Rep. Bobby Hangig, R-Currituck, State House Speaker Tim Moore, Gov. Roy Cooper, Dare County County Board of Commissioners Chair Robert Woodard and other officials at a press conference on the tarmac at Dare County Regional Airport after Hurricane Dorian hit in early September. Photo: Kirk Ross On the first Saturday…
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New Coastal Districts In Focus As Filing Ends
…by 231 votes out of roughly 87,000 cast. Neither has a primary opponent. Upriver in Cumberland County, former GOP Sen. Wesley Meredith has filed for a rematch in District 19 against incumbent Democrat Kirk DeViere, who won by 433 votes in a race with 60,000 votes cast. In another potentially…
Budget Fights Increase Pressure on DEQ
…surprise vote to override his budget veto. Photos: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — As legislators departed last month there was a finality, at least in rhetoric, when it came to the lengthy budget standoff between the legislative and executive branches. With Gov. Roy Cooper’s late-June veto of the roughly $2.4 billion…
Disaster Recovery Bill Clears Legislature
…needs. Ocracoke resident Kelley Shinn, center, and a group of the island’s supporters spent a chilly morning in front of the legislature on Wednesday calling for passage of new recovery legislation. Photo: Kirk Ross Shinn said she was glad to see the funding in the bill was similar to the…
Session Yields Spending Bills Amid Impasse
North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, flanked by Sens. Bill Rabon, left, Harry Brown and Brent Jackson, speaks Tuesday during a press conference. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH – With a lengthy list of unresolved bills and a lingering stalemate over a final budget, North Carolina General Assembly leaders…
House Rolls Out Bulk of Budget Plans
…and State Environmental Secretary Michael Regan speak in March 2018 during a tour of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Central Laboratory on Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh. Photo: Kirk Ross The House Capital Appropriations Committee approved $30 million for renovations at DEQ’s Reedy Creek laboratories, which conducts the bulk of…
Legislators Advance PFAS, Environmental Bills
…respond to hurricanes and algal blooms. In addition to Harrison’s bill, Sens. Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland, and Harper Peterson, D-New Hanover, who campaigned on the need for tighter PFAS protections for the Cape Fear watershed, have filed legislation to set up a PFAS task force to assist with research identifying the…
Health, Environment Central In Cooper’s Plan
Former Rep. Bob Muller, R-Pender, left, and state Environmental Secretary Michael Regan speak in March 2018 during a tour of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Central Laboratory on Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — A major upgrade to Department of Environmental Quality lab facilities, increased staffing…
New Faces Chosen In Some Coastal Districts
…in races that, like the Peterson-Lee contest, focused on GenX and water quality issues. In Cumberland County, where GenX was also a major issue, incumbent Republican Sen. Wesley Meredith was unseated by Democrat Kirk DeViere in race that is also likely headed to a recount. Since several races appear to…
NC’s New Stance On Climate Change, Energy
Jerry Williams, left, project manager for environmental sustainability at SAS, and Environmental Secretary Michael Regan accompany Gov. Roy Cooper at the clean energy event Oct. 29 at the SAS Institute’s solar farm in Cary. Photo: Kirk Ross CARY — The sun was shining and sheep were grazing under the solar…
Test Case for Oceanfront Development Risks
…of locations where they’re allowed. A new law gives the Coastal Resources Commission authority to “repair or replace” a sandbag wall only if it was permitted prior to July 1, 1995, and is adjacent to a rock outcropping designated a State Natural Heritage Area. Photo: Kirk Ross During its meeting…
Analysis: NC’s Battle for Regulatory Control
A view from inside the Legislative Building in Raleigh. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — Environmental advocates are warning that a constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall will dramatically shift implementation of environmental policies, allowing for greater direct control by the legislature. Last week, in the closing days of this…