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Cooper Signs Orders To Help Gasoline Supply

Photo: Wikimedia contributor Anthony Inswasty for Creative Commons, http://bit.ly/2eLv84I

Governor Roy Cooper has taken action to keep gasoline flowing to North Carolina, and make sure motorists don't get ripped off at the pump.

The governor on Thursday signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency to temporarily ease size and weight restrictions for trucks carrying gasoline through North Carolina. It also waives a cap on the maximum hours of service for fuel vehicles.  The order helps gasoline move through the state more easily and quickly in response to problems caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Another executive order institutes the state's price gouging law against overcharging during a crisis. That will be in effect for the next 45 days.

Gas prices in the Triad had begun to rise following the destruction caused by Harvey. Then on Thursday, Colonial Pipeline had announced it was temporarily shutting down a main line that supplies 40 percent of the South's gasoline.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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