www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-08-25 09:11:00
North Carolina motorists are paying about 30 cents less per gallon for gasoline than the national average, with the state average at $2.86 for unleaded gas and $3.45 for diesel. Prices are slightly lower in the mountains and higher along the coast. Compared to last year, gas and diesel prices have decreased. The state follows EPA rules requiring summer blend fuel until September 15, adding 10-15 cents per gallon. North Carolina has over 8 million combustion engine vehicles and more than 100,000 electric vehicles, with EV charging rates below the national average. Motor fuel taxes fund state transportation projects.
(The Center Square) – As they often have throughout the summer, motorists in North Carolina are paying about 30 cents less than the nation on average for gasoline.
Summer’s unofficial closing of Labor Day weekend arrives this week, with many families already in the state’s tourism meccas. The state average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $2.86, with prices a little lower in the mountains and a tick higher along the 320 miles of ocean shoreline.
A year ago, the state average was $3.11, according to the American Automobile Association. The average for diesel is $3.45, down from $3.64 a year ago.
Nationally, the unleaded gas average is $3.16, down from $3.35 last year, and diesel is $3.68, down slightly from $3.70, respectively.
Per Environmental Protection Agency rules in place from June 1 to Sept. 15, the less volatile summer blend fuel must be sold. Price impact is generally considered 10 cents to 15 cents higher per gallon.
Combustion engine consumers make up more than 8 million vehicle registrations in the nation’s ninth-largest state.
North Carolina’s electric vehicle charging rate average, according to AAA, is 33.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The national average is 36.3 cents per kWh. More than 100,000 zero-emission vehicles are registered in the state. At the start of the calendar year, the state norm was 33.5 cents per kWh and the national was 34.7 cents per kWh.
Among 14 major metro areas, the least expensive average for unleaded gas is in Fayetteville at $2.76. The most expensive area is the Durham-Chapel Hill metro area at $2.92.
Diesel is the most consumer-friendly ($3.29) in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton market.
North Carolina’s 40.3 cents per gallon tax rate for 2025 is topped by California (59.6), Pennsylvania (57.6), Washington (49.4), Illinois (47), Maryland (46.1), and New Jersey (44.9).
Motor fuel taxes in the state fund the Department of Transportation’s highway and multi-modal projects, accounting for more than half of the state transportation resources. The revenues go into the Highway Fund and the Highway Trust Fund.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article provides a straightforward report on gasoline and diesel prices in North Carolina compared to national averages, along with information about electric vehicle charging rates and state fuel taxes. The language is neutral and factual, focusing on data, statistics, and relevant state policies without endorsing or criticizing any political ideology or party. The content neither advances a particular political perspective nor uses charged language, making it a clear example of neutral, factual reporting rather than an article with discernible political bias.
East Carolina University (ECU) aims to reopen Martin General Hospital in Eastern North Carolina as a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH), which handles outpatient and emergency cases only. This plan requires $220 million and stable Medicaid funding, both uncertain amid recent federal Medicaid cuts and North Carolina’s $319 million Medicaid shortfall. Over 40% of Martin County residents rely on Medicaid, making funding critical. Despite mixed signals—ECU’s COO doubts reopening chances—local officials remain committed. The scaled-down hospital would improve emergency access but still require residents to travel 30 minutes for inpatient care. If successful, it could serve as a model for reviving rural hospitals statewide.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press August 25, 2025
East Carolina University is officially pursuing the idea of reopening Martin General Hospital, the shuttered hospital in Eastern North Carolina. But first, it needs $220 million — and for cuts to Medicaid to stop coming.
That’s starting to seem increasingly unlikely.
The uncertainty around the plan for Martin General shows just how vulnerable rural health care access is to the headwinds of policy decisions coming out of Washington and Raleigh.
ECU filed a letter of intent in July to reopen the hospital as a Rural Emergency Hospital, a new type of hospital for the state: one that sees only outpatient, emergent cases. The designation, created in 2021 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, is a new tool to save struggling hospitals or revive closed ones.
But the cuts to Medicaid in Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, now law, are a serious curveball. More than 40% of Martin County residents are enrolled in Medicaid. The program would be a critical funding source for the hospital.
Meanwhile, at the state level, North Carolina’s recently passed minibudget falls $319 million short of fully funding Medicaid. It’s likely that the state will have to reduce what it pays hospitals for services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries.
Hospital and county officials say that as long as the legislature provides the $220 million they need, and a permanent solution to the Medicaid problem is determined, the plan is a go. Those are some big ifs.
“ECU Health and Martin County are committed to partnering together to build a sustainable model for health care in the community,” ECU Health spokesperson Brian Wudkwych told Carolina Public Press.
“While the nonbinding letter of intent represents an important milestone, there are many complex rural health care challenges that must be solved to make the proposed rural health care model a reality in Martin County. These challenges include navigating new federal health care legislation as well as securing vital public funding needed to build a long-term, sustainable regional system of care.”
In a break from the official line, ECU’s chief operating officer Brian Floyd told the New York Times that “the chances of reopening the hospital are low” due to the loss of Medicaid expansion. But Wudkwych and Dawn Carter, a health care consultant with the county, maintain that both parties fully intend to move forward with the plan.
The signals are mixed, to say the least. For Martin County, however, the confusion hasn’t crushed its dream of restoring the hospital.
“Martin County has, for the last two years, faced obstacles one after another, and worked tirelessly to get around and through all these different issues,” Martin County attorney Ben Eisner told CPP.
“Now we’ve got these Medicaid issues and federal headwinds. This little county is one of the smallest, most rural, poorest in the state. It has risen to the occasion anytime something’s been thrown its way. This is the little engine that could.”
ECU’s proposal would create a scaled-down version of the hospital. Rural Emergency Hospitals, or REHs, are not designed to provide inpatient services that would require overnight stays — think hip replacements, C-sections or appendectomies. For that kind of care, Martin County residents would still need to travel 30 minutes to the nearest full-service hospital, ECU Health Beaufort in “Little” Washington. Part of the $220 million ECU is asking for would go towards expanding capacity there.
CMS doles out $3 million to each REH each year in order to keep their doors open. They also receive higher reimbursement rates for each patient visit.
Due to the age and condition of the building, the new REH will be relegated to a corner of the old hospital. For residents of Martin County, the reopening of the hospital in any capacity would be a major boon.
“The closure has been a huge hit to the county in terms of lack of emergency care and transport times and strain on our EMS,” Eisner said.
“There’s the medical part of it, then there’s the economic part of it. ECU Health is a major economic engine in the eastern part of the state. This would have downstream effects of hiring new providers and staff. It could be really big for the region.”
If all goes well, Martin General would become North Carolina’s first Rural Emergency Hospital, clearing a path forward for other struggling hospitals across the state.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The content focuses on the challenges of rural healthcare access, emphasizing the negative impact of Medicaid cuts and the importance of public funding to support vulnerable communities. It highlights concerns about policy decisions at both federal and state levels, particularly those associated with conservative-led initiatives, while advocating for sustained government support. This perspective aligns with a center-left viewpoint that prioritizes social welfare and government intervention to address healthcare disparities.
SUMMARY: Experts urge parents to actively address online safety with their children by understanding what content kids encounter most and how to keep them protected. Stacey Garrett from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children highlights rising risks, including online enticement and exploitation involving generative AI. In 2024, the center’s Cyber Tip line received nearly 30 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. Parents should monitor their kids’ online interactions and limit shared personal information. While technological tools and platform restrictions help, regular, trusting conversations are essential for children to feel safe discussing their online activities and for parents to stay informed.
As students return to classrooms across the region, experts are urging parents to prioritize conversations about online safety.
Nearly a year after Tropical Storm Helene devastated Asheville, rebuilding efforts remain slow and challenging, especially in the River Arts District (RAD) and Biltmore Village. Major properties like Riverview Station and Foundation Studios suffered extensive flood damage, with cleanup ongoing and reconstruction delayed by financial and regulatory hurdles. While some businesses, including Hi-Wire Brewing and Corner Kitchen, have reopened, many others face uncertain futures due to insurance issues, funding shortages, and stricter building codes. The city has issued numerous permits, signaling progress, but full recovery is expected to take years. Owners emphasize determination despite the long, complex path ahead.
In the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene’s destruction last year, business owners’ optimism about rebuilding ran high in Asheville, even in the face of the enormity of the task ahead.
But 11 months later, that optimism has evolved into tempered determination for many, and a realization that rebuilding will encompass years, not months.
Throughout the city, which sustained particularly heavy damage in the River Arts District and Biltmore Village, adjacent to the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers respectively, it’s a similar story: Rebuilding is going slower than expected.
Helaine Greene, owner of the Riverview Station property in the RAD, knows this all too well.
At two stories and 110,000-square feet, Riverview Station looms large in the district and maybe even seemed invulnerable to major damage from a flood. But Helene caused the French Broad to leap its bank and crest at nearly 25 feet, high enough to swamp even the second floor of Riverview Station, home to hundreds of artists and craft makers.
Helaine Greene, right, owner of the Riverview Station building, stands with her daughter, Jenny Rawlings, in the River Arts District days after Tropical Storm Helene. “We’re not as far along as we had hoped at this point, but we’ve been making steady progress over a period of time,” Greene said recently of the building’s cleanup. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
“We’re not as far along as we had hoped at this point, but we’ve been making steady progress over a period of time,” Greene said. “It’s a very large building, and there was a lot of cleanup, because it was 110,000 square feet.”
That cleanup includes mucking the brick structure out, pressure washing, hauling off destroyed materials and some remediation.
“We haven’t really started on the rebuilding yet,” Greene said late last month. “We do have permits, but it’s just slower than we had anticipated.
“We’re thinking that (a reopening date) might be almost a year from now — next spring, or maybe it would be June or July of next year,” Greene said. “It’s further out than where we are.”
Even those business owners with less damage have had to decide whether to rebuild, and if so, how to finance it – a complex calculation that often translates into a slower rebuild timeline.
“Nothing is going to be the same that it was. It’s a long slog,” Mark Matheny, director of the city’s Development Services Department, said. “People, as we all know — and we’re feeling (it) — people are just tired of having to deal with what the storm did. But the reality of it is, it’s a decade.”
Rebuilding in the River Arts District
About 80 percent of the RAD, which follows the French Broad from Amboy Road to the north of I-240, sustained damage. A century-old former industrial area, the RAD became home to hundreds of artists over the past two decades, as well as dozens of bars, restaurants and other businesses, drawing both locals and tourists.
Eddie Dewey, a partner in Foundation Studios LLC, which owns 11 buildings in the RAD, mostly along the Foundy Street corridor, said rebuilding is taking longer than the group had hoped. All of Foundation Studios’ buildings took on water and sustained serious damage, and one — the former Plēb wine bar location — got swept away.
All of Foundation Studios’ buildings took on water and sustained serious damage, and one — the former Plēb wine bar location — got swept away. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
But, Dewey says, Foundation Studios has a bold plan for this year and beyond: “We are building back everything we have.”
Foundation Studios’ buildings comprise 127,000 square feet of space, and Dewey said the goal is to have “about 70 percent of our square footage (open) in the next six months.”
Four buildings should be up and running this fall, perhaps by Sept. 27, the storm’s anniversary, Dewey says, “and if we can do that, we’re gonna be pretty happy.”
Those four are the Marquee art and craft gallery at 36 Foundy St., Wedge Brewing in 5 Foundy St., the Foundation Woodworks building at 17 Foundy, and the former Skate 828 building at the southern end of the strip of buildings. The popular 12 Bones Smokehouse will not rebuild in the building it shared with Wedge, but its south location in Arden is open.
It will take longer to rebuild Foundation Studios’ other seven buildings, Dewey says, perhaps as much as two and a half years.
Dewey said Foundation Studios faces $6 million to $7 million in damages just to its Foundy Street properties, and so far it’s not received any federal dollars to help with reconstruction. It did receive about $500,000 in flood insurance, which ended up being about the cost of the debris cleanout.
Wedge Brewing was heavily flooded, along with the rest of the River Arts District. The building may reopen this fall, perhaps by Sept. 27, Helene’s anniversary, the building’s owners say // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Still, Dewey says, its buildings are in better condition now than they were in 2015 when the partnership bought the then-neglected properties, which had also seen flood damage in 2004.
Every property owner has a different story to tell about how they’ve navigated complicated financial situations, flood insurance and securing money to rebuild, Dewey says. Property owners also have to know if their building meets the “50 percent rule” for rebuilding: If a commercial property sustained more than 50 percent damage in the flood, it would have to be rebuilt to the latest, more stringent — and expensive — state building codes.
“There’s places where it makes sense to come back and, and there’s people that have the money to do it in front of the curve,” Dewey said. “And there’s people that need help to get back.”
A snapshot of major damage
Matheny, the city Development Services Department director, said his office started doing damage assessments within days of the Sept. 27 storm.
“We started that the first week, and we did two rounds of assessments,” Matheny said. “We ended up evaluating 1,615 buildings that we tagged.”
Many of these buildings had minor damage. Most that were flooded were in commercial districts while residences tended to have damage from fallen trees.
By the end of last month, the city had gotten a good snapshot of how many buildings sustained major damage.
“It’s just less than 50 buildings that we can identify as ‘unsafe buildings,’” Matheny said. The city restarted its enforcement procedures for these buildings this month, but Matheny noted that the process mostly requires property owners to secure the building and grounds, not necessarily demolish the structures.
Building permit applications have been steady, an indication of the desire to rebuild.
As of July 30, the city had issued 945 permits since Helene, with 469 of those commercial and 476 residential. The total value on the commercial side stood at $74 million, while the residential value came in at $17 million.
A view of the Biltmore Village area, shortly after Tropical Storm Helene hit the region. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Some business owners, especially those in historic districts like Biltmore Village, have said the rebuilding process has been complicated by conflicting information about building code requirements. For one business owner, who asked not to be identified for fear of jeopardizing their permitting process, applying for a waiver of the 50 percent rule for historic structures “became so onerous that we rebuilt without seeking this variance.”
Despite the slow pace of recovery, local residents likely have spotted some rebuilding success stories:
For instance, Hi-Wire Brewing reopened its beer garden in the RAD, and most businesses in the upper RAD above the railroad tracks, have remained open and the area is thriving. Numerous events have been held in the upper RAD to showcase the work of artists who were displaced.
Most Biltmore Village businesses say they’ll return
In Biltmore Village, the Grand Bohemian Hotel reopened in early May, and Cava, a fast-casual restaurant built on a slightly higher elevation, was able to return to business in mid-June.
In all, 17 businesses have reopened in Biltmore Village, according to historicbiltmorevillage.com, a business association that tracks openings on its page. The area contains about 50 businesses, mostly in the century-old homes constructed for workers building the Biltmore Estate, homes that were transformed into businesses last century. The historic village area is in a flood plain.
But the “greater village area” hosts another 100 or so enterprises, including fast food restaurants, chains and retail spots.
Kara Irani, director of public relations for the association, said it’s been pleasantly surprised by businesses that have been able to get back up and running, as well as interest from business owners thinking about a new location in the village. She talked to Asheville Watchdog recently inside New Morning Gallery, an upscale art gallery that flooded but reopened in May after an extensive cleanup.
“Right now, we have confirmed at least 65 to 70 percent of the businesses who were here prior to the storm are coming back, which is fabulous,” Irani said.
For that 30 to 35 percent who aren’t returning, reasons run the gamut.
“If there were people who had businesses but they didn’t own the property, then that’s a very common thing for those businesses to be looking for another location, because they don’t have to worry about what the rebuild is going to look like,” Irani said. “The property owners are kind of dictating what that looks like.”
Some business owners lost everything and cannot financially reboot their business, especially those who had stocked up for a busy fall season last year and then got wiped out by Helene. Some had no flood insurance, and others lacked the capital to rebuild.
“And then I think with the other folks, some people are not coming back into the village just because they don’t want to be hit with a flood again, and I totally understand that,” Irani said.
Overall, rebuilding is in what Irani calls “phase two of the cold, hard reality.
“Initially, it is a lot of paperwork and searching for money and trying to figure out those immediate needs,” Irani said. “And now we’re starting to look at what the mid- to long-term implications of all of these things are.”
If more funding is uncertain for businesses, and the owners face an arduous rebuilding path, they have to make tough choices, Irani said, including, “Am I going to go further into debt to try to keep this moving forward? When am I going to actually be able to get the equipment I need? When am I going to be able to get the permitting?
“It’s all of those pieces that have to come together at the right time to enable them to even open their doors, much less start capturing revenue again,” Irani said.
One major building that’s unlikely to open again is Biltmore Station, formerly a 19-unit, nearly 62,000-square-foot retail building that housed the Ichiban Japanese restaurant, a Jimmy John’s and other retail businesses before the storm. // Starr Sariego
One major building that’s unlikely to open again is Biltmore Station, formerly a 19-unit, nearly 62,000-square-foot retail building that housed the Ichiban Japanese restaurant, a Jimmy John’s and other retail businesses before the storm. Dewey is a partner in a group that owns the building (separate from the RAD partnership), which sits on 3.5 acres adjacent to the Swannanoa River.
“(With) Biltmore Station, we’re not rebuilding it,” Dewey said. “We’re talking with the city and the state for a flood mitigation site.”
The Swannanoa River in that area tends to generate “nuisance flooding” almost every year, and it has flooded the building severely twice, in the major flood of 2004 and again last year.
“We just don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” Dewey said of rebuilding there.
So first, they’re looking at mitigation through a federal program in which the government may buy a property at pre-storm market value, as long as the property owner agrees not to rebuild there. Nothing is set yet, but mitigation is the first choice, as that could include letting the property revert to a natural state or be used for parking.
“We are in the mitigation program now, and we’re looking at that,” Dewey said. “We’re also looking at redevelopment, up and out of the floodplain. The absolute last scenario we would do is rebuild what we have.”
About two blocks from the Swannanoa, another Biltmore Village mainstay, the Corner Kitchen restaurant, reopened Aug. 11.
Days after Helene, debris removal and renovation was underway at Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village. In this photo taken in October, a workman traverses the entrance, where the restaurant’s original door from 1895 survived intact. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Partners Kevin Westmoreland and Joe Scully say it has not exactly been a smooth — or inexpensive — journey. And they feel luckier than most business owners, partly because they have another restaurant downtown, Chestnut, that has continued to provide revenue, and partly because they had money in savings and had a good contractor available to start work immediately on the rebuilding.
Corner Kitchen staff at work Saturday during the lunch hour. The restaurant reopened Aug. 11. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
The Corner Kitchen, located at 3 Boston Way, occupies a two-story former home built in 1905 as part of George Vanderbilt’s original Biltmore Village. The restaurant flooded to the second floor, incurring about $600,000 in damage and a revenue loss of $1.5 million.
Within three weeks of the flood, Westmoreland and Scully filed two applications for Small Business Administration loans, one for the Corner Kitchen, one for Chestnut.
“The first part of that was as smooth as silk,” Westmoreland said in late July. But things have grown more complicated.
“We’re still waiting on about a third of the SBA loan money that we’ve been approved for,” he said. “It has a lot of moving parts that maybe a bank wouldn’t have, so we’re 10 ½ months into the process and still waiting on the last part of that funding.”
Working with their flood insurance company was even more aggravating. It took seven and a half months to get that money in hand.
The partners declined to identify their insurance company, which they said wanted pictures of equipment that was destroyed or had literally floated away.
“Joe and I tended to be as calm as possible,” he said, with more than a hint of sarcasm.
But most Biltmore Village have not reopened, and that’s hurting foot traffic. Westmoreland thinks it’ll be next year before most are back.
“We are starting to see more activity,” Westmoreland said. “Today we pointed to all the buildings they’re working on actively — four or five we can see from the front porch. People are inside rebuilding interiors, so that’s a great sign.”
Benjamin Mitchell, vice president of administration for Biltmore Property Group, also serves as president of the board of the Historic Biltmore Village Association. He said this summer that his company’s property at 10 Brook St., which houses multiple national chains, is coming back strong.
“They’ve all drawn permits and have been working for quite some time,” Mitchell said. “The major nationals are a little bit ahead of the curve. They have lots of stores. They have dedicated construction teams and things like that. So they’re getting out there in the lead.”
When the Brook Street building was constructed in 2007, it was elevated about 10 feet above the river level as a flood prevention measure, with the ground level being parking.
But after the Swannanoa crested at over 27 feet, the second level shops had more than 8 feet of water inside. Every shop had to be gutted down to its studs.
The earliest the national chain stores will reopen will be September, with October being a more realistic goal, Mitchell said. The fall is Asheville’s highest tourist visitation time, and the holiday season also remains vital.
“I would think that anything holiday (related) is critical to their bottom lines, especially in a grand opening scenario and all that,” Mitchell said. “But that’s a moving target. They’re just going to take their time and not get ahead of themselves. Like I think Williams Sonoma says, ‘Coming back fall or winter holiday 2025.”
With the mom-and pop-stores in the village, “it’s a mixed bag. It’s just everybody’s individual story on that,” Mitchell said.
“Some of them, I think, are still dealing with insurance companies or the lack thereof, and trying to figure out if, ‘Am I ready to retire or whatever?’” Mitchell said.
Dewey, the Foundation Studios partner, said rebuilding likely will continue to take more time than anyone initially hoped, but now that a clearer picture has emerged, so have more realistic timelines.
“I think the big statement for us is, you know, we’re leaning in, we’re coming back, We’re trying to open businesses and get folks back to work,” Dewey said. “And that’s been our story for the last eight months, and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.”
A sign on the badly damaged Moe’s Southwest Grill building indicates the Biltmore Village restaurant will not be returning. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Irani takes heart in small steps, like the sign on the badly damaged Moe’s Southwest Grill building that says it’s slated for demolition, or the ongoing reconstruction of the upscale McDonald’s in the middle of the village, which featured a grand piano inside and a pebbledash exterior that matched the historic architecture.
While the village’s bread and butter is its historic buildings, Irani knows that the area is greater as a whole, and visitors and locals want to see all of it return to something resembling the “before Helene” period. She notes with a smile that the Hardee’s burger restaurant “just quietly opened,” another step toward that normalcy.
Irani said the message she’s hearing from merchants and business owners isn’t one of giving up but rather, “What’s next?” More businesses opening will translate into more visitors for all of the village, she said.
“The more that people see that Biltmore Village is open, the more they’re going to want to come back and ask the question that everyone asks when they come in New Morning Gallery, which is, ‘How high was the water?’” Irani said with a laugh.
“Yeah, it actually got up to two inches beneath the ceiling downstairs.”
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Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This content provides a detailed, factual report on the rebuilding efforts in Asheville following Tropical Storm Helene. It focuses on business owners’ challenges, city department responses, and insurance complexities without advocating for political ideologies, policies, or partisan viewpoints. The tone is neutral and informative, emphasizing local recovery and community resilience rather than political debate, placing the content squarely in the centrist category.
