Public health officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are urging North Carolinians to protect themselves, their families and those around them by getting vaccinated against Influenza as the state enters flu season while experiencing a surge of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is seeing a sharp increase in COVID-19 clusters among school sports teams. For the period between July 1 and Sept. 2, 2021, clusters among school sports teams accounted for 45% of all clusters in North Carolina middle and high schools, despite most school sports activities not beginning until August as schools began the fall semester. School sports teams are urged to follow NCDHHS guidance for youth sports.
The White House and FEMA have granted Governor Roy Cooper’s Aug. 27 request for a major disaster declaration for seven North Carolina counties that were hit hard by floods after Tropical Storm Fred.
Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed September as Deaf Awareness Month to celebrate and raise awareness about people who are Deaf and belong to a cultural and linguistic community, with shared language, social norms, rules of behavior and history. This year commemorates 70 years since the first congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, which was held in September of 1951.
Attorney General Josh Stein and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler today urged U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to make eligible farmers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The PSLF program forgives the remaining loan balance of a Federal Direct Loan borrower who works for 10 years in a public service job while making loan payments relative to their income.
North Carolina is sending National Guard personnel to help Louisiana after the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Ida. The 113th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion (CSSB) Headquarters from Lenoir is deploying approximately 65 personnel to the Gulf this week.
One of the most hotly debated bills of the legislative section cleared its final hurdle Wednesday, Sept. 1, and now heads to Gov. Roy Cooper, who could add the measure to his growing list of vetoes.
The legislative committees charged with drawing North Carolina's new congressional and legislative election maps will take public comment at 13 different hearings during the next month. Participating lawmakers will head as far east as Elizabeth City and as far west as Cullowhee.
Additional federal unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire on Sept. 6, as the pandemic emergency employment compensation and pandemic unemployment assistance programs are ending. These programs are paying an additional $300 a week to eligible unemployment applicants. Many feel that the extra payments are preventing people from returning to work. In fact, a majority of states have already ended the extra benefit for workers prior to the programs’ termination next week.
Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in 99 of North Carolina’s counties in July and remained unchanged in one. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 9.1 percent while Avery County had the lowest at 3.5 percent.