When the General Assembly reconvenes next week, broadband promises to be a hot topic. One of lawmakers’ first order of business, according to Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, will be to pass legislation handling money in the rural broadband grant program.
As of January 18, North Carolina has received about a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Nearly 330,000 of those doses have been injected into the arms of North Carolinians. That may sound like a big number. But it’s not nearly big enough.
Around 1,000 of the 1,300 vaccines allocated for the prison system this week have arrived, and the rest of the week’s allocation is expected to arrive and be distributed within days. This week’s allocation is the Moderna vaccine.
A new national study says that it appears safe to reopen schools for in-person instruction in counties with lower rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Attorney General Josh Stein today commended the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder. Specifically, HHS eliminated some unnecessary barriers on physicians who wish to prescribe buprenorphine, an important medication for those struggling with opioid use disorder.
President Donald J. Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals. Robert Cannon “Robin” Hayes – President Trump granted a full pardon to Robert Cannon “Robin” Hayes. The former North Carolina Congressman is serving a 1-year term of probation for making a false statement in the course of a Federal investigation. In addition to his years in Congress, Mr. Hayes has served as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and Chair of the National Council of Republican Party Chairs. Senator Thom Tillis and several members of the North Carolina Congressional delegation strongly support clemency for Mr. Hayes.
Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen visited a large-scale vaccine site at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Friday Conference Center to witness health care workers and North Carolinians over age 65 receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) took a COVID test earlier this week because he was experiencing mild cold-like symptoms.
Gov. Roy Cooper is again pushing for a multibillion-dollar infrastructure bond, but Republican leaders caution that North Carolina’s still-unsteady economy makes it impossible to tell whether it would be prudent.
Newly-sworn-in Chief Justice Paul Newby is wasting little time in getting North Carolina’s court system back up and running. In an order that went into effect Thursday, Jan. 14, Newby handed authority to local court systems to decide about reopening.
Less than a year after an audit of the N.C. Department of Transportation found massive overspending, a blue-ribbon panel is recommending the department get a 40% budget hike.
Chief Justice Paul Newby presented retired Court of Appeals Judge Wanda Bryant with the “Friend of the Court Award” for her years of service to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and chair of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.
