Name: Gov. Cooper talks COVID relief grant
Uploaded: 2022-01-27T11:27:00-0500
Duration: 1901436
Description: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper talks with Department of Revenue officials to encourage people to apply for the Business Recovery Grant Program.

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper talks with Department of Revenue officials to encourage people to apply for the Business Recovery Grant Program.

you're pregnant? There's no power to the market, right. Mhm. Okay. Is there something down here? And he said I don't see no contract and all I see is a power strip under here you're talking about? And the podium. What? All right. Quickly by. Mm. Okay. Okay. Now Amos is coming up. I asked the President Party. Yes. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Uh huh. Right, okay. Yeah, we're getting up. Thank you, careful there. Okay. I'm the only one. I have no idea what they're calling. Nobody and they don't tell us who you're talking to. So that's right. Check 1 2. Check Check. That's why you're there. Yeah. Sit for a living. Pretty good. Okay, that's enough. Hey, there you go. Yes. Check 12, check, check, check. 12 check, check, check, check, check check. Sounds good. Thanks. Thank you. Yeah, this is all working. Yeah. Yeah. Right, Okay. That's a separate service. Rewired moments. That's what people want. Um mm hmm. Alright. This might this might be electrical live. Yes. Yes sir. Can I thought we did not. Yeah. 28 minutes. 28 yeah, came out. It's an email I can't get anyone. Is there an email? Uh at the same time? That's a power. Okay. No, just run. Thank you. Dr I had my druthers I like I like and stuff. I did not like these ideas are better, but in all fairness to idea, they've been great batteries. I can't Mhm. Started out in my better. Mm hmm. What kind of Yes. Oh right, now it's really still bad because it did the fact that both of them, we're literally working for free. I think I'm on the way I was thinking speaking Okay. Alright. Uh yeah, I think we were to our Of course it becomes one where our reporters in the field. Yeah, it might be they're working, everything's working. He says he's getting power but it's not the right moment. Mhm. Mhm. Thank you. Come. They're coming down pay off. We're going to start the process. No. To do that. Yeah. Okay. All right. Order speaker. Yes. Yeah. Everything you got that. I thank you down here. No, no, no, yep. Okay. So thank you for coming today. And I want to thank all the leaders who were part of today's meeting that we had earlier and this press conference to discuss the business recovery grant program. Especially grateful to Secretary Ron Penney who has led the administration's effort on this program in a way that's quick and effective and equitable. That budget that I signed was passed on November the 19th and applications went live less than a month later with this program. So we're proud of that debt about that. All of us have been affected by this pandemic. But some parts of our community have been hit really hard. Small businesses, especially the public facing businesses like restaurants and lodging and retail businesses have faced serious challenges during this pandemic. Many of them came up with creative ways to adapt and survive. We helped a number of them would take out and other other efforts that helped them with income. But the impact to most of their businesses and their employees and to their communities that there's they support was substantial And that's why we are excited about the business recovery grant program, which is a way for businesses who have suffered significant losses during the pandemic to get up to $500,000 for their businesses. It's a promising program funded by the General Assembly out of the Federal american Rescue Plan program and it's based on a program that I proposed in my budget to the General Assembly. The application period is open now, but not for long. It will close on Monday January the 31st and we don't want any eligible business to miss out on a chance to apply by working together with leaders that you see around me, north Carolina's economy has roared back from this pandemic. We're in the top 10 in the country and gross domestic product recovery among the fewest job losses per capita of any state during the pandemic. And we are a premier destination for investments from some of the most dynamic dynamic companies in the world. From Apple to Google to fujifilm Diocese to Toyota to boom supersonic. Yesterday economic indicators continue to point up for our state. We've been recognized by Forbes magazine as the number one state for business. Second best date by business by CNBC and for two years in a whoa. Both in the pandemic Have the best business climate by site selection magazine throughout the pan pandemic. Our administration has sought to work with the General Assembly business Leaders and others to fill in the gap to support vulnerable businesses and workers. We recognize that many parts of the economy were impacted disproportionately and that our safety net was insufficient to help us out of the ditch. Business support is a great example early in the pandemic when businesses needed cash. But the only available window, the S. B. A. S. Economic injury disaster program was overwhelmed. We partnered with the General Assembly and the Golden Leaf Foundation to start a rapid recovery loan program for small businesses across the state. And when the federal Paycheck protection program failed to deliver enough assistance to women and minority owned businesses, we created the retool N. C. Program to help them get grants and get them afloat afloat. And we want them to be a big part of this grant recovery program. When we saw that businesses in the hospitality and leader were more impacted than others. We started the mortgage, utility and rent relief program or mirror as we call it at commerce. Still we knew that these same businesses are still struggling to recover. That's why the business recovery grants were created because every business that's been harmed by this pandemic deserves a chance to fully recover and thrive So out there. If you are a business that suffered at least 20% economic loss in 2020, then you may be eligible for a business recovery grant. The online application is short and easy to complete and may be found at www dot n C D O R dot gov backslash. Business recovery dash grant. N C D O R north Carolina Department of Revenue. Make sure to apply as soon as possible before the application period closes on monday. And now I'll introduce our secretary, Ron Penney, our revenue Secretary, Ron Penny, to share a few more details about the program. Secretary Penny, thank you Governor for your support and your leadership on this. This program. I'm Ron Penny, I'm your Secretary of Revenue and I thank all of you for being here today and I certainly thank the partners who have worked with us as we have tried to implement this program. As the governor has indicated this program allocated a half a billion dollars to help businesses in north Carolina recover during this time of this pandemic. Many have, many of our businesses have have suffered and are struggling and we know at the Department of Revenue how important it is to to try to um implement this program in an efficient matter in a manner that expeditiously um sends the money forth and make sure that we avail this opportunity, this financial boost to the entirety of north Carolina businesses that are eligible, making sure that the the applicants reflect the diversity of our business community and making sure that both rule and urban. Um and all of the diversity of our state is reflected in the applicants. I want to thank um all of the partners who are here today and all of the and and the agent state agencies who have worked with us um to to make this program what it is and we are here with four more days. We have four more days to push through this. Um right now, um we have about 40 300 applications. I would say that there are unverified applications at this point, We are we are pushing to make sure that all eligible businesses who have suffered a 20% loss um as measured on their tax forms file, we know that there's a great deal of interest. We've had seminars with as many as 1000 people involved in those in those seminars. We just want to make sure that that every business takes the opportunity file online, our online application and the at the website the governor has cited will give you um uh the best opportunity. The application must be in our office By the 30 on on the 31st no later than the 31st, which means the best way of doing that is to file online because filing online, you will get a confirming email that says that that that your application has been received filing online will also give you uh information on, will actually calculate your economic loss for you and will allow for your application to, we'll do some checking of your application while you are putting the information in. If there are questions that you have while completing that application, let me refer you to our toll free number. There is generally no weight on that toll free number and, and we, we encourage business owners to to use that number. It is 1877 to 5 to 44 87. That's one 877 to 5 to 44 87. Now, I have the privilege privilege of introducing to you, the executive director of the north Carolina hospitality and lodging association lin min ji's then. Thank you so much. Secretary Penny and thank you Governor cooper. Um we appreciate so much your leadership during this difficult time for restaurants, bars and hotels as I shared with the governor and other business leaders who met earlier, we could not have asked for a more collaborative approach to dealing with a pretty tough situation. Um, the governor and his senior leadership team, his cabinet members have all been open and engaged with the business community throughout this pandemic and we thank you for that today. We're especially proud to share with you in this announcement about the hospitality business grant program. We're particularly proud of the hospitality portion of this in that it really is going to be a lifesaver for restaurants, bars and hotels that have struggled. Um, disproportionately during COVID-19 As we looked at the numbers early or late in 2020. Um North Carolina restaurants, bars and hotels suffered about $5 billion $3.1 billion dollars in in sales even when you plug in all those relief programs. So we were proud to talk with the governor and his senior leadership team uh late last year. Um and then when the governor announced his budget, we were proud that he had included the hospitality business grant program in that it really is a lifesaver gonna be a lifesaver for many businesses across the state. We also are proud of the work that Secretary Penny and his team have done. Uh you've, you've astounded us. We had no idea. But they were able to ramp this program up very, very quickly and roll it out so that businesses can not only um apply for these funds in a pretty simple format. The application is extremely simple online, but also that the dollars will be flowing and checks will be cut and in the hands of business owners in in just a couple of weeks. So again, we thank you for all that you are doing and look forward to continuing to work with you throughout this pandemic. Thank you. And now it is my privilege to introduce kevin pearce. Mhm. Thank you Lynn. So I'm kevin Price. I am president and ceo of the National Institute of Minority Economic Development in Durham. Uh The institute has been in supporting minority and women owned businesses across the state since 1986. So for 35 years we've been an integral part of the business community of north Carolina, supporting uh minority and women owned businesses with technical assistance and capacity building to make sure they're strong enough to uh be a vibrant part of our economy in north Carolina. What we know going into the pandemic is that for many minority and women owned businesses one of the challenges they faced was a lack of capital and access to credit. We know that going into the pandemic that that was a challenge. And that's evidenced by the Washington Post in 2020 indicating that 41% of just African American owned businesses were lost nationally. And we think that somewhere around parity with north Carolina, Another 38% of Hispanic businesses uh nationally as well. And so we know this access to capital is critical is critical to business is growing. And so programs like uh N. C. Retool retool N. C. And the business recovery program that uh the governor and secretary cash well. And uh Secretary Sanders and and Secretary Penny have put in place are vital for businesses to grow and thrive in our state. And so thank you Governor. Thank you. Secretary for your leadership and putting uh this program in place and look forward to working with you to help strengthen all businesses across north Carolina. And so I'd like to welcome mr Patterson, who's the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Winston Salem, mm hmm. Alright, I made it to the podium without falling. That's a good thing. Good morning Governor cooper Secretary Penny And ladies and gentlemen, I am in fact, Calvin Patterson, president of the Winston Salem Black Chamber of Commerce and also chairman and Ceo of Ernest Harvest L. L. C. I'm grateful for this opportunity to be here today. Very grateful to Governor cooper Secretary Penny and their staffs for the outreach that they've done in helping us spread the word about the business recovery grant opportunity. Uh we actually had one of the team members of Secretary Penny at one of our Winston Salem Black Chamber member meetings earlier this month. He did an excellent job and answering questions and giving details uh, in providing a connection to folks uh, to take advantage of this opportunity. Mr Price has already alluded to how uh the covid pandemic has uh disproportionately impacted african american businesses, Black businesses and we are grateful for the resources that the governor's budget and the team that's in place is uh, is making available through this. This grant. One of the things that I mentioned in our meeting prior to two. Now was the need for training. The need for preparation. It's great to have funds for capital needed capital available, but of course the preparation for being eligible to apply and that's where the Winston Salem Black Chamber and many of our counterparts come into play. We stay in regular touch with the charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce. We stay in close touch with the Greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce. Were in close uh touch with the Greensboro Business League. We meet regularly to talk about. What are your members saying? What what do your members know about state funding opportunities and others? So I applaud Governor Cooper for his budget and his leadership. I applaud uh Secretary Penny for his leadership and his staff's um outreach to making the knowledge available, but also making available the preparation necessary to take advantage of it. Thank you. Governor Cooper. Now I'll be glad to take questions or focus on the panel, will be glad to take any questions. Mr Michael, what is that? And generally, how long she on their part? We're still collecting applications, Monday's. The last day we've got over 4200, as the secretary says they are unverified. Now, some of the businesses may have applied, may not be eligible, some may have applied through mail and online. I'll let secretary pending address when he expects to be able to cut checks. What will happen is because there's a fixed sum of money, we will collect the applications. Once those applications are collected and verified, we will then do a calculation based upon the amount each business is eligible for at that point we will then issue checks based upon that. That calculation, if for example, we, we receive more applications and then we have, then we have funds will then have to pro rate those um uh in that, in that manner. However, with all of that said we anticipate um sending out checks by mid february But by do you mean that if there is more than like 500 million businesses could get less if the demand is higher, If the, if the demand is high we only have 500 million to give and so, if if if indeed In both programs we exceed the 500 million, there will be that we will have to do a preparation, you think um the D O R or the business leaders, if you want to answer this too, is the timeframe long enough for the businesses to be able to get this done by monday, I mean obviously you're trying to get the word out now, but what are you hearing and well, I got to witness. Uh huh Yeah, this process started on december the 16th, so they've been working the communities and letting everybody know and using all of the, the avenues that they know to get people to apply, we wanted to come today just to make one last push and try to get, I've done social media on it. We're Pushing so and we already have over 40 200 people. So yeah, I think there is enough time particularly you want to get the money out. So the longer you have the application process, the the longer it takes to get the money out. And so I think this process has shown us that people need it. They're ready to get it. And that's why we wanted to just push these last five days here. I don't know if any of you guys have any comments On behalf of one more. Yes. Mr related to the executive order. Thank you was very cheap saying so are you gonna require is taking place to get the booster shot or you don't? So first we are working very hard to get people boosted and in order to increase our workforce to get all these folks to people that they need in order for us to get back on all cylinders. We've got to get more people vaccinated. And one thing that is pretty clear from the science that people who are vaccinated and boosted or as the CDC is now calling up to date on their vaccinations, they have significantly more protection and they also uh tolerate an infection by omicron much better than even people who just received the first round of vaccination. So we're going to continue to look at that. We're continuing to creep up in the number of vaccinations. The last I heard uh at the last meeting was getting close to 78% overall of of state employees and that we're going to continue to look at that. Although we are pushing boosters right now is significantly not not at this point. Not at this point, yes, but but it's certainly on the table and the order gives them the ability to be able to do that. Thank you guys. We appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks very much appreciate it. All right. Thanks for holding that. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you very much for having.

Gov. Cooper talks COVID relief grant

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I'm meteorologist, Amy Wilmeth in the WRL severe weather center, quiet weather in the forecast for a while. We did have the cold front move through yesterday. A northerly flow behind that will cool temperatures tonight into tomorrow today. Though beautiful weather with near normal temperatures will get up to 73 in Durham, 74 in Raleigh and 78 for the high temperature in Fayetteville. If you're headed to the Bulls game this evening, what treat? This is great baseball weather. The game gets started at 635 will be at 68 at 6 p.m. down to 65 by seven o'clock and 63 by eight o'clock and it stays nice and dry for that. It does turn kind of chilly tonight. Many of us down into the forties, 48 in Durham, 46 in Rocky Mountain, 49 in Goldsboro, 49 in Southern Pines. So it is going to be a chilly start to our Friday and it stays fairly cool Friday afternoon. We'll have partly to mostly cloudy skies. 67 for the high in Durham, 69 in Raleigh, 72 for the high temperature in Fayetteville. So many outdoor events this weekend and the weather cooperating very nicely. Brugal oo gets started Friday evening and then it happens again on Saturday for Friday evening. If you're headed, there, temperatures will be nice and mild in the sixties and it stays dry and then spring days in Cary, that's on Saturday, that's out at Bon Park looks like great weather for, that will be in the mid f in the morning. But then upper sixties by one pm, low to mid seventies during the afternoon and early evening hours. And maybe after that, you want to go some soccer, the courage taking on the rain. It's a home game and beautiful weather for soccer. Low seventies at 7 p.m. 69 by nine o'clock and 64 at 11 o'clock, that's for Saturday evening. So a lot of things happening this weekend and the weather really looking good. 74 today, a little cooler Friday and then back up to 74 Saturday, even warmer Sunday, 81 for the high 86 on Monday and then upper eighties in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

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Good evening. I'm Gail. Hi, welcome to tonight's drawings for Thursday, April 25th, 2024. Well, let's get started tonight with our Carolina pick three. Our first winning number is a one. Our second number is eight and our third number tonight is a nine and our pick three fireball number is eight. Again, join me for tonight's joining us on Auditor from mcconnell and Jones L LP. Now let's move to the Carolina pick four. Good luck. Everyone who's their first winning pick four number. It's a six. Our second number is eight. Third number tonight is eight again and our fourth number is a three in our pick four fireball number. There it comes. It is a one. Well, turning now to the Carolina cash five and no one wins our prize tonight. Tomorrow's, our prize is estimated at $721,000. Good luck. Everyone here's our first winning cash five number. It's the number eight. Our second number is five third number. Tonight is seven. Our fourth number here it comes. It's a 41 in the final number, NRC five. This evening is 27. The North Carolina Education Lottery has contributed over $10 billion to education. Get your winning numbers right here every night in your exclusive station for the North Carolina Education lottery. Thanks for playing. Have a great night.

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Gov. Roy Cooper, museum leaders and museum paleontologist Dr. Lindsay Zanno on Thursday preview Dueling Dinosaurs, a brand new exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The exhibit opens to the public Saturday.

In that institution's history. But all of you can and I have seen that enthusiasm and that understanding that you are part of something special over the past few years as you have prepared for this day. So to the staff of the museum, thank you. And it's not just staff, a project like this wouldn't have been possible without a lot of important partners on behalf of everyone involved in this immensely successful public private partnership. And in addition to the General Assembly's extraordinary investment, I would like to take a moment to thank some of the very generous supporters of the Dueling Dinosaurs capital campaign, the SECU Foundation, the Bank of America Duke Energy, the North Carolina Glaxo Smith Kline Foundation, Wake County, friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences who really not only helped us in, in raising the funds but also in making this day happen and this opportunity happen. And so many others who are recognized on the campaign do donor wall just to the right of the exhibit entrance. So I encourage you as you go through there today to make sure you take a look at that wall. Now, along with the state's investment. This village of support has enabled the museum to open this new globally unique visitor experience. And on that note, I would like to invite Secu Foundation board chair, Chris Ayers to speak to the foundation's leadership gift, Chris. Thank you. Well, good morning fellow paleontologists. Um I'm excited to be here today representing the SECU Foundation and the over 2.7 million members of state employees credit union who fund that foundation. So this is a great day of celebration for the State of North Carolina, the Department of Cultural and Natural Resources and the many museum supporters and friends who have joined together to make this day a reality. I can tell you the foundation, the State Employees Credit Union has been looking forward to this day for a long time, going all the way back to when we got a sneak peek when they first rolled these fossils into the museum uh a number of years ago. So today's ribbon cutting ceremony shines a brilliant light on the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences as a research institution and the largest museum in the southeast of its kind. The work of the museum professionals and the world class facility benefits more than 1 million visitors each year. And we're delighted to help fund the Secu Dino Lab, which will be enjoyed by students, teachers and families from across the state and beyond. In addition to the SECU Diner lab, the foundation support of the museum also includes the large icon globe that we're in right now that you see outside the building, uh The SECU Daily Planet. As longtime supporters of the museum SECU is pleased that our collaborative efforts help bring the museum and our state to the forefront of natural sciences, education and research, innovative initiatives like this can only be achieved through incredible teamwork and support from the community if it isn't obvious. Let me say that we are so happy to be part of this team and we feel really lucky to have our SECU headquarters and our Sal Salisbury Street branch right next door where we get to see the daily droves of visitors year round. SECU is built on the principle of people helping people and our members live that philosophy through our support of nonprofits that uplift people and communities throughout our great state. For those of you who may not know the SECU foundation is funded through a unique concept known as the power of a dollar where SECU members contribute through the reallocation of their $1 monthly checking account fee. Collectively a dollar truly can make a profound difference. As you see here today, this summer marks the foundation's 20th anniversary. And over the past 20 years, our foundation's commitment to North Carolina nonprofits has surpassed a quarter of a billion dollars for scholarships, grants, financing for education, housing, health care, human services, all benefits to our great state. And we're going to celebrate that 20th anniversary. This fall dueling Dinosaurs is history in the making right here in downtown Raleigh. And we're so lucky to have a front row seat to marvel at the Scientific Discovery and the World of Paleontology. We at the SECU Foundation are honored to be part of this and I want to thank everyone for the great work and contributions that so many of you have made to make this day in this exhibit a reality. Thank you, Chris. Now I mentioned earlier about our staff and they really are all superstars, but there is one particular staff member who has as this project has developed over the recent years, kind of reached celebrity status. If you read Walter magazine, you probably read a profile of her and her work and how that has contributed to uh this particular exhibit. I'm pleased to introduce that person to you this morning. None other than uh the individual who had the vision to make this happen. Doctor Lindsay Zano, head of Paleontology here at the museum, Doctor Doctor Zano. Good morning. It's wonderful to be hosting you all this morning. You know, every week I get an email from a parent who wants their child to meet and talk to a scientist every single week. They want to fuel that child's love for science, encourage them to pursue their dreams. But more than anything they want that science to be real, they want it to be accessible, meeting those Children is wonderful. It's also not enough because not every parent has the resources of the opportunities to reach out to a scientist and arrange a one on one meeting for their child. Most of the Children who are interested in science will fall through the cracks and every public event I attend, I have a conversation with someone in our community who doesn't see the relevance of science to their daily lives who's never been invited to peek behind the proverbial curtain to see who scientists are and what we do and how we go about solving problems that are relevant to our communities. Today, we mark the next step in the evolution of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We celebrate the opening of the dueling dinosaurs experience. This is one of the most daring public science projects ever imagined at its heart is a world class specimen and the barrier breaking sccu Dino lab that houses it. The specimen represents a single moment in time 67 million years ago when behemoths like tyrannosaurs and triceratops battled for life. The lab is a place where there are no walls between the scientists and the communities that we serve. One where the term behind the scenes loses all of its meaning. A place where every kid regardless of their socioeconomical status can talk to a scientist every day, any day, a place where they can look in the face of a scientist and see themselves staring back at them a place where science is done for the public with the public and transparently in front of the public and for those that cannot make it to us on site, we're broadcasting this project all over the world. Now, the dueling dinosaurs experience is fueled by an amazing team of scientists who I'm so proud of. And in the past two years, we've grown from 6 to 14,000. And that's because a year and a half ago, we launched our public science project Cretaceous Creatures. And already over 14,000 middle school students from around the state have made once in a lifetime scientific discoveries as real members of our scientific team. And we are just getting started. I want to close this morning by thanking the state all of our incredible donors, my amazing museum colleagues, and especially my team for believing in this project, for believing in my vision. I want to thank them for tirelessly working for eight years to bring this project to the people of North Carolina and beyond. You are all dreamers and I could not be more honored to be on this journey with you. One thing we can all agree on is the world loves dinosaurs. So today we're going to bring the next generation of leaders in science and technology and engineering and innovation and have them born right here in North Carolina. Let's show the world how it's done. Thank you. Make sure I didn't mess up the screen and dropping that. Um Thank you, Doctor Zano and I don't know what the acoustics are back there. But standing up here as you were talking about Children in that next generation from up here, you could hear all the Children up there in nature Research Center visiting the labs and it just kind of brought to life. What you're talking about this experience will mean it's now my pleasure to introduce to you, my boss, uh Secretary Reed Wilson. Now I can tell you, Secretary Wilson, this is a special project. He does a lot of openings, ribbon cuttings for our sites all across the state, state parks aquariums and not to play favorites. But I know this one ha holds a special place in his heart. He was telling someone this morning that he's been working on this project for seven years and so Secretary Wilson, I'm pleased to introduce you and we finally got here. Thank you, Jeff. Good morning, everybody. Uh Thank you all for being here this morning and to all involved. Uh Congratulations. This is an amazing huge day for North Carolina and for this museum, you know, making doing dinosaurs a reality has been a collective effort. And I want to thank some people that have already been thanked, but you can never thank these people enough. First, our sponsors, we would not be here today without your generous support. No doubt about that. I also want to thank the board and the staff of the friends of the Museum of Natural Sciences and three of the four board presidents who have been presidents during this period are here with us today. Um, but the whole board has been invested in this and not only did you all raise significant sums of money, but you tiptoed way out on that branch of risk. I remember the conversations. Well, we really sure we wanna do this. Uh But you were, you made the decision to, to just dive in um because you kept your eyes on the prize and, and understood what the risk was, but all that risk went away. Uh I wanna thank the museum staff. Um Thank you so much. I know that every section of this museum has been involved with this. And I, I dare say that there isn't anyone on the staff of this museum who wasn't involved in this project at some point. Um And obviously to Doctor Zano and your paleontology team. Um Y'all are just amazing. You're brilliant. All of you. Um Javin Sutton and your ex exhibition team, Christy Flint and your education team. I mean, I could mention everybody in this museum, everyone's been involved. It's been a long process and you've done a phenomenal job because here we are today and of course, we wouldn't be here without substantial public support. Thank you to members of the General Assembly um who prioritized the investment in this state of the art lab in particular. I do want to thank the leadership of the legislature speaker Moore, Senator Pro TEM Berger, minority leader, blue and minority leader Reeves. Uh, they're unable to join us today, but I think we should give a round of applause to the entire general assembly who supported this project. So it's taken us a while for us to get here today. And as Jeff mentioned, I've been involved with this one probably since the first week I was in this department in early February 2017. Um So it's not been quite 67 million years, but sometimes it felt like it. Um Is that my wife laughing? I remember, I do remember vividly the early Sunday morning in April 2017, almost exactly seven years ago to this day when these specimens arrived. I watched as the movers painstakingly removed them from the tractor trailer truck and carefully moved them into their hidden storage places. It was definitely a goose bumps moment for hours and then we had the groundbreaking in the midst of COVID, uh which complicated everything. And as I said, then at the groundbreaking, when this lab opens, our state will become a must see destination for dinosaur lovers everywhere, from young kids to academics to anybody. Um And so here we are and it's even better than I think any of us dreamed it could be. You will see when you go in there. What a special exhibit this is. We have the best dinosaur specimens in the world and the best setting for people to see them and learn from them. Hundreds of moments and of awe and wonder will unfold in there every single day. And I can't wait to just wander over here sometimes to watch the kids' eyes pop open. Now, at the heart of this project is the science. Our paleontologists will make discoveries as they carefully uncover these and analyze them. Science will be happening in front of the public's eyes. Um And so do doing dinosaurs is an excellent way for the state to engage students in scientist scientific discovery and to develop greater science literacy. So why is that important? Um It's important because the only way we're going to solve our big problems is to rely on the science and the experts who know what they're talking about. And the key to getting to that point is to expand science education to make sure that every child understands the value of science and how scientific discovery works. The Dueling Dinosaurs exhibit is going to pull people into this amazing world of science that's so important to our future. So I am now pleased to introduce a leader who uses science and facts and data to make his decisions as governor of the state of North Carolina and he has supported this project throughout its duration. Everyone please give a warm welcome to our Governor Roy Cooper. Thank you, Secretary Wilson. I'll tell you when we have cabinet meetings every Monday. His is always the coolest report, particularly when we get the updates on the dueling dinosaurs. Uh I am so grateful to everyone who helped to make this happen. The partners. Thank you so much for the work you've done all of the contributors. Uh My family, Chris is proud that our state employees credit union accounts that $1 a month is going to things like this. That is so exciting. And when I think about this week, I spent Monday Earth Day on the Blue Ridge Parkway looking at our amazing vistas uh in Western North Carolina on Tuesday and Wednesday, I got to spend time with North Carolina's own astronaut Christina Cook who set records for time that a woman astronaut spent in space and space walking. And she actually presented us with a lob Lily pine that had been germinated on the moon. Native plant, Karen, first lady made sure it was a native plant, uh excited about planting that in our pine forest at the executive mansion. And she presented us with the North Carolina flag that flew with her on her mission in the International Space Station for 11 months, presenting it to the people of North Carolina. Then I got to come over here with Doctor Zano, doctor Doctor Young and to go through this exhibit and to talk to these scientists and see see these dinosaurs and think about how amazing it was that this was happening right here in North Carolina. You know, North Carolina is the first and best in so many things. Now, we're the best in dinosaurs. I love it. You know, it is amazing and extraordinary that we have the best preserved and most complete tyrannosaur and triceratops in the world. Right here at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Scientists. This exhibit will add to an already excellent rep reputation that North Carolina has as a world class research university community College state. And I'm excited about that. I have been through this exhibit and, and to see the faces of the paleontologist, how excited energetic that they are. And they're also excited and maybe even a little bit nervous about sharing their work as they do it with the world, with the cameras on top of them, with their brushes and their equipment as they make discovery after discovery. And I said, you know, you're gonna get comments and praise and maybe some criticism from science, all scientists all over the world. They said, we know we know and we're ready for that and that's what makes this so special. Uh Doctor Young Doctor Zano, thank you for leading me through. Thank, thank you for the work. I asked Doctor Zano what she was gonna do this summer? She said, Utah, Montana and Mongolia. Wow, that's cool. Bring some stuff back with us uh to, to us but to compete, compete in today's world stem and steam classes. Are more important than ever. And our next generation of leaders will be walking through this museum every day that it's open and this exhibit will stimulate interest in a lot of them. I have declared 2024 as the year of public schools in North Carolina. And I am deeply grateful that the legislature stepped up and invested in this exhibit. Uh It, it took a lot of work to pull everything together and their work was instrumental and I am encouraging them now also to invest more in our public schools in our early childhood education. Our state has a history of investing in public education in order to fuel our innovation and our discovery. And when these young students learn in their school classes and they get to come here and meet face to face with these sci scientists. It's going to develop interest and it's going to create our scientists of the future this state of the art secu diner lab and the dueling dinosaurs belong to the people of North Carolina. It's open to everyone free of charge. That is amazing. Thanks to everybody who made this happen. This is a proud day for the state of North Carolina. Thank you so much. Thank you, Governor Cooper. Uh It truly is an exciting day for all of us and thank you for being here. Now, at this time, I would like to invite everyone to join us just outside the auditorium here. A little bit to the right at the at the entrance for doing dinosaurs for the official ribbon cutting. And I want to invite all of you up there on the 2nd, 3rd floor. Presents. Come on down and join us. So let's go celebrate. Thank you. Yeah, we're at the back line up a little bit. It's gonna be quite a few people here. They are going to be coupled. OK? Don't cut it. Yeah, check, check, get out. OK. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Right. The the face. Thanks this chair, right. You all right. So fantastic. Hey guys for media. We questions afterwards over step on. This is the best to the future. This very good virtually. Yes. Is young. Was it? How about that? This is Yeah, you and then I now make the tea for. Can you be away if you're gonna be here? J JJ? Yeah, I was gonna have how many we have to get here in the morning right here. I didn't see anyone. All right, I need to tell everyone you should never put your hands inside the mouth of a tyrannosaurus. It's very sharp, well done on the end. Just a little bit here. Thank you. All right, just in the position. All right forward. Creep forward. Look for the fray. There we go. 321. Hold on. Is there we go. No cool, cool. The skin is tough. It's a meat eater. Not a ribbon eater. So OK. Sorry. OK. Barry can we do one more second? Let me fill in real quickly with one more. Yeah, they have thank you. Who gets to keep this to bring here? Let's get next to a do what you want us here. That be perfect. And can I get you on? So right here, you know what the secret with you and, but yeah, one photo, 12 and three. All right, thanks everybody. Right. If we have five, hello, if you guys want to come over here, I'll stand where the governor is gonna be. I.

Preview of Dueling Dinos, opening Saturday in Raleigh

Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday Powerball drawings, as shown live on WRAL.

Ball. Good evening, Ruan, I Randy trainer. Tonight. We have another life changing jackpot. It's worth an estimated $130.2 million. So, get your tickets ready here. Come, tonight's winning numbers. Let's start things off this evening with the number 26. Right after that America. We have the number two and congratulations to Gina Magnum from North Carolina. She won $50,000 playing powerball. All right, the rest of your winning numbers tonight 20 47. And let's round it out tonight with the number 22 and tonight 20 powerball number, that's gonna be 21 and your power play multiplayer is four. Let's take another look at tonight's winning numbers. We'll see you back here on Saturday night. It's time to play America's favorite.

Powerball Drawing

Brian Shrader flies over the site of a plane crash at Raleigh-Durham International Airport approximately three hours after the accident.

Seen some activity just in the past 10 minutes or so. I want to take you outside Sky five right now for a live look at the scene. We saw a van being escorted to the runway there and someone got out and now there appears to be a really careful inspection of the debris going on. So we're working to confirm if that may be the NTSB investigation team arriving at the scene. Let's zoom out and give you some about where this is. There are two main runways at RDU International and this is in the grassy field next to the runway that mostly serves terminal one on the east side of the airport, that runway remains closed while this investigation continues at the top of your screen. That is the other main runway that serves terminal two, mostly that runway is open. So we have two things going on here that could affect your flights for the rest of the day and maybe even into tomorrow, the airport takeoff and landing capacity is roughly reduced by half because they are only working with one runway. And if you have a flight coming out of terminal one, maybe Southwest, you're going to have to take that crossover all the way out to that other runway. It's going to add a lot of extra time.

Sky 5 flies over RDU plane crash 3 hours later 

A UNC Health physician and pilot were taken to the hospital Wednesday after a small plane crashed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).


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