VOLUME 10 ISSUE 8 | THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025
NSJONLINE.COM
MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO
NC Supreme Court race continues Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs stands before more than a hundred supporters at a rally Monday in Raleigh supporting her in the ongoing state Supreme Court race with challenger Jefferson Griffin.
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Buncombe Democrats file hurricane recovery bill
BRIEF this week
Walker tapped for position in Trump administration Washington, D.C. Former U.S. Mark Walker was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as ambassador-at-large for the Office of International Religious Freedom. The 55-year-old Walker, who represented North Carolina’s 6th District from 2014 to 2020, cited Trump’s past support for religious freedom and vowed to confront regions persecuting people of faith and champion religious expression worldwide. Pending Senate confirmation, Walker will work with key administration figures to promote and integrate religious freedom into U.S. foreign policy.
Nickel launches U.S. Senate campaign Raleigh Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel announced last week his candidacy to try to unseat Sen. Thom Tillis in 2026, saying a “fighter for what’s right for our state” is needed and criticizing the Republican incumbent for backing President Donald Trump’s agenda. Nickel signaled his interest in a Senate bid in late 2023, when the Raleigh-area congressman decided against seeking a second House term the next year because he determined congressional redistricting that year by Republican state legislators made it essentially impossible to win his seat again. In a campaign video marking the campaign’s formal launch, Nickel linked Tillis squarely to Trump and his early-term actions, as well as those of Elon Musk, who has spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency.
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Statewide audit finds $8.5M in questioned costs Significant over and underreporting errors were found in federal hurricane block grants By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor has released its 2024 Statewide Single Audit report, which found $8.5 mil-
lion in questioned costs after examining $25.65 billion in federal grants spent by North Carolina entities. “The majority of federal funds audited in this report were properly administered, but the $8.5 million in questioned costs represents a significant finding,” the auditor’s transmittal letter states. “It is an increase from the $467,246 See AUDIT, page A2
Helene Recovery Co‑Chair and House Rules Chair John Bell says he wasn’t told about the $582 million bill By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Another bill to address Hurricane Helene recovery efforts was filed in the House on April 9. House Bill 863 would allocate more than $582 million for relief efforts. Primary sponsors of the bill are all Democrats from Buncombe County: Reps. Lindsey Prather, Eric Ager and Brian Turner. No Republicans were listed as sponsors when the bill was filed, including House Select Committee on Helene Recovery co-chaired by Rep. John Bell (R-Wayne). All three of the
Greensboro ICF site closed “No children have been in care at the Center.” Office of Refugee Resettlement
No migrant children were ever housed on the property, which closed April 1, despite hundreds of millions spent By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The former American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro that was supposed to house migrant children has closed without a single child being placed there during the two and half years it was in operation. “On March 15, 2024, HHS operationalized the ICF Greensboro Children’s Center, in Greensboro, North Carolina, to provide shelter for boys and girls, 13 to 17 years old,” the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) April 4 update states. “As of June 23, 2024, the Center ramped down its operations
to facility upkeep. No children have been in care at the Center.” ORR’s update notes that FEMA staff used the Greensboro location for hurricane relief operations from October to February before its closure on April 1. The original lease for the school, renamed to the Greensboro Influx Care Facility (ICF), was for five years beginning June 9, 2022, with an option to renew in 2027. That lease was entered into by the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services for just under $50 million. According to an update by ORR housed under the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), more than $241 million was spent on leasing, repairs, security and general upkeep starting when See ICF SITE, page A8
bill’s primary sponsors sit on that committee. Bell, who also chairs the powerful House Rules Committee, told North State Journal the bill “was out of the blue” and its sponsors had “not mentioned anything to me” about it. “This bill represents the pressing needs that Western North Carolina still faces that we’ve been pushing for in Raleigh since October,” Prather said in response to North State Journal’s request for comment. “We hope and expect to see some of these priorities included in the next disaster relief bill that gets passed by the legislature.” The legislation covers funding across multiple state agencies for various recovery efforts, including business grants, housing assistance, environmental restoration, education See BILL, page A3