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Measmer leading Crutchfield in fundraising

When it comes to General Assembly primaries, the Phil Berger-Sam Page GOP battle in Senate District 26 commands most of the attention for understandable reasons. But it’s not the only show in town. Down in Cabarrus County, appointed incumbent Sen. Chris Measmer is trying to hold on to the seat...

By Ray Gronberg

February 11, 2026

NC Chamber supporting push to lower H-2A wage rates

The NC Chamber is backing a Trump administration move to lower the minimum wage rate for migrant farm workers hired under the H-2A visa program. Lawyers representing the Chamber in late January filed a friend-of-the-courtbrief in a California federal-court case, opposing an attempt by the United Farm Workers to get...

By Ray Gronberg

February 11, 2026

Page fundraising now at $46K

State campaign-finance reports are still trickling in, but in the most closely-watched legislative primary, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page says he’d raised $46,466 as of the end of 2025. This includes $20,903 in new receipts as of the second half of the year. Page is running in the District 26...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

NCSU involved in “Golden Dome” anti-missile project

NC State has a chance to participate in a $151 billion federally funded R&D program designed to bolster the country’s defenses against missile attacks. The Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency in December and January qualified 2,440 companies and universities to compete for grants under what it’s calling the “Scalable Homeland...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Duke re-checks numbers, finds power-load record

It turns out that Duke Energy did set a power-load record after all during the Carolinas’ recent run of bad weather. On Jan. 27, it saw an hourly peak of 37.308 gigawatts, about a tenth of a percent higher than the old record that had stood for a year. Duke...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Charlotte hearing: Brickbats for the sheriff, flowers for everyone else

With one prominent exception, Monday’s House oversight hearing into Charlotte’s safety situation turned into a bit of a love fest. Appearances from Mecklenburg County DA Spencer Merriweather, Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and City Manager Marcus Jones came and went with barely a word of criticism. “I...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Berger adds to campaign war chest

Senate leader Phil Berger’s fundraising haul for the 2025-26 election cycle has topped $2.4 million, far exceeding the total reported by his rival for the District 26 GOP nomination. The longtime Rockingham County legislator’s campaign banked another $684,268 during the second half of 2025, according to its report to the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Growth putting pressure on DOT project rankings

A decade and a half on, some legislators are having second thoughts about the system they and former Gov. Pat McCrory ushered in to take some of the politics out of funding road projects. The state’s prioritization system is shortchanging local-level projects and also pushing “P3” initiatives — toll roads...

By Ray Gronberg

February 6, 2026

DOT favors double-deck plan for I-77 in Charlotte

N.C. Department of Transportation officials say they’re “moving forward” with the idea of building a deck atop part of Interstate 77 in Charlotte to add express toll lanes to the highway. Radical though it may be, DOT says the proposal seems the “least impactful design alternative” for some of the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 6, 2026

Rep. Paré criticizes Wake property tax decisions

Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, a co-chair of the House select committee on property taxes, has been hammering local governments in her county for letting their tax burdens rise. Recent Twitter posts from Paré have singled out tax increases affecting residents of Zebulon and Wendell, eastern Wake suburbs that aren’t in...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2026

Duke avoids setting new power-load record

Following up on yesterday’s item about Duke Energy’s storm-related pollution waivers, the company says the load on its network didn’t set a record during Winter Storms Fern (ice) and Gianna (snow). The January 2025 record load was almost 37.3 gigawatts and this time around, loads “peaked just shy” of that...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2026

Senate launches its own property tax panel

Senate leader Phil Berger is following House Speaker Destin Hall in setting up a select committee to deal with rising property tax rates. Unlike Hall, Berger has decided that the Senate’s review won’t be bipartisan. His office announced the appointment Tuesday of an all-Republican panel to conduct the Senate’s review....

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2026

Duke obtained more pollution waivers before storms

Duke Energy sought and received the U.S. Department of Energy’s permission to break air-pollution limits if necessary during the recent winter storms if that’s what it took to keep the lights on. The rulings from Energy Secretary Chris Wright came after Winter Storm Fern (the ice storm predicted for the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2026

Small reactors lack economies of scale, legislators hear

When it comes to building nuclear reactors, a consultant’s advice to legislators is easily summarized: Go big or go home. Elaborating, the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy heard testimony on Tuesday that said small modular reactors can’t match the economic efficiency of the large ones utilities like Duke Energy...

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2026

Feds finish audit of CATS security process

Federal officials have given Charlotte Area Transit System a month to remedy 18 problems they identified in a review of the system’s safety planning. These bear mostly on process questions, not on such details as the number of security personnel CATS has guarding its stations, trains and buses. “The audit...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2026