Thread by @NickOchsnerWBTV

Last week, hundreds of students whose parents fought, were injured or died in war were told NC Dept of Military & Veterans Affairs would cut room & board allowance in half. It still hasn't paid any scholarship $, despite promises to do so #ncpol #ncgov wbtv.com/2019/12/05/chi…

As a result of the cut--which wasn't announced until last week--schools are now demanding students re-pay money that had already been credited towards their account. Students/parents are dealing with this uncertainty during finals and as the holidays approach #ncpol #ncgov

In October, @NC4VETS Sec. Larry Hall told me the scholarships would get paid. They still haven't. Since then, I've heard from parents across the state who say they've been financially impacted by the scholarship money not being paid #ncpol #ncgov wbtv.com/2019/10/31/sch…

@NC4VETS The DMVA first said it couldn't pay the scholarships b/c the #ncga didn't pass a budget. Non-partisan NCGA staff says that's wrong. They actually have $9.1 million in the bank. Last year DMVA paid $4 million in the fall semester. There are fewer recipients this year #ncpol #ncgov

@NC4VETS Hall refused repeated requests to answer our questions in an on-camera interview. His spokeswoman didn't respond to a number of specific questions for this story... But they have provided letters attempting to cast blame on #ncga

@NC4VETS Bottom line: these students & families should not have to deal with this. As a Gold Star kid that received this same scholarship, this story makes my blood boil. Someone at some level of power in #ncpol should step in and help these families who have already sacrificed so much

@NC4VETS Late this afternoon, I got a statement from @UNC_System that said it had directed constituent universities to "be flexible" in working with these scholarship recipients. Here's the full statement from UNC BOC Chairman Randy Ramsey #ncpol #ncgov #highered

@NC4VETS @UNC_System New: DMVA just sent a press release (not to me) calling our reporting 'false' and 'misleading'. Full release is in the screenshots below. Sec. Hall continues his refusal to do an on-camera interview & his spokeswoman still has not responded to my latest questions #ncpol #ncgov

@NC4VETS @UNC_System @NC_Governor As we noted in our updated web story, late this afternoon a DMVA spokeswoman said new scholarships had been paid. That's a change from data sent by the agency yesterday. The agency has not answered my questions about when the scholarships were paid #ncpol #ncgov

@NC4VETS @UNC_System @NC_Governor Here's our full story, including the latest updates sent by DMVA late this afternoon #ncpol #ncgov wbtv.com/2019/12/05/chi…