Breaking News } Special Weather Statement for Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Wake counties.

UNC Health Care’s $30 million psychiatric hospital, proposed last week to relieve emergency room use by the mentally ill, will take a year just to prepare all required paperwork. The project, which lacks a site, is UNC’s olive branch to competitor WakeMed Health and Hospitals in exchange for WakeMed agreeing to drop its hostile takeover bid for UNC’s Rex Hospital in Raleigh.

The wait for a decision prompts questions about whether the jury’s eight men and four women are divided or simply being methodical.

The $20.3 billion budget differs greatly from Gov. Perdue’s, and House Democrats say it doesn’t do enough for schools.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Victoria Gregg, left, wells up with tears as she greets her son Kenny Gregg after commencement exercise for Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School at the Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts in Raleigh on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. See other photos from the graduation...

Ali Cherfaoui threatened to kill his estranged wife, Chahnaz Kebaier, if she took the couple’s children, a court motion says.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl will bring showers and thunderstorms to the Triangle, with potentially flooding rains in parts of southeastern North Carolina.

A psychiatric nurse says Jason Williford didn’t plan to rape and murder Kathy Taft. But a prosecution rebuttal witness testifies that Williford had the capacity to plan.

A plan to overhaul teacher tenure, the school calendar and school assessment is evolving in the state Senate as more questions and potential pitfalls emerge upon examination.