WUNC News
Listen to the Latest WUNC Newscast Get the Flash Player to see this player. | News On Demand: WUNC Podcast  |
Latest News From North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC
Rough Year Ahead
Tuesday, January 06 2009
by Leoneda Inge
| 
Send to a friend
The national and state economy stinks and it's going to be that way for most of 2009. That's what bankers and those in financial circles heard at the Raleigh Convention Center yesterday. Instead of just focusing on how bad the recession might be, they also talked about how to keep the state economy strong. Leoneda Inge reports:
Road Projects Delayed
Monday, January 05 2009
by Laura Leslie
| Send to a friend
If it seems like state road projects are taking longer than usual these days, you can blame it on the economic slowdown. Jon Nance with the State Highway Division says when a downturn hits the private sector, the highway fund feels the pinch, too. Most of its state funding comes from the gas tax, and Nance says revenues this year have fallen dramatically.
"In all of our efforts are based on anticipated revenues so if the revenues are not coming in as we anticipated then we have to slow down and that's what we're doing."
Nance says the DOT usually puts out 50 to 60 million dollars in contract work every month, but that’s been scaled back by two-thirds until the economy picks up or more funding comes in. That means hefty delays are likely for major road projects all across the state.
NC National Guard deploy to Iraq
Monday, January 05 2009
by North Carolina Public Radio News Report
| Send to a friend
Almost 4,000 North Carolina National Guard soldiers have been mobilized for a year-long deployment to Iraq. They're part of the state's largest guard unit, and the last few battalions said goodbye to their families over the weekend. WFAE's Julie Rose sent this report from a ceremony in Monroe.
NC Textiles & China
Friday, January 02 2009
by Leoneda Inge
| Send to a friend
The flood of Chinese imports headed to the U-S is no secret. Restrictions on the number of cotton shirts, pants and under-garments coming from China were supposed to expire in 2005. Trade officials stepped in to re-instate the limits. They expired at the end of 2008. David Trumbull is with the National Textile Association. He says textile manufacturers fear their businesses are at risk again and there's nothing they can do about it:
"We've become dependent of imports from one country and it is a country that has a history of not playing by the rules yet getting the benefits of the rules for the global trading organization."
The International Trade Commission says it will track textile and apparel imports from China now that restrictions are lifted.
