Weekly Wrap: Time to give thanks?

An oversight committee looking into how the Cooper Administration handled the permitting of the planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline wants to hire an outside investigator to look into the matter and possibly subpoena state officials.

A separate oversight committee heard this week from state agencies still totaling up damages from Hurricane Florence. Two interesting tidbits from that meeting:

The state has spent more than $11 million to dispose of the carcasses of millions of chickens that died in the storm. Most of the cost was for sawdust to aid in the composting process.

More than 300 boats that sank in the hurricane were raised, cleared of any hazardous materials and then sunk again because of conflicting rules on whose responsible for handling the vessels.

Speaking of Florence, Cooper was in Washington, D.C., this week, lobbying for more federal disaster recovery money, as well as more flexibility for people dealing with hurricane damage from two storms – Florence and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Election Day may have passed, but the election's not quite over. County canvasses are set for Friday, and several legislative races hang in the balance as provisional and late absentee ballots are counted.

Also, Common Cause and the North Carolina Democratic Party seized on the election results and filed a new gerrymandering lawsuit in state court, alleging that Republican lawmakers illegally drew legislative voting districts for partisan advantage.