ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — News 13 spoke with the director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), Matt Calabria, which is an entity set up by N.C. Governor Josh Stein.

Calabria clarified that GROW NC was created to oversee Helene recovery programs and it does not directly touch any of the funds or distribute them.

“The way GROW NC works is we are a new organization that sits within the Governor’s office that works to accelerate recovery across all the agencies that tries to make sure we identify and resolve right-hand, left-hand problems,” said Calabria. “And make sure we have the most robust effective efficient recovery we possibly can.”

Calabria said GROW NC was established five months ago and is making sure North Carolina agencies do their best to expedite and facilitate recovery funds and that work gets done.

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“We want the work of debris removal to be managed by North Carolina Emergency Management. We want environmental protection work to be done by North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality,” said Calabria. “GROW NC oversees the recovery but is not a pass-through for any funds. Funds don’t go to us they go rather to departments.”

On Tuesday, May 20, GROW NC went live with a new recovery fund tracker showing the Helene damage need and allocations on the state and federal levels so far.

“There was about half a billion dollars approved through HB 47 in the March time frame,” said Calabria responding to questions by lawmakers on getting funds out the door,” said Calabria. “And with each one of those, about a dozen line items we worked, as soon as the legislation was passed to issue request for proposals, to make sure whether it be farmers or others had an opportunity to apply to utilize those funds. That’s where those funds are. It’s part of a natural process for distributing those funds. We have to make sure whether it be small governments or others have an opportunity to apply for those funds.”

He said it took a month for the State Office of Budget and Management to “certify” the funds.

State Representative Mark Pless(R-118) said, so far, he’s been disappointed with GROW NC and the work the team has overseen.

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“GROW NC is the agency with which the governor’s office has set aside to rebuild Western North Carolina,” said Pless. “They have been up into the mountains, they have spoken with many communities, and they have said, this is who’s going to redo this. We are going to redo this the correct way. But they have still not gotten any of the money out that we gave them in March. It’s all still sitting there. There’s money for housing. There’s money for private roads and bridges; There’s money in there for debris removal. There’s a lot of things we did in March, the money’s just sitting there.”

“There are a number of deadlines coming up,” said Calabria. “That will enable us to start to move those funds out the door, but by and large they tend to be in procurement processes right now, or out for applications, but we hope to get those funds out as quickly as we can.”

Calabria detailed more on appropriations.

“The funds that were appropriated by the State that we were able to move out the door, we have to the greatest extent possible, we have put to work about 80% of the funds that were available to be distributed,” Calabria said. “We’re working through approvals to get the rest of the money out as quickly as possible.”

“The other thing to keep in mind is a lot of appropriations from General Assembly are either contingent on certain triggers or certain requirements being met, or they come in the form of loans and loans are constrained by the demand for those loans,” Calabria said.

Click here to view GROW NC’s Helene recovery fund tracker.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A man accused of killing a father of three in a 2024 road-rage shooting in Lake Norman, North Carolina – a popular vacation town north of Charlotte – is seeking a reduced bond, according to court documents and local news.

Terrell Eugene Giddens, 75, is accused of fatally shooting Jeffrey Michael Guida, 40, on Oct. 12, 2024, just before 5 p.m., while Guida was driving with his three daughters, ages 2, 11 and 13, in the back of a Jeep Wagoneer, according to the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office.

Eyewitnesses told authorities at the time that they saw both men exit their vehicles, and then the suspect allegedly shot the victim. Eyewitnesses also reported seeing the shooter fire “multiple rounds into the victim’s vehicle,” where the three girls were sitting. They were not injured in the deadly attack, according to the sheriff’s office.

Giddens allegedly drove home after the shooting, put his clothing in a trash bag and changed into new clothing, according to the Charlotte Observer. He took his kayak to the Lake Norman shore, paddled to the 17B marker and disposed of the trash bag and the rifle he allegedly used to shoot Guida.

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Now, Giddens’ attorney, Robert Campbell, says Giddens “is presumed innocent” and “has significant ties to the community,” in a new motion for bond modification filed in Catawba County, according to the Observer.

Giddens lived less than half a mile from the crime scene.

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The filing states that Giddens worked for General Motors before retiring after 36 years. He was drafted into the Army in 1969 and “served active duty tours in Vietnam and Germany as a tank commander until his honorable discharge in 1971,” the motion reviewed by the Observer states.

Giddens lived on Island Point Road, less than half a mile from the scene of the shooting. (Google Maps)

Meanwhile, Guida’s family is asking for support from the community to stop Giddens from being released.

“The man who murdered Jeff while my children watched and then turned the AR 15 on them is AGAIN asking for bond and to be released,” Jeff’s wife, Karen Guida, said in a May 9 post on the family’s GoFundMe page titled “Support Karen and Daughters After Tragedy.”

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“He has already given a confession, and there were multiple witnesses,” she said. “We again humbly ask for your support and if you can please come help us fill the courtroom again.”

Guida, right, was originally from Lewiston, Maine. His family remembered him as a “devoted husband” and “loving father” in his obituary. (GoFundMe)

Guida was originally from Lewiston, Maine. His family remembered him as a “devoted husband” and “loving father,” in his obituary.

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“Jeff loved playing with his children, hiking, cooking, motorcycles, traveling, weightlifting, and gaming,” his obituary states.

Giddens is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He is currently being held without bond. Fox News Digital has reached out to Campbell for comment.

A North Carolina man is still recovering after a fight with a wild animal almost cost him his life. Now, James Pulliam is telling the unbelievable true story of how he survived the brutal attack.

It all started on Friday (May 16) when Pulliam was smoking outside of his home in Roxboro, N.C. According to him, everything was normal until he started to feel like something was watching him. “I just felt like he was hunting me or something,” Pulliam told The News and Observer. 

Neighbors in the area said they heard and even seen coyotes occasionally but never up close. That is until Pulliam came face to face with one on that faithful Friday evening. The coyote soon launched its attack on the man, and chaos ensued.

“He jumped on me and I caught him in the air, he was biting me, and so when I threw him down and I’m trying to slide out of the way, he just kept coming,” Pulliam said. That’s when he tried to kick the coyote away, but then he tripped and fell. He tried yelling, but no one came to his rescue. It was at that moment that Pulliam said he realized he was in a fight for his life.

With adrenaline kicking in and survival instincts coming forth, Pulliam made a decision. “I had to rip my left hand out of his mouth, and when I got my left hand out, I just choked him all the way till the police got there,” he recalled.

That’s right…Pulliam had the wild animal in a head lock until the cops came, which took approximately 10 minutes. “I just grabbed [him] by the throat,” he said. “I was on top of him and put my knee in his throat. And I ain’t let go. I had my hand on his throat and my knee on his throat.”

Eventually, the victor was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries. “They took X-rays and then gave me rabies shots that hurt worse than the attack,” Pulliam said. Now, he’s a legend in his town. “People aren’t going to believe it, though, they’re going to think I’m lying,” he joked.

Pulliam, who is now wearing a cast on his arm with cuts, scratches and bites on the rest of his body, has the battle scars to prove his victory. The coyote, which died as a result to Pulliam’s head lock, is being tested for diseases by the Person County Animal Services, according to the New York Post. 

Wildlife experts advise people to make loud noises and wave their arms to scare away a coyote if ever faced with a situation like Pulliam’s.