Pardon Our Dust
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Your weekly North Carolina political news report.
Agriculture
WITN: Agriculture community rallies together amid farming crisis
Those in the agriculture community are coming together as the heat continues to devastate Eastern North Carolina farmers and their crops. Many farmers across the east participated in the “Save Our Farms” meeting Saturday afternoon in Cove City.
Economic Development
BUSINESS FACILITIES: ABB Selects North Carolina Facility For $40M Expansion
ABB, Inc., a global leader in electrification products, robotics, and industrial automation, will expand its current facility in Mebane, North Carolina, creating more than 400 jobs in Orange County and investing up to $39.9 million to upgrade equipment and increase the size of its plant.
Education
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Clayton Wilcox to resign as CMS superintendent after two years on job
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox is out of the top job at CMS, the second-largest school system in North Carolina, after two years on the job. Wilcox will resign effective Aug. 2, CMS officials said at a special Friday morning meeting. The school board had suspended Wilcox for unspecified reasons on Monday.
Environment
WSOCTV: Bees are dying. Would a consumer ban on a pesticide help?
Bees pollinate almost three-quarters of the 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world’s food supply, say advocates working on a campaign to protect bees from insecticides. Last week, the grassroots group Environment North Carolina delivered a petition with 13,452 signatures to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office, calling for a consumer ban on the sale and use of neonicotinoids (neonics) pesticides.
Healthcare
DAILY ADVANCE: Treasurer: NO out-of-pocket costs for workers
Even though none of the state’s major hospital systems joined the revised North Carolina Health Plan Network, the plan’s members won’t pay out-of-network costs when it launches on Jan. 1, the state treasurer said last week.
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: How the Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina use casino profits to revamp health care
Profits from the tribe’s casino have helped the 12,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opt out of the troubled U.S. government-run Indian Health Service. They are part of an expanding experiment in decentralization, in which about 20% of federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, California, Arizona and elsewhere have been granted permission to take full control of their health care.
Government
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Judges won’t block voter ID law for 2020, but lawsuit will continue
A court ruling Friday will allow North Carolina’s voter ID law to go into effect in time for the 2020 presidential election. A panel of three Superior Court judges heard arguments for the rel=”noopener noreferrer” case June 28 when lawyers argued over whether the law would discriminate against African American voters in North Carolina.
Transportation
CBS17: Changes could be coming to one of Raleigh’s busiest roads
It’s one of the busiest roads in Raleigh and the North Carolina Department of Transportation says several intersections are horrible. In fact, the agency gave the road an “F” rating. On Monday, officials are reaching out to the public to try and improve the road. The options all surround widening the road from Hillburn Drive to Interstate 540 near the airport.