CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Bill Belichick is back on the practice sidelines again, a familiar home for the man who won six Super Bowls as an NFL head coach.
Only now the setting is a small college town. And instead of that familiar hoodie, he was instead decked in a navy blue short-sleeved quarter-zip top and ballcap, along with mesh shorts in that distinctive shade of Carolina blue.
“That’s the great thing about being a head coach — I can coach anybody I want,” Belichick quipped at his pre-practice news conference Wednesday. “I can coach the line, I can yell at the tight ends, I can yell at the DBs, I can yell at the kickers.
“I can go to any group I want and coach them. And honestly, that’s the fun part.”
When the news conference ended, Belichick started to walk away from the podium when he realized he left his whistle behind. He paused, picked it up and blew a short quick chirp — offering a bit of a symbolic start to spring drills for the media, anyway.
He had continued appearances on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” and had been spotted in social media posts from the recruiting trail or attending men’s basketball games at the Smith Center, but he hadn’t spoken to local reporters since his introductory news conference nearly three months ago.
The Tar Heels opened spring practices Tuesday, then let media members watch about 20 minutes of Wednesday’s practice — though Belichick stood behind the end zone roughly 50-plus yards away from where they were allowed to observe.
Throw in the fact that the players aren’t wearing numbers, and it was hard to pick up much of anything in that brief window.
His news conference proved more revealing in that regard, with Belichick providing fuller answers than the terse and grumpy responses he was known for with the New England Patriots. That included talking about the new wrinkle for him of having spring practices in pads at the college level, something that wasn’t the case in the NFL.
He pointed to his time being around the Washington program as the Huskies prepared to enter the Big Ten before this past season. His son, Steve, worked there as defensive coordinator and Belichick said the progress made during those sessions last spring was “remarkable.”
Now he gets to try it with his own program in Chapel Hill.
“The response has been great,” Belichick said of connecting with teenagers and college-age players as opposed to NFL veterans in their mid- or late-30s. “It’s kind of similar to what a rookie minicamp would be and time with the rookies. Granted, those kids are a little bit older, but they’re coming in from all different programs and different situations.
“So it’s starting to put everything together: here’s how we do things, here’s what our expectations are, this is what you need to do to be successful. They’ve embraced that, they’ve tried to do it.”
Belichick teamed with quarterback Tom Brady during most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots that included those six titles, most recently coming in the 2018 season. That run in Foxborough ended after the 2023 season, leaving Belichick with 333 career regular-season and postseason wins to trail Don Shula by just 14 for the NFL record.
He had been linked to NFL jobs after his exit from the Patriots, but nothing materialized — and soon, Belichick had made his first jump into college football after the Tar Heels moved on from Mack Brown as the winningest coach in program history.
UNC formally announced his coaching staff earlier this week, featuring a mix of NFL and college experience. The list includes former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens as a holdover from Mack Brown’s staff, as well as sons Steve (defensive coordinator/linebackers) and Brian (defensive backs/safeties).
Belichick said it’s too early to know how things will go with roster management for the upcoming season, including when it comes to the transfer portal for additions and departures after the 15-practice spring session concludes April 12.
UNC’s longer-range target is a college-version of Monday Night Football, with the Tar Heels hosting TCU on Labor Day to open Belichick’s tenure.
“We’ll go out there and do what we do and see what happens, see how it goes,” Belichick said.
“I know we have a good plan. I know we can do the right things to help the players improve, help the team improve and put a good product on the field.”
A bucktoothed llama that spends his days comforting chronically ill children at a North Carolina camp founded by NASCAR royalty has been crowned the world’s oldest llama in captivity.
At 27 years and more than 250 days, the selfie- and snuggle-loving llama called Whitetop dethroned Dalai Llama, the Guinness World Records announced last week. Dalai lived on a ranch in Albuquerque and was announced as the oldest in 2023 shortly after his 27th birthday.
Whitetop was donated to the Victory Junction camp in 2006, just two years after race car driver Kyle Petty — the son of NASCAR great Richard Petty — and his family founded the camp in honor of Petty’s own son, Adam, who was 19 when he was killed in a 2000 crash while practicing for a race.
A bucktoothed llama that spends its days comforting chronically ill children at a camp founded by NASCAR royalty in North Carolina has been crowned the world’s oldest llama in captivity. (AP Video)
The year-round free camp sits on 84 acres (34 hectares) in the Petty hometown of Randleman, North Carolina, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) west of Raleigh. It’s designed for children with conditions that include cancer, kidney and heart disease, cerebral palsy, Spina Bifida and an array of neurological and physical disabilities.
Whitetop has become known for his relaxed, sweet and empathetic personality. His go-to move is to lie still while campers pet him, which can comfort children and give them important sensory input, said Billie Davis, the camp’s barn director.
“He really gets to help campers come out of their shell when they interact with him,” she said. “He can be kind of intimidating at first, but once they come over to him and love on him and pet on him, they just realize how sweet he is.”
One of his best friends is a miniature highland cow named Gus-Gus, who tends to forget Whitetop is a llama and enjoys jumping on him. Whitetop also likes to roll in fresh wood chippings, chomp on soaked alfalfa and pose for selfies.
“If you try to take a picture of him from the side, he’s not into it,” Davis said. “He will, like scoot in there and try to get his face from a side profile so that it’s like he’s cheesing.”
Davis attributes Whitetop’s long life to great veterinary care and exercise, as well as it simply loving his job.
The average life span for a llama is 15 years, according to the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance.
Whitetop has developed arthritis in his twilight years but otherwise is very healthy, said Davis. And the only times the llama becomes upset is when Gus-Gus, along with two miniature donkeys named Jed and Jethro, leave him alone.
Stephanie Wilkerson, 33, first went to the camp’s family weekend in 2006 after she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She said she was initially a little nervous around Whitetop but soon realized petting him and giving him hugs made her feel better.
“When I started stroking him more and more and more, I got more relaxed,” said Wilkerson, who lives in Thomasville, North Carolina.
With Whitetop’s newfound fame in longevity, the camp has started selling limited edition T-shirts displaying Whitetop with sunglasses and the words, “Still Spit’n.” The proceeds go to the camp.
Although Davis said Whitetop would like people to know not all llamas spit on you.
“Typically llamas only spit when they are scared, uncomfortable or territorial over something,” she said. “And he just loves his job so much that he doesn’t do it.”
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Hi there! It’s Shiba, the coolest dog around. You might think a big gal like me is all bark and no bite, but I’m actually a total softie at heart. I may look like a tough pop culture icon, but I’m really just a lovebug who adores attention and cuddles. I love to playfully herd my humans by gently nipping at their ankles, and I’ll even share my crate with my furry friends. So if you’re looking for a pup who’s equal parts spunky and snuggly, look no further than this Shiba diva! I can’t wait to show you all my pop culture dance moves. I am full grown at ~52lbs. How did I get here? Surrendered when my owner passed away. **I will be spayed prior to going home to you. I am currently living in a foster home – please fill out a survey and select a phone appointment to complete the adoption process. Once that process is complete, your adoption specialist will schedule a time for you to meet me in person!**
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for coating the muffin tin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Photo by Getty Images
Directions
Peel 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes. Using a very sharp knife or mandoline, cut the potatoes crosswise into very thin, 1/8-inch-thick slices. Place in a large bowl and add enough very cold water to cover. Let the potatoes soak for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 400ºF. Coat 6 wells of a standard muffin tin with unsalted butter. Finely grate 2 garlic cloves. Melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a small skillet over medium heat. (Alternatively, melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, about 30 seconds on high power.) Turn off the heat. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper and stir to combine.
When the potatoes are done soaking, drain, pat them dry with a towel, and return to the bowl. The slices will feel firmer and less malleable.
Transfer the butter mixture onto the potatoes. Working quickly with your hands, separate the potato slices and rub with butter mixture. Depending on how cold the potatoes are, the butter may solidify; just rub the butter into the potato slices and it will melt as it bakes.
Build the potato roses, arranging the potato slices in one muffin well at a time: Working from the outside in and starting with the larger slices, press 5 slices against the sides of the well, shingling and bending them as needed. Repeat arranging and overlapping 5 more slices inside the first layer. Shingle 3 slices on a cutting board and roll them up together into a tight coil, then place in the center of the well. Repeat shingling and rolling 3 more slices, and place in the center of the well. Depending on what the rose looks like at this point, you may need to twist one or two more slices and place them in the center of the rose.
Repeat until you have 6 roses.
Bake until the edges of the potato roses are golden-brown and crispy, and the centers are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. While the pan is still warm, run a small offset spatula around each rose to loosen and remove from the pan. Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
By ZEKE MILLER and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took credit for “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy Tuesday in an address to Congress and the American people about his turbulent first weeks in office, as Democratic legislators immediately registered their dissent with stone faces, placards calling out ’lies,” and one legislator’s ejection.
Trump’s joint address to Congress was the latest marker in Trump’s takeover of the nation’s capital, where the Republican-led House and Senate have done little to restrain the president as he and his allies work to slash the size of the federal government and remake America’s place in the world. With a tight grip on his party, Trump has been emboldened after overcoming impeachments in his first term and criminal prosecutions in between his two administrations to take sweeping actions that have featured a dismantling of the federal government, tensions with America’s allies and a trade war compounding economic uncertainty.
“It has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action,” Trump said of his opening weeks in office. “The people elected me to do the job, and I am doing it.”
Trump declares ‘America is back” as he opens his speech to a Joint Session of Congress. (AP Video)
Trump, who has billionaire adviser Elon Musk orchestrating his efforts to slash the size and scope of the federal government, said he is working to “reclaim democracy from this unaccountable bureaucracy” and threatened federal workers anew with firings if they resist his agenda.
Musk, who was seated in the House gallery, received a pair of standing ovations from Republicans in the chamber, as Trump exaggerated and shared false claims about alleged government “abuse” uncovered by the Tesla and SpaceX founder and his team of disrupters.
Trump repeated false claims that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security payments, prompting some Democrats to shout, “Not true!” and “Those are lies!”
Trump spoke at a critical juncture in his presidency, as voters who returned him to the White House on his promise to fix inflation are instead finding economic chaos. All the gains the S&P 500 have made since Election Day are now gone, while consumer sentiment surveys show the public sees inflation as worsening. For a president who believes that announcements of corporate investments can boost attitudes about the economy, the speech was suddenly a test of his ability to rebuild confidence in his economic leadership.
“Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families,” Trump said. He promised to organize the federal government to lower costs on eggs and energy, blaming his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for the situation and offering scant details of his own plans.
Trump also called for the extension of his first-term tax cuts and additional federal funding for his border crackdown, including for his promised efforts at “mass deportation” of people in the U.S. illegally.
The backdrop was the new economic uncertainty unleashed after the president opened the day by placing stiff tariffs on imports from the country’s neighbors and closest trading partners. A 25% tax on goods from Canada and Mexico went into effect early Tuesday — ostensibly to secure greater cooperation to tackle fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration — triggering immediate retaliation and sparking fears of a wider trade war. Trump also raised tariffs on goods from China to 20%.
Trump seemed prepared to double down on his trade war, which experts have warned will raise prices for consumers.
“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them,” Trump said.
Republicans were boisterous as Trump stepped to the lectern in the House, chanting “USA! USA!” as the president basked in the cheers. The GOP lawmakers were jubilant, having won a trifecta of the White House, Senate and House in the elections. However, they face a high-stakes task of delivering on Trump’s agenda as well as avoiding a government shutdown later this month.
Across the aisle, out-of-power Democrats set the tone early, with most remaining seated without applauding or making eye contact with Trump as he was introduced in the chamber.
After several interruptions, House Speaker Mike Johnson jumped in and called for decorum to be restored in the chamber as Republicans shouted “USA” to drown out the cries from the other side of the aisle. Johnson then ordered Texas Rep. Al Green removed from the chamber.
Other Democrats held up signs criticizing like “Save Medicaid” and “Protect Veterans” during Trump’s remarks, seeking to drive public awareness to elements of Trump’s agenda they believed might offer them a pathway back to the majority.
Other Democrats in attendance chose to highlight the impact of Trump’s actions by inviting fired federal workers as guests, including a disabled veteran from Arizona, a health worker from Maryland and a forestry employee who worked on wildfire prevention in California. They also invited guests who would be harmed by steep federal budget cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
“It’s worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up” to Trump, Green told reporters after being thrown out of the chamber.
Trump used his speech to address his proposals for fostering peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, where he has unceremoniously upended the policies of the Biden administration in a matter of just weeks. On Monday, Trump ordered a freeze to U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, ending years of staunch American support for the country in fending off Russia’s invasion.
Trump was tightening the screws after his explosive Oval Office meeting Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the U.S. leader tries to pressure the erstwhile American ally to embrace peace talks with its invader.
Many Democratic lawmakers wore blue and yellow ties and scarves in a show of support for Ukraine.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, who was wearing a blue and yellow tie Tuesday, accused Trump and Vice President JD Vance of “bullying a statesman last week on behalf of a thug.”
In the Middle East, negotiations to extend a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have stalled, with Trump floating the permanent displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and a U.S. “takeover” of the territory, straining partnerships with countries in the region and undoing longtime American support for a two-state solution to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were joined in the motorcade to the Capitol by billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk, who is orchestrating Trump’s efforts to slash the size and scope of the federal government. Musk was seated in the House gallery overlooking where Trump spoke.
The whole scene for Trump’s speech was a marked contrast to his final State of the Union address in his first term. Five years ago, Trump delivered his annual address just after the Senate had acquitted him during his first impeachment trial and before the COVID-19 pandemic had taken root across society.
As he finished, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, stood and dramatically ripped up a copy of Trump’s speech.
Trump’s Tuesday’s address, which was not referred to as a State of the Union because he is still in the first year of his new term, will be received very differently, said Speaker Johnson.
“We will not be ripping up the speech tonight,” the Republican said. “I would like to frame it in gilded gold.”
Trump said he had ended a “weaponized government” that he said Democrats had wielded against him, referring to his legal troubles over the years, claiming they were political persecution.
The president also used his high-profile moment to press his efforts to reshape the country’s approach to social issues, as he looked to continue to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the country and to roll back some public accommodations for transgender individuals.
Trump said he ended the “tyranny” of diversity, equity and inclusion policies that he rolled back for the federal government and military, along with pushing similar moves in the private sector. “Our country will be woke no longer,” he declared.
Watching from the gallery with the first lady were guests including 15-year-old Elliston Berry, of Aledo, Texas, who was the victim of an explicit deepfake image sent to classmates.
Other White House guests included Stephanie Diller, the widow of New York Police Department Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop in March 2024; Marc Fogel, the Pennsylvania teacher who came home last month after years of detention in Russia, and his 95-year-old mother, Malphine; and relatives of Corey Comperatore, the former Pennsylvania fire chief who was killed as he protected his family during an assassination attempt on Trump last summer.
Trump was also expected to recognize additional guests in the room.
The Democrats’ guests also include at least one government watchdog dismissed by Trump in his bid to emplace loyalists across positions of influence.
Republicans lawmakers, too, are trying to make a point with their invited guests.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa hosted Scott Root, father of the late Sarah Root, who died on the night of her 2016 college graduation in a vehicle crash involving an immigrant who was in the country without legal authority.
Outside Washington, the latest round of public protest against Trump and his administration also unfolded Tuesday. Loosely coordinated groups held demonstrations at parks, statehouses and public grounds as protesters gathered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
They condemned his presidency as dangerous and un-American, though they cited a wide variety of actions they wanted to push back against, including the government cuts, Trump’s tariffs and his stance on Ukraine.
___
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking in Washington, Darlene Superville in Kissimmee, Fla., and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Ven-Allen Lubin collected his first double-double as a Tar Heel and Ian Jackson hit five of North Carolina’s season-high 15 3-pointers while scoring 19 points in a 91-59 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels (20-11, 13-6 ACC) extended their season-high win streak to six as they prepare to end the regular season at home against No. 2 Duke on Saturday. North Carolina won 20 games in a season for the 65th time.
Lubin, whose previous stops were at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson was 5 of 8 from the arc. Seth Trimble scored 17 points, RJ Davis 15 and Drake Powell 13. Elliot Cadeau had 12 assists.
The Tar Heels made 15 of 28 3-pointers and shot 59% overall.
Jaydon Young and Ben Burnham scored 12 points each for the Hokies (13-17, 8-11), who shot 38%. Virginia Tech’s leading scorer and rebounder, Tobi Lawal, was on the bench with a lower leg injury. He also missed the Hokies’ previous game.
The Hokies led by two when North Carolina went on a 25-6 run over the final seven minutes of the first half, capped when Lubin fed Trimble in the lane for a dunk as time ran out for a 46-29 lead. Davis had nine of his 15 first-half points and Trimble seven of his 12 in that run.
Jackson made consecutive 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that produced a 34-point bulge with 12 minutes remaining.
The Tar Heels now prepare the Blue Devils, who they lost to 87-70 on Feb. 1 at Duke. Virginia Tech travels to play No. 11 Clemson, also Saturday.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian man credited with saving 2.4 million babies through his record-breaking blood plasma donations over six decades, has died, his family said Tuesday. He was 88.
James Harrison, a retired state railway department clerk, died in a nursing home on the central coast of New South Wales state on Feb. 17, according to his grandson, Jarrod Mellowship.
Harrison’s plasma contained a rare antibody, known as anti-D, which is used to make injections that protect unborn babies from hemolytic disease of the newborn, in which a pregnant woman’s immune system attacks her fetus’ red blood cells. The disease is most common when a woman has an Rh negative blood type and her baby’s is Rh positive.
Australia has only 200 anti-D donors who help 45,000 mothers and their babies annually.
Despite an aversion to needles, Harrison made 1,173 donations after he turned 18 in 1954 until he was forced to retire in 2018, aged 81.
“He did it for the right reasons. As humble as he was, he did like the attention. But he would never do it for the attention,” Mellowship said, adding his grandfather had been surprised to be recognized by Guinness World Records in 2005 as the person who had donated the most blood plasma in the world.
The record was beaten in 2022 by American Brett Cooper from Walker, Michigan.
Australian Red Cross Blood Service pays tribute to donor
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service said Harrison was renowned as the “Man with the Golden Arm.”
He was credited with saving the lives of 2.4 million babies through his plasma donations, the national agency responsible for collecting and distributing blood products, also known as Lifeblood, said in a statement.
Lifeblood chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said Harrison had hoped that someone in Australia would one day beat his donation record.
“James was a remarkable, stoically kind and generous person who was committed to a lifetime of giving and he captured the hearts of many people around the world,” Cornelissen said in a statement.
“It was James’ belief that his donations were no more important than any other donors’ and that everyone can be special in the same way that he was,” Cornelissen added.
Antibody helps donor’s family
Mellowship said his mother, Tracey Mellowship, Harrison’s daughter, needed the treatment when he and his brother, Scott, were born.
Jarrod Mellowship said his own wife, Rebecca, also needed the treatment when three of their four children were born.
There is speculation that Harrison developed a high concentrations of anti-D as a result of his own blood transfusions during major lung surgery when he was 14.
“After the surgery, his dad, Reg, told grandad you’re only really alive because people donated blood,” Jarrod Mellowship said. “The day he turned 18, he started donating.”
The application of anti-D in fighting hemolytic disease of the newborn was not discovered until the 1960s.
Harrison, who was born in New South Wales, is survived by his sister, Margaret Thrift, his daughter, two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, days after they returned to the U.S.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that he directed his office to work with law enforcement to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the Tate brothers.
“Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers,” Uthmeier said.
After the Tates landed in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that the brothers weren’t welcome in Florida and that he would have the attorney general examine whether the state may have any jurisdiction over their alleged crimes.
During an appearance Monday on the PPD Podcast, Andrew Tate said the governor was caving to media pressure. Tate said he has a U.S. passport and a right to visit his home country. He said he has broken no laws and that he has never even been tried, let alone convicted, of a crime.
The Tates, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, were arrested in late 2022 and formally indicted last year in Romania on charges they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to that country, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations.
Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who is a hugely successful social media figure, attracting millions of followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren drawn in by the luxurious lifestyle the influencer projects online. He and his 36-year-old brother, Tristan, are vocal supporters of President Donald Trump.
Andrew Tate previously was banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook for hate speech and his misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted.
The Tates left Romania after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a Trump administration official expressed interest in the brothers’ case at the recent Munich Security Conference.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state Senate Republicans advanced a disaster recovery measure Tuesday to direct $533 million in additional spending to meet still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding and destruction last fall, but it also locates more relief funding for earlier storms.
The legislation that cleared the Senate’s budget-writing committee is wider in scope than a $500 million relief package approved unanimously last week by the House that focused on Helene’s destruction in western North Carolina.
Spending provisions within the Senate proposal locates an additional $217 million to complete lingering home construction projects for victims of Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018 in eastern North Carolina. The package also lays the groundwork to assist farmers who suffered agricultural losses last year — not just from Helene but also from drought and tornadoes.
“We feel that we need to move with urgency to get this bill across the finish line,” said Sen. Brent Jackson, a Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. “Citizens across all our 100 counties faced disasters in 2024.”
A Senate floor vote on the chamber’s bill was expected Wednesday. While House Republicans also are advancing agricultural assistance and Matthew and Florence relief in other measures, top House and Senate leaders later Tuesday said they believed they could agree upon a final supplemental disaster relief bill quickly — possibly by the end of the week — then send it to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk.
“Everybody wants the same thing — to get people help,” said state Rep. John Bell, who has been shepherding the House’s $500 million measure.
Last month, Stein offered his own $1.07 billion proposal for additional Helene relief. The amount would double the money already appropriated or made available by the General Assembly for Helene recovery activities since late last year. But GOP legislators seek to spend less now, saying they want to be careful about maximizing federal matching funds and avoiding mistakes after previous storms.
North Carolina state officials reported over 100 deaths from Helene, which caused a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. More than five months later, over 5,700 households in western counties are still receiving temporary housing assistance and more than 200 public roads in the region remain closed or just partially opened, according to state data.
Legislative leaders and Stein agree that more money will be allocated for Helene relief later this year in the state budget because the needs are so great, even with billions arriving from Washington.
“The underlying message I want to leave with people is we’re making progress but it’s just a start,” Stein said of Helene recovery at the monthly meeting of statewide elected officials earlier Tuesday. “This work is long term and it’s going to be hard, and we all have to be there together.”
Like the House legislation, the Senate proposal emphasizes repairs for damaged homes, private bridges and roads, assistance to farmers and rebuilding infrastructure adjacent to small businesses. The Senate plan omits a House provision that would allow $15 million to go to nonprofit organizations that could then offer grants to small businesses. Stein and fellow Democrats have pleaded for direct grants to help businesses already weighed down with loans.
The Senate plan does provide money — although not as much as Stein sought — for local school districts that closed for many weeks due to Helene to offer summer school instruction. The House plan left out the program.
Republican lawmakers have been angry with delays in the Florence and Matthew housing reconstruction program, which was created by then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and funded with federal dollars.
While about 3,300 home construction projects have been completed through the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, state funds are now needed to complete another 1,000 that remain in various stages of construction. Office leaders blamed the delays on the COVID-19 pandemic, rising construction costs, labor shortages and ultimately management mistakes. The agency’s chief operating officer left her job in November.
Both the Senate measure and a separate House bill also approved Tuesday in another committee provides the $217 million, but each bill requires significant monitoring and oversight requirements in how it’s spent. Language in both bills would ultimately shut down the Office of Recovery and Resiliency. Stein’s administration is handling Helene-related home reconstruction through a new agency.
