Cooper Seeks Federal Help For 2 North Carolina Counties
Gov. Roy Cooper has asked for a federal disaster declaration for two central North Carolina counties where hundreds of buildings were damaged as a confirmed tornado touched down this month.
Cooper said Thursday he wrote President Donald Trump this week seeking the designation for Guilford and Rockingham counties for the April 15 storm. He wants the declaration that would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer low-interest loans and grants to homeowners, renters and business owners.
Cooper's office says damage assessments found 36 Guilford County homes and businesses were destroyed and 180 sustained major damage. In Rockingham County, there were five homes or businesses destroyed and seven with major damage. One storm-related death occurred in Guilford County.
Jury Hits Pork Giant For $50M For Hog Operation's Nuisance
A federal jury in North Carolina is awarding more than $50 million in damages to neighbors of an industrial hog operation responsible for smells, noise and other disturbances so bad they couldn't enjoy their rural homes.
Jurors on Thursday awarded 10 neighbors of a 15,000-head swine operation a total of $750,000 in compensation plus $50 million in damages designed to punish the hog-production division of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods.
The decision is the first in dozens of nuisance lawsuits filed by more than 500 neighbors against hog operations.
Water Exec: Uncertain Mix Of Chemicals From Consumer Taps
A public water utility that studied what it was serving its 200,000 North Carolina customers is finding a soup of unregulated industrial chemicals with uncertain health effects, including some that university researchers didn't know existed.
State legislators heard Thursday from chemists at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the top executive of the area's main water utility as they try to cope with rising concern about the prevalence of untested chemicals in drinking water.
North Carolina Tax Agency Duplicated Thousands Of Payments
North Carolina's tax collectors are refunding money to thousands of taxpayers whose electronic payments were wrongly subtracted twice from their bank accounts.
The Department of Revenue said Thursday the error happened because a high volume of 2017 payments were being made around last week's filing deadline. But the agency says the roughly 6,400 taxpayers affected were making payments for earlier tax years, such as on installment plans.
Department spokesman Schorr Johnson says the taxpayers are being contacted about the problem and duplicate payments are being refunded. The department also will reimburse overdraft fees such a payment could have caused.
Activists Urge Better Online Public Access To Police Records
Asheville activists say better online public access to police records could help ease community mistrust of law enforcement heightened after the beating of a black pedestrian.
Members of Code for Asheville told city leaders on Tuesday that the accountability is needed because neither the public nor city council knew about the incident for nearly six months.
City officials have given the U.S. Attorney's Office records related to former Asheville Police Officer Chris Hickman's beating of Johnnie Rush last August.
The earliest subpoena was on March 5, five days after the Asheville Citizen-Times published leaked police body camera footage that showed Hickman choke and strike Rush while holding him on the ground after shocking him with a Taser.
Panthers Select WR D.J. Moore From Maryland In First Round
Quarterback Cam Newton has another option on offense. The Carolina Panthers have selected wide receiver D.J. Moore from Maryland with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
Moore was the first wide receiver selected in the NFL draft. He joins what is becoming a crowded wide receivers room in Carolina. The Panthers traded for Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith and signed free agent Jarius Wright from the Vikings earlier this offseason.
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