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It's 5.06, 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. We start out with some political news out in western North Carolina. Chelsea Walsh is set to replace Representative Jennifer Balcom as the Republican nominee for North Carolina's 117th House District after Balcombe was selected one week ago as the GOP nominee for North Carolina's 11th congressional district.
Walsh was chosen on a second ballot late last Thursday night after Linda Pryor was eliminated in the first round. Adam Smith, who challenged Representative Chuck Edwards in this year's Republican primary, was also considered. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican From Caldwell County, said in a statement on Thursday: House District 117 deserves a representative who will stand up for its families, communities, and conservative values. Chelsea Walsh is prepared to step up and continue the work Republicans have done to make North Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family. Walsh, a life and health insurance broker and former chair of the Henderson County Republican Party, previously sought the seat.
That was back in 2022, narrowly losing the Republican primary to Representative Bulcombe. It was a very close race in that contest in the 2022 primary. Bulkhum received 5,599 votes, while Walsh received 5,441 votes, a margin of only 158 between the two candidates. After losing the primary, Walsh later went on to endorse Bulkham in the general election. NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons said in a press release announcing the result that Walsh is prepared to step into the race quickly.
Simmons said in part, Chelsea Walsh is ready to hit the ground running and continue the strong conservative leadership that the people of House District 17 deserve. This is an important seat, and we are confident voters will have a strong Republican choice in November who will fight for Western North Carolina families. Obviously, it has been a very interesting couple of weeks out in western North Carolina. The vacancy was created when Republicans in North Carolina's 11th congressional district selected Bulkham to replace Representative Chuck Edwards, who back less than two weeks ago withdrew from his reelection campaign after a House Ethics Committee report in Washington, D.C., found that he violated House rules related to sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. Edwards announced his decision in a 3.32 a.m.
social media post one day after the House Ethics Committee released its decision. He kept his comments very brief and we have not heard much since. He wrote at the time, After much prayer and reflection, I have decided to withdraw from my reelection campaign. I will complete my current term serving Western, I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life.
Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless Western North Carolina and America. Ahead of the North Carolina 11 selection last week, Walsh publicly endorsed Balcombe to succeed Edwards, pointing to Balcombe's record in the North Carolina General Assembly and arguing that her name recognition and fundraising ability would be important in a significantly shortened general election campaign. Walsh wrote on social media last week, of the NC-11 potential Republicans on the shortlist for tomorrow nights, again before the meeting, I throw my support behind Jennifer Bulcombe, a current North Carolina House Representative for NC 117. She has been on the front lines of fighting Democrats and supporting conservative values from day one.
The Mountains deserve a proven conservative leader. Balcombe, the Republican from Henderson County, had Representative House District 117 since 2023 and was seeking a third term before moving into the congressional race. House District 117 lies entirely within Henderson County and contains about 78% of the county's population, with the remainder of Henderson County, about 22% of that represented in House District 113. The district has leaned Republican in recent elections with Balcombe winning re-election in 2024 with nearly 58% of the vote. Walsh will face Democrat nominee Lynn Russo in the November the 3rd general election.
Russo advanced to the general without a Democratic primary opponent.
So that is the race that we will see coming up out in House District 117. Obviously, we are keeping a very close eye on everything ongoing in western North Carolina as we get ever closer to approaching the two-year mark since Hurricane Helene's devastation and destruction. The fallout now in North Carolina's 11th congressional district, as well as some of the details out of House District. 117. We'll keep you up to date with all of that as we approach November.
Continuing coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And as always, keeping you up to date with the latest here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, back last week, Governor Josh Stein announced that a company by the name of Prisium Cables and Systems has committed to investing over a billion dollars to expand its fiber and glass manufacturing facility in Catawba County, which is expected to create 385 jobs. The governor said in part with a press release, this billion-dollar investment is more proof that North Carolina is leading the way on innovation and job creation. Companies understand the value of our highly skilled manufacturing workforce that helps power the strategic growth.
Prisium is a provider of energy and digital connections, updating power grids, leading large-scale electrical transmission initiatives, and supporting the global transition towards renewable energy, electrification, and digital connectivity. One of the largest cable and fiber manufacturers in the world, the company, founded in 1879, operates more than 100 plants across six continents, including 50 locations and employing some 9,000 people in North America. Brian Balfour, the vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal, The North Carolina Department of North Carolina Commerce Department's press release declares that Prisium will add 385 new jobs in Catawba County. Valfour went on to say, the reality is the company might add those new jobs. Research into corporate welfare schemes like these reveal a very low success rate in terms of living up to the promised jobs.
Indeed, the state's largest such program, JDIG, that's the Job Development Investment Grant, has a record of failing to meet promised job goals in more than 80% of the grants that have been concluded. The expansion is set to increase the company's current footprint by about 975,000 square feet, including upgrades to existing buildings, doubling the volume for fiber optic manufacturing, and integrating a new vertical glass production facility. The Prisium North America CEO said in a press release, this investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growth of the United States' demand for advanced digital solutions. We are one of just three U.S. manufacturers of fiber and optical cable, and now we are committing more than a billion dollars to new initiative solutions and transformative capacity growth.
Salaries will vary depending upon the positions, but the average salary according to the company is set to be about $61,000, which will be exceeding Catawba County's annual average salary of about $57,000. New jobs could create an annual payroll impact of about $23,57,000. New jobs could create could create an annual payroll impact of about $23.5 million a year for Catawba County. The company will be awarded a $1 million performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund for the project. That One North Carolina fund offers financial support to local governments to encourage economic development, attract new investments, and generate employment opportunities.
Companies do not receive the payments upfront, and investments and hiring targets must be met before they receive any of their payments. One North Carolina grant payments for this project is contingent upon the company investing at least $665 million. Another One North Carolina grant is contingent upon local governments matching their participation. In addition to the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, some of the other partners with this project include the North Carolina General Assembly, Commerce Division of Workforce Solutions, the North Carolina Community College System, Catawba Valley College, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, the Catawba County, the City of Claremont, and the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. A lot of folks involved in this, and unfortunately, as we have seen in recent months, the JDIG program and many of these other investment attempts by the state of North Carolina and local governments are consistently falling short with many of these expansions and programs coming nowhere close to fruition or the initial announcement.
However, the details this morning that this company will invest over a billion dollars in Catawba County. We'll be keeping a close eye on that. And as we find out more information and Detail, we'll pass it along to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. For many people, renting is a convenient option. It offers flexibility and may require less responsibility for maintenance.
But owning a home can offer a different set of long-term benefits. Instead of paying rent to a landlord each month, homeowners are investing in a property that can potentially increase in value over time. That means your home may become an asset as you continue to live in it. Home ownership can also provide more control over your living space, from decorating to renovations that really fit your lifestyle. And here's something that many people don't realize: there are education programs and financial assistance options available for first-time homebuyers.
Some of these programs even offer grant funding that may help cover part of the upfront cost, and grants typically don't have to be repaid. That's why learning about home ownership options can be an important step toward making the best decision for you and your family. To learn more, visit toolsforhomeownership.com. A big part of parenting today is figuring out which technology will help your kid and which might hurt them. Especially when it comes to learning.
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Now says that a settlement in the Duke Energy Progress rate case would actually raise residential electric bills by about 9.3%, not 6.8% over the next two years. In a press release late last week, he stated that Kendall Bowman, the North Carolina president for Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas, testified in front of the North Carolina Utilities Commission that residential rate increases would be 3.7% in rate year one, that would be next year, and 3.1% in rate year two, that would be 2028, which adds up to 6.8% in all.
However, it turns out that that is not the case according to North Carolina's Attorney General. Jackson says that the number is the average increase for all customer classes that Duke Energy serves with the North Carolina Department of Justice's independent calculation and Duke's public statements indicating that the rate increase for residential ratepayers would actually be 9.3% over the next two years. Jeff Jackson said in a press release, the details matter here and Duke got it wrong under oath. A 6.8% increase was already too high for families, and Duke can't justify an even bigger increase. We are not signing this deal.
Bill Norton, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, told Carolina Journal in an emailed statement that the incorrect number was a simple mistake and that their figures and all of their filings are correct. He said, our settlement filings are accurate. This was a simple case of one figure being inadvertently mixed up with another during discussion, which can happen when you're talking about thousands of pages worth of testimony. We're glad that nearly all parties involved in this rate review have agreed to a significant reduction on behalf of our residential customers and all customer classes. The Attorney General was already opposed to signing the 6.8% deal that was reached over the energy company's original request of a whopping 18.1% rate increase for two years for North Carolina's residential customers.
He said in a press release last Wednesday that he would not sign the proposed settlement reached last week with the North Carolina public staff and others. Duke Energy Progress serves the eastern half of North Carolina and the Asheville area, while another Duke Energy subsidiary serves the rest of the state. Jackson said at the time, Duke Energy's Duke brought their rate increase to 6.8%, but that is still too high for families and still more than the company needs to cover its investments. We're not signing it. The Attorney General also said that Duke Energy Progress made concessions on other parts of its rate filings, including joining Duke Energy Carolina's separate fast-track process to establish new rules for data centers and other large electrical users.
Given the strain, he said, that they put on our system, Jackson has argued for a new separate rate class that will continue to advocate in this and will continue to advocate in this new process for rules focused on protecting ratepayers. Additionally, Duke also agreed to have its shareholders contribute $10 million in funds to help customers pay their bills and weatherize their homes to lower energy costs. Jackson also mentioned that he is still fighting Duke Energy Carolina's rate case that would see a residential rate increase of about 9.5%. Duke Energy Carolina primarily serves the western and central parts of North Carolina, including Charlotte and the Triad, plus portions of South Carolina. Duke Energy Carolina does not service the Asheville area.
That is a Duke Energy Progress area. He declined to join the settlement, arguing that the reduction from Duke's original proposal didn't go far enough. Jackson said in a press release last week, Duke started this case asking families for an 18% increase. We pushed back, and now its own filing showed 9.5%. That is movement in the right direction, but is still too high.
We are not joining this deal, and we will keep pushing for lower rates. Jackson's office also argued for a lower authorization return on equity, which represents the profit that Duke is permitted to earn for shareholders. Duke originally requested a 10.95% return with a proposed return of 9.8% moving forward. Jackson recommended a number significantly lower at 7.4%, which the Attorney General's office estimated would save customers a whopping $1.37 billion over the two-year period. Duke said that the agreement balances customer affordability with the need to invest in electric grid and power generation systems.
While Democrat Governor Josh Stein and Jackson focused on Duke's rate and the potential costs of data center growth, John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson argued that state energy policy is a primary driver of the proposed increases. Bryson said during a July the 24th episode of PBS North Carolina's state lines that the rate debate should account for the cost of replacing coal plants and complying with the state's carbon reduction policy. Bryson said on the program, why doesn't Attorney General Jackson understand that we passed a carbon law back in 2021 that is making Duke Energy change its resource plan? They have all of these coal power plants all around the state that are already financed. They're paid for.
And we're saying to Duke, you have to shut those down. You have to build more stuff. And Duke is saying, well, that's going to cost a lot of money. Duke Energy has joined the Trump administration's ratepayer protection pledge, promising to support measures intended to prevent households and small businesses from paying for power plants and grid infrastructure needed to serve rapidly expanding data centers. Jackson is also asking Duke to formalize commitments as part of a pledge to make those legally binding in front of the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
Moving forward, the Utilities Commission will decide whether to approve or reject the proposed Duke Progress settlement. If approved as filed, new rates would begin taking effect as early as January. Reject the proposed Duke Progress settlement. If approved as filed, new rates would begin taking effect as early as January the 1st of next year, the date for Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolina's plan to merge.
So that is what we are following there. If 6.8% wasn't good enough for you in terms of a Duke Energy bill for those in eastern North Carolina and in the Asheville area, it's now looking like that figure is closer to 9.3%. We will keep an eye on these details as the Attorney General continues to battle with the state's largest electrical production. Producer and provider. We'll keep you up to date over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
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WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good Monday morning to you. We've got a pretty significant update on a legal challenge ongoing here in North Carolina, the Turpin family and their legal challenge against the Charlotte Latin School. We've talked about this a couple of times over the past few years to walk us through the latest and this pretty big decision from the North Carolina Supreme Court. Mitch Coke from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Mitch, before we get into some details from the court on Friday, can you briefly bring our audience up to date as to maybe that are new to the show and haven't heard this name or the Charlotte Latin School? What exactly is going on here? Sure. Parents named Doug and Nicole Turpin filed suit against Charlotte Latin School over the expulsion of the two Turpin kids in 2021. What happened was, starting in 2020, the Turpins got concerned about some changes in direction at the school and some of its political leanings and artwork that was on the walls that seemed questionable and moved towards sort of woke or DEI type policies.
So the Turpins and some other families started to get engaged and organized and presented some concerns to the school leadership. And eventually, the school leaders called a meeting with Doug Turpin and at that meeting told him, well, we're canceling the contracts that we have with your kids, which basically is the equivalent to being expelled. They had to put their kids into another school. Doug Turpin filed suit against the school, alleging a number of issues. Involved with that expulsion.
And basically, at both the trial court level and the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the suit was thrown out. And the argument that was made from Charlotte Latin, and they got support from the Catholic diocese in Charlotte and also the association that represents private schools across the state and across the region, that this is a matter of a contract. It's a private school. It's not a public school. It's a private contract between the parents and the school.
The school decided that the parents weren't living up to their end of the contract, and so the contract was canceled.
Meanwhile, Doug Turpin said, no, obviously there was a contract because it is a private school, but the way that the school went about this violated the law. The case Was appealed after the Turpins lost at the trial court level and the appeals court level, all the way to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court took the case last fall, heard oral arguments. And now the ruling that came out on Friday, a 5-2 ruling, was that the Turpins can move forward with this suit.
So basically, it just sets it back to the starting line for them, but they are allowed to make their claims. And the opinion, which was written by Justice Richard Dietz, said that the Turpins made what's called a colorable claim, meaning that there is some chance that this could succeed on the basis of breach of contract. Fraud. Unfair and deceptive trade practices and defamation.
So, all of those are allowed to move forward. There were some other claims that were made, like infliction of emotional distress, that got thrown out. But all four of the things that I just mentioned can move forward in the lawsuit. As I said, it was a 5-2 decision.
So, the five Republicans were in support of this argument. The two Democrats both dissented. And one of the things that Justice Allison Riggs said in her dissent was: We think the majority got it wrong, but as it moves forward, remember that this is now going to apply to any school and any argument that's made. And so, it's not just this case. You're setting a precedent that a number of different lawsuits could now come against private schools about the way they're operating and the way that they are pursuing their particular way of wanting to educate students moving forward.
Mitch, you highlighted something very important at the open there that I want to make sure we reiterate for our audience. We spend a lot of time talking about things going on within the government, within the constraints of government here in North Carolina. It is a vastly different playing field when you work into the private sector. And in this case, as you've highlighted, the Charlotte Latin School is a private school. We are not dealing with anything from the public school system, which has a lot of tie-ins with the federal government because it's where a lot of their money comes from.
And of course, more than 50% of the state budget as well. And so this is a very different ball field than you would expect to see if we were talking about a traditional or a regular public school here in North Carolina. Yes, and in the earliest days of this suit, I think a lot of folks, even right of center, were looking at it and saying, Well, you know, however much you might dislike what this school is doing with its curriculum and its approach toward educating students, it's a private matter. It's a private school. And the solution, if you don't like what a private school is doing, is go to another private school or go to a public school or charter school or homeschool or whatever you want to do.
But because it's a private school, it does not face some of the same limitations and requirements that a public school would. But as the Supreme Court pointed out, this is not really a suit about what the school is doing in terms of its education and its approach to education. The suit is about a breach of contract. And about fraud, and about unfair and deceptive trade practices, and about defamation. The defamation claim is that school officials lied about what the Turpins were saying about certain students at the school.
And so, all of those can't move forward. And basically, Richard Dietz, the justice who wrote the majority opinion, was very careful to say: look, this is a case that's wrapped up in a lot of very interesting political arguments, but that's not what we're deciding. Our decision is only based on the rules of Civil law procedure that says that at the opening stage of a case, when you're deciding whether the case is going to be dismissed or not. You have to take the claims in the lawsuit as true. You treat them as true and you look at them and say, okay, treating them as true, is there something here that could move forward and actually lead to a successful lawsuit?
If so, then you can't dismiss. You have to go through the rest of the process. You do discovery. You file motions. You may even have to go to a trial.
But you don't dismiss the case if there's a chance. That taking the allegations of motions, you may even have to go to a trial, but you don't dismiss the case if there's a chance. That taking the allegations as true, that the plaintiff could win. And basically, all that, that's all that Justice Richard Dietz and the majority are saying. They're not saying the Turpids are ultimately going to win, that their arguments are sound.
They are saying that there's enough of an argument here that it survives a motion to dismiss. I should also point out, because they haven't yet, that this is a case that's attracted quite a bit of political attention. We saw a friend of the court brief. Supporting the turpins that was supported by two members of Congress. Richard Hudson and Pat Harrigan, along with 11 Republican members of the General Assembly.
So this is something that's attracted attention from the General Assembly. And that's probably one of the reasons why Justice Richard Dietz wrote what he did. He's saying, we're not dealing with this political issue. Those are interesting political issues. But the only thing that we're dealing with is whether this claim can withstand a motion to dismiss.
And we have decided that it does. And so basically, the Turpids are allowed to go back to the starting line and to try to make their case that what Charlotte Lattin did violated the law. Yeah, and again, important to note there for our audience, even though this is an education topic, we're talking about a private school, we're talking about children being expelled, it's really not a legal challenge as it relates to education. Mitch, do we know in some of the previous legal proceedings that have happened as this has moved its way inevitably up to the North Carolina Supreme Court, what reason that the Charlotte Latin School gave the Turpin family for the reason in terminating their contract? Yes, the part of the contract called for there to be a and I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something along the line of a good working relationship between the parents and the school.
That was something that was actually called for in the contract. And what Charlotte Lattin said, I don't think they said it at the time that the students were kicked out, which is One of the reasons for the suit. But they eventually, at least by the time this got into legal proceedings, said that Doug Turpin was such a nuisance and pest and was not going to give up on his concerns about the direction of the school that they did not have that parent-school working relationship that the contract called for. And so that's why they were able to cut the contract. And basically, their argument is: you know, we're a private school, we get to educate in the way that we want.
The contract that we had said that we have to have this good working relationship with the parent. The parent didn't want to have a good working relationship, so that relationship cannot. exist and move forward and so we're breaking the contract. From the Turpin's perspective, they're saying that's a breach of contract and that they use unfair and deceptive trade practices and also fraud. And so that's really going to be what now the courts are going to hash out, whether what happened when Charlotte Latton ended this contract was just a normal ending of a contract that is allowed for, or if what Charlotte Lattin did amounted to these things that would violate the law, the breach of contract, the fraud, the unfair and deceptive trade practices.
That's what's going to happen. That hasn't happened because the initial trial court, upheld by the appeals court, dismissed the case without going through any of the rest of that process. Yeah, it'll be interesting as we watch this continue to play out here in the years to come. I'm not going to say months, I'll say years to come. This suit was filed back in 2021.
Here we are in mid-August of 2026. Could be interesting, Mitch, to see the North Carolina court system tackle some of this verbiage and determine what defines a good relationship, a relatively ambiguous term there.
So we'll be keeping a very close eye on this. We do have continuing coverage about this entire saga going all the way back to 2021 over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update this morning. Mitch Coke I from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again.
It's 5:54. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT, and some education news this morning. The Tar Heel State ranks seventh best in the nation for charter schools, an improvement of two spots from last year's rankings according to the 2026 National. Charter school law ranking and scorecard.
North Carolina earned a B overall by scoring 45 out of 67 possible points, according to the ranking system released August the 5th by the Center for Education Reform, which is a Washington, D.C.-based school choice advocacy group. Only three states, Florida, Arizona, and Indiana, earned a grade A in the report. Michigan, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, and Utah all joined North Carolina on the top 10 list for laws relating to educational freedom and charter schools across the country. According to the founder and CEO of the Centers for Education Reform, Janine Allen said in a press release, these rankings don't measure intent. They measure what written law actually produces and the results.
The strongest states continue strengthening laws that allow these great new public schools to flourish. The weakest still deny too many families access to opportunity. This group has been ranking state charter laws since 1996. The scorecard grades each law in four areas: authorization, growth, operation, and equity. The group's rubric awards policies such as deregulation and allowing multiple entities to approve new schools.
North Carolina scored highest on growth, earning 14 out of a possible 15 points, including a perfect score on charter caps. The state lifted its 100-school cap in 2011. Amendments approved in the 2023 long session allow charter schools to expand enrollment and add or remove a grade level without a state sign-off. The state also earned 15 out of 20 points on operations with high marks for freedom to innovate and teacher freedom. The state's weakest category was authorization, scoring only 7 out of 15 possible points.
North Carolina has one authorizer, that is the Charter School Review Board, which received sole authority to approve, deny, and renew charters back in 2023, while the CER's rubric reward states that letting multiple independent entities greenlight new schools across a variety of states. You can read more on these details over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. 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 FM, WBT.
