YOU DON’T SAY

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, at a news conference where he said that all 99 qualifying hospitals have committed to a debt-elimination effort. (The Associated Press, 8/12/24)

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Medical Debt

Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press, 8/12/24

All qualifying North Carolina hospitals have agreed to participate in a first-of-its-kind initiative that will give them higher Medicaid payments if medical debt of low- and middle-income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liabilities, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Monday.

Cooper and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled six weeks ago a proposal submitted to federal Medicaid regulators that they said could help about 2 million people in the state get rid of $4 billion in debt held by hospitals, which usually only can recoup a small portion.

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities,” Cooper said at a news conference in which he revealed all 99 qualifying hospitals — including the state’s largest hospital systems — have committed to the voluntary debt-elimination effort.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed off last month on the plan details, which build on a Medicaid reimbursement program started recently for 99 acute-care, rural or university-connected hospitals. The hospitals were asked to make their participation decisions known by late last week.

Changes that benefit consumers will begin in the coming months, including by next July 1 the elimination of medical debt going back to early 2014 for the hospitals’ patients who are Medicaid enrollees. The hospitals in time also will eliminate medical debt that is more than two years old for non-enrollees who make below certain incomes or whose debt exceeds 5% of their annual income.

“We are often confronted with messages that tackling medical debt is impossible,” said Jose Penabad, a board member with Undue Medical Debt, a national group that will work with North Carolina hospitals, but “today is a message of hope.”

The hospitals also will agree to carry out programs going forward to discourage debt. By Jan. 1, for example, hospitals will automatically enroll people in charity care programs if they already qualify for food stamps and other welfare programs. And by July they’ll have to curb debt collection practices by not telling credit reporting agencies about unpaid bills and by capping interest rates on medical debt.

The qualifying hospitals already participate in what’s called the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program. The General Assembly approved it last year along with expanded Medicaid coverage to working adults who couldn’t otherwise qualify for conventional Medicaid. Hospitals pay assessments to draw down billions of dollars in federal money.

The HASP hospitals are now poised to receive even higher levels of reimbursement by agreeing to the medical debt initiatives. Kinsley’s department said that hospitals that otherwise would have shared funds from a pot of $3.2 billion this fiscal year now will benefit from an estimated $4 billion and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year.

Other state and local governments have tapped into federal American Rescue Plan funds to help purchase and cancel residents’ debt for pennies on the dollar.

Cooper, a Democrat who leaves the job in January, acknowledged recently that hospitals had responded somewhat negatively to the medical debt effort. He said Monday he believed that hospitals were put off initially because HASP funds previously unrestricted were now going to be tied to debt-reduction incentives. But ultimately “these hospitals looked at the bottom line, looked at the benefits to their patients and communities and decided to sign up,” he said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association — which lobbies for nonprofit and for-profit hospitals, said Monday in a news release that it “stands ready” to help hospital implement the new debt relief initiative. “We are also committed to addressing the root causes of medical debt and will continue to work with partners to improve access to affordable, high-quality care,” the group added. [Source]

 

Roberts Start

Korie Dean, The News & Observer, 8/12/24

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts started his new role Monday, ushering in a new era of leadership for North Carolina’s flagship university. After a months-long national search, UNC System President Peter Hans on Friday nominated Roberts to the role, which he had filled in an interim capacity since former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz left the university in January.

The system Board of Governors unanimously approved Hans’ pick in a virtual meeting. Roberts, who spent most of his career in the private business sector and was previously a state budget director under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, does not have a professional background in higher education beyond teaching as an adjunct instructor at his alma mater, Duke University. But as universities have increasingly come to function like businesses and corporations, it has become more common for college leaders to come from outside of academia.

Hans said Friday the university, at this moment in its 230-year history, needs “fresh eyes” that will be able to make difficult decisions drawing on a wide range of prior experiences.

At a university that has seen its share of controversy in recent years, Roberts’ job won’t be easy — even in his first few weeks. Among other tasks this fall, he will decide the fate of the university’s diversity and inclusion office and programming by a UNC System-wide Sept. 1 deadline, oversee the end of the century-old student-led honor court and potentially encounter additional protests over the ongoing war in Gaza. On the morning of his first day as UNC’s 13th chancellor, Roberts sat down for a one-on-one interview with The News & Observer. Here are some highlights.

Roberts said Monday he will be “stepping away” from SharpVue Capital, an investment management firm, to serve as chancellor.

Roberts has a history of donating to political campaigns — mostly those of Republican candidates or groups, though he has also donated to Democrats and unaffiliated candidates. Roberts said Monday he has generally given to candidates “on the basis of personal relationships” he has with them.

State campaign finance records show his most recent donation, $500 given to UNC-CH trustee and Republican state auditor candidate Dave Boliek, occurred in October of last year, before he became interim chancellor. “I’ve not made any contributions since becoming interim chancellor and will not make contributions going forward,” he told The N&O.

Roberts said his experience working with state leaders will be “useful and relevant, both in budget discussions with the General Assembly and more broadly.”

One of Roberts’ first tasks as chancellor will be to decide the fate of the university’s diversity and inclusion office, its staff and its programming, following the Board of Governors in May repealing a previous policy on the issues. Chancellors of all 17 UNC System campuses must report to Hans, by Sept. 1, any changes — including job and spending cuts — that result from implementing the new policy, which emphasizes student success, institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination.

According to legal guidance given to campuses by the UNC System office last month, campus cultural centers are not prohibited, but some “will need to restructure their content.”

Faculty research and teaching, as well as student groups, are not expected to be impacted. But DEI offices and programming were specifically mentioned in the guidance as areas that universities needed to examine to ensure they comply with the new policy — meaning they could be eliminated or, at a minimum, significantly changed.

Speaking to reporters Friday after being elected chancellor, Roberts identified Project Uplift, which brings underrepresented high school students to the UNC campus each summer, as a program that would not be eliminated as part of the DEI changes. Asked by The N&O Monday what programs or initiatives might be at risk of elimination, Roberts said he would wait until he issues his report to Hans on Sept. 1. He would not say whether there would be layoffs as part of the changes — but if there are, he said, the university tends to make sure affected employees “have the opportunity to find other jobs here at Carolina.”

This fall is also likely to bring more protests against the war in Gaza, potentially recreating scenes from the spring, when students, faculty and community members formed a four-day “solidarity encampment” by pitching tents on Polk Place.

Three dozen people were charged with trespassing after they refused to disband the gathering. Six people, including three UNC-CH students, were arrested and charged. Some students and faculty have said Roberts will need to regain trust after his actions during the protest.

Asked whether he agreed with those assessments, Roberts said: “I think I need to work hard to build trust across the board.”

Roberts said he has made efforts since becoming interim chancellor to meet with people across the university and build relationships with them.

Regarding possible protests this academic year, and asked how the university might change its approach to them compared to the spring, Roberts said he hopes to improve communication — both with protesters and the broader campus community.

Though he has taught courses on public budgeting and real estate investment at Duke, Roberts said he does not refer to himself as a faculty member given that he does not have a doctoral degree. If the opportunity arises, he would be interested in teaching at UNC-CH, but he does not have immediate plans to do so, he said. [Source]

 

Surveillance Cameras

Virginia Bridges, The News & Observer, 8/12/24

The company that supplies the most surveillance cameras to continuously record details about vehicles driven across North Carolina is now licensed to install more.

Atlanta tech firm Flock Safety secured a business license last month to install and maintain compact cameras across the state, after a years-long battle with state regulators. The cameras automatically capture plate numbers, along with other information such as the make and color of vehicles that pass by, and store them for weeks in a database accessible to law enforcement.

A News & Observer investigation by Tyler Dukes published in May revealed the scale of Flock’s growth here, detailing how widely information gets shared, sometimes with law enforcement across the country. It also documented instances of police misuse and mistakes using this type of surveillance technology.

Raleigh, Greensboro and about 100 other North Carolina law enforcement agencies use the cameras, as well as some universities, including University of North Carolina campuses in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, according to a Flock Safety news release. Overall, the company serves more than 400 customers throughout the state, the release says.

A Flock representative did not respond when asked about customers outside of law enforcement — homeowner associations sometimes use its monitoring system, for instance — or the number of its cameras active across the state.

State law requires companies that install alarm and camera systems used to detect illegal actions to obtain a license from the state’s Alarms Systems Licensing Board. The license is needed to prevent unsanctioned access to security information, Paul Sherwin, a director at the state’s Department of Public Safety, told the News & Observer last year. But when the company, which was founded in 2017, started soliciting contracts in North Carolina for its services, it didn’t obtain the license.

The licensing board began an investigation into the company in January 2022, while Flock officials argued to the board and in court that its systems don’t meet the state’s definition of an alarm system. North Carolina is the only state to require such a license across the more than 40 states where the company operates, Flock spokesperson Josh Thomas told The N&O in an email last year.

More growth in Flock’s North Carolina reach is expected. In June, Gov. Roy Cooper signed a law that extended a pilot launched Jan. 1, 2024 allowing cameras to be installed by the State Bureau of Investigation on Department of Transportation property through July 1, 2026. That will allow the State Bureau of Investigation to install Flock or competing companies’ cameras on state roadways for itself or for local, state or federal law enforcement agencies. [Source]

 

Ballot Ruling

Will Doran, WRAL News, 8/12/24

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign in North Carolina can continue, after a judge ruled Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by the North Carolina Democratic Party trying to keep Kennedy and his new political party off the ballot this year.

The Democratic Party sued the State Board of Elections last month, arguing that it wrongfully decided to allow Kennedy’s We The People Party on the ballot this year. It argued that the party’s effort to get on the ballot in North Carolina on Kennedy’s behalf wasn’t a good-faith effort and should be rejected.

A lawyer for We The People told WRAL on Monday that the party was pleased by Monday’s ruling rejecting that argument.

“There was no basis in fact or law for NCDP’S claims, and their lawsuit was a transparent attempt to suppress voter choice in North Carolina by blocking a party from the ballot despite its full compliance with all applicable requirements,” said Oliver Hall, who has also undertaken efforts on the national stage to get Kennedy invited to presidential debates.

Spokespeople for the state Democratic Party, Board of Elections and Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling Monday in Wake County Superior Court.

The state Democratic Party said Kennedy is running his presidential campaign under different party labels in other states, and had frequently referred to himself as an independent politician. The only reason he chose to affiliate in North Carolina with the We The People Party, they said, was to get around a state law that makes it far easier for parties to get on the ballot than independent candidates.

The party is worried about now being forced to spend extra time and money dealing with the Kennedy campaign in a key election year when Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are expected to be locked in a close battle for North Carolina and its 16 Electoral College votes. One recent poll of North Carolina found Trump with 45% support, Harris with 44% and Kennedy with 5%. The remaining 6% of voters were either undecided or backing another third-party candidate, that survey by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult polling found.

The legal battle over whether voters should get the option to cast a ballot for Kennedy this year isn’t the only one that has the potential to throw the presidential race into further uncertainty with less than three months until Election Day. Republican Party officials and lawyers are also pushing hard to get progressive activist Cornel West on the ballot; he’s running for president as well and would be likely to siphon votes away from Harris. But on the same day that the State Board of Elections voted to approve Kennedy’s We The People Party, its members also voted to reject West’s Justice For All Party. There’s an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of fraud surrounding efforts to get enough signatures from North Carolina voters to get West’s party approved, state officials said in explaining their decision to reject it.

Also last month, several voters filed a lawsuit challenging the board’s decision to deny West, and backed by powerful GOP attorneys. West himself later joined that lawsuit as well. That case, in federal court, has yet to be resolved.

Hall, the lawyer who represented Kennedy’s We The People Party in state court, is also listed in court records as representing West in that federal lawsuit. [Source]

Storm Fatalities

Adam Wagner, The News & Observer, 8/12/24

A fatal Wake County vehicle crash linked to hazardous conditions from Tropical Storm Debby puts the storm’s death toll to at least four lives lost in North Carolina, according to the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Tropical Storm Debby lumbered through North Carolina on Thursday and Friday, but it takes officials time to confirm that deaths caused by tornadoes and inclement conditions were linked to the storm. And some deaths, like those in floodwaters, happen after the storm due to conditions it caused.

In Wake County, the fatal accident happened about 1:39 p.m. Thursday near where Interstate 40 West and Interstate 440 merge. Glenda Whaley, 59, was a passenger in a Ford Flex that was traveling on I-40 when it hydroplaned and struck a guardrail as heavy rain began, according to a Raleigh Police Department release. Whaley was killed in the crash, and the driver and another passenger were transported to the hospital, according to Raleigh Police.

In Robeson County, a Columbus County woman drowned Saturday after floodwaters from Tropical Storm Debby swept her vehicle off the road. Around 3:39 p.m., emergency officials were dispatched to Old Whiteville Road about 9 miles east of Lumberton, N.C. State Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Hunt said. The driver, who was the only person in the car, had driven around barriers before being swept off the road. Her vehicle was submerged.

Debby’s impacts were still felt in eastern North Carolina on Monday. Floodwaters were still rising in some parts of Southeastern North Carolina. Both the Lumberton River around Lumberton and the Northeast Cape Fear River near Burgaw were in major flood stage, according to the N.C. Flood Inundation Mapping & Alert Network.

Last Thursday, a 78-year-old Rockingham County woman was killed when a tree fell into her house. That was the second death North Carolina authorities attributed to stormy conditions from Tropical Storm Debby.

Earlier Thursday, a man was killed in Wilson County when a tornado caused his home to collapse near Lucama. The storm damaged several other homes and also nearby Springfield Middle School, which Gov. Roy Cooper described as looking like “an explosion” after touring the damage.

The Wilson County tornado was one of 10 spawned by Debby in North Carolina that the National Weather Service has confirmed. It was an EF-3, with wind speeds reaching 140 miles per hour. Debby strained North Carolina’s infrastructure. At the peak of Debby-related power outages Thursday evening, Duke Energy was reporting 520,000 customers without power across North Carolina. About 510,000 of those customers had their power restored by Friday afternoon, Duke officials said in a press release. [Source]

Superintendent Race

T. Keung Hui and Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer, 8/12/24

Mo Green, the Democratic state superintendent nominee, charges that his GOP opponent, Michele Morrow, can’t be trusted to uphold the Constitution after a newly surfaced video shows her encouraging then-President Donald Trump to use the military to stay in power.

Morrow, the Republican nominee for state superintendent of public instruction, urged Trump in a Jan. 6, 2021, video to invoke a federal law that she said “completely puts the Constitution to the side, and says, now, the military rules all.”

The video was first reported by CNN, which published it Friday evening. Morrow protested outside the U.S. Capitol earlier on Jan. 6. But she has said she didn’t enter the building.

“Taking your children to the attempted insurrection on January 6th, calling for a military coup in our own country, and advocating for the public execution of elected officials, including Presidents Biden and Obama and Governor Cooper, are dangerous examples to set for our students,” Green said in a statement Monday. “Nobody who promotes this type of violence should be allowed to run our public schools.”

In social media posts over the weekend, Green also called Morrow “an election denier who calls for a military coup” and a person who “advocated for a military coup.”

In a statement to The News & Observer on Saturday, Morrow’s campaign said she is focused on the race to run North Carolina’s public schools. The campaign didn’t address the video, but it slammed CNN for what it called “gaslighting the public” about her. “CNN has a long history of lying about President Donald Trump and continually gaslighting the public about Michele Morrow,” the campaign said. “Morrow is a patriot and a watchdog against liberal attacks on our country.”

“Her dangerous brand of political violence will harm our schools, our children and hurt our state’s economy,” Green said in his statement. “How can someone who called to set the United States Constitution aside swear an oath and be trusted to uphold that constitution if elected?” [Source]

 

DEI Offices

Rebecca Noel, The Charlotte Observer, 8/12/24

UNC Charlotte has announced sweeping changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion programming, including eliminating three offices.

The school’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Identity, Equity and Engagement and the Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusion all closed as part of the move— though university officials say no one was laid off as a result. Instead, 11 employees were reassigned to new positions, the school announced last week.

The shift comes after the University of North Carolina System in May repealed its diversity, equity and inclusion policy, when all but two members of the UNC system board of governors voted to roll back the policy originally adopted in 2019.

While proponents of DEI programs say they’re a strategy to correct injustices from decades of exclusionary practices, opponents say they’re discriminatory toward white Americans and violate the First Amendment. UNC System President Peter Hans said the change was motivated by the university’s duty to remain neutral on political matters.

The UNC system’s previous policy required the employment of a diversity and inclusion officer at each of the system’s 17 schools and the creation of a UNC system diversity and inclusion council. It’s been replaced with a new one titled “Equality Within the University of North Carolina.” The new policy “requires offices and positions at all System institutions to comply with institutional neutrality, refrain from compelling others’ speech and refrain from promoting political or social concepts through training or required beliefs,” UNC Charlotte Provost Jennifer Troyer and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kevin Bailey wrote in a letter to students and faculty Thursday.

“Specifically, it does not allow any institution in the System to have offices that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.”

According to the new policy, the university may not promote a particular set of concepts related to race and sex nor include them in any types of training for employees. The new policy still allows faculty full discretion in decisions around research design and course material.

Students and student organizations still are allowed to engage in political and social advocacy as long as they do not speak on behalf of the university. [Source]

 

Education Economics

Chantal Brown, Education NC, 8/12/24

More innovation is needed to keep North Carolina on the track to economic prosperity, a new report shows. The Tracking Innovation report was released on July 29 by the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Office of Science, Technology, and Innovation. As a whole, according to the report, the state is considered to be improving innovation capacity compared to the rest of the country.

Machelle Baker Sanders, North Carolina’s commerce secretary, said in a press release that the report shows that we must continue to improve the “level of prosperity” throughout the state.

“Faced with a dynamic and competitive economy, the best approach is to shape it rather than be shaped by it. We must continue to innovate — to create and adopt new products, services, and business models that add value and improve economic well-being,” Sanders said. 

The report tracks North Carolina’s performance across 42 innovation measures. Those statistics are then weighed against those of the United States overall and six key comparison states (California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado, and Washington). These measures provide insights into the links between innovation, resources, and economic results in the state.

According to the researchers’ findings, North Carolina matches or outperforms the United States as a whole in about half of the measured categories.

The report said that North Carolina’s statewide innovation ecosystem is healthy, and the state has improved since the early 2000s at a rate comparable to the country as a whole. However, the state’s poverty rate is above the national average, and income and wages of residents are also behind, despite having one of the fastest-growing populations. 

Janet Cowell, chair of the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation, said that technology and innovation are key to a growing economy.

“As this report shows, North Carolina has achieved a leading role in the ‘basic’ and early-stage ‘applied’ research that forms the foundation for breakthrough innovations,” Cowell said in a press release. “But it also shows that we have room for improvement in scaling and converting those innovations to commercial uses and in ensuring that more sectors and regions of our state participate in and benefit from that activity.” [Source]

 

Trust Beneficiary

Catherine Muccigrosso, The Charlotte Observer, 8/12/24

The contentious court battle over a North Carolina textile fortune between descendants of a storied N.C. textile family and Charlotte’s largest hospital system is over. And it ended with a new beneficiary being named.

Atrium Health and the family of one-time owners of Kannapolis-based Cannon Mills Co. settled their dispute Friday over the $17 million family trust, according to a final judgment entered in N.C. Business Court. It’s also the first time the trust’s value has been publicly revealed since descendants of Cannon Mills owners filed a lawsuit in February to stop Atrium from receiving distributions from the family trust.

The will has been modified, deleting one section and rewriting another to specify new beneficiaries. The deleted section had named county-owned Cabarrus Memorial Hospital as the recipient of distributions, which, through a series of mergers over the years, became Atrium.

The revised section named the new beneficiary of trust money. At the discretion of the trustees, 50% of annual net income distributions from the trust will go to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center or Wake Forest University Health Sciences, so long as the organizations remain tax-exempt nonprofits, according to court documents.

Atrium Health acquired Wake Forest Baptist in October 2020. The partnership is building Charlotte’s first four-year medical school in uptown.

Despite the end of the legal fight, it remains unclear who gets the other half of the income distributions.

Atrium Health and Kearns Davis, an attorney representing the trust, did not respond to multiple requests for comment since Friday.

The legal dispute stemmed from Ruth Coltrane Cannon’s will, which was created in 1965. The wife of Charles Albert Cannon, she created the trust for her grandson Charles Albert Cannon III, who died Oct. 28. According to Ruth Cannon’s will, after her son’s death, the trust would go to Cabarrus Memorial Hospital.

If the trust could not be paid “expressly” to the Cabarrus County-owned hospital, it would be distributed to “religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes.” Cabarrus Memorial has not existed since the 1980s; through a series of mergers it became part of Atrium in the 2000s. Atrium is now part of Advocate Health, with revenue of more than $27 billion.

Since Cabarrus Memorial does not exist, the trustees claimed Atrium Health was not the proper beneficiary.

In February, Cannon textile mill descendants filed a lawsuit to stop Atrium from receiving trust distributions. However, Atrium objected and threatened legal action if income distributions did not begin on Feb. 15.

In April, Atrium filed a counterclaim to remove the trustees. But by June, a settlement was reached dismissing all claims and counterclaims. The trust administration became impractical because of differing interpretations of the will’s original terms, Michael Robinson, special superior court judge for complex business cases said in Friday’s finalized order. To resolve this and avoid further litigation expenses, both parties agreed to modify the trust to align it with its charitable intent.

The Wake Forest groups are named as beneficiaries after the death of Ruth Cannon’s three children, which has occurred. No other beneficiaries are specified in the court document. [Source]

 

Amphitheater Plans

Sean Coffey, ABC11, 8/12/24

Several organizations and downtown businesses are pushing the public to “join the conversation” and weigh in on a proposed plan to relocate Red Hat Amphitheater, a project that would permanently close a block of South Street to traffic.

Last week, Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin posted on X that the future of downtown Raleigh was dependent on the amphitheater, saying “If we lose Red Hat, we lose the future of downtown.”

The amphitheater proposal could see a vote as soon as September at the City Council. Should the vote fail, there’s a chance the city might lose the live music venue. “There’s not a lot of things that pull people downtown. Red Hat’s one of those things that does,” said Carey Kidd, co-owner of Element Gastropub.

Critics of the proposed closure of South Street to accommodate the relocated venue said it would create traffic disruptions and disproportionately impact residents on the southwest side of downtown near Heritage Park. Businesses are now saying too much is at stake to turn back.

“That’s the type of downtown we’ve been working a long, long time to create. That walkability, that livability. And it’s heartbreaking to feel like this may be going away, Kidd said. [Source]

 

Asheville ER

Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen Times, 8/12/24

Asheville-based Mission Health, owned by Hospital Corporation of America, is still in the running to build a standalone emergency department in Arden, following a unanimous decision by the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

The court ruled 3-0 on Aug. 6 on Mission’s appeal of an administrative law judge’s ruling that invalidated the health system’s bid to get a Certificate of Need to build the ER. The case was brought by Pardee and AdventHealth. The appeals court said Mission was wrong in failing to hold a public hearing as required by the CON process, a move Mission said it made because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the state’s second-highest court said the lack of a public hearing was not enough by itself to require the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to start the process over.

“While the administrative law judge correctly determined the agency erred in failing to hold a public hearing, it misapplied (the Hospice case) in determining that the error substantially prejudiced Advent and Pardee,” Judge Hunter Murphy wrote.

That means the case will go back to Administrative Law Judge David Sutton for reconsideration. It is not clear when that will happen.

Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell said the health system was trying to deal with rising emergency services demand by applying for ERs in south and west Buncombe County. [Source]

 

Vehicle Registration

WBTV News, 8/12/24

North Carolina residents can now renew that vehicle registration at self-service kiosks provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles at a few locations. The North Carolina DMV currently has three kiosks across the state, including one in Charlotte, Raleigh and Fayetteville. The kiosks allow residents to access certain services in an effort to shorten wait time and lines at the DMV.

Initially, kiosk users could only renew or duplicate a driver’s licenses or ID, or register to vote. Officials announced on Monday, Aug. 12, however, that services would expand at the kiosks.

Now, users can renew vehicle registrations and pay property taxes on new vehicles. At the end of the transaction, the kiosk will print a license plate sticker and registration card.

“I am excited to announce these new services are now available as part of our kiosk pilot,” NCDMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said. “This is another example of the work we are doing to shorten lines and wait times by using technology to modernize our customer service and provide more options for customers to get what they need in a timely manner.”

Since launching the kiosks, more than 3,400 transactions have been completed on the devices.

“The public response to the kiosk pilot has been overwhelmingly positive,” Goodwin said. “I look forward to being able to announce the locations of additional kiosks in the coming weeks and months.” [Source]

 

Topsail Attorney

Morgan Starling, The (Jacksonville) Daily News, 8/08/24

The town of North Topsail Beach is on the hunt for a new town attorney. A Request for Proposals currently open on the town’s website. In the town of North Topsail Beach, the mayor and board of aldermen oversee town policy, while the executive powers are vested with the town manager who provides day-to-day operations.

Currently, the town’s general legal services are provided by a contract attorney or specialist firms when needed.

“The town has always had legal counsel in the past and will continue to do so,” North Topsail Beach Town Manager Alice Derian told The Daily News via email. “The process is the issuance of a Request for Proposals seeking services from qualified legal service providers, licensed in the state of North Carolina, to represent the town in a full range of legal affairs relevant to North Carolina municipalities.”

According to the Request for Proposals, available to view in full on the town’s website, proposals are due to the town by Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. The town plans to contract out the attorney or law firm for a three-year term with extensions upon mutual consent.

However, the contract can also be terminated at any time by either party upon 60-day notice.

The town attorney’s responsibilities will include representing the town in matters of litigation, to include legislation, code enforcement, zoning, land use, real estate, labor and employment, finance, taxation, environmental, economic development, law enforcement, Freedom of Information, records retention, risk management, and state and federal regulatory issues.

The attorney will also be responsible for advising town officials with respect to town affairs, drafting legal documents relating to town affairs, reviewing agreements/contracts/franchises and other instruments concerning the town, attending meetings of the town board of aldermen and town boards and committees as requested, and performing other duties as required by law or as the board may direct.

Final selection of the town’s new attorney will be made by the board of aldermen. The selected attorney or law firm will operate under the supervision of the town manager. [Source]

 

Catawba Donation

Kevin Ellis, Business NC, 8/12/24

An anonymous donor has given a $200 million gift to Catawba College’s endowment, according to the private, liberal arts college in Salisbury. Two-thirds of the gift – about $133.3 million – come as unrestricted funding for the college, with the remaining third – about $66.6 million – directed to programs that support environmental education and sustainability.

The college achieved carbon neutrality in 2023, seven years ahead of its 2030 goal, and it has integrated sustainability, conservation and environmental stewardship across operations and campus life, according to a release.

Catawba College received another $200 million donation in 2021, along with a $42 million gift in 2022. Combined the three donations push the college’s endowment to more than $580 million. Catawba College has about 1,230 students, pushing its per-student endowment close to $500,000, which is among the highest in the Southeast. [Source]

Highway Name

Richard Stradling, The News & Observer, 8/12/24

For decades, Carl Lamm was the voice of Johnston County. From behind the mic at WMPM and later WTSB in Smithfield, he shared local news and weather, birthdays and anniversaries, gossip and church announcements, interviews with sports and music stars and updates from the Smithfield Tobacco Market, all between the old-time gospel and country songs he loved.

It was a style of broadcasting that harked back to the 1940s, when Lamm got his start at a station in Rocky Mount and AM radio bound a community together.

“The world changes every day, but WMPM and Carl don’t,” Allen Wellons, a Smithfield attorney and former state senator, told The News & Observer in 2007. “He’s the thing we in Johnston County have in common.”

Lamm was 92 when he signed off for the last time five years ago. His career covered 72 years of continuous broadcasting, a national record, his family thinks.

To honor Lamm and keep his memory alive, the Smithfield Town Council asked the N.C. Department of Transportation to name a section of Interstate 95 in Johnston County the Carl Lamm Highway. The state Board of Transportation approved the designation this week.

Lamm, now 97 and in failing health, couldn’t attend the board’s meeting, but his daughter spoke. Lynda Lamm Carroll said her father had interviewed governors, senators, Major League Baseball stars and country music legends such as Johnny Cash and Minnie Pearl.

Since the 1920s, the state has named hundreds of roads, bridges and interchanges after people, usually politicians, business leaders or those killed in service to country or community.

The State Highway Patrol is in the process of seeing that every trooper who died in the line of duty since the patrol’s founding in 1929 has a road or bridge named for them. But a growing number of the honorees made their marks in the arts or athletics, including Andy Griffith, James Taylor, Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski.

Earlier this year, the state agreed to name a section of I-40 in Johnston County the Jimmy Capps Highway, honoring the session guitarist from Benson who played on some of country music’s biggest hits.

The Carl Lamm Highway will run between mile markers 88 and 92 on I-95, roughly between Smithfield and Four Oaks, near where he lives. [Source]

 

Jail Death

Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times, 8/12/24

A week after Alan Green was arrested, he was found dead in his jail cell at the Henderson County Detention Center. The jail is now under investigation by the state to see if any missteps were taken to prevent Green’s death and if proper legal protocols were followed, just months after the jail was found to be out of compliance with maintenance codes.

Green, of Hendersonville, was found deceased in the county jail at 2:23 a.m. July 3, according to an incident report obtained by the Citizen Times. He was 42 years old.

Henderson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Stephanie Brackett said Green’s death “appears to have been of natural causes,” but the office is awaiting autopsy results to determine an official cause of death.

After someone dies in custody, the jail has five days to submit a death report to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services — the state agency that oversees jail compliance — according to spokesperson Summer Tonizzo. Then DHHS inspects the detention center to see if correction officers acted in compliance with state law and if the jail has any deficiencies that may have contributed to the death.

Brackett, with the sheriff’s office, said a report was submitted but the investigation was still ongoing as of Aug. 1. Brackett did not say if the report was submitted within the requisite five days. Emails to both the sheriff’s office and DHHS asking for an update on Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 were not returned.

According to DHHS, the last time the 222-bed jail was inspected was Jan. 24, and inspector Roy McCoy found the detention center was out of compliance with wall and ceiling maintenance. He wrote in the inspection report that multiple cell walls — specifically pods A, B and D — “are dirty and littered with graffiti and/or drawings throughout these units.”

Various doors throughout the facility had paint worn to bare metal that needed to be remedied, McCoy also wrote in the inspection report obtained by the Citizen Times.

The jail was then given one month to submit a plan of correction. On Feb. 14, Jail Administrator Todd McCrain wrote that the jail created a list of cell walls needing to be cleaned and each detention squad was assigned a housing pod to complete necessary tasks. A work order was also submitted to repaint cell doors.

This wasn’t the first time deficiencies were discovered in the jail within the past year-and-a-half. In February 2023, DHHS found four deficiencies related to sanitation and supervision of detainees. [Source]

 

Settlement Allotments

Jimmy Potts, The Richmond County Daily Journal, 8/09/24

Place of Grace Pastor Gary Richardson and his wife Deborah expressed their concern with Richmond County Commissioners after his organization’s snubbing from discussions regarding allocation of opioid settlement funds.

While crediting the entities that did receive opioid fund allocations, Richardson expressed his displeasure from being barred from speaking with commissioners considering his organization works to house and rehabilitate local victims of drug abuse.

“When I came to this meeting, my natural personality is to be sarcastic … But that’s not who God is. We have been in the school now for six years, and my husband has the statistics of how many people we have helped,” Deborah Richardson said.

“We do an emergency cold-weather shelter because the drug addicts will freeze to death. There is nowhere for them to go. This is ugly. This is not pretty, but this is not part of the community that anybody wants to deal with. That is what that settlement money is for – those people,” Deborah Richardson said.

The organizations receiving opioid settlement fund allocations include Richmond Community College, $75,000, for its Building a Brighter Futures program, which seeks to combat addiction and enhance job prospects for at-risk populations. Richmond County Schools, $56,000, for its Youth Mental First Aid Responsive Raiders training program, Samaritan Colony Residential Treatment Program at SECU Women’s Recovery Center, $18,000, and $10,000 to Sandhills Best Care Addiction Treatment to cover the cost of services for clients who are uninsured or underinsured and who have applied for Medicaid and were denied. [Source]

 

Onslow GOP HQ

Morgan Starling, The (Jacksonville) Daily News, 8/12/24

The Onslow County GOP will hold a grand opening event on Saturday, Aug. 24, for its new party headquarters in Jacksonville. The public is invited to attend the event, which is scheduled to begin at noon, according to Onslow County GOP Chair Christine Card. The Onslow County GOP headquarters typically opens temporarily during the major presidential campaign season, Card explained. The location made sense due to it being centrally accessible to all Onslow County townships and municipalities.

Card added that it will likely be open through November and into December. Campaign signs and paraphernalia will be available to the public as it becomes available to the GOP. [Source]

 

Telescope Project

Sharryse Piggott, WUNC Radio, 8/12/24

North Carolina Central University is one of 14 higher education institutions and government agencies in the U.S. contributing to NASA’s next space telescope known as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Duke University is the project’s lead. According to Diane Markoff, NCCU’s physics professor, N.C. Central is the only HBCU participating in the project for now.

The Nancy Grace Telescope is NASA’s next tool that will launch into space to help look at things, like dark energy, which causes the expansion of the universe. It will also analyze how that expansion is accelerating. N.C. Central will contribute to the project by collecting data as well as detecting and measuring light that comes from distant objects. Markoff said that information will go into helping the telescope function.

“The technology of [the] Roman [telescope] is advancing our ability to see back in the universe and to see out there, and so this is going to be an incredible amount of data and what people can learn from it,” Markoff said. “It’ll keep us busy for many, many years.”

The $3.6 billion project is being funded by NASA and $700,000 will go to NCCU to hire an astrophysicist professor during the 2024-2025 school year. Those funds are also compensating the students and faculty working on the project. The Nancy Grace Telescope — which is named after NASA’s first chief astronomer — is scheduled to launch in space in 2027. [Source]

NC Insider Legislative Report

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

HOUSE CALENDAR

Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

House Convenes at 12 P.M.

SENATE CALENDAR

Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

Senate Convenes at 12 P.M.

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

• Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11
• Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22
• Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13

Legislative Studies and Meetings

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

Thursday, August 22

• 2 p.m. | America’s Semiquincentennial Committee, 1228/1327 LB

Thursday, August 29

• 1 p.m. | Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission, Ed Emory Auditorium, Kenansville.

N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Tuesday, Aug. 13

• 11 a.m. | Economic Investment Committee  –  Regular Meeting, 301 N. Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Wednesday, Aug. 14

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

Monday, Aug. 19

• 2 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 3

• 1:30 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Friday, Sept. 6

• 10 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 10

• 8:30 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Sept. 17

• 10 a.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

UNC Board of Governors

23 S. WEST STREET, SUITE 1800, RALEIGH

Wednesday, Sept. 11

• Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Sept. 12

• Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Oct. 17

• Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Wednesday, Nov. 13

• Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

Thursday, Nov. 14

• Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.

N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule

DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH

Tuesday, Aug. 13

• 10 a.m. | Public Hearing – Annual Review of Gas Costs | G-5 Sub 675

Wednesday, Aug. 14

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Tuesday, Aug. 20

• 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Transfer of Public Utility Franchise and Approval of Rates of HISCO East, LLC in Carteret County to HISCO I in Carteret County | W-1297 Sub 17, W-1344 Sub 0
• 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and for Approval of Rates to Provide Sewer Utility Service to Currently Served Cape Ponte Village Subdivision, Additional Phases for the National Park Service, Harkers Island RV Park and a Fe | W-1344 Sub 1

Wednesday, Aug. 21

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Thursday, Aug. 22

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Other Meetings and Events of Interest

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Tuesday, Aug. 13

• 9 a.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to attend North Carolina Commander’s Council meeting and join leadership from military installations across the state, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
• 12:10 p.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to hold media availability, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Friday, Sept. 27

• 2024 Lumbee Powwow, Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center, 638 Terry Sanford Drive, Maxton.