Western North Carolina’s banks, like those in disaster areas before it, are resilient and should pass Hurricane Helene’s test with flying colors, the president of the N.C. Bankers Association says. “I understand how it could be hard to understand how the circumstances won’t have a detrimental effect on the banks in the area,” said Peter […]
Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson sued CNN and a former clerk at a porn store in Greensboro on Tuesday, alleging that they defamed the Republican candidate for governor in news reports about him. A CNN investigation published last month found that an account tied to Robinson had made a series of explicit racist […]
Katie Myers & Lilly Knoepp/Blue Ridge Public Radio Helene caused catastrophic flooding across the region, particularly in the French Broad and Toe Rivers. The floodwaters washed across businesses, roadways and homes taking debris, chemicals, oil and more downstream. Some posts online and conversations in the community suggested that the floodwaters and mud across the regions […]
Emma Dill/WilmingtonBiz Land once eyed for a minor-league baseball stadium development could now officially become part of the town of Leland. On Thursday, the Leland Town Council is set to consider directing town staff to investigate the annexation of more than 1,100 acres owned by Jackeys Creek Investors LLC. The land, currently in Brunswick County, […]
Tom Murphy/The Associated Press Walgreens is planning to close around 1,200 locations, as the drugstore chain and its rivals struggle to define their role for U.S. shoppers who no longer look to them first for convenience. Drugstores that once snapped up prime retail space in towns and cities across the country are in retreat. They’ve […]
Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News The staff of the Asheville-based Manna Foodbank tried their best to prepare for Hurricane Helene. Workers at the nonprofit’s primary distribution site just feet from the Swannanoa River moved tens of thousands of food items onto tall shelves ahead of the storm’s arrival. The shelves, they thought, would be high enough […]
Liz Schlemmer/WUNC Radio On the day before Helene hit, the last thing McDowell County Schools’ Superintendent Tracy Grit did was visit Old Fort Elementary. He walked the perimeter in the rain and stood outside where it overlooks Mill Creek. The school was built only five years ago, on a berm just beyond the hundred-year flood […]
Kara Fohner/USA Today Network Reports of more than 160 missing children in Spruce Pine are not true. In fact, there is only one person who first responders have not managed to locate since Tropical Storm Helene, according to the Mitchell County Manager Allen Cook. Cook told USA Today on Oct. 14 that Mitchell County received […]
Pat Kimbrough/High Point Enterprise The City Council has chosen the top priorities to implement from the One High Point Commission report. City-hired consultants will work with staff on policies that address “housing disparities,” “access to transportation” and “economic opportunities.” The city-commissioned 245-page “Reparations and Reconciliation Report,” which was completed in September 2023, calls for policy […]
Ryan Kelly/Mount Airy News Those affected by Hurricane Helene have been on the receiving end in the past two weeks of donations and supplies from residents in this community and across the state meant to help them through a challenging time. Not everyone is sending care packages, water, socks, and the like — some see […]
Moss Brennan/The Watauga Democrat The Watauga County Board of Education has approved a Valle Crucis School relocation plan for students and staff after Hurricane Helene severely damaged the current school. The approved plan — which gives BOE Chair Gary Childers and WCS Superintendent Leslie Alexander the authority to execute any lease agreements and licenses to […]
The same week that Hurricane Helene ravaged western North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia, a Washington-based climate-risk modeler issued a report that warned of disaster-related risks to the financial sector. First Street Technologies says it’s likely small and community are “potential weak points in the broader financial system” because geographically concentrated loan portfolios are […]
The hold-harmless funding legislators pledged to give UNC System campuses that agreed to participate in the N.C. Promise tuition-cap program is beginning to fall a bit short. System officials are preparing to allocate a combined $78.6 million to Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC Pembroke and Western Carolina, money that’s supposed to offset lost tuition […]
Finally, a bit of good news for our friends in the west: A Wisconsin-based lumber distributor is placing a distribution and warehousing facility in the Rutherford County town of Spindale. Cedar Direct has pledged to invest $925,000 in the project and expects to employ 20 people. In return, the state’s offered a $50,000 grant from […]
Christina A. Cassidy & Nicholas Riccardi/The Associated Press The latest method of voting to fall into the political crosshairs is the way overseas voters — including members of the military stationed abroad — cast their ballots. The process is governed by federal law and implemented by states. In recent weeks, Republicans have been challenging how […]
