VOLUME 9 ISSUE 16 | THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2024
NSJONLINE.COM
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Back at Pinehurst The U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst No. 2 this week as the world’s best golfers will take on the legendary course — and the USGA, which is always committed to making the tournament “golf’s toughest test” — in the annual major championship. Read more in Sports.
the
Dwindling flounder population means no rec season
BRIEF this week
Hunter Biden guilty of 3 felonies Wilmington, Del. Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Jurors found Biden, 54, guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days. The jury in Wilmington, Delaware, deliberated for about three hours over two days. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether she would give him time behind bars.
Manhattan DA Bragg to appear before Congress next month Washington, D.C. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is scheduled to testify before Congress on July 12, a day after former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money trial, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bragg is set to appear before the House Select Committee on weaponization alongside Matthew Colangelo, the former high-ranking Justice Department official hired by Bragg in 2022 to lead the Trump investigation. The date was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the negotiations who was granted anonymity to disclose the date.
Southern Baptists gather for convention Indianapolis More than 10,000 voting representatives gathered Tuesday in Indianapolis for the opening of the Southern Baptist Convention’s two-day annual meeting, where they will vote on whether to ban churches with women pastors and deliberate yet again on how to respond to sexual abuse within churches. They are expected to debate whether to amend their constitution to ban churches with any women pastors — from lead to associate roles. The measure received preliminary approval last year. The SBC’s statement of faith says that while women and men are both “gifted for service” in the church, the office of pastor is reserved for men alone.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission has not yet decided if there will be a commercial flounder season
Survey results show NC students’ mental health improving The State Board of Education amended policy to include more in-school physical activity for students By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — North Carolina students are reporting improved mental health as they become more physically active, according to the latest results from the 2023 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The new data presented to the North Carolina State Board of Education at its June meeting show positive trends in both mental health and physical activity levels after years of declines. The percentage of high school students who reported feelings of sadness or hopelessness dropped to 39% in 2023 from 43% in 2021. Among middle school students, 32% reported these feelings in 2023, down from 35% in 2021.
Suicidal thoughts and considerations among high schoolers also decreased. At the same time, more students are getting regular physical activity. Forty-two percent of high school students and 52% of middle school students said they were physically active for at least 60 minutes on five or more days per week in 2023, up from 34% and 44%, respectively, in 2021. “It is so encouraging to see that students are not only recovering from the effects of the pandemic, but in many cases doing better than they were in 2019 and before,” Deputy State Superintendent Michael Maher said in a release. The YRBS results align with research showing the mental health benefits of exercise. To further promote physical activity, the State Board of Education is considering an addition to the Healthy Active Children Policy that would encourage high schools to offer 60 min-
By Abby Cavenaugh North State Journal JUST BEFORE THE START of Memorial Day weekend, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission announced there would be no recreational flounder season this year. That means all those sportsmen looking forward to bagging a few flounder later this summer are bound to feel disappointed. “In order to preserve the southern flounder resource,
See FLOUNDER, page A3 A man holds up a 7-pound flounder caught in Pensacola, Florida, in 2006. The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission announced last month there will be no recreational flounder season in the state this year.
See YOUTH, page A8
JOHN HILL / AP PHOTO
Folwell seeks $313M in emergency funds for State Health Plan Rising Medicare Advantage costs and unreimbursed COVID expenses are both issues By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — In his monthly call with reporters, North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell called for emergency funding to support the State Health Plan to keep it from being financed “on the back of those who teach, protect and otherwise serve.” The treasurer is requesting $313 million from the state legislature to cover unreimbursed expenses from COVID-19 testing and treatment during the pandemic. Rising Medicare Advantage premiums will require an additional $66 million, bringing the total addi-
the North Carolina recreational flounder season will not open for harvest in 2024,” a press release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) stated, adding the flounder population has been overfished in the southeast coast since at least 2019. “After subtracting the recreational overage from 2023, the recreational quota remaining for 2024 is not large enough to allow for a season opening,” the press release explained. “The leftover quota will be used to account for the anticipated dead discards that will occur due to incidental catch and release.”
GARY D. ROBERTSON / AP PHOTO
ers which are being paid by SHP subscribers, and he said his office had eliminated the cost of diabetes testing and insulin for SHP members because of the “gouging we were seeing there.” Folwell stressed that pricing transparency and cost reduction remain key goals in managing the state’s health care liabilities, specifically mentioning his Clear Pricing Project. During his tenure, he has called out excessive pay of hospital executives as well as recently issuing a report detailing overcharging of patients by hospitals in the state. Additionally, the treasurer laid out some of the high costs that hit the SHP during the pandemic as well as issues with Medicare Advantage. See FOLWELL, page A2
State Treasurer Dale Folwell, pictured in January, has called for emergency funding for the State Health Plan. tional 2025 State Health Plan (SHP) funding needed to $155 million. Folwell recapped the efforts
of the ongoing Clear Pricing Project aimed at determining health care costs set by hospitals and health care provid-
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