WRAL Daily Download

University of North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi was placed on administrative leave on Monday morning. Now an investigation is underway due to "concerns behind allegations" that led to Lombardi being put on leave. We've heard this week from university leaders, including chancellor Lee Roberts and athletics director Steve Newmark.

In this week's edition of On the Record, WRAL sports investigative reporter Brian Murphy sits down with Louis Fernandez to discuss what we've learned, how this impacts the university, the football team and Bill Belichick, and how this could all end.

From famine to feast: July saw record-setting rain, but did it do enough for our state-wide drought? WRAL Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner and News+ Anchor Elizabeth Holmes talk about the recent drought monitor findings. 

50 years ago, one Triangle company changed how the world uses data. WRAL presents a special look at SAS's impact on the Triangle and beyond. Cristin Severance spoke exclusively with co-founder Dr. Jim Goodnight.

Elizabeth "Liz" Waddell from Cary was reported missing last week while vacationing in Grenada. Police said she was not seen returning from the water after going for a swim near her rental. WRAL's Shaun Gallegher breaks down the timeline investigators are piecing together from surveillance video.

UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi has been placed on paid leave, the University announced on Monday morning. What does this mean for the program going into head coach Bill Belichick's second year? WRAL Sports Investigative reporter Brian Murphy talks through the situation.

Half of North Carolina’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives owns stocks, and some are potentially making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on those trades, a review of public records shows.

This review comes as the US House of Representatives passes a bill that would ban the future purchasing of stocks, but there’s a lot more to this potential new law than a headline would tell you.

WRAL State government reporter Will Doran talks through where NC representatives stand and where this issue goes from here.

WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth explains the weather conditions -- high wind, heat, ice, snow, severe storms -- that prompt us to warn that weather could be dangerous and call it a WRAL Weather Alert Day. The start of July 2026 brought an unprecedented seven days in a row, for various reasons. And the conditions proved the alert was necessary. Here's why.

Tar Heel Traveler Scott Mason tells the story of a Durham man honoring his grandma with every pitcher of sweet tea he sells. He also introduces us to a Pinetops family with a special motivation to selling their produce.

The City of Rocky Mount has resumed shutting off utilities and charging late fees after months of exceptions due to a utility billing issue that lead to back bills. A recent state audit found the city did not double-bill customers. Instead, auditors said the city was trying to correct billing delays and eliminate a gap between meter-reading dates and billing dates created by the city by mistake. WRAL's Heidi Kirk explains.

It could soon be easier for North Carolina elections officials to throw out people’s ballots during the 2026 midterm elections and beyond, under new rules approved Thursday by the State Board of Elections.

The new changes, backed by the Republican majority on the State Board of Elections and opposed by the board's Democratic minority, make it easier for elections officials to reject people’s excuses for not having required voter identification. They'd also make it easier to kick people out of polling places, in addition to other changes.

WRAL state government reporter Will Doran and Louis Fernandez talk through this topic.