Category: Quick hits

Alaina Giordano, the North Carolina mother with stage 4 breast cancer has lost the battle for her childrens custody.   Her two children are moving to Chicago to live with their father while she continues her cancer treatment in Durham.  In the court ruling, Durham District Court Judge Nancy Gordon stated that she denied Giordano primary custody because she was unemployed, “the course of her disease is unknown” and “children who have a parent with cancer need more contact with …

Monday morning, President Obama visited Cannon Falls, Minnesota to kick off his economic bus tour.  The President is traveling around the Midwest to stress the vital role rural America plays in ensuring the growth of our economy, the affordability of our food, the independence of our energy supply, and the strength of our communities. Cannon Falls, Minnesota, 35 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, is the first stop in a three day tour across America’s heartland. President Obama took questions from small business …

Presidents Weekly Address: Putting the American People First.  While members of Congress are at home in their districts, President Obama asks Americans that agree that it’s time to put country before party and pass stalled bills to help grow our economy to let them know. In national politics, the Ames Iowa Straw Poll is in the news, with Bachmann, Paul and Pawlenty in the 1,2 and 3 positions.  However, Pawlenty on Sunday announced his decision to drop out of the …

The annual sales tax holiday weekend, held Aug. 5-7, cost North Carolina about $14.5 million, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue said Thursday.  Did you take advantage of the weekend?  Some members of the senate are calling for the program to be re-examined as the state suffers from decreasing revenue.  Should the program be stopped?  Or is it a good handout to the public?  You may read the full article referenced at http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/9986530/  Welcome the Friday / Weekend …

Demonstrators picketed the Dunn office of 2nd District Congresswoman Renee Ellmers on Wednesday, calling for more federal spending to create jobs.  About two dozen demonstrators said they wanted to persuade Ellmers to change her hawkish stance on the U.S. deficit.  Ellmers wasn’t at her office, but she said in a written statement that “I disagree deeply” with the protesters while respecting their opinions.  You can read the full article at http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/9980721/ Welcome to the Thursday Open Lines!

A new report titled “Bending the Health Care Cost Curve in North Carolina: The Experience of Community Health Centers,” examines whether health centers in North Carolina, which has a well-developed primary health care system reaching medically underserved communities, are more cost effective than other primary health care providers. The researchers found that on average, health center patients cost 62% less annually than comparable patients who received care in other ambulatory care settings.  You can read the full report here.  Bending …

Monday’s markets took a nosedive after ratings agency S&P downgraded the US for the first time in history.  In addition, Monday the outlooks for all 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, and the issue level ratings for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHLB System, and the Farm Credit System are negative. Locally, since Friday night, while North Carolina maintains a AAA rating, seven local governmental units have been told by Moody’s that their bond ratings would be reviewed immediately.  State Treasurer …

Weekly Address from Mr. Obama:  Getting the Economy Growing Faster.  President Obama outlines a number of steps that can be taken right away to create jobs and help grow the economy. A reminder Henderson Middle School has it’s 6th grade orientation today at 9am. Tonight, the Henderson City Council hosts a council meeting at 7pm at City Hall and the Vance County Board of Education holds a 7pm meeting in the Administrative Services Center. Welcome to a hot start of …

Happy Friday to all!  A reminder this weekend VGCC hosts an open house at their Warren County Campus.  Also, right here in Henderson, the local city police department will host a Night Out Against Crime. That’s Saturday evening from 5pm to 8pm at the city police department. Seems to be some stress around, so we’ll start out with something a little light.   Obama Turns 50 Despite Republican Opposition.  After months of heated negotiations and failed attempts to achieve any …

US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday.  The last time US debt topped the size of its annual economy was in 1947 just after World War II. By 1981 it had fallen to 32.5 percent. Ratings agencies have warned the country to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio quickly or facing losing its coveted AAA debt rating.  Moody’s said Tuesday that the government needed …

So the big news is confirmation that our county can continue to borrow more money to pay our interest charges.  The debt ceiling was successfully increased, Obama has signed it into motion.  Now, after it’s confirmed, people can start to analyze what will actually happen.  First, there are no tax increases.  An issue that republicans insisted could not happen, and an issue democrats insisted needed to happen.  There are immediate cuts in discretionary spending allowances to the tune of 917 …

Monday, the house voted for a compromised debt ceiling deal with the senate expected to consider the bill on Tuesday.  The bill would raise the debt ceiling by more than $2 trillion and cut federal spending by a similar amount over the next decade. A special congressional committee would be set up to consider entitlement and tax changes. A reminder this coming weekend in North Carolina features a state sales tax holiday.  Clothing, footwear, and school supplies of $100 or …

Contrasting hot Saturday and a cooler Sunday this weekend likened to the swaying of debt talks that are still not finalized, but both sides are continuing to work on various plans as a solution for the August 2nd deadline. President Obama urges both Republicans and Democrats to take action to avoid defaulting for the first time in our nation’s history in the weekly address below: A reminder this afternoon the Henderson Family YMCA hosts a local author book signing from …

I would tell you to go outside and have fun this weekend, but at possible 104 degrees temperature, I’m just not.  If you don’t have ac, take a visit to your local establishments, visit our businesses, restaurants, theater etc to get cool.  Visit your neighborhood pool, or head to the YMCA or Aycock Recreation Center for a pool dip. Just a few days left, and apparently those in charge are no closer to securing the debt limit question in Washington.  …

The latest discussion all around the country, and here on our site lately focuses on this debt ceiling deal, and where has that debt come from.  Late Wednesday, the White House released the following message: Good evening, Chances are you’ve caught bits and pieces of the debate over our debt and deficits here in Washington over the past few weeks. It is important to understand what the deficit and debt ceiling debate is all about, so we’ve put together a …

Troublesome aging water and sewer line repairs in Henderson are expected to cost upwards of $450,00 as reported at the latest city council meeting.  That’s just in two trouble spots.  I wonder how far the O’Brian and Gere guys have come on analyzing the system overall.  Injecting that much money into our local economy will certainly keep some people employed in the area.  Let’s hope the 2% raise in rates this year will cover the expenses. In other news, a …