North Carolina
Weekend reads: Homeowners fight a major rate hike, water woes, and hope for Black mothers, babies | NC Newsline
Homeowners push back against proposed 42% insurance rate increase
By Greg Childress
Dozens of North Carolinians attended a public comment session Monday to speak against a North Carolina Rate Bureau request to increase homeowner insurance rates by an average of 42%.
The Rate Bureau, which represents companies that write insurance policies, made the request to the North Carolina Department of Insurance earlier this month, citing a higher cost of doing business due to climate change, which produces more powerful hurricanes and more severe flooding.[Read more...]
Associate dean, department head resigns in protest of program eliminations at UNCG
By Joe Killian
An associate dean and department head at UNC Greensboro resigned Wednesday in protest of the process used to identify programs that may be cut on the campus, pointing to a lack of transparency and “egregious behavior from senior administration,” according to a resignation letter obtained by Newsline.
Charles Bolton, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and interim head of the university’s anthropology department, tendered his resignation in a scathing letter to the college’s dean, John Kiss. Programs in Bolton’s own department were on a list of 19 potential eliminations the university released last week. That list, and the process university administrators used to create it, has been hotly debated since.[ Read more…]
Burlington finds high levels of 1,4-Dioxane in wastewater, which is headed downstream; Apollo Chemical again named as source
By Lisa Sorg
Wastewater leaving a City of Burlington treatment plant contained 545 parts per billion of a likely carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane, a level is more than 1,500 times the target value set by the state for surface water. The slug of the compound is headed downstream in the Haw River to Pittsboro and other communities. [Read more...]
North Carolina faces a child care cliff. Will state lawmakers step up as federal support ends?
By Clayton Henkel
It may feel like a lifetime ago, but Ariel Ford remembers fondly when she worked as a preschool teacher with a room full of rambunctious and creative two-year-olds.
“It is my favorite job I have ever had by far.”
Ford, who now serves as the Director of the Division of Child Development and Early Education for the NC Department of Health and Human Services, said there was only one problem with the best job ever — she couldn’t make ends meet even working full-time. [ Read more…]
A Raleigh-based health center works to reduce rates of Black maternal and infant deaths
By Lynn Bonner
A Raleigh-based community health center that low-income and uninsured people have relied on for decades is opening an OBGYN clinic with the intention of addressing, head-on, the factors that have Black mothers and babies dying at higher rates than white mothers and infants.
Services for expectant parents at Advance Community Health will feature a type of group prenatal care that’s been credited with reducing rates of preterm births. The center is also starting a parenting program for fathers. [ Read more…]
Proposed homeowners’ insurance hike could send 75-year-old Swansboro man back to work
By Greg Childress
Seventy-five year-old Swansboro resident Boyd Pate is reluctantly thinking about returning to work to help make ends meet.
The retired Durham firefighter who moved to the coast decades ago to enjoy his twin passions — boating and fishing — said expenses are beginning to outpace the modest increases in his state pension and Social Security checks. [ Read more…]
Grasping at straws: Anti-Trump GOP’ers are failing to acknowledge the choice that confronts them (commentary)
By Rob Schofield
Some county boards of election violated “the text and spirit” of the voter ID law when they baselessly questioned the reasons voters didn’t have photo identification last November, three voting rights groups told the State Board of Election in a letter.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Common Cause North Carolina, and Democracy North Carolina want the State Board of Elections to make it clear what local boards can and cannot do when they’re considering accepting ballots from people who vote without photo ID. [Read more.…]
UNC System, community colleges offer scholarships to families making less than $80,000
By Joe Killian
North Carolina students whose families make $80,000 or less are eligible for a minimum $5,000 scholarship at any of the UNC System’s 16 universities, the system office announced this week. Families with greater financial need could see more aid.
The Next NC Scholarship, a combination of federal Pell grants and state funded financial aid, is open to qualifying families who fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by June 1.
Students and their families who need help with the application can get it through dozens of institutions, public and private, on FASFA Day, January 27. [Read more...]
NC utilities to receive $47 million to keep toxic lead out of drinking water
By Lisa Sorg
Under EPA’s proposed rule, all lead-contaminated service lines would be replaced within 10 years
Beneath the yards of an untold number of homes in North Carolina lay water lines installed 100 years ago, when Calvin Coolidge was president. Some of these service lines, which send drinking water from the main pipes to the houses, contain lead, a neurotoxin.
When the drinking water passes through the contaminated line, it could carry the lead into the home. From there, the contaminated water flows through the tap into the glass of sweet tea, bottle of baby formula, and kettle of homemade soup. [Read more…]
Federal judge blocks part of Republicans’ new election law
By Kelan Lyons
A federal judge issued a ruling over the weekend blocking part of an elections law passed by Republicans last year that required the ballots of voters who register and vote during early voting to be thrown out if mail meant to verify their addresses could not be delivered.
That policy change was part of a wide-ranging elections bill Republicans passed last year over Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. This is one of several lawsuits dealing with that new law that are wending through the courts; voting rights advocates also contend it discriminates against young people, and others claim it makes it harder for other state residents to register to vote or have their ballot count. [ Read more…]
A man is dead from a crash on Friday on
Interstate 40 in Johnston County.
According to the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol, the crash happened just before 4:30 p.m. on I-40 at the I-95 ramp. The collision involved an SUV and
a pickup truck.
Troopers said the pickup truck
appeared to have been sideswiped and overturned. The driver of the pickup truck
died at the scene.
The ramp from I-95 southbound to I-40 eastbound was closed for about 90 minutes. It has since reopened.
Troopers have not released the
names of anyone involved, nor the condition of the other driver.
WRAL News is working to learn more.
Do you have a favorite grocery store? According to an online food magazine, one grocery store reigns supreme as the best in North Carolina. With almost a century’s worth of history in the state, this store has since become a household name.
The Wilmington area is home to dozens and dozens of grocery stores, including several major brands, and opinions can certainly widely on which is the best place to do your weekly shopping
Online food publication loveFOOD.com recently published a list of the best grocery store in each U.S. state, with stores ranging from big chain superstores to local markets. When it came to North Carolina, LoveFOOD said Harris Teeter was the best grocery store in the state.
Hot food and good rewards
While some states had specific locations on the list, loveFOOD put the entire Harris Teeter chain for North Carolina.
LoveFOOD cited a handful of qualities that put Harris Teeter over the top. For one, the article highlighted the selection of prepared foods offered at Harris Teeter. Alongside the traditional hot bar, Harris Teeter also has pizza, sushi, sandwiches and more. LoveFOOD also gave kudos to what the article called a “thoughtfully curated wine selection.”
Finally, Harris Teeter’s reward system got special attention. Alongside access to weekly sales on groceries, the reward system lets customers earn Fuel Points that can be used to get up to $1 off per gallon at Harris Teeter gas stations.
How to save money on groceries
Save money on groceries with these smart hacks.
Problem Solved
A North Carolina store
According to Harris Teeter’s website, W.T. Harris originally founded Harris Food Store in Charlotte in 1936. A few years later, Willis and Paul Teeter opened Teeter’s Food Mart in Mooresville. In 1960, the two stores merged into Harris Teeter.
Today, Harris Teeter has over 250 stores across seven southern states and Washington, D.C, though the store is still based in North Carolina. Headquarters are located in the town of Matthews, and Harris Teeter operates distribution centers out of Greensboro and Indian Trail. The chain employees 35,000 employees across the country.
Charlie Kingree is the trending topics and Pender County reporter for the StarNews. He can be reached at ckingree@usatodayco.com.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Two proposed changes to North Carolina’s tax laws are now headed to voters in November after lawmakers approved both constitutional amendments this week.
Western North Carolina political science professor Dr. Chris Cooper says both amendments involve taxes, but in different ways.
“Part of the fight here is essentially about how much people should be taxed, but some of it is also about local government power and how much power should local governments have to be able to levy the higher property taxes to fulfill their needs,” Cooper said.
The first amendment seeks to permanently cap the state’s income tax rate at 3.5%, which Republican state leaders say is necessary.
“Now we’re at a point where we’ve proven that we are able to cut and we are still able to generate revenue by the business policies that we’ve had,” Rep. Mark Pless said.
NEW BILL COULD PUT CANNABIS DECRIMINALIZATION ON 2026 BALLOT IN NORTH CAROLINA
Democratic leaders, however, argue that the change would limit the state’s ability to raise revenue.
“If we’re saying that constitutionally the legislature can never raise the personal income tax above 3.5 percent, then we are necessarily limiting our ability to generate revenue to meet the needs of our growing state,” Senator Julie Mayfield said.
The second proposal focuses on property taxes and would limit how much local governments can increase them.
Democrats say the cap could reduce funding for schools, disaster response and local government services.
“Property taxes are the primary funder for local governments and the services they provide, and if we start limiting their ability to increase that revenue, again, to match their increasing needs, then communities are going to suffer, and public services are going to suffer,” Mayfield said.
ASHEVILLE PROPOSES PROPERTY TAX RATE INCREASE TO CLOSE $8.9M BUDGET GAP
Republicans counter that voters should have a direct say in how tax policy is set.
“Members on the other side of the aisle wanted to say that it was going to raise gas, it was going to raise groceries, it was going to cause rent to go up, and that’s just not feasible. Reducing the income tax is only going to reduce the amount they pay for government services,” Pless said.
Some political observers also say the amendments are part of a broader political strategy ahead of the election.
“These are tools to turn out more conservative voters in a midterm election where the Republicans are worried that their voters aren’t going to turn out. That is the motivation behind all of these,” Mayfield said.
Political experts say these likely won’t be the only amendments on the ballot, and more could be placed before voters in November.
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