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CBP Launches Operation Charlotte’s Web, 81 Arrested, GOP Pushes Back on Stein’s Medicaid Call

Carolina Journal Radio / Nick Craig
The Truth Network Radio
November 17, 2025 6:20 am

CBP Launches Operation Charlotte’s Web, 81 Arrested, GOP Pushes Back on Stein’s Medicaid Call

Carolina Journal Radio / Nick Craig

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November 17, 2025 6:20 am

Customs and Border Protection conducted an operation in Charlotte, known as Charlotte's Web, which resulted in the arrest of 81 individuals with significant criminal and immigration histories. Meanwhile, the North Carolina General Assembly is set to convene for its final week of business before the calendar flips to 2026, but it appears that there will not be any major voting taking place in either the House or the Senate. The dispute centers on the Department of Health and Human Services' handling of Medicaid reimbursements and recent rate cuts.

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Book your warm getaway at Verbo.com. It's 5.05 and welcome into a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WVT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We start off with a busy news weekend in Charlotte as U.S.

Customs and Border Protection CBP agents have arrested 81 individuals during an immigration sting that began this weekend, which was confirmed late last week by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff. A lot of confirmation coming in from other officials as well, and those officials from CBP are wrapping up operations in Chicago over the last couple of weeks, making a pit stop, for lack of a better term, in Charlotte before they continue operations throughout the rest of the United States. The operation known as Charlotte's Web began on Saturday. Morning, according to a press release from DHS, as they walked the public through some of the information on this situation, noting that nearly 1,400 detainers, ICE detainers, immigration detainers across the state of North Carolina have been requested, but not honored, talking about releasing criminal aliens into North Carolina's neighborhoods. The Assistant Secretary of DHS, Tricia McLaughlin, said, quote, Americans should be able to live without fear of violent illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors.

We are surging DHS law enforcement into Charlotte to ensure that Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noam will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won't. Very much calling out what's going on in Charlotte. Charlotte, the commander of this operation, Gregory Bevo, described those arrests as having, quote, significant criminal and immigration history, noting that the 81 individuals, many of whom had significant criminal and immigration histories, are off the streets.

He posted some published rather some photos and some information on his social media channels over the weekend, highlighting some of the individuals that Customs and Border Protection did take off the street as the commander operator at large for CBP, highlighting individuals with DUIs, larceny, various shoplifting offenses, some violent acts as well, highlighting those individuals and highlighting that they are now off the streets within the city of Charlotte.

However, not everybody is in favor of what's going on. Many is throwing significant amounts of criticism at Customs and Border Protection. That includes Democrat Governor Josh Stein, who released this video on social media on Sunday. It's Josh Stein. I wanted to provide an update as Customs and Border Patrol agents have been in Charlotte over the weekend.

My team and I have been in regular contact with state and local law enforcement to ensure that they have the resources that they need to keep you safe. Public safety is our top priority. And our well-trained local officers know their communities and are here for the long haul. On Friday, before customs and border protection came to Charlotte, I encouraged North Carolinians to follow the law. remain peaceful and bear witness to what you're seeing.

Thank you, Charlotte, for answering that call. To the CBP, if you know that we have violent criminals in Charlotte who are undocumented, We want them out too. Everyone wants to be safe in their communities. But the actions of too many Federal agents are doing the exact opposite in Charlotte. We've seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars.

targeting American citizens based on their skin color. racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks. Going after landscapers simply decorating a Christmas tree in someone's front yard. and entering churches and stores to grab people. This is not making us safer.

It's stoking fear and dividing our community. I want to say a word about immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, and our state and this country is stronger because of our immigrant communities. Unfortunately, our immigration system is broken. But rather than fix it, the federal government continues to play politics with it.

It is long past time for Congress to act. We need strong borders. We must hold accountable and deport anyone who has committed a serious crime. and we must create a path to legal status for those who've been here a long time. Paid their taxes and followed the law, especially our dreamers who came to this country as very young children.

North Carolina, I know this is a stressful moment. but please stay peaceful. And if you see something wrong, record it. and report it to local law enforcement. That's what we can do for our neighbors, to keep each other safe.

That's the North Carolina way. Thank you. That's Democrat Governor Josh Stein releasing a little over two-minute video on his social media channels over the weekend describing the operations conducted by Customs and Border Protection, saying that they are racially profiling individuals and arresting U.S. citizens on the streets. Other reactions coming in as well.

Congresswoman Alma Adams, a Democrat here in North Carolina, said, I am extremely concerned about the deployment of U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents to Charlotte. Charlotte's immigrant community is a proud part of the Queen City, and I will not stand by and watch my constituents be intimidated or harassed. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, and what we have seen Border Patrol and ICE agents do in places like Chicago and Los Angeles, using excessive force in their operations and tear gassing peaceful protesters, threatens the well-being of the communities that they enter. These tactics and values have no Place in the city of Charlotte or Mecklenburg County.

It is important to note that, contrary to Congresswoman Adams' social media post, this operation, Charlotte's Web, that took place over the weekend did not include any officials from ICE, immigration and customs enforcement. This was solely a job that was being conducted by customs and border protection. They did not work with ICE. Local law enforcement, including the Mecklenburg County Sheriff and CMPD, were not working on this operation as well. It was strictly CBP working at these operations over the weekend.

To individuals and peaceful protesters being tear gassed, no evidence of that taking place in Charlotte, at least from a lot of social media activity. And while the protests, according to Governor Josh Steiners, he called on individuals to stay peaceful from all accounts they have up into this point. It's not immediately clear this morning how long it's going to be. These operations will take place in Charlotte. We were told late last week that they would start potentially as early as Saturday.

They did, and/or could begin early this week.

So, presumably, a couple more days of customs and border protection throughout the city streets in Charlotte as we will continue to track all of the coverage. Of course, the city of Charlotte rose to a national spotlight earlier this year in the month of September after Ukrainian refugee Irina Zaruska was brutally murdered on the Charlotte light rail. That did draw and put a national spotlight. On the city of Charlotte. And while it is not confirmed that that is the reason that customs and border protection made its way to the Queen's City, you can imagine some of the national attention that Charlotte has received since that period of time with a lot of violence over the last couple of months.

Probably had some reason as to why they decided to make a stop into the Queen's City. We will continue tracking our coverage over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com, and of course, continued coverage throughout the day right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT. This is the story of the one. As a custodial supervisor at a high school, he knows that during cold and flu season, germs spread fast. It's why he partners with Granger to stay fully stocked on the products and supplies he needs, from tissues to disinfectants to floor scrubbers.

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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good Monday morning to you. News Talk 11:10-99-3 WBT. We are turning our attention to the North Carolina legislature this morning as lawmakers are set to be back at Raleigh for their final session of the year. As the calendar looks this morning, both the House and Senate are set to convene at 10 a.m.

However, we understand this morning over at CarolinaJournal.com that there is a very strong possibility that this will not be a voting session, meaning that some veto overrides, six of them that remain on the House calendar, will not be dealt with, nothing likely being dealt with until early 2026. We'll get into those details as Republican leaders of the General Assembly have rejected Democrat Governor Josh Stein's call for an extra legislative session dealing with Medicaid this week. The lawmakers called the move unit. unconstitutional and unnecessary. In a letter sent to the governor on Thursday, Senate Leader Phil Berger, the Republican from Rockingham County, and House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell, said that Stein's proclamation for lawmakers to reconvene on Monday does not comply with the North Carolina Constitution.

The letter reads, We write jointly to respond and object to your November the 6th, 2025 proclamation made under Article 3, Section 5 of the North Carolina Constitution, calling for an extra legislative session on November the 17th, 2025. For the reasons set forth below, the General Assembly will not convene an extra legislative session. The proclamation fails to follow the requirements of the Constitution, Article 3, Section 5, which authorizes a governor to convene the General Assembly in an extra session only if extraordinary occasions exist. The General Assembly is already in session. Your proclamation is therefore ineffective and functions as an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly's authority to set its calendar.

It also cites another portion of Article 3, Section 5, which limits such sessions to extraordinary occasions in order to ensure that the exercise of the enormous power given to the governor to call the legislative branch to session is justified. Otherwise, the governor could violate Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution using the proclamation power for political abuse and gamanship. This power was never meant to be used as a platform for political messaging or to circumvent the legislative process to achieve a preferred political outcome. To that end, if circumstances surrounding the Medicaid rebase are in fact extraordinary, it is only in the context of your administration's failure to address them. For instance, the General Assembly recently appropriated an additional $600 million for Medicaid.

Rather than using the full amount for services, you and DHHS leadership chose to take nearly $100 million off the top for additional administrative expenses. Further, the Department of Health and Human Services consistently reverts money to the general fund. Last year, DHS reverted $110 million and carried forward $243 million, including $166 million from the state's Medicaid budget. In other words, the amount of unused funds available to the department at the end of the year exceeds the amount that the shortfall that is in the proclamation. The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary publicly acknowledged that the amount that the General Assembly provided was sufficient to fund the the established Medicaid expenses well into next year.

Despite this, the Department of Health and Human Services chose to proceed with these harmful cuts. Ultimately, your decision to cut reimbursement rates at a time when sufficient funding exists belongs to your administration alone. calling an extra session and distracting from your decision violates both the letter and the spirit of our Constitution. Is it in it is incumbent upon the General Assembly to decline to convene the extra session. Both chambers of the General Assembly therefore reject your proclamation for an extra session on november seventeenth, twenty twenty five, and will not convene.

By copy of this letter, the principal clerks of both the House and Senate are directed to make no preparations for an extra session. No calendar should be issued, and your proclamation shall not be read.

So I want to be read. Sincerely, Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall that sent to Governor Josh Stein a pretty fiery letter there from legislative leaders calling on Governor Josh Stein's attempts to force them into an extra legislative session as they are already in session to fund the Medicaid rebate. Nothing more than political grandstanding from the Democrat governor. Legislators noted and put in their letter when they allocated those $600 million additional dollars to the rebates that the Department of Health and Human Services took $100 million off the top to cover some of those additional administrative costs of the Medicaid program.

However, despite that, the department is now requesting another $190 million, which Legislative leaders said represents about 2% of the total estimate $23 billion in Medicaid spending, including federal funds. As we look at some of the analysis on this, fiscal analysis from legislative leaders say that DHS consistently sends money or essentially remands money back to the General Assembly at the end of the fiscal year, noting more than $100 million just in the last budget cycle from lawmakers. House Speaker Destin Hall also released a separate statement late last week saying, With this call for an extra session, Governor Stein is trying to shift blame from his self-created crisis. He can and should simply stop all Medicaid cuts since the legislature will be back this spring with more than enough time to add additional funds if needed. The North Carolina House will not tolerate political games being played at the expense of people's health to access care.

That's why the House has acted responsibly by passing three clean bills to fund the rebase and protect North Carolina. Lineance. Hall added that House lawmakers, quote, have been informed not to expect voting sessions in the legislature this week. That is very relevant with those six veto overrides that do remain on the calendar this morning. The letter from Berger and Hall concluded, excuse me, by saying that while they will not call an extra legislative session, there is still a calendar for the current session, which began much earlier in 2025.

It was either late January or early February when the General Assembly gaveled in for the 2025 legislative biennium. Lawmakers, at least some, probably a skeleton crew, will make their way to Raleigh this week as the House and Senate are set to convene at 10 o'clock this morning. No major votes expected in either chamber. The Senate calendar currently has no additional items on it, while the House has a couple of those veto overrides that lawmakers, Republican lawmakers, have been unable to move forward. On.

However, there are a couple of other interesting meetings taking place in Raleigh this week. One we will be keeping a close eye on Thursday, the Government Operations Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery. Obviously, that continues to be a major topic of conversation across the state of North Carolina. We'll be tracking that meeting as we head into the second half of this week and provide any additional details and coverage as soon as we get it over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Lowe's knows that saving is always top of mind, especially this season.

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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 11:10, 99.3 WBT. Turning our attention back to Charlotte this morning as Customs and Border Protection. Conducted what is known as Charlotte's Web over the weekend. It began Saturday morning across the Queen City as CBP previously vacated Chicago, or at least took a lot of their forces out of Chicago. They've been there for a couple of months, moved them down to Charlotte for a short stint before heading to other portions within the southern half of the United States.

And we are getting some information this morning, according to the commander overseeing the effort, Commander Gregory Bavino, who described the individuals arrested, many of whom having, quote, significant criminal and immigration histories, including multiple attempts into the United States, deported back in the United States, and reported on the social media on his ex-account yesterday that 81 people were arrested as part of these immigration enforcement operations in just a five-hour period of time. Those are the numbers from Saturday. As I read the posts on social media, it's not immediately clear if they're. How many on Sunday, but we know that 81 is the number at least for Saturday. We'll await additional information from DHS and CBP on what those new numbers do look like.

One of the individuals involved in here, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said in a DHS press release: Americans should be able to live without the fear of violent criminal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors. We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and that public safety threats are removed. There have been far too many victims of violent criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noam will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary policies won't.

Now, the commander of this operation in Gregory Bravino posted a couple of the situations that unfolded in Charlotte with some pictures of individuals that CBP. CBP did, in fact, arrest over the weekend, highlighting one individual. The post reads: quote: This criminal alien from Mexico is no longer endangering citizens of Charlotte. With prior arrests for driving while intoxicated and possession of stolen goods, he can now add one for illegal re-entry after removed. We will not let offenders slip through the cracks with a picture of an individual that was arrested by CBP.

Another, who's at the same grocery store as you, this illegal alien from Honduras with a criminal history. He was arrested for aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon in DUI. He has also been removed from the United States twice. And so now that he's here again, He has committed a felony by re-entering the United States and is now off the streets. Another individual noting this illegal alien from Mexico had three DUI/slash DWI convictions.

We arrested him, taking him off the streets of Charlotte so he can't continue to ignore our laws and drive intoxicated on the same roads as you and your loved ones. That is some of the operations.

So, some of the 81 individuals that Customs and Border Protection did arrest on Saturday throughout the Saturday or Sunday, I should say, throughout the Queen City.

However, Democrat Governor Josh Stein, not necessarily happy with the operations, he released a video on social media over the weekend talking about it. Here's a little bit from the governor. It's Josh Stein. I wanted to provide an update as Customs and Border Patrol agents have been in Charlotte over the weekend. My team and I have been in regular contact with state and local law enforcement to ensure that they have the resources that they need to keep you safe.

Public safety is our top priority. And our well-trained local officers know their communities and are here for the long haul. On Friday, before customs and border protection came to Charlotte, I encouraged North Carolinians to follow the law. Remain peaceful and bear witness to what you're seeing. Thank you, Charlotte, for answering that call.

To the CBP, if you know that we have violent criminals in Charlotte who are undocumented, We want them out too. Everyone wants to be safe in their communities. But the actions of too many Federal agents are doing the exact opposite in Charlotte. We've seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars. targeting American citizens based on their skin color.

racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks. Going after landscapers simply decorating a Christmas tree in someone's front yard. and entering churches and stores to grab people. This is not making us safer. It's stoking fear and dividing our community.

A little bit of mixed messaging there from Democrat Governor Josh Stein saying that we want those individuals who are illegally in the country off of the streets of Charlotte at the same time, cherry-picking examples of somebody apparently, and I haven't. Seen any reporting on this anywhere else?

Somebody being pulled off of somebody's front yard directing a Christmas tree as these operations did take place in Charlotte over the weekend. We will have continued coverage over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. I'll note again, it's not immediately clear how long these operations will continue to take place.

However, it is just Customs and Border Protection that is conducting these operations. It does not include ICE, immigration, and customs enforcement, and it does not include any state or local law enforcement in and around the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area, simply being conducted by DHS and CBP. We'll keep you up to date over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, where it's now 5:41. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.

Now, more than a year removed from Hurricane Helene and all of the devastation and destruction left in the wake of Western North Carolina, there's been a lot of criticism, and rightfully so, thrown at FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, over lagging funds making their way into Western North Carolina.

However, we do have some good news this morning coming out of the federal government as it relates to Helene relief. To walk us through that, Teresa Opeka, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Teresa, it's been anything but quick, but money does continue to flow. What's the latest that you're following? Sure.

Good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me. Yes, so got word that U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam has announced $155 million in public assistance reimbursements for Western North Carolina will be coming to those folks out there due to the devastation from Hurricane Helene that occurred over a year ago in September of 2024. Got word of that through Ted Budd, U.S.

Senator from North Carolina, in a press release. He said he was grateful for that. that's going to reimburse those Western North Carolina communities following Hurricane Helene, and that the funds are vital to ensuring cleanup and rebuilding efforts don't continue to strain local government budgets more than a year later.

So that is some great news. And Teresa, in your story over at CarolinaJournal.com, it seems like pretty much everything is political. It's unfortunate to say that, but it is the fact of the matter. It looks like as it relates to getting some additional relief out west, Senator Ted Budd is also going to work through getting some DHS general counsel approved as well. Yeah.

Yeah, that's correct. Like he stated in his press release that He's agreed to lift his hold on DH General Counsel nominee James Percival and allow a Senate vote as soon as those communities receive those funds. I believe there's two others that they still have a hold on. He mentioned that ensuring DHS has strong legal representation is critical. But he remains very willing to use every level of power he has as a U.

S. Senator to ensure that Western North Carolina is made whole and that federal funds are approved and dispersed on a rolling basis into the future. That's from a quote that he gave in that press release. And, Teresa, not everybody, of course, is going to be a fan of Senator Ted Butt. I'm sure if you asked a lot of Democrats across North Carolina, they would say they're not in favor of what he's doing.

But it's hard to argue looking at what you've got over in the article at CarolinaJournal.com. To me, this is exactly what you would want members of North Carolina's either congressional delegation or Senate delegation doing, saying, hey, get this money for the home state that I represent, and then we'll move forward with some of the things that you want. Right, right. And it's regardless of party, right? I mean, it doesn't matter.

It's for people and their lives, their livelihoods. One, in fact, was Democratic Governor Josh Stein. He said he was pleased that that much-needed funding was coming to North Carolina and said he appreciated North Carolina's federal delegation for their continuing advocacy. And every dollar moves us one step closer in making sure Western North Carolina recovers stronger than ever.

So yeah, even, you know, the governor said it too, you know, trying to put differences aside when it comes to people's lives, their businesses, and just get the job done, get that funding rolling. And looking at some of the monies that are going to be doled out from FEMA and from DHS on this, a lot of it, Teresa, is going to small towns and villages. I see some electrical membership co-ops. These are entities that need an incredible amount of money to continue the work. Many of them have had to borrow large sums of money to get power and water turned back on for customers.

Some of these counties are in small cities, Teresa. I mean, we were looking at the numbers earlier this year.

Some of the recovery efforts are three, four, five, six times their yearly budget to get their towns or their communities back whole. I mean, I can only imagine the financial situation that's unfolding up West. Right, and I mean they're probably already having you trouble maybe before Helene, you know, trying to get their their items and their budget taken care of. And when Helene hit, it just exacerbated it, made it Unimaginably worse. And so, yeah, you've got a few of them: the village of Sugar Mountain.

You also have the town of Boone, other projects for Bunkham County, Henderson County, all these, every dollar adds up.

So, yeah, I'm sure it's a great relief, but there's still more needs to be done as well.

Well, you just mentioned a couple of minutes ago that there are a couple of other large FEMA reimbursement projects that are still kind of outstanding at this point and waiting for Christy Noam's approval. Yes.

So, you know, the approval process is anything that crosses her desk, I think at a certain point that she has to sign. Did have that in the article as well.

So, yeah, there's a few of them that still need to be improved. The amount that she needs to sign for reimbursement, it's over $100,000.

So anything that's over $100,000 needs her signature. But there are still a few more that are out there, of course. You know, it's like, you know, as Governor Stein said, we still have a long way to go, which we do. The state does, the Western North Carolina still has a long way to go.

So it's great to cut some of this red tape and get all this money flowing in as quickly as possible. Yeah, well and hopefully Senator Budd, Senator Tillis and members of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation can continue beating down the doors at FEMA to get as many of these dollars rolled out as possible. Teresa, you've got a list of all of the various projects and some of the things that are going to be funded through this new reimbursement that we're talking about right now. Where can folks get those details? Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com.

Teresa Opeka joins us this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Get ready, Charlotte. It only happens once a year. It's the 2025 Charlotte Auto Show, and it's rolling into uptown Charlotte on November the 20th through the 23rd at the Charlotte Convention Center. Hundreds of cars, trucks, and exotic vehicles all under one roof.

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It's now 5:54. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 11:10, 99.3 WBT. As we turn our attention back to the North Carolina General Assembly this morning, both the House and Senate are set to convene for their final week of business before we Flip the calendar over to 2026.

However, in a statement from House Speaker Destin Hall, it would appear that this is not going to be a voting session, meaning that six veto overrides that remain on the calendar in the North Carolina House, they have been on the calendar now for months, likely will not be dealt with. In an announcement from Speaker Hall last week, he said, quote, House lawmakers have been informed not to expect voting sessions in the legislature next week. He released this statement Thursday or Friday.

So referring to the session this week, meaning that there is a very low, very small likelihood that anything will be dealt with in terms of those veto overrides. And Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly are also rejecting Democrat Governor Josh Stein's call for an extra legislative session to deal with the Medicaid rebase. The letter comes from Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall. Highlights that Stein's proclamation for lawmakers to reconvene today does not comply with the North Carolina Constitution. They highlight that money has already been set aside for the Medicaid rebase.

Some $600 million has been allocated from the General Assembly.

However, they are calling this nothing more than a political ploy as the dispute centers on the Department of Health and Human Services' handling of Medicaid reimbursements and recent rate cuts that the Stein administration implemented on October the 1st. Stein has argued that additional legislative action is needed to maintain provider payments.

However, legislative leaders say that the money is already there and that the agency has sufficient funding, calling this nothing more than a political ploy. According to a fiscal analysis cited by legislative leaders, the Department of Health and Human Services, quote, consistently reverts and carries forward money at the end of the fiscal year. Noting in the last fiscal year, the Department reportedly reverted $110 million to the general fund and carried forward $243 million, including $166 million in Medicaid funds. Legislators noted that when they allocated an additional $600 million earlier this year to address the Medicaid rebase, the Department of Health and Human Services took $100 million right off the top of that to cover ongoing administrative costs that are not providing any additional services. They noted that the Medicaid does continue to have an operational budget through April of 2026.

And lawmakers note that when they reconvene, likely early in the next calendar year, that if more money is needed to fund Medicaid programs across North Carolina, they will be happy to do so.

So we'll be keeping our eye on the legislature this week as it, again, does appear that there will not be any major voting taking place in either the House or the Senate. That's going to do it for a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next. Followed by Good Morning, BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3, WBT.

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