NCORR
Weekend reads: Loosening state gun laws, diversity efforts targeted, and a new wave of book banning
Big changes start Monday: NC Policy Watch is becoming NC Newsline For nearly two decades, people who care about North Carolina’s most vulnerable, who relish understanding the people and politics that factor into the state’s policies, and who have strong opinions about what our state should look like in the 21st Century, have been loyal […]
Despite signs of progress in hurricane recovery, ReBuild NC continues to struggle
Leoni entered this world on Jan. 23, a daughter of Donnie Red Hawk McDowell and his wife, Humming Bird, hurricane survivors and members of the Tuscarora Nation. In March, Leoni, her 3-year-old sister, Dyani, and their parents moved to a room on the second floor of an Extended Stay America in Fayetteville while their new mobile home was installed near Maxton.
ReBuild NC’s modular home program still faltering; hurricane survivors now receiving different housing types
ReBuild NC’s highly touted modular home program, which state officials have claimed would be the fastest way to get hurricane survivors out of motels and into permanent housing, continues to falter, according to state data. Numbers provided by ReBuild NC to Policy Watch this week show that Rescue Construction Solutions has built 20 modular homes […]
Shake up at ReBuild NC: Richard Trumper, who successfully managed state disaster relief, headed to beleaguered agency
This is a developing story. Richard Trumper, the director of disaster recovery at the Office of State Budget and Management, is leaving that post for a job at ReBuild NC, which is under public and legislative scrutiny for mismanaging its program. Policy Watch confirmed the change with OSBM. In a prepared statement an OSBM spokesperson […]
The future of voter ID, new marriage protections for same-sex and interracial couples, and a rather testy legislative hearing: The week’s top stories on Policy Watch
In this issue: 1. NC Supreme Court issues much-anticipated rulings on voter ID, gerrymandering, and a Confederate statue The North Carolina Supreme Court handed down more than two dozen rulings on Friday, including a trio dealing with high-profile political controversies. The rulings come just weeks before Republicans Richard Dietz and Trey Allen replace sitting Democratic […]
Frustration, disbelief and a call for resignation: Lawmakers grill hurricane recovery official at oversight hearing
Laura Hogshead did not lose her job as the head of ReBuild NC on Wednesday, as many hurricane survivors had hoped. Instead, several state lawmakers on a government oversight committee used the hearing as another opportunity to publicly berate Hogshead for the many deficiencies of the hurricane recovery program. An abysmal number of home completions and a lack of accountability. A pattern of deception and a culture of secrecy.
Colonial Pipeline contamination spreading in Huntersville; MVP Southgate natural gas project on ice, and more
A plume of polluted groundwater is spreading in Mecklenburg County, where Colonial Pipeline is responsible for the largest gasoline spill in the U.S. since the early 1990s. On Aug. 14, 2020, two teenage boys found gasoline bubbling from the ground at the Oehler Nature Preserve, in Huntersville. The company now estimates 2 million gallons leaked from a section of pipeline that had broken roughly a month before.
HUD Inspector General: No “reasonable assurance” that ReBuild NC properly spent $2.5 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief
A new federal Inspector General's report found that ReBuild NC couldn't provide "reasonable assurance" that $2.5 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief funds had been "properly spent," according to an audit dated Sept. 16 and published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the state can't provide documentation for those expenditures, it must repay those funds to HUD.
Hurricane survivors testify before legislative oversight committee, unveiling the truth about ReBuild NC’s bungled disaster relief program
They arrived with folded papers pulled from their pockets. Some came carrying folders that brimmed with documents neatly arranged in binder clips. Others arrived empty-handed, but hoped to leave with answers. With scores more watching in person and online, survivors of hurricanes Matthew and Florence spoke before a state government oversight committee Wednesday about the injustices they have endured – a direct result of the bungled disaster relief program run by the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, also known as ReBuild NC.