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Good morning to you. We start off with some very disturbing news here in North Carolina as two teenagers are dead and five others are injured after shots were fired and a shooting took place at a park in Winston-Salem yesterday morning, according to local law enforcement. The situation unfolded around 9.50 a.m. on Monday morning as police said that a quote pre-planned fight broke out at a park near Jefferson Middle School in Winston-Salem. They said that the fight then turned into a shooting that did not happen on school property.
They report that a 17 and 16 year old are dead, with officials reporting that five additional teenagers were also shot at the park and found in and around the area. Police say that of the five teenagers who were shot, four were girls aged 14, 15, 17, and 19 years old. The other teenager injured was an 18-year-old boy. Condition of those five individuals does remain unclear at this time. But again, officials say that of the five teenagers that were shot, they also could have been involved in the shooting.
There are still, unfortunately, many more questions than answers this morning about what went on nearby Jefferson Middle and Mount Tabor High School, both of which were placed into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the shooting as police were investigating. Authorities, again, did not announce if anybody has been officially charged in this situation. They will obviously continue to provide updates as we learn more about it. But unfortunately, two teenagers dead, five more injured after a pre-planned fight caused bullets to ring out and allowed that situation to unfold at a park in Winston-Salem. We'll keep an eye on the additional details, and we'll bring you the latest right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
There's no question about it. Public safety has remained a very hot topic in North Carolina politics over the last year and a half or so. Of course, the brutal murder of Irina Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail in the summer of 2025, that has sparked a lot of legislative action in Raleigh to walk us through some details on a brand new committee to look at some interesting things that went on during the COVID era with people being released from prison under former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper. The newest member of our Carolina Journal team, Andrew Pomerance, joins us here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andrew, great to have you aboard this morning.
Lawmakers have been very keenly focused on a lot of these public safety issues. What are you tracking a new announcement out from House Speaker Destin Hall? What's the latest you're tracking? Yeah, good morning, Nick. Happy Tuesday.
So, yesterday morning, Speaker Hall's office put out a press statement along with Senator Phil Berger that they are starting a new subcommittee on prisons underneath governmental operations. And while it says prisons, it's more so focused on these 4,200 inmates that were actually released early as part of a settlement back in 2021 under the Cooper administration, all tied to this lawsuit kind of brought forward by the ACLU and the NAACP, saying that it was unsafe and it was unconstitutional to hold prisoners during a health crisis like we had during COVID-19, and that these inmates had to be released early. There's been a lot of back and forth about these 4,200 inmates because this list of who was released early and the kind of updates on them had not been released to government operations until this past January.
So this list is brand new to legislatures and the public. And so I think there's been a lot of scrutiny over this list, including a couple of the big names I'm sure we'll talk about in a minute that were included on this list. Including the individual who committed the murder on the Charlotte light rail. There's been a lot of issues over this list as well. You know, we've seen some discrepancies about whether these individuals on this list were released actually ahead of this settlement being agreed to, and whether a lot of these individuals were already on the streets under the Cooper administration.
So a lot going on in this committee. I think it'll be a hot couple weeks. It's going to be co-chaired by Brendan Jones, Representative Jones, who does a lot of the oversight and is known for maybe some more of the theatrical moments down in the General Assembly in recent times. And I think he'll bring a lot of that to this committee as well.
Well, Andrew, you just highlighted probably one of the most important parts of this story: the timeline. These individuals released, depending on where exactly you look at, late 2020, early 2021, when some of this was going on, lawmakers really not finding out about it. And the entirety of this list, just up until a couple of months ago, these are, in some of the cases, not everybody, but some of these individuals are hardened criminals that were released during this lawsuit that was agreed upon by the Cooper administration and the ACLU. Public safety remains not only a hot conversation here in North Carolina, but across the rest of the nation, as we've seen a lot of these soft-on-crime policies out of cities cause places to fall into places of disrepair. And so, for Republican lawmakers, this seems to be a major winning political message.
And I think that's why part of the reason we see this come up now is, you know, with former Governor Cooper running for the Senate, I think this is an issue that the Watley campaign has continually tried to hit him with. And we've seen Fell on Fridays and the focus on some of those individuals that have been released under this agreement. But I think it also shows, you know, we've got Governor Josh Dine at the time as the Attorney General, and part of this Committee's role is actually to investigate his role in this release of individuals and whether his office did their due diligence in finding, making sure those criminals either followed up on their release. Why they were released, whether that be their parole or those types of things, or whether these are felons that should never have been released in the first place. Yeah, and it's interesting when you look at the list of individuals on the committee before those jump and say, oh, this is just solely political.
Like we see with many other committees in the North Carolina General Assembly, there is a mix of both Republicans and Democrats, regardless of your political affiliation. There's no question about it. People are contacting their lawmakers and questioning some of the things that they're seeing on social media that I think, Andrew, for many people, they'd say, This is unbelievable. They're reaching out to their lawmakers and finding out, no, this is exactly what was going on in North Carolina. Absolutely.
And a lot of the committee members are actually from some of the more purple districts across the state, especially on the Democratic side. You've got lawmakers who represent these really kind of wishy-washy districts that have the opportunity now to kind of come forward and talk about public safety. And public safety has been such a big issue down in the General Assembly now for months, going back to the murder on the Charlotte Light Rail. We've seen a lot of conversations about involuntary commitment and the mental health institutions that we have in the state. And so we've seen ongoing conversations on that topic and resulting in a House committee report just this past week.
And so this is not a new topic that the General Assembly is working to tackle now, but something I think will get even more attention as we go forward. You know, it's an interesting point there because typically when we're talking about public safety, we're looking at our municipal police, city police, county sheriff's office. Again, some aspects, maybe state highway patrol, but typically it's predominantly a local issue. Andrew, it has been very interesting to watch since the DeCarlos Brown Arena Zarutska situation in Charlotte last year that lawmakers, really, I guess, seeing the national attention on this story, have jumped in full body into the pool on this issue. And they've, as you've noted, have been kind of ringing this bell consistently now, almost going on a year.
Absolutely. It's definitely become a talking point. And I think as we head into legislative session this week, it's something that Speaker Hall continues to pound the table about, public safety and reforms to our mental health system here in the state of North Carolina. And then we see it on the campaign trail, both on the Cooper and Watley campaigns, highlighting the smart, tough on crime policies that they want to bring to North Carolina. And yeah, we see it in polling.
We consistently have our Carolina Journal poll that will run through the remainder of this year as we approach the midterm elections in November. And Andrew, when you ask people what are some of their major concerns, while it's not necessarily at the top of the list, the economy typically tends to control a lot of that. Public safety and crime does remain a top three, a top five issue, not only in the Carolina Journal poll, but really national political polling as well. It is absolutely something that is on voters' minds. Absolutely.
And like the economy, the state legislature does have some control over public safety, and it's an issue I think that they feel empowered to act on. I think empowered to act on based on all that polling and kind of the popularity behind tackling these issues right now. We did hear from both House Speaker Destin Hall and Phil Berger, the leader of the North Carolina Senate in this. What did they both release some quotes alongside the announcement of this committee? What did they have to say?
Yeah, Hall, you know, in his quote, you know, really framed the investigation as a matter of public safety and government accountability, I think, more so than Berger did, you know, saying public safety is the most important responsibility of our government, and that Governor Cooper failed, I think, largely, you know, under his governorship to follow through on that important duty and responsibility. Senator Berger, in a shorter Berger-style quote, as always, you know, said, Said, and I quote, Roy Cooper opened the floodgates and then did the bare minimum to inform people that criminals were being released into their communities. And I think that is so true to kind of the meeting of this committee and why it's coming up now. You know, the General Assembly doesn't have a lot of information about what happened, about who was released, about what this committee process was like, and how the determination was made. And I think they're really searching for the answers to those questions.
Yeah, and obviously a lot of the public will as well. Andrew, it's going to be a busy couple of months in the legislature. You're going to be tracking a lot of those details. Lawmakers back actually a little bit later on today to officially kick off the 2026 short session. You'll be keeping our audience up to date over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
Absolutely. I think 27 voting days in total here. And so it's going to be a quick, short session this year. I think in a lot of big issues, whether that comes to the budget or some veto overrides, that I do think we'll see action on this week. Our first voting schedule is today at noon.
And so just in a couple hours here, they'll take their seats on the floor and start to begin to act on some of those legislative. pieces of legislation that are outstanding, whether that be from last year or from the veto overrides. But I think we should see a quick out of the gates legislative session. I think we'll see a budget here, hopefully, somewhat quickly. And then I think we'll hit the ground running on some of these issues, like public safety, like Medicaid funding, and some and like involuntary commitment and so many others.
It's going to be a busy end of April, May, June, and leading up to the July the 4th holiday. Andrew will be keeping us up to date around the clock with that here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You can read more about this brand new committee being formed out of the North Carolina General Assembly as well. Those details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update and insight this morning.
Andrew Pomerance joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Ah It's 23 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, we are tracking an update on an audit we brought you back just a couple of months ago, earlier this year. This was released in early January by the Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency, known as Dave, within the state auditor's office, dealing with what is called lapsed salaries.
Only 129 of 819 long-term vacancies that were planned for elimination across state agencies occurred by February the 1st. That works out to less than 16%, according to the state auditor's office. The division has been analyzing long-term vacancies and associated lapsed salaries across the state. With State Auditor Dave Bollick saying in a press release, the remaining positions continue to generate millions in lap salaries, underscoring the importance of aligning staffing plans with budgeted positions and actual workforce needs. The report also highlights that some agencies pursued alternative workforce strategies rather than eliminating the specific vacancies initially identified.
Notably, the Department of Adult Corrections eliminated more than 1,500 vacant positions to redirect funding towards operating expenses, including contract nurses and medical providers. The report notes that the 690 vacancies not eliminated continue to generate lapsed salaries, totaling nearly $11 million over a four-month span, $7.2 million in appropriations and $3.7 million in receipts. And if left a vacant for the remainder of the year, it would generate in the ballpark of more than $32 million annually. State agency responses were aggregated into outcome categories with four hundred seventy five vacancies identified in the OSA's january twenty twenty six report no longer planned for elimination. 461 of which were because of DAC's elimination, primarily involving vacancies not originally planned for elimination.
In total, 129 vacancies were eliminated before the auditor's follow-up. 94 were added to the formal elimination process afterward, with 92 vacancies transferred or reclassified instead of actually being eliminated. 86 of which were apparently due to the Department of Health and Human Services workforce management action, with 16 vacancies not yet being eliminated, five in underfunded placeholder positions to facilitate future hiring. The 661-page performance audit released back a couple of months ago in January showed that as of August the 6th of the previous year, there were more than 8,800 long-term vacancies across 48 state agencies, totaling more than a billion dollars. In lapsed salaries.
State agencies reported the information to the Auditor's Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency, which was created in August of last year. The enabling legislation requires each state agency to report to the auditor's office how the agency spends taxpayer funds and instructs the auditor's office to put together a report by the end of each year on which state agencies and jobs can be cut. Lapsed salaries is defined by the Office of State Management and Budget as the amount not expended for salaries during the entire period in which a position was vacant. The long-term vacant positions are funded by state appropriations, specific agency-generated receipts, as well as federal funding and grants. The state agency with the highest number of long-term vacancies, which are considered six months or more where there is nobody in said position, was the Department of Health and Human Services that had a whopping 3,074 vacancies with nearly $400 million in lapsed salary.
In this brand new April report, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is shown to have only eliminated 34 long-term vacancies with 173 remaining. The report states that according to DHHS management, they are actively managing its workforce by repurposing 86 positions from a closed facility. The plan for these positions has changed since last fall because the department was awarded funding under the Rural Health Transformation Program. That's a federal grant. With the repurposing of those positions, they claim they will be more efficient and timely because it eliminates certain administrative steps that were required when creating new positions for this brand new grant funding that they have received.
These positions do not currently have dollars associated with them and will be funded by that rural health transformation program when that funding fully becomes available. Auditors said that there is a degree of variation and nuance among different vacancy categories, particularly when it comes to vacant positions and their funding source, specifically receipt-funded or federal-funded positions, which may not always produce actual funds for the agencies to use. In closing out this update, state. Auditor Dave Bollick noted: Overall, the findings show that eliminating long-term vacancies can meaningfully support operations and improved budget transparency, but also that agencies are using varied approaches to actively manage their workforce and resources. These practices provide greater budget transparency to policymakers and the public on how tax dollars are being spent.
He says that his office will continue to produce reports and that the Division of Accountability is currently engaged with community colleges and public universities across the state to dig into some of their funding, dig into some of their money as well. You can read more on these lapsed salaries and these long-term vacant positions over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: NC Agencies Slow to Eliminate Vacancies flagged in audit. If you're an RIA, Schwab Advisor Services is the Watson to your homes. Smart, dependable, always has your back.
With all the wealth services, technology, and support your firm needs, the difference is so obvious, it's Schwab Beas. Follow the clues at schwabious.com. It's 5:38. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig.
Good Tuesday morning to you. Over the last 19 months here on the Carolina Journal News Hour and our website, CarolinaJournal.com, we have been keeping a very close eye on recovery efforts in Western North Carolina. Of course, all of this from the devastation and destruction from Hurricane Helene, whether we're talking about Lake Lore and its new phase one reopening, homes and towns and entire communities being rebuilt in Western North Carolina. We've talked about the public side, of course, the private side as well.
However, we've got a brand new report out this morning from state auditor Dave Bollock's office that is to raise some alarm bells and some flags on some spending in Western North Carolina. It walks through some of those details this morning. Teresa Opaca, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Teresa, I received this press release from the auditor's office. What is this?
$1.25 million worth of mental health resources that went to stuffed animals and plants? I mean, this can't possibly be right. Yeah, good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me. Yeah, unfortunately, it is.
There's stress balls, there's chair massages, there's a bunch of things in this report that money that was appropriated for mental health services for community colleges or colleges was spent on These things that, you know, didn't what they say didn't equate to mental health support. This is after you say Hurricane Helene. It was to support students and faculty in these colleges as they dealt with the aftermath of that.
So yeah, we'll go down the whole list. But yeah, there's lots of lots of crazy things on this report. Yeah, I mean, we're talking about rhinoceros-shaped stress balls. We're talking about plants, pizza parties, an event called the Sobriety Bowl. I mean, Teresa, there is still, even to this day, we're 19 months removed.
There are still families that are struggling to get by in Western North Carolina, waiting on delayed state efforts through the state government to get back in their homes, waiting on FEMA and the federal government to allocate more funds. I would imagine for those people, this report coming across their social media feed has to be an absolute punch in the gut for that. Yeah, I would think so. Like you say, they're waiting on the basics of. Housing, right?
Maybe getting, you know, replacing some items like furniture and things of that nature that got lost after the storm or just getting back on their feet. And when you hear that colleges spent this money, which could have been maybe put toward housing, I'm not denying that there wasn't a stress effect, especially for those who lost their homes and their businesses. But maybe this money could have been put to better use. We do have the colleges arguing against that. We'll get to that in a moment, too.
But yeah, I can't imagine what someone who Lost their home and all their worldly possessions is thinking when they hear this report. Yeah, some of the other items, as we mentioned, stress balls, t-shirts, gift sets, red light therapy, foot detoxes. I'm not even going to go down the rabbit hole of what that could possibly mean. And as well as gently guided bird-watching strolls. I mean, Teresa, this list is just absurd coming out of the state auditor's office.
You mentioned that the colleges are not necessarily in full agreement with what the auditor has to say in his report. What are they rebutting this and saying with claiming that I guess this was necessary in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene? Yes, sure.
So when you get to the responses, we'll start with Blue Ridge Community College. They told auditors it purchased the well there was wellness journals that they purchased to support the management of mental health conditions The plants, the succulents that were mentioned as horticultural materials to promote psychological well-being and sensory tools to assist students with disabilities. But it also said they would reclassify those expenses as institutional or student activity funds. Going over to Gaston College, The rhinoceros stress balls, that was their college mascot.
So that's why they're as in the shape of the rhinoceros, in case you're all out there wondering why a rhinoceros stress ball. They are part of a broader mental health and emotional well-being initiative, according to the college, designed to support both students and employees during a period of heightened stress following the hurricane. And those items, they say they do correspond to mental health resources. They're also giving counseling information at the same time, but also they will also find an alternative source of funding and return that money if it's deemed not correct. They also said Wiltz Community College, which had the guided bird watching.
They responded that exposure to nature is a recognized therapy. And the hike that was questioned included the attendance of a licensed clinical mental health counselor who discussed with the participants natural supports and how nature is connected to stress management. Again, they too said they would reclassify those expenses.
So, you know, colleges were saying, yeah, it sounds a little maybe odd, but they do connect and coincide with mental health support. And Teresa, there's no question about it. You mentioned this at the open, that there is, in fact, a lot of, I would imagine, grief, anxiety, and stress for folks in western North Carolina. No question about it. More than actually exactly 107 people dying in the state as a direct result of Hurricane Helene.
Again, the point of this from what we're covering, and I would imagine from the state auditor's office, is to not to brush any of this stuff off. But the fact that all three of these that you're reporting have all said that, yeah, we can reclassify this, to me, kind of sets up the fact that they knew they probably shouldn't have spent this money in the first place. They decided to do it anyway.
Now that they're being called on it, they're saying, oh, well, we'll return that money and spend it on something else. Yeah, it kind of seems that way when they say, well, we'll reclassify it. We, you know, didn't really know, or whatever the case may be, or they are defending, you know, that this all goes toward mental health and it was supporting people, the professors and the college students after Helene. But if you had guided rules according to this funding, which I'm sure the General Assembly has explicit rules set out in the, you know, when they gave out this funding, you would think that they would follow that to the letter.
So yeah, it just that is their way of going around saying that they will either return some of this money or reclassify the funds. What did State Auditor Dave Bollock have to say? Obviously, his office is the one that puts the report together. He typically provides some kind of context, some analysis of these reports, whether it's a full audit or in this case a special report. What's our elected State Auditor have to say?
Sure.
So he said financial resources tend to become entangled in a web of spending when disaster strikes. And that's why their office is working to bring transparency to how hurricane relief funds are spent. And by keeping lawmakers, stakeholders, and the public informed on hurricane relief spending, they can continue to improve how North Carolina responds to natural disasters. As you were fully aware, he's got a dashboard. He's got reports.
He's got audits. It seems like nonstop, like every month. There was one last week, too. There's just a bunch of things.
So he is keeping up on all of this. Yeah, no question about that. And we are seeing some of those results there. Teresa, as we round out the conversation here, is this not a broader and not bring forth maybe this broader and larger discussion about waste, fraud and abuse that exists within governments, whether we're talking about what's going on up in Washington, D.C. or here in North Carolina?
I would imagine so. I would definitely say yes. We are we were talking before, like this is what, one point two five million, if I'm going back up into the story. Yes, so one point two five million. That only scratches the surface of What else is money being spent on?
They can't audit everything all at once.
So that is, it doesn't sound like a small amount, but it really is to millions of dollars that are given out each year. We're also, the other audit that I mentioned, he was talking about Auditor Bollock about vacancies. which they did, you know, go ahead and s and they state o agencies have kind of, you know, made some progress, but not a lot. Um, and that's also waste and, you know, maybe not saying fraud, but Miss some waste as well, the funding that's been given for jobs.
So, when you take all this into consideration, it's definitely taking a look at what spending is being. or funds rather, is being spent on. And maybe some things are being abused and to keep a stronger eye on this, which is good that Auditor Bullock is doing this, but I think this only scratches the surface. Yeah, you have a multi-$20, $30 billion a year state budget out of the state of North Carolina. Again, we're talking about in all relative terms, $1.25 million, a relatively statistically small fraction of that money.
But Teresa, you extrapolate that out to all of these other state agencies, everything else that's going on in North Carolina. And I would imagine that those millions start ticking up very, very quickly. You've got some more analysis on this. Where can folks go and get those details? Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com.
We appreciate the update this morning. Teresa Opega joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Ah. Good morning again. It's 5:54.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM. WBT, we are tracking some new information this morning out of the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority, also known as the RIA, which approved $1.6 million in local government requests, including a commitment to create more than 215 jobs. Additional funding from public and private sources will bring that funding total to more than $41 million. According to Governor Josh Stein in a recent press release, he says investing in rural infrastructure unlocks opportunity. When we strengthen rural North Carolina, we empower local economies, we connect our people to critical services, and we ensure that no matter where someone lives, we offer them a fair shot at success.
The RIA has approved seven grant requests under the Building Reuse Program. These seven grants fall into two categories: the vacant building category and the existing building category. Here are a couple of the projects. In Anson County, they are set to receive some $225,000 to reuse a 29,000 square foot building in Wadesboro, with the building hosting a new medical manufacturing company. That's going on in Anson.
Over in Henderson County, they're receiving an $80,000 grant supporting the reuse of a 31,000-square-foot facility in Fletcher, in which a brand new LED lighting designer and manufacturing company will be taking over that facility. In Rockingham County, a $500,000 grant to reuse a 160,000 square foot facility in Eden, a company known as TSEA Energy, which is a global manufacturer of electronic equipment. Equipment will make use of the facility. They will be creating 36 additional jobs there and investing nearly a million dollars themselves. According to Brian Balfour, the vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, he says, However, we need to keep in mind the terrible track record of government economic development projects like this, noting that the state's largest program, known as JDIG, has a terrible 49% failure rate.
With Balfour saying, Moreover, government programs like this resemble central planning in which a committee determines which businesses receive funding, courtesy of taxpayers. The economic scarcity of resources should not be directed by government committees, but rather entrepreneurs responding to preferences of consumers. You can read more coverage of that story over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Tuesday 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, WBT.
