WRAL Daily Download

Okay, so most of us are familiar with home-sharing apps like Airbnb and VRBO, but have you heard of a pool-sharing app? Yes, I said pool. It was only a matter of time before everything could be shared. “Swimply” rents private backyard pools. But one county’s health department in North Carolina is threatening to shut the site down saying the rentals don’t comply with the sta...

It’s a little bit like hurricane season. Meteorologists now have the science and the technology to help them predict what our winter weather might look like this year. It’s a big deal for companies who want to make sure their employees can get to work and for parents who get anxious that school will be canceled. In this episode, WRAL meteorologist and weather department executive produ...

Overcrowding is forcing thousands of Wake County families to move to new schools every year - the result of a population that is outpacing the county's ability to build schools. WRAL Education Insider Emily Walkenhorst explains how the county determines who moves here, how the county determines who moves where, how this year's reassignment plan will affect families and students, and what families...

For a year, WRAL’s 5 On Your Side team has been studying ways to help you navigate the headaches of waiting in line at the DMV. People have been complaining to WRAL for years that there are few appointments, and the lines seem endless. Reporter Keely Arthur asked North Carolina’s DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin what the secret is to breezing through the unwelcoming experience. In this e...

It’s not every day that you get to work with your dad on the project of a lifetime. That’s the gift I have experienced for the past year as I delved into one of his old cases to create a true crime serial podcast for WRAL, “The Killing Month August 1978.”   Even though I was just an adolescent at the time, it was a murder case that always stuck with me—six people...

The WRAL Investigates' team set out to find out what’s in those over-the-counter products that promise to help you sleep or give you a buzz. While marijuana is not legal in North Carolina, a certain level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is. Call it marijuana light—you can find it in smoke shops and convenience stores. In this episode, senior producer Randall Kerr shares wha...

From the mysterious Gimghoul Castle in Chapel Hill to the curious spinning angel of Oakwood Cemetery, the Triangle area is full of eerie urban legends to tell around Halloween. In this episode, WRAL Hidden History Reporter Heather Leah joins me to explore some of the most popular and chilling haunted places around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill – many of which you can visit or drive past if...

Have you ever wanted to explore a real ghost town? Odds are good you’ve driven or hiked past remnants of a ghost town or a lost community without even realizing it. In this episode, WRAL’s Hidden History reporter Heather Leah takes us on an exploration of several ghost towns hidden atop mountains, beneath lakes, deep in the woods, and even on an abandoned island.

Since 2020, the number of juveniles connected to crimes in North Carolina is up by 19 percent. A juvenile offender is anyone 17 or younger. And some of those accused are as young as 10. This has led to an overcrowding problem in youth detention facilities. It’s also leading many people to ask why younger offenders seem to be committing crimes at a higher rate. WRAL Investigates’ report...

The North Carolina State Health plan covers more than 700,000 state employees, retirees, and their family members. There is discussion about dropping coverage of weight loss drugs which have skyrocketed to popularity in the past few years. The Board of Trustees is meeting to discuss concerns over the price of the drugs. WRAL reporter Destinee Patterson joins me in this episode to explain.   &...

Football stadiums and other sports complexes were built to bring people together. But there is some history behind these stadiums that could divide us. Our most recent WRAL Documentary, “Ghosts in the Stadium”, is the story of four iconic stadiums in the Carolinas and their links to the painful history of race relations in the United States. WRAL Sports Anchor Chris Lea hosted this doc...

“Ghosts in the Stadium” is a new historical documentary from WRAL looking at the unknown pasts of four iconic football stadiums in the Carolinas and their links to the painful history of race relations in the United States. WRAL Documentary Producer Cristin Severance and WRAL Sports Anchor Chris Lea set out to uncover who these stadiums were named after, where they were built, and what...

Monday afternoon a man was shot in downtown Raleigh near Moore Square Middle School. He was taken to the hospital and police arrested a suspect. The school was briefly put on lockdown. Multiple streets were shutdown. This brazen act of violence in a highly populated area has many people in the neighborhood very concerned about safety. In this episode, WRAL reporter Willie Daniely explains what hap...

North Carolina's voting districts have been debated for years - fought over in the state house and in the country's highest court. Now lawmakers and lawyers are preparing for another round. New voting districts proposed by Republican lawmakers would tilt North Carolina's representation in Congress far to the right. The proposal has drawn criticism and threats of legal action from the left. But thi...

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 e...

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 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 p...

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 e...

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...

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...

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...

In 2006, way before she was a superstar, a 16-year-old Taylor Swift shared her music with students at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh after they won a concert from a local radio station contest. Little did they know at the time that the up-and-coming country music singer was going to be one of the most famous entertainers of their generation. Ironically, no local media covered Swift’s co...