Gov. Roy Cooper wants a provision to curb a governor’s powers removed from state budget plans. Cooper, a Democrat, responding to a question during a press conference Wednesday, Aug. 18, said he plans to talk with Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, as well as House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, about his concerns. “I hope they...
Budgets passed with bipartisan support in both chambers of the General Assembly fund a number of provisions in the ongoing Leandro school funding legal case, but critics still contend the money falls short of the mark. The House version of the budget, passed Aug. 12, contains more than 40 provisions specifically to address Leandro mandates,...
At Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design in Greenville, N.C., students are looking toward the future. Here they learn to cut, curl, and color hair, but also tend to customers and build their client base — all the skills they will need for a lucrative career in cosmetology and other personal services. Some 50 students launch a new...
Mask wars have once again erupted in Buncombe County after the school board voted during a specially called meeting last week, without public comment, to require all students and staff to wear masks while inside, regardless of vaccination status. The unanimous 7-0 vote came days before Buncombe County public school classrooms will open Monday, Aug...
It’s around lunchtime on a Wednesday in mid-July, the bright remnants of the morning quickly morphing into the typical hot, heavy Carolina afternoon. A dozen or so people — diners and drinkers — survey downtown Chapel Hill from atop a third-floor balcony at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery. It’s a neighborhood landmark, since...
Without North Carolina’s school-choice scholarships for students with special needs, retired soldier James Martin would have moved his family to another state. That’s how important these scholarships have been to his 11-year-old daughter, Mia. “It’s been priceless,” said Martin, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. “People ask me why we’re staying...
House Bill 951 would retire coal plants, increase natural gas, and mandate increases in renewable capacity, but high costs and erosion of N.C. Utilities Commission authorities unite stakeholders in opposition. It is a rarity for large, consequential, far-reaching legislative reforms to engender a consensus across a spectrum of stakeholders, but the energy reform of House...
A group of residents from western North Carolina filed a lawsuit Tuesday, Aug. 10, against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health alleging the anti-competitive business practices have driven medical prices up and the quality of health care down in that part of the state. HCA is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the largest care provider...
The city of Charlotte unanimously passed a nondiscrimination ordinance Monday, Aug. 9, the first in the city since the 2016 measure that led to House Bill 2. The two Republicans on the City Council joined with nine Democrats in supporting the ordinance, after saying new additions from the city attorney strengthened exemptions for religious organizations....
Update: The N.C. House passed their budget Wednesday evening, August 11, by a vote of 72 to 41 with nine Democrats voting in favor of the measure. A third floor vote for final passage is scheduled for Thursday morning. The biennial budget plan from the N.C. House calls for smaller reductions to personal and corporate...
Charlotte is at it again with its latest attempt to sow chaos into North Carolina politics. The effort should fall on deaf ears. In other words, don’t take the bait. Proponents of the city’s new anti-discrimination ordinance have not shown there is a prevailing reason for it in the first place. Is there a mass...
