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Group Seeks Scrutiny Of Nonprofit Purchases For Forest Use
A voting rights organization has asked North Carolina election officials to scrutinize spending by a nonprofit group for equipment for a television studio in the office of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.
Democracy North Carolina Executive Director Bob Hall wrote a letter Monday to the state elections board seeking review of $60,000 in purchases by what's called the North Carolina Promotion and Development Fund.
WRAL-TV reports the fund owns the equipment, which Forest can use to produce videos about issues important to him. One fund donor is a longtime Forest supporter.
Buncombe County Sues Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors
A North Carolina county has filed a federal lawsuit against multiple drug manufacturers and distributors that it says are responsible for fueling the local opioid epidemic.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports Buncombe County commissioners and attorneys with the Dallas-based firm Baron and Budd announced the public nuisance lawsuit during a news conference Tuesday. The lawsuit lists 23 defendants, including firms that sell Oxycontin, Percocet and Norco, and alleges they engaged in "false, deceptive and unfair marketing and/or unlawful diversion of prescription opioids."
The county says the lawsuit aims to relieve taxpayers of the economic burden associated with the opioid epidemic. The county hasn't specified how much it will seek in monetary damages.
NC Sanctions Chemical Company Over Unreported Spill
North Carolina regulators want to penalize an under-fire chemical company after it didn't report the spill of an unregulated compound.
The Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that The Chemours Co. violated its wastewater discharge permit by failing to report the spill at its chemical plant south of Fayetteville.
The company did not respond to invitations to comment.
Chemours could be fined, but first gets an opportunity to respond to the state violation notice.
North Carolina's environmental agency says Chemours is required to give notice within 24 hours of abnormal waste discharges.
North Carolina On Short List For Car Manufacturing Plant
North Carolina is one of two finalists to land the Toyota-Mazda auto manufacturing plant. A Bloomberg News story reports the other state is Alabama.
The car companies announced their site search earlier this year. The plant will build 300,000 vehicles a year. It could create up to 4,000 jobs.
The News and Observer reports North Carolina has four “megasites” that have been built to accommodate large industry. Two sites are in Chatham County, one is in Edgecombe County and one is on the Guilford-Randolph counties border.
Another North Carolina Woman Hits Lottery Jackpot Twice
A North Carolina woman hit the jackpot with two scratch-off lottery tickets, marking the second such instance in three weeks.
The Charlotte Observer reports Michelle Shuffler, of Granite Falls, won $10,000 with one scratch-off ticket and $1 million with another on Sunday.
Shuffler said in a statement that she and her husband purchased the winning $10,000 ticket in Lenoir, and then, feeling lucky, decided to buy another one 22 miles away in Granite Falls.
Kimberly Morris, of Wake Forest, also won the lottery twice at the end of October.
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