North Carolina’s economic health seems strong. Taxes are low, cost of living is below average, and a recent CNBC study gave the state a No. 2 ranking as “Best for Business” because of solid growth, quality workforce, business friendliness, and technology.
Describing a culture of silencing conservative voices at UNCW, one trustee was driven to quit last week with an openly critical post of Seahawk nation on Facebook. Former UNCW Board of Trustees member Woody White revealed what he sees as a troubling trend in treatment of conservative faculty and students.
Winston-Salem based Novant Health has suspended more than 300 employees effective this week for not getting a COVID-19 vaccine. According to a press release from the hospital system, those who have not either had one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine or a first dose of Moderna or Pfizer will not be allowed to report to work. Those with one dose will have until October 15 to get the second one.
A bill intended to prohibit conflicts of interest by local elected officials is stalled in the N.C. legislature, as lawmakers wrangle over the state budget and the end of session remains uncertain.
Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed a measure that would keep charitable donors’ personal information private. "This legislation is unnecessary and may limit transparency with political contributions," Cooper said in a statement as the reason he rejected the privacy measure on Friday.
The shooting death of a student at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem this week brought local and state leaders together Thursday in mourning and to recognize the heroism of local police and faculty. Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to Winston Salem for the news conference and took the opportunity to call for more school spending on “wraparound services” and more gun control measures.
At Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design in Greenville, N.C., students are looking toward the future. Here they learn to cut, curl, and color hair, but also tend to customers and build their client base — all the skills they will need for a lucrative career in cosmetology and other personal services.
The push and pull regarding vaccination mandates continues, both on Capitol Hill and in. the state legislature, from Republicans and from Democrats.
The N.C. House unanimously passed a bill Monday to allow mental health counselors to work across state lines. Aimed at increasing public access to professional counseling services, House Bill 791, Licensed Counselors Interstate Compact, would enter North Carolina into an agreement with member states allowing a counselor’s license from one state to be accepted in the others.
Some universities across the state have announced that they will be requiring the COVID vaccine for students returning to campus. UNC System public universities are not requiring, but encouraging, the vaccine. Some private schools, including Duke and Wake Forest, are requiring it.
Hooks, secretary of the state Department of Public Safety, has served in the role since the beginning of Cooper’s first term. He helped oversee North Carolina's response to hurricanes, violence in understaffed prisons, mob teardowns of Confederate statues on public property, last summer’s riots and protests, and the COVID pandemic.
Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed more legislation than all other North Carolina governors combined. With the past three vetoes stamped over the past three weeks, Cooper’s total comes to 57 vetoes, and the session isn't over.
