Are pennies on the chopping block? It costs more than three cents to make the one-cent penny, and The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has a bold idea: it may be time to coin a new era by eliminating the penny.
A bill filed this week would end allowing state employees to automatically pay association dues straight from their paychecks. This would apply to members of employee associations like the state's two largest, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC).
The bill would allow students attending private or homeschool to play sports or other extracurricular activities at their local public school. It also would allow public school kids to play at a different public school if their school does not offer the specific activity.
Nearly a decade after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence struck eastern North Carolina, more than 1,000 homes remain under construction, leaving many residents still in temporary housing such as hotels, motels, or trailers. As state officials now navigate recovery from Helene, Matthew and Florence failures cast a dark cloud over the process.