Month: December 2024

1. NC’s cost for Hurricane Helene damage is nearly $60 billion, state says

Eric Miller/WRAL News Congressional leaders said they reached a last-minute deal to fund the government, avoid a government shutdown and provide another $100 billion for disaster relief. However, it’s not yet clear how much of that funding could be coming to North Carolina to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The latest estimates for […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

2. Corvias says it’s investing $91 million in Fort Liberty housing

Joseph Pierre/Fayetteville Observer More than 1,100 homes at Fort Liberty — in the neighborhoods of Ardennes, Bataan, Casablanca, Corregidor and Hammond Hills and at the Pope and Randolph Pointe duplexes — will receive $91 million in renovations. “The additional funding for privatized housing on Fort Liberty will help Corivas address some needed repairs and preventative […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

3. Insurer stock prices fall after Trump pledges to ‘knock out middlemen’

Erica Carbajal/Becker’s Hospital Review Shares of the three largest pharmacy benefit managers’ parent companies took a hit Dec. 16, after President-elect Donald Trump vowed that his administration would work to “knock out the middlemen.” “We have a thing called the middleman,” Mr. Trump said during a one-hour news conference with reporters Dec. 16. “We’re going […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

5. North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion hits enrollment goal about a year ahead of projections

The Associated Press More than 600,000 people have enrolled in North Carolina’s new Medicaid coverage for low-income adults about a year after the program’s expansion, reaching the state’s enrollment goal for the program in about half the time that was originally projected, the governor’s office announced on Monday. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a vocal advocate […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

6. Japan’s Honda and Nissan to begin merger talks, Nikkei reports

Reuters  Japanese auto giants Honda Motor and Nissan Motor will start negotiations to merge as they face growing competition from bigger global electric vehicle makers, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday. The carmakers have increased ties in recent months as they wrestle with the changing EV landscape. Heavy competition from Tesla and local rivals in […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

8. Durham begins re-investment in Hayti corridor

Bradley George/WUNC Radio Property owners in Durham’s Hayti neighborhood will get some help with repairs, thanks to a federal grant. The City Council voted Monday to spend about $1.7 million to assist home and business owners along the Fayetteville Street corridor. Housing code administrator Clarence Harris said his department has already identified properties that will […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

9. Blue Ridge Parkway designated a National Historic Landmark: What to know

Iris Seaton/Asheville Citizen Times As of Dec. 16, 19 new National Historic Landmarks were announced by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, each of which reflects the importance of the sites in sharing the diverse history of the United States. This year, the Blue Ridge Parkway was added. “As America’s storyteller, it is our privilege […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

10. How much of Helene’s rainfall was due to climate change?

Jack Igelman/Carolina Public Press David Easterling, a NOAA climate scientist, didn’t think much about the rainfall forecast until his wife called him on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 24, asking whether he’d seen the weather outlook. Hours later, rain began falling. Over the next three days, it drenched the region, flooding homes, roads and entire […]

Written by on December 18, 2024

Helene budget update

As its director warned last week, the Office of State Budget and Management’s revised damage estimates for Hurricane Helene now say North Carolina faces about $59.6 billion in potential recovery cost. That includes $53.8 billion for actual damage and another $5.8 billion for “strengthening and mitigation” out west to try reducing the damage potential of […]

Written by on December 17, 2024

White threatened on Facebook

This month’s assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has executives and some politicians on edge, and we have an example of that out of Wilmington. There, former New Hanover County Commissioner and former state Sen. Woody White was the target of an online threat that said he should be “ended in exactly the same manner” […]

Written by on December 17, 2024

State recruiters land two more projects

Gov. Roy Cooper and his aide rolled out two more state incentive packages on Monday, one each for Caswell and Cabarrus counties. In Caswell, Cherokee Tobacco Co. is pledging to create 39 new jobs and invest more than $14 million to build a new manufacturing and distribution operation there. In return, the state’s promised the […]

Written by on December 17, 2024

Briner names Friedman, Auth to posts

Incoming State Treasurer Brad Briner named Duke Health manager Thomas Friedman to the executive administrator post for the State Health Plan, which spends more money on healthcare than any other N.C. entity. Before his six years at Duke Health, Friedman worked at the State Health Plan as director of policy, planning and analysis. The plan […]

Written by on December 17, 2024

1. Helene exacerbated rise in homelessness across western North Carolina

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News The remnants of Hurricane Helene destroyed thousands of homes during its catastrophic sweep through western North Carolina in September, leaving many people without a fixed residence in a region where homelessness was already on the rise. The storm displaced residents like Bonnie Goggins Jones, whose mobile home in Buncombe County was […]

Written by on December 16, 2024