Agriculture

WNCT: Farmers, ranchers celebrated for contributions on National Agriculture Day
Tuesday was National Agriculture Day. It’s a time to celebrate an industry that’s very important to the economy in Eastern North Carolina. Everything we eat, wear and use is provided by people working in agriculture. Many of those products are grown locally.

Economic Development

WRAL TECH WIRE: NC Department of Commerce opens $48M fund for rural economic development
There’s a new source of funding support for rural economic development, and the program is now accepting applications, the North Carolina Department of Commerce announced today. The $48 million fund, known as the Rural Transformation Grant Fund, is administered through the Rural Economic Development Division.

WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL: NC's pandemic economic rebound spurts record jobs, capital investment totals in 2021
North Carolina’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic included a significant rebound in corporate recruitment and expansion projects, the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. said in releasing its 2021 report last week.

Education

CAROLINA JOURNAL: Dispute over $1.7 billion education spending order assigned to new judge
The fight over $1.7 billion in court-ordered N.C. education spending is heading to a new judge. Court records confirm that the long-running legal case known as Leandro is heading to Special Superior Court Judge Michael Robinson.

Environment

THE COASTLAND TIMES: Federal government plans to auction wind energy rights in two areas off coast of Carolinas
The federal government plans to auction off the rights to produce power from wind energy in two areas offshore of North Carolina and South Carolina.

The leases are part of President Joe Biden’s goal of increasing clean energy generation and providing the U.S. with more independent sources of power and lowering electricity bills for customers, the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a news release Friday.

WBTW: North Carolina will fall short on 2021, 2030 climate goals, new study finds
A new report from Environmental Defense Fund, which analyzed emissions data from the Rhodium Group U.S. Climate Service, finds that North Carolina is off track for reaching its own climate goals. According to the EDF’s findings, the state would fall short of both its 2025 and 2030 climate targets without additional policies in place to effectively curb emissions and drive down climate pollution.

Government

THE NEWS & OBSERVER: How common is it for NC to take over a town, like it's doing with Spring Lake?
Hundreds of cities and towns dot North Carolina’s landscape, from Charlotte and its nearly 900,000 residents to Dellview, population 6. Nearly all of them elect mayors and other town leaders who are in charge of funding local departments like police or parks and recreation. And while there are often disagreements on exactly how to spend the town’s money, usually the state government stays out of the way and lets each community make its own decisions.

Healthcare

THE NEWS & OBSERVER: An eye doctor's legal battle could upend North Carolina's health care industry
An eye doctor in New Bern could be on the cusp of changing the way decisions about health care access are made across the state. Jay Singleton is challenging a decades-old law that lets state government officials carefully restrict which health care providers can build hospitals or offer certain services, plus whether they can buy new equipment and, if so, how much money they can spend.

WLOS: "Disappointing to see that increase" Health officials, advocates react to NC overdose data
New data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) shows that on average, nine North Carolinians died every day from drug overdoses in 2020. “It’s unfortunate to see that increase,” said Department of Public Health Senior Deputy Director Dr. Susan Kansagra. “It’s a sizable increase.”

In 2020, 3,304 people died from drug overdoses, which is up 40% compared to data from 2019, when 2,352 died from a drug overdose.

Politics

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Charlotte's unaffiliated voter population has boomed. Who are they?
For about two and a half weeks, Charlotte City Council hopeful Jennifer Moxley has been talking with voters and trying to gather enough signatures to land a spot on the ballot. Many of those voters, like her, are “unaffiliated,” or not registered to vote with any political party. That group ballooned in the previous two decades, are now a plurality in North Carolina and just six points away from a plurality in Mecklenburg County.

Transportation

SPECTRUM NEWS: Five things to know as New Hanover Co. considers a new transit tax
Voters in New Hanover County could decide this year on a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund public transportation. County commissioners Monday approved the next steps to put the sales tax increase on the ballot for November. The transportation tax is similar to the sales tax increases used in the Triangle and Charlotte to fund transportation improvements.