Businesses in NC feeling the pain of tariffs
Businesses are feeling the pain of tariffs in southeastern North Carolina, Florida politicians are leaving the Democratic Party and Louisiana's housing advocates warn public encampment ban is a risk for the state.
It's Friday, May 30,2025, and in this morning's edition we're covering: Small businesses in southeastern North Carolina are feeling the effects of tariffs and economic uncertainty, Florida politicians are leaving the Democratic Party, Martin County, NC hospital to reopen, Housing advocates warn public encampment ban carries risks for Louisiana, Federal layoffs drag down Maryland’s state employment gains for second month, new numbers show, NSF suspension of UTEP-led aerospace grant remains a mystery.
Media outlets and others featured in this edition: Border Belt Independent, NOTUS, Carolina Public Press, Louisiana Illuminator, Maryland Matters, El Paso Matters.
Editor’s note: Additional story links are at the bottom.
Small businesses feel the pain of tariffs and economic uncertainty
By Ben Rappaport and Heidi Perez-Moreno
This story was produced with The Assembly.
As the owner of a small business, Bree Sanders is in a tough spot. The prices of ingredients for the protein shakes and tea bombs she sells at Whiteville Nutrition have risen every month this year, she said. Each box of vitamin B-12 is $11 more than it was in January. Her herbal tea is $6 more per box. She orders at least a box of each three times per week.
“I’m definitely making less money now,” said Sanders, who has owned the downtown shop since last May. “Do I want to raise prices? Yes. Should I? Yes. But if I do, then I feel it would damage my reputation as a passionate member of the community.”
Two blocks away on Madison Street, the owners of Todd’s Clothing are waiting longer for overseas shipments. That can be a problem for customers who order prom dresses and wedding gowns and are bound to a tight schedule, said Pansy Todd, who owns the store with her husband.
“Customers come in and they might need it for something,” Todd said. “They might have an event, and it takes two extra days, that might fall on, after their event to come pick it up.”
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Many small business owners say they are struggling with rising costs, shipping delays, and economic uncertainty as President Donald Trump’s administration levies higher tariffs on goods from a number of countries. Some, like Sanders, say they’re trying to keep prices steady for customers–but that puts the financial burden on them.
“My people are devout regulars, and I love helping them on their wellness journeys,” Sanders said. “I’m not in this for the money, but I do need to feed my kids and keep the roof over my head.”
Read More: Border Belt Independent
The Democratic Party in Florida Is Floundering. Can an Independent Do Any Better?
May 27, 2025
The Democratic brand is severely diminished nationwide, but perhaps nowhere more than in Florida.
Several candidates appear to be taking the advice of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and dropping the “D” next to their name entirely. That trend continues in Florida, where Jason Pizzo, the former state Senate minority leader, has left the party — calling it “dead” — and hopped into the race for governor. Another potential third-party candidate, Florida political fundraiser and lawyer John Morgan, is also weighing a run.
The bigger the field, the lower the percentage a winner needs to carry a plurality. Some Democrats worry that a three- or four-way race would open a more viable path for a candidate with a loyal base, but a ceiling of support — like, say, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. But given how toxic the Democratic brand has become, an independent, self-funded candidate could make inroads where the national party could not.
“Our constituents are craving practical leaders, not political hacks,” Pizzo told his colleagues after removing his party affiliation. “The Democratic Party in Florida is dead. But there are good people that can resuscitate it, but they don’t want it to be me … I’ve always been criticized by the far left and by the far right. But you know what the small businesses and the hard-working families and the teachers and the cops and the firemen want us to do? Be public servants, not politicians.”
The race will also be a test of what a fractured resistance to President Donald Trump looks like in his Republican-stronghold home state outside the Democratic brand.
The last time a well-funded independent ran in a statewide race was Charlie Crist’s run for Senate in 2010. Crist pulled in 30% of the vote — Republican Marco Rubio won with 49% — while the Democratic candidate got just 20%.
Florida Democrats, whose voter-registration disadvantage has only grown since then, insist even now that a bad party is better than no party — especially in a state like Florida where it’s expensive to run ads to boost name recognition, even if a candidate is flush with cash.
“In a three-way race, it’s just hard to see how you actually add it all up, even with my party being an absolute dumpster fire,” Democratic consultant Steve Schale told NOTUS. Running as an independent is “hard as shit,” he added. “For all the name ID [John Morgan’s] got, it’s still a $50- to $100-million endeavor just to be competitive.”
But Pizzo has a war chest of at least $25 million for his independent run, he told CBS News Miami when confirming his plans to run earlier this month.
He’s also met with No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson, a potential stepping stone to more cash. No Labels, founded in 2010 in response to the Tea Party movement, had aspirations to run a third-party candidate in the presidential election last year, but failed to secure one.
“No Labels has not historically gotten involved in state politics, and I don’t anticipate that changing,” Jacobson told NOTUS in an email. “But I am certainly eager to introduce Jason to people I know and would personally encourage them to donate to and vote for him.”
One of her biggest pieces of advice to Pizzo comes from personal experience.
“No Labels learned the hard way that the incumbent parties play for keeps. So if you challenge them, your staff, advisers and consultants may get pressured to walk away from you. That means you need good, loyal people who will stick with you,” Jacobson told NOTUS.
No Labels sued Democratic operatives last year over allegations they intentionally undermined the group.
Building those alliances could be tough for Pizzo after he burned bridges with state-level Democrats with his dramatic departure in the middle of the Florida legislative session.
“Jason Pizzo has been alienating himself from the Democratic party for a long time now. He’s completely distracted by his ambition to be governor,” Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell wrote in a statement in April. “The working people of Florida are focused on the harm Trump’s policies are causing everyone, not Jason Pizzo (who they do not know).”
Pizzo got just 8% of the vote in a hypothetical general election poll conducted by The James Madison Institute.
“I think, obviously, name recognition has a lot to do with it,” said Logan Padgett, senior vice president at the conservative-leaning think tank.
Separately, political fundraiser and lawyer John Morgan is planning to launch a prize competition as soon as next week to get name suggestions for a new political party he may run for governor under, he told Florida political reporter Dara Kam.
“I’m gonna see who’s who, what’s what and then at that moment and I believe — maybe wrongly or rightly — I believe I’m one of the only people that uniquely could do this, is to jump in for the sprint,” Morgan said on another podcast this week.
Read More: NOTUS
Reopening as new type of hospital in Williamston. Possible game changer for struggling NC rural health care.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press
May 27, 2025
Martin General Hospital has stood abandoned in Williamston for almost two years, leaving Martin County residents with limited access to local health care. But the hospital is now slated to reopen as a new type of hospital for North Carolina: a Rural Emergency Hospital.
This new designation could be a game changer for other struggling hospitals across the state.
ECU Health will likely manage this new incarnation of Martin General, though that depends on the outcome of a June 4 public hearing before the Martin County Board of Commissioners.
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The reopening of Martin General would bring back essential services in a health care desert creeping across Eastern North Carolina.
“Eastern North Carolina is a place with lots of inequities and lots of gaps in health care services,” said Deeonna Farr, assistant professor at the ECU College of Health.
“Reopening this facility, in an area without coverage, is huge.”
Rural Emergency Hospitals, though, are not full-service hospitals. They treat only emergency or outpatient cases.
They are not designed to provide inpatient services that would require overnight stays — think hip replacements, C-sections or appendectomies. For that kind of care, Martin County residents would still need to travel 30 minutes to the nearest full-service hospital, ECU Health Beaufort in “Little” Washington.
ECU’s proposal requires a significant state investment to expand inpatient capacity at ECU Health Beaufort, which is likely where any inpatient cases in Martin County would be transferred.
Rural Emergency Hospitals, or REHs, are a relatively new designation that the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare introduced in 2021. They’re a tool to save struggling, or recently shuttered, hospitals.
CMS doles out $3 million to each REH each year in order to keep their doors open. They also receive higher reimbursement rates for each patient visit.
“CEOs of REHs have an immense amount of pressure off their shoulders,” said George Pink, deputy director of the UNC Rural Health Research Program.
“Instead of putting out fires all the time, constantly asking, ‘How are we going to make that payroll in two weeks? Where are we going to get the money to pay that bill?,’ they get to plan ahead and rely on a predictable cash flow.”
Across the country but mostly in the South, 38 hospitals have converted to REHs since January 2023.
This would be North Carolina’s first.
The Martin County commissioners petitioned the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to work with the the state’s General Assembly to change the state’s Hospital Licensure Act to allow REHs.
It’s now an option available to any struggling hospital in the state.
In addition, a new state initiative called NC Cares, dedicated to preserving and expanding rural health care, allocated $35 million to aid in the reopening of the hospital.
“The Rural Emergency Hospital can offer everything Martin General did, and frankly more — with the exception of inpatient services,” said Dawn Carter, a member of the Rural Healthcare Initiative and health care consultant for Martin County.
Martin County lacks a sufficient population base to support inpatient services, Carter explained. The county is home to 22,000 people. Attracting physicians to the area has become increasingly difficult.
According to Carter, only 20% of Martin County residents actually sought inpatient care at Martin General to begin with. That contributed to the hospital’s deep financial problems.
Carter is delighted at the prospect of services returning to Martin County. So, too, the Martin County Health Department.
“Such a facility would be a substantial step forward and could one day lay the foundation for the return of a fully operational hospital,” said Nicole Barnes, health director of the Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department.
Martin Community College is celebrating as well. Having immediate access to health care would be a boon for staff and students who practice accident-prone trades like welding, electrical and HVAC. Plus, the school’s medical professions students are currently all sent to other counties for training. Going forward, they’ll have a local option.
But there’s one problem: the hospital building itself.
Due to the age and condition of the building, the new REH will be relegated to a corner of the old hospital building.
Luckily, Carter said, the wing of the hospital dedicated to emergency, outpatient and imaging services was the newer section. But it won’t be new forever.
“The building requirements for health care facilities get more stringent every year,” Carter said. “For us to use the entire building would require extensive renovations at exorbitant costs — firewalls, air conditioning, electrical systems. So there is going to be a space issue.”
For this reason, Carter doesn’t see the old Martin General Hospital building as the permanent home of Martin County’s REH.
“The commissioners have understood from the get go that there’s only so long we will continue to operate in that building,” she said. “We’re anticipating building a new one at some point.”
Another concern? Cuts to Medicaid in Washington.
House Republicans propose to cut $625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade. In rural places such as Martin County, hospitals depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay open. In Martin County, 20% of residents live below the poverty line.
But because it took congressional action to establish the REH program, it is unlikely that President Donald Trump could successfully terminate the Biden-era program.
For now, ECU Health is gung-ho about the project.
“ECU Health is steadfast in its mission to improve the health and well-being of Eastern North Carolina,” wrote ECU Health spokesperson Brian Wudkwych.
“We submitted a non-binding proposal for consideration to the Martin County Board of Commissioners which outlines our desire to establish the state’s first Rural Emergency Hospital and create an integrated, high-acuity outpatient delivery model that meets the health care needs of Martin County.
“We look forward to the opportunity to present our proposal at the June 4 Martin County Board of Commissioners public hearing.”
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Read More: Carolina Public Press
Housing advocates warn public encampment ban carries risks for Louisiana
by Delaney Nolan, Louisiana Illuminator
May 23, 2025
A bill requiring local governments to enforce a ban on sleeping on public property passed through a Louisiana legislative committee Wednesday within the hearing’s final minutes, though housing advocates and groups that serve the homeless say it remains problematic in its current form.
The proposal, House Bill 619 by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, would direct local governments to enforce a ban on “public camping” or face possible lawsuits. Local governments could instead designate government-sanctioned encampments – much like the recent state-operated “Transition Center” in New Orleans – in areas where they wouldn’t “materially affect the property value” of homes or businesses.
Any resident or business within 1,000 feet of an illegal public camp, as well as a local district attorney, would be able to sue local governments if they failed to enforce the ban.
Knox’s bill also requires homeless service providers who receive state funds to provide detailed documentation of their work to municipalities upon request or else lose their funding. Unity of Greater New Orleans, the leading nonprofit serving the city’s homeless population, has drawn scrutiny from Knox and others for not providing more specific data on how it spends federal dollars.
Knox has repeatedly accused housing nonprofits of waste and decried the “homeless industrial complex.” He pushed for the legislative audit of New Orleans’ Continuum of Care providers earlier this year. It found that the city and Unity spent $216 million between 2019-24, with the majority of funds going toward permanent supportive housing.
The audit also found that shelters need better oversight to ensure they’re meeting minimum health and safety standards.
When Knox’s measure was brought up Wednesday in the House Committee on Health and Welfare, it was after hearings on two other bills spanned more than three hours. Chairman Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, noted that 11 people wanted to speak against Knox’s bill but wouldn’t have time because the House had already convened on the floor.
Committee members were given the option to defer Knox’s bill until next week but chose instead to continue the meeting. With limited time, Miller limited the opposition to just three speakers. Two attendees who’ve experienced homelessness were among those who didn’t have the chance to speak.
Knox agreed to amendments suggested by Rep Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which included changes in how the bill defines dwelling structures and extended the timeline for encampment clearing notices. Committee members suggested that the amendments should remove opposition to the bill.
But opponents said the amendments did not allay their concerns, and in some cases even increased the risk of harm.
‘Serious legal and ethical conflicts’
The state-sanctioned encampments proposed in Knox’s bill parallel Gov. Jeff Landry’s recent transition center in New Orleans, set up at a warehouse in a remote industrial section of the city. Unsheltered people were taken there from encampments downtown just before the Super Bowl.
Knox toured and praised the site while it was open, but his bill has sparked questions about how money for housing can be spent most efficiently.
Landry’s transition center, which cost about $17 million, ultimately placed 108 people in permanent supportive housing. Since 2023, Unity of Greater New Orleans has spent $2.3 million to permanently house 275 people, according to the audit.
The state spent about $100,000 per person on the warehouse site over 10 weeks, compared to the $20,000 per year it costs to provide housing and support services per person, said Angela Owczarek with the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, a housing rights advocacy group.
A pandemic-era emergency rental assistance program, which ended last year, cost about $3,000 per New Orleans household to prevent homelessness for those facing eviction, Owczarek said.
Elsa Dimitradis, executive director of Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing, testified that she had “serious concerns” about Knox’s bill, particularly the mandate about sharing client information with local governments. She warned the potential violations of privacy and disability laws could jeopardize $93 million in federal funding for housing nonprofits across the state.
Unity of Greater New Orleans is already suing the state for trying to compel the organization to produce protected information about its clients, such as medical histories and Social Security numbers.
Dimitradis also testified that the bill as written “appears to allow for open-ended demands at any time without clear standards or limitations,” which is “an operational threat.”
Hannah Adams of the National Housing Law Project argued the bill should provide exceptions to the ban if local governments are actively working to rehouse people.
“Clearing an encampment when social workers are actively working to rehouse individuals does interfere with their ability to maintain contact and secure long-term housing for their clients,” Adams told the committee.
The audit, likewise, noted that unexpected NOPD sweeps and state pressure to clear encampments contributed to delays in the city’s rehousing efforts.
Monique Blossom, director of policy at Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, also warned that by directing state officials to inspect group homes, the bill risks violating the federal Fair Housing Act, opening the state to liability. The bill could lead to the shuttering of some group homes, including domestic violence shelters, sober living homes and even homes for seriously ill children who need to stay near hospitals, she said
Donna Paramore, executive director of the Travelers Aid Society of Greater New Orleans, told Illuminator the group is in “strong opposition” to the bill despite the amendments.
“The framework it proposes still undermines essential safeguards for vulnerable populations,” Paramore said. The issues outlined by Dimitradis “could jeopardize federal funding” and “create serious legal and ethical conflicts,” she added.
Paramore also noted her nonprofit undergoes an independent financial audit each year and has never had an adverse finding. She said that instead of banning public encampments, the state should expand supportive housing, behavioral health services and trauma-informed care.
Knox dismissed objections at the close of the hearing, calling some “technical and nitpicking.” He rejected Adams’ request for leniency when social workers are actively working on rehousing someone.
“If that language were to be included, they will always be ‘actively working,’” Knox said.
The representative’s office did not respond to a request for comment after hearing.
Knox’s bill was advanced to the House floor without objection.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
Read More: Louisiana Illuminator
Federal layoffs drag down state employment gains for second month, new numbers show
by Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters
May 23, 2025
Maryland added around 4,900 new jobs in April, but labor officials said those gains were dragged down by a loss of 2,600 jobs in the federal workforce in the same month.
The Maryland Department of Labor reports that mass federal layoffs and other actions by the Trump administration are “tempering the state’s overall jobs growth,” according to new data released Wednesday. The federal impact was even sharper in March, when the state’s 2,300 new jobs were eclipsed by the loss of 2,700 federal jobs for the month.
“April’s report is the second to reflect actions taken by the new federal administration that impact federal employees and contractors, including reductions in force (RIFs), terminations of federal contracts, and grant cancellations,” according to a state Department of Labor press release Wednesday.
And the March and April numbers may not even show the full scope of the problem in the state’s federal workforce, the department said.
“The April jobs report does not reflect the most recent RIFs, employees who were placed on administrative leave or who accepted ‘buyout’ offers and are still being paid, federal employees who selected deferred retirement, or the ongoing tariff situation,” the department statement said.
March was the first month that Trump layoffs began showing up in the state’s data.
Maryland Labor Secretary Portia Wu. (File photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
“Layoffs among federal workers and contractors are impacting every county in Maryland,” Labor Secretary Portia Wu said in written statement Wednesday. “These workers have dedicated their careers to public service and they are an incredible asset to our state, so it’s essential that we do everything that we can to support them.”
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Maryland’s preliminary unemployment rate rose to 3.1% in April, up slightly from a flat 3% in March.
The Maryland unemployment numbers come as the Trump administration continues its push to bring down federal spending by slashing the federal workforce, among other things. The result is hundreds of thousands of federal workers suddenly without jobs over the last few months – many of whom live in Maryland.
About 269,000 Maryland residents are employed by the federal government, as of late March data. Maryland has the nation’s second-largest share of residents who work for the government, trailing only Washington, D.C.
And Maryland has another 225,000 federal contractors – reflecting about 10.5% of the state’s total gross domestic product in 2023, according state data. As the Trump administration cuts down on federal spending, some state contractors are also in danger of being on the chopping block.
Wu said in a recent interview that federal unemployment claims are at a “significantly higher level than what we typically see” and noted that the state has not seen the full scope of impact due to layoffs and other moves in the Trump administration.
She said getting a full scope of the impact on the state is also challenging: Some workers who live in Maryland may file unemployment documents with Washington, D.C., or nearby states, for example. Ongoing lawsuits challenging federal layoffs can also muddy the picture by temporarily ordering jobs restored.
Maryland federal contractor layoffs increase as Trump slashes federal spending
“Many people don’t file for unemployment right away,” Wu said. “With all the litigation, maybe they haven’t lost their job yet, or have taken some kind of administrative leave or delayed layoff or a separate situation.”
According to May 10 data, the Maryland Labor Department had received more than 1,600 federal unemployment claims since the start of the Trump administration.
Some of the federal workers who have been laid off are finding refuge in Maryland agencies. A communications official with the Department of Labor reports that since February, 150 former federal workers have landed a job with a Maryland state agency.
“We have a bunch hired in our own agency,” Wu said. “We know that there are a lot of talented people out there and we’re excited to welcome them to state government.”
The labor department is not the only Maryland agency picking up laid-off federal workers. Others include the departments of Health, Human Services, Public Safety and Correctional Services, Education and Information Technology, the Office of the Attorney General and the Comptroller of Maryland.
“They are in a very broad range of roles – from administration and program management to health, IT, and legal fields. This includes experts in specialized and technical positions, such as information systems auditor, GIS (Geographic Information Systems) analyst, natural resources biologist, veterinarian and hydrographic engineer,” according to a labor department official.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
1 year later: NSF suspension of UTEP-led aerospace grant remains mystery
by Daniel Perez, El Paso Matters
May 18, 2025
Mystery continues to surround a year-old decision by the National Science Foundation to suspend a prestigious UTEP-led research project that El Paso elected officials called “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” and could have meant up to $160 million for the region.
Decisions by University of Texas at El Paso leaders based on an in-house review of the grant proposal led to a demotion, a retirement, a resignation, mistrust within the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and hard feelings with at least one elected official.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, blamed university leaders for the demise of the grant that was supposed to build the region’s aerospace manufacturing capabilities, and for the demotion of Ahsan Choudhuri, who was associate vice president of UTEP’s Aerospace Center and the lead researcher of several multi-million dollar research grants.
The NSF announced Jan. 29, 2024, that it had awarded the grant to the UTEP-led Paso del Norte Defense and Aerospace Innovation Engine. Its goals were to support government, industry, nonprofits and academia in research and development of concepts, procedures and technologies to lift the region’s commercial prospects.
Choudhuri was the project’s principal investigator. Ryan Wicker, founder and executive director of the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, was the co-principal investigator. Three months after the announcement, the NSF suspended the award.
“As federal grants continue to be terminated or suspended around the country by the Trump administration, it is highly unlikely El Paso will get the same opportunity anytime soon,” Escobar wrote last week as part of an email statement to El Paso Matters.
Along with the suspended grant, the NSF and National Institutes of Health have terminated more than $21 million in UTEP research awards since March.
In April and May, the foundation canceled 13 grants, all but one tied to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects worth more than $17 million. The NIH stopped two grants in March and April. One involved equity and faculty recruitment. The other provided financial support to students pursuing biomedical degrees. Together, the NIH grants amounted to about $7.9 million. Of that, an estimated $4.5 million remained.
UTEP President Heather Wilson and Ahmad Itani, vice president for Research and Innovation, did not respond to specific submitted questions about the NSF grant, alternate project goals, related personnel changes, and a response to Escobar’s charges.
Instead, the university sent a statement about UTEP’s commitment to create opportunities for aerospace and advanced manufacturing in the region to include the recent opening of the $80 million Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center.
“We have full confidence in the experienced leadership of the Aerospace Center and W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation to continue building upon the success of our engineering centers,” the statement read.
An economic development setback
Two of the principal partners of the Paso Del Norte grant, the city and county of El Paso, said that the grant’s suspension was a brief setback in their economic development efforts.
City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta said that the NSF’s decision does not directly affect the city’s vision to become a globally competitive innovation corridor. She said that the city maintains a strong commitment to advance the region’s defense, aerospace and advanced manufacturing strategy. She added that the NSF project was just one of several complementary efforts to build the region’s economy.
Those programs include an Advanced Manufacturing District near El Paso International Airport, which was built in part with almost $2.4 million from the city and funds from the $40 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant led by Choudhuri, the principal investigator, and Wicker, the co-principal investigator. Additionally, the city has submitted a $3 million request through Escobar’s office to expand support for early-stage manufacturing and aerospace companies.
“The city remains confident in the region’s momentum and is committed to working with local, state, federal and private partners to deliver high-quality jobs and long-term economic growth,” Cruz-Acosta said.
Michael McElroy, the county director of Planning and Development, said the grant suspension has delayed the building out of two additional hangars at the Fabens Airport, but has not altered the county’s plan to turn the airport into a regional asset that should attract businesses and general aviation operators.
McElroy said that the county has invested almost $19 million of its own funds and grants on projects and acquisitions that will make the airport more robust and functional.
Recent improvements include the installation of an Automated Weather Observing System, or AWOS, to provide continuous, real-time meteorological information, and a self-service fueling station. The county also continues to add utilities and amenities to three hangars, and recently purchased an additional hangar for future use. A few years ago, the county enacted some zoning control to protect the land around the airport.
The UTEP-led project involved 18 partners from eight counties in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Among the partners were the city and county of El Paso, Spaceport America, Workforce Solutions Borderplex, El Paso Community College, the Rio Grande Council of Governments, and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining.
What happened with the NSF grant?
The university announced the NSF’s decision May 6, 2024. On the same day, UTEP sent a letter to the NSF to address “incorrect statements” in the proposal. The letter stated that UTEP did not have leases for five hangars at the Fabens Airport located about 33 miles southeast of the university, or to have 8,000 acres of test range near the Lower Valley airport.
In a statement to El Paso Matters, Choudhuri’s attorney Bob Blumenfeld said that UTEP had approved the proposal, which had no meaningful flaws that should warrant the grant’s suspension.
The award was supposed to be suspended until the foundation completed its review, which could take months or years. A spokeswoman for the NSF’s Office of Inspector General said earlier this month that it could not confirm nor deny that there is or has been an investigation into the UTEP grant proposal.
At the time of the suspension announcement, UTEP also demoted Choudhuri, who remained on the faculty. By June 20, the university announced his permanent replacement as head of the Aerospace Center. Some elected leaders and faculty were frustrated by the institution’s methods and actions.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, who with Escobar and former El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser expressed their frustrations with Wilson’s handling of the NSF situation a year ago, did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
Choudhuri and Wicker, tenured professors in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, chose not to comment for this story. Wicker announced his retirement the following November.
The two award-winning researchers accounted for 12%, or almost $36 million, of the university’s research expenditures during the past four fiscal years, according to UTEP numbers.
Within days of the January announcement of the NSF award, Itani sent Wicker and Choudhuri an email that requested changes to the proposal to give him a more prominent role.
In a Feb. 3 response to Itani, Wicker said the directives were meant to drive him and Choudhuri from the university. In a March 4 memo, the researchers shared that they found the requests “out of line with UTEP and academic practice.”
Jack Chessa, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, was department chair from 2018 to 2024, but resigned in November due to his inability to work with the new executive director of the Aerospace Center Shery Welsh, a 37-year veteran of federal service in aerospace science and engineering.
Chessa, who had no comment for this story, had complained months earlier that the ways Choudhuri was treated and Welsh was hired without faculty input had lowered the level of trust many of his department faculty had in college and university leaders.
In a counter move, the University of Texas System issued its own statement in May 2024 in support of Wilson and her decisions in regard to Choudhuri. The letter signed by UT System Chancellor James Milliken and UT System Board of Trustees Chairman Kevin Eltife stated that Wilson’s actions were in the best interest of the university.
This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Read More: El Paso Matters
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