YOU DON’T SAY

“I appreciate people talking about me, but I think the focus right now needs to be on her this week.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, on rumors that he is on the short list to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. (WUNC Radio, 7/22/24)

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Domestic Violence Program

Dan Kane, The News & Observer, 7/22/24

A federal grand jury in Raleigh is seeking information about a domestic violence monitoring program that has drawn concerns over how state lawmakers set it up by providing $3.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds to a newly formed nonprofit in 2020.

Late last month, the N.C. Department of Public Safety received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina to produce records related to Greenville-based nonprofit Caitlyn’s Courage and 15 other individuals or businesses that are identified as “relevant parties.”

“An official criminal investigation of a suspected felony is being conducted by an agency of the United States and a federal grand jury,” said the subpoena, dated June 26. FBI Special Agent Caleb Jobe in the Greenville office is listed as the point of contact. The individuals identified in the subpoena as relevant parties include Jordan Hennessy and Marion Warren, who co-authored the legislation, according to legislative correspondence The N&O obtained for a news story on Feb. 3, 2021. The N&O reported then that the legislation atypically included specifications that a legislative attorney feared would exclude some businesses from competing for the monitoring work.

Grand juries are not open to the public. It’s their job to determine if enough evidence exists to indict a person or company. A relevant party is not necessarily the target of a grand jury investigation.

Hennessy, 29, of Manteo, is a former legislative aide and Republican National Convention delegate who is a key figure in two businesses formed in recent years as state lawmakers released state budget money to help Dare County with dredging and affordable housing. He is a recent appointee to the state Coastal Resources Commission, which sets policy for coastal development. Warren, 58, a Brunswick County Republican, is a former state assistant district attorney and district judge who later ran the state Administrative Office of the Courts under then Chief Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin.

Warren is also a “member-manager” of the affordable housing company that includes Hennessy as a principal. Last year, UNC-Wilmington hired Warren to be its legislative liaison and special assistant to the chancellor at a $213,200 annual salary.

Hennessy and Warren could not be reached for comment.

The other individuals are connected to Tarheel Monitoring, the Wilmington company that Caitlyn’s Courage paid to provide the monitoring. They are owner Larry Powell, his wife Sonja, Shawn David Sullivan and Lance Jeremy Cable. At least five of the other companies listed in the subpoena are tied to Tarheel, including Securus Technologies, which manufactures the devices Tarheel deploys for the monitoring. One of those companies is Monotec, which lists the same address as Tarheel, according to LexisNexis.

Hennessy’s statements of economic interest filed with the State Ethics Commission show that last month he revised his reports for 2023 and 2024 to show a financial interest in Monotec. He reported in the 2024 disclosure that Monotec is doing business with the state, providing electronic monitoring services for “high conflict cases ordered by a court order” from a judge.

Two companies that do not appear to be connected to Tarheel Monitoring are also listed in the subpoena. One is Pamlico Management Group, a business consulting company founded by Hennessy. The other is Juristrat, which lists Warren as a company official. Both companies have the same registering agent, Tonia Trest Twigg of Shallotte in Brunswick County. She filed organization papers for them on the same day, Oct. 23, 2020. Not listed among the relevant parties are the state lawmakers identified as helping earmark public money for the monitoring program.

Caitlyn’s Courage was formed in 2019 by Beth and Judson Whitehurst of Pitt County. They lost their daughter Caitlyn to domestic violence when her ex-boyfriend killed her and then himself. They sought to create a program that would provide tracking devices so that victims of domestic violence would know if their attackers were in the vicinity.

Then state Rep. Perrin Jones, who represented Pitt County, filed a bill in 2020 providing $100,000 for a pilot program. His bill never got a hearing in a legislative committee. But when lawmakers passed a massive COVID-19 relief bill later that session, they included $3.5 million for the nonprofit to launch the program in several judicial districts.

Jones, an anesthesiologist and a UNC-Chapel Hill trustee, did not respond to phone calls or a note delivered to the gated community in Charlotte he now calls home.

Greenville attorney Les Robinson, a member of Caitlyn’s Courage’s board, also did not return phone calls to his cell or office.

The funding immediately drew questions from people who run programs to help domestic violence victims in North Carolina. The $3.5 million nearly rivaled the $4.8 million allocated annually to the state’s domestic violence centers fund. The budget provision’s language included detailed qualifications that a legislative bill drafting attorney said could exclude electronic monitoring vendors from bidding. The nonprofit also gave potential bidders a short period of time to discover and respond to its bid request.

Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Forsyth County Republican who is a top budget writer in the House, was included in the legislative email correspondence for the funding. He told the N&O in 2021 he was not involved in the details. He referred questions to Jones. “Sorry but I don’t always know what goes on from a member and the speaker’s office,” Lambeth said.

Tarheel Monitoring has two ties to House Speaker Tim Moore, a Cleveland County Republican who is now running for the 14th Congressional District.

Sonja Powell, the chief financial officer and wife of Tarheel Monitoring’s owner, and Sullivan, the chief technology officer, each gave Moore’s reelection campaign $3,000 in June 2019. State records also show Raleigh attorney Gene Davis, a close friend of Moore’s who shares legal clients with him, reported an ownership in an offshoot of the business in 2013 and 2014.

Davis is a House-appointed member of the UNC Board of Governors.

Moore has not received any subpoenas or inquiries from federal authorities regarding Caitlyn’s Courage or any other matter, said Demi Dowdy, his communications director.

WBTV of Charlotte reported in April 2021 that billing records indicated Tarheel Monitoring was charging much more than the going rate for electronic monitoring. Later that year, the state House’s budget proposal included a $27 million statewide expansion of the electronic monitoring program.

Again, House budget writers did not identify who sought the provision. It did not end up in the final version of that year’s budget, but state lawmakers shifted the $3.5 million in annual funding from Caitlyn’s Courage to the state Criminal Justice Information Network. The network is governed by a 21-member board that includes appointees from the governor and the legislature.

The N&O was not able to reach Executive Director LaVonda Fowler for this story. The network’s most recent budget report said it has expanded use of the monitoring program and found that it is effective in protecting domestic violence victims. The subpoena required the public safety department to return relevant records, including billings, correspondence and legislative requirements, to the grand jury by July 16, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy granted the department a monthlong extension at the department’s request. Duffy and Jobe could not be reached for comment. [Source]

State Appropriations

Dan Kane, The New & Observer, 7/22/24

A decade ago, Jordan Hennessy was a 19-year-old state legislative aide making roughly $33,000 a year in the office of a Republican state senator representing Dare County. At 29, Hennessy now helps run two distinctly different businesses that were created just as lawmakers in the Republican-dominated state legislature awarded a combined $50 million in taxpayer dollars for two Outer Banks improvement projects.

When newly formed, the companies landed contracts for each project, beating out experienced competitors. One is a dredging company that received a $15 million contract in 2019 to dig navigational channels for recreational and commercial boats in the Oregon Inlet.

The other is a development company that won a $35 million contract three years later to build affordable housing in Dare County, until local opposition derailed the project. State appropriations for both projects included atypical conditions that benefitted the Hennessy-linked businesses.

Longtime Dare County Executive Robert Outten speaks of Hennessy and the state funding in glowing terms. Hennessy’s businesses won contracts to tackle two issues that threaten the coastal county’s economy, he said. “It gave us an opportunity to solve problems we couldn’t have done on our own,” he said.

But some Dare County residents and leaders view the legislative bounty with suspicion, especially after state lawmakers barred town governments from having a say about where the housing would go.

Correspondence recently released by Dare County indicates that Hennessy met with state lawmakers about legislation stripping the local control before the requirement surfaced publicly in the 2023 state budget bill.

“People are concerned about how some of these deals are being put together,” said Nags Head Mayor Ben Cahoon, a Republican first elected in 2017. “Something doesn’t ring right. It doesn’t.”

Hennessy doesn’t have a high profile statewide, but he’s been active in Republican politics since his teens. The Outer Banks Voice reported in 2012 that he was setting up a phone bank to help presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who lost. Campaign finance records show he made his first contribution of $250 that year to Pat McCrory’s successful campaign for governor.

He was in Milwaukee this week as a North Carolina delegate to the Republican National Convention. He was first appointed a convention delegate in 2016, when he was 21.

In a short interview in April, Hennessy said he was helping solve two big needs in the area. “As someone who grew up in the Outer Banks I have supported our legislators and supported many initiatives and tried to solve real world problems in my hometown,” he said. He asked that a reporter email questions to him. But he did not respond to questions sent.

The Oregon Inlet between Bodie and Pea islands has long been treacherous for captains. The federal government determined in 2003 that installing jetties on its shores to calm the waters would cause too much environmental damage, leaving dredging as the only alternative to keep the channel navigable, Outten said. But the U.S. Coast Guard lacked the resources to dredge the inlet as regularly as the county saw fit, Outten said.

In June 2018, state lawmakers offered an unusual solution. Their budget gave Dare County $15 million, requiring it to award the money as a loan that could be forgiven to a “private partner” that would build a shallow-draft hopper dredge to work the inlet. Leaders in the Republican-controlled legislature tucked the $15 million in a 266-page state budget that rank-and-file lawmakers were forced to vote on within three days without making changes.

Former state Sen. Bill Cook said he persuaded legislative leaders to insert the dredging provision in the budget. Jordan Hennessy was his legislative aide at the time and lobbied lawmakers and staff as well, said Cook, who left the legislature in 2018.

“I’m sure he was talking to the same sort of people that I was,” Cook said. “Everybody we could talk to, telling them how valuable a dredge in Dare County would be to North Carolina and to Dare County.” Hennessy was smart, hard-working and resourceful, Cook said. Hennessy grew up in Dare County and knew many key people there, a big help to Cook, a Beaufort County Republican who represented a district that included Dare.

Read more of The News & Observer’s report here.

 

Cooper Speculation

Colin Campbell, WUNC Radio, 7/22/24

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday addressed reports that he could become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 Presidential Election. He’s one of several governors being mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates, following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race on Sunday.

Several leading Democrats in North Carolina have said they’d like to see Cooper on the presidential ticket. He’s received more votes in the state than presidential candidates in his two runs for governor, and that could help Harris turn North Carolina blue for the first time since 2008. Donald Trump’s margin of victory over Biden in North Carolina in 2020 was about 1.34%. And when the state’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention held a conference call Sunday to unanimously endorse Harris, they also voted to recommend she pick Cooper as vice presidential nominee.

“They would love to see Governor Cooper become the vice presidential nominee,” N.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton told WUNC on Monday. “I think that he only helps a ticket win this state. Regardless of who she picks, we are going to win North Carolina with her on the ticket.”

But speaking Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Cooper said it’s premature to talk about Harris’ running mate.

“I appreciate people talking about me, but I think the focus right now needs to be on her this week,” he said. “She needs to concentrate on making sure that she secures this nomination and gets the campaign ready to go.”

Cooper has endorsed Harris to be the Democratic nominee. The two have been friends for years, dating back to their time as state attorneys general.

“I want to make sure that Kamala Harris wins,” Cooper told MSNBC. “I’m going to work for her all over this country and do what I can to make sure we stop Donald Trump, and that’s what I’m concentrating on right now.”

Other possible vice presidential picks include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Beshear appeared before Cooper on the same MSNBC show Monday morning. Like Cooper, Beshear has been elected governor twice in a southern state that also twice voted for Trump.

Clayton said she expects the DNC to move forward with a virtual roll call vote on the party’s presidential nomination, but more details will be finalized later this week. Sunday’s call for members of the North Carolina delegation was intended to help delegates understand the process after Biden’s decision to drop out. “We do believe that it was important for the delegates to know what their rights were as delegates,” she said.

Many of them, including longtime former North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield, spoke enthusiastically in support of Harris, she added. [Source]

 

Cell Phone Ban

Matthew Sasser, State Affairs Pro, 7/22/24

As summer wanes and many North Carolina schools prepare to open their doors within a month, many districts, including Wake County, are pondering whether to implement student cell phone bans. 

Granville County Public Schools Superintendent Stan Winborne said he’s seen heightened media coverage and school board discussions about the issue recently.

Last year, Granville, which serves just over 6,500 students, charted its own course when it decided to ban K-8 students’ cell phone use through an “Off and Away, All Day” policy. Cell phones would be allowed to be kept in backpacks, but a visible cell phone would trigger discipline. 

High school students in Granville were permitted to use cell phones between classes and during lunch, but never in the classroom. 

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction doesn’t collect any data on school district cell phone policies.

“Honestly we were just thinking about ourselves,” Winborne said about his decision to implement this policy after it received unanimous school board approval. “I don’t know if we were the first. I haven’t really heard of a lot of other people taking as hard of a line as we are. I imagine they are; I sure hope they are.”

A “frequent and often” communication campaign to families in Granville about the policy made its implementation fairly simple, according to Winborne. Students were made aware early on that teachers, administration and the school board were serious about the issue.

“I think we all recognize the distractions and problems that cell phones in schools cause,” Winborne said, adding it’s a major source of conflict particularly among adolescent students.

“They’re not learning; they’re not engaged in what’s happening at school. There’s this growing body of research out there of how devastating it can be for their well-being.”

Granville schools saw 11% fewer referrals and 15% fewer suspensions last year. While test results haven’t been officially released yet, Winborne said the district has seen improvements in academic outcomes. 

“We can control the school environment,” Winborne said. “That’s our job. I think it’s going to be a much healthier, safer place for the kids if we can remove it [the presence of cell phones]. … I think we all know it’s instinctively better for them to not have it.” 

Granville has partnered with University of North Carolina researchers to conduct an impact study on the effect of the cell phone ban. From his one year of observation, Winborne anticipates the study’s results will be largely positive. 

“We need to do what is right for our children,” Winborne said, noting he sees the anxiety in his own children when he takes away a phone. “We can’t control what happens outside of school. But within the walls of our school, we can, and we should be providing an environment that is going to be nurturing and supportive and try to remove these negative influences that are impacting their learning.” 

Winborne said he would support regulations on cell phone usage in school districts across North Carolina. Kansas convened a task force to address this issue last week. 

In Granville, the cell phone policy remains unchanged and will be in effect for a second school year, starting in August.

 

Casino Lawsuit

Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer, 7/22/24

Republican officials named in a defamation lawsuit surrounding failed efforts to bring new casinos to North Carolina are asking for a specific judge to hear the case — one who has ruled in favor of casinos before and has worked for one of the state’s top lawmakers.
On July 12, lawyers representing defendants in the lawsuit filed a motion requesting Clayton Somers as the judge in the case.

Defendants include Kevin Berger, a Republican Rockingham County Commissioner and son of Senate leader Phil Berger, as well as other Republican county commissioners, the local GOP chair and three political organizations.

Somers, a former UNC-Chapel Hill administrator who helped broker the university’s settlement over the Confederate Silent Sam statue, became a special Superior Court judge last year on the recommendation of Republican House Speaker Tim Moore. That was after Republican state lawmakers included a provision in the state budget allowing themselves to appoint 10 additional special Superior Court judges.

Although most judges in North Carolina are elected, these special judgeships have typically been appointed by the governor — not legislators.

In this case, lawyers for Berger and the other defendants are requesting Somers to be the judge by asking the court to deem the case “exceptional,” a designation typically afforded to complex cases with many defendants who have diverse interests.

Unlike most civil suits, exceptional cases have one judge overseeing the entire process from start to finish. Berger’s lawyers say this case should be considered exceptional because it could involve extensive discovery disputes and also involves “multiple public officials, some of whom are currently in office, and other political issues.”

Craig Travis, a former Republican Rockingham County Commissioner who brought the lawsuit, disagrees. “Neither the familial relationship of any defendant to a person in a position of power nor the likelihood that relevant evidence may be in the possession of state legislators and/or employees should render this case exceptional,” Travis’ lawyers wrote in a court filing.

As Berger’s lawyers point out in their court filing, Somers recently ruled in a case involving the same casino proposal at issue in this lawsuit. The filing says the case would benefit from a judge “who is familiar with this litigation and issues in dispute,” and therefore could “ensure uniformity and consistency of rulings on the multiple issues anticipated.”

In the prior casino lawsuit, a camp for children with special needs sued Rockingham County for rezoning nearby land to allow a casino to be built. Somers ruled in the county’s favor, dismissing the camp’s lawsuit.

In Travis’ lawsuit, which was filed last month, he alleges that during the 2024 Republican primary campaign, other county commissioners and political organizations defamed him in attack ads stemming from his opposition to allowing a casino in Rockingham. Ultimately, plans to build new casinos in Rockingham and other counties were scuttled when state lawmakers failed to negotiate a deal to approve them last year. [Source]

Third Party

Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer, 7/22/24

Supporters of Cornel West’s third-party presidential campaign sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Monday after it denied ballot access to West’s new party.

In a party-line vote earlier this month, the board’s Democratic majority denied certification to the “Justice for All” party, which plans to run West, a left-wing academic, for president.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, accuses the board of violating the party members’ “core First Amendment rights as voters and citizens who wish to grow and develop a new political party in North Carolina.” They also accuse the board of violating their due process rights by failing to provide them with specific evidence to discredit the signatures they provided in their petition campaign for ballot access.

The lawyer bringing the suit, Phillip Strach, frequently represents Republican legislative leaders in court and has recently defended them in gerrymandering lawsuits and challenges to stricter election laws.

His law firm, Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, has been paid tens of thousands of dollars for legal services by the Republican National Committee, North Carolina Republican Party and National Republican Congressional Committee in the last several years.

The lawsuit asks the court to enter an order as soon as possible directing the board to certify the party and place its candidates on the 2024 ballot. Ballots are generally printed in August, and absentee ballots go out to voters on Sept. 6.

On Wednesday morning, the state House Oversight Committee will question Board Chair Alan Hirsch and Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell about their handling of the parties.

“How do we trust the board and its staff when their actions seem to be designed to limit ballot access for new parties?” Rep. Harry Warren, R-Rowan, said in a statement. “People need to trust the election system. The process to approve new parties this year has done little to foster that trust.” [Source]

 

Record Redactions

Julia Coin and Ryan Oehrli, The Charlotte Observer, 7/22/24

A $100 million project that’s moving North Carolina’s court documents online is “saving time and providing transparency,” the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts says. But in Mecklenburg County, it’s taking far longer for some public records to actually reach the public.

As of Wednesday, 79 search warrants filed by law enforcement had been returned to the Mecklenburg Superior Court clerk in July. Just 31 were actually available on the eCourts online portal. And those few records are an improvement. Before The Charlotte Observer reached out to the AOC about the issue on June 21, even fewer were online.

On June 25, the AOC “advised the Clerk’s office on how to update security settings” and reassign search warrants to be publicly viewable online.

Clerk of Superior Court Elisa Chinn-Gary did not respond to requests for an interview. A spokesperson for Chinn-Gary didn’t directly answer questions about why some search warrants returned by police weren’t public, but suggested staffing was a problem.

The Mecklenburg clerk’s office, which “manages the highest volume of criminal, civil and estate filings in North Carolina,” must thoroughly review and redact each record it receives, wrote Brittany Foster, Chinn-Gary’s spokesperson, in an email to the Observer.

Clerks look for “personally identifiable information” that may need to be redacted in order to maintain privacy for victims named in public records such as arrest warrants and affidavits, she said. Public records — and search warrants specifically — reveal some of the process police and government agencies go through when investigating a crime.

When officers decide they want to search a home, computer or phone, they must first prove they have probable cause to a judge. That proof of probable cause becomes a search warrant application, which the public is entitled to know about in most cases. Paper copies without redactions, Foster said, can still be requested in person.

Before eCourts, returned search warrants were kept in clerks’ and magistrates’ offices. Full names, phone numbers and even home addresses were often listed. State and federal law include some rules on what can and can’t be posted to the internet.

“Clerks shall at least redact social security and drivers license numbers from documents before they are disclosed to the public,” an AOC policy for eCourts redactions says. And they have discretion to remove more. Mecklenburg County’s clerks are going beyond the minimum, the Observer found when reviewing search warrants. Names, phone numbers and email addresses not associated with defendants are getting blacked out.

For search warrants — some of the rare public records that show how police do their work — those kinds of redactions are unusual. It’s unclear why Chinn-Gary has been so heavy-handed with redactions.

Foster said Chinn-Gary has “ the discretion to redact information from documents,” including victim and witness names. Despite a lawsuit that she was previously a defendant in, allegations that eCourts has led to wrongful jail time and other issues, Chinn-Gary, who was re-elected to a four-year term in 2022, has not responded to at least four direct interview requests from the Observer since eCourts launched in Mecklenburg County.

Some clerks don’t know that their search warrants aren’t showing up publicly on eCourts’ portal. After a call from the News & Observer in Raleigh, Orange County’s Superior Court clerk fixed the problem and began posting search warrants.

The clerk in Alamance County Superior Court said they are working on it but their office doesn’t have the staffing to get the documents redacted and uploaded quickly.

The Mecklenburg Clerk’s Office needs 36 more full-time positions to keep up with the filings and reduce the “delays, backlog and gaps in customer service,” Foster wrote in an email. Chinn-Gary requested state funding for the jobs during a March 1 meeting of the North Carolina Courts Commission.

She also asked for it through city funding in February. Mecklenburg County had the lowest staff numbers in the state for the amount of work they have to do, an AOC study from last summer found. The state budget determines how many state-funded positions Superior Court clerks receive, said Graham Wilson, a spokesperson for the AOC. The AOC “sought 219 additional positions for clerks’ offices in the state budget in 2024,” he said. [Source]

 

SECU Elections

David Mildenberg, Business NC, 7/22/24

The State Employees Credit Union board’s nominating committee recommended four incumbent directors be re-elected, the Raleigh-based institution told members Thursday. They will likely face opposition from three former SECU officials and the wife of ex-CEO Jim Blaine.

The committee recommended these four candidates:

• McKinley Wooten, an assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Revenue, who has been a director since 2000.
• Bob Brinson, a retired state information technology employee and a director since 2007.
• Mark Fleming, a retired former vice president of government relations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. He’s been a director since 2019.
• Stelfanie Williams, a Duke University administrator who has been a director since 2017.

The four were chosen from 11 candidates who submitted applications to the nominating committee, which was chaired by retired state employee Chuck Stone. He was among the three new directors elected last year, ousting three incumbent members who had been recommended by a similar nominating committee.

The trio of new directors had expressed dissatisfaction with some decisions approved by the 11-member board at SECU. It is the second-largest U.S. credit union with about $50 billion in assets, and it has 2.8 million members and offices in every N.C. county.

Candidates who weren’t selected by the nominating committee can file a petition and fulfill requirements if they want to appear on the ballot, challenging the recommended directors.

On Sunday, former SECU CEO Blaine said four of the seven board nominees not selected by the committee will start efforts today to be on the ballot. Susie Ford of Cary, Julian Hawes of Goldsboro and Kirby Parrish of Clayton are former senior vice presidents at SECU. The other likely candidate will be Blaine’s wife, Jean, who spoke at last year’s annual meeting in favor of the three winning board members.

Blaine, former CEO Mike Word and former board member Shirley Bell selected the four.  “Last year’s nominees featured long-term, dedicated volunteers; this year the candidates are heavily weighted toward hands-on, in-the-trenches experience and knowledge of the operations and philosophy of SECU,” Blaine said in an email.

Absentee voting runs from Sept. 3 to Oct. 1, with the election concluding at SECU’s annual meeting in Greensboro on Oct. 8. The credit union is offering digital voting for the first time, which officials say will encourage more of its 2.8 million members to vote. Board members receive no compensation, according to state credit-union industry rules. [Source]

 

Honor Court

Korie Dean, The News & Observer, 7/22/24

After more than a century, UNC-Chapel Hill will end its student-run honor court system — forcing a major shift in how student misconduct, in and out of the classroom, is handled at the university.

Provost Chris Clemens and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson announced the change in a message to campus Wednesday, saying the university will replace the student-led system with use of a “conduct board,” or hearing board, model, run by university staff.

That’s in contrast to the current model, in which students review their peers’ alleged violations of the university’s honor code and impose applicable disciplinary actions.

The honor code, which all students are expected to abide by, prohibits academic dishonesty — generally meaning actions such as cheating or plagiarism — as well as nonacademic offenses, such as hazing, using illegal drugs, possessing weapons and a host of other violations. The honor code and the student-run system that implements it have historically been points of pride at the university, with new students pledging at their convocation ceremonies not to lie, cheat or steal, and to encourage those around them to uphold the “Carolina tradition.”

The university’s model for the system is also rare, with just a handful of universities nationwide — including the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University — boasting student-run courts. “We are extremely proud of that history and tradition,” Johnson told The News & Observer in an interview Thursday. But Johnson noted the “universe of student conduct” matters has evolved significantly over the past century, with cases becoming more complicated and taking longer to resolve.

Many cases now intersect with civil or criminal legal proceedings and involve outside attorneys, Johnson said.

Academic cases take approximately 100 days to resolve, while nonacademic cases can take almost 140 days, she said. “That is an extraordinary amount for a student-led process to try to navigate and manage,” Johnson said. “And for that reason, we are moving to a hearing board model that will be guided by professional staff, but still involve the active participation of students, faculty and staff across campus.”

Five student leaders within the honor system — two attorneys general, two honor court chairs and the honor court outreach coordinator — addressed the university’s decision in a statement released Friday. The leaders said they would like to collaborate with administrators in the coming weeks as the changes are implemented — something, they said, that had not happened prior to Johnson and Clemens’ announcement.

“We are deeply dismayed by the University’s decision but remain committed to our mission of promoting student voices,” the statement read.

Johnson did not provide an estimate for how long it will take for cases to be resolved under the new staff-run hearing process. But she said she hopes there is a “significant” reduction. In tandem with ending the student-run honor system, Johnson said the university also plans to streamline a variety of policies outside of the honor code in a new student conduct policy and “bring them all under one roof.” By doing so, Johnson hopes students will be better able to navigate the disciplinary process. [Source]

 

SAU Accreditation

Brianna Atkinson, WUNC Radio, 7/22/24

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has reinstated the accreditation for Saint Augustine’s University. On Monday, the university announced that a SACSCOC arbitration committee had reversed two previous decisions. SAU remains on probation for cause, mostly due to persistent financial issues.

“This reinstatement acknowledges SAU’s relentless dedication to upholding academic standards and ensuring a thriving educational environment for our students,” interim President Marcus Burgess said in a statement. “We are resolute in our mission to overcome challenges and emerge stronger than ever.”

Saint Augustine’s was on probation from the accreditation agency for nearly two years. In December, SACSCOC voted to terminate SAU’s accreditation after the university didn’t meet its standards. The decision was later reaffirmed by the commission’s appeals committee in February. Both of those decisions have now been reversed by the arbitration committee, which was appointed by SACSCOC.

SACSCOC officials did not respond to WUNC’s request for comment.

“The SACSCOC arbitration committee’s decision serves as a pivotal moment for SAU’s redemption and renewal,” Brian Boulware, chair of SAU’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “The unanimous reversal by the arbitration committee rightfully corrects the injustice inflicted upon SAU by SACSCOC’s initial ruling and underscores the university’s steadfast commitment to excellence and growth.”

Although Saint Augustine’s University is accredited again, it is still on probation and facing severe financial issues. The university owes nearly $10 million in back taxes from three tax liens the IRS took out against the school this year.

SAU has also had trouble meeting payroll, had to switch its students to remote instruction last semester and lost an early college contract with the Wake County Public School System. WCPSS has since awarded that contract to Shaw University, another private HBCU in downtown Raleigh.

The university’s Board of Trustees is also being sued by a coalition of alumni, community members and former trustees. The SAVE SAU coalition accuses the board of fraudulently managing the university’s funds and blames it for the school’s current financial problems.

The arbitration committee’s decision to reinstate SAU’s accreditation with a probation sanction will last until the end of this year, according to the university. In December, Saint Augustine’s University will have to appear before the same SACSCOC board that voted to revoke its membership in 2023. [Source]

 

Search Warrant

Ananya Cox, The Daily Tar Heel, 7/21/24

UNC Police obtained a search warrant for the UNC Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram account’s basic subscriber information as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

UNC Senior Director of Media Relations Kevin Best wrote in an email to The Daily Tar Heel that the investigation regards “the significant damage inflicted on South Building on May 11, when a group of protestors defaced the 230-year-old building with oil-based paint and graffiti.”

The warrant’s affiant, UNC Police investigator Daniel Brown, wrote in the warrant that he believed individuals running the SJP Instagram planned and/or participated in the damage.

UNC Media Relations wrote in an email to The DTH that once protesters left the area around South Building, over 20 employees from Facilities Services, housekeeping, grounds and building services teams redirected from their normal positions to clean the building. “They spent seven hours on May 11 and an additional four hours on May 13 scrubbing the surfaces using cleaners and pressure washers in an effort to save the surfaces,” Media Relations wrote.

In an email to The DTH, Media Relations Manager Beth Lutz wrote that cleanup efforts cost “approximately $7,000 in labor and materials in the immediate response at South Building.” She wrote that the University contracted with a consultant for $20,000, who Lutz said would test methods for removing paint absorbed into the sandstone, along with providing recommendations to protect and clean the area in the future.

Trevor Guyton, a local attorney from Raleigh criminal defense firm Marcilliat & Mills PLLC, said that the purpose of a search warrant — defined under General Statute 15A-241 — is to get to the next warrant that investigators need, which is an arrest warrant.

The basic subscriber information obtained includes names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card information, account creation information, IP addresses, direct messages, location data, device data and connection logs of the SJP Instagram account from May 2-13.

Sylvie Tudor, a doctoral student at UNC and member of SJP, said that the rationale used to obtain the warrant was “flimsy and borders on ridiculous.” [Source]

 

Hiring Bonus

Chloe Collins, The Gaston Gazette, 7/22/24

Gastonia leaders recently approved the expansion of a lateral hiring bonus that was originally established in April to bring experienced North Carolina police officers to the city. The program will now extend a $15,000 hiring bonus to experienced South Carolina officers that join the department, which City Council hopes will help fill more vacancies, according to Councilwoman Jennifer Stepp.

The incentive was established in an effort to fill 30 vacant positions at the Gastonia Police Department.

Since April, the department has filled four positions with lateral hires and has an additional six currently being processed, according to police spokesman Bill McGinty. Stepp said the move to broaden the incentive makes sense for Gastonia since the city is so close to the state line.

The bonus program also includes a recruiting incentive for current Gastonia police officers who could receive anywhere from $1,000-$6,000 for recruiting a North Carolina officer to the department.

Gastonia Police Chief Trent Conard said at an April press conference that it was the largest lateral transfer incentive in the state as far as the department was aware. [Source]

EPA Grant

Coastal Review, 7/22/24

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a $421 million grant for a coalition of North Carolina and three other states working with nonprofit organizations for conservation and restoration projects that reduce carbon emissions and make communities more resilient to natural hazards.

The 21 proposed projects are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28 million metric tons by 2050. The grant includes roughly $30 million over five years for the Newport-based North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review.

North Carolina, via its Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, had applied for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program funding in April as part of a partnership called the Atlantic Conservation Coalition with South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and The Nature Conservancy.

The coalition plans to use the federal money for conservation and restoration projects for peatland wetlands, coastal habitats, and forests across all four states. The projects proposed include salt marsh restoration, farmland preservation, conservation of land for outdoor recreation, construction of living shorelines. Cost assistance could be provided to small forest landowners, trees planted in cities and reforestation work. [Source]

 

Speeding Enforcement

Brea Hollingsworth, WNCN News, 7/22/24

Law enforcement agencies across the state are cracking down on speeding this week. The Governor’s Highway Safety Program launched a new campaign called “Speed Wrecks Lives.”

From July 22-26, law enforcement agencies will be on highways and major thoroughfares encouraging drivers to slow down, buckle up and avoid distractions on the roads.

“Law enforcement from Murphy to Manteo will be out all across North Carolina doing extra enhanced patrols looking for people who are speeding. It’s important because so far this year 168 people have lost their lives on roads as a result of speed-related crashes,” said Mark Ezell, director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.

He told CBS 17 that number is down about 30% from this time last year, but it is still a problem. He warns speeding can cause many dangers, pointing to a damaged vehicle on display at Monday’s event. “A young driver was driving in Guilford County; lost control of the car driving at excessive speed and was killed. This is a graphic demonstration of the carnage that can result as a result of speed-related crashes,” said Ezell. 

From 2019 to 2020, the highway safety program says they saw a 17% increase in speed-related deaths.

Deputy Chief Boyce with the Raleigh Police Department says they have also seen a number of speed-related crashes, and it’s increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We had over 130 traffic accidents where speed was a factor, and the person was severely injured or killed so we’re trying to reduce that number so the more that we can educate as well as enforcement we’re hoping to reduce that number,” said Boyce. [Source]

 

Guilford Incentives

DJ Simmons, WFDD Radio, 7/22/24

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved a financial incentive package of over half a million dollars last week for Core Technology Molding Corporation. The minority-owned company is a plastic injection molding business based out of Greensboro. The expansion is expected to bring a capital investment of nearly $28 million and create at least 26 new, full-time jobs.

County Commissioner Frankie Jones said it was significant to see a homegrown business like this succeed. “That ecosystem that’s been created here with intentional, smart development has allowed a group like this to flourish to the point that now they have to move out because they need more space, because the business has just done that well,” Jones said. The Greensboro City Council approved its own economic package for Core Technology in a recent meeting. [Source]

 

Rezoning Defeat

Ryan Kelly, Mt. Airy News, 722/24

The potential investment of $10 million by an Indiana company seeking to build a facility producing doors for carports hit another snag when the Surry County Board of Commissioners rejected the recommendation of the Planning Board to approve the request with conditions.

Industrial Development LLC is seeking to rezone 27.04 acres off South McKinney Road, to the South of Interstate 74, from Rural Agricultural to Highway Business Conditional. The board voted 4-1 to deny the request but also voted to waive the one-year filing moratorium to allow the company to apply again. [Source]

 

Park Superintendent

News Release, 7/22/24

The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced that Michael Wood is the new park superintendent at Stone Mountain State Park in Wilkes and Alleghany counties. Wood succeeds Jeff Jones, who retired earlier this year. Park superintendents lead operations and administration at a park and have wide-ranging responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services.

A native of Wilkes County, Wood grew up in Hays and graduated from North Wilkes High School in 2001, before getting a bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University.

Located 60 miles northwest of Winston-Salem, Stone Mountain is home to the 600-foot granite dome that is a designated National Natural Landmark and the historic Hutchinson Homestead, a restored mid-19th-century farm situated at the mountain base. Stone Mountain staff also manages the nearby Bullhead Mountain State Natural Area.

Legislative Sessions, Studies and Meetings

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

HOUSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Tuesday, July 23

• 9:00 A.M. | House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform, Auditorium.

HOUSE CALENDAR

Monday, July 29, 2024

• House Convenes at 12:00 P.M.

SENATE CALENDAR

Monday, July 29, 2024

• House Convenes at 12:00 P.M.

HOUSE & SENATE: Reconvening allowed under provisions of SB 916, if no sine die adjournment previously adopted.

• Monday, July 29 to Thursday Aug. 1
• Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11
• Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22
• Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13

N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Monday, July 22

• 9 a.m. | Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission  – Executive Committee Meeting, 2211 Schieffelin Road Apex.

Tuesday, July 23

• 11 a.m. | Economic Investment Committee  –  Meeting, 301 N. Wilmington St. Raleigh.
• 1 p.m. | Governor’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council meets, Halifax County Community College, 100 College Drive, Weldon.

Wednesday, July 24

• 8:30 a.m. | NC Soil & Water Conservation Commission  – Business Session, Trinity Road at Martin Bldg, Raleigh.
• 10 a.m. | NC Joint Reentry Council meets, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, 1924 Capital Blvd, Raleigh.

Thursday, July 25

• 9 a.m. | N.C. Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System & Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System  – TSERS and LGERS Boards of Trustees Meeting, 3200 Atlantic Ave, Raleigh.
• 9 a.m. | North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission  –  Commission Business Meeting, 1751 Varsity Drive, Raleigh.
• 1:30 p.m. | NC State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees  – State Health Plan Board of Trustees, 3200 Atlantic Ave, Raleigh.

Wednesday, July 31

• 10 a.m. | North Carolina State Board of Education meets, 1 South Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Thursday, Aug. 1

• 6 p.m. | The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality Public Hearing on Moriah Energy Center Draft Air Quality Permit, Vance-Granville Community College, 200 Community College Road, Henderson.

Monday, Aug. 5

• 9 a.m. | The Board Development Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

• 9 a.m. | The Council of State meets. 1 South Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Monday, Aug. 19

• 2 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

UNC Board of Governors

23 S. WEST STREET, SUITE 1800, RALEIGH

Wednesday, July 24

• 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.: Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs, Board Room (17th Floor)
• 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.: Committee on Budget and Finance, Board Room (17th Floor)
• 11:30 a.m. –  12:00 p.m.: Committee on University Governance, Board Room (17th Floor) 
• 12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.: Committee on University Personnel,  Board Room (17th Floor) 
• 1:15 p.m. –   2:15 p.m.: Meeting of the Board of Governors, Board Room (17th Floor)

N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule

DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH

Wednesday, July 24

• 9:30 a.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC and Duke Energy Progress, LLC 2023 Biennial CPIRP | E-100 Sub 190
• 9:30 a.m. | Expert Public Witness Hearing – Joint Application of DEP and NCEMC for CPCN to Construct a 1360MW Electric Generating Facility in Person County, NC | E-2 Sub 1318, EC-67 Sub 55
• 9:30 a.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Application for CPCN for 850 MW Natural Gas-Fired Combustion Turbine Electric Generating Facility Located at 8320 NC Highway 150 E, Terrell, NC 28682 in Catawba County | E-7 Sub 1297

Tuesday, Aug. 13

• 10 a.m. | Public Hearing – Annual Review of Gas Costs | G-5 Sub 675

Wednesday, Aug. 14

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Tuesday, Aug. 20

• 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Transfer of Public Utility Franchise and Approval of Rates of HISCO East, LLC in Carteret County to HISCO I in Carteret County | W-1297 Sub 17, W-1344 Sub 0
• 6 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and for Approval of Rates to Provide Sewer Utility Service to Currently Served Cape Ponte Village Subdivision, Additional Phases for the National Park Service, Harkers Island RV Park and a Fe | W-1344 Sub 1

Wednesday, Aug. 21

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Thursday, Aug. 22

• 7 p.m. | Public Witness Hearing – Application for General Rate Increase for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. | G-9 Sub 837

Other Meetings and Events of Interest

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Tuesday, July 23

• 11:30 a.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to host roundtable discussion to highlight state efforts to relieve the burden of medical debt, Trinity Moravian Church, 220 E Sprague St, Winston-Salem.

Saturday, July 27

9 a.m. | North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans Convention, The Farm at 95, Selma.