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Repair money for Helene-damaged prisons on table

Gov. Josh Stein and House leaders both are proposing to spend money to repair two state prisons in western North Carolina closed after Hurricane Helene, but the situation’s not as simple as either suggests. The Department of Adult Correction had to evacuate five prisons after Helene because they lacked power,...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2025

Rabon proposes new brooms for DMV

Senate Rules chair Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, and 11 of his GOP caucus colleagues have put forward a plan to reorganize the Division of Motor Vehicles. Rabon’s Senate Bill 63 would set up a new Board of Motor Vehicles to supervise DMV, supplanting existing law that puts the division under the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2025

Couch rolls out first project for de-annexed land

Business North Carolina’s Chris Burritt reports that developer David Couch selected nearly 80 acres near northwestern Greensboro’s watershed as the location for his first mixed-use project on nearly 1,000 acres de-annexed from the town of Summerfield. Christopher Village is the first of 11 neighborhoods the CEO of High Point-based Blue...

By Ray Gronberg

February 7, 2025

Housing study findings

It’s not news that North Carolina has a housing shortage, but the NC Chamber, the N.C. Home Builders Association and the NC Realtors have a new study out that tries to put some numbers on just how deep the problem goes. Their report estimates that from 2024 to 2029, the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 7, 2025

Toyota factory ready to start deliveries

Toyota’s $13.9 billion battery factory near Liberty will start shipping product in April, company CFO Yoichi Miyazaki said Wednesday as he and other executives reported on Toyota’s third-quarter earnings. The factory “has finished preparations for production,” Miyazaki said, making an announcement somewhat overshadowed by another move Toyota unveiled during as...

By Ray Gronberg

February 6, 2025

A bacon, egg and cheese to go, please

When I go home to Los Angeles, one of the very first things I do is go to In-N-Out for a burger. When I vacationed in New York City last summer, a visit to a bagel shop was high on the agenda. When in Rome, as they say. Soon enough,...

By Ray Gronberg

February 6, 2025

Herding senators

Judging from Tuesday morning, it’s easier to herd cats than to herd senators. Every biennium, legislative staff have to refresh the official portrait of each House and Senate member. This task is underway, and in key points throughout the capitol, there are posters urging the elected to cooperate by presenting...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2025

More bad luck for Henderson County

Sen. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson, reports that his county’s already hurricane-battered agriculture sector took another blow on Jan. 31 when Apple Wedge Packers & Cider burned down. Henderson County is the center of apple production in North Carolina, accounting for about 85% of the state’s crop, County Extension Director Terry Kelley...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2025

Another Helene relief bill in the works

House members are preparing what would become the fourth hurricane-relief bill legislators have considered since Hurricane Helene laid waste to western North Carolina last Sept. 27. House Bill 47 would move another $500 million into the state’s Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund, the account legislators use to stockpile aid money...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2025

Stein’s hurricane request

Gov. Josh Stein asked legislators to release $1.1 billion from the state’s reserves to fund an assortment of hurricane-relief efforts in western North Carolina through the summer. Stein said the state faces “dire and immediate” recovery needs that can’t wait on larger flows of federal aid to begin arriving. “We...

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2025

NC Chamber staying neutral in tariff battle

The NC Chamber isn’t joining its national counterpart in condemning the federal government’s prospective deployment of new tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. “Like the rest of the country, our membership includes varying perspectives on tariffs,” NC Chamber President Gary Salamido said Monday. “One thing is certain though. People are...

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2025

Trade war with Canada

The weekend’s other big news, of course, was President Trump’s declaration of economic warfare against Canada and Mexico. Trump invoked the Carter-era International Emergency Economic Powers Act to slap 25% tariffs on most products from the two neighboring counties that will go into effect on Tuesday. His order singled out...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2025

Hurricane relief

The N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency needs $217 million more from the General Assembly to finish the job of rebuilding homes Down East damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, its boss says. Testifying before a joint House-Senate oversight panel on Thursday, former Rep. Pryor Gibson said an...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2025

Stein aides warn of federal-aid tangles out west

Thursday’s hearing also gave the oversight subcommittee, the senators on it especially, its first chance to hear from Gov. Josh Stein’s point people on western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene. Gubernatorial adviser Jonathan Krebs and Commerce Department Deputy Secretary Stephanie McGarrah emphasized that the administration intends to do things...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2025

Tragedy at Reagan National

Like many of you, I’m interested to see what investigators ultimately determine as the cause of Wednesday night’s mid-air collision between an American Airlines commuter jet and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter in Washington, D.C. There are some resources I’d commend to your attention. The complexities of the airspace around...

By Ray Gronberg

February 3, 2025