You've said it before. This will only take a second. Just a quick glance. A fast reply. But on the road, seconds don't wait for you.
They decide everything. Who stops? Who doesn't? Who makes it home?
So next time your phone lights up, ask yourself. Is this distraction worth a ticket or even a life? Put the phone away or pay. Paid for by Netside. It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. U.S. Senator Ted Budd hosted Mark Wayne Mullen, who is the new head of DHS, in western North Carolina earlier this week as federal, state, and local leaders, renewed calls for faster disaster aid and structural reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA. All of this coming more than 18 months after Hurricane Helene devastated the western half of our state.
The visit marked Mullen's first visit, official visit, I should say, as Secretary of DHS and set her on a roundtable discussion in Chimney Rock, where emergency responders, municipal leaders, and lawmakers outlined both progress and ongoing frustrations within the recovery process. Senator Ted Budd praised Mullen in his early engagement with North Carolina, noting that the Secretary began coordinating the visit before his Senate confirmation was finalized, with Budd telling the group, this This is a person of action referring to Mullen. He was already working for North Carolina before he was even sworn in. The visit comes as communities across western North Carolina continue rebuilding from what local officials describe as a historic and unusual severe event. While recovery efforts have restored some infrastructure and economic activity across the region, officials say that lingering delays and regulatory barriers continue to slow the progress.
Here is some of the commentary from the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen. One thing we want to make sure the American people know is that we're still recovering, right? And I, you know, being from Oklahoma, we deal with a lot of tornadoes. We see a lot of destruction, but I have never seen anything like this. And I can't even imagine what it looked like 18 months ago.
But to see everybody coming together, in Oklahoma, we call that the Oklahoma Standard. Uh but that usually takes months of recovery. You guys, 18 months later, you're still here and it's just one big family. And as a chief, obviously, if you could tell, it's still emotional about it. But to see what's happening and see the revitalization that's taken place from the roads to the towns.
to the buildings, to even the lake. I mean, you wouldn't have believed that lake was packed full of soot and debris because it looks beautiful and pristine now. It's pretty remarkable. But I'm proud of one of the work you guys are doing, and two, the work that FEMA has done here, too. to make it our first trip to see the private-public partnership.
from the state level to the local level to the federal level, this is how it's supposed to work. But everybody said, too, I mean, when we talked to the mayors, there's been some hiccups, but we were able to work past them. We're still working past some of them. I don't know how many times Ted and I have had conversations about this before Secretary was even... I thought because we would have dinner quite often because we're fresh.
We came in freshmen together in the Senate and we have this thing called the Red Shirt Freshman Class. JD's part of it, our vice president's part of it too. And from the get-go, Ted was talking about what was happening. And as this process was going through with my nomination, obviously I was somewhat familiar with it just because of the conversations we've had. That's Mark Wayne Mullen, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, which is an umbrella, or FEMA is an umbrella agency of DHS.
Commenting on that as he was in Western North Carolina earlier this week, Steve Freeman, who is the chief of the Bat Cave Fire and Rescue, said that the storm's impact was catastrophic, even as the region avoided a higher loss of life, with the death toll being at 107, according to the state. With Freeman telling the group, We were blessed it wasn't worse, but we still have a long way to go. Chimney Rock Village Mayor Peto Leary echoed some of the similar comments there, emphasizing the need for sustained federal support as well as rebuilding continues in these communities across western North Carolina. One woman was found deceased in Lake Lore who was a Chimney Rock resident. Local leaders repeatedly described the storm as an outlier and a so-called thousand-year event that exposed limitations in federal disaster frameworks that were designed around more typical and more standard tropical flooding scenarios.
Henderson County Manager John Mitchell said that local governments acted quickly in the storm's aftermath and continued working to restore infrastructure and services. But uncertainty surrounding federal approvals has created additional stress within these small municipal governments. With Mitchell telling the group, we can endure almost anything if we know what the answer is. But uncertainty and delay is making recovery. Harder.
A central concern raised during the roundtable discussion was the complexity of the FEMA program. Local officials cited delays in funding approval, overlapping regulations, and administrative burdens that can straw projects ranging from debris removal to long-term infrastructure repair. Mark Wayne Mullen acknowledged those concerns and said reducing the backlog within FEMA is his top priority, saying one of our highest priorities is to clean up this backlog. If there is a way to get it done, we will do it. According to U.S.
Senator Ted Budd, approximately $134 million in assistance has already been released under the current leadership. Though local officials said additional flexibility is needed to ensure that funds reach those communities quickly, one of the concerned areas involves hazard mitigation grants. Which are intended to reduce future disaster risks, but can restrict rebuilding in what are described as flood-prone areas. State Senator Tim Moffitt said that current policies often fail to account for rare, extreme events and can have unintentionally and can unintentionally hinder recovery. noting that all storms are not created equal and all public policy doesn't fit within the same box.
Mullen signaled a willingness to revisit some regulatory constraints where possible, particularly through administrative procedures, telling many of the lawmakers at the table, if it's not legislation and it's rulemaking, we can take a look at that. Bureaucracy puts layers on things and doesn't allow for flexibility. Another major issue raised was the financial stress placed on small municipalities, which are often required to cover upfront costs for things like debris removal and infrastructure repair before receiving some of those federal dollars as it relates to reimbursement. Lawmakers at the event also referenced broader reforms efforts in Congress, including proposals to streamline disaster response, reduce administrative burdens, and shift more authority to state and local governments. Mullen said that the administration supports a more decentralized approach to disaster response through FEMA, noting that FEMA should not be a first responder.
The state and local communities are better equipped where they're there to support and help fund recovery along the way. Beyond funding and regulatory concerns, officials highlighted communication failures during the storm when widespread cell service outages left residents, hundreds, thousands of residents unable to access emergency information or contact family members in some cases for weeks. With Mitchell, the accounting manager, noting that left a lot of people in the dark, urging stronger coordination to improve the resiliency of communication infrastructure in the western half of North Carolina. Despite ongoing challenges, speakers emphasize the resilience of Western North Carolina communities as well as the cooperation among state, local, and federal partners. Mullen described the region's recovery as an example of effective public-private collaboration and said that it offers lessons for improving disaster response nationwide, telling the group, there's a lot of lessons that we can learn from this.
Even in disasters like this, it allows us to be more prepared moving forward. With hurricane season rapidly approaching, just under 55 days right now, officials stress the urgency of resolving outstanding issues and accelerating recovery efforts to better prepare for future Storms with the secretary saying, We're not going to solve every problem, but we're going to do everything we can to ease the burden and help many of these communities rebuild. Following the roundtable, Rutherford County Sheriff Aaron Ellenberg told Carolina Journal, the visit reinforced that Western North Carolina remains a priority in Washington, D.C. With the police, with the sheriff rather telling Carolina Journal, when you call 911 in Chimney Rock, that's the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office responding. Noting that nearby Lake Lure operates its own police department, but works closely with county authorities.
Noting that Lake Lohr is a huge benefit to us. They're always willing to help, and we're the same way with them. It's a great working relationship. Ellenberg also pointed to the storm's economic tolls and impacts, particularly on tourism, which of course is a key driver of the Rutherford County economy, saying Chimney Rock. Is a major tourist attraction, and that loss has hurt financially.
It's going to take time to rebuild, but it is, in fact, coming back. While visitors have begun returning, he said that infrastructure challenges, including limited parking and land loss, continue to complicate many of the recovery for local businesses. Saying there are people willing to come, shop, and spend money, but it's going to take time. There is still a lot to figure out. This marks another very important visit from the administration to Western North Carolina.
President Donald Trump, in his first official visit after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, was Western North Carolina. We are now seeing similar action from DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen in his visit to Western North Carolina this week. We've got additional coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: Bud Host's new DHS chief calls for greater FEMA efficiency. It's 522.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WVT DeCarlos Brown Jr., some pretty substantial news across North Carolina this morning. The man who was seen on surveillance footage fatally stabbing 23-year-old Irina Zarutska in the neck back on August the 22nd of last year aboard the Charlotte Lynx Blue Line has been found, quote, incapable to proceed on state murder charges against him. A December the 29th report from Central Regional Hospital found that he was incapable of proceeding, prompting his public defender to file a motion just this week asking the court to continue the case and delay what is called the Rule 24 hearing that was scheduled for April the 30th. The public defender in this case has asked for a six-month delay to allow more time for further evaluation. With that, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office has agreed to that, with the hearing already having been postponed.
Surveillance footage originally obtained by WB TV shows Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, entering the light rail and taking a seat in front of Brown on that fateful evening in late August of last year, listening to music after getting off of work. Roughly four minutes later, Brown, who is 34 years old, appeared to the surveillance video showed him stabbing her in the neck three times. Brown, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been previously arrested 14 times, including multiple felonies. In January of 2025, a little more than a year ago, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of misusing 911. But he was released on bond by magistrate judge Teresa Stokes after he signed a written promise note to appear at his next court hearing.
According to WBTV, Brown is currently in federal custody in Chicago after he was indicted by a grand jury in October of last year for violence against a railroad carrier and a mass transportation system resulting in death. One of the things that we have talked about consistently as it relates to this incredibly high-profile case that took place within the Queen City that continues is there are two different legal challenges going on at the same time. You've got state murder charges that are continuing, which, as I just mentioned, are now delayed due to some of the mental health diagnosis as it relates to DeCarlos Brown Jr. of these federal charges as it relates to committing Some mass act of violence or violence in general on a railway system. The motion by Brown's attorney stated that the court capacity hearing cannot take place and that the court cannot order the restoration of his capacity while in federal custody.
The federal charges carry the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty, with the state auditor's office opening an inquiry into the transit authority citing the incident as evidence of lax oversight and security at the Charlotte area within the Charlotte Area Transportation System, also known as CATS. An affidavit that accompanied the federal complaint said that on August the 22nd, Brown boarded the southbound Lynx Blue Line at the Woodlawn station. Surveillance video captured Brown pulling out a folding knife and stabbing Zarutska, who was seated in front of him multiple times without provocation. As passengers fled the train, the affidavit states that Brown exited the next stop and was apprehended on the station's platform just minutes later. Police took him into custody and transported him to a local hospital for treatment of a hand injury before booking him into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.
Because the killing occurred aboard a federally funded public transportation system, prosecutors charged Brown under 18 U.S.C. 1992, which allows for life imprisonment or the death penalty for individuals that commit those acts of violence upon public transportation, like a train system, which receives federal funding. At a field hearing of the United States House Judiciary Committee in Charlotte on September the 29th of the last year, victims and victims' families and law enforcement officers sharply criticized the local judicial system throughout the Queen City, pointing to the August 22nd murder of Irina Zarutska as emblematic of a wider breakdown. According to the hearing transcript, a police officer testified the judicial system. Here in Mecklenburg County, it is trash.
The magistrate system has no idea what they are doing. The indictment and surrounding case prompted ARENA's Law, which was enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in early October of last year, formally House Bill 307. It overhauls parts of North Carolina's criminal justice system by tightening bail and pretrial rules for what are described as violent repeat offenders and adding new safeguards for public safety. The law also ends most forms of cashless bail in serious cases, requiring judges to review a defendant's criminal history before setting any sort of release conditions. It also mandates mental health evaluations when a suspect shows signs of instability or danger.
And it also limits death penalty appeals and classifies crimes committed on public transportation as an aggregating factor in sentencing. Obviously, this case remains very high profile, even getting national attention late last year from U.S. President Donald Trump, who commented on the issue publicly multiple times, receiving, because the surveillance footage that was released was so graphic and so grueling, receiving... tens, hundreds potentially of millions of views on social media, making news wires all across the globe with that story taking place within the Queen City. Again, recapping the update that we are tracking this morning, a state psychiatric facility has determined that DeCarlos Brown Jr.
is, quote, incapable to proceed in his murder charges here in North Carolina. Again, according to that motion filed on Tuesday, DeCarlos Brown Jr. was evaluated at Central Regional Hospital in late December of last year, and it was determined that he was incapable of proceeding.
However, it is important to note that a judge still Has to decide whether to accept those findings. We have kept a very close eye on this case. We will continue to do so. We've got the latest this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We'll also keep you up to date right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
It's 5:36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. Good Thursday morning to you. I'm Nick Craig. An interesting legal battle in North Carolina is heading back to court after a federal appeals panel sided with a Charlotte homeowner in a dispute over sewage floodage and an interesting and pretty controversial settlement to walks through some of those details this morning.
Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, probably accurate to say the vast majority of our audience is not familiar with this story because it is a single homeowner in the Charlotte area. Walk us through some of the details on this story, if you would. This case, Nick, did get some public attention on the media when it was first going through the courts.
So some people might have an inkling of it, but probably most people missed it or they've forgotten about it. What happened was in 2022, there was a flooding issue in the sewer system in Charlotte that ended up causing some flood damage to a particular homeowner's house. And this is a woman named Stephanie Walker, who's in her 70s. When the damage happened, she contacted Charlotte, tried to get some money to get some repairs. At that time, the city would provide some money for damage of this sort, but it was capped at $15,000.
And after going through the process of finding out what it would take to make the repairs, Ms. Walker determined this was going to be much, much higher cost than $15,000. She tried to get more from the city. As this process was moving forward, the city City actually changed its policy so that it would potentially give up to three times as much money as initially promised, so up to $45,000, but that was the new cap. Walker hired a lawyer.
The lawyer went to the city and said, We should get $65,000. But the city said, no, the max is $45,000. And so eventually, Stephanie Walker did sign a deal to get the $45,000. Part of her signing that deal was that she would give up her right for any other legal claims against the city.
Well, after everything happened and the deal was signed, she gets the money, she goes and files a lawsuit and says, I only signed this out of duress. I was homeless because of the damage to my home. I was about to lose my temporary housing. I couldn't. stand to be able to live in my car for very long.
And so I was at my wit's end and had to sign this, but the city had undue influence and I signed this under duress. And so that deal should be thrown out. When this case originally got to a trial judge in the U.S. federal court system, the judge ruled in favor of the city on summary judgment, meaning that the city wins completely and the homeowner loses. But the case got appealed to the Fourth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals. And the latest development is that in a 2-1 ruling, the Fourth Circuit sided with Stephanie Walker and against Charlotte.
Now, it didn't say that she wins and Charlotte loses in the ultimate outcome of the case, but the decision is that summary judgment should not have been awarded to Charlotte, that this is the type of thing that should go forward to discovery and to a trial, and a jury should be able to deal with these issues. And basically, the two-judge majority in this three-judge panel said that there is evidence that shows that perhaps Charlotte did issue undue influence in making this happen. They knew what Stephanie Walker's age and economic circumstances were. They knew that when she initially signed this deal, she wanted to put on her signature, I'm only signing this because I'm homeless and I have to. And they made her take that declaration off there before they would accept the document from her.
Meanwhile, the dissenting judge says, no, there's no evidence that the city did anything wrong. This woman hired a lawyer. The lawyer asked for more money than the city was willing to give. They ended up settling. And this is basically what happens when you have a settlement.
But there is no evidence, according to the dissenting judge, that Charlotte did anything that placed Stephanie Walker under duress or that caused undue influence, and that the trial judge's original decision favoring Charlotte should stand.
So what will eventually happen is Charlotte, I guess, could try to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. This doesn't seem like a case that SCODIS would take, but potentially. But if not, this case then goes back to a trial judge and the rest of the court process would play out. Perhaps the city wanting to avoid any future litigation, if it doesn't want to go to the Supreme Court, might come to some other settlement.
Arrangement, or if not, this could go forward to potentially a jury trial to decide whether Charlotte exercised some undue influence that forced Stephanie Walker to make this deal for the $45,000. Mitch, I've got a lot of questions on this. There's a lot to unpack with everything that you just walked us through. Obviously, here we're talking about an individual. We're talking about a sewer backup.
But in a larger aspect, what we're really talking about is a settlement that individuals, in this case, Stephanie Walker, signed with the city of Charlotte to move forward with getting some of this money, around $45,000, as you noted, to complete some of these repairs. I would imagine that municipalities, potentially all over the state of North Carolina, are probably keeping a close eye on this case because this, depending on how this ends up shaking out, could have some pretty big ramifications for individuals that find themselves in similar economic positions here as Ms. Walker was. My guess is that cities probably weren't paying a whole lot of attention to this case beforehand, but now they will be. Because this cannot be the first time that something like this has happened, where someone takes a deal with the city and then says, wait a minute, the city forced me into this deal.
I'm going to sue. And I would suspect that in most cases, when that happens, the trial court looks at the case and says, no, there's not really any evidence that that happened. They rule in favor of the municipality or the county or the other area of government. And it wouldn't draw that much attention. But now that the Fourth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals has stepped in and said, well, you know, there is potentially some evidence here that the city did exercise undue influence.
Now I'm guessing that you're right, that not only Charlotte, but other municipalities in North Carolina, and really anyone within the Fourth Circuit, which covers multiple states in this area, would be looking at this and saying, hmm, this is something we're going to have to pay attention to because if a settlement That looks like a standard normal settlement can then be challenged afterward. And the other party, the homeowner or business or whoever it is that's suing the city, could say, Well, you know, this was done under duress, and I didn't have any choice, and the city sort of forced me into this. That could open the door for quite a few pieces of litigation in the future that could be costly and time-consuming for cities and taxpayers. Yeah, and for those that don't follow local government, I mean, there are settlements consistently from governments of all size.
So, the largest cities, of course, we're talking about places like Charlotte and Raleigh now, but even very, very small municipalities. These are unfortunately pretty consistent things that go on as it relates to these settlements between predominantly normally taxpayers and their local government. Mitch, you've used the term a couple of times: this undue influence by the city of Charlotte. What exactly does that mean, and how does that factor into a case like this? Aaron Powell, Jr.: Well, what they the claim is is that this was this settlement was signed under duress and that because the city Basically, had the power here of saying they can give the money that was asked for or not.
And that the person who is dependent on the money is the one who can't get back into her home, that there's not a fair bargaining. Situation here. There's not two willing sides to a contractual agreement, both of which can walk away. The argument here is that Stephanie Walker really can't walk away. She either has to take the deal that the city gives her, or she's going to end up homeless and living in her car.
And so her lawyer is arguing that that is what happened here, that she was trying to get $65,000 from the city, and the city said, no, we're only going to give you $45,000. Take it or leave it. She had to take it because leaving it would have meant having nowhere to live and being in her 70s and having to live in her car. And that that was something that is illegal and on a federal level and is something that the courts are able to step in and counteract. As was mentioned earlier, the trial judge in this case didn't buy it and sided with the city, giving the city summary judgment, which means winning the entire case without there having to be a Trial.
And now the Fourth Circuit has said no, there shouldn't be some rejudgment in this case. She might not ultimately win. But she certainly has the chance to move forward with this suit, and it's the type of issue and dispute, whether there was an undue influence in this case, the type of dispute that should be able to go to a jury. And that is, I think, why people are going to be watching this more closely going forward. Mitch, does this go back to the same judge who issued that summary judgment on the case originally?
Yes.
Now, the case is still assigned to Judge Max Cogburn. It could be reassigned at some point, depending on caseloads. But there was no part of the order from the Fourth Circuit saying it should go back to a different judge. That sometimes happens.
Sometimes the Fourth Circuit will look at a decision from a trial judge and say that there was either some sort of bias from the judge, or the judge got it so wrong, or the judge has a history of getting things like this wrong that they say some other judge has to take it. But that did not happen in this case. And so basically, the case goes back to the original judge, Max Cogburn, saying, Look, you got it wrong on this count. look at what we're saying and now move forward based on what the Fourth Circuit has said. And so presumably, unless there is another reason for this case to be transferred, it will remain with Judge Cogburn.
Bitch, I always appreciate it. And I should also mention another piece of the ruling that did get a unanimous decision was that all three judges agreed with some issues of discovery that Stephanie Walker had complained about. That the judge made some rulings on discovery, and all three members of the panel said that was fine. They upheld the That piece of the ruling. The only part of the piece that got thrown out was the important piece of giving the ultimate ruling to Charlotte.
But not everything that Judge Cogburn did was described as wrong by the Fourth Circuit. They upheld several pieces of his initial ruling, but the ultimate decision to rule in favor of Charlotte without it going to trial, that's what they ruled against and sent back to the judge. Mitch, I always appreciate stories like this. They're very interesting when you see what would be described in the grand scheme of North Carolina or even the city of Charlotte as a relatively small issue. Yes, obviously, for Stephanie Walker, this is a major issue, but for the larger population in and around the Charlotte area, a very minuscule issue to see something like this that could potentially transform into a major change in the way in which Charlotte and many other governments operate across the North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit, as you noted, is always very interesting.
Mitch will keep a close eye on that. We'll have additional coverage and detail over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again. It's 5:55.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, a recapping one of the major stories that we are following across North Carolina this morning. A very important visit from the brand new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, this week. He made his first official visit after being sworn in as secretary, which is obviously a major position there, the fallout from Christy Noam to Western North Carolina. That was back earlier this week, as federal, state, and local leaders are continuing to press DHS and the federal government to get more federal funding and more federal relief to the western half of North Carolina as it relates to the devastation and destruction left in the path from Hurricane Helene. This marked Mullen's first official visit as secretary.
With a roundtable taking place in Chimney Rock, where emergency responders and municipal leaders and lawmakers outlined some of the pretty significant progress that has taken place. Many of the roads, most of them reopened in Western North Carolina, businesses starting to click on those open lights.
However, they did note that there are ongoing frustrations with the recovery process, including long delays, long lag times from when local governments and municipalities request FEMA funding to the bureaucracy that exists in getting that funds, getting those funds actually doled out to the state of North Carolina. Mullen said in his visit that he is going to work through any sort of regulatory bloat or reform that he can as it relates to agency rules to get money flowing faster to Western North Carolina. He also stressed multiple times during the roundtable that the people of Western North Carolina have not been forgotten. Both President Donald Trump. Donald Trump and Mark Wayne Mullen making their first official visits in their capacity as president and DHS secretary to Western North Carolina.
We will continue to follow the recovery process right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Well, that's going to do it for a Thursday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning, BT. We are back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 WBT.
