Tag Archives: NC

North Carolina governor forms council to recommend cannabis regulations

North Carolina governor forms council to recommend cannabis regulations

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein says he wants a council he’s created to recommend cannabis sales regulations to protect young people and provide a structure for an industry where products from otherwise lawful hemp are unregulated. The Democratic governor signed an executive order this week creating the panel. North Carolina is among a small number of states whose laws prohibit marijuana for both medicinal use or adult recreational use. The General Assembly would have to enact any law legalizing marijuana. Preliminary recommendations are due next March. Stein says there’s currently a “Wild West” market in which products being sold contain intoxicating levels of what’s known as THC.… Continue Reading

Amazon planning $10B investment in North Carolina for data center and AI campus

Amazon planning $10B investment in North Carolina for data center and AI campus

HAMLET, N.C. (AP) — Amazon is expanding its cloud computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence activities into a rural North Carolina county. The company said Wednesday it intends to invest $10 billion toward building a campus in Richmond County. This will bring a shot in the arm to a region where textile and apparel jobs dried up a generation ago. Amazon said its investment should create at least 500 jobs and support thousands more through construction and data center supply chain providers. Gov. Josh Stein says the investment is one of the largest in state history.… Continue Reading

Trump urges senators to get his big tax bill done by July 4th

Trump urges senators to get his big tax bill done by July 4th

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants his “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be signed into law by Independence Day. And he’s pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later. Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House earlier this week and has been dialing senators for one-on-one chats, using both the carrot and stick to encourage them to act. But it’s still a long road ahead for the bill. Senators want to make changes to protect Medicaid and ensure some tax breaks become permanent. Elon Musk called the whole bill a “disgusting abomination.”… Continue Reading

Turmoil, worry swirl over cuts to key federal agencies as hurricane season begins

Turmoil, worry swirl over cuts to key federal agencies as hurricane season begins

WASHINGTON (AP) — As hurricane season begins, experts in storms and disasters are worried about massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to the storms. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and is predicted to busier than average this year. Representatives of both NOAA and FEMA say the agencies are prepared.… Continue Reading

What’s in a name? A small fortune for businesses around Fort Bragg

What’s in a name? A small fortune for businesses around Fort Bragg

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Businesses around Fort Bragg in North Carolina are facing a challenge now that the Trump administration has once again renamed the military post. Fort Bragg and other military installations that were once name for Confederate figures from the Civil War were rebranded under the Biden administration. Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty. But a couple of months after Ralph Rodriguez opened Fort Liberty Pawn & Gun, the Defense Department changed the name back to Fort Bragg. Now the businessman is having to change signs, uniforms, stationery and government paperwork, costing about $30,000. Several other businesses are facing the same problem. And the name change is costing taxpayers, too. The state expects to spend about $200,000 changing all the highway signs back.… Continue Reading

North Carolina revenue predictions fall with recession risk

North Carolina revenue predictions fall with recession risk

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials have downgraded anticipated state revenue collections compared to their recent forecast. Wednesday’s adjustments agreed upon by economists working in Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s budget office and at the General Assembly are in large part the result of higher economic uncertainty and the risks of a recession. The changes from the February forecast keep front and center competing tax-cutting plans passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate. The updated forecast still envisions lower year-over-year revenues because of expected income tax rate reductions. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein wants to stop those rate cuts.… Continue Reading

Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Trump administration has accused North Carolina’s election board of violating federal law by failing to ensure that registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers. It wants a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sued in federal court on Tuesday alleging violations of the Help America Vote Act. The lawsuit is about the collection of a registrant’s driver’s license number or partial Social Security number. The department says it’s carrying out a recent executive order from President Donald Trump on elections. Registrant records were also an issue in a state Supreme Court race last year.… Continue Reading

The scars from Hurricane Helene are healing slowly in this Appalachian tourist town

The scars from Hurricane Helene are healing slowly in this Appalachian tourist town

CHIMNEY ROCK VILLAGE, N.C. (AP) — Despite being nearly wiped off the map by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, tiny Chimney Rock Village in North Carolina had optimistically predicted it would be open for business by Memorial Day. But in the days leading up to the holiday, a security guard at the town’s entrance still turns away all but locals and construction workers. Mayor Peter O’Leary admits Main Street likely won’t reopen until summer sometime. He said nearly a third of businesses were destroyed by last September’s flooding. While some are likely gone forever, there are signs of progress. Amish volunteers from Pennsylvania are rebuilding wrecked shops and inns. The state is close to finishing a temporary bridge for Chimney Rock State Park to reopen. O’Leary says the long rebuild will be worth it.… Continue Reading

North Carolina’s high court says elections board shift can continue while appeals carry on

North Carolina’s high court says elections board shift can continue while appeals carry on

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court has confirmed it was OK for a new law that shifted the power to appoint State Board of Elections members away from the Democratic governor to start being enforced earlier this month. The court’s Republican majority declined or dismissed requests Friday that Gov. Josh Stein made three weeks ago to block for now the enforcement of the Republican law shifting authority to State Auditor Dave Boliek while Stein seeks to overturn it. But the court didn’t immediately act, so Boliek made his appointments May 1. The old Democratic-majority board now has a Republican majority. Appeals over the law’s constitutionality can continue.… Continue Reading

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