Peter Castagno/Port City Daily The New Hanover County endowment announced Shannon Winslow will take over as chair of the organization’s board of directors. Winslow previously served as vice chair alongside outgoing chair Bill Cameron, who will remain an active board member. She led the search committee that hired the endowment’s new CEO and president Dan […]
Guy Lucas/High Point Enterprise The day he first took a seat on the Guilford County Board of Education about 15 months ago, Michael Logan raised two fists in celebration. On his way out of office at his final board meeting Tuesday night, he kept his hands down, but his gesture was unmistakable. After vowing to […]
It took most of the day, but House Republicans finally mustered the votes to complete the override of Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 382. The final margin was 72-46, a party line vote that saw Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, and two other mountain-county Republicans who dissented when the bill first went through the […]
State Budget Director Kristin Walker had some sobering words of caution on Wednesday for legislators who are trying to figure out the best strategy for getting Western North Carolina back on its feet. Briefing the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery, she said the Office of State Budget and Management is getting ready to issue […]
A Martin County commissioner and a former Martin County manager both face criminal charges accusing them of willful failure to discharge their duties. Grand jury indictments filed on Dec. 3 lodge the charges against Commissioner Ronnie Smith and former County Manager U. James Bennett. Court documents indicate both men went free after signing written promises […]
North Carolina U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd have joined 27 of their colleagues in urging Senate action on a bill that among other things would make it easier for Taiwan’s residents and companies to invest in the U.S. The bill, H.R. 7024, includes provisions that would ease the double taxation problem that residents […]
Well, it’s certainly an interesting time to be a Carolina Tar Heel. About all anyone could talk about on Tuesday was whether NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick — the owner of eight Super Bowl rings — would agree to become UNC Chapel Hill’s next head football coach. My sources on this say about the same […]
There’s more to say regarding Monday’s item about Rep. Jarrod Lowery’s complaints about the presence of Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians Chief Michell Hicks’ presence on Gov.-elect Josh Stein’s transition team. The Robeson County Republican and former Lumbee Tribal Council member noted that the Eastern Band is a regular contributor to the state’s politicians, […]
Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, has a new gig. And no, we’re not talking here about his impending accession to House speaker. On Dec. 2, Burke County Commissioners voted 3-2 to hire Hall and his law firm, Wilson, Lackey, Rohr & Hall, as county attorney. He replaces former County Attorney James R. Simpson II. Hall was […]
On to more serious matters. I caught up with Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, one of the GOP mountain-county dissenters from last month’s House vote on Senate Bill 382. He reiterated that he’s going to wait until the last minute to decide whether or not he’ll vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. […]
Vicki Hyatt/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer The town of Canton has less than four months to figure out how its wastewater will be treated as of April 1 of next year — and right now, it has no answers. The wastewater treatment plant in Canton, part of the old Champion/Pactiv paper mill, is now operating under a […]
Deirdra Funcheon/Hendersonville Times-News After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, on Dec. 10, Rep. Chuck Edwards issued a statement highlighting water infrastructure projects in Western North Carolina that will receive funding and dam-related laws that will go into effect if the bill becomes law as […]
Rylee Wilson/Becker’s Payer Issues Payer CEOs are reckoning with the public vitriol directed at the industry in the wake of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mark Bertolini, CEO of Oscar Health, told Yahoo Finance the U.S. healthcare system has been “broken for some time.” “While this act in itself is unconscionable, the behavior […]
Sarah Krueger/WRAL News FEMA approved 536 households impacted by Hurricane Helene for temporary housing units, which are move-in ready trailers. WRAL has learned only 57 households have received them, more than two months since the storm hit. That is far behind FEMA’s original projection of having 103 units occupied by Thanksgiving. WRAL Investigates asked FEMA […]
Peter Castagno/Port City Daily Two regulatory agencies face a hearing in a lawsuit over coastal protection policies representing a broader power struggle between the state’s legislative and executive branches. A recent bill would advantage a General Assembly-appointed body that has repeatedly blocked executive actions. The Coastal Resources Commission is a 13-member body that establishes state […]
