News sports and weather for Raleigh, NC | The News & Observer & NewsObserver.com

Featured

Aaron Benjamin’s restaurant, Gocciolina in Durham, is the Restaurant of the Year for 2015.

We find the best Triangle restaurants for 2015

Greg Cox names the best restaurants in the Triangle for 2015, including the Restaurant of the Year...

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 31, 2005, picture, a harvester works through a field of genetically modified corn on the dairy farm owned by Al Lafranchi, near Santa Rosa, Calif. Scientists are far less worried about genetically modified food, pesticide use, and nuclear power than is the general public, according to matching polls of both the general public and the country's largest general science organization.

Poll shows giant gap between what public, scientists think

The American public and U.S. scientists are light-years apart on science issues. And 98 percent ...

Sports

The Canes' Eric Staal (12) celebrates his goal with his brother Jordan Staal (11) during an NHL game played between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabres at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Jan. 8, 2015.

DeCock: Staal position switch creates short-term success, long-term questions

Eric Staal’s move to left wing, to play alongside brother Jordan, has been productive in a successful January for the Carolina Hurricanes. But as his contract winds down, does it make financial sense to pay what it will take to keep him if ...

Local/State News

Chinese language immersion kindergarteners Matthew Sullivan, left, and Robert Sawyer, right, each turned to look for approval from their two teachers after they pointed to the same Mandarin Chinese character during a word memory studies session Friday, January 30, 2015 at Raleigh's Stough Elementary School. Stough has Wake County's first Mandarin Chinese language immersion program with at least 15 kindergarteners in the first class.

At Stough Elementary in Raleigh, students learn in Mandarin

At Stough Elementary School in Raleigh, some kindergartners can write their names in Chinese characters and chatter confidently in Mandarin. The school offers a Chinese immersion program.

Business

Traffic moves along Hillsboro Street in Pittsboro, N.C. on January 23, 2014. The small Chatham County town with the historic courthouse as it's centerpiece will see big changes with advent the Chatham Park development that encompasses more than 7,000 acres east of town.

Study: Chatham Park could bring in $154 billion

NC State professor finds Chatham Park has the potential to spark billions in spending, as well as 115,000 new jobs statewide.

Politics

Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan, right, listens as Press Miller, an attorney representing a group opposing the Voter ID law, makes his case as a hearing is held to determine whether the Voter ID law requires a change to the N.C. Constitution in a Wake County courtroom on Jan. 30, 2015.

Judge to take several weeks to rule on NC voter ID challenge

A Wake County judge plans to take two to three weeks to decide whether a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s voter ID law should be dismissed or proceed to trial this summer.

Nation/World News

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a event to promote a new health care program by approving $215 million for a Precision Medicine Initiative designed to help doctors tailor treatments to the individual characteristics of their patients in the East Room of the White House Jan. 30, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

Obama calls for advancing personalized medicine

The Senate is starting to take a look at how to get new drugs, medical devices and treatments for cancer and other diseases to the public faster and with less expense. 1 hour ago

Living

The Oliver Chaise from Century’s Signature Collection.

Chaising comfort: The 'fainting couch' come back into style

The chaise, whose origins stretch back to the day beds of ancient Egypt and Greece, had fallen out of favor. But new looks are making it more appealing to today's furniture buyers.