NC Archives - WPTF-AM

North Carolina Gov. Stein cancels Medicaid rate cuts amid legal and legislative battles

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is canceling Medicaid rate cuts he initiated two months ago. Stein and Health Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai announced Wednesday that reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals will be restored. Legal challenges have already forced some rates back to pre-October levels. Stein said the program still lacks enough funding. He blamed the legislature for not providing enough money, leading to the cuts. Republican lawmakers called Stein’s actions unnecessary and politically motivated. Medicaid serves more than 3 million people in North Carolina. The state also remains without an enacted budget.… Continue Reading

A student dies during stabbing at North Carolina high school

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a stabbing at a central North Carolina high school has left one student dead and another injured. Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said at a news conference that the altercation Tuesday was between two students at North Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem. His office later confirmed that the injured person was treated at a hospital and released. He said in a video posted later on social media that there was no threat to the community. The school will be closed Wednesday, and a crisis team available for students when it reopens. District superintendent Don Phipps called the event the “worst nightmare of any educator.”… Continue Reading

Lumbee Tribe poised to gain federal recognition through Defense bill

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina could be federally recognized through the National Defense Authorization Act the House plans to vote on this week. That would come with federal funding, access to resources like the Indian Health Service and the ability to take land into trust. The issue has been batted around Congress for more than thirty years, but the political opportunity it represented in the last election — with its 60,000 members — could be what pushed it over the finish line.… Continue Reading

Man wounded in 2nd stabbing attack on Charlotte commuter train since August

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man with stabbing someone on a commuter train in Charlotte. The Friday incident that left a man seriously wounded is the second knife attack reported on one of Charlotte’s light-rail trains since August, when authorities say a Ukrainian refugee was killed by an assailant with a pocket knife. An arrest warrant filed in a Mecklenburg County court says 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano appeared to be intoxicated when he challenged another train passenger to a fight. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a news release that the victim was stabbed and hospitalized in critical condition. Court records say Solarzano was in the U.S. illegally. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.… Continue Reading

Judges allow North Carolina to use a map drawn in bid to give Republicans another US House seat

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal judges have allowed North Carolina to use a redrawn congressional map designed to give Republicans an additional U.S. House seat. The map targets the state’s only swing seat, held by Democratic Rep. Don Davis representing over 20 northeastern counties. A three-judge panel on Wednesday denied requests for a preliminary injunction, following a hearing in mid-November. North Carolina is among several states where President Donald Trump has pushed for mid-decade map changes ahead of the 2026 elections. Many lower courts have blocked Trump’s initiatives, only for the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court to put those rulings on hold. That includes a recent ruling in Texas.… Continue Reading

More flag-planting celebrations could be in store for college football’s rivalry week

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State could have a giant Seminoles flag on standby in the Swamp on Saturday. The Seminoles surely remember how last year’s game against Florida ended in Tallahassee: with the Gators planting their flag on the FSU logo at midfield. Payback could be on tap when the in-state rivals meet with little at stake for the second consecutive year. Defensive tackle Caleb Banks says “we can’t let nobody come in our house and do that, honestly.” Teams across the country surely feel the same after flag plantings wreaked havoc during rivalry week in 2024. Michigan and Ohio State players scuffled, and similar scenes played out in Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.… Continue Reading

Motorist in North Carolina tells 911: ‘I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield’

A motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when a cat carcass crashed into her windshield. The incident happened along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The driver, on U.S. Route 74 in Swain County, told a 911 dispatcher that a bald eagle dropped the cat. The windshield shattered, but the driver was unharmed. The dispatcher responded calmly, saying she believed the story. Another witness also saw the cat fall. The dispatcher assured the driver that crazier things have happened and sent the Highway Patrol to make a report. A state wildlife program supervisor says the cat dropped on the car could have been roadkill scavenged by the eagle.… Continue Reading

Charlotte immigration crackdown goes on, Homeland Security says, despite sheriff saying it ended

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Law enforcement leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, say a federal immigration crackdown centered around the city appears to be tapering off Thursday. But a Homeland Security official insists the operation will continue. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin says the operation is not over and not ending anytime soon. That comes after both the local sheriff and police department said earlier in the day that the crackdown appeared to be over less than a week after it began. Homeland Security officials say about 370 people have been arrested over the past five days since the North Carolina enforcement began.… Continue Reading

Arrests now top 250 in immigration crackdown across North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal agents have now arrested more than 250 people during an immigration crackdown in North Carolina centered around Charlotte, the state’s largest city. Those totals released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are about double the arrest figures announced earlier this week. The operation that began over the weekend is the latest phase of Republican President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation efforts. Military and immigration agents have converged on Democratic-run cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles. The push to carry out arrests in North Carolina expanded to areas around the state capital of Raleigh in just the last day.… Continue Reading

Melania Trump and Usha Vance are making an early holiday visit with North Carolina military families

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (AP) — Melania Trump and Usha Vance are traveling together for the first time. They went to North Carolina on Wednesday for a visit with military families. The wives of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, a former Marine, landed in the town of Richlands and were visiting with military personnel and their families at Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast, and Marine Corps Air Station New River, which is located in the same area. They wanted to show appreciation for military service and sacrifice as the holidays approach. “My husband, the president, is sending best regards. We are both thinking of you,” Trump said at Camp Lejeune High School.… Continue Reading