WRAL Daily Download

In today’s episode we’re talking about junk health insurance. Basically, it’s a phrase that describes short-term, very limited health insurance. It was meant to be used as emergency coverage, not as a main source of health insurance, and it looks like the government is getting ready to crackdown on this industry. WRAL’s 5 On Your Side producer Pritchard Strong joins us to explain the situation.

A 19-year-old freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill ingested fentanyl on campus at Duke University back in March and died according to papers now filed in federal court. Grace Burton’s death had been kept very quiet even though the student she was with at the time and the suspected drug dealer are now charged in the case. A student journalist at Duke wrote about what happened for an online news site. In this episode, WRAL’s Enterprise Team Executive Producer Ashley Talley sheds light on this tragic case.

In today's episode, podcast host Amanda Lamb switches chairs with WRAL anchor Debra Morgan for a very intimate interview. For the past year Amanda and the team at WRAL Studios have been working on "The Killing Month August 1978," a true crime series. The story takes place in rural Pennsylvania and follows the exploits of a crime family whose empire starts crumbling when snitches begin talking to police. That's when witnesses started to disappear. Some of them were found shot to death and buried alive in hand-dug graves. Amanda's father, William Lamb, was the district attorney who prosecuted the killers. She shares her personal story with Debra and the backstory behind the podcast.

Imagine booking a hotel for the weekend and showing up at the address only to learn it’s not a hotel at all, but a personal injury law firm. Or you make a hair appointment and pay a deposit online only to learn that the person who took your money isn’t affiliated with the hair salon. These are just a few examples of online scams that are burning both customers and businesses. In this episode, WRAL 5 On Your Side’s Keely Arthur joins us with how these scams work and how you can protect yourself.

Sex education is a controversial topic in North Carolina, from legislation that school districts believe requires them to get parental permission to teach it, to the limited messages it includes, there are big concerns about whether it goes far enough. In this episode, WRAL education reporter Emily Walkenhorst explains where we are at this moment.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been one year since witnesses say a teenage boy opened fire on a Raleigh greenway in the Hedingham community killing five people. To mark the anniversary, WRAL has been speaking with people whose lives were changed forever by this tragedy. In this episode, anchor and reporter Ashley Rowe shares her powerful experience interviewing Tom Karnatz, the husband of one of the victims, Sue Karnatz, who went jogging that day and never came home leaving three children behind. She also shares her personal connection to tragedies like this one.

The images on television and online seem unreal, a world away. But for many Americans, including North Carolinians, what is happening in Israel is very real to them because of their personal ties to the country and its people. In this episode, WRAL reporter Chelsea Donovan shares her experience interviewing people from the Triangle who have witnessed the violence firsthand.

Tiny but mighty, some scientists say beans can help fix the future. “Beans is How” is a global effort to double the consumption of beans, peas, and legumes by 2028. These foods are some of the planet’s most sustainable protein sources, using dramatically less water, land, and fossil fuels to produce than animal products do. More high-end restaurants are getting creative by putting #BeansOnTheMenu, including Chef Sean Fowler at Mandolin in Raleigh. WRAL’s climate change reporter Liz McLaughlin joins us in this episode to explain how beans can be a simple yet powerful solution to the global climate, health, and cost-of-living crises.

Recession is a word that’s been thrown around a lot over the past two years. It’s left a lot of people concerned about their economic futures. 5 On Your Side has been asking experts what their forecast is for the economy. In this episode, WRAL reporter Keely Arthur brings us up to date on what economists are predicting.

Interim U.S. House Speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is poised to lead his fractured Republican Party through the election of a permanent chamber leader starting this week. WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran explains why one of McHenry's Democratic colleagues thinks he's the right leader for the moment - and how the beer they're brewing together offers a glimmer of bipartisanship in a time of division.