Republican lawmakers are pushing forward two election-reform bills designed to shore up voting integrity following the 2020 general election debacle that included numerous accusations of fraud. Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, talked through the two bills at a news conference and in the N.C. Senate Elections Committee on Wednesday, March 31. “There is a tension between...
The federal government sent nearly $4 billion in COVID relief money to North Carolina, but a sizable chunk of it was returned, unwanted, a new report from the state auditor’s office finds. The report from State Auditor Beth Wood determined North Carolina’s budget office properly distributed the $3.6 billion in COVID relief money allocated by...
A four-year federal investigation into voter fraud in North Carolina during the 2016 election has ended, netting 70 total charges, including 40 charges of individuals voting illegally. Others were charged with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The investigation highlighted tensions between federal prosecutors appointed by former President Trump and officials with the...
Editor’s note: This story was updated March 30 to correctly identify Phil Lucey, N.C. Press Association executive director. A growing number of senators are signing on to a bill that would make more information available to the public on government employee performance. Under Senate Bill 355, a description of the reasons for personnel actions like...
The N.C. State Board of Education has voted unanimously to switch social-distancing requirements under a “Plan A” return to public school classrooms to 3 feet rather than the previous six feet. The new rules are in accordance with new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that cut in half the social-distancing...
A supermajority of the N.C. House has approved a proposed constitutional amendment to strengthen private property rights against eminent domain land takings. The proposed amendment, House Bill 271, would hit the ballot in 2022. The bill passed the House, 101-17, Thursday, March 25. Eminent domain, Jon Guze has written, “refers to the government’s power to...
Gov. Roy Cooper introduced a $55.9 billion budget proposal on Wednesday, March 24, that includes many of the goals he’s had since taking office. But this time he claims they’re needed due to the COVID pandemic. These goals include expanding Medicaid, borrowing $4.7 billion for infrastructure projects, and pushing state agencies to look at issues...
Republican lawmakers grilled State Board of Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell over her handling of the 2020 election in a testy back-and-forth hearing. The over two-hour hearing Tuesday, March 23, before the N.C. Senate Elections Committee hinged on one central question: Did Brinson Bell, a registered Democrat, change election law after voting began last year....
The General Assembly will soon consider a bill that seeks to protect women’s sports by preventing boys and men from being allowed to compete on female teams in middle school, high school and college. House Bill 358 would require public schools fielding sports teams to identify teams as male, female, or co-ed. The same would...
On a road map, you’ll find Tri-County Community College in the far western corner of North Carolina. If you look at a topographic map, the college sits within a ring of mountains formed by the Blue Ridge, forming a natural valley community made up of North Carolina’s Cherokee County and several border counties in north...
More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic brought North Carolina to a screeching halt, Gov. Roy Cooper shows no sign of relinquishing the sweeping and open-ended emergency powers he has claimed under state law. The General Assembly is now trying once again to clarify exactly what a governor should have the power to do...
