Compared to heavily flooded communities inland, property damage from Hurricane Florence along the North Carolina coast was somewhat lighter and much more scattered. But in almost all the hard-hit southern and central coastal regions, the slow-moving storm’s wrath spread over three tidal cycles, leveled dunes, chewed up beaches and left…
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Bill Would Ax Water, Park Trust Fund Boards
RALEIGH – A state Senate bill that would eliminate the oversight boards for the Clean Water Management and Parks and Recreation trust funds and four other boards passed the Senate Thursday. The 950-acre McLean Tract in Pender County is an example of a natural heritage area purchase funded in 2017…
Legislators Set to Review Storm-Relief Needs
N.C. Legislative Building, Raleigh. RALEIGH – Legislators are set to reconvene in Raleigh after Thanksgiving as more details are compiled in steadily increasing estimates of the damage from Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Michael. The General Assembly, which returns Nov. 27 for a previously scheduled post-election extension of its 2018…
Bill Directs $400 Million to Florence Recovery
Nebraska Army National Guard Spc. Matthew Reidy surveys the flooding from the air on Sept. 19 in Bladen County. Photo: National Guard Staff Sgt. Herschel Talley RALEIGH – The General Assembly returned Monday for part two of its Hurricane Florence recovery session, unanimously passing about $400 million in new appropriations,…
Transportation Costs Could Total $266 Million
A surveyor holds a rod indicating the depth of the washout that destroyed a section of U.S. 421 near Wilmington. Photo: NCDOT RALEIGH – In a presentation to legislators Wednesday on Hurricane Florence, Karen Collette, Division 3 engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said the lesson of what…
Legislators Set to Take On Storm Response
RALEIGH — Going into next week’s special session on storm response, there was consensus across the political spectrum that whatever happens is just a start. “We learned from Matthew you’re not going to do one disaster-relief bill and be done,” Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson and one the main budget chairs…
House Approves Revised Amendments
RALEIGH – After a brief debate over legitimacy of the move, the state House read in and voted 73-33 along party lines to approve two revised constitutional amendments for the 2018 elections, stripping from one bill a change challenged by environmental groups to take away the governor’s appointment powers over…
Pivotal Fall Ahead For GenX Research, Action
Grays Creek resident Mike Watters, left, gives his statement to EPA officials during the public comment period of a meeting Aug. 14 in Fayetteville. Photo: Rose Hoban/North Carolina Health News Since news first broke about the presence of GenX in the Cape Fear River and the Wilmington-area water supply, there…
Panel Backs State’s GenX Health Goal
RALEIGH – A panel of scientists formed last year to address GenX and coal ash contamination has recommended state officials continue to use a health goal for GenX of 140 parts per trillion. Chemours’ plant is part of the Fayetteville Works industrial park in Bladen and Cumberland counties. File photo…
No Deal on Shellfish as Legislators Adjourn
RALEIGH – The General Assembly wrapped up business Friday without taking action on two shellfish bills that were part of last-minute efforts by coastal legislators. Final negotiations by House and Senate leaders left both a major rewrite of shellfish leasing laws and a narrower attempt to resolve an issue with…
Cooper Vetoes Regulatory Reform, Farm Act
RALEIGH — While state House members debated a series of constitutional amendments Monday night, Gov. Roy Cooper also took action on several bills ahead of a midnight deadline. Gov. Roy Cooper Cooper vetoed seven bills in all, including this year’s regulatory omnibus which included changes to coastal stormwater and sandbag…
Coastal Changes OK’d In Whirlwind Session
N.C. Legislative Building, Raleigh. RALEIGH – Dozens of coastal provisions were approved last week as the North Carolina General Assembly pushed through more than a hundred bills in an attempt to wrap up its 2018 short session by month’s end. The week began with a House override of Gov. Roy…