WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – On March 31, State Representative Ted Davis Jr. filed a bill to fund the YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina in Wilmington.

The expanded midtown YMCA in Wilmington at 709 George Anderson Dr would be a 50,000-square-foot facility on a 10-acre property at a cost of $15 million.

New fitness, aquatic and recreational spaces would be added to offer out-of-school child care, sports, enrichment, and career development opportunities.

The bill would allow the facility the finds to gain 6,000 additional members, a 50% growth in childcare enrollment for preschool, after school, and summer day 15 camps and water safety lessons to all 2nd-grade students in New Hanover County.

The bill passed its first reading in the House on April 1 and was then referred to the Committee on Appropriations, if favorable, the bill will move on to Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.

If passed, the bill would become effective July 1, 2025.

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North Carolina state representatives have passed legislation prohibiting those rendering emergency aid from discriminating against those they assist based on political affiliation or political speech. 

H.B. 251 also adds “a provision that no applicant for any State emergency assistance in the form of grants shall be required to provide any personal demographic information unless the information is necessary to award the grant or is otherwise required by law.”

“This came about after an incident that occurred following Helene, and word was getting out that FEMA was actually discriminating against people based on their political speech,” Republican State Rep. Kelly Hastings, R-Gaston, said on the House floor Thursday, according to The Carolina Journal. “And so that’s when we decided we might want to send a clear message about discriminating against someone based on their political speech, being that political speech is under our constitutional jurisprudence – maybe the highest protected speech that we have.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) came under fire last year when an agency supervisor allegedly instructed workers to avoid reaching out to homeowners with Trump signs in their yards after Hurricane Milton, which struck the U.S. about two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated areas across six states. Helene was the most deadly hurricane since Katrina.

RETIRED NORTH CAROLINA POLICE OFFICER DELIVERS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN SUPPLIES, FOOD TO HELENE SURVIVORS

The bill passed the House on April 1 by a vote of 106-10 — the 10 no votes all coming from Democrats, as The Northern State reported.

The former FEMA supervisor who issued the instructions, Marn’i Washington, appeared on “Fox News @ Night” on Nov. 14 and said she was “simply executing” orders from her superiors to avoid political encounters that could be hostile. 

NC FAMILY THAT LOST 11 IN HURRICANE HELENE MUDSLIDES SAYS COMMUNITY SACRIFICED ‘LIFE AND LIMB’ TO SAVE EACH OTHER

A Trump sign posted to a telephone pole in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Fox News Digital)

“Why is this coming down on me? I am the person that jotted down the notes from my superiors and my notation in [Microsoft] Teams chat was exposed from their search capacity team,” Washington, who was fired, said at the time.

FEMA’s administrator on employee misconduct, Deanne Criswell, confirmed to Fox News Digital over the weekend that the supervisor was fired and that her actions were “reprehensible.” Another FEMA spokesperson told Fox that Washington’s actions were an “isolated incident.”

AMERICANS SPENDING THANKSGIVING IN TENTS AS HEAT, ELECTRICITY, FOOD STILL HARD TO FIND

In this aerial view, a person walks through flood waters that inundated a neighborhood after Hurricane Milton came ashore on October 10, 2024, in Punta Gorda, Florida. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in the Siesta Key area of Florida, causing damage and flooding throughout Central Florida.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

But Washington insisted that’s not true, telling Fox News host Trace Gallagher that the orders came from someone above her.

The former FEMA employee alleged that the Florida team had already been avoiding Trump voters’ homes prior to her work there. 

WATCH: FIRED FEMA OFFICIALS SAYS SHE’S BEING SCAPEGOATED

“This was the culture. They were already avoiding these homes based on community trends from hostile political encounters. It has nothing to do with the campaign sign. It just so happened to be part of the community trend,” she explained at the time.

The Biden administration said in a Jan. 22 press release that FEMA approved more than $860 million, including 507 million in assistance for individuals and communities affected and over $351.5 million for debris removal and activities to save lives, after Helene. It also deployed more than 8,500 personnel to the area.

TRUMP TO VISIT BATTERED NORTH CAROLINA TOWNS STILL SUFFERING MONTHS AFTER HELENE: ‘TREATED BADLY BY DEMOCRATS’

Fired FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington alleged to Fox News Channel this week that she is being scapegoated by the agency for its policy to avoid approaching Florida homes displaying signs for President-elect Trump.  (Fox News Channel)

In February, FEMA said 153,000 families were receiving FEMA assistance in North Carolina.

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Despite the agency’s efforts last year, however, many North Carolinians still living in trailers throughout the winter after losing their home in the storm expressed frustration with the government’s response to the disaster that left 107 dead in the Tar Heel State alone. 

The North Carolina bill, which amends the North Carolina Emergency Management Act, will now move on to the Senate.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – At least 13 more students at North Carolina universities have recently had their visas revoked.

On March 25, NC State said it was made aware that two of its international students — both reportedly from Saudi Arabia — had lost their visas. Within days, the two students returned home.

The NC State revocations came around the same time U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said visas would be rescinded for students who “participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus.”

Despite Rubio’s remark, the roommate of one of the NC State students claimed the student was “a lowkey individual who never attended any protests or wrote about this issue on social media” and was someone who “just minded his business.”

Now, two weeks after NC State learned of the rescinded visas, other colleges across the state have experienced similar situations.

On April 9, three other public universities confirmed that they have had at least one student have their visa taken. UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Charlotte had six students each lose their visa, while Appalachian State had one.

UNC Chapel Hill said it “did not initiate these terminations, and the University was not directly notified.” It, along with UNC Charlotte, confirmed that its students had their visas canceled by the federal government.

None of the three schools said where the students who lost their visas were from, nor why they lost them.

This past weekend, Rubio said the United States government planned to revoke visas for all South Sudanese passport holders, which would include Duke basketball standout Khaman Maluach, who helped lead the Blue Devils to the Final Four in this year’s NCAA tournament.

Rubio said the sanctions against the African country was “due to the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner.”

The revocation of visas for South Sudanese in America has left Maluach’s legal status in question. Should he choose to enter June’s NBA draft, the 7-foot-2 center would be a projected lottery pick if he is able to stay in the country.

Previous Coverage: Federal government revokes visas for 2 students at North Carolina university

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