Roy Cooper

In the final hour of the show, Pete welcomes in NC House Speaker Tim Moore to talk about the new budget that Governor Roy Cooper will sign and finishes up his thoughts on the Kyle Rittenhouse Murder Trial In Kenosha, Wisconsin. To wrap the show, Pete talks about a funny story about pizza franchise, Papa John's changing their name in the wake of racist comments made by founder John Schnatter. 

Carolina Journal's Becki Gray joins Pete for another update on the budget proposal sitting on Governor Roy Cooper's desk and says many in Raleigh are getting frustrated with Cooper's inaction and his numerous vetoes of the bill. 

In the first hour of the program, Pete talks about Governor Roy Cooper still having his COVID Emergency powers from the pandemic last year and the NC Legislature's efforts to keep his power in check. 

Becki Gray of Charlotte Journal joins Pete for her weekly chat and talks about the city of Cary lifting their mask mandate and talks about how the state is handling COVID right now.

Carolina Journal's Becki Gray joins Pete Kaliner for her weekly chat about what's going on this week in the NC Legislature. 

“We’ve just had our highest numbers of cases and hospitalizations in about two months,” Cooper told reporters on Wednesday “There are a number of things, particularly in getting people vaccinated, that we are able to do because we’re in a state of emergency.” New cases have increased from near all-time lows.

Starting July 1st, landlords can once again push forward evictions in the state, ending a 10-month hold in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed array of emotions from both sides as Gov. Roy Cooper disagrees with the decision handed down by the GOP members of the Council of State.      

Cooper noted that similar lottery drawings in other states have propped up their vaccination efforts over the past three weeks. He hopes the same will happen in North Carolina considering the state is near the bottom half for doses administered in the nation. The first drawing is on June 23 with the finale on August 4. 

“This pandemic has brought us a once-in-a-generation challenge. These funds have brought us a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Let’s use them to make transformational change for our state,” Cooper said at a news conference. ”We’re building a bridge from response to recovery.”

The news comes two weeks before one of NASCAR's premium events-- the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30. The event will be the first race without restrictions on fan attendance, distancing or masking since the start of the pandemic last March.