Audit Questions $111M Helene Camp Spending

State Auditor Dave Boliek found North Carolina spent $111 million running 55 Hurricane Helene base camps and comfort stations without tracking how many meals, showers, or beds people used.

The camps housed first responders, utility crews, and storm survivors for about seven months after the September 2024 disaster, at an average cost of roughly $516,592 per day. Meals were billed at a flat rate of $41.67 apiece, whether or not they were eaten.

The largest site, in Swannanoa, ran up more than $27 million. Boliek said the report isn’t meant to question the response, only to press for better cost controls now that the crisis has passed.

North Carolina Emergency Management defended the spending, saying the camps supported thousands of responders from North Carolina and 39 other states, and that FEMA reviewed every invoice and cleared the costs for full federal reimbursement.

NC Courts Aerospace, Defense Companies

A North Carolina delegation met with aerospace and defense manufacturers at the Farnborough International Airshow near London July 20-24, pitching the state as a place to build.

The group, led by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), met with firms already here, including Airbus, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin, and with companies that have no state presence yet. Rival states South Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio sent recruiters as well.

The trip is part of a push to make the state a defense and aerospace hub. Business and university leaders launched a First in Defense Coalition in May, and this month Gov. Josh Stein’s administration created an advisory council, NC ALIGN, to coordinate the work.

Venture investment in early-stage defense firms hit a record $49 billion last year. EDPNC chief Christopher Chung said it may be a while before the state knows if the trip pays off.

Panel Calls for More Teacher Pay

Weeks after North Carolina lawmakers approved a budget granting teachers average raises of about 8%, a bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education is pushing for deeper compensation reforms.

The panel, appointed by Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders, met July 27 to draft recommendations aimed at elevating pay for both new and veteran educators.

State Superintendent Mo Green urged the group to make North Carolina the highest-paying state for teachers in the Southeast. Members also proposed restoring the TeachNC recruitment program that was cut from the budget, indexing salaries to inflation, and adding retention bonuses.

Republican leaders have hailed the recent raises as historic, yet commission members countered that the increases fall short of addressing long-term shortages and stagnant veteran salaries. A first vote is set for Sept. 28.

Dear Reader,

A month ago, the Minnesota Star Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize. Last week, it announced it’s cutting 15% of its staff.

That’s been the shape of the whole year. In February, the Washington Post eliminated more than 300 newsroom jobs and closed its sports and books desks outright. The BBC is shedding up to 2,000 roles. BuzzFeed and HuffPost cut about a third of their people. In Pittsburgh, the Post-Gazette shuttered its entire opinion section and published its last editorial.

Here’s what none of those outlets will say out loud: this is what happens when you spend years telling your audience what to think instead of what happened. Readers can tell when the news is tilted, and they’ve been walking away by the millions.

The numbers back it up. Gallup now finds just 28% of Americans trust the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. That’s the lowest it has ever measured.

The legacy media created this problem. Flyover North Carolina was built to be the solution, and the difference is simple. They editorialize in their reporting. We don’t. They tell you what to think about the news; we just show you what happened, clearly and fairly, and trust you to make up your own mind.

And it’s working: while they shrink, we’re about to cross six million readers. Six million Americans who start their morning with the facts and decide for themselves. They’re fleeing the spin, and they’re finding us.

Flyover North Carolina will always be free. Producing it isn’t.

So as The Flyover family of readers closes in on six million, let me ask you two questions:

Do you rely on us for news without the spin? Is fact-first journalism worth fighting for?

If your answer is yes, will you chip in and help us hit this milestone at full speed?

I’ll be honest with you: I read the same headlines you do, and there are mornings this industry looks like it’s coming apart. But then I look at what this team builds every single day, and at six million of you choosing the facts over the spin, and I’ve never been more sure we’re on the right side.

Will you support Flyover North Carolina today? I’d appreciate it very much.

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California Surgeon: “Muscle Loss in Seniors is Real, But It Doesn’t Have to Be”

If you think collagen is only for supporting healthier skin, hair, and nails, think again.

Not only does it play a role in holding the teeth in your mouth, keeping your heart walls intact, and reinforcing your gut lining…

It’s also what allows you to enjoy your favorite outdoor activities without getting tired.

But unfortunately, eating more collagen isn’t the answer.

That’s why Dr. Steven Gundry has created what he calls the “collagen reset technique.”

And to his knowledge, it’s the only technique that’s designed to help your body build its own collagen.

See the technique here ==>

➤ Statewide: More than 29,000 Duke Energy customers across the Carolinas lost power Tuesday evening after a line of storms rolled through, with nearly 7,000 out in Iredell County alone. (More)

➤ Also Statewide: North Carolina’s 2025 municipal elections cost $8.4 million, or about $47 per vote across roughly 822,000 ballots, according to a report from State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office. (More and See Report)

➤ Fort Bragg: Thousands of donors nationwide are giving to online fundraisers for the families of two Fort Bragg soldiers, 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan and Staff Sgt. Michael Swinton, who were killed in the Middle East and are being brought home for burial. (More)

➤ Charlotte: State Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson offered up to $300 million in community benefits, including two grocery stores on Charlotte’s west side, to win support for reviving the I-77 South toll lanes, ahead of a regional board vote in September. (More)

➤ Chapel Hill: Members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s stakeholder advisory committee toured the 230-acre former Horace Williams Airport site on Monday, reviewing plans for the mixed-use Carolina North campus expansion set to break ground there in 2027. (More)

➤ Wake County: A man died overnight Tuesday when a tree fell on his home during thunderstorms, trapping him inside. Two others in the house were not hurt. (More)

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➤ Son Heung-Min’s first-half brace lifted the MLS All-Stars to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Liga MX All-Stars in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game Wednesday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. (More)

➤ Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, and Arnold Palmer headline USA TODAY’s ranking of the 10 greatest college athletes to compete in North Carolina. (More)

➤ The Carolina Hurricanes’ run to the Stanley Cup Final helped increase downtown Raleigh visitation 5% over last year, with traffic rising 40% on the Cup Final game nights as fans packed watch parties, bars, and restaurants. (More) 

➤ Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer and football coach Manny Diaz were among the university’s highest-paid employees in the school’s latest tax filing, which showed most top earners got raises in the same fiscal year the school began cutting costs. (More) 

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Soccer

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➤ Judge Adam Conrad becomes chief judge of the state’s Business Court on Saturday, succeeding Chief Judge Michael Robinson, who is retiring. (More)

➤ A nationwide IT outage forced American Airlines to ground flights Tuesday evening for about 45 minutes. The FAA lifted the stop-everywhere order except at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, its busy Carolinas hub, where storm backlogs pushed arrival delays toward 50 minutes. (More)

➤ Mythic Minigolf, an indoor fantasy-themed course, has opened as the first business at the redeveloped former Kmart on Western Boulevard in Raleigh. The 12-acre site is also slated to add a Gold’s Gym, a café, and 810 Billiards & Bowling. (More)

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Collagen does far more than support healthy skin, hair, and nails.

It also plays an important role in maintaining strength, mobility, heart health, and gut health as you age. But according to Dr. Steven Gundry, simply eating more collagen isn’t the most effective way to support your body’s collagen levels.

That’s why Dr. Gundry developed his “collagen reset technique,” a unique approach designed to help your body produce its own collagen naturally. Learn how this technique may help support an active, healthy lifestyle and discover Dr. Gundry’s presentation today.

➤ Volunteer researchers with the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research have catalogued more than 2,000 individual bottlenose dolphins since 2008 by photographing unique dorsal-fin markings during regular surveys of Roanoke Sound. (See Photos)

➤ North Carolina ranked 16th among the states on an innovation index, scoring 23.5 out of 100 on patents, venture capital, and research-and-development spending per capita. California topped the list at 95.2. (See Map)

➤ Charlotte-based Krispy Kreme, which was founded in Winston-Salem in 1937, rolled out a limited-time Destination Dessert Collection Tuesday with three doughnuts inspired by Latin American sweets: tres leches, guava cheesecake, and Argentine chocotorta. (See Photos)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ These five everyday foods are quietly increasing your chance of heart disease. (Hear Details)

➤ Federal officials are ending a Medicare drug subsidy, raising concerns that millions of seniors could face higher costs. (Hear Episode)

➤ One of America’s most prescribed drugs, taken daily by roughly 23 million people, has been hit with a nationwide recall. (Listen Now)

Do you support adding I-77 South toll lanes in Charlotte?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Not sure
4. No opinion

Yesterday’s Results:

Will you tune in to watch the MLS All-Star game?

1. No: 74%
2. Possibly: 17%
3. Yes: 9%

Where was North Carolina’s first minigolf course located?

Show me the answer