Volvo Car Corp. announced today that it plans to invest $500 million to build a new plant in the United States. North Carolina is among several southeastern states in the running. The company’s announcement did not mention specific locations.
The Financial Times and several other news outlets reported in January that the company was in talks with North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.
The company’s CEO told The Wall Street Journal that the location will be announced in about a month.The federal government has received thousands of comments on the contentious issue of drilling for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast.
Agency Seeks Comments On Offshore Drilling
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is seeking comment on what should be included in an environmental impact statement on offshore drilling which for the first time could include Atlantic drilling. The agency in recent weeks held a series of public meetings along the coast.
The deadline for comments is Monday night.
More than 13,000 comments had been received by late Monday morning with those in favor saying drilling could mean thousands of jobs and new revenues for coastal states.
Opponents warn spills could endanger fisheries and coastal tourism industry. Twenty communities in the Carolinas, including Charleston, are on record against offshore drilling or seismic testing.
Supreme Court Says NC Sex Offender Can Challenge GPS Requirement
The Supreme Court says a North Carolina sex offender should have a chance to challenge a requirement that he wear a GPS monitoring bracelet for the rest of his life.
The justices ruled today that the state's highest court should have considered Torrey Dale Grady's argument that having to wear the ankle bracelet violates his constitutional rights.
Grady was convicted of a second-degree sex offense in 1997 and later convicted in 2006. In 2013, he was ordered to start wearing the GPS bracelet 24 hours a day so officials could track his movements.
The Supreme Court said lower courts should determine whether having to wear the bracelet is an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.
Prosecutors: CMPD Did Not Violate State Law In Cell Phone Surveillance Program
Charlotte prosecutors say police did not violate state law when conducting surveillance on suspects’ cell phones. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office says CMPD properly turned over evidence from about 150 cases in which officers used a tracking device called StingRay. The device tracks cell phones and other devices that use the cellular network by mimicking a transmission tower. Charlotte police have been using the devices since at least 2006.
Weekend Temps Damaged SC Peach Crop
Freezing weekend temperatures have damaged some South Carolina peaches with one York County grower worrying he may have lost half his crop.
The Herald of Rock Hill reports that temperatures dipped into the 20s Sunday morning.
Arthur Black grows peaches west of York and says the cold damaged peach blossoms and he fears half his crop is gone. Ben Smith said he lost some peaches too, but has not yet thinned his crop so he hopes the loss won't be too bad.
Ron Edwards at Springs Farm in Fort Mill tells the newspaper he was up Saturday night warming the peaches and running water over his strawberry plants to prevent them from freezing.
McCrory Doubles Down On His Opposition Of Sales Tax Redistribution Proposal
Governor Pat McCrory doubled down on his opposition to a Senate proposal to redistribute state sales tax revenue. On WFAE'sCharlotte Talks this morning, McCrory called the proposal to push sales tax money away to rural counties--and away from urban centers--divisive.
The bill, which is supported by top Senate leaders, would change the formula for how sales taxes are currently distributed. Instead of going mostly to areas where the sale happened, the revenue would be distributed evenly to counties based on population. A city of Charlotte analysis from January projects the switch could cost about a third of the cities sales tax revenue or about five percent of the total budget.