NC Ditches Plate Stickers, Paper Cards Today

Starting today, North Carolina drivers will no longer get a license plate sticker or a printed registration card, as the state switches to all-electronic vehicle registration.

The change kicks in whenever a driver registers a vehicle for the first time or renews. Drivers still have to pass inspection and pay annual registration fees and vehicle property taxes. Old stickers can stay on the plate. 

Nobody has to carry a paper card. Officers already verify registration electronically, and inspection stations can look up a vehicle from its renewal notice.

Anyone who still wants a paper card can download a free PDF, or pay $5 for a copy printed at a license plate agency or mailed to you. Lawmakers wrote the change into the state budget, and the DMV lost the $4.8 million that had covered printing and mailing the stickers and cards.

NC’s Senators Back College Sports Overhaul

Both of North Carolina’s U.S. senators voted for a college sports overhaul that cleared the Senate 77-22 Monday night.

The bill limits athletes to one penalty-free transfer, sets a five-year eligibility window, caps agent fees at 5%, and shields NCAA eligibility and transfer rules from antitrust lawsuits. It also sets floors for women’s and Olympic sports rosters and scholarships.

Sen. Ted Budd called Senate passage a “major step” toward certainty for athletes, women’s and Olympic programs included. Sen. Thom Tillis voted yes without public comment. The House isn’t expected to take up the bill until after the November midterms.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, whose league includes UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest, called the bill college sports’ “last hope” for help from Congress.

Bryson City, Sky Top Orchard Win Fall Honors

Bryson City landed on USA Today’s list of the 10 best places to see fall colors, chosen by an expert panel and reader votes. The Swain County town sits between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Nantahala National Forest, where color hits the highest elevations in early October and works downhill into November. 

From the downtown depot, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad rolls four-hour round trips in open-air cars across Fontana Lake into the Nantahala Gorge, with open-air gondola seating available.

The same reader vote put Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, less than an hour south of Asheville, among the 10 best apple orchards in the country.

Cool mountain nights and warm days allow it to grow more than 22 varieties, and pick-your-own options run from July through the end of October. The orchard is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

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➤ Statewide: Well-above-normal heat, with highs mostly in the mid-to-upper 80s, opens October before a cold front brings rain this weekend and highs in the 60s by Tuesday. (More)

➤ Also Statewide: State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes welcomed a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court order letting the federal SAVE database be used to verify voter citizenship. He said a recent search flagged more than 35,000 deceased registrants. (More)

➤ Western NC: Candidates in the 11th District race released ads leaning on mountain roots. Democrat Jamie Ager, a Fairview farmer, pitched hoedowns over lobbyist dances, while state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, promised “tough mountain leadership.” (More)

➤ Charlotte: The city council voted 9-2 to launch a 10-month curfew pilot Nov. 1 requiring everyone under 18 to be home by 10 p.m., aimed at curbing late-night “teen takeovers.” Police say they won’t stop teens on suspicion alone. (More)

➤ Raleigh: The attorney general’s office announced this week that the state Court of Appeals upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of Wendy Sue Wishart, a former Wake County substitute teacher who fatally shot her ex-husband, Sean Wishart, in 2021. (More)

➤ Apex: The Raleigh suburb ranked as the nation’s fourth-best small city—and the best in the South—in an annual study comparing 1,318 cities on 45 metrics. Apex also had the top economic health score of any small city. (More)

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➤ The Carolina Hurricanes dropped the season opener 1-0 to the Florida Panthers in overtime on Tuesday, with Gustav Forsling scoring with 4.3 seconds left. Goalie Brandon Bussi stopped 19 shots. Carolina hosts Washington on Friday. (More)

➤ Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, who ran 19 times for 82 yards and caught four passes in Sunday’s 21-18 loss at Cleveland, is set for another heavy workload when Detroit visits Sunday night. (More)

➤ UNC football hosts heavily favored No. 3 Notre Dame at noon on Saturday, with experts predicting an Irish victory. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | NHL | WNBA | Soccer

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➤ In North Carolina, Microsoft ranks as the top-rated employer for 2026, according to a Forbes survey of over 245,000 workers evaluating pay, benefits, career growth, and workplace satisfaction. (See Survey)

➤ NC State opened a Battery and Energy Storage Technology Makerspace on its Raleigh campus to train engineers for the state’s fast-growing battery industry. Funded in part by the General Assembly, it will support partners like Toyota. (More)

➤ USAA and the Robert Irvine Foundation launched Fuel to Serve, a five-year effort using food to bolster military families’ health and readiness. It starts with pilots at Fort Bragg and in Washington, D.C., linking families to nutrition, financial, and mental-health resources. (More)

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➤ Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s office finished delivering nearly 3 million eggs to North Carolina food banks, closing out an antitrust settlement with producers Cal-Maine, Hickman’s Family Farms, and Versova. Nearly 150,000 eggs went to MANNA FoodBank in Henderson County. (More)

➤ Fishermen working with the North Carolina Coastal Federation have spent 10-plus years hauling abandoned “ghost” crab pots out of coastal waters. An early pilot turned an estimated 4 to 7 tons into 700 feet of oyster reef. Crews collected 2,161 more pots this year. (See Photos)

➤ The Alliance for Cape Fear Trees and New Hanover County will give away 1,000 free native trees Nov. 7 at Murrayville Elementary School, with Murrayville residents getting priority during the first two hours. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ Two retirement destination rankings crown completely different winners, and one snubs Florida entirely. (See Top 10)

➤ Surgeons at an Ohio hospital are accused of amputating the wrong appendage of a 74-year-old Army veteran. (Hear Details)

➤ Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in more than 200 years was halted about an hour before it began. (Listen Now)

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