But what’s harder to cope with is, for many, the fear that it’ll enter a personal circle, or the heavy knowledge that it already has. Mental wellness is a concern in the best of times – life’s responsibilities are enough, sometimes – but, now, people in every community are faced with not only infection risk but job losses or...
When the history is finally written, those writing it are likely to conclude that this COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects posed the greatest challenge to North Carolina municipalities since that created by the Great Depression.
Those living this crisis now have little time for such reflection, as the day-to-day decisions related to how life should proceed and how each...
I. LANDFALL
“I’ve been walking around thinking, ‘I’m in day 40-plus of a hurricane.” Pine Knoll Shores police chief Ryan Thompson drives through his beach town under a warm spring sun—and it’s empty.
“It reminds me of six hours before landfall.”
As winter reached its end, the arrival in the U.S. of the 2019 novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, became an inevitability. It...
In this issue, we are expanding Talk of Our Towns to include the many practical and creative ways cities and towns across North Carolina are supporting their citizens, business partners and each other during this unprecedented time of crisis.
Their solutions are many, and their resolve is inspiring. The stories featured here are just a small sample of the impactful...
This article originally was published by WRAL in March 2020.
Through much of the 20th century, the City of Rockingham’s economy – like those in a number of North Carolina towns – was tied to the textile industry. Located in Richmond County, Rockingham once was part of one of the wealthiest areas in the state and the county’s textile mills...
It was budget time in Fuquay- Varina, and though the COVID-19 pandemic had shaken up the pace of the world, kinked revenue streams and created all manner of pundit-beloved “new normals,” the public spending plan would still be due for approval by July 1.
Diligent as ever, town hall officials shaped, refined and balanced the draft budget in workshops with...
Governments at all levels have a tough balancing act – expected to keep residents’ costs low while delivering all the in-demand services that keep communities not just running but structured for a fine quality of life, too. That takes planning and consensus, but at the end of the day it’s the resources that bring it all home — revenues...
There is now little question among economists—and, I expect, most people also— that the economy is in a coronavirus-induced recession.
The definition of a recession is actually rather simple. It means the economy takes steps backward rather than steps forward. In other words, the economy contracts, or shrinks, rather than grows and expands. Signs of a recession are increased unemployment,...
As the COVID-19 crisis has closed schools and shut down businesses, it has also brought into sharp focus North Carolina’s digital divide—how some areas of the state have strong broadband connections to the home and others have inadequate connections.
It is a story that is playing out across the country. With school children forced to do online assignments from home,...
There can be little doubt that the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis will pose historic challenges to municipal governments across in North Carolina, though their true scope may not be known for months.
Restaurants, hotels and retailers of all types have been forced to close their doors or limit operations and hours, whether due to Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home...
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