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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Election Drowning Out Devastation on NC Coast

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Monday, October 24, 2016   

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Thousands of people have been displaced and damage is in the millions of dollars, and yet the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew barely made a blip on the radar of the state's front pages.

People on the ground working to help those in need are concerned the upcoming election is competing for and winning the attention of the populace, while people on the coast struggle to recover. Community action agencies such as the Nash-Edgecombe Economic Development Community Action Agency in Rocky Mount are among those offering help. Gloria Williams-Wilson, community service block grant director with the organization, explained her concerns.

"People are so caught up in trying to make sure that they get out to vote, and all the stuff that you see on TV is about the election,” Williams-Wilson said. "And it's sort of like the flood victims have lost their space which should be the front page of the news every night."

A new distribution center will be set up this week in Edgecombe County, and there are already centers in Robeson, Cumberland and Wayne counties offering supplies such as bedding, clothing and even cell phone chargers to those impacted by the storm. To donate, visit nccaa.net.

Williams-Wilson said her agency is helping distribute donations and resources provided at the federal and state level in the aftermath of the storm. She said that while other relief agencies are also on the ground, her organization is there 365 days a year.

"It would be catastrophic if we were not here. What would happen if we woke up and we no longer existed,” Williams-Willson said of her agency. "Look at the thousands of dollars that would leave North Carolina, that would not be here to help the low-income citizens of North Carolina."

Williams-Wilson said there is growing concern over public health since standing water remains and many items such as mattresses were soaked in flood waters.



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