Wedding venue in Blue Ridge, GA for couples in Greensboro, NC

This guide will walk you through things like important deadlines, where to find your polling place and more.

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NORTH CAROLINA, USA — The 2024 General Election is coming up. Here's a guide to make sure you know what to do before you hit the polls.

Not sure if you're registered? Have you moved recently? If you have any questions about your registration status, you can check by clicking here.

Before you head to the polls, remember that North Carolina voters are now being asked to show photo ID.

This can be a:

If you don't have one, you can get a free one from your county's board of elections.

If you're voting absentee or by mail, a copy of your photo ID must be included.

Voters will be allowed to vote with or without a photo ID. If you can't show a photo ID while voting in person, you can still vote by filling out an ID Exception Form.

Early voting started on Thursday, Oct. 17 and lasts until 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.

You can search for a voting site by county by clicking here.

You can also look through a list of early voting sites by clicking here.

Remember, If you haven't registered, you can do same-day registration if you vote early and in person once you check-in.

If you're voting via an absentee ballot by mail, you can deliver your ballot to your county's board of elections office or to an election official at an early voting site.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you are in line at your polling place at 7:30 p.m., you will still be able to vote.

You can find your polling place by clicking here.

Voting

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 29

You can request an absentee ballot online by clicking here or on paper by mail by clicking here (English) (Spanish).

Once you complete your ballot, you can either mail your ballot or return your ballot in person.

The return postage for the ballot is $1.77.

You can deliver your ballot to your county's board of elections office or to an election official at an early voting site. You may not, however, return your ballot to a polling place on Election Day.

Your ballot must be received by your county's board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. There is no longer a grace period.

You can find detailed instructions for voting by mail by clicking here.

At least one machine at early voting locations and Election Day polling places is required to be accessible.

Any North Carolina voter can receive assistance going in or out of a voting booth as well as preparing a ballot if the person providing help is a near relative or legal guardian of the voter.

A near relative is a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, child, grandchild, mother- or father-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild.

Some voters can receive help from other assistants. You can learn more about the eligibility requirements by clicking here.

Can't find what you're looking for? Click here to go straight to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

The ECHL announced on Friday that the League’s Board of Governors has approved the expansion application of Greensboro, North Carolina for admittance into the League.

The team, which will be named later, will be owned and operated by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment.

“The ECHL is proud to welcome our 30th Member by returning to the Greensboro, North Carolina market,” said ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin. “Greensboro holds a special place in the ECHL’s history and growth, and it will be a joyful moment to drop the puck once again in October 2025 and bring professional hockey back to the city for fans to once again cheer for their hometown team.”

“We are very excited for the opportunity to launch an ECHL team in Greensboro,” Zawyer Sports CEO Andy Kaufmann said. “We look forward to turning Tournament Town into Hockey Town with a family-friendly atmosphere that will bring people together from all around the community.”

The Greensboro Membership will begin play in the 2025-26 Season at the First Horizon Coliseum. The city of Greensboro has a long history of hockey, beginning with the Greensboro Generals, who played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1959-73 and the Southern Hockey League from 1973-77. ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Patrick J. Kelly played five seasons with the Generals from 1959-64.

Greensboro has had two previous entries in the ECHL with the Monarchs skating in the league from 1989-95 and a second incarnation of the Generals participating from 1999-2004. The Monarchs won the Riley Cup title in their first-season of existence in 1989-90, lost in the Riley Cup Finals in 1999-91 and 1994-95 and hold the ECHL record for the largest crowd in league history with 20,911 fans on Jan. 15, 1994 against Charlotte. Greensboro was also home to the American Hockey League’s Carolina Monarchs from 1995-97, and the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes played their first two seasons in North Carolina in Greensboro from 1997-99 while awaiting completion of their arena in Raleigh.

About the ECHL

Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 29 teams in 22 states and one Canadian province for its 37th season in 2024-25. There have been 752 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 12 who made their NHL debuts in the 2023-24 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 29 of the 32 NHL teams in 2024-25, marking the 27th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.

Winter is right around the corner, and La Nina is expected to influence the weather this year.

It's almost here, and with winter right around the corner it's time to take a peek at what the weather trends are saying. For the Carolinas, it may end up being yet another warmer winter.

A slowly-developing La Nina is favored to influence conditions for the upcoming winter across most of the country, according to NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook released today by the Climate Prediction Center — a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service. This outlook is for December 2024 through February 2025 and contains information on likely conditions throughout the country for temperature, precipitation and drought.

This winter, NOAA predicts wetter-than-average conditions for the entire northern tier of the continental U.S., particularly in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region, along with northern and western Alaska. Meanwhile, drier-than-average conditions are expected from the Four Corners region of the Southwest to the Southeast, Gulf Coast and lower mid-Atlantic states.

“This winter, an emerging La Nina is anticipated to influence the upcoming winter patterns, especially our precipitation predictions,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of the Climate Prediction Center.

La Nina conditions are expected to develop later this fall and typically lead to a more northerly storm track during the winter months, leaving the southern tier of the country warmer and drier. As a result, NOAA forecasters, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), expect drought conditions to persist and worsen across the central and southern Plains of the U.S.

“Unfortunately, after a brief period in the spring of 2024 with minimal drought conditions across the country, more than a quarter of the land mass in the continental U.S. is currently in at least a moderate drought,” said Brad Pugh, operational drought lead with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “And the winter precipitation outlook does not bode well for widespread relief.”

Credit: WFMY News 2

According to NOAA, North Carolina residents should expect above normal temperatures are expected throughout the winter months (December through February).

Credit: WFMY News 2

Drier than normal weather is predicted by NOAA for most of North Carolina throughout the winter months.

NOAA’s seasonal outlooks provide the likelihood that temperatures and total precipitation amounts will be above-, near- or below-average, and how drought conditions are anticipated to change in the months ahead. The outlook does not project seasonal snowfall accumulations as snow forecasts are generally not predictable more than a week in advance.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center updates the three-month outlook monthly. The next update will be available November 21.

Seasonal outlooks help communities prepare for what is likely to come in the months ahead and minimize weather's impacts on lives and livelihoods. Resources such as drought.gov and climate.gov provide comprehensive tools to better understand and plan for climate-driven hazards. Empowering people with actionable forecasts, seasonal predictions and winter weather safety tips is key to NOAA’s effort to build a more Weather- and Climate-Ready Nation.

The Greensboro Fire Department was conducting live fire training, but this one was different from previous burns.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — You might've seen flames and smoke near Church Street in Greensboro on Friday.

The Greensboro Fire Department was conducting live fire training, but this one was different from previous burns.

The live fire training took place at the former home of retired Captain Gary Church, according to the Greensboro Fire Department. Church grew up in the home and joined firefighters to watch the training exercise.

Church reconnected with fellow firefighters he worked with during his career and met a few new faces in the fire department since he retired in 2003.

“This day was bittersweet; it allowed our firefighters invaluable, realistic training that only a real home can provide, helping us improve in ways that directly impact our commitment to protecting each resident of Greensboro. Yet, it was also a somber moment to witness such a legend like Captain Church watch his family home—filled with memories—serve as a final training ground for the next generation of firefighters,” the Greensboro Fire Department said in an online statement.

The Greensboro Fire Department said getting the opportunity to train in real homes gives firefighters the chance to experience what they may encounter on calls.

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Concert Stuff Group said Luke Combs approached the company after Helene hit to put together the huge relief concert in Charlotte.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Relief has come in a number of ways since Helene wrecked parts of our state.

People have sent tons of supplies to mountain towns and cities.

Others have taken heavy equipment out west to clear debris.

What comes next could set American history.

The relief concert in Charlotte is expected to be one of the biggest relief concerts ever. WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman heard from the Triad group putting it on and a Greensboro couple going.

The Mocksville company, Concert Stuff Group, said the event is set to raise tens of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of people are expected to be in attendance.

Concert Stuff Group has been tasked with putting together and organizing the concert.

Not long after Hurricane Helene hit the western part of the state, country music star Luke Combs made a call to that entertainment company based right here in the Triad.

"It wasn't a question of should we help or could we help, it was a question of how do we help and how do we help the most?" Chief Strategy Officer with Concert Stuff Group, Michael Brammer said.

Brammer said not a single penny will be going back to the company, instead it will go to those who need it most right now.

"Every cent that we can raise for the state of North Carolina is going to the people who need it," Brammer said.

RELATED: Concert for Carolina to be livestreamed, free for those impacted by Helene

It's a gesture that's moved one Greensboro couple, Maury and Carey Kennedy. The two met at App State, got married, and eventually had two son's that would also attend App State.

"We have a son who is in school in Boone who was displaced you know, for two or three weeks because the storm, so this thing hits home in a lot of different ways for us," Maury Kennedy said.

The two feel so connected to the mountains of western North Carolina that they've volunteered three times with Samaritan's Purse.

"It's almost something that's hard to wrap your mind around and you come back down the mountain and you don't even really understand it," Maury Kennedy said.

"I don't want those people in the mountains to think we have forgotten about them, I know this is gonna take a very, very long time for them to get back to any sense of normalcy so, I really hope that the money raised from this awesome is really gonna help with that down the road," Carey Kennedy said.

86,000 tickets have been sold, tens of millions of dollars are expected to be raised, "this will go down in the history books as one of the largest benefit shows ever," Brammer said.

Brammer said after looking at the stats, this will be the biggest charity event to take place in North Carolina and possibly the country.

People in certain areas including the Triad are able to get free tickets to stream the event.

Link to the live stream, HERE.

RELATED: North Carolina Folk Festival announces benefit concert for western NC