City Council to consider addition to base fitness center

The Goldsboro City Council is set to consider a $641,452 contract to expand the fitness center at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base during its Monday meeting. The council also plans to review an economic incentive grant for a new business and nearly $700,000 in budget amendments for costs related to Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts.

Republican leaders dare Cooper to sign North Carolina budget

North Carolina Republican legislative leaders dared Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday to sign the state budget soon heading to his desk - a very unlikely result, given the repeated criticisms of both Cooper and other Democrats. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, holding a news conference before the final House vote on the two-year spending plan, said it contains middle-class tax cuts, teacher pay raises of nearly 10 percent on average over two years, and money for reserves and Hurricane Matthew relief that Cooper had sought publicly.

City poised for water plant repairs –

The city has more than $1.2 million in state money to repair its water treatment plant so that area residents won't ever again lose service for more than a week as happened when it was swamped following Hurricane Matthew. The city has also received almost $700,000 from FEMA that can be used for repairs, and the city expects another $1.2 million in FEMA money to build a berm around the plant to protect it from future flooding.

Gov. Scott announces $15.8 million…

Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday that he has approved $15.8 million for emergency beach and dune restoration projects in four Northeast Florida counties impacted by Hurricane Matthew in October. The money will be split by St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia and Brevard counties to restore critically eroded beaches and to repair dunes where there is "an imminent threat to beachfront structures, such as roadways, homes and businesses," according to the governor's office.

Top stories: No. 1 – Hurricane Matthew brought historic flooding to Kinston

In early October residents of Lenoir County experienced one of the worst floods in the state's history Hurricane Matthew. The Neuse River reached flood levels just days after Hurricane Matthew hit Eastern North Carolina and peaked Oct. 14 at 28.31 feet, passing the previous 27.71-foot record set by Hurricane Floyd on Sept.

County needs storm debris ordinance to qualify for FEMA funds

One of the first orders of business for the Chatham County Commission in the new year, or sooner, is to enact a local ordinance that gives clear legal responsibility for storm debris clean-up to the county government. The lack of such an ordinance, according to U.S. Rep Buddy Carter and others, has apparently been a stumbling block in getting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse Chatham County for clearing storm debris from inside gated communities.

A ‘shameful and cowardly power grab’ by Republicans is making…

Republicans in North Carolina are attempting to limit incoming Democratic governor Roy Cooper's power two weeks before he takes office. In a surprise last-minute special session on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers introduced a host of legislation that would neutralize some of the gains Democrats made in the Tar Heel State on Election Day.

Virginia Flood Damage from Matthew Costliest Since Isabel, Officials Say

Virginia suffered only a glancing blow from Hurricane Matthew last month when unprecedented amounts of rain fell, but on Wednesday officials estimated flood damage to be hundreds of millions of dollars, making it the costliest storm since Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Emergency management officials are now renewing calls for residents to get flood insurance, saying a vast majority of homeowners in areas vulnerable to major hurricane storm surge lack coverage.

Officials survey crop damages

Hurricane Matthew might have been the death knell for many Eastern North Carolina farmers, according to federal officials touring devastated farms Thursday in Edgecombe County. U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st District, said many farmers were already operating at a margin when the storm blew into town in early October.

LGBT law, hurricane jostle close N. Carolina governor’s race

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has been unable to quash the firestorm over his signing of a law limiting protections for LGBT people, while trying to focus his re-election bid on North Carolina's economy, taxes, teacher pay and his recent response to historic flooding. That legislation has reinforced this election as a referendum on North Carolina's conservative shift under McCrory and the Republican-led legislature.

Effingham hastens storm cleanup

Taking advantage of federal and state funds, Effingham County commissioners agreed Monday to hire debris removal and monitoring companies to clean up after Hurricane Matthew. Clint Hodges, the director of the county's Emergency Management Agency, said the county will be reimbursed more funding if it cleans up the debris quickly - up to 85 percent of the cleanup cost by FEMA and 13 percent by the state.