Rescue Construction Solutions blew past construction deadlines and amassed hundreds of homeowner complaints; some people died before they could move back into their houses.
This is the first story in a series on the state’s hurricane disaster relief programs.
Sam Cockrell removed from the front of his house in Lucama a plank of plywood that had been spray-painted in orange with the word: “Keep.”
He dismantled a second board. It read “Out.”
“I want to keep the front door,” Cockrell said, unlocking it, “as a memory.”
He opened the door into darkness. An invisible mist of mildew escaped as if the house had been holding its breath and then exhaled.
Since Hurricane Matthew devastated eastern North Carolina in October 2016, the state has received $236 million in federal disaster relief money to rebuild or renovate single-family homes that sustained major or severe damage, such as Cockrell’s. At least 1,780 houses belonged to low- and moderate-inome households.[Read more…]
Herman Jones’s house in Craven County, still unfinished after more than a year (Photo: Lisa Sorg)
I was driving around rural Wilson County searching for a specific house, whose owner — a survivor of Hurricane Matthew — I had matched to property records. “No trespassing” read one sign. “Private property” read another. But a man was fixing his truck in the driveway, so I stopped, got out of the car, and ensuring that I stayed on the public road, asked if I could speak with him.
Sam Cockrell couldn’t have been nicer. He spent more than hour showing me around his property, his damaged home where his father once lived, his belongings crammed into two PODS. I learned he’s a fan of the Washington Football Team, likes motorcycles, and loves to fish. [Read more…]
3. State must act ASAP to address facts uncovered in Policy Watch hurricane recovery investigation (Commentary)
In some ways, there’s nothing new or terribly surprising when large bureaucracies – be they government agencies or big corporations – are revealed to be plagued by waste and malfeasance. Humans and their institutions being as they are, flawed and prone to foibles like incompetence, greed, sloth, overpromising, and favoritism; such revelations have been a constant in the American experience since prior to the country’s founding.
All that said, the maddening familiarity of such phenomena cannot serve as an excuse or diminish our commitment to rooting them out and making things right.
And so it is that the state of North Carolina has a new incident of bureaucratic waste and abuse on its hands to which state leaders must give immediate and sustained attention. [Read more…]
North Carolina obstetricians and gynecologists are raising concerns over the burden tighter restrictions on abortion could have on women as well as the medical profession.
Dr. Jonas Swartz is an assistant professor in Duke University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a researcher in reproductive health equity issues.
“Abortion is an incredibly safe and effective procedure as it’s practiced across the United States today. It’s essential health care and gives people the right to autonomy over their own bodies,” Swartz explained during a Tuesday conference call with reporters. “ When I think about the loss of that right, the loss of access to that safe and effective care, it worries me for my patients, and it worries me for my kids.”
Swartz said when the courts or lawmakers take away the right to safe and legal abortion, it doesn’t take away abortion. It just means people attempt means that are less safe. [Read more…]
5. Photo gallery: Hundreds gather in Raleigh for abortion rights, preservation of Roe
Folasewa Olatunde didn’t want to go to the dentist. But sharp pain and inflammation in her mouth told her she should. The dentist told her she needed to have a molar removed and some cavities filled. The cost: more than $3,000.
“For me that’s over two months’ of pay,” she said. “So I’m just living with it, living with the pain.”
Olatunde, a native of Nigeria, is an international student getting her doctorate in Communication, Rhetoric and Digital Media at N.C. State University. She teaches classes at the school as part of her grad program. She’s living on a school stipend of less than $1,400 a month, after taxes. “And that’s just for nine months out of the year,” Olatunde said. “Student fees are $1,300 a semester, so really that’s like two months of your pay right there. In the summer you’re just looking for anything to get by.”
In Raleigh, where studies show rents have gone up more than 20% in the last year, it’s hard for Olatunde to make rent, even with a roommate.
Like a lot of N.C. State students, Olatunde has been using the campus food pantry as she tries to make ends meet.[Read more…]
7. Demise of mismanaged charter school leaves some lamenting the loss
The state is closing Raleigh’s Torchlight Academy because of repeated and serious management failures, but some of its strengths and accomplishments will be lost in the process
Carla Peralta cried after getting the word that Torchlight Academy is closing due to fiscal and governance concerns uncovered during a state Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) investigation.
The K-8 charter school in Raleigh has become a lifeline for the Dominican mother of six. Two of Peralta’s children are currently enrolled at Torchlight and two others attended kindergarten through eighth grade before moving on to Wake County high schools.
The services that Torchlight provides such as transportation to summer school and afterschool programs run by the school have been a big help to parents who work, Peralta said.[Read more…]
8. Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget would fully fund year three of the Leandro remedial plan
The third year of the Leandro comprehensive remedial plan would be fully funded under a budget proposal released by Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday.
Cooper’s plan calls for spending $525.8 million on the school improvement plan that stems from the state’s long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit. He also proposes to spend $687 million more for K-12 and University of North Carolina system construction projects, repairs and renovations.
The remedial plan is based on a detailed school improvement plan developed by WestEd, a consulting firm hired by Cooper to examine public education in North Carolina. WestEd concluded that it would cost $5.6 billion over eight years to fully implement its recommendations.
“My budget fully funds the plan to ensure that every child receives a sound basic education and we know that it’s been a difficult couple of years for students, parents and staff,” Cooper said. “Children and educators are working hard to catch up on studies and they need more support.” [Read more…]
9. Gov. Cooper’s budget on environmental issues: what it contains and why it matters
Gov. Roy Cooper unveiled his $29.3 billion budget yesterday, 3% of which is devoted to natural and economic resources.
Here are some highlights of the environmental sections and why they’re important:
Department of Environmental Quality
- $2.49 million to address emerging compounds with additional staff and testing
Why it matters: Are you tired of PFAS yet? Well, PFAS aren’t tired of you. These toxic compounds have seeped into every day life: drinking water, carpet, clothing, fast food containers, furniture, cookware. They’re in blood, in pee, in breast milk.
This money would pay for more specialized staff — chemists, hydrogeologists, engineers — to meet the increasing need for groundwater testing, as well as permitting. What it will not pay for: the legislature’s political will to allow DEQ to establish a legally enforceable drinking water standard.
- $160,000 for a “project liaison” to collaborate with the Department of Commerce and Economic Development Partnership related to permitting and site development; plus another $500,000 for support positions [Read more...]
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