Politics
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Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo
“What’s going to happen is VA’s not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed,” said Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month by Donald Trump.
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Opinion: Will the kind of research that saved my life still be funded in the future?
The research infrastructure that saved my life, and that of countless others, was upended in early February when the Trump administration slashed the amount that research institutions receiving grants from the NIH can claim as overhead, or indirect cost. Now those indirect costs will be capped at 15 percent of the grant total.
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RFK Jr. could restrict NC women’s access to abortion and miscarriage care
The newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services has expressed support for a review of federal approval of mifepristone, which could ultimately revoke access to the drug used in abortion and miscarriage care.
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VA pauses billions in cuts lauded by Musk as lawmakers and veterans decry loss of critical care
The Veteran Affairs cuts would affect everything from cancer care to the ability to assess toxic exposure.
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Trump’s spending freezes could disrupt clean energy boom in NC and increase household heating costs
Among the funding Trump is trying to halt: $160 million in payments to protect the state’s power grid from wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters like Tropical Storm Helene, which has caused billions in damage to western North Carolina.
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Dalton George: How the Hellbender unites North Carolina’s mountains
With names like that, the Hellbender is hard not to love. It’s North America’s largest salamander and one of the largest amphibians in the world.
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Here’s how the GOP push to cut Medicaid would impact rural North Carolina
A push by Congressional Republicans to slash federal funding for Medicaid could have “dire consequences” for the more than 1.2 million rural North Carolinians who depend on the program.
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North Carolina legislature fleshing out details of $500 million in Helene relief
The package remains less than half of the $1.07 billion that new Democratic Gov. Josh Stein sought in new recovery spending earlier this month from legislators.
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Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to throw out 65,000 votes finally gets a court hearing on the merits
There have been several previous rulings in separate courts, both state and federal, but those dealt with procedural issues. On Friday, a state judge will hear the first arguments about the fundamental questions at hand.
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Duke Energy asks the EPA to let it release more emissions
Duke Energy recently announced plans to replace several coal-fired power plants with natural gas-fired stations at two North Carolina sites by 2029. Now, it’s joined nine other power companies in asking newly-confirmed EPA administrator Lee Zeldin to weaken environmental regulations regarding natural gas and coal ash.
