YOU DON’T SAY

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to spend millions of dollars in legal fees to defend a process that our board voted for unanimously.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell, on the legal dispute involving the health insurance companies seeking to manage North Carolina’s public employee benefits plan. (The News & Observer, 7/08/24)

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Insurance Contract

The Associated Press and The News & Observer, 7/08/24

In a legal fight involving two health insurance companies seeking to manage North Carolina’s public employee benefits plan, a judge ruled Monday that the plan’s board acted properly when it switched to Aetna and dropped longtime administrator Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Contract costs — with health care claims included — exceed $3 billion annually.

Blue Cross has administered the State Health Plan for over 40 years. The administrator handles health care expenses for several hundred thousand state employees, teachers, their family members and retirees, ensuring claims are paid and building out a provider network. After a bid process, the plan’s trustee board voted in December 2022 to award the initial three-year contract to Aetna over Blue Cross and a unit of United Healthcare, which also competed.

Blue Cross challenged the decision, arguing that the State Health Plan erred in how it decided which company would get the contract and calling the bid process oversimplified and arbitrary. But Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter, who heard the contested case in February, wrote Monday that Blue Cross had not met the burden of proof necessary to show that plan leaders had acted erroneously or failed to follow proper procedures.

“The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Plan conducted the procurement carefully and thoughtfully, fairly and in good faith, and that its decisions were properly within its discretion,” Lassiter wrote in affirming the trustee board’s decision to give the award to Aetna. It’s unclear if the ruling will be appealed to Superior Court.

Blue Cross said it was disappointed in the ruling but “gratified that the court reviewed the serious questions we raised” about the State Health Plan’s proposal request process. “Blue Cross NC is honored to serve our teachers, public safety officers and state employees and will continue to provide the highest level of service throughout the current contract,” the company said in a written statement.

State Treasurer Dale Folwell, the trustee board chairman, praised the ruling, saying it had been clear that the State Health Plan “performed a well-reasoned, high-integrity, and correct procurement process for third-party administrative services.”

Aetna, which has been arranging to take over the State Health Plan, can continue with its preparations.

Regardless of whether further appeals are made, Sam Watts, the SHP director, told The News & Observer prior to the ruling that “there’s a zero percent change that State Health Plan members are going to go to their doctor on January 1 — no matter what the judge says — and not have access to their health care.”

“We’ve got enough contingency plans and fallback positions and abilities to fix it that members do not have to worry,” he said.

“The claims are going to continue to be paid,” Folwell told The N&O. But “unfortunately, we’ve had to spend millions of dollars in legal fees to defend a process that our board voted for unanimously.”

According to SHP spokesperson Dan Way, as of late May, the SHP has spent about $1.9 million on the OAH case. [Source]

 

Teacher Raises

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan and Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer, 7/08/24

North Carolina teachers and school staff will get raises this summer under legislation Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law Monday. The bill, a last-minute measure to formally authorize pay raises for the second year of the two-year budget GOP lawmakers enacted last year, came together during the final days lawmakers were in session last month, after Republicans failed to reach a deal on a new budget.

In a statement, Cooper said the bill “simply restates the small pay raises legislators already gave public school teachers last year.”

“The legislature should pay our teachers significantly more as North Carolina has already dropped to 38th in the country in teacher pay and invests nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average,” Cooper said. “Our state has the resources to make meaningful investments to help our public school students and now is the time to do it.”

Most state employees are already set to receive a 3% pay raise starting this month that was part of the 2023-2025 budget passed this past fall. But the same budget bill’s raises for teachers and other school employees don’t kick in without additional legislation, the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Fiscal Research Division told The News & Observer in June.

So while this year’s budget adjustment bill may or may not ever come, lawmakers authorized the raises before they left at the end of June.

Teachers in public school districts are paid typically for 10 months of the year. Pay is higher for teachers with certain kinds of accreditation or a doctorate.

The money was allocated in the 2023 state budget, a two-year spending plan, but the language in the bill does not let it be paid out unless the General Assembly authorizes that money by June 30, according to the nonpartisan Fiscal Research analysts at the legislature, The N&O previously reported.

Here are the raises that the bill authorized:

• First-year teachers could receive $2,000 more. New teachers would have a starting salary this year of $41,000. Last year, it was $39,000.
• Step increases are built into teacher pay as they become more experienced, topping out at 25 years. There is a salary plateau with no increases for 15 through 24 years of experience, which would be $5,306 a month. For a veteran teacher of 25 or more years, last year’s pay was $5,510 a month, or $55,100 a year, and this year it would be $5,595, or $55,950 a year.
• Some teachers may also receive additional bonuses, paid out in January 2025 based on data from the previous two years. Those who qualify for the bonuses include teachers who teach Advanced Placement classes, with more money for each student’s scores, and Career and Technical Education. Some school districts offer more salary supplements to teachers and other school personnel.

The General Assembly has a legislative session scheduled for Wednesday, and a few more sessions through the rest of the year. During any of that time, House and Senate Republicans may reveal a negotiated budget adjustment bill that could have more money for raises and other programs and projects. [Source]

Bill Actions

Will Doran and Jack Hagel, WRAL News, 7/08/24

Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed two bills Friday that state lawmakers passed in a flurry of action last week as the year’s legislative session wound down, on government-backed cryptocurrencies and changes to the state’s building codes. Cooper also vetoed two other bills last week, related to rental discrimination and traffic laws.

One of the bills he vetoed Friday, Senate Bill 166, restructures the state’s Building Code Council to remove seats that are currently set aside for architects, fire experts and others.

Cooper said that by removing professionals like them from the council, the bill “limits the knowledge and practical experience of the body tasked with ensuring all buildings are safely designed.” He also criticized new rules in the bill, that had been requested by homebuilders and were defended by legislative backers as intended to help curb rising home costs. Cooper said they’re bad for the state’s energy and climate goals and could cause other costs to rise.

“By limiting options for energy efficiency and electric vehicles, this legislation prevents North Carolina’s building code from adopting innovations in construction and mobility that save consumers money,” he said.

Cooper also vetoed House Bill 690, that would ban state agencies from accepting, or helping test, any “central bank digital currency.” The legislature passed that with little discussion; Cooper said it’s a misguided overreaction to efforts by the federal government to test digital money that would function similar to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, except it would have a value fixed by the Federal Reserve rather than by market trading.

“Efforts are being made at the federal level to ensure standards and safeguards are in place to protect consumers, investors and businesses that may want to make monetary transactions in digital assets and North Carolina should wait to see how they work before taking action,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “This legislation is premature, vague and reactionary and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven’t even been made yet. Instead of this bill, the legislature should have passed a budget to provide more funding for cybersecurity threats that actually exist now.”

On Monday, Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 445, which tinkers with rules governing small claims appeals, saying: “This bill creates legal ambiguity regarding when eviction orders become effective and may harm low-income individuals by making it harder for them to appeal as indigent in small claims court.”

A spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cooper signed 10 other bills into law Monday:

• Senate Bill 527: ABC Omnibus 2023-24, which will re-authorize the delivery sales of mixed drinks and wine, among assorted other changes to the state’s liquor laws. Restaurants and bars were allowed to sell drinks to-go during the pandemic; this brings that rule back and makes it permanent.
• House Bill 591: Modernize Sex Crimes, creating new crimes targeting AI-generated pornography, or the threat of using private photos for “sexual extortion.”
• Senate Bill 425: HHS Omnibus, a wide-ranging set of health care policy tweaks.
• Senate Bill 303: Various Court Changes, a wide-ranging set of changes to legal rules governing child custody rules, involuntary committals and other more technical judicial rules.
• Senate Bill 565: Revise Automatic Expunction, an extension of the pause on new rules that will eventually allow more expunctions of criminal records.
• House Bill 98: Right to Try Individualized Treatments, allowing doctors to recommend experimental drugs treatments without the risk of losing their license. It also limits people’s ability to sue drug companies involved in such treatments.
• House Bill 593: Various General Local Laws, assorted changes to local government rules in Macon, Duplin and Union counties.
• Senate Bill 559: Charter Schools/Pension/ESOP, allowing charter schools to choose whether to participate in the State Health Plan.
• House Bill 250: Public Safety/Other Changes, making an assortment of changes to the rules for death examinations, DUIs, license plate readers, eminent domain law, and banning a substance critics call “gas station heroin.”
• Senate Bill 802: C-PACE Program, a new financing program that aims to make clean energy upgrades more accessible, including rooftop solar, energy efficient HVAC systems and LED lighting.

Cooper also let Senate Bill 607 — the Regulatory Reform Act — become law without his signature. He said the legislation contains important changes that should become law, but he declined to sign it due to a provision that would alter the charter and bylaws of the North Carolina Railroad, a private corporation. He says that’s a violation of the state constitution, which protects private businesses from legislative interference in internal governance.

“This isn’t about improving transportation for the people of North Carolina,” Cooper said in a statement. “It’s just another unconstitutional power grab by Republicans.” [Source 1] [Source 2]

Robinson Fundraiser

Will Doran, WRAL News, 7/08/24

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, is planning a campaign fundraiser Tuesday with a secretive religious group that for years has been publicly accused of wielding cult-like control over its followers and of engaging in criminal behavior including slave labor, financial fraud and the sexual and physical abuse of children.

The fundraiser backed by leaders of Word of Faith Fellowship, based in rural Rutherford County in western North Carolina, has raised questions among critics about Robinson’s connections to the group, which has given him thousands of dollars in campaign donations. Some of the accusations against the church have resulted in criminal convictions; church leaders deny the rest.

Robinson has long espoused conservative Christian values and has made speaking at churches a key part of his campaign for governor. The practice has come under scrutiny because of the secular nature of his role in the state’s second-highest executive office — and because of the hardline nature of Robinson’s comments during those sermons. But those speeches typically happen at mainstream churches that haven’t faced years of scrutiny from local and national media, anti-cult activists and state and federal prosecutors.

Robinson’s campaign declined to comment on a list of questions about the fundraiser with Word of Faith, his opinion on the church, its teachings and the accusations it faces.

A handful of leaders at Word of Faith Fellowship have faced criminal charges over the years, ranging from fraud to assault and molestation, according to news reports. Some were convicted; others weren’t. There are also accusations that church members with powerful positions in the community helped cover up child abuse — including one of the lead hosts of Robinson’s fundraiser, who told WRAL he denies the allegations.

Robinson’s main opponent in the race for governor is Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic Party’s nominee to replace term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper. A Stein campaign spokesperson said associating with Word of Faith should show that Robinson is “too extreme and dangerous to be governor.”

“It is disturbing, but unsurprising, that Mark Robinson would raise money from leaders of a group alleged to have engaged in child abuse,” Stein campaign spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said.

The Associated Press reported in 2017 that church founder Jane Whaley — who is also listed as principal of the Word of Faith Christian School — was secretly recorded saying she knew of at least three children who had been sexually abused, but she didn’t report it to authorities. Another secret recording showed Whaley blaming the 13-year-old girl whose molestation led to the conviction of a church leader in 1995, the AP reported.

Whaley’s son-in-law Frank Webster was a local prosecutor until 2017, when the Associated Press reported that he and another prosecutor and church member, Chris Back, “helped disrupt a social services investigation into child abuse in 2015, and had attended meetings where Whaley warned congregants to lie to investigators about abuse incidents.”

Webster is listed as a main sponsor of Robinson’s fundraiser Tuesday; Back is listed as a patron.

“None of the allegations are true,” Webster told WRAL. “Chris and I were investigated by the NC SBI over these claims and we were cleared a long time ago.”

A State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson said the records related to the investigation aren’t public. Webster’s lawyer, Noelle Tin, said the fact that Webster has never been prosecuted should prove that the accusations were false all along. “The fact that these sensational accusations have not made it to any courtroom in the past seven years proves that they were and are fabricated,” he said.

Due to the confidential nature of criminal investigations, it’s unclear how many investigations into the church remain active. But not all have been disproven. One recent federal investigation netted convictions of multiple church ministers for an unemployment benefits fraud scheme that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

Word of Faith is perhaps best known for its “blasting” sessions. It describes the practice on its website as praying, singing, speaking in tongues or “any strong demonstration of the Holy Spirit … against the temptations of the devil.”

Former members say it often involves a group of people surrounding someone accused of being gay, or of questioning church leaders, or facing any other suspicion — and then hitting, shaking, choking or screaming at them, sometimes for hours at a time.

Brooke Covington, who has been described as a top lieutenant of Whaley’s, was one of five people charged in 2017 for the “blasting” session beating of Matthew Fenner — a teenage church member suspected of being gay.

Covington’s 2017 trial ended in a mistrial in Rutherford County. Four other defendants had their cases transferred to Buncombe County, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. WRAL was unable to determine the status of those cases. The Buncombe County District Attorney’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Robinson isn’t the only politician Word of Faith leaders support. But he does appear to be the biggest target of their political giving — even before counting any funds he raises during Tuesday’s fundraiser.

A WRAL analysis of state records shows that some of those involved in Tuesday’s fundraiser, as well as other Word of Faith leaders, have given at least $85,000 to various state-level politicians and political groups of the last three decades, with their political contributions ramping up in recent years. About one-third of the total identified by WRAL, more than $28,000, has gone to Robinson in the past two years.

They’ve given $0 to Stein. Records show the church leaders have almost exclusively backed Republicans; the only exception was hometown politician Walter Dalton, a Democrat from Rutherford County who served as lieutenant governor from 2009-13.

Much of the rest of the financial support has gone to Hal Weatherman — the GOP’s 2024 nominee to replace Robinson as lieutenant governor — and to Weatherman’s former boss, Dan Forest, the former Republican lieutenant governor who ran for governor in 2020. Forest also faced controversy for hosting a fundraiser attended by Word of Faith leaders in 2017, shortly after the Associated Press’ lengthy expose was published. [Source]

Child Care Funding

Liz Schlemmer, WUNC Radio, 7/08/24

Many North Carolina child care centers used the federally-funded COVID-19 relief “stabilization grants” to raise pay to retain staff in a tight labor market. The state’s Division of Child Development and Early Education encouraged child care providers to use the funds to raise pay for teachers. Advocates for early childhood education have long warned of a looming funding cliff as federal COVID-19 relief to the child care industry expired in June. Without any aid, experts predicted up to a third of North Carolina childcare providers could close, based on a survey of providers.

Child care providers and advocates hoped state lawmakers would make up for the lost funds in their next budget to help child care centers maintain their payroll. Groups like the North Carolina Early Education Coalition pushed for $300 million in state funding to support child care providers in the transition away from federal relief.

The House and Senate’s opposing budget bills were in near agreement on how much funding to provide the child care industry, with the House proposing $135 million and the Senate proposing $136.5 million. But with many other budget fights still on the table, state lawmakers adjourned in late June without passing a state budget. Instead, lawmakers passed stopgap child care funding until they return this fall to finish the budget. Before state lawmakers put their budget session on pause, they passed $67.5 million in emergency funding to the child care industry.

That funding provides less financial support than providers had received with COVID-19 relief, but it alleviates the full effects of a funding cliff, according to Angela Burch-Octetreem, interim executive director of the North Carolina Early Education Coalition.

“Instead of a cliff, it’ll be more like a slope. Now, it’s still going downhill. It’s still not great, but it’s something to keep them going,” said Burch-Octetree.

The short-term funding represents a portion of the proposed funding that House and Senate lawmakers had in their respective budgets. “They realized that they needed to make a quick decision, and that this was an actual emergency that they needed to pay attention to,” said Angela Burch-Octetree. “It’s a little encouraging, but encouragement doesn’t help your bottom line.”

Child care providers will receive payments that are 75% of the amount they received in quarterly payments during the last several years. That means many providers will have to raise tuition or cut staff pay.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has administered the stabilization grants to child care providers. Since that system is already in place, the new funding will likely be in the hands of child care providers in a matter of weeks.

The Department issued a statement thanking the legislature for the stopgap funding: “We appreciate the General Assembly recognizing that access to quality and affordable child care is critical to the growth and development of North Carolina’s children and our economic prosperity. This funding will provide some immediate relief with the looming child care funding cliff,” NCDHHS spokeswoman Kandice Scarberry said in a statement. [Source]

DHHS Audit

Rose Hoban, NC Health News, 7/08/24

Weeks before one of North Carolina’s state-supported behavioral health management agencies merged with another one in eastern North Carolina, there was a flurry of questionable financial activity that led to more than $4 million in payments to two top executives and back pay to the law firm that counseled the organization, according to allegations made in an internal audit conducted by the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Sarah Stroud, the former chief executive officer of Eastpointe Health Services, received $707,480 in payments in December, benefits and bonuses awarded outside the board approval process prescribed by state law, according to the 15-page audit dated June 27 obtained by North Carolina Health News.

Catherine Dalton, who had been Eastpointe’s chief business officer, was given a job reclassification and severance package worth $383,110, the audit further states, days after Eastpointe found out it would be forced to consolidate with Trillium Health Services, a much larger behavioral health management organization that now covers 46 counties.

The December payments to Stroud and Dalton were signed off by the Eastpointe board chair, Greene County commissioner Jerry Jones, but according to the audit, neither payment was approved by the full board — which is required by state law. The internal audit recommends that Trillium seek to recoup the $1.09 million paid to Stroud and Dalton before the Jan. 1 consolidation date.

The audit also highlights an agreement that the Eastpointe CEO reached with the Charleston Group, the organization’s external counsel, that the audit says resulted in the law firm receiving $3 million in December 2023 for charges dating back to 2021.

Not only does the audit state that Eastpointe signed several backdated contracts in December, it also stated that thousands of emails that constitute public record “were deleted and not properly archived” by Eastpointe. “These factors limited the ability of (Office of the Internal Auditor) to obtain all sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful information needed to understand Eastpointe’s activities during and leading up to its consolidation with Trillium,” the audit document states in the introduction.

The consolidation of Eastpointe and Trillium came about after the North Carolina General Assembly included a provision in the state budget in 2023 that gave the state secretary of health and human services more control over the organizations the state contracts with to manage care for people with intellectual, developmental and mental health disabilities or substance use issues.

Sec. Kody Kinsley, head of DHHS since Jan. 1, 2022, used that new authority to restructure a system that had produced many complaints about barriers to care and difficulties navigating a system that is supposed to help provide for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations.

Eastpointe was one of six local management entity-managed care organizations, or LME-MCOs, that manage North Carolina’s mental health system. At the time of the merger, Eastpointe oversaw management of services for 45,106 people in the eastern part of the state in Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Warren, Wayne and Wilson counties.

Upon guidance from lawmakers, Kinsley reduced the number of LME-MCOs to four from the six that had been operating across the state. And that meant that Eastpointe would be absorbed into a larger system and its top executives would receive new high-ranking positions at the newly consolidated organization after Jan. 1.

In November, Kinsley issued an order to merge Eastpointe with Trillium and dissolve the former Sandhills Center.

Read more here.

 

Sports Betting

Brian Murphy, WRAL News, 7/08/24

North Carolina’s mobile sports betting revenue for June fell to its lowest level since legalized betting launched in mid-March. The dip was expected as the sporting calendar is without meaningful college or NFL football and without most basketball in June.

Still, sports bettors wagered nearly $400 million in paid wagers and promotional bets in June, pushing the state’s total to more than $2.2 billion in total bets. Bettors have bet more than $1.90 billion in paid wagers and more than $1.94 billion has been paid out in winnings.

The eight licensed operators collected more than $40 million in June in gross gaming revenue, as calculated by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission. That pushed the total of gross gaming revenue to more than $275 million. Operators pay an 18% tax on that figure.

The state has collected more than $49.5 million in taxes in the fiscal year that ended June 30, far above lawmakers’ projected revenue for sports betting. The state’s new fiscal year began July 1.

State lawmakers proposed changes to how that tax revenue is distributed, but did not agree to those proposals during this year’s legislative session. Nor did lawmakers address prop bets on college sports or the state’s tax code that does not allow losses to be deducted from sports betting winnings for tax purposes. [Source]

 

Underpass Project

Richard Stradling, The News & Observer, 7/08/24

It’s going to take contractors a year longer than expected to finish the underpass that will carry Blue Ridge Road under Hillsborough Street next to the State Fairgrounds. When work began after the 2022 State Fair ended, the N.C. Department of Transportation hoped to reopen Blue Ridge in time for the fair this fall.

Now, citing a number of complications, NCDOT officials say the goal is to get it done before next year’s fair and perhaps part of the 2025 N.C. State University football season at nearby Carter-Finley Stadium. The underpass will replace what was the most complex intersection in North Carolina.

In the span of a few dozen yards, Blue Ridge Road crossed Beryl Road, Hillsborough Street and the N.C. Railroad tracks that handle 22 freight and passenger trains a day. It took 11 phases of traffic signals to keep everything moving, the most of any intersection in the state, says Joey Hopkins, the secretary of Transportation. With Blue Ridge going under the two roads and the railroad tracks, traffic will move more smoothly and safely, Hopkins said.

Hopkins took Gov. Roy Cooper and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg out to see the progress last week. For Buttigieg, it was the first day of a national “summer of construction” tour that he’ll use to highlight projects supported by the big infrastructure bill that Congress passed in late 2021. After a couple of years of planning, many of the 57,000 projects receiving some financing from the $1 trillion bill are underway. “I want to see that for myself,” Buttigieg said in an interview. “And I want to make sure people hear that story about what their taxpayer dollars are going into.”

The state could not close the railroad tracks, the main line between Raleigh and points west. Instead, contractors built a parallel set of tracks that trains are using while the permanent railroad bridge is completed. Shifting the tracks and moving the buried utility lines beside the roads took longer than expected, says Mark Craig, NCDOT’s regional construction engineer. Labor and materials shortages and the need to shore up the soil under the temporary railroad tracks are among the factors causing delays.

The project is about 60% complete, and NCDOT expects people will be using the underpass by the time the fair opens in October 2025, Craig told Cooper and Buttigieg as they watched men work on the railroad bridge.

The underpass will help move people and cars more safely during big events at the fairgrounds, Carter-Finley and PNC Arena, Cooper told Buttigieg. That’s especially true when people try to cross the streets on foot; when the underpass opens, both Blue Ridge and Hillsborough will have sidewalks for the first time. Despite the delays, Cooper said he thinks people will love the finished product. “I just think once it’s finished, people are going to say, ‘Wow,’” he said. Buttigieg replied: “Send us a postcard from the ribbon cutting.” [Source]

Biden Campaign

Danielle Battaglia, McClatchy, 7/08/24

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to hold a political event in North Carolina on Thursday, the Biden campaign confirmed first to McClatchy. Harris’ visit comes during a tumultuous time for President Joe Biden, as some Democrats and political pundits call for Biden to bow out of the race following a weak debate performance against former President Donald Trump.

So far, North Carolina Democrats have not been among those. But in a private meeting on Sunday, several senior Democratic members of the U.S. House joined those who expressed that Biden should end his campaign, according to reporting from CBS News, quoting unnamed sources.

The House members were part of a call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in which other Democrats from their chamber also expressed concerns about Biden’s ability to win reelection, CBS reported. But Biden remains resolute that he will not leave the race and continues adding campaign stops to his schedule. And his surrogates continue to campaign on his behalf. That includes Harris, who plans to travel to Greensboro on Thursday, marking her sixth visit to North Carolina this year and her 14th since taking office.

She was last in Greensboro in September, when she visited N.C. A&T State University on her “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour. [Source]

 

Charlotte Murders

Gavin Off, The Charlotte Observer, 7/08/24

More people were killed from January through June of this year in Charlotte than in the first six months of any year since at least 2015.

Sixty-one people were killed in the first half of 2024, according to preliminary data from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. At least 50 victims were shot to death, most by handguns. The only stretch of time in the past nine and a half years to outpace the start of 2024 was the second half of 2020, when 66 people were killed during a nationwide upswing in violence near the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The increase in homicides in Charlotte bucks a national trend, said Chandler Hall, senior policy analyst for gun violence prevention at the Center for American Progress, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit. Nationally, firearm-linked homicides dropped 13% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period the year before, Hall said. But homicides in Charlotte have increased 33% so far this year, CMPD data show. “It’s shocking to hear a city going so significantly in the opposite direction,” Hall said.

A number of factors could affect short-term trends, said Ernesto Lopez, senior research specialist with the Council on Criminal Justice. A particularly deadly month or a few incidents with multiple victims can lead to a spike in homicides for a city, he said. Charlotte had both.

Charlotte had three incidents where three or more people were killed already this year.

The American Public Health Association now considers gun violence a major public health threat, one that is the leading cause of premature death in the United States. Tracie Campbell, senior health manager for Mecklenburg County’s Office of Violence Prevention, sees it as a disease often caused by trauma such as abuse and neglect. She likened gun violence and homicides to the pandemic.

“One person gets COVID and they don’t know they have COVID… They go out and spread it,” Campbell said. “It’s the same thing as having unresolved trauma when you have no one to help you deal with it.”

The county created the office about four years ago to help treat that trauma, sometimes by referring those who have experienced violence to mental health services. Campbell calls it a relationship-building program. The office partners with families, community leaders, churches, YMCAs and others to try to prevent violence, including intervening before it escalates. [Source]

 

Novo Nordisk Expansion

Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press, 7/08/24

Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind the blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, recently announced plans to expand its manufacturing operations in Clayton with a $4.1 billion investment into a new 1.4 million-square-foot facility.

A Johnston County economic development official is describing it as the biggest life science investment in North Carolina, possibly the United States. Novo Nordisk already employs 2,500 people in Clayton across its three existing facilities, the first of which was built in 1993. The new addition will come online sometime between 2027 and 2029, and create an additional 1,000 jobs. 

“These jobs will be everything from high-level management, middle management, highly-skilled scientists, chemists, engineers, people that will do product testing, to the folks that are putting the pens into the boxes and getting the labels on them so they can be delivered to patients,” Jay Kuykendall, project vice president of Novo Nordisk’s Clayton expansion, told Carolina Public Press.

The construction project, which at its peak next summer will employ 2,000 people, is already underway. “We’re at about 300 on site, and to this point, it’s almost 100% North Carolina people out there,” Kuykendall said.

Novo Nordisk’s emphasis on employing locals extends beyond the construction phase. The company partners with high schools and community colleges in the area on a BioWork certification that allows high school graduates to get entry-level jobs at their manufacturing facilities. This is good news for a state whose recent unemployment numbers have begun trending in the wrong direction: the unemployment rate increased in 95 of North Carolina’s counties in May. For now, the overall jobless rate does remain low in Johnston County, at 3.2%.

“They were actually contemplating building this facility over in Ireland,” Chris Johnson, economic development director of Johnston County, told CPP. “So we are very fortunate to lay claim to the largest investment in a life science project not only in North Carolina, but possibly in the United States. When you add on an additional 1,000 jobs at Novo (Nordisk), it becomes a huge regional employment center. People come from 25 neighboring counties to work there now.” [Source]

 

Wake Bridge

Anna Roman, The News & Observer, 7/08/24

Wake County leaders are seeking a new way to honor a local deputy who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Deputy Ned Byrd was fatally shot on Aug. 11, 2022, after he stopped to check out a suspicious pickup truck on Battle Bridge Road. Now, Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe and the Wake County Board of Commissioners want the state to name a bridge near the site of the shooting in Byrd’s memory.

Two brothers have been charged with murder in his death, and two of their siblings also face charges tied to the killing. A trial date will not be set until one of the brothers, who had escaped from jail after the shooting, is extradited from Mexico, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said.

On Monday, Wake County commissioners unanimously agreed to ask the N.C. Department of Transportation to rename the Auburn Knightdale Road Bridge over the Neuse River the “Ned P. Byrd Bridge.” The Sheriff’s Office will now submit the request and required application to the NCDOT staff.

There is no timeline for when the application could be approved, said Aaron Moody, assistant director of communications for NCDOT. [Source]

Birth Rate

Paul Garber, WFDD Radio, 7/03/24

Recent census figures show that the average age of North Carolinians is continuing to increase, mostly due to a decline in the birth rate. Data reveals that the number of children 4 and under is stagnant or declining in the Triad and High Country.

According to Nathan Dollar, director of Carolina Demography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a drop in fertility is to blame. He says last year the state grew by about 140,000 people.

“But if you look at the components of that change, you can see that 91% of all growth at the state level was due to in-migration, net migration, and only 9% was due to natural change, or more births than deaths,” he says. That’s reflected in the number of children 4 and under. In Watauga County, the number of kids in that range declined by almost 10 percent. Only three other counties in the state saw more significant drops. 

Last year, the average age in North Carolina ticked up to 39.3. Dollar says that’s the highest it’s ever been. [Source]

 

Hispanic Population

Desiree Mathurin and Gavin Off, The Charlotte Observer, 7/08/24

It’s no secret that Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are part of one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S., and recent census data continues to prove just that. That growth is seen within the Hispanic population. Specifically, Lancaster County in South Carolina is seeing the most growth in both overall population and the Hispanic population.

About 50,000 people became residents of Mecklenburg and its nine bordering counties between July 2022 and July 2023. They residents increased the area’s population to nearly 2.8 million people, according to the data.

Out of the 10 area counties, Lancaster in South Carolina had both the biggest growth in total population and in its Hispanic population between 2022 and 2023. The Observer found that Lancaster’s population increased by 3.3%, while its Hispanic population jumped by 7.1%.

Dennis Marstall, Lancaster’s county administrator, credits the jump to the area’s quality of life, job market and affordability. “It’s a continuation of the growth from Charlotte,” Marstall said. “But more importantly, you are finding the lower cost of living. You do find more housing options. We have a variety of jobs from manufacturing to corporate, back office jobs to tech jobs, to mortgage jobs, health care jobs… These things make the area attractive to everyone.” [Source]

Nuclear Sirens

Adam Wagner and Josh Shaffer, The News & Observer, 7/08/24

Sirens sounded by accident Monday morning near Duke Energy’s Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant. The sirens started shortly before 8 a.m. in part of the 10-mile emergency planning area around the Harris plant, according to a joint release from Chatham and Wake county officials.

Six of the plant’s 85 sirens located within 10 miles of the southwestern Wake County plant sounded, said Duke spokeswoman Anne McGovern. They were in Chatham and Wake counties, but McGovern could not provide specifics about their locations.

“The most important thing is that it was inadvertent so there was no emergency and that everything is operating safely at the plant,” McGovern said. Triangle residents farther away than 10 miles received emergency alerts Monday announcing the activation and stressing that there was no “protective action” needed from the public.

In a social media post, Wake County said its officials are working with Duke Energy to figure out why the alarms sounded. As of 11:45 a.m., Duke officials had not identified the cause, McGovern said. The sound of sirens around a nuclear power plant are a signal that people should tune into local radio or television to find out additional information and instructions, according to Duke. Stations would broadcast specific directions about what people nearby the plant should do.

A quarterly test of the emergency alert sirens is scheduled at the plant this week, but it is supposed to happen Wednesday. That test will go forward as planned, McGovern said. [Source]

 

Cherokee Marijuana

The Associated Press, 7/08/24

A tribal-owned medical marijuana dispensary in western North Carolina is also now selling cannabis products for adult recreational use just weeks after the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians governing board approved its expanded use on tribal lands.

The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. began recreational marijuana sales on July 4 to adults at least 21 years of age who are enrolled Eastern Band members or members of any other federally recognized tribe, according to news outlets. A company social media post included a photo of what it called last Thursday’s first legal sale of marijuana for recreational use on Eastern Band land called the Qualla Boundary.

Marijuana possession or use is otherwise illegal in North Carolina, but the federally recognized tribe can pass rules related to cannabis as a sovereign nation. Of North Carolina and its surrounding states, only Virginia allows for the legal recreational use of marijuana statewide.

Qualla Enterprises, the tribe’s cannabis subsidiary, had previously signaled that adult-use sales would initially be limited to tribal members. The expansion to others could begin in August, a Qualla Enterprises executive said recently. [Source]

 

Turtle Deaths

Trista Talton, Coastal Review Online, 7/08/24

The deaths of a dozen federally listed sea turtles found trapped this past spring in a canal that leads to the Brunswick Nuclear Plant’s cooling system intake has prompted a government review on the limit of turtle species that can be unintentionally harmed by the facility’s operation.

King tides coupled with high winds “generated increased tidal forces and elevated river flows” that damaged screens on a large diversion structure meant to block marine life from entering into the 3-mile-long canal from the Cape Fear River, Karen Williams, the plant’s communications manager said.

A series of large “turtle blocker” panels are installed in the concrete structure. “Those all functioned as designed,” Williams explained in an email. “There are small gaps in the structure – about two feet wide – which are covered with protective screens. It was these screens that were affected by the tidal conditions and river flow.” Williams said in a telephone interview that one of the screens broke loose. These screens are routinely inspected and cleaned of debris at the Duke Energy plant near Southport, Williams said, but turtles were able to swim into the canal before the broken screen was repaired. The turtles were found between April 15 and May 19. The green turtle deaths exceed the number of annual incidental “takes” granted to the facility through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS. “Takes” are the unintended death or harm of an endangered or threatened species caused in a lawful activity.

“The diversion structure normally does its job,” Williams said. “This was just an unusual situation. We’ve been operating this plant for almost 50 years and this is the first time in five decades that we’ve had any kind of event like this that have exceeded our limits. We’re not happy that this particular event has happened.”

She said the plant is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent government agency that regulates commercial nuclear plants and other uses of nuclear materials, and NOAA Fisheries. “If in their assessment they determine that we need to do additional actions we will follow up on those,” Williams said. [Source]

 

Robeson Grants

The Robesonian, 7/06/24

The Robeson County Community Foundation, a North Carolina Community Foundation affiliate, has awarded $17,570 in grants to organizations supporting the local community. “We’re fortunate to have so many organizations that support residents in our community,” said Sandra Oliver, advisory board president of the Robeson County Community Foundation. “We’re privileged to show our support.”

Funds for 2024 grants came from RCCF’s community grantmaking fund and the Frank M. & Betty Fukuda Memorial Fund. Each year, RCCF’s local volunteer advisory board uses dollars from its endowment funds to make grants to eligible local organizations, including nonprofits, local governments, schools and churches. [Source]

 

Bat Conservation

Sophie Mallinson, WUNC Radio, 7/08/24

An endangered bat in North Carolina has a new conservation plan in place. The state’s Wildlife Resources Commission approved the plan in April to help protect the Virginia big-eared bat. True to their name, these medium-sized bats have one-inch ears that stand out against their approximately four-inch bodies. State wildlife biologist Katherine Etchison said the bats keep insect populations in check, eating up to 90% of their diet in moths each night — including the invasive spongy moth known to harm forest health.

True to their name, Virginia big-eared bats have 1-inch ears that stand out against their approximately 4-inch bodies. According to Etchison, these bats primarily occur in just two western counties in North Carolina: Avery and Watauga.

“We probably have less than 1,000 individuals,” Etchison said, estimating that the state’s Virginia big-eared bat population is between 600-800. “That’s not very big, either, if you think about this population that’s pretty isolated from other populations of the same species. So, one catastrophic event could really have a terribly devastating effect on that population.” Etchison said that human disturbances are the cave-dwelling bats’ biggest threat.

The Wildlife Resources Commission’s approved conservation plan for the bats then establishes what Etchison described as a “one-stop shop” for information on the animals, detailing the history of the bats in the state, past monitoring methods, and future conservation goals. Those future goals could include working more with and providing property tax deferments to landowners, who have bat-inhabited caves on their property. [Source]

Legislative Sessions, Studies and Meetings

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

Tuesday, July 9

• 9:00 A.M.
  • House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform, Auditorium

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

• Noon, House and Senate Convene

HOUSE & SENATE: Reconvening allowed under provisions of SB 916, if no sine die adjournment previously adopted.

• Monday, July 29 to Thursday Aug. 1
• Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11
• Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22
• Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13

N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Tuesday, July 9

• Cancelled | The Council of State meets. 1 South Wilmington St, Raleigh.
• 11 a.m. | Economic Investment Committee  – Regular Meeting, 301 N. Wilmington St. Raleigh.
• 1:20 p.m. | The North Carolina Local Government Commission meets, 3200 Atlantic Ave. Raleigh.
• 1:30 p.m. | State Board of Elections will holds remote meeting via  Webex (Password: NCSBE), Dial 415-655-0003, enter access code 2435 410 1914#, passcode 62723#.

Wednesday, July 10

• 9 a.m. | North Carolina Board of Transportation Meeting, 1 S Wilmington St. Raleigh.
• 9 a.m. | The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission Committee Meetings, 512 N. Salisbury St. Raleigh. Meeting link: https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?MTID=mdc902ed9963ce35e5de9e85e27277716 
• 1:30 p.m. | Public Hearing for the Proposed 2025 North Carolina State Medical Facilities Plan, Event website: https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/mfp/meetings.html

Thursday, July 11

• 9 a.m. | NC State Board of Education Meeting (Virtual Meeting) Event website: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/about-dpi/state-board-education/meeting-information
• 9 a.m. | The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission Meeting, 512 N. Salisbury St. Raleigh. Meeting link: https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?MTID=m32a66bf7f3f1a86a8618d061a6831212 
• 11 a.m. | Governor’s Crime Commission  – Criminal Justice Improvement Committee Meeting, 1201 Front St. Raleigh.

Monday, July 15

• 1:30 p.m. | NC Dept. of Agriculture  – 3RD QUARTER BOARD OF AGRICULTURE MEETING, 4400 Reedy Creek Road, Raleigh.

Tuesday, July 16

• 10:30 a.m. | North Carolina Spiritous Liquor Advisory Council  – 3rd Quarter Meeting, 2 West Edenton St, Raleigh.

Wednesday, July 17

• 9 a.m. | The North Carolina Real Estate Commission Meeting, 1313 Navaho Drive, Raleigh.

Thursday, July 18

• 8 a.m. | North Carolina Medical Board Meeting – July 2024 Meeting, 3127 Smoketree Court, Raleigh.
• 9:30 a.m. | North Carolina Turnpike Authority meets, 1 S. Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Thursday, Aug. 1

• 6 p.m. | The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality Public Hearing on Moriah Energy Center Draft Air Quality Permit, Vance-Granville Community College, 200 Community College Road, Henderson.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

• 9 a.m. | The Council of State meets. 1 South Wilmington St, Raleigh.

UNC Board of Governors

23 S. WEST STREET, SUITE 1800, RALEIGH

Wednesday, July 24

• T.B.A. | The UNC Board of Governors, UNC System Office.

Thursday, July 25

• T.B.A. | The UNC Board of Governors, UNC System Office.

N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule

DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH

Wednesday, July 10

• 6:30 p.m. | Remote Public Witness Hearing – Dominion Energy North Carolina 2023 IRP | E-100 Sub 192

Thursday, July 11

• 10 a.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for HH Water, LLC | W-1318 Sub 1

Monday, July 22

• 2 p.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC and Duke Energy Progress, LLC 2023 Biennial CPIRP | E-100 Sub 190
• 2 p.m. | Expert Public Witness Hearing – Joint Application of DEP and NCEMC for CPCN to Construct a 1360MW Electric Generating Facility in Person County, NC | E-2 Sub 1318, EC-67 Sub 55
• 2 p.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Application for CPCN for 850 MW Natural Gas-Fired Combustion Turbine Electric Generating Facility Located at 8320 NC Highway 150 E, Terrell, NC 28682 in Catawba County | E-7 Sub 1297

Other Meetings and Events of Interest

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Saturday, July 20

• 7 p.m. | North Carolina Democratic Party Unity Dinner, Raleigh Convention Center.

Saturday, July 27

• 9 a.m. | North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans Convention, The Farm at 95, Selma.