electrician in Matthews, NC

When you talk about developing the tight end position, Notre Dame is right near the top of the list. They have a strong claim as “Tight End U” and it is hard to argue against it. Obviously the development of talent is paramount but the Irish staff has also done as well as anyone identifying and acquiring talent, including most recently with All-American tight end Michael Mayer.

At the end of December, Notre Dame extended an offer to Hiram (Ga.) High School 2024 tight end Walter Matthews, who is one of the more physically gifted tight ends in the 2024 recruiting class. The Georgia standout is fully aware of the program’s lineage of putting out elite level players at the position.

“I was talking with Coach (Gerad) Parker and at the end of the conversation, he offered me a scholarship,” Matthews said. “I was very excited to get one from Notre Dame because of the history of the program and the amount of tight ends they’ve developed over the years for the next level.”

When you pop on the junior film, it is easy to see what makes Matthews such a hot commodity on the recruiting trail. Long limbed and athletic, he is a mound of clay that every offensive staff would love to work with. With that much raw talent, there are several top programs who have been keeping close ties on the talented athlete.

“My recruitment has been going good so far,” Matthews explained. “The top three schools that are recruiting me the hardest are definitely Florida, Michigan, and Virginia Tech right now.

“Some things that are important for me when selecting a school are the coaches and the campus environment,” he continued. “Those things are what matters the most to me.”

Obviously Notre Dame is hoping to get into the conversation with Matthews moving forward. The staff is clearly interested in bringing in a second tight end to pair with North Carolina star Jack Larsen, making Matthews a player to keep a close eye on.

In ten games as a junior, Matthews hauled in 20 receptions for 425 yards and eight touchdowns. He led the Hiram squad in both receiving yards and touchdowns for what is a heavy running team. Matthews also had a quarterback hurry and pass breakup in very minimal opportunities on defense.

The 6-7, 250-pound tight end is a consensus four-star recruit across every major recruiting platform. Matthews ranks as high as the No. 80 overall player and the No. 8 athlete in the 2024 recruiting class according to On3. He is ranked similarly on the ESPN ranking, sitting as the No. 81 overall player and the No. 1 athlete in the class.

Matthews has collected some incredibly impressive offers thus far. Some of his notable offers include the Irish, Ohio State, Florida, Miami, Michigan, USC, Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Kentucky, Arkansas, Purdue, and Georgia Tech among others.

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Many of the people who applied for help to rebuild their homes after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence say they’re still waiting for the state to come through and build new houses as promised.

On Wednesday, the head of North Carolina’s Office of Recovery and Resilience, along with the secretary for the Department of Public Safety, testified before a North Carolina General Assembly committee.

“The lack of urgency that has been performed since all this began and trying to get these people back in their homes has been going on, this is totally unacceptable,” said Sen. Brent Jackson, who sits on the committee tasked with investigating the recovery program.

What You Need To Know

Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in October 2016, bringing more than a foot of rain across much of eastern North Carolina. Rivers in the southeast part of the state swelled, some hitting record flood levels.

Two years later, Hurricane Florence dumped more than 20 inches of rain on much of this corner of the state. The rainfall total in Wilmington topped 30 inches. Record flooding cut off Wilmington and caused billions in damage.

The state Office of Recovery and Resiliency has until 2025 to spend federal money meant for recovery from Hurricane Matthew and 2026 for Florence. The money is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, separate from the disaster money that poured into the state from FEMA after the storms.

The program has been plagued with problems. A private vendor was handling much of the work from the state, but people complained of high turnover with case managers and delays that lasted for years.

“This is in state hands as of Tuesday morning,” said Laura Hogshead, head of the Office of Recovery and Resiliency. She faced tough questions from legislators Wednesday who wanted to know why, years after the hurricanes, more than 3,000 people still don’t have new homes.

“Eight-hundred-ninety-nine people are back in their homes, and our team knows that they need to pick up that pace,” said Department of Public Safety Sec. Eddie Buffaloe, who ultimately oversees the ReBuildNC recovery program.

More than 100 people have been in temporary housing, like hotel rooms for more than a year, legislators said. That’s left taxpayers with a $500 to $600,000 a month tab, Jackson said.

Hogshead told legislators the program has faced a number of major problems, including a shortage of general contractors, difficulty finding labor and supply chain issues. Before the pandemic, she said, the program was building about 30 houses a month. That number dropped over two years, bottoming out at just seven houses a month earlier this year, she said.

But that number is climbing again, with about 17 new houses a month right now. The office has been able to make some changes and has doubled the number of general contractors it’s working with to 12.

Construction is also hitting bottlenecks with things like inspections, Hogshead said.

“The counties are overwhelmed by the number of inspections and the number of permits we require,” she told the committee.

“I drive around in my district, and I go to those homes that say ‘under construction’ and nothing going on in any of them,” said Sen. Jim Perry“I drive around in my district, and I go to those homes that say ‘under construction’ and nothing going on in any of them,” said Sen. Jim Perry, who represents Lenoir and Wayne counties. “I’m extremely disappointed.”

He said the program needs to be completing more like 60 homes a month to clear the backlog before the clock runs out on the federal money.

Now that the program is back, being run by state employees and not with a contractor, the pace of construction is picking up, Hogshead said.

“It’s not enough,” she said. “We continue to make progress.”

“If you were in the private sector, I don't know any employer who would keep you in your job,” Sen. Danny Britt said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Others on the committee thanked Hogshead for coming and facing tough questions.

Facing questioning like she did Wednesday, Hogshead said, was “part of the job.”

There are currently more than 300 people receiving temporary rental assistance, according to the committee, and more than 100 of those have been in temporary housing for more than a year.

At the committee’s last hearing in September, members said they wanted those people back in their homes in time for Christmas. A handful have gotten new houses since then, but most have not.

Many people report waiting years to get a new home built. Many are still waiting, according to comments submitted to a legislative committee over the fall.

“I have been displaced and squeezed into my family home for four years. I had nowhere to go after Hurricane Florence destroyed my home. I have been in the Rebuild holding pattern since August 2020,” one woman from Carteret County wrote to the committee.

“It has been a nightmare trying to get my mother’s house fixed,” a Craven County man said. The comments were submitted along with about 50 others to a committee at the North Carolina General Assembly investigating problems with the Rebuild program and why so many people have had to wait years to get assistance.

A report from the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, released in April, found that the Department of Public Safety and the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency sent out hundreds of millions in state funds with limited oversight.

“DPS’s limited monitoring procedures did not ensure that external recipients were spending approximately $502 million of Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds in accordance with Hurricane Florence Recovery legislation,” the April 2022 audit states.

“Without independent verification, DPS could not detect misuse of the funds that could occur due to misunderstandings, errors, or omissions,” according to the audit.

Hogshead said her office is making progress, by bringing the operations back into state government, and that they’ve been able to pick up the pace. The office has also gotten an exemption to the state’s 30-day pay rule, allowing them to pay contractors faster. She said that’s made it easier to attract more general contractors and get more crews to work building homes.

Habitat for Humanity's critical home repair program focuses on fixing severe health and safety issues in homes.

MINT HILL, N.C. — Residents in need of severe house repairs could soon get assistance from Habitat for Humanity, thanks to a partnership with the town of Mint Hill.

On Thursday, Mint Hill officials announced that the town was establishing a partnership with Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity (GMHFH). The partnership establishes $25,000 to be allocated for limited-income Mint Hill residents to receive help from GMHFH Critical Home Repair Program.

The program focuses on fixing crucial health and safety issues in homes, such as lack of heat, electrical hazards, plumbing issues, and accessibility modifications.

“We are so grateful to have the opportunity to partner with the Town of Mint Hill to provide services that help make homes safer, drier, and warmer, along with accessibility modifications that allow seniors the opportunity to age in place”, said Natisha Rivera-Patrick, GMHFH President & CEO.

In order to qualify for the program, Mint Hill residents must meet income guidelines, own a home, and be current on all taxes and payments. Funds are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To apply, Mint Hill residents can visit here, or pick up an application at GMHFH's location on East John Street in Matthews.

Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Stitcher || Google Podcasts

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Lawsuit involves a disabled man sedated against his will after he complained his cell wasn’t compliant with federal law.

The system that allows people incarcerated in North Carolina’s prisons to register complaints about their treatment is a confusing and confounding process — so opaque it’s questionable whether they can even access it, according to a ruling issued last week by the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The facts of the case, wrote Judge Robert B. King for a unanimous three-judge panel, suggest the incarcerated person at its center “faced ‘a real world ‘Catch 22,’ a dilemma from which there is no escape, one in which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem.’”

The suit deals with North Carolina’s “prison grievance procedure.” It’s ostensibly the method for incarcerated people to complain internally about their conditions of confinement. But the process is riddled with contradictions, a Kafkaesque labyrinth of overlapping rules and deadlines, according to the 20-page court ruling.

The first grievance: the need for a Kosher diet

At issue was a series of grievances filed in 2015 and 2016 by Matthew James Griffin.

Shortly after arriving at Central Prison in Raleigh, Griffin filed a written grievance on Oct. 27, 2015, requesting to be placed on a Kosher diet. Officials accepted the complaint for review two days later. They put him on the diet on Oct. 30, “favorably resolving” the grievance before authorities gave him a written response.

Timeline of events in the case of Matthew James Griffin: 2015 OCTOBER 27 Griffin files grievance to be put on a Kosher diet 30 Officials place Griffin on Kosher diet but didn’t formally document grievance had been resolved NOVEMBER 25 Griffin complained he had yet to be placed in an ADA-compliant cell 26 Nurse tells Griffin to stop complaining or he will be involuntarily medicated 27 Prison staff involuntarily medicate Griffin; he files a grievance 30 involuntary medication grievance returned because system shows Kosher diet grievance still pending 2016 JANUARY 4 Griffin files grievance alleging medical staff failed to treat skin condition 6 Grievance accepted even though Kosher grievance still in system 12 Skin care grievance denied FEBRUARY 26 Griffin refiles involuntary medication grievance APRIL 29 Involuntary medication grievance rejected as being “untimely”

And yet, King wrote that “for unknown reasons” the grievance was never formally removed from the system. That omission would have significant ramifications, Griffin learned over the next several months.

Prison officials blame Griffin for failing to dismiss it, but King said it’s not clear what ability, if any, the incarcerated have to unilaterally dismiss their own grievances. “The grievance procedure does not contemplate such an option,” King wrote.

The second grievance: involuntary sedation

Seriously visually impaired, Griffin is at increased risk of falling and hurting himself. Prison staff had directed he be given a handicapped-accessible cell, but there wasn’t one yet available. Officials placed him in a temporary prison hospital cell until he could get one compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. After three days, on Nov. 25, Griffin started complaining about the lack of an ADA-compliant cell.

That annoyed corrections staff.

On Nov. 26, Nadine Bryant, a nurse at Central Prison who is named in the suit, warned Griffin, “If you continue to wake us up to complain about the ADA I’m going to have you involuntarily medicated.”

Griffin kept complaining.

Bryant made good on the threat.

In the early morning of Nov. 27, Bryant and several other prison staff entered Griffin’s cell. They forced him to the floor and sedated him against his will. Several hours later, Griffin awoke in his cell, unsupervised, and fell, striking his head and dislocating his shoulder.

Griffin filed a written grievance over the involuntary sedation later that same day. Prison officials soon returned that grievance because his Kosher diet complaint was still pending — “still on the books yet seemingly forgotten,” in Judge King’s words, despite that Griffin was in fact on a Kosher diet.

Because the Kosher diet grievance had never formally been resolved by a written response or forwarded to a Step 2 appeal, the prison’s “one-grievance-at-a-time” rule barred Griffin from filing the sedation grievance or any further grievances, King wrote.

The third grievance: Inadequate care for a skin condition

But inexplicably, a third grievance did go forward.

Griffin filed a new complaint on Jan. 4, 2016, alleging a skin condition hadn’t been adequately treated. That grievance was accepted for review, even though prison officials had taken no formal, documented action on the Kosher diet grievance.

“At that point Griffin had a pending grievance — the Kosher diet grievance — that should have made him ineligible to file another. Nonetheless, prison officials accepted the skincare grievance, King wrote, apparently violating their own procedure.”

The ruling noted that prison officials have not explained why they accepted the grievance about inadequate skin care alongside the one involving the Kosher diet, yet not the sedation grievance.

How the prison grievance process works:

Incarcerated people must file a grievance in writing within 90 days of whatever happens that gives them reason to complain. After the grievance is submitted, corrections officials have three days to determine whether it should be accepted for review or rejected, based on its compliance with the rules.

If it is accepted, prison officials must provide a formal written response to the aggrieved within 15 days, fulfilling “Step 1” of the procedure. If the incarcerated isn’t satisfied with the decision from Step 1, they can appeal, initiating “Step 2.”

During this stage, prison officials must review the pending grievance and give another written response, this time within 20 days of the date of appeal. An important caveat: an incarcerated person cannot have more than one grievance pending at or before the Step 2 review. If he has a grievance in the system, he must wait for it to be resolved, or for it to pass the Step 2 stage, before he files another grievance. “Step 3” comes if the incarcerated is unsatisfied with the result of Step 2.

This is the final stage of the grievance procedure, requiring a review by the state’s Secretary of Public Safety. If officials don’t respond to the incarcerated within the allotted timeframes of each stage of the process, that silence counts as a denial, which the incarcerated can then appeal.

This is how the process works in principle. It is not always how it works in practice, as Griffin’s experience shows.

Prison officials denied the skin care grievance in writing in early January 2016. Griffin appealed, advancing it to Step 2. Prison officials failed to reply within 20 days, instead issuing a written response two weeks past the deadline, in February.

At the same time, prison officials advanced the Kosher diet grievance to Step 2, which had been stagnant in the system for three and a half months, due to the “timeframe violation.”

By February, Griffin had appealed the Kosher diet and skin care grievances to Step 3. As of Feb. 26, Griffin had no grievances pending that would have prohibited him from resubmitting his involuntary sedation grievance.

But the day prior — that being Feb. 25 — was precisely 90 days after Central Prison officials had involuntarily sedated Griffin, King wrote.

That 90-day mark was important because according to the prison’s grievance procedure, there is that is the length of the filing limitation. “Indeed, when Griffin resubmitted that grievance on April 29, 2016, it was rejected as untimely,” King wrote.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeals panel pointed out several inconsistencies with the grievance procedure and Griffin’s experience. For one, prisoners must file appeals in writing on a specific form. Prison officials, in turn, return that form to the prisoner with their decision.

However, King noted, there’s nothing in the grievance procedure that explains how an aggrieved person can get a blank version of that form if prison officials do not respond to the grievance in a timely manner. In other words, how are incarcerated people supposed to appeal if they can’t obtain the proper form?

King also noted the grievance procedure contradicts itself. It allows for an automatic appeal if prison officials don’t respond within prescribed time limits, or if an incarcerated person refuses to sign the form indicating their desire to appeal.

“Those provisions thus suggest that there is no need for an inmate to appeal when prison officials fail to respond to his grievance, because the grievance will automatically proceed to the next Step,” King wrote. “As the facts of this case illustrate, however, that is not always what occurs.”

The prison officials named in the suit blame Griffin. They argued he could have pursued other administrative remedies: “He cannot be excused for failing to help himself.” They contend he should have dismissed his own Kosher diet grievance, to make way for his sedation grievance that he could have filed between November 2015 and January 2016.

The judges weren’t convinced by these arguments. The ruling questions why the Kosher diet grievance was “stagnant” for three and a half months after its resolution in October 2015. It also questioned the decision of prison officials to allow Griffin’s inadequate skin care and Kosher diet grievances but reject the sedation grievance.

“It is clearly unsettled on this record how the prison system’s grievance procedure functions — on paper and in practice — and what actually occurred between October 2015 and April 2016 as Griffin’s various grievances were being considered,” King wrote. “To be sure, Griffin makes a compelling case that the grievance procedure’s overlapping rules and deadlines presented him with ‘a simple dead end,’ that the facts invite at least an inference of ‘thwarting’ and ‘machination’ by prison officials …”

Griffin appealed the case to the Fourth Circuit after U.S. District Court Judge Richard Meyers ruled in favor of correction officials, determining that Griffin hadn’t exhausted all the administrative remedies that were available to him prior to filing a lawsuit in federal court. The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel vacated the district court ruling and remanded it back to the District Court for further proceedings.

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ACC Wrestling Release https://theacc.co/38gJTsd

NWCA Rankings https://theacc.co/3TDZtTi

InterMat Rankings https://intermatwrestle.com/rankings/college

• ACC wrestling teams are set to see their first dual action of the New Year this weekend, beginning with a pair of intriguing matches on Friday night as NC State welcomes Binghamton, while Virginia Tech plays host to Cornell.

• Current NC State head coach Pat Popolizio coached Binghamton for six seasons prior to becoming head coach at NC State prior to the 2012-13 season. His resume with the Bearcats included a 14th overall NCAA finish in 2012 and a 21st-place showing in 2010. He guided Binghamton to a school-record 16 wins in 2010-11 and was voted CAA Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012.

• Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s home match versus Cornell at the on-campus Moss Arts Center has been announced as a complete sell-out. It is the second of an attractive five-match home slate for the Hokies that included last month’s win over No. 7 Missouri and features upcoming ACC matches versus NC State (Jan. 20, ACC Network), Pitt (Jan. 27, ACC Network) and Virginia (Feb. 17).

• Thirty-six ACC wrestlers are ranked among the top 33 in their respective weight classes by InterMat in its Jan. 4 edition. Pitt continues to boast the ACC’s current lone No. 1-ranked wrestler in Clay Matthews (141). Pitt's Nino Bonaccorsi holds the No. 2 spot at 197. State's Trent Hidlay and Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis (174) and each check in at No. 3, while North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor has worked his way up to No. 4 at 157. A total of 13 ACC wrestlers are ranked among the nation’s top 10 in their respective weight classes.

• NC State and Virginia Tech continue to solidify their sports among the nation's top 10 in the NWCA team rankings with the Wolfpack now at No. 6 and the Hokies at No. 8. Pitt holds the No. 21 spot in the latest coaches' poll.

Thursday, Dec. 15 Appalachian State 17, North Carolina 15

Sunday, Dec. 18 Virginia Tech 52, Lindenwood 0 Virginia Tech 22, Stanford 12

Monday, Dec. 19 North Carolina 28, Central Michigan 7 Penn State 37, North Carolina 3 NC State 33, Cal Poly 3 NC State 24, Lehigh 10

Tuesday, Dec. 20 Cornell 31, North Carolina 9 NC State 27, Northern Iowa 12 (Journeyman finals) Wednesday, Dec. 21 George Mason 35, Duke 3 Duke 23, Presbyterian 19

Thursday-Friday, Dec. 29-30 Midlands Championships (Evanston, Ill.) Pitt - 115 pts (T-2nd) Virginia - 53 pts (11th) NC State -10.5 (28th)

Sunday-Monday, Jan. 1-2 Southern Scuffle (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Virginia Tech - 35 points (15th) Duke - 21.5 points (T-18th) Virginia - 21.5 points (T-18th)

Friday, Jan. 6 North Carolina at F&M Open (Lancaster, Pa.) Binghamton at NC State, 7 p.m. Cornell at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 7 Virginia vs. George Mason (Richmond, Va.), 2 p.m. North Carolina at Penn, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 8 West Virginia at Pitt, 2 p.m. Virginia Tech at American, 6 p.m.