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Feds bar imports of new-model drones

Here in the Triangle, we’ve been watching DJI-made drones disappear from the shelves of Best Buy and other consumer-electronics stores amid rumors of an upcoming federal ban. Store managers replaced them with variously-branded knockoffs, which like DJI’s are likely made in China or other Asian countries. But even that strategy...

By Ray Gronberg

December 24, 2025

Causey opposes potential pardon of Lindberg

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has written President Donald Trumpto oppose the idea of granting convicted billionaire Greg Lindberg a pardon or clemency. The harms from Lindberg’s actions “are real, ongoing and irreparable,” Causey said in his letter. “A pardon would not undo them; it would compound them by signaling that...

By Ray Gronberg

December 24, 2025

US suspends active offshore wind leases; Dominion warns of threat to jobs

The Trump administration has ordered a suspension of work on five offshore wind energy projects, including Dominion Energy’s $11.2 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind development. U.S. Department of the Interior officials announced Monday morning that they’d “paused” federal leases for the projects. They cited as the reason “emerging national security...

By Ray Gronberg

December 23, 2025

The U.S. Senate field is set

Continuing our filing wrap-up, it’s time to start looking at the Congressional races involved in the upcoming March primary. The headliner here is the U.S. Senate race, particularly on the Republican side. There, Trump-endorsed candidate Michael Whatley is facing six other contestants. One of these is Michele Morrow, the party’s...

By Ray Gronberg

December 23, 2025

Senate battles in Durham and elsewhere

Over in the Senate, the just-concluded filing period set up 11 Republican and six Democratic primaries. Obviously, the most high-profile of these remains the District 26 battle between Republicans Phil Berger and Sam Page. A Page win would shatter the Senate GOP caucus leadership team that Berger’s headed since 2005....

By Ray Gronberg

December 22, 2025

Cohn forgoes re-election bid, sets up battle for Granville-Vance House seat

Filing is complete, and with it, so is the primary picture on both sides of the aisle. For the House, there are 29 GOP primaries coming up in March and 16 Democratic primaries. Three districts are seeing contested primaries in both parties, notably District 32, where incumbent Rep. Bryan Cohn,...

By Ray Gronberg

December 22, 2025

Solar or nukes? Duke critics question priorities

Duke Energy’s long-range development plans are underselling solar power and overselling the prospects of building more nuclear reactors, critics of the utility say. The argument comes from Sam Grote and Jim Warren, who lead the N.C. Business Impact Forum and NC WARN, respectively. Grote contends that Duke’s proposed Carolinas Resource Plan...

By Ray Gronberg

December 19, 2025

Gov. James Baxter Hunt Jr., 1937-2025

Jim Hunt, the state’s longest-serving governor, died on Thursday at 88. “It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of my beloved daddy and hero, former Gov. Jim Hunt. He devoted his life to serving the people of North Carolina, guided by a belief that public service should...

By Ray Gronberg

December 19, 2025

Feds secure guilty plea in pollution case

Federal prosecutors say they’ve secured a guilty plea from a Navassa chemical company that discharged pollutants into the Cape Fear River. Court records indicate that American Distillation Inc. pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly discharging a pollutant into U.S. waters without or in violation of a permit. Sentencing...

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2025

Sheriffs lay down a marker on prisoner mental health

Through their trade group, North Carolina’s sheriffs say they don’t want legislators putting them on the hook for solving the mental health problems of criminal defendants. “Folks that have mental health or physical health issues should be treated by medical facilities,” said Eddie Caldwell, general counsel of the N.C. Sheriffs’...

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2025

House panel opens review of property tax policy

House Speaker Destin Hall’s marching orders to the legislators he’s assigned to review North Carolina’s property tax system raise the possibility of amending the state constitution to provide relief to taxpayers. That includes looking at the Constitution’s “uniformity requirement,” which is commonly read to mean that all types of property...

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2025

Conservative group eyes case against nurse-practice limits

A California-based conservative group wants to take on North Carolina’s restrictions on advanced-practice nurses, even as the so-called SAVE Act remains bogged down on the General Assembly. The Pacific Legal Foundation, which bills itself as a “national public interest law firm, says it’s looking for nurses who want to challenge...

By Ray Gronberg

December 17, 2025

State, county advocates voice more frustrations with FEMA

State and local officials spearheading hurricane-recovery efforts remain frustrated by how long it takes to get answers about funding applications out of FEMA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security more generally. The latest pain point is a proposal from FEMA’s Atlanta-based Region 4 office to revise its decision process...

By Ray Gronberg

December 16, 2025

OSBM awards local-government Helene repair grants

Gov. Josh Stein’s administration rolled out a package of $49.8 million in state-fund grants that will help local governments in western North Carolina fix some of their hurricane-damaged infrastructure. The two largest grants, each worth just under $2.5 million, are going to Asheville and Haywood County. Asheville is using the...

By Ray Gronberg

December 16, 2025

Commerce sets targets for Helene housing program

State Commerce Department officials say they can finish the federally post-Helene replacement or repair of storm-damaged single family homes by the late spring of 2028. That time includes an estimate that Renew NC’s flagship housing effort will ultimately complete 2,740 projects, out of an initial pool of 7,000 applications. Officials...

By Ray Gronberg

December 16, 2025