From the presidential elections to his NCAA Tournament bracket UNC students' efforts helped President Barack Obama secure two very different wins this year. And the enthusiasm among students continues even after the president's first three months in office.
State officials have found a bright spot amid the recession in low construction costs. Contractors and architects have been competing for an estimated $1.4 billion that the state is expecting to receive from the federal stimulus package for construction projects.
N.C. officials are nervously anticipating the state's income tax returns which are due today. Officials at the N.C. General Assembly Fiscal Research Division are estimating a $2.2 billion shortfall for the current fiscal year's budget of $20.6 billion. But once income taxes are calculated that deficit could increase or decrease depending on how much tax revenue is collected.
The slump in the job market is affecting more than just the state's unemployment rate. North Carolina is facing the fastest-growing number of people without health insurance in the nation in part because the insurance system is primarily based on employer-based coverage. The N.C. uninsured rate increased 22.5 percent from 2007 to 2009 the fastest-growing in the nation according to researchers.
Anne Meadors wanted desperately to improve her living space. She was living in a mobile home with no insulation bad flooring leaky pipes and no employed family members. Meadors who lives in Chatham county applied for the Weatherization Assistance Program. The initiative works to reduce the burden of energy prices on low-income families by improving the infrastructure of their homes.
N.C. legislators made it clear that they are still uncertain of the implications and process of allocation of the stimulus money that the state is receiving. In a joint finance committee meeting Wednesday legislators from the N.C. House and Senate expressed uncertainties at how best to allocate the $6.1 billion that North Carolina will receive as a part of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package.
A study criticizing an immigration law enforcement program was presented by the UNC School of Law at a press conference on Wednesday. The program 287(g) partners local sheriffs' offices with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
RALEIGH — The bus of UNC students hadn't even left Chapel Hill before occupants burst into song and cheers — warming up vocal cords to express their dissatisfaction with the N.C. Legislature. About 75 UNC student activists joined 3000 other N.C. residents to march from Martin Luther King Boulevard to the N.C. Legislature on Jones Street" and told the state government one thing: ""Don't budget on the backs of the poor.""
An N.C. bill that denies undocumented immigrants the right to bail could add to the already controversial steps taken by the state to control crimes by illegal immigrants. The No Bail for Certain Illegal Aliens bill proposed Monday by N.C. Reps. Justin Burr (R-Stanly) and Pearl Burris-Floyd (R-Gaston) would deny bail for illegal immigrants who are charged with sex offenses drug trafficking gang related offenses violent felony charges or driving offenses.
Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass tried to clarify his decision to enroll the county in a program that alerts federal authorities to illegal immigrants who have been arrested. At its meeting Thursday the Orange County Board of Commissioners expressed concerns that it could lose control of the decisions made for the people in Orange County by enrolling in the program called Secure Communities.
