Feb 26, 2018
NC Politics in the News
Your weekly North Carolina political news report.
Education
NEWS & OBSERVER: Charter schools could get more money if NC
lawmakers overhaul K-12 funding system
Charter school supporters lobbied state lawmakers Thursday for more money
at a time when charter schools and traditional public schools are arguing
with each over about how much funding they receive.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Legislator: Panel won’t propose splitting certain
districts
A legislative committee studying the pros and cons for students and local
governance of splitting up North Carolina school districts won't recommend
breaking up specific school systems, a panel leader said Wednesday at its
first meeting.
Energy & Environment
WRAL-NEWS: Duke Energy rate increase partly approved by state
regulators
State regulators have approved Duke Energy's efforts to impose higher rates
on its electric customers in the eastern half of North Carolina, but
granted the utility less than half of what it wanted.
WILMINGTON STARNEWS: Samples confirm DEQ suspicions about GenX in
rainwater
Rainwater samples recently taken near the Chemours' facility on the
Bladen-Cumberland county lines have confirmed regulators' suspicions that
GenX is being transported via wind and brought to the ground by
precipitation, according to a Friday release from the N.C. Department of
Environmental Quality.
WILMINGTON STARNEWS: Still squabbling over GenX funding
At the end of a Wednesday committee meeting, a New Hanover County member of
the N.C. House of Representatives took to task the N.C. Senate's overhaul
-- led by a senator from New Hanover County -- of a short-term GenX
measure.
NEWS & OBSERVER: ‘Shameful.’ ‘Beyond the pale.’ NC leaders trade
jabs after Cooper won’t answer more questions
Gov. Roy Cooper's administration on Monday refused to answer additional
questions from legislators about a $57.8 million mitigation fund for the
Atlantic Coast Pipeline, saying the questions "appear to be political in
nature, as well as moot."
Health Care
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: Child health conditions in NC remain mixed bag
in 2018
North Carolina continued to perform below average overall when it comes to
health conditions for children.
In the Courts
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: Trial on NC primary cancellation is in June
A trial over the legality of a North Carolina law canceling primary
elections this year for state appellate court judgeships is scheduled for
late spring.
NEWS & OBSERVER: Another redistricting lawsuit filed in NC – this
one over Wake election districts
Organizations that have challenged North Carolina redistricting plans are
going back to state court over the General Assembly's redrawing last year
of election districts -- this time with a new lawsuit challenging four
state House districts in Wake County.
WRAL-NEWS: Judges quiz attorneys on constitutional right to ‘instruct
legislators’
A three-judge panel heard arguments Wednesday in a case seeking to overturn
two 2016 laws on the grounds that the session in which they were introduced
and passed was unconstitutional.
Justice & Public Safety
WNCN-NEWS: After auditor’s report, NC company says missing cars are
accounted for
A North Carolina state auditor's report found a contractor mishandled a
state program that is intended to get drunk drivers off the road and
benefit schools.
DAILY ADVANCE: NC House school safety panel to meet in March
State lawmakers' new school safety committee aims to hold its first meeting
in March and identify both short- and long-term steps to protect schools, a
committee co-chairman told The Daily Advance Friday.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Dismissing gun law changes, a top lawmaker wants
volunteer officers guarding NC schools
A 2013 North Carolina law allowing volunteer officers in schools may get
more attention in the aftermath of the Florida high school massacre.
WRAL-NEWS: NC lawmaker seeks option to take guns from potential threats
A lawmaker and former judge wants to add North Carolina to the small number
of states where a judge can order that firearms temporarily be taken from
people deemed to be threats to the public.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Should National Guard patrol NC prisons? Lawmakers
urge Gov. Cooper to consider it.
Gov. Roy Cooper should consider deploying the North Carolina National Guard
to provide emergency help for the state's critically understaffed prisons,
two lawmakers say.