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Well, if you have been on social media over the last couple of days or watched any sort of local or statewide television, you have likely seen a lot of discussion and conversation about winter weather as we head into this weekend. That's where we start off this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour as Democrat Governor Josh Stein has declared a state of emergency. He did so on Wednesday. That was yesterday, January the 21st, as North Carolina prepares for a major winter storm expected to hit parts of the state Saturday, Sunday, and potentially even early into the morning on Monday for those in the eastern half of our state. The state emergency response team has been activated to assist affected communities with response needs.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation crews and contractors are beginning the process of pre-treating roads, bridges, and overpasses with brine, restocking salt supplies, and preparing equipment over the last couple of days. Governor Stein says a winter storm is approaching and now is the time to prepare. Please get ready, get everything you need in advance of the storm, and have a plan in case your power goes out. I encourage all North Carolinians to stay home and off the roads this weekend unless absolutely necessary so first responders can do their jobs safely and effectively. With the Council of States agreement, the governor waived certain transportation regulations for vehicles that are supporting emergency response efforts across the state, as was described by North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray.
He says that the state emergency response team is working closely with local partners statewide, as well as within state agencies, the private sector, and nonprofit and volunteer agencies. All of that to ensure that the needed resources are being provided to support impacted communities. With Director Ray saying between now and Friday evening, North Carolinians need to finish preparations at home and travel should be limited or paused if possible. This weekend, as conditions are expected to deteriorate across the state. North Carolina emergency management officials tell individuals to keep close attention to your local forecast, which is going to be incredibly relevant.
We are looking at a very dynamic, very unique situation with this winter storm. The possibility of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and even just plain rain in some areas of the state very much depending on what some of the dry sector looks like and some of the warm sector looks like, especially for the eastern half of North Carolina.
Some of the overnight modeling runs continue to push the system further and further north. That takes the major snow implications for the state of North Carolina. It significantly lessens the percentage of that and looks at the possibility of more sleet and freezing rain, icy conditions for most of North Carolina. It is noted that if the power does go out, which does seem like a growing concern across many areas in our state, officials, of course, recommend operating generators outside and away from open windows or doors, all of that to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. You are reminded to never burn charcoal or use a gas grill indoors and properly vent a kerosene heater or any sort of alternative form of heat that you might be generating as well, as frigid temperatures will exist.
Typically in North Carolina, we've been very lucky in the past when these winter storms come through, typically within a day or two after that storm, we see temperatures rebound above freezing and things begin to melt pretty quickly.
However, it is going to be brutally cold as we look at the temperatures heading into the early parts of next week with this weekend storm. Coming up at 11 o'clock this morning, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will be hosting a press conference to provide additional information and details about. What some of their preparation actions look like, brining, salting, and making sure roads are prepared across the state of North Carolina. We'll keep an eye on those details throughout the early morning and afternoon hours. We'll bring you the latest as it's relevant over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and we'll take a final stab at this forecast, one that is very dynamic, continues to change about every six hours or so as new weather model information comes in.
We'll take a final stab at that coming up tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC is poised to break ground on the largest expansion of its campus footprint in a whopping 232 years. This is according to an announcement this week from UNC and Chapel Hill officials. A new campus extension in Carolina North will take place on and around. around the former site of the Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill.
With groundbreaking expected to begin in early 2027 on a big 230-acre plot. University officials envision the site not merely as an academic annex, but as a multifaceted development with mixed-use housing for students and local families integrated with retail, dining, entertainment, and a cultural space. The expansion is needed to reflect the growing needs of the university as North Carolina adds more than 140,000 new residents each year, according to university officials, the chancellor of Chapel Hill. In Lee Roberts, said in a statement, We have a fundamental obligation to the people of this state. As North Carolina continues to be one of the fastest-growing states in America, the demand for qualified North Carolina students is only going to increase.
If we do not create the physical capacity to serve more of them at the same level of excellence, we will either have to turn away thousands of our own citizens or diminish the quality of education we provide. Neither is acceptable for the state's flagship university. The new campus will focus on applied sciences, biomedical engineering, as well as things like artificial intelligence, with university officials stating that the site will function in tandem with UNC Health to foster rapid advancements in medical technology as well as patient care. Development will rely partially on a public-private partnership model, and the planning will include an advisory. Group of students, faculty, staff, and community members.
The project has to go through a number of layers for approval before it is completed, with a total price tag still undetermined, which is something we are going to keep a very close eye on.
However, officials say that they will rely on a mix of state support, university trust funds, some level of private debt, some philanthropy as well, and third-party investments. The university anticipates the beginning to issue requests for qualification for master planning and development partners sometime in the spring of this year. Targeted initial site preparations and infrastructure work will begin throughout the latter parts of this year, and you'll see a major groundbreaking ceremony if everything stays on schedule, which we know oftentimes in these large infrastructure projects, especially those that are being completed by government, keeping things on time is unfortunately not the case, but all of That ahead of a groundbreaking sometime in 2027. Malcolm Turner, who is the chair of the UNC Board of Trustees, said this campus expansion is an unparalleled opportunity for our students and North Carolina's future, as well as a powerful catalyst for long-term growth. By creating a place where education, research, and industry intersects, the university is strengthening its role as a driver of innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment across the state.
This kind of forward-looking development benefits our students, fuels job creation, attracts new partners, and reinforces Carolina's competitiveness for decades to come.
So a major development project taking place over at UNC Chapel Hill is the largest expansion in more than 230 years, according to a recent press release from officials at Chapel Hill. We will keep an eye on these various. Proposals that will be put out. How much money will the state legislature be on the hook for this major development project? As well as will this affect tuition and a lot of financials to still go through.
However, the project's still pretty far away. We'll keep an eye on the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. You can read some additional coverage on that this morning by visiting our website. The headline story: UNC Chapel Hill announces major campus expansion in 2027. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving.
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Sponsored by Pfizer. Mm-hmm. It's 20 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. We've got an update this morning on a story we've been tracking across the state of North Carolina.
An ice detainer has been placed on a man accused of causing a crash in Rowan County last week that killed a local college soccer player and his girlfriend. The suspect, known as Juan Aguilar, is currently placed under an ICE detainer that happened earlier this week, and his bond was increased from $250,000 to more than $5 million. According to court documents, Aguilar was the driver of a truck involved in the crash and has been charged with two counts of felony death by vehicle and was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash. Fletcher Harris, the driver of the other vehicle involved, was also a member of the Catawba College men's soccer program. He and his girlfriend Schuyler were right, who was riding in the front passenger seat, unfortunately, also died in the incident.
The deadly crash happened around 11 p.m. last Friday among Amity Hill Road, just east of the Iredale County line in Cleveland. Troopers say that Aguilar crossed the center line and struck Harris's car, killing both of the other passengers. He was initially held this is the man who was driving the other vehicle. Was initially held in a Rowan County jail on a $250,000 bond, according to court records.
At a court appearance earlier this week, the judge increased that bond to $5 million and ordered an ICE detainer.
So that is the latest that we are tracking as it relates to. This is a very sad and very preventable story in Rowan County as this individual, Juan Aguilar, is accused of being in the United States illegally, has an ICE detainer now levied over him. All of the charges right now, which include those two counts of felony death by vehicle and being under the influence, those are state charges. We will see if the feds get involved. We have seen a major crackdown on crime as it relates to those that are illegally in the United States of America.
We will continue to follow any additional details on that. We'll bring it to you right here as soon as we get it on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, a company by the name of Comscope recently canceled a major manufacturing expansion that was expected in Catawba County, which was announced all the way back in 2023 under former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper's administration. The project, as it was originally announced almost three years ago, had promised to bring back 250 jobs and about $60.3 million worth of investment into the county and was partially funded by a job development investment grant, also known as a JDIG. The Fortune 500 company based in Hickory is a leading global telecommunications company, which they make a lot of fiber optic transceiver, fiber optic cable.
Comscope is a very well-known brand in that sector. The investment was planned to expand fiber optic cable manufacturing as ComScope is the county's second largest employer, according to 2024 data, with more than 1,000 employees trailing only Corning's Optical Communication, which is headquartered in Charlotte. Comscope also told the North Carolina Department of Commerce that the company's recent $10.5 billion acquisition of a Another company in the same sector complicated but planning for the facility expansion, according to the report. According to Joseph Harris, who is a fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, he told the Carolina Journal: despite the press release and ribbon cuttings, JDIG or job development improvement grants have a poor track record. According to state data, of the 449 deals made from fiscal year 2003 to 2025, 220 of them were terminated or withdrawn before meeting their job creation targets.
That failure rate has accelerated in recent years, with 81 agreements collapsing from fiscal years 2021 to 2025. And this CommScope cancellation isn't an outlier. It's part of a broader trend and a reminder that job announcements are not the same thing as jobs. And when you look at this, Overall, number you're looking at nearly 50% of all of these JDIG grants that have been announced going back to 2003. More than 20 years, more than half of them have been terminated, have been withdrawal, or have failed to come to fruition.
Meaning that, yes, while the state is not out any sort of major money as it relates to those grants, fortunately, those job development improvement grants only get paid out if the company who is working with the state brings those jobs and the economic development.
However, you know, when you're making all of these announcements and more than almost half of them are not coming to fruition, it does start, you do start to wonder and start to question what's the point of all of these announcements if many of them aren't going to come to pass. Other recent JDIG projects by companies such as VinFast and Wolfspeed have also hit some speed bumps, no pun intended there. Wolfspeed announced in June of 2025 that it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and VinFast announced in 2025. That the opening of its Chatham County factory would be delayed all the way until 2028. The state appropriation for the VinFast plant was estimated to be some $766 million, with county government investing an additional $400 million.
So you're talking about more than a billion dollars worth of investment there.
However, VinFast has shifted its focus to Asian markets with groundbreaking on a plant in Indonesia in August of 2025. According to the governor's office, the JDIG ComScope grant used a formula that accounted for new tax revenues generated by the new jobs as well as capital investments, as well as authorizes the potential of reimbursement for the company of up to $1.89 million spread over the span of about 12 years. Again, important to note: payments from the state are only made after the State Department of Commerce and Revenue verifies that the company has achieved its incremental job creation and investment targets. And we have seen many examples in recent years of these projects. Just gave you a couple of those examples that have not gone through in terms of what they were told the state they were going to announce in terms of job creation, their overall financial investments.
Those have not come to fruition, which has caused many of those JDIG projects to be canceled. And so, something to keep an eye on. We talk a lot about these announcements. We try and bring You, these major ones here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, unlike others. Then we follow it up on the backside and say, hey, has this job actually come to fruition or not?
And unfortunately, ComScope is the most recent example this morning of another canceled job development investment grant. You can read some additional details on that over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The story's headline: ComScope cancels expansion in Catawba County. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age.
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It's 5.35. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good Thursday morning to you. If you are a frequent listener to the program, you've heard me and my next guest talk plenty of times about how lengthy legal challenges can play out across the state of North Carolina.
We've got an example of one of those this morning: a 14-year-old lawsuit as it relates to the state health plan. To walk us through the latest in that this morning, Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, we're not joking when we say some of these things can take years to talk about. Here we are, 14 years later. Take us back.
What was going on with this lawsuit back almost 14 years ago?
Well, the reason this suit was filed, Nick, was that the State General Assembly changed a law and allowed the state health plan to start charging premiums. For the health care coverage it was providing to people who were on the health care plan, including state employees and also retirees. And some retirees, a group initially of 26 plaintiffs, sued, saying, wait a minute, we are vested. In this state health plan, meaning we've served enough years to be members of it, and we were promised that this was always gonna be free. that part of the ja part of the perk of being a state employee is perhaps you're not going to get paid what you might get paid in the private sector, but you were going to get a retiree health benefit that would be paid for life with no premiums.
So, the case wound through North Carolina courts for a number of years. By 2022, The state Supreme Court issued a ruling that basically favored the retirees. But also had a lot of things that still needed to be played out in terms of courtroom action and how much money each person would actually be able to get because of their courtroom win. As all of this was taking place, you mentioned the fact that this is a long-running case. The lead plaintiff of this case.
Was a retiree who had a very high-profile position, the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, I. Beverly Lake Jr. And during the course of this litigation, Chief Justice Lake, who was the lead plaintiff, still the lead plaintiff, but he died. He died in 2019, so it doesn't really affect. His retiree benefit, but it does affect at least directly another.
A couple dozen people and potentially 220,000 retirees who had retired by a certain point and had been vested in the system.
Now, one of the complicating factors of this case. is the fact that people vested at different times. The state requirement about how much you had to work before you would get vested in the state retirement system changed. It initially was five years, then later it was changed to 20 years. One reason that the number of retirees is limited, even though it's 220,000, that's limited, but it's limited by the fact that.
Almost a decade ago, the General Assembly changed the law so that there would be no retiree health benefit for people being hired moving forward.
So this is only affecting people who are already on the system, already vested. And probably the most interesting development in this case. Is that now the state health plan, so state government is trying to get the state Supreme Court to take this case again? And in their latest court filing, they basically said, look, The plaintiffs in this case are asking for $3 billion in damages, and so it's important to make sure that the courts get this right. And that they are the state health plan is asking for the state supreme court to throw out a couple of different rulings, one of which is the old ruling that made this a class action case.
They're saying, look, if you look at the details of this, there's so many different factors that affect each of the people involved that you really can't have a class action case. And the only way that you can get to this three billion dollar number is if you treat. These people who are potential plaintiffs the same when they shouldn't be treated the same.
Some of them would not qualify.
Some would qualify, but at a very small level. And maybe there are some people who were vested who would end up getting a larger benefit. But that's the type of thing that can't be handled on a class action basis. And so the case really should be limited to the initial. 26 people who filed suit, those of whom who are still alive and would be eligible.
It's going to be very interesting to see what the state Supreme Court does with this case moving forward. Mitch, this is not directly tied to the legal challenge that we're talking about this morning, but we've had some pretty extensive coverage over the last eight or 10 months on CarolinaJournal.com about some of the major overhauls that have happened with the North Carolina state health plan, some poor financial decisions in years past, essentially just borrowing from a savings account to keep premiums subsidized for state employees across North Carolina, potentially put that system in billions of dollars worth of deficits in the coming years, some major rate changes now here in 2026 for members that are part of the state health plan. And as you note in the article over at CarolinaJournal.com, potentially $3 billion additional dollars that the state health plan would have to come up with, depending on how this legal challenge shakes out. This is a major problem for a system that is already strained. And I would imagine many folks are not happy with some of those major increases in their premiums that they saw at the beginning of this calendar year.
Yeah, that's certainly right. Anytime there's the talk about increasing premiums, you always see the State Employees Association come out against it because, as we said, in years past, This really was mentioned as one of the perks of working as a state employee. Your Pay might not be comparable to what is in the available in the private sector, although that has changed over the years. And some would say that state employees are paid just as well as they would be in the private sector. But certainly in years past, The argument about a state government job was: well, the pay is probably less.
Than what you get in the private sector, but there's a lot more job security, and you're going to get these very generous benefits. But the benefits have become less generous as time has gone on. And you mentioned that price tag, the potential $3 billion. One of the things that's mentioned in the court filing is. That's about what the state government has to pay for the benefits during a typical year.
You basically, if you had to say this, you'd have to say, okay, well, a whole extra year of our payments would have to go just to deal with this lawsuit. And that's one of the reasons why the state health plan is trying to get the state Supreme Court to take this case.
Now, on the other side, the argument from the plaintiffs has been. Wait a minute, what's the state health plan doing? The state Supreme Court has already said the plaintiffs. Are the winners in this case, and this was supposed to go to a trial in March of 2025? But the state health plan filed a bunch of motions that ended up canceling that trial, and so they got the result they wanted-no trial.
And I think it's going to be interesting to see if the state Supreme Court decides to take up this case and revisit to some extent what it had already decided in 2022. Remember, another. Political angle That comes out of this is that when this case initially went in front of the state Supreme Court. Almost all of the justices said they had a conflict of interest and shouldn't hear the case. The plaintiff said, Wait a minute, this is such an important case that you should file or respond to this motion of necessity saying that even if you have.
A conflict of interest that the court should hear the case, and as it turned out. All but one justice ended up hearing the case. At the time, Justice Newby, he was Chief Justice Newby by that point, decided not to hear the case. This was when the court had a 4-3 Democratic majority, and you got a party line result. The four Democrats All ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in this case.
The two Republican justices ruled against the plaintiffs. After the 2022 election, flipped the state Supreme Court from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. The state health plan tried to get the Supreme Court to take the case again. And to revisit its ruling, and the state Supreme Court declined to do that.
So now it'll be interesting to see whether the state Supreme Court, which has the same members essentially who declined to hear this case in 2023, do they decide to hear this case now again, or do they send it back to a trial judge and say, no, you're off base, state health plan, this needs to go to a trial? I think that it's a multi-billion dollar question for the people of North Carolina. And that's exactly the point I was going to make. You know, many of the legal challenges we talk about, many of the legal stories, yes, they have broad implications and broad impacts. But as you mentioned, Mitch, you'd be talking about essentially an additional year worth of health care coverage that the state health plan out of the responsibility of the state treasurer's office would have to pay out.
This would be a major financial burden on the state of North Carolina.
So obviously keep an eye on this. Do we have any idea? Kind of a loaded question, Mitch. Any idea what the timeline will look like on this going forward? Does the Supreme Court have a deadline as to when they have to respond?
Or how do we see this playing out in the months and years to come, I guess? Yes, and it's already, as we said, played out over 14 years and is likely to last a while longer. The state Supreme Court does not face a deadline. My suspicion is because this case. was supposed to go to a trial in March of twenty twenty five, That the Supreme Court will want to have some sort of ruling.
in the coming Months rather than years about what to do moving forward. But if the Supreme Court decides to take the case, And that decision could come as early as the end of this month, but might not be for months on end. If the Supreme Court takes the case, then you have to add more months in for new briefings in the case, and then probably an oral argument, and then it could be another. Year or so before you'd have a ruling.
So, if the Supreme Court takes the case, I think you probably have to add at least another year into some sort of final resolution from the Supreme Court. If it doesn't take the case, it would go back to the trial court. My guess is then a new trial would be set, and that would mean probably more months.
So, we're talking at least months. For this to be resolved, if not years and maybe potentially several more years. One thing we do know is true is that as this case moves forward, the lead plaintiff. Is listed as former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., who has been dead since 2019, which is All you need to know about how lengthy this case has been.
Yeah, and of course the possibility that as this continues to go on, that $3 billion figure potentially could continue to rise as well as some of those changes relate. You can read some additional details and coverage of that this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the insight and information this morning. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Uh oh.
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Good morning again. It's 5:52. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FMWBT. All eyes remain on the skies and the forecast over the next couple of days as North Carolina, as well as many other states, a major storm system spanning all the way from Texas to Maine is expected to begin impacting the United States, starting obviously further out west as we head into tomorrow. North Carolina looks to be under the gun Saturday, Sunday, and for the very eastern and southeastern portions of our state early in the day on Monday.
That has prompted Democrat Governor Josh Stein to declare a state of emergency. He did that yesterday as North Carolina prepares for a major winter storm. That with the state of emergency, the state's emergency response team has been officially activated to assist affected communities with response needs. The North Carolina Department of Of transportation, their crews and contractors have begun and will continue the process of pre-treating roads, bridges, and overpasses with brine, as well as restocking salt supplies and preparing equipment to get it dispatched and in place as soon as the storm is over and they can begin the process of reopening some of those roads. Governor Stein said in the state of emergency announcement: a winter storm is approaching, and now is the time to prepare.
Please get ready, get everything you need in advance of the storm, and have a plan in case your power goes out. I encourage all North Carolinians to stay home and off the roads this weekend unless absolutely necessary so first responders can do their jobs safely and effectively. What is making this storm rather unique? Obviously, the size of it is remarkable. It is one of the largest storm systems that we've seen affect the United States in quite some time.
The question is going to be: what kind of winter precipitation are we looking at?
Some areas looking at snow, sleet, freezing rain, and just flat-out regular rain in some areas as well. Model runs over the last six or twelve hours continue to move the system further to the north. That moves the snow line further to the north as well, meaning that some portions of North Carolina that over the last couple of days were predicted to get a major snowfall, six, eight, twelve inches.
Some of those totals are going down, and the risk of more sleet and freezing rain is becoming more of a reality and possibility. Portions of eastern and southeastern North Carolina looking like maybe not seeing any freezing rain at all, maybe just a complete regular total rain there as some warm and drier air could sneak in behind this high. Pressure system that is driving the storm. With the Council of States agreement, the governor said that he has waived certain transportation regulations for vehicles supporting emergency response efforts across the state. The North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray said that the state emergency response team is working closely with local partners statewide as well as within state agencies, the private sector, and nonprofit and volunteer agencies.
All of that to ensure that the needed resources are provided to support the impacted communities across North Carolina. He warned between now and Friday evening, North Carolinians need to finish their preparations at home, and travel should be limited, paused, or flat out canceled if possible this weekend as conditions are expected to deteriorate pretty quickly, beginning as early as maybe even late Friday night in the far western half of our state, but throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Across most of North Carolina. Snow is one thing, ice is another. The big risk with a major ice fall, anywhere over a quarter to half an inch, could mean for catastrophic numbers of power outages across North Carolina.
You are being warned from state officials that if the power goes out, it is, of course, not smart or not safe to operate a generator indoors. You need to run that outside and away from any open windows or doors to prevent the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. You are also warned to never burn any sort of charcoal or use a gas grill indoor as well. Same issues there. And if many individuals will be looking at kerosene or other sorts of alternative heat sources, make sure that is properly vented as well.
As unlike many winter storms that we have seen in years past, typically the temperatures rebound pretty quickly. In the immediate aftermath of these storms.
However, that is anything but the case here. Looking at some of the short-range forecasting as we head into the early parts of next week, we will be looking at some incredibly cold temperatures across the state of North Carolina. Low temperatures in the single digits Monday and Tuesday before a little bit of a rebound.
However, that temperature rebound is not expected until Wednesday or Thursday in some areas next week.
So, meaning if snow, ice, sleet, or freezing rain falls, it will linger for a couple of days, making road travel continually treacherous throughout the weekend. We will keep an eye on this. The State Department of Transportation has a press conference coming up at 11 o'clock this morning. We'll bring you the details as soon as we get them over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Thursday edition.
WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in.
They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Mm-hmm.
