Month: May 2025

Energy study targets 2026 report

As for UNC Chapel Hill’s energy study, campus officials say they’ve hired Irvine, California’s Salas O’Brien to help them figure out the institution’s need’s and a road map for achieving them. UNC Chapel Hill’s energy services chief, Tony Millette, says the engineering firm “will give us the big picture” and has already “worked in the region with schools […]

Written by on May 30, 2025

Trustee questions dorm-construction process

Speaking of dorm space, UNC Chapel Hill trustees this month gave Roberts’ team permission to permission to demolish a building to make way for a new dormitory and hire a construction manager at risk to run the project. The goal, University Architect Evan Yassky said, is to have “just over 700 beds” ready for students in 2028. […]

Written by on May 30, 2025

UNC’s enrollment plans spark unusual town-gown harmony

If you’re at all familiar with how town-gown politics usually roll in Chapel Hill, the lack of public dispute about UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts’ hopes of boosting the flagship university’s enrollment is … unusual, to put it mildly. But there might be a reason for that. Namely, hope. State Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, says […]

Written by on May 30, 2025

1. North Carolina revenue predictions fall with recession risk

Gary D. Robertson/The Associated Press North Carolina officials on Wednesday downgraded anticipated state revenue collections compared to their recent forecast, largely over rising economic uncertainty and the risks of a U.S. recession. The adjustments agreed upon by economists working in Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s budget office and at the General Assembly keep front and center […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

2. New toolkit looks at advanced manufacturing partnerships across rural North Carolina

Emily Thomas/Education NC The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) announced a new rural advanced manufacturing toolkit featuring “innovative partnership models that are meeting the evolving workforce demands of the state’s advanced manufacturing sector, particularly in rural regions,” according to a recent press release. The new resource was created by the Rural Postsecondary Practices Partnership […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

3. HHS cancels funding for Moderna to develop vaccines to combat bird flu

Rachel Roubein & Lena H. Sun/The Washington Post  The Department of Health and Human Services is pulling millions of dollars it had committed to give Moderna to aid the effort to develop a vaccine to combat the bird flu in humans, the company announced Wednesday. Under President Joe Biden, HHS had announced its intent last […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

4. Recreational fishers notch win in NC’s southern flounder battle

Mary Helen Moore/WUNC Radio For the first time, North Carolina’s commercial and recreational fishing industries are set to split the southern flounder catch 50-50 this year. That decision was made by the Marine Fisheries Commission last week in a 6-3 vote. After administrative approval, it will take effect in August. For decades, commercial fishers pulled […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

5. Medicaid work rule could burden NC agencies

Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News The possibility of North Carolinians who depend on Medicaid being subject to a work requirement to keep their coverage has grown more plausible with the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of a GOP-backed budget bill that includes the measure. Legislation approved by the U.S. House on May 22 would require “able-bodied” […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

6. FEMA has muddied the water on Haywood tourism recovery

Andrew Marshall/The (Waynesville) Mountaineer How is Haywood’s vital tourism economy faring in the wake of Helene? It’s a tricky question to answer, with only one full season — and winter at that — behind us. It’s made all the more difficult by the fact that a key metric to measure tourism was skewed in a […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

7. As Brunswick building booms, existing residents see effects

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online Just beyond a wooded area that marks Paws Place Dog Rescue’s east-facing property line, signs of neighbors to come dot the horizon. Rooftops of two-story houses in various stages of construction peek over treetops in a new development cropping up on one side of the rescue’s land in Winnabow, an unincorporated […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

8. Ardrey Kell family sues student, family, activists over hate crime claims

James Farrell/WFAE Radio The family of a male student at Ardrey Kell High School has filed a lawsuit against a female student, her family, and community activists who claimed the teen in March attacked her in a hate crime because she is Muslim. The lawsuit names both students, but WFAE is not naming them because […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

9. NC Supreme Court censures Harnett judge

Caleb M. Soptelean/The Sanford Herald District Court Judge Jason P. Kimball was censured Friday, May 23, by the North Carolina Supreme Court. The censure for being drunk on a working day, disrespecting a state trooper and other factors follows a recommendation by the Judicial Standards Commission. Kimball’s censure was based on his behavior stemming from […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

10. PWC considering ways to revive Ramsey Street solar farm project

Paul Woolverton/CityView The Fayetteville Public Works Commission has not given up on its plan to build a $9.5 million solar farm off Ramsey Street just north of Fayetteville after the Cumberland County Commissioners on May 19 threw a roadblock in the project’s path. The electric utility’s board held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

Dems ahead on generic General Assembly ballot?

Speaking of polls, the Strategic Partners survey for Conservatives for Clean Energy served up a somewhat different picture of the generic ballot for the General Assembly than another recent poll. It found a 2.1 percentage point split among the 650 registered voters who participated. Democrats were favored by 44.9%, Republicans by 42.8%. Unaffiliated voters split 45.7%-to-31.5% in […]

Written by on May 29, 2025

Buc-ee’s building plan review is underway

In the spirit of tying up a loose end, I can report that the folks at Buc-ee’s have submitted building plans to Mebane officials for review. This occurred just a week ago, said Richard Allred, building plan reviewer in the Alamance County city’s Permits and Inspections office. It also comes a year and four months after Mebane’s City Council approved zoning […]

Written by on May 29, 2025