It's 505 and welcome in to a Monday 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. Hopefully you enjoyed a great July the 4th weekend as we continue to track news across the state of North Carolina. More than 21 months after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, officials in the town of Lake Lur say that the community's recovery efforts have entered a new phase, transitioning from emergency response and debris removal to long-term infrastructure reconstruction, environmental restoration, and a big one, economic recovery, especially as we head into the deep part of the summer season.
Lake Lur Mayor Carol Pritchett outlined the scope of federal and state assistance received since the storm, with detailing dozens of projects that remain underway as she released a statement ahead of the July the 4th weekend. A reopening ceremony represented more than the return to recreational boating for local officials. It symbolized the progress made since Hurricane Haleem transformed one of North Carolina's premier mountain destinations into the site of one of the state's largest disaster recovery operations. As Governor Josh Stein said during a May celebration, Hurricane Haleem devastated Lake Luhr, but today Lake Luhr is back. Local, state, and federal government partnerships with lake residents has powered its restoration.
Lake Luhr is a gem, and I'm excited that folks have had the chance to rediscover this unforgettable place over the summer. According to Pritchett, the town has received more than $5.15 million in FEMA public assistance reimbursement to date for things like debris removal, emergency protective measures, utility repairs, roads, municipal buildings, water control facilities, parks, and so much more. The mayor emphasized, however, that the largest component of recovery efforts occurred outside of the town's direct reimbursement. She said in the statement, equally, if not more significant, FEMA directly funded the removal of approximately 1.2 million tons of sediment and more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris from Lake Luhr through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This unprecedented effort has been instrumental in restoring the health, safety, and beauty of our lake. The scale of the sediment removal efforts reflected the unprecedented nature of the disaster. During Hurricane Helene, a floodwaters swept through communities throughout the broad river watershed, carrying trees, sediment, vehicles, structures, and debris downstream. Most of that, a lot of that, ending up in the bed of Lake Lur. In addition to FEMA reimbursements, town officials have secured more than $11.2 million in grants through the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and specifically from them, as well as the Department of Public Safety and the Office of State Management and Budget.
Those funds support wastewater treatment improvements, sewer system repairs, chemical storage upgrades, dam assistance, as well as other critical infrastructure projects. Among the largest FEMA-funded projects completed or underway is approximately $977,000 for wastewater treatment plant architecture and engineering services, more than $914,000 for sewer lift station and distribution system repairs, and about $862,000 for debris removal from the lake and waterways, with more than $740,000 for emergency protective measures through the town. Several major projects totaling more than $3.5 million have been approved but remain pending a reimbursement, including nearly $2 million for marina reconstruction and approximately $1.5 million for lake safety facilities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed its mission assignment in December of 2025 with North Carolina Emergency Management taking over operations and using a state contractor using their SMART program.
Town staff is now tasked with any additional debris removal where residents use an online reporting system to provide some of that information to the town so they can work through some of those continued efforts. According to the town's June report, some of the remaining sediment removed from the lake will be repurposed to address long-standing drainage concern at Morse Park. The statement reads, the remaining sediment in Morris Park will be used to raise the elevation to address drainage issues. Once the leveling has taken place, grass will be planted throughout the area. Officials said that the next phase of the park's redevelopment will depend on community feedback gathered during the town's comprehensive planning process with representatives from the Foothill Regional Commission and Foothill Rural Planning Organization providing some of that input to town officials.
The town recently said in a statement, the next step in Morris Park will be to utilize input and information from the comprehensive plan to develop a master plan.
so that additional amenities can be added based on residents' preferences. The RPO is a state recognized transportation and infrastructure planning agency. That's the Foothills Rule of Planning Organization that coordinates regional development in Western North Carolina. Not all of the sediment deposited during the storm has been removed, however, as officials noted that another large accumulation area remains across the river from Moores Park. With a statement reading, a second pile of debris can be seen across the river from Morris Park.
This sediment will be removed by contractors working for the town of Lake Luhr, but at some point in the future, based on funding priorities, which, of course, is the major issue that not only Lake Luhr, but many other small municipalities are dealing with in the western half of our state. Many of these towns have relatively small budgets. They are not major metropolitan areas across the state. And so just like everybody else, they are having to manage not only their regular budget cycle, but all of this debris, all of the damage, all of the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Environmental restoration efforts have also been focused on rebuilding aquatic habitats damaged during the Storm with a recent statement from the town reading, improvements to fish habitats have also been made this year.
Over 300 trees have been placed into the lake. This long-term ecology recovery will continue to be guided for years by professional fisheries and studies. Officials say that they will continue to advocate major infrastructure projects designed to strengthen the community resilience against future disasters. One of the largest projects remains the replacement of Lake Luhr's dam infrastructure and its subaqueous sewer system. As officials recently said, the first phase, which is about 30% of design for replacement of the dam, is already underway.
Once this design report is approved by the North Carolina Dam Safety Office, the detailed design project will begin. Town officials were also working to replace critical debris collected, critical debris collection infrastructure that was destroyed during the storm. In a recent update, the town reported that engineers continued designing a replacement debris boom at the Rocky Broad River Inlet. With town officials saying that this is a significant cost project, and while we began working on it as soon as FEMA obligated the project, we were not able to move forward until funding obligation actually occurred. Officials said that the project has become more complicated because Helene significantly altered the river channel and lake entrance, with town leaders acknowledging that engineering requirements have extended the timeline, but said that they are necessary to ensure that this is a durable long-term solution.
And something that can last for generations to come. Communication infrastructure has also become a focus of recovery efforts. During a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for a brand new cell tower, Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr highlighted the broader importance of restoring connectivity in western North Carolina. He said during the event: it is such a big day for Lake Luhr in Western North Carolina. We're seeing a new cell tower going in, so that means more connectivity continues within the state, local, and with federal support for ongoing efforts here in western North Carolina.
As summer tourism season does continue, town officials have increasingly emphasized that the town is once again open to visitors. With the town saying Lake Lure is officially open and just as beautiful as ever, it is time to plan your getaway, soak up the sunshine, and cool off in one of North Carolina's most iconic lakes. For local officials, however, However, reopening represents not only the end, not the end of recovery, but the beginning of a much longer effort in these rebuilding efforts. It won't be long before we are in the month of September, and we will be crossing that two-year mark since all of the devastation and destruction in western North Carolina. We have continued with extensive coverage now for club going on close to two years right here on the Carolina Journal news hour and over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
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Terms apply. It's 524. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM. WBT, just ahead of the July the 4th weekend, Democrat Governor Josh Stein signed two bills into law that focus on keeping communities and children safe. We'll start off with House Bill 481.
That is labeled in its name, pay exception slash special separation allowances. It builds on another piece of legislation, House Bill 50, which is the law enforcement officer special separation allowance option, which was signed into law a little over a year ago by the governor and allows law enforcement officers towards the end of their career to keep serving without losing benefits. House Bill 481 allows retired law enforcement officers to keep their separation allowance if they want to return to work and if they serve in a different law enforcement capacity. At a press conference on Thursday of last week, the governor said that he has heard from several police chiefs and sheriffs about their department's recruiting and retention challenges, making the job even harder for those who served and being stretched thin and being asked to do more with less. The governor said, so when we will have veteran officers who are willing to raise their hand and say, I will stay on the job, we should support them for a long time.
Law enforcement officials who have served over 30 years but want to keep serving found themselves facing a tough financial choice if they kept working. They would lose out on thousands of dollars worth of compensation in their law enforcement special separation allowance. The governor said he advocated for House Bill 50 since his days as the Attorney General and was proud to sign it and most recently, House Bill 481. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Jeffrey Smyth said during the press conference last week, during my eight years as the chief in Burlington, I can think of a dozen or more officers and command staff that were forced into retirement based on the economics of the old system. This new formula provides a real incentive for them to stay and continue to serve in significant ways to our law enforcement areas across the state.
That bill now signed by Governor Stein and is now law. The other is House Bill 83, which revises laws on minors slash human trafficking. That is the name of the legislation. It protects minors from obscenities and predatory actors online. Specifically, it expands the criminal offense for disseminating obscene material to minors and requires courts to consider whether to require sexual offender registration for those that are convicted.
The governor stated that approximately 96% of U.S. teenagers say that they use the internet every day, and the share of teens who report being online almost consistently has increased by nearly two-thirds in recent years. The governor said during the press conference, when an old man sends a gross photo to a teenager, that person can now be held accountable under state law. It will also address the state's response to the heinous crime of human trafficking. The North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission will dig in further on the feasibility of building a statewide reporting and response system to better combat human trafficking.
Representative Monica Johnson Hulser, the Democrat from Wake County, who's also served as the executive director of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said that things have changed pretty dramatically over the 30 years that she has served in the anti-sexual violence and human trafficking field, including 25 years ago when the General Assembly was initially asked to put a statewide human trafficking task force in place. She said during the press conference, just yesterday in my role as a state legislature, Legislator, I had the first parent call me specifically about the role that I play in my professional job as an anti-violent, as an anti-violence against women advocate to expand me not only to explain to me not only that they are worried about some of the obscene photos that are distributed and shared online, but her daughter, a high schooler, had a peer create an image of her using artificial intelligence. She went on to talk about some of the work within the Human Trafficking Commission to try and deal with some of these problems long term. Two other bills were also signed into law, sign, also signed Senate Bill 595, which is various revenue law changes. That includes helping survivors of Hurricane Helene.
The governor said in a press release, this bill conforms North Carolina's law to IRS changes, providing tax relief for survivors of Hurricane Helene and protecting seniors from financial Exploitation. Giving bank tellers the ability to refuse suspicious transactions and notify trusted contacts will better protect people from scams and fraud. One provision could hamper the state's innovative economy, and I urge the General Assembly to revisit that issue in future legislation. The governor also signed House Bill 376 into law. That is the Waste slash Wastewater Affordability and Capacity Act.
No commentary there from Governor Stein on that legislation. None of these bills, of course, are the state budget, which was signed or which was approved, excuse me, by state lawmakers late last week. We have not yet directly heard from Governor Josh Stein as to exactly. What is his plan moving forward? He was asked by the media after this signing ceremony on Thursday afternoon.
The governor stated at the time that he and his team were still going through some details on the budget, which I'll remind you would be passed with very large bipartisan support in both the North Carolina House and Senate. Possible we see some action from the governor this week as he has now up until next Sunday, a little more, a little less than a week from now, to either sign the state budget into law, veto the state budget, or it would become law automatically without any action from the governor. That is the major political news that we'll be tracking this week. We'll keep you up to date over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and each and every weekday morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's 5:38.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. Parents in North Carolina and across the United States have a new way of helping provide for their children's financial futures. You've heard a lot about this over the last year: the Trump 530A accounts, a custodial-style, traditional IRA, which did launch officially on July the 4th and came about under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed a little over a year ago by President Trump. Babies born from January the 1st, 2025 to December the 31st, 2028, will get $1,000 from the Treasury Department, with all other children under the age of 18 receiving up to $250. According to IRS.gov, parents and other people are also able to make contributions.
up to $5,000 per year, and any employer may contribute about $2,500 per year, which counts against the $5,000 annual limit under an employer Trump account contribution program, with those contributions not counting towards the employee's taxable income. The annual contribution limits are indexed to inflation and will adjust starting after 2027.
Some pretty big companies, those like JPMorgan Chase, Intel, Stake and Shake, and others, have said that they will match government funds or make contributions on behalf of their employees who are having children. While philanthropists like Michael and Susan Dell have donated more than $6 billion to the program and also made supplementary donations. Once a child turns 18 years old, they can withdraw it and use it any way in which they wish, whether that be going to college, starting a business. or buying a home. The accounts will be treated like a traditional IRA.
And would be subject to the same rules that currently exist in the IRS code book, including things like taxation. Or the funds can be left to accumulate, which according to trumpaccounts.gov at the age of 55 can grow to $243,000 without a single contribution made to as much as $13 million with a contribution of $5,000 a year, which is that limit. Currently, about 6 million children have been signed up and millions more are eligible. North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner said at a recent Council of State meeting that 2 million children in North Carolina are eligible for the accounts. He said in a recently emailed statement to CarolinaJournal.com, Trump accounts empower families to jumpstart a child's financial future by providing an early opportunity to save, invest, and build long-term wealth.
They offer an important financial literacy lesson by helping young people understand that wealth is built over time through patience and the power of Compounding growth. Even modest investments made early in life can grow significantly during your child's adolescence and generate additional earnings year after year, demonstrating how this can be one of the greatest advantages for building financial security. The creation of the 530A accounts is also being looked at as a way for the president to encourage families to have more children as the birth rate in the United States continues to steadily drop. According to Andy Taylor, a political science professor at NC State, he told the Carolina Journal in a recent interview, I think it's a realization that economic growth, continued prosperity, and the success of the country relies upon a growing population. And one of the things we've realized in the last few years is that the U.S.
birth rates, which were very high by in the context of a developed world, have now plummeted below what the Europeans and Japanese have had for some recent years. We have an administration that has a pretty aggressive policy towards immigration. Obviously, the president's focus is largely on illegal immigration, but that has also led to a reduction in legal immigration and through policies like the 1,000K HB1 visa policy and things like that. Taylor went on to say, especially on the people, especially people on the center right, think that the population needs to grow. And with an immigration policy, most likely not.
Not changing until 2029, that may be the way to do that. But the question is, will it work? Taylor says it's a novel policy experiment, but there are some people, I think, who would say this is good. I'm not sure whether it will have the kind of material effect on birth rates, then you could say, well, does it actually help children, make them more successful adults? But that's a long way off.
We're a long way from being able to see whether that is the case. As far as the tax advantages for parents, Taylor told the Carolina Journal that he really doesn't see any without the accounts and that the tax breaks like the child tax credits and 529 plans help defray the medical costs of having babies may be better options for parents. Despite it being pretty innovative in an idea, according to Taylor, people may politicize the financial opportunity for children because of the name on the account with it being called a Trump account. He told the Carolina Journal whether the ability to take the opportunity Is not a bureaucratic exercise one suspects. And this is sort of the problem with our current polarization.
People make decisions based on who is in office and whether they like those people or not, rather than the merits of the policy. One would suspect that there might be a lot of parents who are Democrats that will say, well, we're just not going to do that. But there may be some help for bipartisanship in looking at the broader issue. Pennsylvania Senator David McCormick, Pennsylvania Senator David McCormick, a Republican, John Fetterman, a Democrat, recently came together at a youth, the baseball event in Philadelphia promoting the accounts, noting that politics or the Trump name have nothing to do with helping secure a child's financial future. McCormick said at the press conference: these accounts are a way to make sure everybody takes advantage in a growing economy.
And so this is a great step forward for our country. It's not a partisan. An issue. In other words, there's no politics. The idea is to create an opportunity for every person.
Senator John Fetterman agreed, saying, David McCormick and I are on different teams. He is a Republican and I am a Democrat, but we're here today because we want all of you to one day be millionaires and we want you to have the financial security in life. Let's be frank, sometimes politics gets involved. These are very simple. This has nothing to do with politics or the name.
It is about your future. As I noted, the Trump accounts officially kicked off on July the 4th. They were enshrined in U.S. law a little over a year ago when the One Big Beautiful bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump. And these accounts are now available and open again to individuals and families that have had children between January the 1st, 2025, and will do so through December the 31st, excuse me, of 2028.
Not only with contributions from the Treasury Department, but as I mentioned as well, some major philanthropists coming on board as well. Michael and Susan Dell having donated more than $6 billion. That is the amount that they have earmarked to make supplementary donations to the program. You can read more and get links to all the information you need: whether you and your family are eligible, those details over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: New Trump Accounts Could Benefit 2 Million North Carolina Children.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. As we watched a very busy week in Raleigh last week as lawmakers approved the state budget, which currently sits on Democrat Governor Josh Stein's desk, a plan to help finance a projected $1.7 billion Raleigh baseball park was left out of that deal.
However, the push for an MLB stadium is likely not going away anytime soon as the Carolina Hurricanes run to the 2026 Stanley Cup revived a long-running question in our state capital. Could Raleigh, could the triangle land the next MLB team? The championship generated an estimated $13.4 million in economic impact for Wake County, according to figures released by a group called Visit Raleigh. The hurricane's June 20th downtown celebration drew an estimated 192,000 fans according to the downtown Raleigh Alliance, which is likely the largest single-day event in the city's history. Supporters point to that turnout as evidence that the region can support another major league franchise.
So the question is: who would be backing a potential expansion team? One of the names that comes immediately to the front of that is Tom Dundon, who owns the Carolina Hurricanes and has led the most visible push since first expressing interest in 2023. He told WRAL News shortly after the Cup victory, we're going to put ourselves in a really good place. And if they decide to expand, we'll have a compelling offer. Dundon is not alone, however.
Mark Lazari, the co-founder and chief executive of the Avenue Sports Fund and investor in the National Women's Soccer League's North Carolina Courage, also told WRAL he wants to invest in a Raleigh team and would prefer to be the majority owner, though he would be willing to work with the Carolina Hurricanes owner in their investment group as well. The State Department of Commerce has had conversations with interested investors dating back more than a year with the agency. The agency recently told WRAL News and a grassroots organization known as M. MLB Raleigh has promoted a triangle franchise since at least 2018.
So the question is, why Raleigh? With this expansion conversation continuing, MLB Raleigh and its supporters argue that the region has much of what leagues look for in expansion markets, a population that rivals established MLB markets and is growing faster. The nation's 22nd largest television market, the biggest without a locally or regionally broadcast MLB team, and the distinction of being one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the continental United States without a team within 100 miles. Backers also cite the potential payoff. Mike Walden, an economist at North Carolina State, has estimated that an MLB franchise in Raleigh or Charlotte could create 2,000 to 2,500 permanent jobs and generate more than $300 million in annual economic contribution activity.
In the host county and produce roughly $12 million a year in new public revenue for state and local governments. The question, of course, is how much it would cost. And some of the debate before we saw the final details of the budget was a Senate, a North Carolina Senate proposal that put the stadium at about $1.7 billion. A combination of acquiring an expansion franchise and building a stadium is expected to projected rather to cost more than $4 billion. For a comparison, Yankees Stadium remains the most expensive ballpark ever built at $3.4 billion, according to front office sports.
That stadium opened back more than 15 years ago. The heart of the fight remains who will exactly pay for it. The Senate plan that was eventually stripped from the budget called for $500 million in state funding with the rest drawn from local revenues, sports gambling taxes, income tax withholdings from players and performers at the facility, and a new sports and entertainment taxing district, according to details that were originally in the budget. A seven-member North Carolina Baseball Authority modeled after the Centennial Authority that owns and manages Lenovo Center would finance, design, own, and operate the ballpark. Ballpark.
And so while there is a split in Raleigh as to who exactly should pay for this, the House and House Leader Destin Hall not agreeing with that Senate idea to allocate nearly half a billion dollars to potentially lure Major League Baseball to North Carolina. That did not make its way into the final form of the budget.
However, as I noted, the conversation likely continuing and will likely remain red hot across the state of North Carolina. The big question figure out how exactly this is paid for. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has already made it abundantly clear he would like two expansion cities before his term ends in January of 2029. We'll keep you up to date with the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Monday 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 FMWT.
