At Tuesday’s Council of State meeting, North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey, a Republican, once again stressed the need for flood insurance after the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina.
Agriculture and agribusiness remain the number one industry in North Carolina, reaching a milestone of $103.2 billion in economic impact, according to a June 2023 NC State report. Some stakeholders are launching an initiative to keep the industry thriving and flourishing well into the future.
The Golden LEAF Foundation failed to monitor how $83 million in federal money from the COVID-19 Rapid Recovery Loan Program were used, a new audit finds. The objective of the performance audit, released Wednesday, March 23, by the office N.C. State Auditor Beth Wood, was to determine whether Golden LEAF designed and implemented procedures to ensure...
The opioid epidemic is killing more than 100,000 Americans each year. Fentanyl alone — not counting other opioids such as heroin, oxycodone, and morphine — now tops the list as the No. 1 cause of death for adults 45 and younger. That’s more than suicides, car wrecks, or COVID-19. The second-largest attorney-general settlement in history...
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...
The House is wasting little time addressing the challenges COVID-19 has posed to North Carolina. It’s pushing a roughly $1.7 billion omnibus bill to provide relief to North Carolina from the COVID-19 outbreak. The House Rules Committee approved six COVID-19 related bills during a Wednesday, April 29, virtual meeting. The bills will be wrapped into...
Thousands of small business loan applications from North Carolina businesses and pending, but state lawmakers are broadening the pool of applicants. House Speaker Tim Moore said a proposal to help cash-strapped small business owners will be money well spent. “This kind of loan is the difference between a business staying open or closing, between people...
The Economic Support working group of the House Select Committee on COVID-19 has approved a bill waiving the accrual of interest on taxes paid between April 15 and the new July 15 deadline. The N.C. Department of Revenue waived late fees when the state decided to extend the tax deadline to July 15, but legislation...
When they unveiled their plans, the room was crammed with hundreds of people —a stunning turnout for their home in rural Appalachia. Juanita Colvard knew many of these people lost someone. Her own best friend died of breast cancer in her 50s. Another woman watched her father and two brothers die of kidney failure. And most blamed the health care...
Higher education is the object of aspiration and frustration. A lofty aim that, while promising opportunity, evokes feelings of anxiety from throngs of students neither academically nor financially secure. Commissions, boards, and committees spend hours deliberating on the subject. Politicos pontificate about gaps in student achievement. Newspapers and magazines publish story after story detailing the...
MOUNT AIRY — The Barter Theatre, which has operated since the Great Depression, reportedly draws 160,000 people a year to the charming mountain town of Abingdon, Virginia. Officials in Mount Airy — who already traffic on the celebrity of native Andy Griffith and the mythical town of Mayberry — think they should risk tax money...
