Raleigh. Former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt died Thursday at 88, his daughter Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt announced. Hunt served four terms (1977–1985, 1993–2001) and led state education initiatives, including Smart Start and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. He founded the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, raised teacher...
Washington — The U.S. Department of Justice this week filed federal lawsuits against Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia after officials declined to produce full voter-registration lists requested in July; several states, including Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, announced voluntary compliance, bringing the number of cooperating jurisdictions to ten....
Washington, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal agencies to expedite reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. Officials said the change recognizes medical use and will ease research barriers, banking access, and tax treatment such as 280E relief. State...
Nashville — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pardoned country singer Jelly Roll on Thursday for past state convictions, citing the artist’s rehabilitation and advocacy. Jason Deford, a Grammy-nominated recording performer, previously pleaded guilty to a 2002 robbery and later drug-related offenses; he has discussed recovery publicly and testified before Congress. Lee...
Washington: The Kennedy Center board, composed of trustees appointed by President Donald Trump, voted Thursday to rename the John F. Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X. Leavitt credited Trump's role in financing and rebuilding the facility and the board updated branding online....
MINNEAPOLIS, Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that they charged five additional defendants and expanded an investigation into alleged widespread fraud across multiple Minnesota Medicaid waiver programs. Investigators said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data dating to 2018 flagged 14 programs and about $18 billion in claims, including over $3.5 billion...
Washington — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced regulatory proposals that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors by cutting Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgical interventions and by prohibiting federal Medicaid coverage for those procedures. Health Secretary Robert...
MINNEAPOLIS — Federal and state officials announced new charges and detailed findings this week in a multi‑program fraud probe that has implicated assisted living, housing stabilization, autism and other social services programs. A federal prosecutor on Thursday charged six additional people and alleged more than $11.6 million was stolen from...
Statesville, N.C. — A Cessna C550 business jet crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport on Thursday morning, erupting in flames and causing multiple fatalities, officials said. The FAA and NTSB opened investigations into the Dec. 18 accident, and the airport closed while crews cleared debris. Flight tracking showed the...
Washington. U.S. consumer prices rose 2.7% year over year in November, the Labor Department reported Thursday after a delayed data collection caused by a 43 day federal government shutdown. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, increased 2.6%. The report lacked October monthly detail because the BLS could not gather data...
