North Carolina hospital chains Atrium Health and Cone Health say they’ve filed certificate-of-need applications with the state for major projects would expand their geographic scope. Cone proposes to open a $330 million, 56-bed hospital in southeast Forsyth County, entering a Winston-Salem market now dominated by Atrium and Novant County. Its site is on Cole Road, […]
There’s a new lobbying/strategy shop in Charlotte. Colton Overcash announced on Monday the public launch of Vertex Strategies, which he says offers “an integrated advisory practice” for companies, trade groups, investors and other clients. They “face a government environment where decisions are moving faster, scrutiny is arriving earlier, and issues that once sat in separate […]
Durham’s Chamber of Commerce is warning city and county officials against going overboard with restrictions on data centers. It’s urging them to keep drawing distinctions between large-scale data centers — the sort operated by the likes of Amazon and Apple — and the smaller facilities that institutions like Duke University and RTP’s companies need for […]
Legislators are close to getting a bill to regulate teens’ access to “addictive social media platforms” and applications across the finish line. The Senate on June 10 passed and returned to the House the latest version of House Bill 301. It restricts the ability of children under the age of 14 to open social-media or […]
Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, posted a two-minute Instagram video this week that included about a dozen bleeped profanities directed at the state’s Republican leadership. Batch made the video with Rep. Vernetta Alston, D-Durham. Alston doesn’t use profanity in the video, which was first reported by Raleigh journalist A.P. Dillon, who writes a Substack […]
It’s looking increasingly likely that the Senate will get behind a proposal to ban homeless encampments, and give the job of enforcing it to state Labor Commissioner Luke Farley. Senate Health Care committee members on Thursday endorsed a revised version of House Bill 437. It’s been on a fast track this week, and is now […]
The State ABC Commission has ordered its staff to conduct “a thorough study of minimum baseline pricing” for liquor, with a preliminary report from it due in 30 days, its spokesman says. The move followed liquor- and hospitality-industry complaints that have rolled in since commission Chairman Hank Bauer told brokers and suppliers they would face […]
Legislators have handed the NC Chamber a win on one of its top priorities for the session, a ban on third-party litigation funding by investors. House Bill 315 cleared the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Wednesday. Across the chambers, there was only one dissenting vote: Sen. Jonah Garson, D-Orange. The bill forbids “litigation […]
Camp Lejeune’s service needs and Jacksonville’s ability to meet them have sparked an intramural battle among Onslow County’s all-Republican legislative delegation. It played out this week in House Finance when Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Onslow, asked members via Senate Bill 817 to support allowing Jacksonville to annex much of the southern portion of the county. He […]
Rep. Sarah Stevens resigned her District 90 seat to “devote [her] full time and energy” to running for a N.C. Supreme Court seat this fall. The Surry County Republican stepped down as of noon on June 16. She is in the midst of her ninth term — a longer tenure than all but seven current […]
The House has passed and sent to the Senate a bill that for the first time in North Carolina would set up a regulatory system for crypto-currency kiosks. House Bill 920 cleared the chamber on a 115-0 vote after members voted down an amendment that would have set tighter limits on fees and deposits. The […]
James Farrell/WFAE Radio The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education made the stunning announcement Wednesday that it is placing Superintendent Crystal Hill on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation into how the school district is run. Here to break down what it means for the district and students is WFAE’s James Farrell. Nick de la Canal: James, […]
Alan Wooten/The Center Square Six bills are awaiting decision by North Carolina first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein as of Thursday afternoon, and the legislative tracker says three more go to his desk on Friday. State law grants the governor 10 days to sign, veto or allow a proposal to become law without his signature. Day […]
Christine Zhu/NC Newsline A bill that would regulate electric bicycles in North Carolina and allow local governments to limit where they can be used is moving through the state Senate. The Senate Finance Committee voted to advance House Bill 1094, a collection of changes to transportation laws, without debate on Thursday. The bill defines three […]
Ted Clifford/Asheville Watchdog UNC Health, the University of North Carolina’s hospital system, has applied for permission to open a 92-bed hospital near downtown Asheville. North Carolina’s state-owned nonprofit health provider, which already has a management agreement with UNCHealth Pardee in Henderson County, made the request to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services […]
