N.C. approves $12M for volunteer fire departments

May 26, 2026

Summary

North Carolina approved $12 million in fiscal 2026 grants for 463 volunteer fire departments statewide.

Why this matters

The funding helps volunteer fire departments pay for equipment, trucks, and construction projects that support fire and rescue operations. Departments that received grants must meet reimbursement deadlines and program rules to access the money.

The North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal approved more than $12 million in grant funding for volunteer fire departments across the state, the agency said.

The money came through the Volunteer Fire Department Fund program for fiscal 2026. Created during the 1987 legislative session, the program helps departments buy equipment and make capital improvements.

The office said it received 647 applications by the March 1 deadline. Of those, 555 met compliance requirements and were reviewed, and 463 departments were approved for funding.

Departments requested $14.3 million statewide. The agency awarded $12,035,247.73, with an average grant of $25,994.05. Departments could request up to $40,000.

The agency said firefighter safety remained the program’s primary focus. Turnout gear accounted for the most approved requests in fiscal 2026, totaling 1,939 items, including boots, coats, gloves, helmets, pants, and hoods.

The grants will also fund 21 capital improvement projects, including six new construction projects and five department additions. The money will help departments buy 13 apparatus trucks: three service or equipment trucks, four pumpers, and six brush trucks.

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South Carolina

Former Beaufort teacher faces child solicitation charge

The exact allegations were not clear as of Tuesday afternoon.

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A former Montessori private school teacher in Beaufort County and former substitute in the public school system was charged with unlawful communication with a child, according to police.

Kalen Faye Wolfe, 47, of Hilton Head Island, was charged Friday with criminal solicitation of a minor and procuring or promoting obscenity, both felonies, according to arrest records.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office began investigating March 27 after a witness reported the allegation, agency spokesperson Staff Sgt. Robert Herlong said. Wolfe’s arrest warrants were issued Thursday, and she turned herself in Friday, he said.

Herlong declined to provide the nature of the allegations, the date of the alleged crime, or the victim’s age. He said investigators were still determining whether the case was connected to Wolfe’s work as an educator and whether any students were affected.

Wolfe’s contract with May River Montessori ended July 31, 2025, and there has been “no further communication” between her and the school since then, according to Catherine Donaldson, chair of the school’s board of trustees. Donaldson said the school had no further comment Tuesday.

Wolfe also worked at Sea Pines Montessori Academy before its 2025 merger with Hilton Head Preparatory School.

Under South Carolina law, criminal solicitation of a minor involves an adult contacting a minor “with the intent of persuading … or coercing” the child to participate in sexual activity or a violent crime. Procuring or promoting obscenity involves disseminating obscene material through writing, images, digital files, or performances that lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
North Carolina

N.C. approves $12M for volunteer fire departments

In 2025, the agency awarded $11,985,224.84 to 485 fire departments statewide.

Full story +

The North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal approved more than $12 million in grant funding for volunteer fire departments across the state, the agency said.

The money came through the Volunteer Fire Department Fund program for fiscal 2026. Created during the 1987 legislative session, the program helps departments buy equipment and make capital improvements.

The office said it received 647 applications by the March 1 deadline. Of those, 555 met compliance requirements and were reviewed, and 463 departments were approved for funding.

Departments requested $14.3 million statewide. The agency awarded $12,035,247.73, with an average grant of $25,994.05. Departments could request up to $40,000.

The agency said firefighter safety remained the program’s primary focus. Turnout gear accounted for the most approved requests in fiscal 2026, totaling 1,939 items, including boots, coats, gloves, helmets, pants, and hoods.

The grants will also fund 21 capital improvement projects, including six new construction projects and five department additions. The money will help departments buy 13 apparatus trucks: three service or equipment trucks, four pumpers, and six brush trucks.
California

Palm Springs home prices fell, sales ticked up

The median price for an average-sized detached home in Palm Springs fell nearly 15% from a year earlier.

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Palm Springs homes sold slightly faster than a year earlier, and the city ranked second in both total sales and speed of sales across the Coachella Valley.

According to the latest Greater Palm Springs Realtors Desert Housing Report, the median price for an average-sized detached home in Palm Springs fell nearly 15% from a year earlier to $1.13 million. Attached home prices fell 1% to $449,000. The report noted that median prices usually reach a seasonal high in spring and a low sometime in the fall.

Palm Springs inventory also declined. At the start of this month, 782 homes were on the market, down from 872 a year earlier. Across the Coachella Valley, inventory fell 7% year over year to 3,534 units.

Valleywide, the median price of an average-sized detached home last month was $691,000, down 4.6% from a year earlier. Attached home prices fell 0.5% to $498,000.

All nine valley cities posted year-over-year declines in detached home prices. Indian Wells, La Quinta, and Rancho Mirage recorded slight increases in attached home prices.

Homes in Palm Springs took an average of 43 days to sell, compared with 48 days a year earlier. That was the second-fastest pace in the valley, behind Rancho Mirage.
Hawaii

Search continues for missing jet ski rider off Oahu

Officials said Monday’s search was the third day of operations and would likely end at sundown unless there were new developments.

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The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies resumed their search at first light Monday for a missing jet ski operator off Oahu’s North Shore.

The Coast Guard, Honolulu Ocean Safety, and the Honolulu Fire Department said they continued searching for Anthony Empting, 56, who has been missing since Saturday.

Empting was last seen leaving Haleiwa Harbor on Saturday morning on a jet ski. Later that morning, a boater found a vacant jet ski believed to belong to him off Dillingham Airfield in Waialua.

Honolulu Ocean Safety responded to a 10:15 a.m. call Saturday and found keys in the ignition, along with a life jacket and personal items on the personal watercraft, but no sign of Empting.

The search ended Saturday evening and resumed at first light Sunday.

Anyone with information that could assist the search was asked to contact the Coast Guard on VHF-FM Channel 16 or call the Sector Honolulu command center at 1-800-552-6458.
South Carolina

SC early voting surges as map bill stalls in Senate

South Carolina set a first-day early voting record as many voters cited concern over a congressional redistricting bill that later stalled in the Senate.

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South Carolina set a record for first-day early voting in a primary Tuesday, with many voters saying they wanted to cast ballots before lawmakers could change the state’s congressional map.

By 3 p.m., 44,600 people had voted in person, nearly double the previous single-day primary early-voting record of just over 23,000 set on the final day of early voting in June 2024, according to the State Election Commission. The agency had also received nearly 4,200 mailed absentee ballots.

Later Tuesday, senators effectively ended a bill to redraw the state’s congressional districts. Some Republicans who changed their positions cited the number of early votes for congressional candidates that would have to be discarded.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s only Democrat in Congress, voted Tuesday in Orangeburg County. His 6th District was central to the redistricting debate. The proposed map would have moved his home in Santee into the 2nd District, potentially putting him in a general election contest with U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. Clyburn said he would file in whatever district includes his Orangeburg County home.

Clyburn criticized the proposal and thanked Republican senators who opposed it.
Asia

North Korea fires missile, other weapons into sea

Russia and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have previously blocked U.S.-backed efforts to strengthen sanctions on North Korea over its prohibited weapons tests.

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North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile and other weapons toward the sea Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, days after the leaders of Russia and China voiced opposition to Western pressure on North Korea.

The missile, fired from Jongju near North Korea’s west coast, flew about 80 kilometers (50 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It said North Korea also launched other projectiles but did not provide details.

South Korean media, citing the military, reported the other weapons included multiple rocket launch systems. The reports said the simultaneous launches were likely intended to test an ability to evade South Korean and U.S. defenses.

South Korea’s military said it was closely monitoring North Korean activity.

It was North Korea’s first weapons launch since April 19, when it fired multiple short-range missiles in what state media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has focused on modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In recent years, Kim has expanded ties with Russia by sending troops and conventional arms to support its war against Ukraine. He has also sought closer cooperation with China, North Korea’s main economic partner.
Asia

China, Taiwan coast guards face off near Dongsha

Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency reported Sunday that Taiwan’s coast guard had expelled Chinese vessels from waters around Dongsha six times this year.

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China’s coast guard and its Taiwanese counterpart faced off over the weekend near Dongsha, a Taiwan-administered island in the South China Sea, according to Taiwanese officials.

Taiwan’s coast guard said in a Sunday news release that the 5,500-ton Chinese patrol vessel CCG-3501 was spotted heading toward Dongsha on Saturday morning.

Taiwan’s 1,000-ton patrol vessel Taichung approached after the Chinese ship entered waters Taiwan claims from 12 to 24 nautical miles offshore, the release said.

The two vessels exchanged radio warnings in Chinese and English, each asserting jurisdiction and ordering the other to leave, according to Taiwan’s coast guard. The standoff continued through Sunday morning.

“The Chinese vessel arrogantly claimed that China has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Dongsha Islands,” Taiwan’s coast guard said of a Chinese radio message.

The Taiwanese vessel broadcast back: “Your actions prove that China’s peace is a scam. The international community will not support you. Please do not destroy peace; you should return and fight for democracy.”

The standoff ended after 33 hours, the Taipei Times reported Monday, citing the coast guard.

Dongsha, also known as Pratas, is a coral atoll administered by Taiwan and claimed by China. It is about 280 miles southwest of Kaohsiung and is garrisoned by about 300 Taiwanese coast guard personnel, according to the agency.

Taiwan also controls Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, about 900 miles southwest of Kaohsiung, where another 200 coast guard personnel are stationed, the agency reported.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with neighboring governments. China has built military facilities in the disputed waters.

The two sides reached a “provisional understanding” in July 2024 that reduced dangerous encounters during Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal.
Asia

South Korea confirms plan for nuclear-powered subs

The ministry said construction could take up to 10 years. It did not provide a production timeline or say how many would be built.

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South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense published a plan Tuesday to develop nuclear-powered submarines under the Jang Bogo N Project, a long-discussed effort that would expand the country’s naval capabilities and place it among a small group of nations operating such vessels.

The ministry said the submarines would offer “dramatically enhanced operational capabilities” over South Korea’s diesel-electric fleet, including effectively unlimited range and higher mobility. It said the boats “will play a core role in responding to threats such as North Korea’s submarine-launched nuclear and missile threats.”

South Korea has discussed nuclear-powered submarines since at least 2003, but the plan had faced opposition, including from the United States, over proliferation concerns. In October, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had approved the plan, saying, “Our Military Alliance is stronger than ever before and, based on that, I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble diesel powered submarines that they have now.”

Trump also said some boats would be built in the United States. South Korea’s ministry did not mention that possibility and emphasized domestic development, though the United States could still play a role in propulsion-related support. Last year, South Korea’s defense minister said the country would build its own submarines and modular reactors, while receiving enriched uranium fuel from the United States. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said South Korea was already developing small nuclear reactors.

The fuel issue is significant because a bilateral agreement bars South Korea from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel without U.S. approval. The announcement indicates Washington has approved the project.
Middle East

Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon kill 11, wound 15

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 3,100 people in Lebanon have been killed, more than 9,600 wounded, and at least 1 million displaced since the war began.

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Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 people and wounded 15 others in eastern Lebanon late Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, as Israel expanded military operations and increased pressure on a ceasefire that took effect last month.

The strikes hit Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Tuesday.

After the strikes, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon, including for Mashghara, Sahmar, and the city of Nabatieh.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or military equipment is putting their life at risk!” Adraee posted on X.

Israeli fighter jets also struck an area between Tayrdebba and Maarake in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it hit more than 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and fighters in the Bekaa Valley and across southern Lebanon.

The strikes followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that he had authorized more intensive attacks on Hezbollah across Lebanon.

The National News Agency said Israeli artillery and airstrikes also hit Arnoun, Yohmor al-Shaqif, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Mayfadoun, Shahour, and Srifa, as well as areas near Beaufort Castle.

Hezbollah said its fighters had continued to target Israeli forces since dawn Tuesday in response to the military’s movement toward Zawtar al-Sharqiya.
Middle East

Iran restores some internet after months-long shutdown

The shutdown left many Iranians cut off from international networks, with only a domestic intranet available for tasks such as shopping, ride-hailing, and education.

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Iranian authorities partially restored internet access Tuesday after an almost three-month shutdown imposed during the war with Israel and the United States, according to internet monitor NetBlocks, a senior official, and people inside the country.

“Live metrics show a partial restoration to internet connectivity in Iran on day 88,” NetBlocks said on X. The group added that it was “unclear” whether this marked a permanent end to what it called the “longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history.”

Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on X that the “first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” adding that the demands of Iranians “will be fulfilled.”

State news agencies IRNA and Fars said “full international internet connectivity has been restored” for fixed broadband users, but NetBlocks had not confirmed that. People inside Iran told AFP that mobile internet remained cut while home Wi-Fi had returned, though virtual private networks, or VPNs, were still needed to access some social media sites.

The shutdown began when war erupted on Feb. 28. It followed a similar blackout imposed from Jan. 8 as Iran faced mass anti-government protests.

Iran’s judiciary earlier Tuesday suspended a presidential body created May 12 that had ordered the restoration. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the body decided Monday to “restore the internet” in Iran.