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Smith won’t take NC Ports board seat

Morehead City businessman Harry Smith has changed his mind and won’t be serving on the State Ports Authority board. Gov. Josh Stein appointed Smith earlier this month to a six-year term on the authority, which oversees the ports in Wilmington and Morehead City. In a note to port officials today, Smith said...

By Ray Gronberg

July 27, 2026

North Carolina has a new court

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby has begun staffing up a new family court modeled on North Carolina’s Business Court. On Friday, he announced that he’s appointed Smithfield-based lawyer Marci Armstrong to become the first chief judge of the Complex Family Financial Court. The post entails administrative duties, including...

By Ray Gronberg

July 27, 2026

Chamber sees need for state maritime-industry strategy

North Carolina’s maritime sector is a considerable economic asset, but it could benefit from a more cohesive strategy and, in any case, an approach leavened with a healthy dose of realism, the NC Chamber says. There’s opportunity there “wider than finding new uses for idle infrastructure,” it says in the...

By Ray Gronberg

July 27, 2026

Paper mill troubles leaked into Columbus Co. budget

Budget problems in Columbus County’s government are traceable in part to the loss of about $2.6 million in potential yearly property tax revenue, largely thanks to cutbacks at a paper mill there. Production cuts in 2023 at the former International Paper mill in Riegelwood not only cost about 200 jobs, but...

By Ray Gronberg

July 27, 2026

Feds probe admissions practices at ECU med school

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether East Carolina’s Brody School of Medicine’s admissions practices amount to racial discrimination. ECU’s is one of five medical schools targeted by the department, and one of 20 the broader Trump administration has begun probing this summer. The U.S. Department of Justice is handling...

By Ray Gronberg

July 27, 2026

JetZero looking for more federal aid

JetZero says it and the federal Export-Import Bank have agreed to “explore” a deal that could bring up to $3 billion in financial support to the company’s planned airliner factory in Greensboro. The announcement cautioned that the “letter of interest” it’s signed with Export-Import officials is well short of a...

By Ray Gronberg

July 22, 2026

UNC System worries about campus sports-program finances

Financial sustainability is a worry for college sports programs at six of the UNC System’s universities, to the point system officials say they’re going to keep an eye on the issue in fiscal 2026-27. The group includes all five of the schools that are in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision...

By Ray Gronberg

July 22, 2026

American Efficient files for Chapter 11

Durham-based American Efficient has filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to reorganize its debts in the face of its troubles with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The energy-efficiency trading firm lists FERC as by far its largest credit, with a listed debt to it of of $1.1 billion. That...

By Ray Gronberg

July 21, 2026

Duke cuts rate-increase ask after talks with advocates

Duke Energy has once again lowered its requested rate increase for 2027 and 2028, dropping it to an average 7.4% over the two years. The move follows a settlement with the N.C. Public Staff and some key business and environmental groups. Presuming the N.C. Utilities Commission ultimately OKs the deal,...

By Ray Gronberg

July 21, 2026

Atrium sounds off on State Health Plan strategy

Atrium Health is finally speaking out about its exclusion from the State Health Plan’s preferred-provider list — and it’s not happy. The decision “could leave more than 130,000 North Carolina state employees facing substantially higher costs if they wish to continue receiving care from the physicians, hospitals and care teams...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Auditors and deficits

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s aides dispute the idea that the office ran a deficit in fiscal 2024-25, which saw Boliek take over for the second half of the year. “Our audited financial statements reflect a $940,505 decrease in fund balance, not a deficit position,” says Randy Brechbiel, the auditor’s spokesman....

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Power co-op seeks relief from biogas demands

North Carolina’s largest electric co-op wants legislators to change a law that forces utilities to buy renewable-energy credits tied to the use of methane put on the market by Down East hog farms. The credits likely will cost “our members more than 50 times the cost of a renewable energy...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Cary spending money “carelessly,” auditor says

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s team found tens of thousands of dollars in dubious spending by Cary’s government, including $65,653 spent ghostwriting a vanity book for its former town manager. Other questionable expenses include: $37,301 to pay Town Councilwoman Lori Bush’s tuition for a master’s in public policy program at Northwestern...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Blue Cross taps partners for state PBM deal

UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx and Puerto Rico-based Abarca Health are the key players in the nine-company consortium Blue Cross put together to become the State Health Plan’s pharmacy benefits manager. Abarca will handle claims processing and administration for the group, while Optum will manage drugmaker rebates and drugstore-network pricing, Blue Cross...

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026

Smith joins NCPorts board

As any of his social-media followers knows, Harry Smith likes his boat. He’s now in a position to have over the handling of some that are a lot bigger. Gov. Josh Stein has appointed the former UNC System Board of Governors chairman to the board of the State Ports Authority....

By Ray Gronberg

July 20, 2026