Good News Friday: This historic Revolutionary War document is returning home to North Carolina

The Halifax Resolves, a crucial Revolutionary War document, announced North Carolina’s plans to declare independence. Plus, a slate of new Helene recovery programs.

The doom scrolling is really dooming these days. I don’t need to remind you all the reasons why the current news cycles are steeped in darkness, as there are plenty of folks who do that all day long on television and on the internet. 

No, I’m here to spread the positivity on Good News Friday, and it may surprise you to learn that there has been no shortage of feel-good stories happening around the state this week. 

Did you hear the one about the teen who did the right thing when he found more than $9,000 in a Chick-fil-A bathroom in Kinston? How about the family of a fallen hero in Knightdale that was gifted a home this week? 

Then there’s Lucy, a precious black lab who’s now the newest recruit for the Fayetteville Fire Department, where she’ll help mitigate stress and anxiety for firefighters and residents at the station and during incident response. 

I’m loading it on thick with the anecdotal, feel-good stories to help push back on whatever’s happening in your social media feeds, but that’s just a warm-up for my deeper dive into this week’s featured stories, which promise to have even broader impacts for North Carolina residents. 

UNC Charlotte announces state’s first full-cycle construction school

Officials at UNC Charlotte on Tuesday announced that a gift from alumni couple Craig and Darla Albert will fund the establishment of the Albert School of Construction in the university’s William States Lee College of Engineering. (Photo via UNC Charlotte)

Officials at UNC Charlotte on Tuesday announced that a gift from alumni couple Craig and Darla Albert will fund the establishment of the Albert School of Construction in the university’s William States Lee College of Engineering. 

According to a release from the university on Tuesday, the Albert School of Construction will be the first in North Carolina to focus on the full capital project lifecycle, preparing students to lead the planning, engineering, and delivery of complex infrastructure projects. 

Craig Albert, who graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1985 (two years behind Darla), is president and chief operating officer of San Francisco-based engineering and construction firm Bechtel Group Inc.

“In every industry that improves people’s lives, whether it’s health care, technology, or energy, none of those innovations reach the world unless we build the infrastructure that supports them,” Craig stated in the release. “Right now, there’s a real shortage of construction capacity. If we want those ambitions to be realized, we have to grow the number of professionals who can build the systems that make it all possible.”

New Helene recovery funds announced at state and federal level

Debris lines the French Broad River on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, weeks after Tropical Storm Helene devastated the area in Marshall, NC. on Sept. 27, 2024. (USA Today via Reuters)

Many residents of western North Carolina (WNC) are still struggling with the effects of Hurricane Helene in fall 2024, and a slate of new initiatives announced by officials at different levels of the government show that they aren’t forgotten.  

First, on Monday, the NC Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Revitalization announced its first funding round for Renew NC’s newly launched Commercial District Revitalization Program, making $40 million in federal funding available for local governments and nonprofits in commercial districts damaged by Hurricane Helene. 

Potential applicants in the 29 counties considered to be most impacted and distressed by Helene can learn more about that funding opportunity at the Renew NC website. 

Also Monday, FEMA announced it will put more than $26 million in funding toward buying out 75 damaged properties in Henderson, Polk and Yancey counties, bringing needed relief to the owners of those homes. 

The buyouts will occur in communities affected by floods or landslides in Burnsville, Green Mountain, Fletcher, Gerton, Tryon, and Saluda, with FEMA promising to award more funding for property buyouts in the weeks ahead. 

The state shares the cost of these buyouts, with FEMA reimbursing at a rate of 75%. However, some NC counties have experienced issues in attempting to claim those federal reimbursements, as you can read about here.  

Finally, Gov. Josh Stein on Thursday announced more than $4 million in state grant funding for 11 local parks and rec projects in western North Carolina through the Helene Recovery Fund. 

“Western North Carolina is beautiful, and visiting its parks is a great way to get out and enjoy all it has to offer,” Stein said in a release. “Outdoor recreation also fosters the community fellowship and resilience exemplified by western North Carolinians during and after Hurricane Helene. I appreciate the North Carolina legislature for appropriating this much-needed funding.”

Read the full release for a look at where each of those grant allocations are going. 

A historic Revolutionary war document, the Halifax Resolves, returns home

At the opening of a new eastern North Carolina visitor center this week, Gov. Josh Stein announced that the Halifax Resolves are returning to the place where the historic Revolutionary War document was made. (Photo via Gov. Josh Stein on Facebook)

On Monday, I wrote about this weekend’s Prelude to Revolution event in Halifax, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the Halifax Resolves. Created by the NC Provincial Congress on April 12, 1776, the Halifax Resolves empowered North Carolina’s representatives to vote for independence from Great Britain while attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

The opening of the visitor center, where officials celebrated a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, doesn’t just mark the anniversary of the Resolves’ signing, it provides a home for the document’s rightful return.

Gov. Josh Stein announced last week that, for the first time in US history, the Halifax Resolves will return to North Carolina. They will be on display in the new Halifax Visitor Center beginning today, remaining there through Oct. 6. 

“With the adoption of the Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first colony to take action to declare our independence from the King,” Stein said at Tuesday’s ribbon cutting. “This new visitor center will help people better understand how our state earned its First in Freedom status. As we welcome the Resolves back home for the first time in 250 years, we are proud to share this story with visitors from near and far through 2026.”