House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger take questions from reporters on the floors of their respective chambers on Wednesday, Oct. 9 (Credit: Clifton Dowell)
“Recovering from Hurricane Helene will be no small task, but I believe we — the state of North Carolina, the people of North Carolina — are up to that task.”
Senate leader Phil Berger, on the General Assembly’s initial disaster relief proposal. (State Affairs Pro, 10/09/24)
Relief Bill
Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press, 10/09/24
North Carolina legislators completed an initial $273 million relief package Wednesday to help spur recovery from Hurricane Helene, describing it as a down payment on aid and a way to help hard-hit counties gain more flexibility in holding elections already underway. The legislation, which was approved unanimously in the House and Senate, comes less than two weeks after the catastrophic flooding from the storm’s historic rainfall in the North Carolina mountains.
Over half of the 238 confirmed Helene-related deaths in Southeastern states in Helene’s path occurred in North Carolina, a presidential battleground state where absentee voting has already begun.
Tens of thousands of electricity customers in the region remain without power and some people, including residents of Asheville, still lack running water. The voice of legislators from the ravaged region cracked with emotion when talking about the heavy blows dealt by Helene.
“I want to thank you for putting your first seeds into the ground,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, where he said the local water system is “unsalvageable” and otherwise would take years to replace. “We’ve never seen devastation like this before.”
Republican legislative leaders who helped craft the measure with input from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and election officials emphasized repeatedly that more legislation and funds would come soon. Lawmakers have also agreed to return Oct. 24 for more action, rather than wait until mid-November for an already scheduled session. They acknowledged the effort would take months and years to complete.
“The recovery that is going to have to be done is going to be something that is a Herculean task, but it is something that we will get done,” House Speaker Tim Moore said.
Nearly all the money in the bill — $250 million — is earmarked for state agencies to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs. State government currently has $4.75 billion set aside in a “rainy-day” fund and $733 million in a disaster response reserve. Other pots of money could be tapped if needed.
The governor was expected to sign the legislation. “I appreciate the efforts of the legislature today to pass a bill to aid these communities,” Cooper said at a Helene recovery briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.
The bill also includes specifics to ensure teachers and cafeteria workers in public schools closed in Helene’s aftermath get paid. Fees for people to replace lost driver’s licenses and identification cards are getting waived, as are some highway repair and open storm debris burn permitting requirements.
The bill also largely follows rule alterations for conducting elections and turning in ballots that were approved unanimously earlier this week by the State Board of Elections. But lawmakers decided to expand the alterations from 13 of the state’s 100 counties approved by the board to 25 counties — in keeping with the scope of the federal disaster declaration, Senate leader Phil Berger said.
The storm’s flooding has severely damaged some voting sites, making replacements necessary. Early in-person voting is held Oct. 17 through Nov. 2.
The legislation allows voters registered in the 25 counties, for example, to request an absentee ballot in person up until the day before Election Day. These voters also would have more ways to drop off those absentee ballots, including any open early voting site or county election office in any of the 100 counties, as well as at the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh. That goes beyond the additional options approved by the state board. Such ballots still must be turned in by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican and Senate elections committee co-chairman, emphasized the changes in the bill were nearly all based on the board’s bipartisan order earlier in the week, and that many entities provided input to staff. “We just saw the level of devastation and knew we had to make changes for anybody to have a chance of voting in these elections,” Newton said. “That would be true no matter whether it’s red or blue.”
In floor debate, Democratic and Republican mountain legislators described the destruction they’ve witnessed in their districts. They spoke gratefully about acts of heroism and assistance from outside the region, including convoys of supplies. [Source]
Governor’s Press Conference
Adam Wagner, The News & Observer, 10/09/24
Gov. Roy Cooper vowed Wednesday that the state government will continue to provide the resources Western North Carolina communities need to recover from Tropical Storm Helene. “This is a true all-hands-on-deck moment,” Cooper said.
In a wide-ranging briefing, officials touched on a number of topics related to the Helene response. Notably, Cooper called out the effects of wide-reaching disinformation that has been spreading in Helene’s wake; FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell vowed to keep significant assets in North Carolina even as the agency responds to Hurricane Milton’s impending landfall in Florida; and Cooper called for direct assistance for small businesses impacted by the storm.
“This is a historic disaster, the magnitude of which we have never experienced before in our state. The road to recovery will be long, but North Carolinians are strong and resilient and together we will recover,” said NC Emergency Management Director Will Ray.
Ray described the response to Helene — including other states, the federal government, the private sector, nonprofits and volunteers — as “the largest whole-of-community response in North Carolina history.” Cooper said there are fewer than 81,000 power outages remaining, down from hundreds of thousands after the storm passed through. He said 80% of AT&T and Verizon outages have been repaired; and FEMA has approved about 126,000 Individual Assistance applications with more than $60 million in aid paid.
The state has confirmed 88 storm-related deaths. Additionally, about 2,600 people are staying in hotels through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.
“It’s clear that we’re still at the beginning of this recovery and much more work remains ahead for Western North Carolina to recover stronger than ever, and it will,” Cooper said.
Cooper made a point to call out the rampant rumors about the Helene response that are spreading on social media. Those rumors have resulted in FEMA and N.C. Emergency Management each creating rumor response web pages, while U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican who represents Western North Carolina, has also sent a press release debunking myths about the Helene response.
“It’s demoralizing and dangerous for people working so hard to deliver that help,” Cooper said. Cooper urged people to verify information they have been sent with “respected news sources” or to reach out directly to FEMA or state responders.
More than 460 roads have reopened, NC Department of Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said Wednesday, but more than 600 remain closed due to storm damage. “This number’s still changing daily as communications improve and we reach more sites,” Hopkins said. [Source]
Official Tours Cory Vaillancourt, Smoky Mountain News, 10/09/24
Where once were surging floodwaters, now elected representatives from both the federal and state level are pouring into Western North Carolina and Haywood County, touring damaged areas, talking to local officials about needs and thanking first responders for their service to their communities.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, with FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell in tow, continued his multi-day western swing on Oct. 4, making stops in Haywood and Jackson Counties. “I’m so impressed with the preparation that was done here, understanding what storms could do, but not expecting the magnitude of the storm that actually hit — water raging in rivers all over Western North Carolina in an unprecedented way,” Cooper said.
Cooper ran down a list of supplies delivered to Haywood County, including but not limited to water, medical cots, swift water rescue teams, law enforcement officers, nurses, incident management teams, canine search teams, EPA hazmat specialists, high water clearance vehicles, ambulances and mobile cellular transmission equipment.
Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers echoed Cooper’s sentiments about readiness. “I feel the town and Haywood County, we were the best prepared to deal with this,” Smathers said. “But there’s only so much you can do with 28 feet of water comes to your hometown.”
Cooper’s next stop, at the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office in Waynesville, highlighted the coordinated response of the county’s various public safety agencies, but Cooper, Criswell, Sheriff Bill Wilke and Commission Chair Kevin Ensley spent a good amount of time continuing to address conspiracy theories being shared online.
On Oct. 7, Attorney General Josh Stein stopped in to Canton after visiting hard-hit Avery County, and similarly denounced outrageous claims made by some. “There are people intentionally misrepresenting what’s happening so that folks don’t know what to believe, and with their communications so stretched and difficult, it makes it very difficult for folks to know what to believe and what not to believe,” Stein said. “Do not react to what you hear that sounds outrageous until you’ve done a little bit of research, because it’s very easy to make something sound outrageous and plausible, but it’s just not true.”
On Oct. 8, Sen. Thom Tillis visited the same complex Cooper had a few days before, saying he was pleased with the overall response by FEMA. Tillis, a frequent visitor to the region, recently secured a $5.8 million appropriation for Canton’s new fire station, which will replace the current building damaged by flooding in 2021 and by Helene last month. “I’m back in Canton to tell those folks that I’m going to be with them on this one, just like I was the last one and any future ones,” Tillis said.
Mark Pless, Haywood County’s Republican representative in the General Assembly, said that House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, met with leaders in Canton on Oct. 4, delivering supplies and moving onto Clyde, Waynesville and the Crabtree Fire Department before joining the mayors of Hot Springs and Marshall in Madison County, which Pless also represents.
Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, and Rep. Karl Gillespie, R-Macon, accompanied Pless to Marshall and Hot Springs again on Oct. 6. [Source]
FULL REPORTING
I-40 Restoration: (Richard Stradling, The News & Observer, 10/09/24) The N.C. Department of Transportation has hired contractors to stabilize the surviving two lanes of Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge but says no decision has been made about what to do with them. It also says there’s still no timetable for reopening the highway that connects North Carolina with Tennessee.
The eastbound lanes of I-40 washed out in several places on both sides of the state line. During a visit to the gorge on Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told reporters that work had begun to convert the westbound lanes to two-way traffic while long-term repairs are made. “We’ll have the road moving in another week or so,” Lee said. But NCDOT says the North Carolina side isn’t ready.
Contractors arrived Tuesday to begin a process called “soil nailing,” essentially driving reinforced steel bars up to 20 feet long into the side of the gorge under the road to keep it from eroding further. That work will take a few months, said NCDOT spokesman David Uchiyama. In the meantime, NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration will determine the best use of the westbound lanes as plans for major repairs come together, Uchiyama said.
“This temporary shoring operation will save the remainder of westbound lanes in sections where eastbound lanes slid into the river gorge,” he said. “Around the time this operation concludes, plans for a larger complex and complete repair will be in progress.”
The $10 million shoring contract has incentives if the contractors — Wright Brothers Construction of Charleston, Tennessee, and Colorado-based GeoStabilization International — can finish the work by Jan. 4.
Engineers are still trying to figure out how to restore the land that once supported the eastbound lanes of I-40.
Speaking with reporters, Gov. Lee called the Pigeon River Gorge section of I-40 “incredibly important.” More than 26,000 drivers a day normally use what is the busiest route between the two states. Meanwhile, an alternate route, Interstate 26, remains closed after floodwaters knocked down twin spans that carried the highway over the Nolichucky River in Erwin, about 40 miles from the North Carolina line.
For now, NCDOT advises drivers wishing to go west toward Tennessee to take either I-77 north to I-81 near Wytheville, Virginia, toward Knoxville, or take U.S. 74 west toward Chattanooga.
Postal Service: (WFAE Radio, 10/09/24) Hurricane Helene has disrupted services and operations for many organizations – including the Postal Service’s ability to deliver mail and packages – throughout the entire Southeast region. In a press release, the postal service says it has worked around the clock to restore operations wherever safely possible. However, there is still a significant backlog of mail and packages and closed routes in the areas hit hardest by the storm.
As of Monday, all USPS North Carolina processing facilities and most retail and delivery units have reopened. Where retail and delivery units remain inaccessible, postal offices have relocated operations to nearby locations and are further deploying mobile retail units to provide retail and delivery services to impacted communities as quickly as possible.
Power Outages: (Catherine Messier, USA Today Network, 10/08/24) At the Buncombe County press briefing on the morning of Oct. 8, County Manager Avril Pinder reviewed progress in electricity restoration from Duke Energy, the biggest electricity provider in the state of North Carolina. As of 9 a.m. on Oct. 8, more than 59,000 Duke Energy customers in Buncombe County were still without power, a significant decrease from the 149,000 without power immediately following Tropical Storm Helene. But the restoration progress has been slow over the last few days.
Duke Energy crews continue to work around the clock to restore electricity to Buncombe County, Pinder said, prioritizing the hardest-hit communities as they rebuild. The biggest challenges are fallen trees and washed-out roads, which limit access to the power lines. There is currently no set date for power restoration. On its website, Duke Energy declares it hopes to have the work done sometime next week, but it also warns that it may take a more extended period of time depending on the specific outage.
App State Return: (WSOC News, 10/08/24) Appalachian State will resume classes after fall break on Oct. 16, the interim chancellor announced on Tuesday. Officials with the university, county, town, and chamber decided on this after reporting that the infrastructure damaged by Helene is improving. “Academic Affairs is prepared to work with each and every student to ensure they are able to be successful, especially those on track to graduate in December,” said Heather Norris, interim chancellor, in the announcement.
Duke Endowment: (David Mildenberg, Business NC, 10/09/24) The Duke Endowment is pledging $15 million to help meet immediate relief needs in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina following Hurricane Helene. Initial grants totaling $7.5 million will support two funds, the Charlotte-based endowment said. It will send $5 million to the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s Emergency and Disaster Response Fund, which serves 18 western N.C. counties through local nonprofits. Another $2.5 million will go to the Central Carolina Community Foundation’s One SC Fund, which works with nonprofit organizations in South Carolina. Many corporations and nonprofit groups have committed resources related to the Hurricane Helene recovery. The Duke Endowment pledge is among the largest to date. The Asheville-based Dogwood Health Trust has pledged $30 million.
FEMA Shelter: (DJ Simmons, WFDD Radio, 10/09/24) The Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed it will soon take control of the Greensboro Influx Care Facility, which could potentially be used for people displaced by Helene. The facility was previously expected to be used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for unaccompanied immigrant children. FEMA said in a statement it’s in the process of signing an agreement to transfer ownership, ensuring the agency has the resources and assets it needs. The 100-acre property is at the site of the former American Hebrew Academy and has a capacity of up to 800 beds. No timeline was given on when the facility could be opened.
Medical Equipment: (Sharryse Piggott, WUNC Radio, 10/09/24) An Asheville-based medical equipment company is working to take care of its employees, after hundreds of them suffered losses from Helene. Aeroflow is a nationwide provider of products, like breastfeeding pumps, diapers, and catheters. It’s made up of four divisions: Breast Pumps, Diabetes, Urology, and Sleep. The company’s CEO Casey Hite said Aeroflow itself was largely unaffected, with the exception of losing electricity, internet, and water for a short time. The building was closed for about a day and half. But he said those impacted were unable to come to work due to damages from the storm, with some no longer having a place to live.
“We have roughly 55 of those employees that have lost their homes or in need of adequate housing,” Hite said. “So, we put together a fund to help secure housing for those 55 employees and are paying for them to stay in that housing, until the issue is resolved.” Hite said since schools are out in the area, Aeroflow is also offering childcare for small children, and older children can come to work with their parents.
Franklin Fight: (Rodney Overton, WNCN News, 10/09/24) The sheriff in Franklin County is asking the county manager to resign after claiming she is trying to add “red tape or roadblock” to Hurricane Helene relief efforts in the North Carolina mountains. Franklin County Sheriff Kevin White wrote on social media Tuesday about Franklin County Manager Kim Denton, saying she has “displayed a grotesque lack of leadership.”
The issue appears linked to a letter that Denton sent to county management on Thursday, Oct. 3 about reimbursements for funds spent on Hurricane Helene relief. The letter said that Denton would need to approve spending “in advance of deployment” — or Franklin County might be denied financial reimbursement of money spent to help in western North Carolina. “There are strict reimbursement guidelines and financial policies,” the letter from Denton said.
“Bureaucracy often interrupts people’s lives, but it should never cost people their lives,” White said about Denton’s letter. “To say I am disappointed would be a tremendous understatement.” The letter from Denton was released to CBS 17 Tuesday afternoon by a spokesman for Franklin County government.
Biltmore Relief: (Luke Tucker, WBTV News, 10/09/24) In an effort to help western North Carolina recover from the devastation brought by Helene, the Biltmore Estate is pledging $2 million to aid its mountain neighbors. “Amidst the immeasurable challenges our region faces following the devastation of Helene, Biltmore remains steadfast in our commitment to supporting our employees and community on the path to rebuilding,” the estate said in a news release.
Like the rest of Asheville and much of the North Carolina mountains, the Biltmore Estate sustained damage from Helene and has been closed ever since. The $2 million will provide critical and immediate financial relief for people in need, as well as support Biltmore employees in crisis.
Mission Contract
Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times, 10/09/24
A month after registered nurses at Mission Hospital voted 97% in favor to allow a strike over pay, staffing and safety issues, a new deal has been struck between HCA and its nurses. This week, Mission nurses represented by National Nurses United voted in favor of ratifying a new three-year contract with HCA Healthcare management, as announced by the NNU on Oct. 9.
Since the last union contract ended on July 2, nurses and HCA management have been negotiating over a new contract and in mid-July appeared to have gotten closer on some issues. But by the end of the month, local union leaders said there were still many disagreements, including pay, staffing, extra money for holiday and night shifts, paid time off and protection from workplace violence.
A post on the local union’s Facebook page in July claimed understaffing at the hospital meant no guaranteed food and bathroom breaks, saying, “We often can’t pee or eat at work because we are caring for our patients.”
Despite picketing and public outcries for better conditions, the agreement in early October came before any strikes were called by nurses on the bargaining team, even though the vote in September authorized a strike if necessary during negotiations.
“Mission Hospital is so important to Asheville and all of Western North Carolina,” Hannah Drummond, a registered nurse in the Mission catheterization lab recovery unit, said in the news release. “This contract is another step forward to making Mission the hospital it needs to be for our patients. Nurses are the backbone of Mission Hospital, and this contract adds steel to our spine.”
Mission Hospital spokesperson Nancy Lindell confirmed to the Citizen Times on Oct. 9 that a contract was ratified but declined to answer questions about the specifics of the contract. “As we indicated all along, our goal was to reach an agreement that was fair for our colleagues and maintained the flexibility that allows us to operate in an ever-changing healthcare environment, and this contract meets those goals,” Lindell said via email on Oct. 9. “Now, as our Western North Carolina community comes together to heal from Hurricane Helene, we are eager to move forward together in providing high-quality care to our patients.”
NNU, which represents more than 1,600 nurses at Mission Hospital, listed some highlights from the new contract in its news release, including a provision that may better allow for needed breaks: “Substantial wage increases” that include up to 29% for some nurses over the contract’s three-year term. This will hopefully “improve nurse recruitment and retention,” the release said. A pilot program for break relief staffing that will ensure nurses can take their meal and rest breaks during their shifts. New measures to ensure nurses are “floated,” or temporarily reassigned, to units similar to their normal specialty. Staff can use preferred names and add personal pronouns to name badges.
“We are excited to have this new contract and ensure that our hospital is on a path to taking the best possible care of our patients and community,” Huns Brown, RN in the pulmonary progressive care unit, said in the news release. [Source]
Port Disruption
Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press, 10/08/24
Even though East and Gulf Coast longshoremen agreed to return to work Thursday evening, their three-day strike at the port in Wilmington could have a ripple of negative effects on the North Carolina economy, potentially hampering recovery efforts in Western counties.
Lumber products and other construction materials, essential to rebuilding efforts after Tropical Storm Helene’s devastating flooding and landslides, enter the state via the Wilmington port.
“It’s not like the strike ends and then the flow of goods immediately starts back up,” Drew Rosen, professor of supply chain management at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, told Carolina Public Press. “It takes time for the gears to get in motion.” Rosen predicts that it will take five weeks before supply chains are fully back to normal.
Wilmington is the 21st largest port in the country but is normally regarded as one of the most efficient. Rosen hopes that this efficiency — that more trucks come in and out, loading and unloading than in ports of comparable size — will mitigate the delays in materials getting out to Western North Carolina.
Robert Handfield, supply chain management professor at N.C. State University, told CPP that the strike caused a lot of shipments to be rerouted around to the West Coast, and then put on a truck to traverse the county on interstates.
The port of Wilmington contributes close to $16 billion to the state economy, with 90,000 jobs connected to its operations, according to Guettabi. “Because the southeast region has grown quite a bit over the last four or five years, population growth has translated into the footprint of the port becoming more pronounced,” Guettabi said. “It plays a more outsized role in the state economy than it did pre-pandemic.”
The contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance has been extended to Jan. 15 and promises a 63% pay increase for port workers over a six-year period. However, the port ownership has yet to quell the union’s concerns that they may lose their jobs to automation in years to come. [Source]
Harris Campaign
Danielle Battaglia, McClatchy, 10/09/24
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to return to North Carolina to campaign in Greenville on Sunday, the Harris-Walz campaign told McClatchy exclusively Wednesday. The news comes as Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall as a Category 5 storm in Florida, and the campaign added that the vice president is continuing to monitor the storm and taking her travel day-by-day.
This will mark the Democrat’s 19th visit to North Carolina this election cycle. The campaign didn’t provide details of what Harris would do in Greenville or whether the public could attend her event.
She last visited the state on Saturday as part of an official trip to tour areas impacted by Hurricane Helene. [Source]
Dam Repair
Michael Paul, State Port Pilot, 10/09/24
After Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 last month, the new estimated date for completion of the reconstruction of Sanford Dam is May 18, 2027. According to Boiling Spring Lakes City Manager Gordon Hargrove, once it is completed N.C. Dam Safety will inspect the dam then the lake will be impounded. How long that takes will be dependent on the weather. The new estimated date for the reopening of East Boiling Spring Road is early spring 2025.
Hargrove gave up-to-date information during the Board of Commissioners meeting on Oct. 1 at city hall about the reconstruction project. “The good news is that all the permanent work associated with the dam construction is still intact,” he said. “The bad news is that the temporary work needed to install the permanent work has washed away.”
Hargrove explained that Sanford Dam was ahead of schedule, and that the project has lost time due to Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 and is no longer ahead of schedule.
The reconstruction project began in July 2023. Estimated costs also have increased. “Due to Potential Tropical Cyclone 8,” Hargrove said, “we have suffered extensive damage in the amount of $10 million, which FEMA will participate in recovering those costs. [Source]
Duke Campus
Mary Helen Moore, The News & Observer, 10/09/24
Duke University got a large chunk of land rezoned this week, paving the way for a big redevelopment of its Central Campus in the coming years, though the university says nothing is planned yet.
The rezoning adds Duke’s 155-acre Central Campus to the university’s custom zoning district, a widely permissive category created for Duke and N.C. Central universities about two decades ago. It’s called University and College, or “UC,” and allows Duke to build nearly anything that could conceivably serve a college campus, from dormitories to utilities to hotels to stadiums.
“The primary benefit of the UC is it allows for planning and zoning elements — such as stormwater, parking, sidewalks, tree coverage — to be considered holistically at the campus scale, rather than on each building site,” said Adem Gusa, director of planning and design at Duke University.
The vote passed the Durham City Council by 5-2 vote Monday night, with the city’s two newest council members, Nate Baker and Chelsea Cook, voting against it. Baker said specific plans should have come first. [Source]
DWI Charges
Tammy Grubb, The News & Observer, 10/09/24
A Hillsborough town official and member of the Democratic National Committee was charged Tuesday morning with driving while impaired in Chapel Hill after an officer saw his car weaving on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Hillsborough Town Board member Matt Hughes, 34, was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor driving while impaired and failure to maintain lane control, according to court documents. It’s the second time that Hughes has been charged with driving while impaired in the last two years. He has been on the town board since 2019 and also is the former chair of the Orange County Democratic Party.
In 2022, he mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the N.C. House District 50 seat, and in September, he was one of 131 North Carolina delegates who voted at the Democratic National Convention to support Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Hughes referred questions about his arrest to his attorney Sam Coleman in Hillsborough. [Source]
Detention Officer Training
Cheryl Hemric, The Robesonian, 10/07/24
Robeson Community College is proud to announce that the recent cohort of students in the Detention Officer Certification Course at Robeson Community College has successfully completed the intensive five-week program, achieving a remarkable 100% pass rate on the state exam.
The Detention Officer Course is a comprehensive 192-hour program that prepares participants for certification to work in a Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility in North Carolina. The course includes a rigorous curriculum that prepares students with the necessary skills and knowledge to gain employment in this critical role within the criminal justice system. [Source]
Campus Protests
Korie Dean, The News & Observer, 10/09/24
Students, faculty and staff at UNC-Chapel Hill are running into a host of increased security measures on campus this week — a direct response, university officials said, to protests related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel last Oct. 7. In response to the anniversary, the UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine is holding a “week of resistance,” which includes several events.
Fences have been installed around campus landmarks — particularly those where SJP has held protests before, or planned to do so this week — and students are also being asked to show their university ID cards to enter some classroom buildings. The university’s media relations office specifically tied the new measures to protests.
“Limited access to specific buildings is being implemented out of an abundance of caution as an additional security measure in light of notable planned and potential activities on campus during the week,” the office wrote in an email to The News & Observer. [Source]
Palestinian Lecture
Amy Diaz, WFDD Radio, 10/08/24
Around 100 people gathered inside the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem Monday evening to listen to a reflection on one year of the Israel-Hamas war from a Palestinian perspective. The speaker, Rabab Abdulhadi, is a professor and founding director of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies Program at San Francisco State University.
Abdulhadi was originally scheduled to speak at Wake Forest University on Oct. 7, but the administration called it off, saying they would not host events that were “inherently contentious.”
The university opted to commemorate the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack with an interfaith prayer for peace and a community reflection. It also allowed an event organized by Jewish students to take place, which invited the community to “pray for Israel and lasting peace.”
Professor and Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History Barry Trachtenberg worked with community organizers to host Abdulhadi off-campus after her lecture was canceled. “To say that we cannot hear the voices of Palestinians, that this is a day only to mourn Jewish lives, is nothing less than obscene, and a complete betrayal of the academic mission of our university,” Trachtenberg said. [Source]
Supersonic Flights
Brian Gordon, The News & Observer, 10/09/24
In aviation, the “flight envelope” refers to an aircraft’s operational limits. How fast can it safely go? How high can it climb? How much can it carry? Over five initial test flights, Boom Supersonic has begun to push its envelope. The startup with plans to assemble supersonic passenger jets in North Carolina completed its first flight in March at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.
On this inaugural run, the needle-nosed XB-1 soared at 7,120 feet and 273 mph. During its fifth test, conducted Monday, the jet reached 17,800 feet and approximately 373 mph. The new velocity is still below what even traditional commercial airliners achieve. Boom says that will soon change; in posting footage of its latest liftoff, the company shared it is on pace to break the sound barrier “by year-end.”
In its effort to revitalize the supersonic commercial industry, dormant since the Concorde last flew in 2003, Colorado-based Boom has picked North Carolina as a hub. In June, the company completed construction on its first manufacturing and testing facility, a 179,000-square-foot hangar at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. In exchange for its commitment to create at least 1,760 jobs and invest half a billion dollars at the site, Boom received up to $87 million in potential payroll tax benefits from the state. [Source]
School Guns
Elaina Athans, WTVD News, 10/09/24
Gun-related incidents on school campuses in 2024 have already outpaced incidents in 2023, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Everytown for Gun Safety is a gun control advocacy group based in New York.
The group’s report finds that North Carolina is now tied for sixth place for most gun violence incidents on school campuses. There have been seven cases at North Carolina schools so far this year. One person died and two others were injured. North Carolina law states that a student who brings a firearm on campus faces a yearlong suspension. [Source]
Truist Breach
Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal, 10/09/24
Truist Financial Corp. is informing customers they may have been affected by another data breach via the February hacking of a third-party debt collection agency. “This incident did not impact Truist’s systems or network, or the information maintained on our systems,” Truist told customers.
Financial Business and Consumer Solutions Inc. recently notified Truist “that certain of your personal information maintained on its systems may have been affected by a security incident on its network.”
In June, Truist confirmed that as many as a combined 65,000 Truist employees and customers appeared to have been affected by a data breach in October 2023 by a hacking group known as Sp1d3r. Several media outlets, including American Banker and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reported Friday that the hacking group is selling data affecting employees and certain customers for $1 million. [Source]
Children’s Hospitals
Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal, 10/09/24
Levine Children’s Hospital of Atrium Health has been ranked in a three-way tie for best pediatric hospitals in the Southeast, as well as No. 1 in North Carolina, according to the 2024-25 report from U.S. News & World Report released Tuesday. Brenner Children’s Hospital, based in Winston-Salem and an affiliate of Levine, was not ranked by US News. The last top-50 ranking for Brenner was 2018-19.
“While both Levine and Brenner children’s hospitals are part of the same health system, we evaluated them separately,” said Sarah Pike, US News’ senior digital public relations manager. Levine was ranked nationally in 10 of the 11 individual pediatric categories, led by No. 7 in cardiology and heart surgery.
Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center in Durham and UNC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill were ranked tied for fourth in the Southeast. They were the only other N.C. children’s hospital ranked by U.S. News. Both were ranked in nine categories, with UNC’s individual category high of 16th in diabetes and endocrinology, while Duke’s was fourth in cardiology and heart surgery. Both were top-50 for behavioral health. [Source]
ACC Scheduling
Aaron Beard, The Associated Press, 10/09/24
The ACC’s expansion to 18 basketball programs, including the addition of SMU to plant the league’s flag in Texas, has turned what used to be largely regional tussles to determine a regular-season champion into a Pacific-to-Atlantic endeavor that changed the way the ACC handled scheduling. This is the new realignment world of four superconferences, notably with the ACC joining the Big Ten — which added USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12 — in taking on that coast-to-coast operation.
“I’m sure we’ll learn a lot,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told The Associated Press. “I don’t know that we’ve got it completely figured out, but we looked at it in a fair equitable way. …. I feel good about it. Is it perfect? It’s not perfect. But we needed to start somewhere and I feel like we’re at a good place going into Year 1.”
Basketball season represents a bigger test with 20 games on the men’s slate, 18 for the women and multiple per week each way. So the league has adopted a 2-for-1 approach to putting together the schedule: play two games for every one trip and essentially alternate weekends of playing at home versus on the road. That would have Stanford or Cal playing a pair of road games at neighboring North Carolina schools or in the Eastern time zone on the same trip, or each hosting the same visitor within four days.
Five schools — Boston College, Florida State, Miami, N.C. State and Syracuse — will have both their men’s and women’s programs travel to California to play the Cardinal and Bears this season. [Source]
Appointments
News Release, 10/09/24
Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Boards and Commissions appointments.
Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging:
Adrienne A. Livengood of Winston Salem as a member at-large.
Debra A. Stonecipher of Asheville as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Arts Council:
Susan W. Woodson of Raleigh as a member at-large.
Dr. Paul Keith Baker of Raleigh as a member at-large.
Dr. William Henry Curry of Raleigh as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Auctioneers Commission:
John M. Harris of Winston-Salem as a member by the Governor’s discretion.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Bald Head Island Transportation Authority Board of Trustees:
Joseph Patrick Hatem of Southport as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Employment Security Board of Review:
Adam Lockhart Taylor of Raleigh as a representative of employers.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Advisory Committee on Cancer Coordination and Control:
Melissa H. Smith of Wake as the North Carolina community college system representative.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Disciplinary Hearing Commission of the North Carolina State Bar:
Scarlett Hargis of Garner as a public member. Hargis serves as a Paralegal to the General Counsel in the Office of the Governor and has been in this role since 2017.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Council on Educational Services for Exceptional Children:
Dr. Bradley S. Stevenson of Charlotte as a representative of a private school.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Licensing Board:
Anne Morgan Selleck of Durham as a physician preferably specializing in the field of Otolaryngology.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Historic Murfreesboro Commission:
Craig Lee Dennis of Murfreesboro as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board:
Melissa A. Lovell of Holly Springs as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Human Relations Commission:
Kerry M. Wiggins of Winston-Salem as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Locksmith Licensing Board:
Erich Crouch of Greensboro as a public member.
Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services:
Carolyn Floyd Robinson of Lumberton as a substance abuse services consumer or an immediate family member of a substance abuse services consumer.
Dr. Hany A. Kaoud of Winterville as a physician.
Danny Ray Graves of Charlotte as a member who is a substance abuse services professional.
Suzanne Mizsur-Porter of Rutherfordton as a substance abuse services family member.
Karon F. Johnson of Durham as a developmental disability’s family member.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission:
Mildred Christmas of Raleigh as a member at-large.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the NCWorks Commission:
Rebecca Irene Axford of Hillsborough as a workforce representative/labor representative.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina State Board of Examiners for Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors:
Jeffrey Clark Farlow of Greensboro as a plumbing contractor.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board:
David E. Poston of Shelby as a member who is licensed under 74C-4.
Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission:
Patrick H. Bell of Raleigh as a licensed real estate broker.
Melvin Alston of Greensboro as a licensed real estate broker.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Council on Sickle Cell Syndrome:
Sen. Gladys A. Robinson of Raleigh as a member at-large. Robinson is the Deputy Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate for the State of North Carolina.
Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees:
Rajinder Singh of Cary as a member experienced in finance and investments.
Lanier T. McRee of Raleigh as a member experienced in finance and investment who is also a state employee.
Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service:
Samantha C. Arrington Sliney of Whispering Pines as a member who is a representative of the military or veterans.
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