Today’s Supreme Court decision essentially means that states can decide whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover low-income adults. The typical (or median) state only covers working parents who make less than 63 percent of the poverty line ($12,790 a year for a family of three) and non-working parents with incomes below 37 percent of the poverty line ($7,063 a year). Only a handful of states provide coverage to any low-income adults without dependent children, regardless of …
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White House: What the Supreme Court’s ruling means for your health care
View the full supreme court decision here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf Today, the Supreme Court issued a historic ruling: They upheld the Affordable Care Act and ensured that millions of American families will have access to health care and protection from the worst abuses of the insurance industry. Lots of people have questions about the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court’s decision, and their health care coverage. We’ve pulled together the most useful information — including President Obama’s remarks after the announcement — at …
Friday / Weekend Open Line
The summer theater season is under way in Farmington, New Mexico, where performances are held in a natural sandstone amphitheater. This season, the main show is “Fiddler on the Roof.” Across the country, summer theaters will present a wide variety of musicals, comedy and dramatic productions under the stars, inside tents, and in converted barns and mills. Americans are increasingly enjoying going to live theater. The big Broadway shows draw more than 12 million people a year, while their road …
Hagan: Settlement to Help Protect Veterans from Deceptive Marketing by For-Profit Schools
Senator Hagan today joined Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and other leaders from around the country to announce that QuinStreet, Inc. will turn over the website GIBill.com to the Department of Veterans Affairs and pay $2.5 million to the states involved as part of a consumer protection settlement with 20 state Attorneys General. North Carolina will receive $225,000 as a result of the settlement.
McCaul-Butterfield ‘Creating Hope Act’ Goes to the President for Approval
WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Senate sent a bipartisan provision, authored by Congressmen G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), to the President for his signature into law. H.R. 3059, The Creating Hope Act of 2011, will incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs for children with rare pediatric diseases, such as childhood cancers and sickle cell. The Creating Hope Act was passed as Section 908 of S. 3187, which reauthorizes various Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee …
N.C. Energy Office Wins Grant for Energy Efficiency Improvement Projects
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Energy Office has received a $532,134 U.S. Department of Energy grant to expand its award-winning Utility Savings Initiative to provide energy efficiency assistance to often overlooked or understaffed rural public school systems, community colleges and local governments. The grant will enable the Energy Office to work with eight public school districts, eight community colleges and six local governments to plan, implement and finance energy efficiency improvements to buildings and other public infrastructure. “Many of our …
Triangle Host to 4 Music Festivals This Weekend
This weekend, area music fans will be challenged with an abundance of opportunities: In four towns, multi-band bills and small festivals offer very different takes on nearby musical getaways. In Chapel Hill, there’s Buried Underground, a three-day spree of heaviness. In Carrboro, there’s Dirty South Fest, a one-night blast of touring punks and slam dances. In Durham, Motorco hosts the second Death to False Hope Fest, named for its organizer’s pay-what-you-please punk label. And in Raleigh, Big Boss Brewery welcomes …
Attorney General Roy Cooper Alert: Safe Summer Surfing
Students who attend traditional-calendar schools are out for the summer. For some youngsters, summertime can mean spending more time online, playing games or using social networks like Facebook. Kids may also use the computer to stay connected with their classmates. It’s a good time of year to remind young people, especially those who are relatively new to the online world, of some good safety tips: Don’t click on links you get in unsolicited emails. Don’t click on links in an …
VA Uranium Mining ‘Would Be a Huge Mistake’ for NC
Henderson, N.C. — As Virginia considers lifting a 30-year-old ban on uranium mining, some North Carolina residents have been crossing the border to share their concerns about the possible environmental effects on this state. Lifting the ban, which has been in place since 1982, would allow a Chatham, Va., company to tap into the nation’s largest undeveloped resource of uranium. The question is how that could impact Kerr Lake and surrounding bodies of water, which straddle both states. (read more)
Thursday Open Lines
Fifteen years ago this week, the first of a series of books was published in the United Kingdom — “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” published in the U.S. with the title “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” The books, written by J.K. Rowling, ended up breaking all known publishing records, selling 450 million copies and translated into more than 60 languages. Some critics have credited the series with sparking an increase in reading among juveniles. In addition, the seven …
Colorado Wild Fires Live Streams
A reader sent us some information on the Colorado wild fire situation. If you are interested in whats going on, or have friends and or family in the area, please check out these links: Live tv feed from a Colorado Springs tv station. Runs 24 hours no commercials. http://www.kktv.com/video/live If you have nothing except time this will give you the most information over time. Link to cams atop of Pikes Peak. http://www.springsgov.com/units/pikespeak/ Views change every five minutes. Link …
VGCC offers Administrative Assistant training at night
Vance-Granville Community College is currently registering students for an upcoming “Administrative Assistant Essentials” course, starting July 30 on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. The popular course that trains people for jobs in today’s computer-driven offices will meet Monday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 until 9:30 p.m., through Dec. 6. Classes will meet in room 7136 of Building 7. Students will receive a total of 144 hours of instruction in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher, including practice projects …
New WRAL documentary examines N.C.’s booming wine industry
The growth of our state’s wine industry is nothing short of phenomenal. Just a decade ago there were only 25 wineries in North Carolina. Now there are 110. So what’s causing the wine boom in our state? That’s the focus of the new WRAL documentary Grape Expectations. The program premieres June 27 at 7 p.m. and is hosted by WRAL News anchor and reporter Monica Laliberte. A recent study shows our state’s wine industry has an annual economic impact of …
NC To Create New “Pathways To Prosperity” For High School Students
Collaboration Among Employers, Educators and Policymakers Needed to Lead Students from Education to Careers Of the approximately 91,000 North Carolina high school students who received their diplomas this spring, more than three-fourths say they plan to move on to a two- or four-year college or university. But by the time they reach their mid-twenties, only about half of them will have earned a college degree if past trends continue. There are many reasons for this, but the college completion rate …
Wednesday Open Line
It’s summer, and one of the perennial pests of the season is mosquitos. While most people think of them as inconvenient, there is a deadly side to these flying insects, in the form of West Nile virus and malaria. That’s why this is National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, to honor those whose profession is working to eradicate mosquitos. In the U.S. last year, there were 43 deaths from the West Nile virus. Worldwide, malaria has been historically one of the …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery (City Council, June 25th, 2012)
I attended Monday’s Henderson City Council meeting because I read on HomeInHenderson the citizen concern for expansion of video gaming parlors. I wanted to see for myself the number of people who would come to the council meeting to express their view regarding the expansion. Besides myself only one other person attending the council meeting was not a council member, city manager, city attorney, or a city employee. Consideration of Approval of Ordinance 12-08, An Ordinance Eliminating Distance Restrictions on …
Fundraiser for Christina Franklin
July 14, 2012 at Twisters Karaoke & Cafe 118 Zeb Robinson Rd, Henderson, North Carolina 27537-3577. This fundraiser is to help Christina & Shawn with their upcoming medical bills from her motorcycle accident… There will be tickets sold by Phillip & Regina Hill for chicken plates from now untill the 12th of July…$6.00….No ticket, No plate. Tickets will also be sold the day of the event but will be limited. There will also be; a “Shout out” table, face painting, …
VGCC South Campus offers ServSafe course
ServSafe, the 16-hour food safety certification course, will soon be offered at Vance-Granville Community College’s South Campus, located between Creedmoor and Butner. Participants will meet on two days, Monday, July 16 and Monday, July 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in room G-120. Peter Lambert of Oxford will serve as the instructor for the course, which is designed for food service managers and supervisory staff in restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, child care facilities and other food service establishments. ServSafe …
White House: Do You Qualify for Refinancing?
President Obama’s plan to give mortgage relief to responsible homeowners boils down to one important principle. He wants to simplify the refinancing process. And the very first step is to let people know if they would benefit from the President’s proposal — so we’ve built a tool to help answer that question. Just enter a few basic facts about your mortgage, and this tool will help you figure out if you currently qualify for easy, low-cost refinancing — or whether, …
VGCC Carpentry Students build Gazebo for Clarke Elementary School
Students in the Carpentry program at Vance-Granville Community College are completing a service project that will make a lasting impact on a local elementary school. A gazebo that students are building on the college’s Main Campus will soon be relocated to Clarke Elementary School in Henderson, where it will serve as an outdoor classroom. The construction is part of a unique community-wide partnership. The idea originated when retired farmer Pete Burgess of Henderson learned that Clarke Elementary, Vance County’s newest …