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The Government Shutdown Is Hitting Home In North Carolina

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,
Amanda Magnus
Published January 17, 2019 at 12:52 PM EST
EPA employees Tiffany Purifoy, left, and Janice Godfrey, right, volunteer at Food Bank of Eastern and Central NC in Durham during the government shutdown.
EPA employees Tiffany Purifoy, left, and Janice Godfrey, right, volunteer at Food Bank of Eastern and Central NC in Durham during the government shutdown.

How is the partial government shutdown affecting North Carolinians? The federal impasse is in its fourth week with no end in sight. President Donald Trump demands funding for a wall along the southern border of the United States and says the shutdown could last months or even years. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC Daily News Producer Will Michaels about his reporting on the ways the partial government shutdown is affecting North Carolina citizens.

North Carolina citizens are experiencing an array of side effects firsthand: Farmers are struggling to get the information they need to apply for federal loans or crop assistance; Vance County Schools announced they are scaling back their school lunch options for students; and food stamp recipients are getting their February benefits early and will not receive anything next month.

WUNC Daily News Producer Will Michaels talks to host Frank Stasio about his reporting on the multitude of ways the partial government shutdown is affecting North Carolina. 

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.
See stories by Amanda Magnus