North Carolina State Capitol Photo: Clayton Henkel
Senior homeowners seek tweaks to state’s property tax relief program
Rising home values are causing big challenges for some older North Carolina homeowners. (Image: Adobe Stock)
Fast-rising home values, gentrification present big challenges for older residents on fixed incomes
In 1982, Mary Patrica Stumpf and her husband Dale bought a home in North Raleigh for $80,000. Forty-two years later, the house on a half-acre in the pricey Country Club Hills community is valued at more than a $1 million.
To the casual eye, Stumpf is winning. But such big increases in property value are not always a blessing for aging, retired residents. As property values rise, so do city and county taxes. [Read more...]
NC Democratic leaders call on GOP colleagues to address looming childcare crisis
(Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Community Change)
By Ahmed Jallow
North Carolina Democratic legislative leaders called on their Republican colleagues in the General Assembly Thursday to expand funding for childcare providers as federal grant money that helped centers weather the pandemic is set to expire this summer.
Childcare providers and state officials have been urging lawmakers to address the funding gap, warning that without intervention, hundreds of facilities may be forced to shut down. [Read more…]
Trump found guilty on 34 felony counts in NY hush money trial
Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks to speak to the media after being found guilty following his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)
Jurors in New York state court on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star ultimately to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
The first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president wrapped up in Manhattan, marking an extraordinary moment in American history not only for a former leader, but for one who is seeking to again hold the Oval Office. Trump, the Republican Party’s presumed 2024 presidential nominee, is now a convicted felon. [Read more...]
North Carolina Republicans rush to defend Trump following guilty verdict on 34 felony counts
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Donald Trump, and candidate Hal Weatherman pose for a photo over the Memorial Day weekend. (Photo: @HalWeathermanNC account on X.com)
Hours after a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to ultimately influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, Republicans politicians in North Carolina continued to defend the former president.
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who Trump has endorsed, called the trial a sham.
“The Democrats know they can’t beat President Trump at the polls so they weaponize our government against him,” said Robinson on his Twitter/X account.[Read more…]
Avian influenza gene found in Forsyth County wastewater discharge; dairy cattle suspected source
(Dusty Pixel photography/Getty Images)
Detection “doesn’t mean there is infectious H5N1 virus in wastewater,” county health officials say
This story has been updated to reflect a third farmworker contracted H5N1, in Michigan, on May 30, according to the CDC.
A gene found in a strain of avian influenza – H5N1 – was detected in industrial discharge from the Forsyth County/ Winston-Salem wastewater treatment plant last month, scientists found, coinciding with an outbreak in a herd of dairy cattle in west-central North Carolina. [Read more…]
Low-wage states with cheap housing dominated the post-pandemic jobs boom
The skyline of North Carolina’s capital city of Raleigh. North Carolina is one of a handful of U.S. states to have experienced the most job growth in recent years. (Photo: raleighnc.gov)
More than half of the nation’s jobs created in the past five years have come in two states: Texas and Florida.
They’re at the forefront of a job creation revolution in which states with lower wages and a lower cost of living are gaining the highest share of new jobs, according to a new Stateline analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. North Carolina came in fourth.[Read more…]
Legislators examine how to fast-track hiring amid chronic staffing shortages
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Even before the short legislative session got underway, North Carolina legislators heard repeatedly from state agencies about double-digit vacancies and the struggle to fill openings. The State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) has noted that low pay has sent some workers looking for work in the private sector, leaving those remaining under stress and an ever-increasing workload.
On Tuesday, the Senate’s State and Local Government Committee took an initial step in improving the state hiring process by advancing House Bill 223/OSHR/Various SHRA Changes. [Read more.…]
On World ‘No Tobacco Day,’ a renewed push to curb e-cigarette use by NC youth
Among middle school and high school students who currently use e-cigarettes, 1 in 4 use the devices daily according to the CDC. (Photo: Getty Images/iStock)
Tricia Howard never expected her son would take up vaping. As the lead nurse for Durham Public Schools, she knew firsthand the addictive nature of e-cigarettes and the harms nicotine can pose for adolescents.
But when Howard found a vape cartridge in her son’s room, she confronted him and heard a story that’s all too familiar with teen smokers.[Read more...]
Protecting the right to protest is how we protect democracy in North Carolina (commentary)
House Bill 237 would increase penalties for protesters who block traffic as well as for protesters who choose to wear a mask or face covering during a protest. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
By Dawn Blagrove and Melissa Price Kromm
Vibrant, effective protest movements throughout American history have helped secure the rights and freedom we now take for granted. Without the Civil Rights Movement, for instance, our -children — who are Black and white — would not be able to attend school together nor receive equal access to quality books or facilities. Everything from the five-day work week to protections for immigrants to marriage equality were won with the help of community-driven protest movements.
In North Carolina today, our state legislators are counting on us to forget the successful history of protest in this country, along with the First Amendment, so that they can vote against democracy. [Read more…]
UNC’s retreat on DEI is emblematic of a simple truth the right refuses to see (commentary)
The author says the UNC Board of Governors repeated a mistake made frequently by the powers-that-be in American society last week when it voted to eliminate the system’s diversity, equity and inclusion programming. (Image: Adobe Stock)
There was a time in American history, after the Revolution and prior to the Civil War, in which many white Americans – North and South – said it was unnecessary to affirmatively combat slavery or seek to restrict it because it was an obsolete institution that would eventually wither and die on its own.
Thankfully, this was not a view shared by abolitionists or, ultimately, President Abraham Lincoln and other union supporters, who eventually came to realize that abolition was the great and ultimate purpose of the Civil War. [Read more…]
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