News
Prisoners evacuated from WNC with long-term water, power outages expected
evacuations became necessary at three facilities due to the long timeframes for water and power restoration.
News
Cooper announces appointments to state boards and commissions
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced more than 75 appointments to state boards and commissions. The appointments are some of more than 350 state posts over which the governor has appointment power, ranging from occupational boards to issue advocacy groups. Among the appointments, state Rep. Michael Wray, D-Gaston, was appointed to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries...
News
Drug bust with enough fentanyl to kill millions has NC connection
Enough fentanyl, potentially killing nearly 3 million people, was seized in two separate drug busts with connections to North Carolina this past month.
News
NC man serves jail time for refusing to mask in courtroom
Gregory Hahn, a veteran and single father, was jailed by Harnett County Judge Charles Gilchrist for refusing to wear a mask during juror training. Gilchrist ordered Hahn to serve 24-hours in jail for contempt, despite there being no mask mandates in Harnett County or the Lillington public government building.
News
Fireworks at GOP’s 13th District congressional debate in Harnett
In North Carolina’s sole competitive U.S. congressional race, there is a wide open primary with seven Republican candidates. Five of those candidates gathered on Saturday, March 19, for a forum moderated by Carolina Journal’s Dallas Woodhouse and hosted at the Harnett County GOP’s annual convention. A sixth, Bo Hines, the 26-year-old Trump-endorsed candidate, also showed...
News
A highway runs through it: Farmers, landowners question effects of planned bypass
Property owners in one of the few remaining rural areas of fast-growing Wake County are questioning plans to build a bypass for U.S. 401 that would dissect several long-time family farms. The plan — orchestrated by the N.C. Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization — could expand the corridor to 19 miles of highway from Banks...
News
Redistricting committee gets (mostly) unfriendly reception at hearing
All but one of the 29 speakers at Friday’s public hearing of a joint legislative redistricting committee encouraged and admonished Republican lawmakers to dramatically alter the way North Carolina’s electoral districts are drawn. They used quotes from the Bible, state constitution, and Pledge of Allegiance to get their points across. Some even called for redistricting...
News
More N.C. Reps Hosting Town Halls This Summer
RALEIGH — More members of the state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives have scheduled (and announced) town hall meetings this summer than last. But this year, fewer have responded to queries from Carolina Journal about their plans for the August recess.
News
Retirees Grill Price on Health Care Overhaul
RALEIGH – There was no shouting or shoving, but residents of a ritzy retirement community in north Raleigh still had stern words yesterday for North Carolina Rep. David Price during a private question-and-answer session on President Obama’s plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system.
News
Parton Project Off to Shaky Start
RALEIGH — A legal opinion permitting state-funded economic developer Rick Watson to simultaneously work for Randy Parton's entertainment company, which he recruited for a Roanoke Rapids project, appears to be based on the faulty assumption that Parton's company would receive no funds from Watson's state-funded organizations.
News
Partnership Head Helps Himself
RALEIGH — A deal arranged by North Carolina's Northeast Partnership president Rick Watson to work with country musician Randy Parton is not the first case in which Watson has tried to become involved with a company that his public agency is trying to help. Watson, who leads many variations of the partnership, has in the past sought either a personal investment stake or other benefits from the businesses he has tried to help locate in northeastern North Carolina.
News
Is North Carolina Really Protected?
RALEIGH — It’s been nearly 10 years since America’s most infamous domestic terrorist killed 168 people by blowing up the federal building in Oklahoma City. But to Danny Turner, seed and fertilizer inspector supervisor for the NC Agriculture Department, Timothy McVeigh’s legacy looms large over the jobs of field specialists who work with retailers that sell ammonium nitrate to farmers and gardeners. As the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks nears, anti-terrorism funding for North Carolina has topped $200 million. Since 1999, more than $186 million in federal grants has been received or allocated to the state. The majority is used at the local level by first responders.
