘s third win in a row on the Duke University/Green-Rossiter Award Distinguished Newspaper Work in Higher Education Reporting.

Assembly contributing photographer Cornell Watson was recognized as the Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year, while our collaborative project on Shotspotter that drew from teams in Greensboro, Wilmington, Durham, and Fayetteville won for City and County Government Reporting.

All our newsrooms compete in Division O, for online news. The annual awards dinner will be held September 18, 2025.

See the full list of awards here.

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee’s campaign said this week that she will not accept money from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee for her 2026 reelection bid, a notable change from past election cycles. INDY reports from her town hall.

The University of North Carolina System already includes campuses from Cullowhee to Elizabeth City. This spring, it seemed like a campus in Flint, Michigan could be next. The Quad has more on the quixotic effort.

In Greensboro, The Thread reports on how city departments and local groups are working together to make streets safer for bikers and pedestrians.

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What We’re Reading

Wake Up Call: Anywhere from six to 20 children and teens are sleeping in a Wake County government building each night as they await foster care placement, The N&O reports.

Crossfire: Winston-Salem Journal reports that up to 6,500 residents who live near a fertilizer plant that caught fire in January 2022 may be eligible for an $8 million settlement reached this week.

Cruel and Unusual: Gastonia parents Jessica and Sameule Jenkins faced parents’ worst nightmare when an SUV struck and killed their 7-year-old son. Then the county district attorney charged them with involuntary manslaughter. The New York Times looks at the case.

Our Recent Stories

The Rapid Rise and Fall of N.C.’s Proposed Shrimp Trawl Ban

A last-minute change to legislation prompted a swift rebuke from the state’s shrimpers and their allies. Will it make a comeback?

In Charlotte, Catholics May Have to Give Up the Old Ways

A dustup over the traditional Latin Mass in Charlotte challenges the new pop to set a course for churches across the world.

Naming the Bones

A forensic anthropologist and a volunteer sleuth are working to identify bodies from nearly 300 cold cases across the state.

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