it's 5 0 5 and welcome into a monday edition of the carolina journal news hour news talk 11 10 99 3 wbt i'm nick craig good morning to you criticism on social media is rising this morning after a member of the north carolina general assembly posted a questionable video on her social media account. The controversy surrounds Democrat Representative Julie Von Haven of Wake County advocating for the depiction or the decapitation rather of President Donald Trump at a protest this weekend. On social media, she is accused of posting an image of a woman holding signage with the image of a bloody used guillotine. The words in this difficult time, some cuts may be necessary and a prop on one end of the handle represents a beheaded President Donald Trump. Just this happening being posted Saturday afternoon during the No Kings protest, one of the many taking place in the state capitol Raleigh on Saturday.
Yesterday afternoon, the representative did remove the video from her social media account, replacing it with the following quote yesterday i posted a video on social media containing crowd photos from the no kings protest in raleigh one of the images of the protester holding a sign was inappropriate and i later edited the video to remove the photo she continued by saying let me be clear i condemn political violence in all forms my focus remains on bringing people together and fighting for values that matter to North Carolinians. Like so many, I was horrified by the violence in Minnesota. There is no place for that kind of extremism in our democracy, no matter the target, no matter the party. Her caption on Saturday morning, which again was about the no kings of protest in Raleigh, talking about the turnout and talking about the event itself.
However, that image again drawing some pretty strong criticism this morning representative aaron peray also a wake county member however a republican wrote quote this is why reasonable people are leaving the democrat party in north carolina this is a sitting state legislator who is publicly applauding the beheading of president trump just hours after a state legislator in our country and her spouse were murdered in cold blood horrible the north carolina republican party commenting yesterday morning saying quote political violence should be condemned not encouraged and also house speaker deston hall the leader of the north carolina house releasing this post uh yesterday afternoon on social media on the same weekend that a gunman in minnesota to targeted state lawmakers in an act of political violence. And after two attempted assassinations of President Trump within the past year, Representative Von Haven of Wake County shared an image of a protest sign that glorifies violence against her political opponents, including President Donald Trump. Her disgraceful behavior fails to meet the standards expected from House members and sets a dangerous precedent in an already volatile political climate. I am examining next steps with our legislative attorneys to ensure this behavior does not continue.
So some very strong criticism being levied at the General Assembly member from Wake County. The GA is back in session this week. The House is set to convene at 1 o'clock this afternoon. The Senate at 3 p.m. with a plethora of committee meetings taking place Tuesday and Wednesday.
We will obviously be tracking this story throughout the week and provide any additional details and updates as we get them right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour. In some other statewide news this morning, a company by the name of Jet Zero Incorporated will invest $4.7 billion to launch its first manufacturing plant at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, a project that is expected to generate over 14,000 jobs by 2036. This is according to an announcement from Governor Josh Stein late last week. In a press release, the governor writes, quote, I am thankful to welcome Jet Zero and its 14,000 good-paying jobs and unprecedented innovation to Guilford County. From its first in flight to now the future of flight, North Carolina and our skilled workforce is soaring.
Jet Zero Incorporated is an aerospace startup pioneering the development of the Z4, a revolutionary bent winged body jet. The design integrates the wings and the fuel shellage into a unified structure, allowing the entire wingspan to generate lift and improve aerodynamic efficiency. It was founded back in 2020 and has established key partnerships with NASA, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and has leading suppliers such as RTX Corporation and BAE Systems. The company plans to construct a new generation manufacturing facility to produce the world's first commercial all-wing jet. In addition to that, Jet Zero will develop a state-of-the-art research and development center focused on composite structures.
By harnessing advanced airspace technologies, Jet Zero's distinctive aircraft design aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and elevate the overall passenger experience. Tim O'Leary, the CEO and co-founder of Jet Zero, said in a press release, North Carolina offers the ideal combination of talent, infrastructure, and forward-thinking leadership to support our mission to reshape aviation. This facility is a critical milestone in bringing our all-wing Z4 to market. I applaud the leadership of Governor Josh Stein and his team, as well as the leadership of the North Carolina General Assembly and a whole host of local leaders and organizations for working to bring us Jet Zero to North Carolina, the birthplace of aviation. The company is expected to bring new jobs, including engineers, technicians, manufacturing specialists, and more.
Salaries, of course, will vary based on the position, but the average salary is expected to be $89,000 plus a year, which surpasses the Guilford County average, which is $60,000 right now. The new positions are projected to combine and contribute over $1.3 billion in annual payroll to the regional economy as a whole.
However, the project was awarded a job development investment grant by the North Carolina Department of Commerce's Economic Incentive Committee. J.D.G. grants are taxpayer-funded incentive programs that have drawn some pretty strong criticism for allowing the state to pick winners or losers in the marketplace. Several past recipients have either failed to deliver on promised jobs or withdrawn from the program entirely, raising questions about the return on investment. Still, however, the state projects that over the grant's 37-year run, the project will add approximately $259 billion to North Carolina's economy.
In return, the company may receive up to $1 billion in tax-funded reimbursements based on a formula tied to the projection of job creation, which is over 14,500 jobs as well as investment capital. Brian Balfour, the vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, said, quote, This latest announcement puts the hypocrisy of Governor Stein on full display. Like his predecessor, Stein loudly opposes tax giveaways to corporations out of one side of his mouth when it comes to reducing corporate taxes across the board, then approves of billions of dollars worth of taxpayer handouts to a major corporation on the other side. Roy Cooper put North Carolina on the hook for three decades with handouts to the failing VinFast and nearly four decades to the world's largest corporation, Apple. VinFast was first announced in 2022, and while the Chatham County plant broke ground in August of 2023, it has faced repeated delays.
The site as of this morning remains unfinished with no active operations and the company announcing a recent shift of its focus to Asia, launching a new plan in Indonesia nearly a year after construction began in North Carolina. Balfour continued by saying now taxpayers will be on the hook for 37 years with this latest deal with a California company These corporate welfare deals are nothing more than political favoritism and cronyism that invites political corruption and compels small businesses to help finance the bottom line of major corporations. J.D. Grants were also in the news last week. We covered details on Wolfspeed, an electric vehicle battery component manufacturer, which is dealing with some trouble.
It was reported in the last month that Wolfspeed is expected to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Those details follow internal shakeups that the company underwent last November, including laying off 20% of its workforce. Greg Lowe, the president and CEO of Wolfspeed since 2017, stepped down in November of last year. Wolfspeed announced just recently that it will be laying off an additional 73 employees from its Siler City facility, which currently operates in Shatham County. The company is only eligible for state grant payments if it passes annual verification by the North Carolina Department of Commerce and Revenue and meets job creation and investment targets.
If Jet Zero creates and sustains at least 10,000 jobs, it will meet the threshold for the JDIG transformation designation, making the company eligible to receive grant money for up to 29 years, provided it continues to meet some of its performance goals.
So some very interesting details on this company, Jet Zero, and the impact it could have here on North Carolina's economy. Plus, continued questions do swirl around the JDIG, the Job Development Improvement Grant System, offered here by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. You can read some additional details not only on Jet Zero, but some of the checkered past with JDIG over the last couple of years by visiting our website, carolinajournal.com. It is Ryan here, and I have a question for you. What do you do when you win?
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We're prohibited by law. 21 plus. Terms and conditions apply. it's 5 22 welcome back to the carolina journal news hour news talk 11 10 99 3 wbt at a bill signing ceremony at the governor's mansion friday morning josh stein signed three new measures into law house bill 506 the 2025 state investment modernization act senate bill 155 the social worker interstate licensure compact and house bill 50 which dealt with law enforcement officers special separation allowances we'll start with the investment modernization act it was filed in march in the general assembly the legislation establishes the north carolina investment authority or the ncia which will be a brand new independent state agency tasked with modernizing the state's investment management system. It will be governed by its own board of directors, and with that, NCIA will oversee the state's $129 billion pension fund, along with other public funds dedicated to things like retirement, education, and transportation.
State Treasurer Brad Briner, who advocated for this legislation, said this is an important step in maximizing returns for North Carolina. He said at the bill signing on Friday, quote, we have fallen short on the investment side. That has come at a cost to our taxpayers. That has come at a cost to our retirees. And this legislation allows us to fix that problem.
It will have a profound difference for our state over a long period of time. If we can deliver 1% more, we are able to deliver to deliver $2 billion a year or more to our state budget, and that is why we are doing this. Governor Stein emphasized the significance of the new law, noting that it brings more voices to the table when it comes to making decisions about the state's retirement system. With Stein telling the crowd on Friday, quote, Currently, our state investment decisions are made by only one person, our state treasurer. Very few states have this system of what we call a sole fiduciary, for making decisions about the hardworking state employees' pensions.
And while I trust Treasurer Briner would do an excellent job if he kept this authority to himself, he and I share a belief that this process will be stronger when more voices are involved.
So that's dealing with the investments for retirement, the state pension, and things of that nature. Turning our attention to law enforcement and special separation allowances, North Carolina law enforcement officers are currently eligible for a special separation allowance after serving 30 years or reaching the age of 55 with at least five years of service. Once they retire, they typically receive thousands of dollars per month until age 62.
However, if they continue working, they lose access to those benefits, essentially forfeiting them. This new change will allow the benefits to be paused rather than forfeited, letting officers collect it when they choose to retire and keeping more officers on the force. Governor Stein said at the press conference on Friday, if we want to keep the best, we have to support them. And that's exactly what this legislation does. They deserve to have options for when and how they retire so that if they want to stay on the job and serve their communities, they can without losing their hard earned benefits.
And finally, this social worker interstate licensure compact. This was also signed by Governor Stein on Friday, and it's set up to make it easier for social workers to transfer their licenses to North Carolina. The legislation cuts red tape and streamlines the process for those licensed in select other states. The governor told the crowd that this law will enable our state to create an interstate licensure agreement with neighbors, including Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia, to expand care to more people. I am pleased to expand access to services and help our social workers do their jobs, said the governor.
He also signed three other pieces of legislation that were not mentioned during the bill signing ceremony on Friday, but were included in a press release from the governor's office Friday afternoon. afternoon. House Bill 477, that's the Retirement Death Benefit Rewrite, Senate Bill 248 Birth Certificate for Persons Adopted, and Senate Bill 47, as well as Senate Bill 477, which is a DNCR agency bill also signed by the governor. There are a couple of other pieces of legislation that are currently sitting on the governor's desk this morning. One of the big ones, we covered it last week.
Senate Bill 50 is a permitless carry bill. It has been sent to the governor. We were potentially expecting some movement on that Friday, but it was not mentioned in the governor's press conference. It was also not mentioned in any sort of press releases following the governor's announcement on Friday either.
So still a couple of rather controversial pieces of legislation. Senate Bill 50, as we covered last week, would allow permitless carry for U.S. citizens ages 18 and older, but prohibit concealed carry in certain locations such as legislative buildings, areas prohibited by federal law, law enforcement facilities, and private premises with posted notices. That has been a big push in the General Assembly over the last couple of years. We are still awaiting what is set to be a likely veto from Governor Stein.
We'll be keeping an eye on his schedule and pass along when we get any additional details. we're on our website carolinajournal.com hello it is Ryan and we could all use an extra bright spot in our day couldn't we just to make up for things like sitting in traffic doing the dishes counting your steps you know all the mundane stuff that is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free anytime anywhere with daily bonuses so sign up now at ChumbaCasino that ChumbaCasino No purchase necessary VGW group void We prohibited by law 21 plus terms and conditions apply Step into the world of power, loyalty, and luck. I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. With family, cannolis, and spins mean everything.
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We're prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply. It's 535. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Don't forget that if you miss any of our program, weekday mornings right here on WBT, you can check out the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast, available in your favorite podcast app.
Just hit that subscribe or follow button and you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning. Turning our attention to some business news this morning, Jet Zero Incorporated is set to invest $4.7 billion to build its first manufacturing plant at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. A move expected to create more than 14,000 jobs by the year 2035. In an announcement by Governor Josh Stein late last week, the aerospace startup will produce the Z4, a next generation all wing jet designed to boost fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Governor Stein said in an announcement, quote, I am thrilled to welcome Jet Zero and its 14,000 good paying jobs and unprecedented innovation to Guilford County.
From first in flight now to the future of flight, North Carolina and our skilled workforce is soaring. Tim O'Leary, the CEO and co-founder of Jet Zero, said in the press release, quote, North Carolina offers the ideal combination of talent, infrastructure and forward thinking leadership to support our mission to reshape aviation. This facility is a crucial milestone in bringing our all wing Z4 to market. I applaud the leadership of Governor Josh Stein and his team, as well as the leadership of the North Carolina General Assembly and a whole host of local leaders and organizations for working with us to bring Jet Zero to North Carolina, the birthplace of aviation. With an average salary of more than $89,000 a year, the project is projected to add $1.3 billion annually to regional payroll and more than $259 billion to North Carolina's economy over the next 30 plus years.
The project was awarded a Job Development Investment Grant, also known as a JDIG grant, which could provide Jet Zero up to $1 billion in taxpayer-funded reimbursements. There have been some criticism of the JDIG grant program over the last couple of years. Brian Balfour, the vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, said, quote, This latest announcement puts the hypocrisy of Governor Stein on full display. Like his predecessor, Stein loudly opposes tax giveaways to corporations out of one side of his mouth when it comes to reducing corporate tax rates across the board, then approves of a billion-dollar taxpayer handout to a major corporation on the other side. Roy Cooper put North Carolina on the hook for three decades with handouts to failing Vinfast to failing company Vinfast in nearly four decades to the world's largest corporation, Apple.
He continued by saying now taxpayers will be on the hook for 37 years with this latest deal with a California company. These corporate welfare deals are nothing more than political favoritism and cronyism that invites political corruption and compels small businesses to help finance the bottom line for major corporations. The company is only eligible for the state grant payments if it passes annual verifications by the North Carolina Department of Commerce and Revenue and meets job creation and investment targets. If Jet Zero creates and sustains at least 10,000 jobs, it will meet the threshold for the JDIG transformation designation, making the company eligible to receive grant payments for up to 29 years, provided that it continues to meet its performance targets. And just over the last couple of weeks, we've learned some issues about a company receiving J.
Dick Grant funding, Wolfspeed, an electric vehicle battery component manufacturer. They are scheduled to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That was reported last month. They released 20% of their workforce, laid them off back late last year, and just as of a few weeks ago, announced that they were laying off an additional 73 employees at their facility over in Siler City.
So there is very much a lot of criticism and concern over the J. Dick Grant system this morning. You can read more on Jet Zero Incorporated and some of the history of the J.D. Grant program by visiting our website this morning, carolinajournal.com, where it's now 540 News Talk 1110-993-WBT. Wildfires have been in the news a lot over the last couple of months, really since the beginning of the year.
We watched the devastation take place in January out in Los Angeles, and then as we headed into the springtime here in North Carolina, some major wildfires burning throughout the state as well. Joining us this morning, Katie Zender, CarolinaJournal.com, to go over some legislation being introduced in the United States Senate by U.S. Senator Ted Budd. Katie, what's the latest that you're following in D.C.? Hi, good morning, Nick.
Thank you for having me on.
So, yeah, so U.S. Senator Ted Budd introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation on Thursday, along with Senators Roy Wyden from Oregon and U.S. Reps Kim Schreier from Washington and David Vallado from California. They introduced the National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025. And so what this bill is going to do is it's aimed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by investing in hazardous fuels management and expanding and accelerating the use of prescribed burns to control wildfires.
And, Katie, this tends to be more relevant, especially more blue areas.
So you look at some of the states like California, where over the last 20 or 30 years, they've really gotten away from doing some of these prescribed or some folks call them controlled burns. That has left so much tinder, so much fire fuel on the floor of the forests that lightning strikes, a cigarette is thrown out or a power line comes down. The next thing you know, you've got a wildfire that's burning hundreds of acres and thousands of homes. This can be a real devastating scenario, if not appropriately managed. That's right, Nick.
And so one of the things that this bill does is it increases the percentage of federal land on which prescribed burns will occur each year. And I think it increases it by like 10 percent over a nine year period. And so each year that percentage of federal land is going to get 10 percent greater than the previous year.
So that's one of the clauses in the bill. But you're right, Nick. North Carolina is actually the number one state in the nation at risk of wildfires.
So it might be a surprising fact for some people, but Troxler told this to lawmakers earlier this year when he was advocating for funding for North Carolina Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture. And so prescribed burns is something that North Carolina really should be implementing more of. It's one of 11 southern states with a burn manager certificate program. and according to Margaret Young that she told lawmakers earlier in the year that the fiscal research division receives 1 million in recurring funds from the state budget for their prescribed burn cost share program but they do this in states like California I used to cover that out that area out there and so a lot into Southern California they do implement this you know prescribed burn it kind of program which burns all the debris and all these things that are laying on the ground that causes these wildfires. And one point that Senator Budd brought up was, you know, after Hurricane Helene, we've got all this, you know, debris laying on the ground that's really been building up.
And so that is one of the reasons why, you know, they really feel the need for this piece of legislation. Yeah, you talk about that. And it was mentioned earlier this year by Steve Troxler that because of all of that debris, that's the reason why North Carolina is the state that is at most risk. There's kind of two periods, as I understand it, of wildfires. You've got kind of the early spring into the summer and then the late summer into the fall when those highest risks truly exist.
And Katie I mean you can look at any pictures back from September of last year all of these trees all of this wildlife being toppled and many of those things are still just sitting on the side of the road sitting in riverbeds It a huge risk for wildfires as we head into the latter part of an active fire season unfortunately here in North Carolina Right, that's exactly right, Nick.
So we do have the two primary fire seasons here in North Carolina. We've got, like you said, early spring into kind of summer a little bit, and then late summer into the fall.
so yeah we're kind of right at the kind of close to the end of the first season and yeah we did have those wildfires back in North Carolina back in March they started and burned a significant numbers of acreage out in the Piedmont Sandhills and Coastal Plains regions and according to the North Carolina Forest Service to date this year 4,193 wildfires have scorched more than 26,000 acres, which puts the state on track to surpass the 2024 totals of over 4,500 fires and just over 15,000 acres burned.
So those are shocking numbers. And we're only, you know, halfway through or almost to the end of the first fire season here in North Carolina. Yeah, very alarming numbers there. You've got some additional details on the legislation that is being watched up in the United States Senate. Where can folks go and get some of those details?
Right. They can read the full article with all the numbers and the quotes at CarolinaJournal.com. Katie Zender joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Bubba Wallace here from 2311 Racing. Funny thing about being fast?
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House Speaker Destin Hall, who is also the chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission on government operations has officially requested records from unc chapel hill regarding dr ralph barrack and his work related to covid 19 in a june 13th letter obtained by the carolina journal through the speaker's office hall requested records from unc chapel hill chancellor lee roberts originally requested by u.s right to know a non-profit newsroom and public health research agency. The House Speaker also confirming this on X, a post on X, pushing for answers and transparencies. The Right to Know group has filed suit with the university for Barrick's records to find out more information on the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Last month, U.S. Right to Know filed an opening brief with the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
They said that the request for UNC's public records began in July of 2020, according to court filings. After initially reporting that the request involved more than 336,000 pages of documents, the university eventually pulled some 86,000 pages in response to the request. The briefing explains defendants provided only six pages of responsive documents from a critical time period concerning the origins of COVID-19, namely from March 20th, 2019 to January the 9th, 2020. House Speaker Dustin Hall has requested records from July of 2020 to August the 12th, 2024. In addition, the House Speaker has requested all documents provided to congressional members, members, committees and subcommittees related to Ralph Baric and Baric Labs SARS COVID-2, as well as the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
This includes but is not limited to materials shared with the U.S. House Select Committee on coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate Health Committee, Education, Labor, other committees as well. He is also requesting all communications such as emails, text messages, meeting notes, calendar invites, or digital platform messages sent to or from any account connected to the Barrick Lab, as well as accounts linking to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth Alliance, or the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, also known as DARPA, from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021. House Speaker Destin Hall noted that under state law, requests made by the commission are confidential and the details of such a report, quote, shall only be revealed by an agency employee to another agency employee to the extent that it is necessary to fulfill a request for document production or to gather more information as requested.
He told Lee Roberts, the chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill, that he expects a response from the university by June the 18th.
So coming up here in just a couple of days. Kevin Best, a senior director of media relations at UNC Chapel Hill, told the Carolina Journal in an emailed statement late last week, quote, the university deeply values and appreciates its partnership with the General Assembly and is committed to legal compliance and transparency. In November, Carolina Journal reported how Dr. Robert Redfield, the former director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, CDC, made a direct accusation that COVID-19 was started in a lab at UNC Chapel Hill by Dr.
Barrick and not a lab in Wuhan, China. He made the claim on a podcast last year where he said that the virus, quote, was intentionally engineered as part of a biodefense program and that the United States role in that was, quote, substantial. He told the podcaster, quote, when you look at the accountability for China, their accountability is not the lab work and the creation of this virus. Their accountability is not following the international health regulations after they realized they had a problem and allowing people like me at the CDC to come in and help them within 48 hours like they were obligated to that on a based treaty. and went into some additional details on the things that he experienced back when he was leading the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning a federal funding for gain-of-function research abroad in countries like China and Iran. It also blocks U.S. dollars from supporting foreign projects that could lead to another pandemic and gives U.S. agencies the authority to review and end funding for any biological research that could pose a threat to the nation's health, safety, or security. Woody White, who sits on the UNC Board of Governors, told the Carolina Journal in an emailed statement that he commends Speaker Hall's efforts to learn more about COVID's origins, noting that, quote, like many others around the world and especially in North Carolina, I have followed this issue very closely, especially some of that testimony before Congress.
We've got a lot more details on this very interesting story coming out of House Speaker Destin Hall's office. You can read those over on our website this morning at carolinajournal.com. That's going to do it for a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT. We'll see you next week.
