Author Topic: North Carolina  (Read 35359 times)

Crafty_Dog

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North Carolina: Lt. Gov's wife
« Reply #200 on: July 30, 2024, 05:26:25 AM »
DEfinitely a Dem source, but it focuses on NC and so I receive it.   Her husband, is a charimatic black conservative who first came to notice for his eloquent assertion of gun rights and he is running for governor but at the moment looks to lose.   He has shot his mouth off in a couple of ways the left him vulnerable to smears, and now this:


https://ncnewsline.com/2024/07/30/if-this-is-privatization-give-us-more-government-bureaucracy/?emci=cd9e18e6-0f4e-ef11-86c3-6045bdd9e096&emdi=bb3c4246-6b4e-ef11-86c3-6045bdd9e096&ceid=244814

Crafty_Dog

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NC: Med debt forgiveness programm
« Reply #201 on: August 13, 2024, 03:05:43 PM »

https://ncnewsline.com/2024/08/13/two-million-north-carolinians-could-benefit-as-hospitals-sign-on-to-medical-debt-forgiveness-program/?emci=a7877c54-1159-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&emdi=5a929f92-6b59-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&ceid=244814

Two million North Carolinians could benefit as hospitals sign on to debt forgiveness program • NC Newsline

Two million North Carolinians could benefit as hospitals sign on to debt forgiveness program
By: Ahmed Jallow - August 13, 2024 5:30 am
     
News conference on reducing medical debt.
 Dave Almeida of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, NC DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley and Gov. Roy Cooper at a July 2024 press conference on medical debt forgiveness. (Photo: Lynn Bonner)

Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday that 2 million North Carolinians will have their medical debt forgiven after all the state’s 99 acute hospitals signed up for a landmark program designed to wipe out debt for low- and middle-income patients. 

The announcement comes after last month’s federal approval of the Cooper administration’s plan to forgive up to $4 billion in hospital debt for millions of people in the state. Under the plan, federal payments to hospitals from the Health Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) would increase in exchange for the hospitals eliminating old debt and helping patients avoid new ones.

“This is a win, win, win,” said Cooper. “It’ll help our hospitals, our people, and our economy thrive.” 

The participating hospitals, including North Carolina’s largest hospital systems, account for most of the medical debts in the state. 

By signing on to the plan, hospitals have committed to eliminating medical debt dating back to January 2014, for all Medicaid beneficiaries, as well as uncollectible medical debt for all patients with incomes at or below 350% of the federal poverty level. Past medical debt exceeding 5% of a person’s annual income will also be forgiven.

“Medical debt is a disease, plain and simple,” said state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley. “It’s a debt that no one wants, no one chooses to have cancer, to get in a car accident or have a heart attack. It’s debt that, even after hospitals spend millions of dollars and years trying to collect, is rarely collected.”

Kinsley also highlighted another policy change during his speech: shifting the responsibility of enrolling patients in charity care programs to hospitals. He said this change will make a huge difference by eliminating the need for patients to navigate complex paperwork.

“It is transformational,” he said. 

“We know that so many more people are currently eligible for charity care programs today, but often struggle navigating paperwork or signing up, because often when you’re recovering from a heart attack or a stroke, that is not the best moment for you to figure out how to get into the charity care program.”

Patients enrolled in public benefit programs like WIC, SNAP, or Medicaid, and those experiencing homelessness, will automatically qualify for charity care by January 2025. By July 2025, participating hospitals must forgive past Medicaid debt, implement policies to protect credit ratings, and prevent aggressive debt collection as well as publicly post debt relief policies.

“This is an exciting step forward in alleviating the burden of medical debt for North Carolina families,” said Reggie Shuford, Executive Director of the anti-poverty advocacy organization, the NC Justice Center, in a statement. “Hospital support for medical debt protections is crucial to making health care more affordable in North Carolina, particularly for communities of color, who we know experience an inequitable share of medical debt and poor health outcomes.”   

Officials are touting the program as a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. 

“This is, by and large, one of the largest medical debt forgiveness programs we have seen in the country, and also one of the most ambitious policies that we have seen to prevent medical debt from accruing in the first place,” said Kinsley. 

Hospitals participating in the program will receive HASP payments that will bring an estimated $4 billion into the state this fiscal year and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year. 

DHHS is collaborating with the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt and other nonprofits to work with hospitals over the next two years to implement the program. Patients do not need to take any action to benefit from the new initiative.

Crafty_Dog

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WT: Med Debt Forgiveness Program 2.0
« Reply #202 on: August 14, 2024, 05:05:15 AM »


NORTH CAROLINA

Qualifying hospitals join debt reduction effort, Cooper says

Touts higher Medicaid payments

By Gary D. Robertson ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. | All qualifying North Carolina hospitals have agreed to participate in a first-ofits- kind initiative that will give them higher Medicaid payments if medical debt of low- and middle- income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liability, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday.

Mr. Cooper and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled six weeks ago a proposal submitted to federal Medicaid regulators that they said could help about 2 million people in the state get rid of $4 billion in debt held by hospitals, which can usually recoup only a small portion.

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities,” Mr. Cooper said at a news conference in which he revealed all 99 qualifying hospitals — including the state’s largest hospital systems — have committed to the voluntary debt-elimination effort.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services signed off last month on the plan details, which build on a Medicaid reimbursement program started recently for 99 acute-care, rural or universityconnected hospitals. The hospitals were asked to make their participation decisions known by late last week.

Changes that benefit consumers will begin in the coming months, including by next July 1 the elimination of medical debt going back to early 2014 for the hospitals’ patients who are Medicaid enrollees. The hospitals in time will also eliminate medical debt that is more than 2 years old for nonenrollees who make below certain incomes or whose debt exceeds 5% of their annual income.

“We are often confronted with messages that tackling medical debt is impossible,” said Jose Penabad, a board member with Undue Medical Debt, a national group that will work with North Carolina hospitals, but “today is a message of hope.”

The hospitals will also agree to carry out programs going forward to discourage debt. By Jan. 1, for example, hospitals will automatically enroll people in charity care programs if they qualify for food stamps and other welfare programs.

And by July, they’ll have to curb debt collection practices by not telling credit reporting agencies about unpaid bills and by capping interest rates on medical debt.

The qualifying hospitals already participate in what’s called the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program. The General Assembly approved it last year along with expanded Medicaid coverage to working adults who couldn’t otherwise qualify for conventional Medicaid. Hospitals pay assessments to draw down billions of dollars in federal money.

The HASP hospitals are now poised to receive even higher levels of reimbursement by agreeing to the medical debt initiatives. Mr. Kinsley’s department said that hospitals that otherwise would have shared funds from a pot of $3.2 billion this fiscal year now will benefit from an estimated $4 billion and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year.

Other state and local governments have tapped into federal American Rescue Plan funds to help purchase and cancel residents’ debt for pennies on the dollar Mr. Cooper, a Democrat who leaves the job in January, acknowledged recently that hospitals had responded somewhat negatively to the medical debt effort. He said Monday he believed that hospitals were put off initially because HASP funds previously unrestricted were now going to be tied to debt-reduction incentives.

But ultimately “these hospitals looked at the bottom line, looked at the benefits to their patients and communities and decided to sign up,” he said


DougMacG

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Re: North Carolina legislative leaders and the temptations of power
« Reply #204 on: August 20, 2024, 04:25:53 PM »
https://ncnewsline.com/2024/08/20/nc-legislative-leaders-and-the-inevitable-temptations-of-power/?emci=a3b43f2f-8c5e-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&emdi=97342abb-eb5e-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&ceid=244814

I hate the term Uniparty implying the parties are the same and your vote doesn't matter.  Then at times the elected Republicans act that way, defeating their own cause.





Crafty_Dog

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Crafty_Dog

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Looks like Robinson for Gov is going down in flames. Not good for Trump
« Reply #210 on: September 20, 2024, 05:48:06 AM »
second
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republicans-assess-potential-fallout-for-trump-from-north-carolina-bombshell/ar-AA1qRW7e?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=7e592a4d0e6b49c4bd59d5fa600bfa86&ei=13

Patriot Post:

The Leftmedia Machine lynches Mark Robinson: CNN has the scoop: "Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website's message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a 'black NAZI!' and expressed support for reinstating slavery." Robinson has a big target on his back. He's vying to become North Carolina's first black governor, and leftists don't like it. So, they sat on a salacious story until the very last day that Robinson could exit the race, after ballots had already been printed. What did CNN reporters know, and when did they know it? And where are Facebook's censors, and why aren't they protecting this black conservative like they protected white-privileged Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election? It's hard to know what the up- and down-ballot implications will be here, but North Carolina is a crucial swing state, especially for Republicans. In defending himself yesterday, Robinson said, "Clarence Thomas once famously said, he was the victim of a high-tech lynching." True enough. But in this case, Robinson may have supplied his political enemies with the rope.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2024, 10:42:21 PM by Crafty_Dog »

DougMacG

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Re: North Carolina
« Reply #211 on: September 22, 2024, 06:05:57 AM »

Crafty_Dog

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WT: Deep fake?
« Reply #212 on: September 23, 2024, 04:52:53 AM »
NORTH CAROLINA

Graham: Robinson should sue CNN if online claims are false

Senator says nominee deserves chance to defend himself

By Kerry Picket THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson should sue CNN if its report on allegations about explicit remarks he supposedly made online is false.

“The charges are beyond unnerving. If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office. If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel,” Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, said on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “He’s claiming they were artificially created and that CNN passed it along to be true.”

Mr. Graham said Mr. Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican lieutenant governor, “deserves a chance to defend himself” after CNN reported about an alleged online post in which he called himself a “Black Nazi,” advocated for a return of slavery and disparaged Muslims and Jews.

The senator’s remarks came one day after Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, posted on X that Mr. Robinson should file a lawsuit against the news outlet if its charges are not true or else leave the race.

“If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” Mr. Tillis posted. “If the reporting is true, he owes it to [former] President [Donald] Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.”

Mr. Robinson vowed Thursday to stay in the governor’s race against state Attorney General Josh Stein after CNN reported that Mr. Robinson had posted slurs and referred to himself as a “Black Nazi” on a pornographic website’s forum between 2008 and 2012.

The lieutenant governor posted an 82-second video on X calling the allegations “salacious tabloid lies.”

“We are staying in this race and we are in it to win it,” hesaid.

Mr. Robinson, who has been endorsed by Mr. Trump, did not appear Saturday at a Trump campaign rally in Wilmington, and the Republican presidential nominee did not mention Mr. Robinson in his speech.

The Democratic campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris wasted no time in broadcasting an attack ad in the state linking Mr. Trump to Mr. Robinson, whom the former president said in March was “better than Martin Luther King.”

Mr. Robinson released on Thursday a pre-buttal after local news outlets and social media were buzzing about a looming CNN report that could affect the race.

CNN reported that Mr. Robinson posted on a website, Nude Africa, more than a decade ago under a moniker he commonly used online, though his online profile had his full name and email address.

Writing on a forum about Black Republicans, the report says he called himself a “Black Nazi” and wrote: “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few.”

“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” the candidate said Thursday in his X video.”You know my words, you know my character.”

Mr. Robinson said opponents are “desperate” to change the topic from issues important to voters.

Crafty_Dog

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Gov Cooper vetoes school voucher and immigration bills
« Reply #213 on: September 23, 2024, 04:56:11 AM »
secondNORTH CAROLINA

Governor vetoes school voucher, immigration bills

By Gary D. Robertson ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. | North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Friday that allocates several hundred million dollars to an expanded private school voucher program and orders sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigrant agents looking for people in the country illegally who have been brought into county jails.

Mr. Cooper’s veto was anticipated — the Democratic governor is a longtime critic of spending taxpayer dollars to help families send their K-12 children to private and religious schools. The bill in part would fund grants for this fall for children from families at all income levels who qualify. Mr. Cooper had already vetoed two previous versions of the immigration bill in 2019 and 2022.

Unlike those previous years, when enough Democrats were seated at the General Assembly to uphold Mr. Cooper’s vetoes, Republicans now hold narrow veto-proof majorities in both chambers. Mr. Cooper had vetoed 27 bills since 2023 before Friday. Twenty-six have been overridden, and the other veto is poised to be overturned, too.

After floor votes last week to approve this latest vetoed bill, legislative leaders said they likely would consider additional overrides in the fall. They would have to act by year’s end or lawmakers would have to start over and advance a new bill. Mr. Cooper would need support from some Republicans to succeed.

“There is still time to stop the expansion of private school vouchers,” Mr. Cooper said at a news conference surrounded by educators and current and former elected officials from rural counties. “Wealthy people will never let their private school vouchers be taken away if we don’t stop it now.”

The vetoed measure combined the two provisions within a supplemental spending bill that also included $377 million for Medicaid and $160 million to address enrollment growth in public schools and community colleges.

House and Senate GOP leaders signed off on the compromise bill earlier this month. The two chambers had been unable to agree on broad adjustments to the second year of the two-year state budget before they adjourned this year’s chief work session in late June.

The compromise legislation transfers $463.5 million more to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program for this school year and next in order to eliminate a waitlist of roughly 54,000 children.

It’s the result of a large increase in applications for this school year as legislators in 2023 did away with income limits on families to qualify. There were otherwise enough funds available for scholarships for more than 45,000 new student applicants and past recipients, nearly all of whom are in low- and middle-income families, according to the state budget office.


Crafty_Dog

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North Carolina: Mule Trains to Asheville
« Reply #215 on: October 01, 2024, 11:21:10 AM »
NORTH CAROLINA

Mule trains come to rescue of trapped residents in North Carolina mountains

By Emma Ayers THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Emergency responders have resorted to using mule trains to deliver supplies and aid in North Carolina’s mountainous western areas, where mudslides and raging waters brought by the remnants of Hurricane Helene washed away roads this weekend.

Asheville, a haven for artists in the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been cut off from nearly all forms of conventional transportation and communication, but Mountain Mule Packers, who describe themselves as “extreme terrain pack animal supply trains,” are going where planes, trains and automobiles cannot.

“We will be getting supplies at Tractor Supply and then heading out there, also looking to assess the situation and possibly going to Black Mountain as well,” the group said in a public message on its phone answering service, noting overwhelming requests for relief.

Initially based in the Sierra Nevadas, the mule packers are now headquartered in the hills of North Carolina, where they conduct military training for hauling ammunition. Now they are delivering aid to neighbors stranded without water and cellphone service.

Helene, which made landfall Friday in Florida’s Big Bend area, left a watery path of destruction as it moved northward toward the Carolinas as a tropical depression. The storm’s death toll rose to at least 120 in six states on Monday. More than 600 people were missing, and thousands were without power.

President Biden told Southern governors that the federal government would

North Carolina alone had one horrific story after another, including people trapped by floodwaters or killed by falling trees. A couple and a 6-year-old boy waiting to be rescued on a rooftop drowned when part of their home collapsed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

do everything possible to help the Southeast and Appalachia recover from a “history-making” storm.

“I want them to know, we’re not leaving until the job is done,” Mr. Biden said at the White House.

Mr. Biden said he spoke with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and leaders of other areas impacted by Helene. He planned to examine the damage firsthand as “soon as possible” but said a visit now would be disruptive.

“I expect to be down there by Wednesday or Thursday,” the president said.

Mr. Biden said he would ask Congress for supplemental funding to help with recovery efforts. Lawmakers are on recess until November, and Mr. Biden said he may consider asking Congress to return to deliver storm recovery funding.

In Georgia, Mr. Kemp said during a news conference that the death toll in his state had risen from 17 to 25.

More than half Helene’s fatalities have been reported in the Carolinas. North Carolina’s Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, reported at least 35 people killed there.

The North Carolina death toll included one horrific story after another of people who were trapped by floodwaters in their homes and vehicles or were killed by falling trees. A courthouse security officer died after being submerged inside his truck. A couple and a 6-year-old boy waiting to be rescued on a rooftop drowned when part of their home collapsed.

Rescuers did manage to save dozens, including an infant and two others stuck on the top of a car in Atlanta. More than 50 hospital patients and staff in Tennessee were plucked by helicopter from the hospital rooftop in a daring rescue operation.

Mr. Cooper predicted that North Carolina’s death toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

“Devastation does not even begin to describe how we feel,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said during a news conference.

Overnight shelters have been at capacity, drinkable water has been scarce and misinformation has been a problem, county officials said.

People waited in a line for more than a block at Mountain Valley Water in West Asheville, The Associated Press reported.

Some had milk jugs. Derek Farmer brought three glass gallon-sized apple juice containers. The business was selling water — cash only and writing invoices on what looked like an ancient pad — just outside its fenced-in lot.

Mr. Farmer has lived in Asheville for more than two decades. As a veteran of a flood in 2004, he was ready. Day Three without water made him nervous about getting more.

The community has brought help where the government has not. Bill Wadell of AccuWeather posted on X that volunteers and strangers were using privately owned helicopters to deliver emergency supplies and help people evacuate the hardest-hit communities in western North Carolina.

Stephanie Kraus, who lives with her husband in Roan Mountain, Tennessee — a mountain community bordering North Carolina — told The Washington Times that she has been “pleasantly surprised” that her neighbors haven’t waited for outside help.

“Citizens are just taking it upon themselves to clear the roads instead of waiting for FEMA or the state or the county. It’s amazing what we can do with a chain saw and some effort,” she said. “We can do a lot for ourselves when we all join forces and work together.”

Ms. Kraus said the situation has provided the opportunity to contribute in a way little else can.

“It’s really a beautiful thing to behold,” she said. “[It’s] something we don’t ordinarily experience until a disaster occurs.”

Mountain Mule Packers said on their Facebook page that they have been “overwhelmed with the amount of support and encouragement” since they announced their plans.

Mr. Wadell of AccuWeather said, “Donations are needed for the cost of fuel, food, bottled water and emergency supplies.”

CrowdSource Rescue, a Texas-based disaster aid nonprofit helping with relief efforts in North Carolina, said they are in “desperate need” of more local volunteers for “wellness checks and supply drops in inaccessible areas.”

“If you have a 4x4, reasonable self-sufficiency, and can help tomorrow, please reach out,” the group posted on X

Crafty_Dog

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ET: North Carolina towns wiped off map
« Reply #216 on: October 01, 2024, 07:39:24 PM »


North Carolina Communities ‘Wiped Off the Map’ by Helene, Governor Says
More than 1.5 million U.S. customers are still without power after Hurricane Helene, according to a tracking website.
Friends Read Free


North Carolina Communities ‘Wiped Off the Map’ by Helene, Governor Says
Debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, N.C., on Sept. 30, 2024. Mike Stewart/AP Photo
Jack Phillips
By Jack Phillips
10/1/2024
Updated:
10/1/2024


The governor of North Carolina said that “hundreds of roads” were destroyed and that entire communities were “wiped off the map” because of storm Helene last week and over the weekend.

“Consider the roads closed in western North Carolina,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told CNN on Sept. 30. “We do not need sightseers coming in to observe the damage. We ask you not to come in unless you are on a specific mission to help with rescue.”
The North Carolina Department of Transportation warned in a Sept. 30 post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “all roads in Western NC should be considered closed to all non-emergency travel.”
Story continues below advertisement

In a separate post, the agency included photos of area roads that were collapsed, washed out, or blocked by debris.
In the Asheville area, which was especially hard-hit by the storm, people who are still seeking to evacuate can use Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 East, the department stated. Residents in other areas need to consult local emergency officials first before traveling.
The mayor of Asheville described the aftermath as a “post-apocalyptic scene.”


Major Port Strike Threatens Consumers, Economy; Devastation Across the Carolinas in Wake of Helene
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told reporters on Sept. 30 that the city is “seeing just piles of people’s houses that were destroyed. Buildings that were destroyed. Cars overturned.”

“The power lines look like spaghetti. It’s hard to describe the chaos that it looks like,” she said.

“We are cut off from highway access from three of the four major highways into Asheville. Some resources are having to be flown in. ... I can’t even think about a time frame for how long it’s going to take to recover from this storm.”

The storm killed more than 100 people across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia, and the death toll is expected to rise once rescue teams reach isolated towns and telecommunications are restored.

“We know that death toll will rise,” Asheville’s mayor said. “We’ve heard accounts of people seeing houses floating down the river with people in them.”

In North Carolina, some 300 roads were closed and more than 7,000 people have registered for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, officials said on Sept. 30. The National Guard was flying 1,000 tons of food and water to remote areas by plane and helicopter.

Story continues below advertisement

North Carolina was coordinating 92 search-and-rescue teams from 20 states and the federal government, according to Cooper. Most efforts were in the Appalachian Mountains, which run through the western part of the state, where the storm ripped up roads, leveled trees, and tossed homes about.

Tracking website PowerOutage.us shows that nearly 1 million people were without power in South Carolina and North Carolina. More than 450,000 were without power in Georgia, 73,000 lacked power in Virginia, and 64,000 had no power in Florida as of the morning of Oct. 1.

In total, the storm knocked out service to about 5.5 million customers.

Helene made landfall on the evening of Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 “major” hurricane with 140 mile-per-hour winds before it was downgraded. However, the storm produced significant rainfall across the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Georgia.

President Joe Biden said he would visit North Carolina on Oct. 2 and Georgia and Florida soon after. He may also ask Congress to return to Washington for a special session to pass supplemental aid funding.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: North Carolina
« Reply #217 on: October 03, 2024, 04:47:45 AM »

DougMacG

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Re: North Carolina
« Reply #218 on: October 03, 2024, 07:26:02 AM »
We are hearing reports that FEMA/other govt types are seizing/trying to seize supplies being brought in by private volunteers.

In that vein:

https://www.qcnews.com/news/investigations/sc-pilot-flying-volunteer-supply-and-rescue-missions-ordered-out-of-lake-lure-under-arrest-threat/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFq6zBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHUMyPoefXO4gXi4RJXd3x-xKLuy6EJthwcDNgZHlgdIIuiZCQzzm-NwEyw_aem_vJGxPFh5qnb6noHyAzuQxg

What a tragedy that is going on, I can't imagine.  This is why we need great leaders of the right kind.  When I heard the term from covid used again, 'lodge in place', I cringed.  Also, 'visitors don't come here'.  Curtail travel.  Yes but only as absolutely needed.  It makes me think of the "emergency powers" that our governor took, abused, and never relinquished (voluntarily), and of Martial Law in other nations.

The whole point of FEMA is to have experts AND THE PEOPLE who hopefully, responsibly, prepared to handle the crisis. 

We need these types of 'emergency powers' to be as short and as limited as possible, led by people who cringe at the idea of having power over people's liberties one minute more than necessary, not by people who thrive on it.

Hopefully North Carolina and the other states involved are in good hands.  In my state (MN) we weren't.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2024, 07:43:02 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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North Carolina, Debate moderators say it was "Climate Change"...
« Reply #219 on: October 03, 2024, 08:02:35 AM »
"Unprecedented!"

Or was it the "100 year flood - that everyone used to know was eventually coming...

https://www.frenchbroadrafting.com/blog/remembering-the-flood-of-1916



https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/626bd005d273233572633404/626fd1d5dd07d17bbe47f409_623c9fc2a4dd07f57ea26b20_flood-of-1916-french-broad.jpeg

Remembering the flood of 1916, western North Carolina.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2024, 09:55:34 AM by DougMacG »

Crafty_Dog

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From our Moore County PD on FB
« Reply #220 on: October 03, 2024, 08:28:01 AM »
LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS DONATE GEAR VALUED AT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO MONTAIN FIRE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE FACED DESTRUCTION
What happens when the small town fire department that your community knows, loves, and depends on is suddenly wiped off the face of the earth?
This is the reality for not just one North Carolina mountain town, but rather several.
Fire departments across the state will be rising to the occasion to help. Proudly, some of our local fire departments were some of the first to step up.
This morning, I had a chance to see a first-hand  account of the story that is not being told of the disaster that has struck our North Carolina mountains.
I spent the first part of today riding around with and speaking with firemen and fire leaders who were collecting gear from several Moore, Cumberland County, and Hoke County fire departments.
This much needed gesr will be donated to fire departments that have been totally wiped out in our North Carolina mountains.
One affected department in the town of Marhshall was reportedly able to save one fire truck and the equipment that was on the fire truck itself, but the station and everything in it is a complete loss.
Their fire station pictured below in Marshall North Carolina was totally devastated and destroyed in the events that followed.
This resulted in the total destruction of a variety of equipment, from turnout gear to air packs to hoses and more.
Today, several departments from Moore County, Cumberland County, and Hoke County have donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear that they had sitting on the shelf waiting for use within their own departments.
Their initial focus this trip is to collect and distribute complete sets of protective turnout gear worn by firefighters when responding to an emergency. 
These departments are also donating complete sets of protective breathing apparatus. These SCBA's allow firefighters to enter hazardous environments like a structure fire while ensuring that they have safe air to breathe.
For example, a single set of turnout gear - boots, pants, coats, and helmets - cost approximately $5,000 per set!
These airpacks also cost approximately $5,000 per unit when purchased. 
In addition to Cranes Creek Fire Department; Cypress Point Fire & Rescue, Southern Pines Fire & Rescue, Aberdeen Fire & Rescue, Pinebluff Fire & Rescue, and Whispering Pines Fire Department in Moore county, as well as Spring Lake Fire Department from Cumberland County, and Hillcrest Fire Department in Hoke County all donated gear today filling a large trailor.
The fire departments have been actively engaged with local fire officials to learn the needs. Following some of these requests, additional items are being collected and transported, including cases and cases of bottle water along with bales of hay for livestock in this community that have seen utter devastation.
I accompanied the team making the pickups Thursday morning and was moved to the point of silence - where most of the time I only watched, listened, and documented.
You will see in some of the pictures below where I documented our visits to each fire department this morning. This gear is being collected today to be transported to western North Carolina tomorrow.
This is, but the first equipment donation run is coordinated and made by Moore County.
Follow-up runs will include many additional items such as hose, nozzles, axes, wrenches, and other equipment that firefighters use on the day to day as they complete their missions.
According to Southern Pines Deputy Chief Ted Horvath, officials from here are coordinating with emergency management teams in the mountains to identify the departments with the greatest needs.
Firefighters collected 89 coats, 75 pants, 63 pair of boots, 52 helmets,  19 airpacks with mask, 33 spare airpack bottles, 20 batteries for airpacks, more than 50 sets of firefighters gloves, over 75 protective hoods, 4 speak easy devices, and 9 portable Motoroal radios with charges.
This equipment will be delivered to western North Carolina Friday.
This has been an incredible experience to participate in today. I feel blessed to have been here to watch all of this as these men and women of Moore county have stepped up above donating their own equipment and supplies for the fire departments in western North Carolina that have nothing.
This is on top of the dozen firefighters that we have deployed to the mountains this week, with more to follow.
I have been told that this is a mission that has just begun, and our local firefighters are committed to these operations.
Fire officials stated that they expect to have boots on the ground presence that could possibly run months as they alternate crews each week.
Please pray for the residents in the mountains who have seen their community destroyed by the effects of Helene and our many first responders there doing everything to help.
10/03/24
Billy Marts
#firedepartment #firegear #donationcollection #Firefighters #Firehouse #FireBrotherhood #Donations
 #PleaseShare #ShareThisPos


Crafty_Dog

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FEMA at work
« Reply #222 on: October 06, 2024, 12:30:04 PM »

Crafty_Dog

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FO: I-40 out of action for forseeable future
« Reply #223 on: October 07, 2024, 09:13:47 AM »


“I-40 is going to be indefinitely closed for the foreseeable future,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation Western Communications Manager David Uchiyama said. (Interstate 40 is a major logistical line of communication through western North Carolina, and authorities say repairs could take more than a year. The closure will likely disrupt freight traffic as trucking diverts to other highways, and increase the number of major highway freight bottlenecks. – R.C.)

DougMacG

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Re: FO: I-40 out of action for forseeable future
« Reply #224 on: October 07, 2024, 09:23:48 AM »


“I-40 is going to be indefinitely closed for the foreseeable future,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation Western Communications Manager David Uchiyama said. (Interstate 40 is a major logistical line of communication through western North Carolina, and authorities say repairs could take more than a year. The closure will likely disrupt freight traffic as trucking diverts to other highways, and increase the number of major highway freight bottlenecks. – R.C.)


At least that closure is due to a devastating hurricane and flooding and they intend to re-build.

The Twin Cities of Omar / Walz propose to close the freeway I-94 that connects Minneapolis to St. Paul, Chicago to Billings, Boston to Seattle, in order to re-imagine plants and bicycles instead of vehicles:

Must scroll to see


https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/proposal-to-replace-i-94-with-a-boulevard-between-minneapolis-and-st-paul

What could be safer and more efficient than a freeway with crosswalks every block, left turn lanes, etc.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2024, 09:41:43 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Re: North Carolina
« Reply #225 on: October 07, 2024, 10:12:40 AM »

Crafty_Dog

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Dr Phil thanking Elon Musk
« Reply #226 on: October 07, 2024, 10:48:13 AM »

Crafty_Dog

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North Carolina: BoE altering rules for WNC
« Reply #227 on: October 08, 2024, 06:52:17 AM »
Daily Caller

North Carolina State Board Of Elections Alters Rules In Wake Of Hurricane Helene Disaster
Hurricane Helene North Carolina
Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images


Christian Baldwin
Contributor
October 07, 2024
8:28 PM ET
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North Carolina officials have altered voter procedures in the wake of Hurricane Helene causing widespread destruction in the key battleground state.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections issued an emergency declaration Monday altering North Carolina’s voter procedures in response to the devastation from Hurricane Helene. North Carolina § 163‑27.1 vests the Board with emergency powers in the event of “a natural disaster” or “extremely inclement weather.”  The declaration authorizes county election boards in 13 affected counties to take a “bipartisan majority vote” on several measures.

Among these measures are changing or adding early voting sites, as well as the time said sites are available for voters, and moving one voting precinct’s space to be adjacent to another while keeping the voting and tabulation materials separate. Provisions are also to be made by county boards for accepting absentee ballots from close family members and designated legal guardians for precinct residents unable to turn them in themselves.

Such absentee ballots can be turned in at the voter’s county up to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the election. Alternatively, they can also be received via other counties’ precincts as long as they were turned into the county election board or the State Board by that time and transferred to the board of the voter’s county the day prior to the county canvass. Provisions for spoilage and reissuing of a ballot as well as ballot curing are referenced.

The declaration also allows county election boards to deploy “Multipartisan Assistance Teams” of registered North Carolina voters “to assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places where disaster relief is provided to the general public.”


Marshall, NC – September 30 : Ezra Fenland, 18, right, and other locals search for missing items from a nearby mechanics shop in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Marshall, North Carolina on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

More than 1,700 North Carolinians are unable to return home and are being sheltered through the organization’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, according to a Federal Emergency Management Administration press release from Monday.

Members of the State Election Board have touted the rule changes as necessary to prevent voter disenfranchisement, The Associated Press reported. Democratic Board Chairman Alan Hirsch said the Board was focused on meeting election deadlines while ensuring “no one is denied the right to vote because of these logistical problems.”

Republican board member Stacy Eggers IV said the rules are “tailored to give flexibility to the county boards to meet those specific needs.” (RELATED: ‘Excuse Me?’: Doocy Pushes Back At KJP As She Accuses Him Of Spreading ‘Misinformation’)

Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday that North Carolina is a state Republicans must win in November and suggested that his party ought to be involved with ensuring that sympathetic voters will not be disenfranchised.

“Why this is so important, 20,000 votes determined who won with Wisconsin,” McCarthy said. “And if President Trump doesn’t win North Carolina, he can’t win the Presidency. So why aren’t we ensuring that these votes? Is the ballot still there? Do they make sure they’re able to mail them in?”

NEW: Kevin McCarthy says Hurricane Helene could lose Trump the 2024 election, asks why no one is doing anything to protect western NC votes.

Ingraham: “Those 40k votes, there has to be court action to ensure that those people… get their votes counted.”

McCarthy: “20,000 votes… pic.twitter.com/wGVNfIkJ3T

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 5, 2024


The affected counties, with the exception of Buncombe County, voted for Trump in the 2020 election, The Washington Post noted. Trump won the state with less than 80,000 votes, his slimmest margin of victory in any state that year.

Helene will also allow many voters to circumvent the state’s photo ID requirements. North Carolina law allows voters to fill out a provisional ballot if they are unable to provide an ID due to a “natural disaster” that occurred within 100 days of election day, provided they fill out an affidavit beforehand.

Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Towns find unity in WNC
« Reply #228 on: Today at 01:57:50 AM »


Towns Find Strength in Unity After Helene
Western North Carolina has been devastated, but everyone is pitching in to the recovery effort.
By Luke Lyman
Oct. 9, 2024 2:08 pm ET


When I visited last week, eight days had passed since Hurricane Helene ravaged this town of about 5,000 east of Asheville. During that time, the chaos had kept St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church from ringing its bell to announce Mass.

Residents were largely without running water, power and cell reception. Many were still missing. Drive down the town’s main road and you’d see semi trucks on top of houses, sinkholes like bombshell craters and countless small businesses destroyed. The field next to the Harley-Davidson dealership had been converted into a landing zone for helicopters flying into the “hollers”—old neighborhoods, deep in valleys dug into the mountains, that the storm made unreachable.

The story of Swannanoa is the story of many towns across the South. Mills and factories powered the economy for decades. The area became a popular mountain getaway spot, especially among New Englanders. But crucial industry left in the mid-2000s; residents joked the town should be renamed “Swanna-nowhere.” Then, in the mid-2010s, young transplants—“hipster types,” say locals—began moving in and starting small businesses, revitalizing the town. Retirees from all over came too.

Appalachia natives, New Englanders, hipsters and retirees: Mix these and, in the words of local Andrew Belz, “take a big spoonful of Billy Graham and spread it on top,” and you’ve got Swannanoa. Mr. Belz watched the town rebuild over the past decade, and he watched the hurricane wash away much of that progress. “It’s the poor that lost the most,” he says as we drive by the wreckage of a trailer park. “There used to be 12 trailers in that park.” One remains.

Swannanoa’s makeup may sound combustible, especially during such a destructive event as a hurricane. But nearly everyone I met insisted their community had never been stronger. What kept the town together? Besides governmental aid, it’s thanks largely to that very American mixture of civil society and the private sector. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that a democratic society’s health can be measured by the ability of its citizens to bind themselves together. At least by that standard, the area is in great health.

Take the First Baptist Church. Starting with just a few water bottles, Pastor Jeff Dowdy, 48, and his wife, Melody, 46, transformed their meetinghouse’s basketball gym into a warehouse full of free supplies. Volunteers of every religious stripe gathered there spontaneously. They organized a system to fulfill thousands of community requests for assistance. No one instructed the Dowdys to do this—“We’re putting an airplane together while we’re flying it!” Mr. Dowdy said. The only thing they were thinking, according to Mrs. Dowdy, was “What can we do next?”

Using donated generators, they set up a phone-charging station. It became more than that when an older man came by with an oxygen tank that was losing power—he sat by the station for two hours until his system fully recharged. Chefs parked their food trucks in the lot and gave away free meals for days. Around the corner a local restaurant, Blunt Pretzels, did the same. The community suddenly had a center.

Across the region, neighbors emerged to solidify the community when it was most at risk of falling apart.

Kyle Gillett, 45, is an Asheville marriage and family therapist, but since Helene he has been leading a few hundred volunteers in round-the-clock disaster response. These volunteers, donning bright yellow shirts, were part of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aid group. From a church house south of Asheville, Mr. Gillett directed crisis response, organized and distributed massive donations, and counseled those in grief. When I asked him how many hours he’d slept in the past week, he laughed and said, “I’d rather not think about that.” Then he offered me brownies.

Like everyone else, Mr. Gillett got his hands dirty. Several large trees had fallen onto the property of a nearby family from Micronesia. Mr. Gillett and a team of chainsaw-wielding volunteers cleared most of the debris in an afternoon. The volunteers responded to hundreds of these calls every day. “We’re no longer strangers,” one of them said. “We’re fellow citizens.”

The community was revitalizing itself. In recounting the unity he’d seen in recent days, a Latter-day Saint volunteer driving me around became so moved that he missed our turn (twice). Elsewhere, over a fire, Asheville native Ben Roe, 38, told me, “I’ve never been so connected to other people in my life.” He credits this connection to the help he’s offered and been offered by his neighbors. He and a friend donated a generator to a fire department and searched for missing persons around the area. And he carried buckets of water up flights of stairs so his elderly neighbor could flush her toilet.

Mr. Roe was aided as well by his employer, Amazon, which provided him with water-filtration kits, a battery-charging power bank and other supplies. Other big businesses stepped up too: Starlink terminals could be seen all over town.

The government plays an important role in disaster relief. But it can’t protect against every emergency. More important, it can’t form the thick bonds that tie a community together in times of emergency. For that, you need private citizens willing to step up. Swannanoa and the other towns of Western North Carolina still have many needs—blankets, sanitary equipment, tarps. But as I was leaving I heard a chime, and everyone cheered. For the first time since the storm, the bells of St. Margaret Mary were ringing.

Mr. Lyman is a Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow at the Journal.