Gov. Roy Cooper, flanked by teachers, announces Wednesday his veto of the budget the legislature passed last week. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH – Saying the budget passed last week by the General Assembly “doesn’t cut it” when it comes to providing funds for school safety, teacher salaries and clean water,…
Search Results for: Kirk%20Ross
Cooper’s Budget Plan Funds Conservation
…early-session budget agreement between the state House and Senate, Cooper rolled out his proposals Thursday during a press conference in Raleigh. Gov. Roy Cooper outlines his budget plan during a press conference Thursday in Raleigh. Photo: Kirk Ross They include using the deed stamp tax proceeds for the Clean Water…
Reworked GenX Bill Goes Back to House
…House Bill 189, now titled the Water Safety Act. Photo: Kirk Ross House leaders had said Thursday that the bill, as drafted, would not pass the House and asked the Senate to revise certain sections. One in particular was a $2.4 million allocation to the Department of Environmental Quality they…
Stalemate On GenX: Senate Says No Urgency
…up the structure. DEQ Chief Deputy Secretary John Nicholson speaks during a meeting of the Environmental Review Commission. Photo: Kirk Ross He said while it is apparent that market forces make it unlikely that exploration in North Carolina would happen anytime soon, without that pressure, the state has an opportunity…
GenX Bill Orders Studies, Provides No Money
…meeting in October. Rep. Ted Davis, at podium, Rep. Frank Iler and Rep. Holly Grange are shown at right with legislative staff behind them. Photo: Kirk Ross Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, who chairs the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality, said this first round of legislation is…
Scientists Push Ahead With GenX Research
…Quality meeting last week. Photo: Kirk Ross It’s not like a television crime show where a forensic investigator puts a sample in a machine and the answer appears on screen in an instant, he said. “In reality, the science takes time and takes a lot of effort.” Mead said that…
Analysis: Environmental Bills Shaped In Secret
Sen. Trudy Wade, R-Guilford, left, and Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, are shown at the Environmental Review Commission meeting in April 2016, the last time the committee met prior to the GenX meeting last month in Wilmington. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH – Each session of the North Carolina General Assembly generates…
Funds to Address GenX OK’d After Bitter Fight
…residents, to develop a treatment to remove GenX from the water supply. Members of the Environmental Review Commission tour the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority control room in Wilmington in August. Photo: Kirk Ross A key finding in a study that triggered the alarm in June about water quality in…
Legislature Pauses, Environmental Bills Wait
…to return to Raleigh for sessions in both early August and September. Reps. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret, and Larry Yarborough, R-Person, co-chairs of the House Environment Committee, speak during a recent hearing on the coastal storm damage fund. Photo: Kirk Ross Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret, said it was clear as the…
Court Halts Cooper’s Cabinet Confirmations
…Roy Cooper introduces on Jan. 3 Michael Regan, his pick to lead the Department of Environmental Quality. Photo: Kirk Ross In a conference call Tuesday evening, a three-judge panel heard arguments in the case and on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the confirmation process. The court is expected…
Conservatives Wary of Cooper’s DEQ Pick
…Cooper, left, introduces on Jan. 3 Michael Regan, his pick to lead the Department of Environmental Quality. Photo: Kirk Ross When Regan starts work this week at DEQ, he takes over at what is arguably the mostly heavily altered agency of the past four years. During brief remarks at the…
Cooper Names Michael Regan to Lead DEQ
Michael Regan, Gov. Roy Cooper’s pick to lead the Department of Environmental Quality, speaks Tuesday, flanked by Cooper, left, and newly named Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon. Photo: Kirk Ross RALEIGH — Michael Regan, a longtime air quality specialist with the Environmental Protection Agency and most recently a senior southeastern director…