Nearly a month after COVID-19 vaccines made it to North Carolina, the state has administered only a quarter of the doses it has on hand — one of the slowest roll-outs in the country. Lawmakers grilled the Cooper administration over its slow handling of vaccine distribution…
North Carolina has been shut down for six months, 30 weeks, more than 200 days. The N.C. Constitution created a feeble executive branch, and its governor remained among the weakest in the nation. Until now. When the pandemic hit, Gov. Roy Cooper seized…
Gov. Roy Cooper owns this. He owns the coronavirus response and everything that will follow. Cooper has refused to confer with the Council of State, vetoed the General Assembly’s efforts to get businesses safely opened and people back to work, relied solely on…
North Carolina continues to grapple with COVID-19. During the early days of the pandemic, the state’s strategy was clear. North Carolina, like other states, needed to restrict movements and interactions to reduce the rate of the spread of the virus. No one seriously thought the virus could be stopped, but…
In February 2019, after months of negotiation, Western North Carolina’s Mission Hospital was sold to HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital company. HCA Healthcare owns 184 hospitals across the U.S. and United Kingdom. Mission is its first hospital in North Carolina. After the sale, complaints…
On St. Patrick’s Day, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order, and the biggest item in the order was shutting down all bars and sit-down rsestaurants effective 5 p.m. that same day. It limited the sale of food and beverages throughout the state to “carry-out, drive-through, and delivery only.”…
North Carolina’s court cases are on hold due to coronavirus. Most Superior and District court cases will be paused for 30 days, with “some limited exceptions,” N.C. Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley announced. The rule goes into effect March 16. Beasley’s announcement Friday, March…
The fight against coronavirus will be a long haul, Gov. Roy Cooper and health officials said after declaring a state of emergency Tuesday, March 10. Five new cases of the novel virus were identified Monday in Wake County. All were linked to a Boston conference last…
My first month in the Land of the Long Leaf Pine has been an incredible success. I’ve managed to avoid the newcomers’ most feared, multi-purpose saying, “Bless your heart.” But I’m sure someone soon will usher me through this rite of passage. What I love about North…
Here at three takeaways from the 2019-20 session of General Assembly, which ended in November and will resume Jan. 14. Politics over policy and common courtesy I remember the days when members dined together, had meaningful personal conversations, attended community events…
