Want more analysis of Berger-Page, #ncga primary upsets and even the Wake DA race? New @wunc.org Politics Podcast is up now...listen to me and @byadamwagner.bsky.social nerd out over the results, and the next steps in counting votes: play.prx.org/listen?uf=ht... #ncpol
Dr. Mehmet Oz urged Americans to get vaccinated against measles, one of the strongest endorsements of the vaccine from a top health official in the Trump administration, which has repeatedly undermined confidence in vaccine safety. Oz's comments come amid a large measles outbreak in South Carolina.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
"I don't think there's any real desire in our caucus to hear that particular bill," Speaker Destin Hall says about bill filed Monday that would greatly restrict abortions in North Carolina.
From @byadamwagner.bsky.social and Mary Helen Moore. #ncpol
www.wunc.org/2025-04-08/h...
Jaws are dropping at the Env Mgt Commission meeting b/c Commish Keene just acknowledged the Water Quality Assoc wrote 80% proposed rule for #PFAS minimization plan, DEQ just filled in the blanks. WQA has denied this. @newsongs.bsky.social
John Ketchum, CEO of Nextera Energy, talking about need for energy for data centers.
“The cost of gas-fired generation has gone up by more than three fold.”
And takes years to bring online, 2030 or later.
“Renewables are cheaper and available right now”
“It took more than 20 years for the U.S. to install the first 100 GW of clean power, five years to install the next 100 GW, and three years to install the most recent 100 GW" cleanpower.org/news/market-...
#Upshift
🔌💡
Trump admin through 1 week:
- Pauses all federal grants & loans
- Purges Justice Department career staff, halts civil rights cases
- Purges at least 15 inspectors general
- Suspends USAID staff while halting foreign aid
- Threatens Colombia, Denmark, Mexico, Canada & many more w/ tariffs & sanctions
They are indeed. And they’re in for a very rude awakening.
I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service.
“Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.
Essential reading from @katherinejwu.com @theatlantic.com.
For months, we've passively watched H5N1 tear through animals. A year into the cattle outbreak & it remains out of control. H5N1 is everywhere.
If H5N1 causes a pandemic, it will be because we let it.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
FYI, folks from Bluesky. Reporters at The NYT, among other news organizations, are now generating a giant wave of accountability stories about the new Trump era. Reading these stories, sharing them, is a form of accountability as well. It is a form of participatory democracy too. Substance matters.
A map of total snowfall on January 10-11, 2025, across North Carolina
Here's our first draft of the statewide snowfall map from last night's storm. ❄️⛄
It's based on reports from CoCoRaHS observers and local National Weather Service offices this morning.
Stay tuned on Monday for our full event recap! #ncwx
For some reason over the past few weeks the 20th century is finally starting to feel like a period in the distant past rather than recent history.
And now for the bad NC wildlife news.
A North Atlantic Right Whale has been spotted off the Outer Banks with fishing gear wrapped around its head and is expected to die from its injuries.
This is the third NARW spotted in gear in the past week.
www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...
Since September 2023, four wolves have been killed by cars around Alligator River, including three on U.S. 64. That includes a father and a son, as well as a wolf that had just sired five pups who died soon after he did.
amp.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...
This grant also has a climate link, with parts of the low-lying road being raised to install underpasses. That could help with resilience during heavy rains and flooding.
Today’s shaping up as a big one in NC wildlife news.
First, Eastern NC’s endangered red wolf population is getting a huge boost with NC DOT receiving $25M from the Federal Highways Administration to build wildlife crossings on 2.5 miles of U.S. 64.
www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
Screenshot with incorrect journalist in citation.
Pretty sure I wrote this one, @triangleblogblog.bsky.social.
NEW: Database by @kffhealthnews.bsky.social @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social & Shatterproof tracks 7,000+ ways opioid settlement money has been used, shining light on public health settlements worth $50B kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
In this 🧵, I’ll share a bit on how we built this & what we found.
Twitter punishing linking, which has encouraged people to just screenshot/steal stuff w no sourcing or credit, really sapped my interest in posting more
Last year, Gavin Off & I featured the Southwest High Point neighborhood that is receiving a significant grant here in Exposed & Overlooked, a feature looking at NC regulators' inability or unwillingness to consider existing pollution when granting new permits.
www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
The EPA is announcing $1.6 billion in climate and environmental justice grants today. That includes three projects in NC. Here's what you need to know about them.
www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
Yesterday, a House committee heard a stark update on the post-Helene state of agriculture in Western North Carolina.
"The next few years we’re going to spend a lot of time trying to keep our farmers in business. That’s the task at hand."
The Passion Pit/xx pairing on an old school iPod was so perfect.
“And everything is going to the beat…”
Amid the collapse of the Assad government in Syria, Biden says of Austin Tice, “We believe he’s alive. We think we can get him back. But we have no direct evidence of that yet.”
Tice, a journalist, was taken captive in 2012 while reporting on Syria’s civil war.
www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...
North Carolina health officials have been surprised at slower-than-expected demand for well water testing and disinfecting in the wake of Helene. According to estimates, as many as 19,619 wells could be in flooded areas, with another 87,000 nearby.
www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...
Side by side screenshots of identical BlueSky and X posts both feature the text: "Mississippi opened its public reefs for a short oyster season for the first time since 2018 after decades of natural and human-made disasters." The BlueSky post has 2 comments, 22 reposts and 124 likes; the X post has 0 comments, 1 retweet and 0 likes
I'm not sure how much longer our Mississippi Free Press account will post to X, but for now it makes a good case study—and a good case for why other newsrooms shouldn't fear moving to BlueSky.
Look at the difference in engagement for identical posts with the same links.
Left: BlueSky, Right: X 🧵
And here’s the Apple Podcast link.
Also, if you listen to the very end you’ll hear me talk about one of Wilmington’s best restaurants and the very cool thing they’re doing for Thanksgiving: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...
