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Recruiting Column: Interview with North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox

USA TODAY High School Sports has a weekly column on the recruiting process. This isn’t about where just the top five-star athletes are headed but rather a guide to the process and the pitfalls for student-athletes nationwide from Playced.com. This week’s article is written by Ross Hawley, the president of the company. Playced.com is an industry leader in college recruiting. Their technology-based recruiting service identifies the right colleges for potential recruits to pursue and provides a recruiting system that is second to none for student-athletes of all talent levels and ages.

There aren’t many in the game better than Mike Fox. In his time as the head baseball coach for The University of North Carolina, Fox has a record of 846-360-1. Since his debut as skipper in 1999, his Tar Heels have averaged almost 45 wins a season. They’ve made 16 trips to the postseason. North Carolina has been to Omaha 6 times. And oh, by the way, 88 of his former players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. In other words, OMG!

North Carolina opens the college baseball season up later today against South Florida. And with a preseason ranking of #6, it appears the beat goes on for Coach Fox and his North Carolina baseball program.

I was able to sit down this week and talk college recruiting with Coach Fox. From his recruiting philosophy, to his advice on making the right college decision, here is what he had to say.

Q: Talk to me about North Carolina’s recruiting philosophy.

A: In a nutshell, we do the best we can to get the best players, the best young men and the best students that we possibly can. That’s really the easiest way for me to break it down. Obviously, you must have talent to win at this level. But it’s the array of intangibles that you have to pay attention to if you want to separate yourself from the competition. Now, the easy part is seeing the talent on the field. The more difficult part is truly discovering who it is you’re recruiting.

So, the very first thing we do after we see a young man play, is request his transcripts. That happens immediately and can be the first separator in determining whether we move forward with a young man. I think there’s a direct correlation between how a young man performs in the classroom and the kind of commitment or self-discipline he has. We need young men that are prepared for college work, and most of the time, the transcripts tell the other side of the story.

Q: What would you like every high school athlete to know about the recruiting process?

A: The perfect roadmap for how this will go for you doesn’t exist. It can happen early, it can happy late, it can be an intense experience, or it can be a pleasurable experience. It’s important to understand that your recruiting process will be unique to your circumstances. There isn’t a standard set of directions that will get every student-athlete from point A, to point B.

If you are being recruited, don’t take it for granted. No matter who or when or how you get recruited, just being able to say a college program has interest in you is special. Be appreciative, because there are a thousand other players out there that would like to trade places with you. And keep in mind, not everyone is meant to play at the Division I level, and that’s okay. Because as a former Division III guy, I can tell you that playing at another level can be just as an enjoyable experience.

Q: Does the scholarship amount you offer a player predict his playing time?

When we meet with a young man and his family, there’s always two big elephants that walk in the room. And those are, “How much are we going to offer you and how soon can you play?” It’s a conversation about dollar amount and playing time. As important as both of those things are, you should understand that the two of those things don’t go together. Scholarship dollars and playing time don’t correlate. The reality of college recruiting is that you don’t control how much you get offered, but you do control the playing time you get.

I learned very early on at UNC that families equated scholarship amount, to a player’s worth. That’s just not the case. Listen, I’m not that good to be able to tell a high school player how much I think they’re “worth” to our program before they get on campus. In a perfect world, we’d be giving the scholarship amount when they’re leaving UNC, after their career was over. At that point, we’d definitely know how much they meant to our program. A scholarship offer is not a predictor for playing time. I think I’m most like other coaches when I say, we will put the best nine out on the field. End of story.

Photo: UNC Athletics

Q: What advice do you have for a high school player not getting much attention from college coaches?

A: Keep playing. Realize that the majority of schools never stop recruiting. We can’t afford to, given the competitive nature of this business. I think most schools, at all levels, carry that same philosophy. Each year, you just never know who’s coming, and who’s going. With the draft, you’ve got juniors and draft-eligible sophomores you can lose. You’ve got incoming freshmen you can lose. Things happen, and rosters turn over on such a regular basis. I can speak for us specifically when I say that we’ve picked up some of our best players late in the process. My message to guys that don’t seem to be getting much attention is to keep playing. Keep putting yourself out there and keep building relationships. It’s not unusual for things to happen later than you expected them to.

Q: How can a recruit be confident that he/she is making the right college decision?

We want kids that have a legitimate interest in The University of North Carolina. That’s why when we make an offer, we don’t put a deadline on when a player needs to accept that offer. We only want kids that want to be here. And, the only way we figured out how to do that is by encouraging kids to go visit all the other schools they want to visit. If you’re in a position to receive an offer from us, go see what else is out there. You should. Because if a young man visits all the other ACC schools, then calls us and tells us he wants to come to North Carolina, then he’s really telling us that North Carolina is where he wants to be. You’re going to experience trials and tribulations anywhere you go. To be confident in your commitment, you need to have both feet in, whatever school you decide on.

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Arch MI report evaluates whether Greensboro, Winston-Salem, other metros across U.S. should fear a housing bubble – Greensboro – Triad Business Journal

How risky does a mortgage insurer see the housing market in its own back yard?

Not very. The housing markets in Winston-Salem and Greensboro-High Point appear to be healthy and low risk, according to Arch MI’s Winter 2018 Housing and Mortgage Market Review.

Arch MI, whose own Greensboro headquarters is getting a major makeover, has a keen interest in the housing market as a mortgage insurer — one that emerged from what was United Guaranty. Arch MI’s Risk Index measures home price risk by estimating the probability that home prices in a state or metropolitan area will be lower in two years. The risk index weights economic and housing market factors, including affordability, unemployment rates, economic growth rates, net migration and housing starts. The company has developed a new tool that identifies housing bubbles by analyzing home prices across 50 states and 401 metros, but it’s interesting to see what it found in its home base.

Winston-Salem and Greensboro-High Point both received a risk index score of 2 percent in third quarter 2017, meaning that there’s a 2 percent probability of home price decline in those areas in the next two years. The state of North Carolina received the same score. The average probability of home price decline across America is also low, at 5 percent.

States with the highest risk indexes include Alaska, which received a risk index value of 37, North Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia. Arch MI said the states with the highest values tended to be energy-related.

According to Arch MI, recent home price appreciation indicates strength in the housing markets. In North Carolina, the most recent annual percent change in home prices is 6.1 percent, while the unemployment rate is 4.1 percent. Greensboro-High Point’s annual percent change in home prices was 5.4 percent, while Winston-Salem’s was 3.1 percent.

To detect possible housing bubbles, Arch MI developed a Fundamental Home Value Index. The Fundamental HVI is an estimate of the underlying economic value to which home prices tend to gravitate when not overly influenced by short-term factors, fads or unrealistic expectations. The Fundamental HVI is used with the Home Price Index to determine an area’s over or under-valuation. Housing bubbles can be tied to high levels of overvaluation.

Arch MI found that, In third quarter 2017, Winston-Salem was undervalued by 3.79 percent and Greensboro-High Point was undervalued by 0.67 percent, while North Carolina had an overvaluation of 3.91 percent. Overall, the U.S. has a slight overvaluation of 3.16 percent.

For the rest of the decade, Arch MI predicts that home prices will continue to increase nationwide, mortgage rates will also increase and purchase originations will grow 10 to 15 percent each year. But Arch MI said it’s too soon to worry about a housing bubble.

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Amber Alert issued for four-year-old boy in North Carolina: 200 law enforcement personnel join desperate search for child who left his house wearing a tiger t-shirt

An Amber Alert has been issued following the disappearance of a four-year-old boy who went missing in North Carolina on Wednesday.

Authorities said that the child, Raul Johnson, was last seen on foot on Village Drive, traveling toward Crestline Road in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

He is said to have been wearing a white and orange striped shirt with tigers on it, along with white pants printed with rocket ships. He was barefoot at the time.

Cheyenne Johnson (left) and her aunt Kasey Locklear hold missing persons posters of Raul Johnson, 4. An Amber Alert has been issues following his disappearance on Wednesay Raul Johnson was last seen walking away from his home, barefoot, on Wednesday

Johnson is said to be Indian, with black hair and brown eyes, standing about three feet tall and weighing 38 pounds, according to ABC11.

Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey said that about 200 people have been searching for Johnson both on the ground and in the air, while a dive team has been dispatched to a nearby pond, WBTV reported Thursday.

Local K-9 units are also being deployed in Johnson’s search.

Authorities said that this wasn’t the first time that Johnson had walked away from his home. He reportedly went missing for about 25 minutes on Tuesday.

‘You have to watch your own kids,’ Kersey said during a press conference.

Anyone with information about Johnson is asked to call the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 276-3385 or call 911.

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U.S. Housing Market Gets Hot

The U.S. housing market is getting hotter in 2018 with 52.6 percent of all homes across the country worth as much or more than they were at the peak of the national housing boom in April 2007, according to a survey on the 10 hottest housing markets of the US released by Zillow on Tuesday.

The survey says that U.S. housing markets with healthy income growth, abundant job opportunities and above-average housing appreciation are likely to get hotter in 2018. These include technology hubs like the silicon valley markets of San Jose and San Francisco and markets in the Southeastern part of the U.S such as Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.

With a median household income of $110,000 and a Zillow Home Value Forecast of 8.9 percent, San Jose tops Zillow’s list as the hottest housing market in the U.S. The survey said that home values in this Silicon Valley hub gained 17.4 percent over the past year, showing the fastest growth among the 50 largest metro areas as high-paying tech jobs continued to keep pace with climbing housing costs.

The survey also ranked two North Carolina markets – Raleigh and Charlotte, second and fourth respectively. With a median household income of $71,7685 in Raleigh and $59,979 in Charlotte, both these areas according to the survey, show strong income and population growth. Raleigh is growing as the Research Triangle and is getting known for innovations outside its life science base, while Charlotte is building on its reputation as a financial center where the Bank of America is headquartered.Tech hubs Seattle ranked third and San Francisco ranked fifth rounded out the top five. The top 10 list also included Nashville, Denver and Austin – which have the lowest unemployment rates among large metros, even as Austin’s population grows faster than other major metros (at 2.8 percent between 2015 and 2016), the survey indicated.The survey also reported on housing markets that would continue to face challenges in 2018. They include former industrial giants such as Cleveland, Buffalo, and Milwaukee. The survey indicated that the population of these three metros was falling, and unemployment in Cleveland was well above the historically low national rate of 4.1 percent at 6.2 percent.

To read the complete survey click here.

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City makes strides on affordable housing

South Eastern North Carolina Community Development Corp. recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of eight new apartment duplex units at M.S. Hayworth Court in Rocky Mount.

A groundbreaking Wednesday signaled the construction of eight new affordable homes at a housing complex for seniors in Rocky Mount.

Kelvin Macklin, CEO of the Rocky Mount Housing Authority, said South Eastern North Carolina Community Development Corp. has worked with several agencies to build eight new duplex units that will serve low and moderate families with disabilities.

The new homes being built at M.S. Hayworth Court bring the total available housing units there to 48. Macklin said the development of the twin buildings will cost $1.4 million. Construction will start in January with the tentative completion being late summer or fall, Macklin said.

He said the new units will be certified energy efficient and will include a range and refrigerator, built-in microwave oven, washers and dryers, roll-in shower and handicap accessibility throughout the interior and exterior site, security system, covered porches, community outdoor seating and individual raised gardens per unit.

“Southeastern Rocky Mount is clearly one of the communities that needs affordable housing and housing in good repair,” Macklin said. “We want to do our part by joining with other stakeholders to further build affordable houses throughout the city.”

Russell Jackson, chairman of the South Eastern North Carolina Community Development Corp. and commissioner on the Rocky Mount Housing Authority’s board of commissioner, said it’s critical to have affordable housing in Rocky Mount and throughout the region, especially for people with disabilities.

Jackson said South Eastern will soon begin a long-term renovation project on the existing 40 units at M.S. Hayworth Court.

“There are a lot of rental facilities available, but most of that is not substantial housing for people, especially for older people,” Jackson said. “This is just a critical need all over the country, especially here in Eastern North Carolina. I’m glad to be a part of making a difference.”

Mayor David Combs said the Rocky Mount City Council is committed to having more affordable housing in the city. During a recent monthly meeting, the council voted to guard against gentrification in impoverished neighborhoods in light of the economic growth and revitalization efforts in the area.

The council took the action after a public hearing required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“We know that we’ve got to do more, and we’ve got to bring in more resources,” Combs said. “This is why we need HUD, the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency and other partners in our community to address affordable housing. Providing those eight units doesn’t seem like a lot, but for those eight families going into those units, that’s everything for them.”

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Concord senior housing residents cry foul over monthly $350 service fee

A sign welcomes drivers into Concord. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group archives)

CONCORD — Myron and Birdie Lou Paine enjoy their independent lifestyle at Carlton Senior Living where they can walk to stores and whip up a meal in their kitchen

Since 2015, the octogenarian couple has lived in an apartment at the complex at 1700 Broadway near the Park & Shop shopping center.

But facing the possibility of paying $697 more per month beginning in January, Myron Paine said he looked into senior communities in North Carolina, near the couple’s daughter.

Currently, the Paines pay $2,897 in rent, which includes a $395 monthly fee for an additional person. In November, Carlton notified them that their base rent would increase by 5.9 percent to $2,649 and the charge for a second person would rise to $595.

Furthermore, the couple would have to pay $350 per month for additional services they don’t want, including three daily meals (up from two); weekly housekeeping and laundry; expanded activities and transportation service and high-speed Internet and cable service.

Under Concord’s rent review ordinance, both the second person charge and the service package fee are considered rent. Therefore, the couple’s proposed Jan. 1 total monthly rent of $3,594 constituted a 24 percent increase, well above the 10 percent threshold for filing an appeal under the ordinance.

The Paines and several of their neighbors contacted the city and ECHO Housing, which provides mediation services.

“We don’t struggle with getting money to pay the rent, but if we have to pay that $350 per month that’s going to come out of our life savings,” Myron Paine said.

Carlton apparently denied the couple’s request to decline the service package.

“We discussed that our rates include services you may not use or opt out of, including transportation, activities, housekeeping and meals,” Carlton Senior Living executive director Peter Nixdorff wrote in a Nov. 11 letter to the Paines.

Nixdorff added that the company does not offer “a la carte service options.”

Carlton added the services after hearing from tenants, but the $350 fee was not mandatory, according to Todd Kemerly, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

“This was in response to feedback from residents. What wasn’t clearly communicated was that this service package is optional,” Kemerly said.

In a Dec. 1 letter, Carlton informed tenants they can opt out of paying the $350 service package in writing or by speaking with Nixdorff. The company will require new residents to pay the fee.

“If it was a miscommunication problem, they didn’t proofread their letter very well,” Myron Paine said.

Relieved that they won’t have to pay for services they don’t want, for now the couple plans to stay at Carlton.

“If we find things are going worse than we expected here, we might be making that move,” he added.

Carlton owns 11 senior housing communities in Concord, Pleasant Hill, Davis, San Leandro, San Jose, Fremont, Sacramento and Elk Grove. The 152-unit independent living apartment building in Concord is the only property without a memory care or assisted living component.

Although the company abandoned its plan to buy two adjacent parcels and build 30 units for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, Carlton intends to convert the Concord complex to assisted living, according to Kemerly.

“We’re seeking for the entire building to be assisted living, but we have existing residents there that don’t need those services,” Kemerly said. “They would have the option down the road if they need those services. They would only pay for the services they need.”

Carlton intends to expand the kitchen and dining room, but Kemerly does not anticipate the need to make significant changes in the individual apartments.

Carlton had not submitted an application for a residential care facility for the elderly license to the state Department of Social Services as of Dec. 8, according to agency spokesman Michael Weston.

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12/2 Letters: North Carolina Senators ‘avoiding the public’ on tax bill

Regarding “Tax overhaul could thwart plans for affordable housing” (Nov. 30): Since neither North Carolina senator reads the local paper of the capital of the state they represent, maybe their constituents could point out a few things. The House version of the tax bill they so strongly support would eliminate tax-exempt status for bonds that allow private investors to be eligible for those wonderful tax breaks they advocate for their cronies.

Over half of the affordable housing units in Raleigh which received approval last spring would no longer be available under the House bill. Where are these people going to go? Perhaps they will move to Tillis’ or Burr’s home towns. Then we learn that “House bill would cut tax credits for hiring disabled workers” (Nov. 30). And the consequences of the bill could go further by cutting Medicaid funding. So disabled people will have a harder time finding employment. And this bill is supposedly all about jobs, jobs, jobs? I guess when the party leader mocks disabled people in public, they don’t give a fig about the disabled.

The article goes on to say that neither of the North Carolina senators responded to a request for comment on whether they would support a final version of the bill that included eliminating the tax credits for the disabled. Once again, avoiding the public who pay their salaries and whom they claim to represent. Based on their past performance, I expect no less. I still, however, wonder how they sleep at night.

Laurie McDowell

Raleigh

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Logo ‘disappointing’

Regarding “What should the Raleigh logo look like? Let’s try traffic jams” (Nov. 26): The author rightly decries the “City of Oaks” image foisted on our historic capital by the bureaucrats, and I too ask, “And this cost the taxpayers $226,000?”

The pricy new, blandly abstract “oak” just needs one finishing touch – the “several rectangles” representing leaves should each be stamped with a dollar sign, since Raleigh leaders apparently think that money really does grow on trees. $226,000 could have covered a lot of shared bikes, bus fuel and emergency rent grants. How disappointing.

Randall Rickman

Raleigh

Treat crisis differently

I agree with the author of “Pregnant addicts need help, not jail” (Nov. 26) that opioid abuse among pregnant women is a “treatable health condition that should not be criminalized.” The opioid crisis is indeed running rampant in the United States, but the way to treat it is through education, support from the community or family and increased government funding for treatment.

Nobody becomes addicted to these drugs purposefully, but as a means to combat pain. Until we stop treating the victims of this disease like criminals and try to define it as a social problem, which through proper education and counseling can be solved, it will grow and become much worse.

Norman Singer

Cary

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Officials describe Wake County as affordable housing desert, crisis

Updated 12:00 p.m. Wednesday

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Wake County: ‘We have an affordable housing desert’

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By UNC Media Hub / Story: Samaintha Paisley, 360 video: Madison Walls, Video story: Doni Hollway

Raleigh, N.C. — Cockroaches scurry across the countertop in Evelyn Jacobs’ house. They’ve chewed the electrical outlets so that they’re useless. The walls are cracked, and the toilet overflows. Mold and mildew act like they own the place.

That’s not all.

“I got more spiders in my house than I have outside,” Jacobs said. “All kinds of spiders, some I ain’t never seen before. Then there’s centipedes that run around the house, and I mean big ones.”

Jacobs lives there with her son, Kevin, who has autism, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and immune deficiency problems. They began renting this house in March 2013 through the federally-subsidized Section 8 program.

Jacobs doesn’t want to live here. She wants a healthier and safer living space to call home, but she can’t find one she can afford.

Low-income public housing is tough to find in Wake County, and some properties have two-year waiting lists. Meanwhile, an average of 67 new residents move into the county each day, according to Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes. This influx intensifies the demand for all types of housing.

Average rent for Wake County apartments is nearly 20 percent higher than the state average. Nearly 43,000 of the county’s 1 million residents spend more than 50 percent of their income for housing — an extreme burden given that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends families spend no more than 30 percent.

Sig Hutchinson, the chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, said there’s a 50,000-unit deficit in affordable housing across the county. The county needs to produce 7,500 new housing units each year to accommodate the projected population growth through 2030.

“You have food deserts; we have an affordable housing desert,” said Octavia Rainey, who has worked as a housing advocate since 1980. “That is unacceptable. We must have the political will to address this issue.”

Surging health concerns

The conditions that Evelyn and Kevin Jacobs face are more than unhealthy. They’re dangerous.

Kevin’s health problems make him susceptible to sicknesses. Jacobs fears even a single spider bite could send him to the hospital with crippling pneumonia. His asthma is aggravated by the lack of air filtration. She piles blankets on him during winter and places fans directly on him in the summer to try to moderate temperatures.

“It’s really bad because Kevin has had more seizures this year,” she said. “He could breathe a lot easier (at the previous apartment). He could stay cool.”

Jacobs also has her own health concerns — she has diabetes, heart troubles and asthma. Taking care of Kevin and the dilapidated house have become her full-time job. She blames the house for their declining health.

Rainey said that she sees a direct link between inadequate living conditions and declining health. Worse still, Section 8 residents often have limited access to healthcare.

“You have people living in all kinds of harsh situations because you don’t have affordable housing,” she said. “And that leads to all kinds of health issues, stress, hyper tensions and people not taking care of themselves. If you’re not healthy, you can’t work.”

Shana Overdorf, the executive director of the Raleigh-Wake Partnership to End Homelessness, said adequate housing resolves a multitude of issues.

“Housing is a basic human right,” Overdorf said. “If we are able to provide housing, we know that some of these other things (like healthcare) will either self-resolve or will be able to more immediately stabilize the individual or a family that’s in that crisis situation.”

How Section 8 housing works

The Wake County Housing Authority declared that Evelyn Jacobs’ house is unlivable.

“What happened in Ms. Evelyn’s case shouldn’t have ever happened,” Rainey said. “The whole process of Section 8 really needs to be put under the microscope now. Tenants have rights.”

The monthly rent of Jacobs’ house is $850, of which she pays $129 and federal subsidies take care of the rest. But the most recent inspection revealed the house is worth just $29 a month in rent given its unsafe conditions.

Under Section 8, for as long as landlords accept voucher payments, it is their responsibility to maintain habitable conditions.

Sonia Anderson, the special assistant to the executive director at the Raleigh Housing Authority, said 333 of 496 houses passed inspections in September. The others were scheduled to be re-inspected, although Rainey said that doesn’t always happen. Landlords do not receive any federal funding for rent until their units pass physical inspections.

Homelessness is a growing concern in Wake County. There were 4,726 homeless persons in Wake County reported in 2016, including 749 children.

Hutchinson said homelessness is expensive for the county since their emergency calls and services drain public resources.

“If you take someone who’s homeless, who’s got maybe a mental illness and a drug problem, and you put them in housing for free, it is actually — by a factor of tens — cheaper than keeping them on the street,” he said. “But it’s not the hard numbers; it’s how it’s impacting people’s lives.”

Particularly vulnerable populations in the housing crisis include seniors, veterans, the mentally ill, single women, children and low-income families.

“They’re falling through the cracks because people don’t want to complain,” Rainey said. “They’ll live in any conditions just to have a roof over their head. That means suffering in silence.”

Overdorf said data also show an increase in single women falling victim to homelessness since at least 2013 — not just in Wake County, but across North Carolina. Homeless single women face a unique set of challenges.

“Women, being outside, especially without children or having a caregiver with them, puts them at increased risk for trafficking, for domestic violence, for incidents of crime, things like that,” she said.

But Holmes said the housing crisis impacts people of all income levels.

“This isn’t a matter of people being lazy or not having jobs or not being willing to work harder,” she said. “I think that’s a very popular misconception.”

Jacobs worked as a tax preparer for H&R Block, but quit in 2013 when Kevin turned 18 and his health declined. She hopes to find a part-time job soon to afford better housing, but can’t actively search for a job as Kevin’s health deteriorates.

She has been searching for alternate housing for years, but it has become increasingly difficult. Fewer properties in Wake County accept vouchers, causing longer waitlists. Rainey said the Housing Authority waitlists in Wake County have more than 15,000 people delicately balanced on the whims of the housing market.

There is little incentive for landlords to subsidize housing for the Section 8 program because building high-end apartments is more profitable. Even complexes that do provide affordable housing are often later tempted to renovate their apartments to attract residents paying market rates, thus displacing low-income residents.

“The Section 8 voucher does not compete with market rates prices,” Rainey said. “It’s just by the grace of God that you do have a landlord who will take them.”

One practice to help cope with the housing shortage is extended hotels and motels — an option currently used by hundreds of people in the county. Jacobs is toying with this option.

“We have more families with children staying in extended motels and hotels than ever in Wake County because we just don’t have the housing,” Rainey said.

What’s being done to address the crisis?

“Part of (the lack of affordable housing), quite honestly, is because we’re doing a lot of things right,” Holmes said. “We have a very good quality of life here, and everyone wants a piece of it.”

But that good quality of life clearly isn’t reaching all populations equally.

Given the magnitude of the crisis, Wake County created a steering committee on affordable housing in September 2016.

Holmes leads the committee. Having grown up in rural eastern North Carolina where affordable housing often equated to trailer homes, she feels personally connected to the housing crisis.

“As someone who’s been impacted by the need for government housing and the need for affordable housing personally…it will be a priority for me,” she said. “We have other projects that aren’t so focused on human basic necessities like a roof over your head and food and clean water, and some of those projects are going to have to take a back seat to things that are more pressing.”

After a year of data collection, the steering committee presented its 20-year affordable housing plan on Oct. 16. The board of commissioners immediately approved the report.

Some strategies the committee will now explore include:

Producing and preserving affordable housing: Several housing apartments have closed this year or are planned to close in a few years. Holmes said if more affordable units are built without preserving existing housing, a net loss in housing could still occur. More funding: Federal funding for housing is expected to decline, so the county will explore options for state and local funding. Special assessment districts could be used to subsidize public projects. Hutchinson sees taxes as an avenue for financing housing projects. He estimates an increase of a penny in the property tax could generate $14 million a year, while a quarter of a cent increase in sales tax could produce $40 million. Accessory dwelling units: These are 500-600 square-foot units attached to existing homes for low-income families to purchase.

Identifying specific funding sources, either through public, private or philanthropic means, is the next big hurdle. But Hutchinson said the board’s unanimous vote to accept the report is progress because it marks housing as a priority.

He said Washington Terrace, an affordable housing complex in Raleigh whose construction began Oct. 24, is the latest example of the county’s commitment to accommodate housing needs.

Overdorf is optimistic given how many groups are joining forces to spark change in housing trends.

“I think now that the city and the county and the municipalities and Wake County are having the conversation, that’s a time for change,” she said. “I believe that we will rise to the challenge of providing [housing] inventory.”

In the meantime, Jacobs perseveres in her search for a better home for her and Kevin.

“That little man in there is what I look at (for inspiration),” she said. “God let me have him. That’s God’s gift, and I’m supposed to take care of that angel — and I’m going to do it.”

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North Carolina man leaps from street protests into politics

In 2016, Braxton Winston stood shirtless with fist raised in front of riot police, defiantly protesting a black man’s fatal shooting by a North Carolina officer. A photograph of that bold protest drew national attention amid a U.S. groundswell against the killings of young African-Americans by police.

Now, a little more than a year later, Winston has taken his passion into politics, winning a seat on the Charlotte City Council.

Winston, who is black, was elected Tuesday to one of four at-large council seats in North Carolina’s largest city. Voters also elected the city’s first African-American woman as mayor, Democrat Vi Lyles. They and others will be sworn in Dec. 4.

Suddenly Winston, instead of challenging government, is part of it.

"It became clear that this is what I have to do," Winston said, "to continue to be an advocate for all of Charlotte, but especially for the marginalized voices in the community."

Winston, 34, who had played football at Davidson College just north of Charlotte, said he had just coached a middle school team to a football victory on Sept. 20, 2016. It was that day when Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by a black Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer during a police search for another person at a town home complex. The shooting would spark days of civil unrest, leading to a death, dozens of arrests and millions of dollars in damage.

No charges were filed against Officer Brentley Vinson, and in August, a citizens review board voted 4-4 in announcing it wouldn’t challenge the department’s finding that the officer’s shooting was justified. In June, the review board said it found a potential error in the police department’s decision, but didn’t elaborate.

Friends of Winston, a father of three known for his activism, told him about the shooting. So, instead of going to his job as a stage hand or heading home to be with his visiting mother from Brooklyn, he went straight to the shooting site as a protest unfolded.

"I was about to leave and I heard Keith Lamont Scott’s daughter running through the crowd and they were taking his SUV out on a flatbed," Winston told The Associated Press in an interview. "Her voice was so shrill. It was like ‘That’s my daddy’s car! Why did you kill my daddy?’" He resolved to stay, adding, "I felt like if there was ever a time that the people had the right to be angry and express that to their government, it was at that time."

Protesters threw rocks and bottles, drawing police tear gas. Winston decided to make his stand. A photographer from The Charlotte Observer captured the image.

"My shirt was off because I tried to make a mask from the tear gas," he recalled. "I knew that the fist was a symbol."

Winston would also join a protest outside Bank of America Stadium the following Sunday as the Carolina Panthers played a game. There he was arrested under Charlotte’s extraordinary event ordinance — an ordinance since repealed — though charges were later dropped.

"I felt like I was targeted," he said.

After the protests subsided, Winston took his concerns to local community leaders and joined others who were dissatisfied and pressing for new leadership willing to effect change.

"As the months started to creep by, the voice that I wanted to (hear) and other people wanted to (hear) wasn’t showing up," he said. "It became a matter of, if not me, then who, and if not now, then when?"

On Thursday, after his election, he attended a meeting at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. He said he was pleased the community put its trust in him.

"All of a sudden, now I’m responsible for administrating these systemic inequities," he told AP, vowing office-holding won’t change him.

"Really, I’m ready to get down to work."

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Democrats can win North Carolina just like Jimmy Carter did in 1976

My earliest memory of participating in politics was Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign. For a Cub Scouts project, I made posters complete with a smiling peanut touting my candidate. I was a 9-year-old growing up in eastern North Carolina. At that point in my life, I had only met two Republicans, and they were married to each other. So, I assumed that my party’s candidate would carry North Carolina every four years.

Little did I know that it would be another 32 years before another Democrat would win my state when Barack Obama carried North Carolina by 14,177 votes in 2008. Obama came close again in 2012. Hillary Clinton looked poised to carry North Carolina in 2016 until the closing days of the campaign. Other than those two races, the only other Democratic presidential candidate who came close in my lifetime was Bill Clinton, who came within 20,000 votes of winning North Carolina in 1992.

What is it going to take for the Democratic nominee to compete in and carry North Carolina in 2020? North Carolina is a microcosm of what Democrats are facing on a national level. The metropolitan areas of the state are voting Democratic while the rural parts of North Carolina have become solidly Republican. A 9-year-old growing up in eastern North Carolina today has a few more opportunities to meet actual Republicans than I did.

While a Democrat can focus on the state’s largest 10 to 15 counties to win statewide, that does not leave much room for error. There has to be a strategy to expand the map into more of North Carolina in order to improve the success rate statewide and to position legislative candidates across the state to pick up seats that can be won by Democrats.

The party must organize everywhere. There are Democrats in all 100 counties. Even in those counties where they are outnumbered, Democrats need a reason to get excited, get involved and go vote. Turnout statewide was crucial in races such as 2008 and 1992, when the margin was 20,000 votes or less. In 2020, some of these voters may not deliver a state House seat, but they could be the difference in delivering 15 electoral votes for the White House.

In order to carry North Carolina in 2020, the Democratic nominee will need to win over some of the voters who chose Trump in 2016. The nominee does not have to abandon Democratic principles and progressive issues to do this. There is a considerable number of Trump voters who split their tickets in 2016. Stop talking down to them and instead focus on what Democrats are going to do to address their problems. Show compassion. Earn their trust and their votes.

The 2020 nominee will also have to appeal to the Democratic base. To win, that candidate cannot forget the importance of African American, Latino and young voters. The nominee must inspire and energize this segment of the Obama coalition in order to win. The campaign will also have to be prepared with a robust voter protection program to remove barriers that too often discourage or prevent base voters from casting their ballots.

In 2016, registered Republicans had stronger turnout than registered Democrats: 75.3 percent for Republicans and 68.5 percent for Democrats. Only 63.1 percent of the fastest growing segment of North Carolina voters, those registered as unaffiliated, showed up to vote. Democrats are going to have to do better with their own and with Independents in 2020. A Democratic nominee running as a change agent against the status quo presents that opportunity.

There is a scene near the end of the documentary “War Room” where James Carville is on the phone with Gary Pearce, who was managing North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt’s 1992 campaign. Despite the fact that Carville knew that Clinton had secured the electoral votes necessary to win, both he and Clinton wanted to put North Carolina in their column. Pearce broke the news that while Hunt won overwhelmingly, Clinton was going to come up short.

Winning North Carolina as a Democrat was meaningful to Bill Clinton. He wanted it in 1992 and believed that Hillary Clinton could prevail in 2016. The Democratic nominee will have to learn from those and other losses to run the type of campaign that inspires Democrats, Independents and yes, even some Republicans, to change the outcome in this key state.

Bruce Thompson II served on the national finance committee for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He served as legal counsel to Kay Hagan’s 2008 Senate campaign and was a North Carolina advisor for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He is now a partner at the Raleigh, N.C., office and Washington, D.C., location of Parker Poe.

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There Are Many North Carolina Housing Possibilities For The Lifestyle You Want

North Carolina housing possibilities run more than just the normal range of standalone detached homes, apartments, condos, and townhouses. If you want a mobile home, there’s plenty of places to plant one. If you’re into the tiny home trend, you have options here too.

This state has a diverse amount of opportunities for where you lay your head at night. If you’re looking for a high rise in an urban area close to jobs, culture, and entertainment, then uptown Charlotte might be just your thing. Even the center city areas of smaller cities, be it Greensboro, Asheville, or one of the cities of the Triangle, can offer the same lifestyle.

Many homes across the state are more suburban, as lots of cities and towns are rather spread out across the terrain. Want quiet life on a cul-de-sac without through traffic and you know your neighbors? There are hundreds of thousands of such homes here in the Tarheel State.

If you’re looking for something a bit more luxury, you have plenty of choices. The state has numerous rivers and lakes with homes on their shores or banks so you can live on the water. Or, you can take advantage of the many hundreds of miles of shoreline on the coast and Outer Banks and have a home right on the ocean.

Want foggy mountain views instead? The Appalachian Mountains flow through the state, some as the Blue Ridge peaks and valleys, and others as part of the Great Smokey Mountains. You can enjoy quiet cabin life tucked away in a valley or even enjoy expansive views from the tops of the ridges as you can look out the window and see the world around you every morning you get up out of bed.

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In North Carolina, Republicans Stung by Court Rulings Aim to Change the Judges

Gov. Roy Cooper in March. The General Assembly in Raleigh reduced the size of the state Court of Appeals, depriving Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, of naming replacements for retiring Republicans.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republicans with a firm grip on the North Carolina legislature — and, until January, the governor’s seat — enacted a conservative agenda in recent years, only to have a steady stream of laws affecting voting and legislative power rejected by the courts.

Now lawmakers have seized on a solution: change the makeup of the courts.

Judges in state courts as of this year must identify their party affiliation on ballots, making North Carolina the first state in nearly a century to adopt partisan court elections. The General Assembly in Raleigh reduced the size of the state Court of Appeals, depriving Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, of naming replacements for retiring Republicans.

And this month, lawmakers drew new boundaries for judicial districts statewide, which critics say are meant to increase the number of Republican judges on district and superior courts and would force many African-Americans on the bench into runoffs against other incumbents.

“Instead of changing the way they write their laws, they want to change the judges,” Mr. Cooper said as he sat in a 19th-century, high-ceiling library at the Executive Mansion, which he has occupied uneasily since succeeding Pat McCrory, a Republican. The legislature has overridden nearly a dozen of his vetoes. The latest was on Monday, when lawmakers sustained a bill to eliminate judicial primary elections, which Mr. Cooper called part of an effort to “rig the system.”

Republicans say their goal is to correct yearslong imbalances from shifts in population, ignored while Democrats held power, and to give voters more information about little-known judges in down-ballot races. “This is about making good policy,” Representative Justin Burr, who unveiled the proposed new judicial maps in a series of Twitter messages one Sunday in June, has said.

North Carolina’s evolution comes in the context of longstanding but increasing politicization of federal courts. Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, blocked President Barack Obama’s appointment of Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court for 10 months until Mr. Obama’s term expired. In the end, President Trump appointed Neil M. Gorsuch to the court instead. On Monday, appearing at the White House with Mr. Trump, Mr. McConnell said he favors ending the tradition of giving senators a veto — known as a “blue slip” — over judges for appellate courts in their home states.

The politicization has trickled down to state courts. Nearly $20 million was spent by outside groups on TV ads in State Supreme Court races last year, often attacking justices’ decisions, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. In North Carolina, $2.8 million in ads flooded a Supreme Court race in which a Democrat unseated a Republican incumbent, shifting the court’s ideological balance. Republican lawmakers shortly after required Supreme Court candidates — who had run without party labels — to appear on a partisan ballot. They later extended the requirement to lower courts.

“We’re the first state since 1921 moving toward partisan elections for judges,” said Representative Marcia Morey, a Democrat who was a district court judge before entering the legislature. “I feel like we’re taking off the black robes and we’re putting on red and blue robes, and does that really serve the interests of justice?”

Since Republicans ended more than a century of Democratic rule in 2010 by capturing both houses of the General Assembly, they have justified their sometimes hardball tactics as being no different from Democrats’ ways in the past. Mr. Cooper’s narrow victory, the General Assembly rammed through laws to strip him of crucial powers.

But longtime observers of North Carolina government say Republicans’ actions are without recent precedent. And court rulings seem to affirm their point. The United States Supreme Court said this year the legislature created illegal racial gerrymanders in drawing election maps for Congress and its own members in 2011. The Supreme Court also sustained a lower-court ruling that North Carolina’s 2013 voter ID law was unconstitutional and discriminated against blacks “with almost surgical precision.”

“Anybody who has been around for a while will tell you what’s happened in the last few years is on an entirely different level than anything done before,” said Michael Crowell, a former associate director of the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina, who is unaffiliated with a party. “The common feature here is that so much of it seems to be designed to manipulate the election process.”

Mr. Cooper has been in hand-to-hand combat with the legislature all year. State courts have blocked some of the laws Republicans passed to take away his powers.

The State Senate’s powerful leader, Phil Berger, a frequent nemesis of the governor’s, said in a statement that the smaller appeals court would be more efficient and stop the governor from filling three vacant Republican seats in what he called a “partisan court-packing scheme.”

“This legislature doesn’t like the courts, doesn’t like the judges on the court,” said Mr. Crowell, who headed a commission on improving the courts in the 1990s. “It wants to change who they are, and they don’t seem to care how they go about it.”

Maps for new districts for the state courts were approved by the State House on a party-line vote this month. During debate, Democrats said 65 percent of African-American judges would be “double-bunked,” or placed in districts facing another incumbent, which would reduce judicial diversity.

In counties with big cities, where most North Carolina Democrats live, the new districts pack urban voters together while carving out separate suburban and rural districts favorable to Republicans.

Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, is an example. Judge Calvin Hill, the chief district court judge there and a Democrat, was placed in a new district composed of mostly rural Republican-leaning voters. Judge Hill is the only African-American on the district court bench in Buncombe County, whose black voters are mostly in Asheville.

“Not only does it put me in a Republican district, it disenfranchises the large part of the African-Americans who would be a voting bloc for me,” Judge Hill said. “If you look at the lines in Buncombe County as it relates to me as an African-American, there’s no question the race issue has come into play.”

North Carolina’s Senate is not expected to take up redistricting until January. Mr. Berger has signaled he favors a different system — ending judicial elections altogether and giving the General Assembly the power to appoint judges.

The new system, which Republicans call “merit selection,” would require an amendment to the state Constitution approved by voters.

“I believe what they’re setting up is a vote on this constitutional amendment in May,” Mr. Cooper said. “It’s not merit selection, it’s partisan selection. It’s injecting even more politics in the process.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Berger pointed out that Mr. Cooper, as a state senator 22 years ago, had voted in favor of an appointment system for judges — at a time when Democrats controlled the Senate and the Executive Mansion.

Mr. Cooper said judicial selection has become much more partisan than it was two decades ago. Representative Darren Jackson, the Democratic leader in the House, said that reflects changes in the legislature over the past decade as well.

“We used to start every session with a lot of nonpartisan bills that would pass 115 to 3,” he said. “Then you’d get into the budget, and it was partisan. Now we start that way on Day 1.”

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No. 21 Notre Dame beats North Carolina 33-10 for 5-1 start

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Notre Dame didn’t have its starting quarterback, and its best runner was limited by dehydration. The Fighting Irish also had to operate in rainy conditions on the road.

And they did just fine. Josh Adams ran for 118 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown, and No. 21 Notre Dame stuck with its strong ground game to beat North Carolina 33-10 on Saturday.

Adams, ranked among the national rushing leaders, carried the ball just 13 times before leaving the game. But Deon McIntosh added 124 yards rushing and two scores for the Fighting Irish (5-1), who won a third straight road game against a power-conference opponent despite not having starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush due to a right foot injury.

"We needed some resolve and some mental toughness," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said, "and we showed that today."

Wimbush was on the sideline as the No. 2 QB behind first-time starter Ian Book. The sophomore, who had thrown just eight passes this season, was 17 of 31 for 146 yards and a touchdown while running for 45 yards. He also threw two interceptions.

"I had some nerves when I first got out there," Book said. "But the 10 guys on that offense with me make my job a lot easier, so I had all the confidence in the world."

Still, the Fighting Irish had no trouble earning their fourth straight win by at least 20 points since a 20-19 loss to Georgia on Sept. 9, the first time they have accomplished that feat since 2005.

Chazz Surratt threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Ratliff-Williams before halftime in the only noteworthy offensive play for the Tar Heels (1-5). North Carolina finished with 265 yards and eight three-and-outs in its second straight lackluster showing.

"It comes down to me as the head coach putting them in a position to be successful," UNC coach Larry Fedora said. "And I haven’t found a way to make that happen yet."

THE TAKEAWAY

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish certainly can lean on their sturdy ground game. They entered ranked second nationally with 20 rushing touchdowns, third in yards per carry (7.14) and seventh in rushing yards per game (301.4). It offered unflashy reliability Saturday as Notre Dame got 341 of its 487 total yards on the ground.

"We probably weren’t as opportunistic as we have been this year offensively," Kelly said. "But when we needed it, we obviously put together a great second half in terms of controlling the clock and running the football."

UNC: The Tar Heels have been in this position before under Fedora, starting 1-5 in 2013 before running off five straight wins and winning a bowl game. But that seems beyond this year’s group, which entered the season with inexperience throughout a traditionally strong offensive unit and has been hammered since by injuries.

"I wouldn’t call it frustration — it’s just us as a team trying to find what the problem is," UNC defensive back M.J. Stewart said. "Obviously there’s a problem. … That’s going to be found soon and the ball’s going to turn around, I have a lot of faith."

MCINTOSH’S DAY

McIntosh, a sophomore, capitalized on his extra work by scoring from 24 and 35 yards out — his third straight game with at least one rushing score.

"I was just running behind my pads, trusting my O-line, reading the blocks and just making the plays," McIntosh said. "I stepped up when my number was called."

STREAK SNAPPED

Notre Dame finally came up empty in the red zone.

The Irish entered the game 22 for 22 on red-zone scoring chances, with 20 of those being touchdowns, and scored on their first two red-zone drives Saturday. But that streak ended with Book’s interception in the third after Notre Dame had reached the UNC 18.

INJURY REPORT

The Tar Heels’ injury list grew again. Starting punter Tom Sheldon left after the first with an unspecified injury, while starting safety Donnie Miles exited in the third with an apparent right arm injury.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish have a bye week before hosting Southern California on Oct. 21.

UNC: The Tar Heels host Virginia on Oct. 14.

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More AP college football: http://ift.tt/1j2XO0u and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Baton Rouge to track post-flood housing recovery as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies project

Baton Rouge will use data mapping to track the restoration of houses, apartment complexes and other structures after the floods of August 2016 sent water pouring through more than 40,000 residential properties in the parish.

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The Latest: Florida, N. Carolina report storm-related deaths

MIAMI (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Irma (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

Authorities say a carbon monoxide poisoning victim is the first death from Hurricane Irma in North Carolina.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said the man was found dead Tuesday in his Henderson County home.

Authorities he was using a generator to power his home after the winds from Irma knocked out electricity.

The man’s name was not released.

———

Authorities say a Florida man has died of carbon-monoxide poisoning after he went to cool off in his car that was running in his garage.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office says 35-year-old Yusdel Moreno Iglesias’ girlfriend found him dead next to his car Monday morning at his Golden Gate Estates home. The report says the girlfriend told deputies Moreno Iglesias had gone out to the garage Sunday night to cool off in the car’s air conditioner and charge some electronic devices because Hurricane Irma had knocked out power. She says she and their daughter went to bed and didn’t realize anything was wrong until the next morning.

Golden Gate Estates is located just north of Marco Island, where Irma made landfall Sunday.

———

Two top Florida Republican state senators say legislators will consider bills during their next session to require nursing homes to have generators.

Sen. Anitere Flores, a Miami Republican, on Friday called the deaths that occurred at a Broward County nursing home this week "unacceptable." She predicted that someone connected the nursing home will "probably go to jail over this."

Flores, who was in the state House at the time, acknowledged that legislators were wrong back in 2006 to reject legislation requiring generators.

But she also said legislators can’t just do a "quick fix" because some generators aren’t strong enough to power air-conditioning.

Flores, who is in charge of the panel that oversees health care spending, said legislators have to make sure that nursing homes keep patients in a safe condition.

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4:45 p.m.

Jose has re-strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic, but there is no current threat to land.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory Friday afternoon that Jose had sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). It was located about 640 miles (1,025 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and about 485 miles (785 kilometers) southwest of Bermuda.

The hurricane was moving northwest at about 10 mph (17 kph), was expected to turn to the north-northwest by late Saturday and toward the north on Sunday.

Some strengthening was forecast through Saturday, with weakening possibly beginning on late Sunday.

The center said swells from the storm could create dangerous surf and rip current conditions in Bermuda, Bahamas, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, as well as the southeastern coast of the U.S.

——

9:20 a.m.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long says the government response to Hurricane Irma has shifted from saving lives to one of beginning the long recovery process.

Long said at a briefing Friday that good progress is being made in getting people back into their homes or into temporary housing such as apartments or hotels. About 10,000 people in Florida remain in emergency shelters.

Federal officials are focused on restoring electrical power and getting gasoline into areas suffering fuel shortages. Long said the lack of electricity has affected fuel supplies because many gas stations haven’t been retrofitted to run their pumps on generator power.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who appeared with Long, urged people still without electricity in Florida and other affected states to be patient. He said the severe damage from Irma’s winds will require that parts of the power grid to effectively be rebuilt.

Perry said 60,000 utility workers from U.S. and Canada are in the disaster area working to get power back on.

———

9:20 a.m.

Schools in one southwest Florida county have announced that classes won’t begin again until Sept. 25.

Lee County schools Superintendent Greg Adkins told local news outlets Thursday that they’d hoped to re-open Monday, but repairs to buildings are taking longer than expected. He said the extra week will give officials more "breathing room" to deal with the challenges it faces in getting schools up and running again.

Adkins said most of the district’s buildings received minor damage from the storm. In some cases, water got into buildings and trees were knocked down. Three schools need significant roof repair. And many of the portable classrooms were either damaged or destroyed. He doesn’t yet have estimates on the repair costs.

He said all teachers and staff should report to school Sept. 22.

8:05 a.m.

More than 80 percent of Floridians have gotten their power restored after Hurricane Irma roared through the state.

State emergency managers reported Friday that 1.92 million homes and businesses still don’t have electricity.

Tens of thousands of customers in southwest Florida and south Florida remain without electricity. Nearly 25 percent of all customers in Miami-Dade County still don’t have power.

Florida Power & Light officials earlier this week said that most customers on Florida’s east coast would have their electricity restored by Sunday evening. They said it would take until Sept. 22 to get electricity back to the majority of customers in southwest Florida.

Tens of thousands of customers in Pinellas County on the state’s west coast still don’t have electricity as well.

———

8:05 a.m.

Authorities say a family of four is being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami.

NBC 6 in Miami reports that a man came home early Friday and found his wife and two children unconscious. Police tell the station that all three eventually woke up and the entire family was taken to Mercy Hospital for treatment of symptoms that included headaches, chest pain and nausea.

The television stations reports that the victims had 20 percent carbon monoxide in their systems. A generator had been left near an open door of the family’s apartment. Police told other tenants to turn off their generators while the investigation continues.

———

8:05 a.m.

The National Parks Service says more than 300 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina saw downed trees and storm damage from Hurricane Irma.

An NPS statement on the parkway’s website says conditions vary across the parkway, and while some sections have reopened, others require more in-depth and technical cleanup to mitigate substantial tree and rock damage.

The Charlotte Observer reports that several sections reopened Wednesday.

———

7 a.m.

A woman has died and three men are in critical condition in a suspected case of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty generator use in Florida’s Palm Beach County.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Albert Borroto said crews responded an unknown medical call Thursday night in Loxahatchee. He says that as firefighters approached the home, their carbon monoxide detectors went off, which warned them of potential danger as they went inside.

Firefighters put on air tanks and found the woman dead inside the home with three critically ill men.

It’s not clear who called 911.

Borroto says the generator wasn’t running when they arrived, but investigators believe it had been running all day. The generator is a large 15,000-watt model that’s capable of powering an air conditioner. It was outside, near the garage, which was left open a few inches. He said that allowed the carbon monoxide to seep inside.

———

7 a.m.

Georgia’s agricultural leaders say Irma’s path through the state has left pecan and cotton crops vulnerable, but could signal a boon for another signature state crop.

State Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black told WABE-FM that 50 percent of Georgia’s pecan crop might be lost, which will have negative ramifications for an already struggling rural economy.

Black says U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor, will tour the state Friday to assess the damage.

The station reports that crop consultants estimate between 25 percent and 50 percent of the cotton yield is gone, as cotton is susceptible to high winds as it nears harvest.

Georgia Agribusiness Council President Brian Tolar expressed concern over the state’s timber industry, as well.

However, Black says the storm’s rain could boost Georgia’s peanut crop.

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3 a.m.

Florida’s post-Irma recovery includes urgent efforts to protect its vulnerable elderly residents after a string of nursing home deaths.

Several nursing homes have been evacuated because of a lack of power or air conditioning, while utility workers raced help to dozens of others still lacking electricity as of Thursday. Homebound seniors found help from charities, churches and authorities.

Meanwhile, detectives were combing through the Hollywood facility where eight elderly residents died amid sweltering heat.

Statewide, 64 nursing homes were still waiting for full power Thursday, according to the Florida Health Care Association. The separate Florida Assisted Living Association said many of its South Florida members lacked electricity. The group was working on a precise count.

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