AG Sues FEMA Over Revoked Infrastructure Funds

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Wednesday he is suing FEMA over its decision to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The program was expected to provide $200 million to North Carolina for public utility services damaged by storms.

FEMA canceled BRIC in April and announced that its undistributed funds would be returned to the federal Disaster Relief Fund.

Jackson’s lawsuit follows a bipartisan letter signed by numerous members of Congress, including North Carolina Republicans Rep. Chuck Edwards and Sen. Thom Tillis, urging FEMA to reinstate the funds.

North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie M. Buffaloe Jr. also supports Jackson’s lawsuit, which is joined by the attorneys general of 18 other states.

9 Charged in Stolen Checks Fraud Ring

Nine people have been charged in Buncombe County after a five-month investigation into a fraud ring that raked in nearly $100,000 after checks, IDs, and debit cards were stolen from mailboxes in neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Helene.

The investigation led detectives from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office to two of the nine suspects: Angela Queen and Wesley McCrary, who allegedly ran the ring. The U.S. Marshals Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Queen and McCrary on June 4 in Marion and recovered a large amount of the stolen items.

Queen’s charges, consisting of 102 counts, include trafficking in stolen identities, identity theft, felony conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretense, financial card theft, and forgery of an instrument, among others.

Six of the nine individuals charged have been arrested, while three remain at large with active warrants.

Post-Helene River Cleanup Project Launches

MountainTrue, a Western North Carolina-based conservation nonprofit, is partnering with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a comprehensive debris cleanup of rivers flooded by Hurricane Helene.

The program will use $10 million in state funding to deploy paid crews over the next 18 months, working alongside MountainTrue’s existing volunteers to clean over 150 miles of river throughout the region.

“This is more than a cleanup—it’s a recovery effort that puts people back to work and brings communities together to restore the rivers we all depend on,” said MountainTrue Clean Waters Director Hartwell Carson.

Cleanup crews and volunteers have already removed 3 million pounds of trash since the storm hit. Anyone interested in joining the program can apply here.

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➤ Statewide: Elections officials have started contacting tens of thousands of voters whose registrations are missing social security or driver’s license numbers to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration. (More)

➤ Highways: Gov. Josh Stein will not appeal a unanimous court ruling against his challenge of a Senate bill requiring him to appoint State Highway Patrol Commander Freddy Johnson to a new five-year term, saying he’s now confident Johnson can do the job. (More)

➤ Mooresville: Phase one of the East-West Connector, a project linking I-77 and I-85 to ease traffic and boost development, is now underway and should be complete by November 2026. (More)

➤ Raleigh ranks No. 4 among U.S. cities for work-life balance and mental health, based on 23.4% of residents working remotely, an $82,400 average income, a 97.2 cost of living index, and a 23.4-minute average commute time. (More)

➤ Chatham County: A man drowned in Harris Lake Wednesday near Cross Point Boat Ramp, marking the county’s fourth drowning since Tropical Depression Chantal. (More)

➤ Outer Banks: Officials are advising the public to steer clear of Florida manatees visiting the area by avoiding contact, reducing noise and splashing around them, staying out of their path, and reporting sightings to 252-455-9654. (More)

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➤ Duke basketball signee Cameron Boozer was named the Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year at the 2025 ESPYs. (More)

➤ UNC football secured a commitment from four-star defensive back Jakob Weatherspoon, flipping the Ohio native away from Ohio State. (More)

➤ Wake Forest will play West Virginia in a two-game neutral-site basketball series in 2025 (Charleston) and 2026 (Greensboro). (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: Soccer | PGA | Tour de France

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➤ Five rural hospitals are at risk of closing due to financial strain: UNC Rockingham Hospital in Eden, Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro, Chatham Hospital in Siler City, MH Angel Medical Center in Franklin, and Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine. (More)

➤ A 124-room Marriott StudioRes hotel—designed for long-term guests and costing around $100 a night—will be built next to Top Golf on Guilford College Road in Greensboro at a cost of just over $11 million. (More)

➤ Meanwhile, Madison County’s unique Mirror Hotel, which includes six luxury short-term rental cabins on 50 acres, has been listed for sale at $4.4 million. (See Photos)

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“Big Plastic” Hates Them

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➤ The Outer Banks Chorus was selected to perform Vivaldi’s Gloria during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on June 25. Led by Director Kyle Cook, the group began weekly rehearsals in January. (More)

➤ NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s 140-acre Mooresville ranch sold for $12.2 million in June, making it the region’s most expensive transaction ever, according to Homes.com. (See Details)

➤ North Carolina’s public high school graduation rate was 86% for the 2021-22 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. State data shows it only improved slightly to 86.9% in 2023-24. (See 2021-22 and 2023-24 Data)

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What word best describes your high school years?

1. Awesome
2. Terrible
3. OK
4. Other

Yesterday’s Results:

Should NCAA athletes be able to keep monetary winnings from non-NCAA competitions?

1. Yes: 34%
2. Not sure: 24%
3. No: 22%
4. Let the courts decide: 20%

Which Major League Baseball teams chose North Carolina players in the first round?

Show me the answer