The N.C. Court of Appeals has refused to back a drug defendant who challenged his conviction based on the state’s legalization of industrial hemp. A unanimous three-judge appellate panel affirmed the conviction Tuesday in a Watauga County case.
An ambulatory surgery center in Kitty Hawk will remain closed for the foreseeable future, thanks to the latest certificate-of-need ruling from the N.C. Court of Appeals. A unanimous three-judge appellate panel reversed a lower court decision. The lower court’s order might have allowed the center to reopen with minimal new state red tape. The case...
Republican lawmakers presented a $1 billion COVID-19 package during a Tuesday, Sept. 1, news conference. The proposal — which they plan to pass this week during a two-day session — sets the stage for a showdown with Gov. Roy Cooper, who earlier released his budget priorities. Those priorities differ drastically from Republicans’ plans. The $1 billion plan...
A bill reopening gyms and bars and expanding seating in restaurants has cleared the General Assembly. Again. The N.C. House on Wednesday, June 10, voted, 69-50, to send a rewritten House Bill 594 to Gov. Roy Cooper, who vetoed an earlier version of the legislation because he worries lawmakers are trying to usurp his power....
Appropriation leaders in the House and Senate are busy working behind closed doors to find consensus on a COVID-19 relief package. The House approved a $1.7-billion omnibus bill Thursday, April 30, a day after the Senate passed its 1.3-billion version. The two chambers will now hash out their differences to pass a single appropriations bill...
When her teenage son collapsed in a seizure, it hit High Point mother Kelly Kinard. Luka was addicted. He was vaping the equivalent of 80 cigarettes per day, and it took sending him to rehab in California to get him to stop. “We see our kid’s futures going down the toilet,” Kinard said. “We saw...
Homeowners whose property was taken by the government for highway projects may be out of luck if Gov. Roy Cooper signs the transportation bill on his desk. A provision in Senate Bill 356 controls the cost of the Map Act — a controversial 1987 law that let the DOT seize private land without immediately paying...
The House passed a franchise tax cut and expanded film grants despite an attempt to shoot down the expansion of film grants. Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, tried to strip the film tax credits from Senate Bill 578. In the spirit of Halloween, he likened them to vampires, saying that he wanted to get rid of...
One down. One to go. The House passed a new district map, and it’s on its way to the Senate. It was a grueling week. After a three-judge Superior Court panel handed down its ruling last week in Common Cause v. Lewis, the General Assembly had two weeks to pass new maps addressing partisan outliers...
Small businesses struggling with health-care costs could gain new bargaining power with insurers, after a controversial bill passed the House, 82-32. Senate Bill 86, which passed Wednesday, Aug. 7, would broaden access to association health plans, allowing small businesses to band together when negotiating with insurers and deciding on health coverage. It’s a controversial solution....
House Bill 536, ABC Omnibus Regulatory Reform, cleared the N.C. House, 91-24, on Tuesday, July 9, and was sent to the Senate. The bill, which has undergone many revisions, includes aspects of House Bill 91, originally the product of a study by the Program Evaluation Division. Although legislation moving the state toward privatization of liquor...
