Air quality report reveals good news for N.C.

North Carolinians continue to breathe the cleanest air in decades as emissions of harmful air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and particulate matter reach historic lows, according to the latest update of the “Air Quality Trends in North Carolina” report published by the N.C. Division of Air Quality. 

Burn ban issued amid ongoing drought

A burn ban has been issued for 14 Western North Carolina counties in the face of expanding drought following the state’s 10th-driest October since records began in 1895. 

Drought conditions grow

Drought is strengthening in southwestern North Carolina, with 14 counties now in moderate drought and an additional 58 labeled abnormally dry.

Medicaid expansion passes

More than half a million low-income, uninured North Carolinians will gain access to comprehensive health coverage when Medicaid expansion launches on Dec. 1, 2023.

Medicaid expansion for North Carolina will go into effect on Dec. 1

For North Carolina Health News 

After being held up for months by the General Assembly’s protracted dispute over a state budget, Medicaid expansion is set to finally take effect in North Carolina on Dec. 1. 

State budget commits substantial funding to critical needs in WNC

This year’s state budget process may have been one of the most discordant in recent memory, but Western North Carolina’s legislative delegation was able to secure record-setting funding for critical needs in a relatively poor region that sometimes feels overlooked when Raleigh gets to dishing out the dough. 

The allure of gambling money

What’s behind Republican leaders’ insistent push to legalize multiple forms of gambling – from online sports betting to casinos and video poker kiosks — despite resistance from caucus members, core Republican voters, pastors and sheriffs? What happened to concerns about crime, addiction and victimizing the poor?   

Delayed budget means delayed Medicaid expansion

Nonprofits gear up for implementation but still have concerns 

NCDEQ secretary chosen for national leadership role

N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser has been chosen as the next president of the Environmental Council of States, a national association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.

Endangered status proposed for three mussel species

Three freshwater mussel species have been proposed for designation as endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Cumberland moccasinshell, Tennessee clubshell and Tennessee pigtoe all occur in the Tennessee River Basin, while the Cumberland moccasinshell and Tennessee clubshell are also found in the Cumberland River Basin.

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