Gov. Josh Stein has made it clear that he intends on prioritizing Hurricane Helene relief in Western North Carolina. 

Shortly after being sworn in on Jan. 1, Stein issued six executive orders meant to expedite aid to the still-devastated region where some have complained about a slow response, especially when it comes to housing amid frigid temperatures. 

Apprehension over the fate of a huge industrial parcel in the heart of Canton is now transitioning to cautious optimism.

Hurricane Helene victims in Western North Carolina have eagerly been awaiting an expected holiday gift in the form of federal aid since the Sept. 27 storm pounded the region, but after nearly three months of wholly insufficient action in the General Assembly and a last-minute House vote in Washington, the only gift under the Christmas tree this year was pink bunny pajamas. 

On Jan. 11, 2025 at 10 a.m., North Carolina will have a new governor for the first time in eight years — and what an eight years it’s been.

To the Editor:

I’m writing to thank Rep. Mike Clampitt, Rep. Karl Gillespie and Rep. Mark Pless for siding with the people of Western North Carolina in voting against Senate Bill (SB) 382.  

The number is $53.6 billion. That’s the estimate from the N.C. Office of State Budget and Management for the damage Helene inflicted on Western North Carolina. Those are just dollars; in the bigger picture, lives have been lost, transformed and forever changed. 

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly voted last week to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto and pass a mini budget bill that includes $463 million in funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program that provides voucher money for families with students attending private schools. 

Judge Roy Wijewickrama has been appointed to fill the recently vacated senior resident superior court seat in the district made up of Haywood and Jackson counties. 

The appointment, announced by Gov. Roy Cooper in a press release, came the afternoon of Nov. 14.

To be, rather than to seem; North Carolina’s aspirational state motto evokes notions of determination and the desire for substance in a world where a thin veneer of competence is oftentimes seen as an acceptable substitute.

With North Carolina’s Republican-dominated General Assembly still dead-set on refusing to provide meaningful relief for mountain communities hit hard by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to Washington, D.C., with a delegation of western leaders, appealing to higher authority for help.