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NC Commits $400M Now For Florence Recovery
North Carolina legislators are spending $400 million to speed recovery from Hurricane Florence, and setting aside another $450 million for upcoming needs.
Legislators on Monday approved a second emergency spending plan a month after Florence slammed into the state. Lawmakers set aside $50 million to match federal disaster relief funds during a special session last week.
The new package includes $95 million for repairing and upgrading public school, university and community college property damaged during Florence. About $7 million will help college and university students remain enrolled despite sudden, storm-related expenses.
Judge Withholds Confederate Vandalism Punishment
A judge has declined to punish a University of North Carolina graduate student who admitted to splashing red ink on a Confederate statue on campus last April.
Orange County Judge Samantha Cabe noted that Maya Little had admitted to the crime on the stand and that the facts showed she was guilty of the misdemeanor charge of defacing a public monument. But Cabe used a North Carolina judicial maneuver known as a "continued judgment" to essentially withhold the guilty verdict after hearing impassioned testimony about how Little and others struggled with the statue's Confederate symbolism.
UNC Funnels $200M To App State
The UNC system Board of Governors has approved more than $200 million for projects at Appalachian State University. A public-private partnership will be used to transform on-campus housing as part of the plans.
The bulk of the money - about $191 million - will be used to renovate or replace seven residence halls - involving more than 2,000 beds overall - and adds a parking deck.
Private money and existing university bonds are expected to pay for it.
Also included in the plans is a new end-zone facility at Kidd Brewer Stadium to replace the 45-year-old Owens Field house.
The board also approved Appalachian State's request to start design work to transform the former Watauga High School property into athletic training facilities.
Wake Forest University Suspends Fraternity
Wake Forest University has closed its chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity because of multiple violations of the Student Code of Conduct.
According to a university press release, the decision follows an administrative hearing last week. The release cites a failure by the fraternity to follow a mutually agreed upon social events risk management plan, hosting an unauthorized keg party, and a repeated lack of compliance with the directions of university officials.
The suspension is not related to two anonymous reports of sexual assault alleged to have taken place at the fraternity's house on Polo Road.
2 North Carolina Men Will Make Case For Innocence In 1993 Murder
Two men serving sentences for the 1993 murder of a drug dealer in eastern North Carolina will get the chance to prove they didn't commit the crime after the state commission that investigates innocence claims referred their cases for further review.
The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission said in a news release Monday that the eight-member state agency had referred the cases of Wallace Brandon Jones and LeRoy Spruill to a three-judge panel. Jones was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1993 slaying of Frank Swain of Roper in Washington County, and Spruill entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder.
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