Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Local

Helene oversight

Legislators, Gov. Josh Stein’s aides and local leaders in western North Carolina all are asking themselves, and each other, whether the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to federal disaster aid. The question dominated Wednesday’s latest joint House-Senate hearing on post-Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina. Complaints...

By Ray Gronberg

September 25, 2025

Boliek: N.C. needs better disaster-aid oversight

North Carolina’s sufficiently disaster-prone that it needs to install some permanent oversight mechanisms to monitor the deployment and uses of recovery aid, State Auditor Dave Boliek says. “We spend millions of dollars and thousands of dollars training first responders on swift-water rescue,” Boliek told members of a new House committee...

By Ray Gronberg

September 24, 2025

Regulatory reform bill passes in Senate

Senators voted 31-17 on Monday to pass a regulatory reform bill that will exempt UNC System institutions from local zoning and land-use regulations in Orange, Buncombe and Watauga counties. The provision builds on an existing exemption in Wake County for NC State, and comes amid local controversy over UNC Asheville’s...

By Ray Gronberg

September 23, 2025

Senate releases draft of “Iryna’s Law”

The Senate’s promised rewrite of the state’s laws regarding bail would eliminate the ability of judges and magistrates to release individuals accused of crimes after they sign a written promise to appear in court. That falls short of being a strictly defined elimination of so-called “cashless bond” because it would...

By Ray Gronberg

September 22, 2025

More Helene money heads west

U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and Gov. Josh Stein’s offices are reporting progress in getting more federal disaster-recovery aid out the door to western North Carolina. Budd’s staff is claiming credit for their boss in getting $64.3 million in aid released by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. This followed...

By Ray Gronberg

September 19, 2025

Chamber opposes military right-to-repair reforms

The NC Chamber and other business groups are opposing pending congressional moves to bolster the ability of the country’s soldiers, sailors, aviators and Marines to repair their own equipment. Both the U.S House and Senate versions of the next National Defense Authorization Act address the point. The House’s version demands...

By Ray Gronberg

September 19, 2025

Court says DOT immune to accident claim

A N.C. Court of Appeals panel has rejected trucking company C.R. England’s attempt to get the N.C. Department of Transportation to contribute to out-of-court settlements linked to a twice- fatal 2014 traffic accident. The accident occurred during a snowstorm on a partially-cleared Interstate 40 in Johnston County. And as such, Judge...

By Ray Gronberg

September 18, 2025

Feds reopen part of the Blue Ridge Parkway

National Park Service officials announced Monday that they’ve reopened a 26.7-mile portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs north from Asheville to the entrance of Mount Mitchell State Park. The move follows the completion of landslide-repair projects at mileposts 380 and 375, which respectively are near the Haw Creek...

By Ray Gronberg

September 16, 2025

Stein Helene package seeks money for business

Gov. Josh Stein wants Congress to allot another $13.5 billion to hurricane recovery in North Carolina, and the Trump administration to move more quickly to deploy $9.4 billion in existing disaster-aid appropriations. Stein is asking Congress to channel almost $8.1 billion of the additional money through the feds’ Community Development...

By Ray Gronberg

September 16, 2025

Change at the top of NCDOT

North Carolina’s Department of Transportation is getting a new leader as of Oct. 1. State Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins — an engineer and NCDOT lifer — is retiring. Taking his place, via a gubernatorial appointment subject to state Senate confirmation, is Daniel Johnson, a lawyer who’s been with DOT since...

By Ray Gronberg

September 15, 2025

LGC docks revenue for 11 towns

Local Government Commission members have given State Treasurer Brad Briner the OK to withhold a portion of state-shared sales-tax money from 11 towns that are behind schedule in filing required financial audits. The decision — procedurally a denial of the towns’ appeals — affects: Morven, which is in Anson County....

By Ray Gronberg

September 15, 2025

New State Auditor report

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office has released another of its new “rapid response” reports, this time addressing the Charlotte City Council’s decision to give outgoing Police Chief Johnny Jennings a $305,000 settlement. The report offered little new information about the controversial deal, save for some detail on the accounts Charlotte...

By Ray Gronberg

September 15, 2025

Magistrate reform

Details remain pending, but House and Senate leaders say they’re going to propose legislation next week to address the issues surrounding the stabbing death of a woman on Charlotte’s rail system. House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, indicated that the package is likely to include restraints on the discretion of magistrates,...

By Ray Gronberg

September 12, 2025

Budd not happy with Helene aid backup

Our friends at McClatchy report that North Carolina U.S. Sen. Ted Budd is increasingly unhappy with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s stranglehold on Hurricane Helene disaster aid. Noem has insisted on personally reviewing “every grant and mission assignment” worth more than $100,000, and claims this has saved taxpayers $10.7...

By Ray Gronberg

September 11, 2025

Wolfspeed gets OK to proceed with Ch. 11 plan

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved Wolfspeed’s Chapter 11 reorganization, court records and the company say. Wolfspeed CEO Robert Feurle called Monday’s decision an “important milestone,” given expectations that the company will now be able to reduce its debt load by 70%. Feurle and his team expect the company to...

By Ray Gronberg

September 9, 2025