Leoneda Inge

The City of Raleigh will be one of the first US cities to try out new wireless technology for electric vehicles.   

Just like everything else – even electric vehicle charging stations are going wireless. 

Evatran Video:  Unleash your EV. To learn more, visit Plug-less Power dot com.

Many people could end up paying more with the latest draft proposal to overhaul the state’s unemployment system and re-pay the federal government. 

Tessie Bethel is a laid off custodian.   Her unemployment runs out before Christmas.  She gets 179-dollars a week.

Tessie Bethel:  "I had to pay 85-dollars for an eye exam yesterday.  It’s gone. I only have 40-dollars left for up until next Tuesday again. It  doesn’t last."

A nnational report shows the number of working teenagers and young adults is at its lowest point in 50 years. 

North Carolina Agriculture products are in growing demand around the world according to new numbers from the US Department of Agriculture.

The USDA reports North Carolina agriculture exports hit 3.75-billion dollars last year.  That makes the state 11th in the nation for overall ag exports.  The latest export numbers also set a record for North Carolina.  Peter Thornton is an International Marketing spokesman for the state ag department.

You know the holiday season is in full swing when Christmas Trees are sprouting up on big corner lots and at most big box stores.   North Carolina is one of the top producers of Christmas Trees.  The state is also a top producer of another holiday plant – the poinsettia. 

First of all – North Carolina poinsettias are grown in-doors – in greenhouses.   The conditions have to be just right. This is a tropical plant, you know.  And the colors! Walking into a poinsettia greenhouse at N-C State is like walking into a candy store!

One of the busiest businesses incubators in the state is in Catawba County.   And now the Manufacturing Solutions Center is expanding. 

First Lady Michelle Obama will be on hand to receive the official White House Christmas tree today. The White House tree and the trees in the Vice-President’s residence are Fraser Firs from North Carolina.  Paul Smith is president of Cool Springs Nursery in Banner Elk, where they grow 600 acres of Fraser Fir.

Paul Smith:  "So this is, kind of where GOD put Fraser Fir and so Fraser Fir grows best here."

It may be hard to imagine a Thanksgiving feast without meat, refined sugar or dairy products.   But that’s what hundreds of people will have at today’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving in Durham. 

More than 600 people will eat in shifts at Café Parizade in Durham for their annual Vegetarian Thanksgiving.  The event has gotten so popular – that the Triangle Vegetarian Society also hosted a pre-Thanksgiving dinner Sunday at Washington Duke Inn.  Jacobby Jones came down from Rocky Mount for the special feast.

Many households across the country are already filling up with intoxicating smells of roasted, fried or smoked turkey and dressing.  But that’s not what they’re eating in Durham at the largest Vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner in America.  The Vegetarian Thanksgiving event has gotten so big and popular – about 275 people opted to have their special meat-less, gourmet meal last weekend on Sunday.  Changing Economy Reporter Leoneda Inge was there.

 An organization in Durham that set out to help locals save on their energy bills is expanding its reach.    Clean Energy Durham is five years old.  The small non-profit developed a creative energy-saving model that trains organizations and neighborhood groups and encourages them to tell a neighbor.

Judy Kincaid:  "It builds community within neighborhoods, between neighborhoods and it saves people money."

Judy Kincaid is Executive Director of Clean Energy Durham.