Before leaving the governor's office, Roy Cooper stated in media interviews that Republican state legislators passed a bill that "actually took money away from western North Carolina." WFAE's Marshall Terry and WRAL's Paul Specht fact-check Cooper's claim.

Residents are slowly rebuilding the village of Chimney Rock, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. "There's hope coming back," said Shane Zoccole, one of the volunteers in the area.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein began his first term earlier this month with a behemoth task in front of him: Helping western North Carolina recover from close to $60 billion in damage from Hurricane Helene,