RALEIGH — The N.C. attorney general can’t keep and distribute money from a settlement over hog waste that leaked and overflowed from lagoons. A split 2-1 panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals, in an opinion issued Tuesday, Dec. 15, ruled money resulting from a settlement between Smithfield Foods and the N.C. attorney general must flow into the state treasury. The ruling effectively ends the attorney general’s hog settlement “slush fund,” says Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation. It could also end any similar deals in the future involving officials in the state’s executive branch.
Raleigh -- Congressman David Price (NC-04), Chairman of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, released a statement on President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to nominate former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg for Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT): "I applaud President-elect Biden’s selection of Mayor Pete Buttigieg to lead the Department of Transportation,” said Chairman Price.
RALEIGH – Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing produced a $1 million prize for someone who bought a ticket at a convenience store in Cabarrus County.The lucky winner bought the ticket at the Carolina Fast Mart on N.C. 49 North in Concord. The win became the third time in three weeks, and the second Tuesday in a row, that a ticket in North Carolina won a $1 million prize in the game.
Attorney General Josh Stein and Associate Justice Anita Earls, co-chairs of the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, delivered the Task Force’s recommendations report to Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this week. In its report, the Task Force recommends solutions to stop discriminatory and biased practices, achieve racially fair outcomes, and increase accountability in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems.
Small independently owned restaurants are facing an extinction-level event as we move deeper into colder months and the coronavirus spread reaches all-time highs. Without immediate financial aid, over 75% of the state’s 19,504 eating and drinking locations are in danger of closing permanently.Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, 17% of restaurants throughout the country (or about 110,000 establishments) have closed either permanently or long-term and 10,000 restaurants have closed over the last three months alone. As for the 10,000 restaurants that have closed over the past three months, the majority had been well-established in the industry for years, and on average, had been in business for 16 years.
On Friday, Governor Roy Cooper, Secretary Mandy K. Cohen and Secretary Erik Hooks wrote a letter to local elected officials imploring them to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in their communities by considering additional enforcement measures.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization for a vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 16 years of age and older.“Many believed it would take at least a year to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but American innovation has exceeded expectations yet again,” said Congressman Greg Murphy, the only practicing physician in Congress. “I will be getting vaccinated next year once it is widely available to the American public and after those who are on the frontlines or are most vulnerable have already received it,” said U.S. Senator Thom Tillis.
Watch the live feed of today’s historic Electoral College vote for the State of North Carolina. NC Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall has convened the 58th meeting of the North Carolina Electoral College in the Capitol Building’s Old Hall of the House of Representatives at noon. The electors will cast their ballots for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States.
A native of Durham, Thomas A. Stith III was named by the State Board of Community Colleges as a new system president. The State Board of Community Colleges voted in a 10:00 am board meeting. Thomas served as Chief of Staff to Governor Pat McCrory from 2013 to 2017 and was a councilman for the City of Durham from 1999 to 2007.
As of November, North Carolina’s state government has some $4 billion in unreserved cash in its General Fund, plus well north of $1 billion in its rainy-day account and other reserves.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave states the power to regulate the companies that negotiate between insurers and pharmacies, otherwise known as pharmacy benefit managers — the jargon for middlemen. The court unanimously ruled in favor of Arkansas’ regulatory reforms Thursday, Dec. 10.
