5 Things to Know: Stein to Appeal FEMA Cut to Helene Recovery Funding

Stein to Appeal FEMA Cut to Helene Recovery Funding

Gov. Josh Stein confirmed this week that North Carolina will appeal the federal government’s decision to cut off an estimated $200 million of funding for Hurricane Helene recovery by rejecting Stein’s request for another six months of 100% cost share from the agency for the clearing of debris and emergency services.

Stein responded to the rejection of continued Helene recovery funding at the same rate on Friday, April 11, the day the notification came from FEMA and a day when Stein was Newland with families who lost their homes in the storm.

“The need in western North Carolina remains immense — people need debris removed, homes rebuilt and roads restored,” Stein’s statement read. “I am extremely disappointed and urge the President to reconsider FEMA’s bad decision, even for 90 days. Six months later, the people of western North Carolina are working hard to get back on their feet; they need FEMA to help them get the job done.”

The letter, which states, “It has been determined that the increased level of funding you have requested for major disaster [Hurricane Helene] is not warranted,” goes on to say that the denial can be appealed to President Donald Trump within 30 days after April 11.

Stein assured those in attendance at a meeting of the Rebuilding Western North Carolina Advisory Committee on Monday that he would do just that.

Republican lawmakers including Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd along with US Rep. Chuck Edwards did sign a letter supporting Stein’s request for an extension in March, though none have publicly commented on FEMA’s rejection at the time of this writing.

“This extension is critical to make Western North Carolina whole and is in alignment with executive actions from previous storms like Hurricane Maria in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Hurricane Ike in Texas, and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi,” read the March letter.

Weekend Marred by String of Murders

After CMPD released a promising report on crime rates in the first quarter of 2025 last week, Charlotte saw three homicides in a matter of hours over the weekend.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, police responded to a shooting call at the Charlotte Transportation Center and found 31-year-old Qualo Trevon Daniels suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medic transported Daniels to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have since announced the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect in relation to the case, though it’s unclear if the man was suspected to be directly responsible for Daniels’ murder as he was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and possession of firearm by a convicted felon rather than murder.

The map above shows the narratives behind killings that Queen City Nerve has tracked thus far in Charlotte in 2025. Black markers signify deaths by gun violence, red markers signify stabbings, yellow markers signify murder by vehicle, purple markers signify deaths by trauma or unknown cause, green markers signify killings that have been deemed justified, and blue markers signify police killings.

Then shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to an assault call on Wallingford Drive in southwest Charlotte, where they found 37-year-old Stanley Alfonzo Williams II suffering from stab wounds. Medic transported Williams to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Finally, shortly after 6 a.m. that same morning, police responded to a shooting call at the Eastway Plaza shopping center on Eastway Drive, where they found 23-year-old Javier Lee Martinez Hernandez dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Another shooting death reported on Cherrycrest Lane near Archdale Park on Friday morning makes 27 homicides tracked by Queen City Nerve in Charlotte thus far this year compared to 46 at the same point in 2024.

Griffin’s Path to Success in Election Challenge Narrows

Jefferson Griffin has seen his chances of successfully overturning the November election of sitting NC Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs decrease significantly over the past week, though there is still a chance the case could land in front of the US Supreme Court.

As we reported in last week’s Roundup, the NC Supreme Court on April 11 rejected Griffin’s challenge of ballots from more than 60,000 local voters, upholding those votes while leaving the ballots of more than 5,000 military members and other absentee voters living overseas in limbo.

On Tuesday, the NC State Board of Elections (NCBOE) announced the results of their review following last week’s ruling, finding that only 1,675 ballots would need to be “fixed,” meaning voters living overseas at the time of their vote last fall would need to provide photo ID within 30 business days of the court’s decision.

The main reason for the decrease in affected ballots was that, according to the NCBOE, Griffin did not submit his challenges in time for any of the counties he targeted — all of which lean heavily Democratic — except for in Guilford County.

That leaves 1,409 overseas and military votes from Guilford County and 266 ballots from “never residents,” voters believed to have never lived in the state nor have any plans to, included in the challenge. It’s unlikely but not impossible that, even if all 1,675 ballots were discarded, Griffin would overcome Riggs’ 734-vote lead.

Griffin has already asked that the NC Court of Appeals intervene in NCBOE’s findings, claiming that this week’s announcement defies the court’s earlier ruling.

Student Killed in SC School Bus Crash

A 13-year-old boy was killed and dozens more injured when a school bus full of students returning home from a Charlotte field trip crashed on I-77 in Chester County, South Carolina on Thursday afternoon. There were reportedly 35 students and two adults on the bus when it overturned due to a blown tire.

The only fatality was identified to be Jose Marie Gonzales Linares, who had taken part in the 8th grade field trip scheduled for Thursday. Twenty-one people were also reported injured in the wreck.

The crash occurred around 1:47 p.m. as the bus returned from a field trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte back to Pine Ridge Middle School near Columbia in Lexington County, South Carolina.

Two other buses that were following the crashed bus were able to maneuver around it, leaving some passengers on those buses shaken up. Between all three buses, a reported 35 students and four adults were transported for further medical evaluation.

Pine Ridge Middle School and the rest of the Lexington School District Two was already scheduled to start its spring break on Friday, giving students some time to register the tragedy. In response to inquiries, the school has set up a page where people can donate to the PRMS community.

NC Residents Granted Second Tax Deadline Extension

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Thursday announced that it has further extended the tax deadline for North Carolina residents from May 1 to Sept. 25 due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Helene.

According to a release from the agency, the new deadline applies to:

• Individual income tax returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2025.
• 2024 contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for eligible taxpayers.
• 2024 quarterly estimated tax payments normally due on Jan. 15, 2025, and 2025 estimated tax payments normally due on April 15, June 16 and Sept. 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, April 30 and July 31, 2025.
• Calendar-year corporation and fiduciary returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2025.
• Calendar-year tax-exempt organization returns normally due on May 15, 2025.
• 990, 1040, 1041 and 1120 filers with a valid extension for tax year 2023. Please note, the payments on these returns are not eligible because they were due last spring before the hurricane.

These extensions are automatically implemented for any resident with an address of record within North Carolina, so taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to enact them. However, anyone who needs an extension beyond Sept. 25 for tax year 2024 must file for such using Form 4868.

Read the full release for more details.