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North Carolina House Speaker Seeking Another Term To Lead
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore says he's running for a third term as the chamber's top leader.
The Kings Mountain Republican made his candidacy known this week. He said Wednesday incoming House GOP members would gather in December to decide on a speaker nominee and elect other caucus leaders.
Republican Senate leader Phil Berger of Eden said last week he would seek his fifth two-year term. He joined the Senate in 2001. Moore entered the House in 2003 and was rules chairman under then-Speaker Thom Tillis.
Cooper Asks For Additional $5 Billion In Florence Relief
Governor Roy Cooper is looking to secure another $5 billion dollars in federal funds for Hurricane Florence recovery efforts.
The governor made his request while in Washington meeting with North Carolina's congressional delegation.
The News and Observer reports that Congress has already appropriated $1 billion for Florence recovery, but Cooper's office estimates that the storm brought $17 billion in damages to the state. That's on top of the devastation from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Cooper says that following two major hurricanes in less than two years, the state needs to “build back smarter and stronger.”
FDA's Proposed Menthol Ban Puts Tobacco Companies On Defense
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and restrict other tobacco products could make waves in North Carolina's economy.
In a lengthy statement published Thursday on the FDA's website, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb suggested new restrictions are needed on electronic cigarette flavors to keep young people from using tobacco. He also proposed an outright ban on menthol-flavored traditional cigarettes and flavored cigars.
In a statement to WFDD, Winston-Salem tobacco manufacturer Reynolds American, Inc. says it supports age verification in-person and online, and that it shares the FDA's concerns about youth access to tobacco.
However, Reynolds disagrees with Gottlieb's stance on menthol cigarettes, saying the published science does not support the idea that menthol leads to higher levels of initiation, dependence, or health risk. The company also says uneven regulation could stoke black market demand.
Prosecutors: Hospital Group To Stop Anticompetitive Measures
Federal prosecutors say a dominant North Carolina hospital system has agreed to halt insurance practices that hindered patients from finding better health-care deals.
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that Atrium Health agreed to a settlement that prohibits the Charlotte-based system from including certain anticompetitive measures in its contracts with health insurers. Federal prosecutors say the contract restrictions had kept insurers from encouraging patients to find the most cost-effective hospitals and doctors.
The federal antitrust lawsuit filed in 2016 argued that the hospital chain that also operates in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare System, had used its market power to keep consumers from exploring options that offered them the best value.
Father Charged After 3-Year-Old Found Wandering In Street
Police have charged a man with misdemeanor child abuse after a 3-year-old boy was found wandering in the street.
Greensboro police said the boy was found wandering in the street near an apartment complex around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
The boy's father, 35-year-old Robert Terelle Townsend, was charged in the case. He is jailed on a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Authorities said the child has been returned to his mother.
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