Pardon Our Dust
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Agriculture
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: NC town calls itself a ‘Bee City’ but HOA says backyard hives must go
Dawn Reid lives in a designated Bee City — where the mayor himself is a beekeeper — but a recent conflict with a neighbor has prompted the HOA of her Matthews neighborhood to threaten to oust her three backyard beehives.
Education
WITN: North Carolina Education Lottery sets new record at $936 million raised
The North Carolina Education Lottery has announced a new record for money raised with the 2021 fiscal year bringing in $936 million. The money will be used across all 100 counties to help build and repair schools, create college scholarships and grants, support school systems with cost of school workers and transportation, and support NC Pre-K, a free academic prekindergarten program for at-risk four-year-olds.
WRAL: NC Education Corps’ program to help students struggling during COVID-19
Learning opportunities that were lost for children during the pandemic as well as people looking for work – They are two of COVID-19’s side effects that we still face in our state. A new federally funded program is helping both of those groups succeed, and the deadline to apply is quickly approaching.
THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER: North Carolina reverses course, urges masks in all schools
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday decided to reverse course from guidance he issued last week and will now urge all K-12 public school students and staff to be masked, even if they have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Environment
COASTAL REVIEW: Brunswick board to stake out position on offshore turbines
Offshore wind turbines are back on the radar for southeastern North Carolina local governments. Brunswick County’s board of commissioners will consider a resolution opposing offshore wind turbines sited fewer than 24 nautical miles of the shoreline, following the lead of a handful of its oceanfront towns, including Bald Head Island, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Caswell Beach.
Government
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Which NC state workers face vaccine order? What about mask rules? Answers to questions
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday announced a new executive order affecting some unvaccinated state employees. But there is no new statewide mask mandate.
Healthcare
WNCT 9: NCDHHS announces Medicaid Managed Care Regional Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plans
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the selection of seven organizations to serve as Behavioral Health and Intellectual/Developmental Disability Tailored Plans (Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plans). Individuals who need certain services to address a serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, severe substance use disorder, intellectual/developmental disability, or traumatic brain injury may be eligible to enroll in a Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plan.
Transportation
ABC 13: New travel options may soon be available at an eastern North Carolina airport
New and easier travel options may be in store for those flying out of an eastern North Carolina airport. The Department of Transportation issued a grant to the Albert J. Ellis (OAJ) airport in Richlands to expand air service between Jacksonville and other regional transportation hubs.
TRANSPORTATION TODAY: North Carolina tests delivery drone in Outer Banks
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Division of Aviation, in partnership with the NCDOT Ferry Division and drone logistics company Volansi, recently completed two successful test flights of a delivery drone from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks.